Training Log Archive: Nadim

MCRRC: Winter Trails. Today the group started at Riley's Lock and it was around 29 F. With brief stints on the C&O Towpath, the Seneca Greenway Trail (Tschiffely Mill Rd.), and Old River Rd., most of the out and back run was on the Seneca Bluffs Trail. The group was set to go up to Black Rock Mill Rd. and back, but I turned around at the parking lot on Rte. 28. This was a little further than the run I did on 1/26/2019 with MCRRC. Before the run started, one of the leaders, a nice guy, noticed that "several" people weren't carrying water (I was the only one I noticed doing that). He added that it was a "stupid" thing to do. I wasn't worried nor was I pressured into doing it. I'd left the bottle in the car that I'd brought along. I've been doing this for almost 45 years so I felt I had a good handle on what worked for me.

Crossing Dry Seneca Creek at 3.7 miles out was easier--the water was down and stepping stones had been put into place. I stayed dry. I ran most of the run with Oleg from Russia. He'd emigrated in 1998. I thought he was older than me but I'm 2 years older than him. Oleg, a Patent Office employee) was running better than me too. He'd only started running a little over a year ago and had lost 50 lbs. His daughter being an engineer (at NASA) like he was helped locate the defect that caused Toyota cars to suddenly accelerate (lead in the potentiometer in the new electronic gas pedal that model year caused microfibers that would break and give a sudden voltage change). Oleg felt that sticking with me gave him a steady pace. Otherwise he tends to accelerate and crash. He aimed for a 180 cadence which from his Internet research was optimal; he also noticed I have a 150 cadence which I attributed to my longer legs. When asked, Oleg reminded me that the Russian word for "to run" is бегать (pronounced begats). It's cool what one can learn from people on a run. I was going to turn around where I did last year but Oleg encouraged me to go on another 1/3 of a mile to the parking lot where he had hidden some Gatorade. He filled his bottle and gave me the rest. Oleg decided to turn around there too, which meant I wasn't going to slack off. Finally when there was only one mile left, Oleg said he'd sprint it in.

I slowed more, getting over the body fuel cut-over at that time, but moved better on the gravel road. That road was again painful on my feet since the gravel protrudes into shoes. I held up pretty well over the run, keeping a good pace but slowing on some of the hills. My left foot went numb for a long while. My left knee was hurting 2 miles out from finishing on downhills. I had some right side lower back issues too.

I couldn't find a good breakfast/brunch place in Potomac so I landed in Potomac Pizza where Chase was having a birthday party. I got to see his Reptile Show for free!

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. The effect of the Chipotle dinner last night was at least a part of the swing in weight.

Washington, D.C. From 12th and Independence Ave., SW, to Maryland Ave., SW, to 3rd. St, SW, to Pennsylvania Ave., NW, to Constitution Ave., NW, to 14th St., to The Mall, to 12th St. SW, to Independence Ave., SW. I didn't feel very strong during this. Earlier when I'd restarted running after some knee issues, I thought I'd be doing well to get 40 miles for the month. The miles were adding fast after that so I set my sites on 50 miles for the month. I'd gotten that and saw that there was still a shot at getting 60 miles (in 2019, I'd gotten 75 mile in January). With missing running on Thursday I felt freer to take it easy and hopefully avoid further knee-back problems.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I was still tired from a long day at work.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. As I'd crossed Huntington Pkwy. I passed a guy whom I'd seen on my way to work on other days. However he had appeared to be run commuting when I'd seen him before. He was on bike, and as I slowed a little climbing he passed me. He slowed on the downhill so I passed him back and in my competitiveness, I kept moving fast later.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. I had intended to run after work but since I'd left late and had a late solar power telephone conference scheduled at home, I decided there wasn't enough time. Getting some rest was probably good too. I also was carrying home dinner.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. I kept running into traffic.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, Wisconsin Ave/Rockville Pike to W. Cedar Lane, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Arlington Rd.., to Edgemoor Ln, to the Bethesda Metro Station. I'm feeling worn out but have been trying to make up for low mileage earlier this month. Like other recent runs this one had started out with both a shaky knee (left) and some lower hamstring pain in my left leg. The hamstring pain went away after half a mile. It was pleasant outside. I moved slowly early on. Construction and the closing of sidewalks on Wisconsin Ave./Rockville Pike had me cross back and forth twice. I did okay on the longish climb up W. Cedar Ln. and moved faster on Old Georgetown Rd.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I was pretty tired, still sweaty, and feeling weighed down.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. I may have been overdressed in my winter coat. It was 38 F.

Washington, D.C. l ran my old Memorial Tour route. From 12th & Independence Ave., to SW, 15th St., SW to Ohio Dr. SW, past the Jefferson Memorial to the 14th St. Bridge,. to the Mt. Vernon Trail, across Memorial Bridge, to Independence Ave. SW., via the Lincoln Memorial Circle and the Reflecting Pool, to 12th St., SW. I was lumbering early on but stopping at traffic lights rejuvenated me some. It was windy getting across the river the first time and I was even running into the winds again on the Mt. Vernon Trail. I finally felt like I was running better on the flat trail along the Reflecting Pool with a tailwind. Cars were pretty good this night--I'd stop at the intersections presuming no one was seeing me in the dark, but the cars stopped to let me over the crosswalks. The renovations of the Memorial Bridge were complete on the side that I had run on (south), but now the north side is closed for maintenance repairs. It was in the mid-40s F.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. My time is estimated since the battery on my watch ran out. I was tired and going slowly anyway. I made it home just before 8pm. At that time Peggy and I took a scheduled call to start discussing a contract to install solar panels on our house.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. There was some traffic and my legs were tired.

From 12th and Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. I ran to Main Ave., then to the Tidal Basin to go clockwise around it. I passed the Jefferson Memorial on the road side, went to the Rock Creek Trail along the river, crossed the Kutz Bridge, and continued on up Independence Ave. to 12th St. SW. I was feeling slow running. The temperature was around 42 F and it was a little breezy. Within a half mile, my left knee was hurting but after reaching the bottom of a small hill it got a little better. I was running into the wind along the river.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I was tired and there were headwinds.

QOC: Fountainhead Regional Park, VA. This was supposed to be an easier day for me since I ran long (almost 11 miles) the day before, and have been ramping up my running again. I ran almost 8k on this just under 5.9K course. Most of it was good but 2 legs were just bad. I knew Jon Torrance (course setter) would have some tricky legs in this park that he knows better than any of us.

S-1 - I ran up the road and in from just past where the road split. I tripped on some light deadfall just about 10m from the control and bruised my left thigh.

1-2 - This was a simple leg and it seemed just to get us out into the woods again. I hadn't run Green for a while and was starting to think it was being dumbed down. The biggest problem was trying to figure out how to get across the terrain. I crossed the creek at lest 3 times but tried to stay high most of it. I could see the control once I'd hit the flat lands.

2-3 - (oops where are my leg comments for this?)

2-4 - I was eagar to make good time. I looked at the leg quickly and it seemed like another easy one--long run across the creek valley, then up along the trail toward the big reentrant system before the power lines--I never realized that #3 was in the middle between #2 and #4 until the end of the run. As I was passing where I would/should have turned up to get #3, I noted my position and just kept running. Not seeing it seemed to at least partly be due to have #3 be in almost a straight line between #2 and #4. The control circle was among a good bit of green and the circle was broken and I might have mistook what was left to be contours since the remains of the circle were almost parallel and touching the contours. The numeral "3" was also printed away from the control on top of an index and a regular contour. When I showed this to others who hadn't run green, it took them a little while to see control #3 also. I just didn't look long enough when I was on the course. Others on green didn't seem to have any real issue with it as no one else skipped it. I spiked #4 though I was a little shakey where the trail had been rerouted. I wasn't seeing the remains of the old trail much.

4-5 - I decided that the climb and debris would be slow on the direct route. Trying to make the most of it, I left quickly and ran away from #5 to go back up to the trail and around. I stayed on the trail even after crossing the power line ride. I returned to the power line just before the bend in the power line ride. I stayed on it briefly, just until it looked like there was easier running. I was worried about entering the woods at an indistinct place but felt the reentrant to my left would guide me. At one point it seemed like the reentrant was flattening out and I got confused. I crossed the stream for a short way, paused then returned to hit the control well.

5-6 - I went fairly straight. I did have to cut right a little at the end.

6-7 - I tried going straight and stopped at the ridge that the control was on. I got a little below the control as that was where the deadfall mapped and in reality, had lessened. I turned up from there and found it. It wasn't exactly my plan to aim off, but it was probably efficient for me.

7-8 - Either from the hill of the deadfall, I proceeded a little left of straight. I tried to correct once across the power lines but it seemed a long way to the saddle that I was thinking of hitting. I crossed and climbed up the reentrant that was hidden by the leg line, and saw it after cresting and getting through the holly trees.

8-9 - I ran mostly straight but contoured a little getting across the big reentrant. I knew from the top of the next reentrant that I was just about on the leg line, and I saw it soon after.

9-10 - I jogged/ran where I could, hitting the trail bend and then crossing the power line. I was a little left of the line going in due to better runnability, and I looked for a big deadfall ahead to guide me in.

10-11 - As I was leaving #10 another guy was there too. I took off in a hurry. I initially planned to be a little left of the line. My bearing was a little off so at the first reentrant I veered left and ran down that spur. I was just trying to move well and not reading the map much. I was making things fit. At the bottom, I could see the stream bending--I thought it odd since that would have put me much lower than I had planned. I crossed the stream and climbed. This put me back on the spur that I'd wanted to run down, not across the larger stream that I still had to cross to get to #11. I got nearly to the top and was having difficulty figuring out what had happened. Ahead and a lot closer to #11 than I was, I could see the guy that had been at #10 when I was. I hunted around a little where I was, then concluded that I'd made some weird error putting back near #10. After that, I moved well and almost caught up to the guy that had started the leg with me. Disappointing it was that I'd made such a bad error! AP shows I lost only 3 minutes but if that's all it was I did good. It felt like I lost a lot more.

11-12 - I went left of straight. I didn't consider going around until approaching the bottom but that looked too long anyway. The guy I'd seen at #10 had gone straight and was climbing a bigger steeper hill out of sight. I spike the control.

12-13 - As I was leaving #12, I saw the guy I'd seen at #10 again and his eyes told me he was wondering how I'd gotten ahead again. I decided to be safe and to use the ride. I was doing well with this and got on the mapped trail. I left at the hairpin bend without stopping. Soon I saw Mark Mace on my right climbing. I signed to him about having lunch later and was thinking I should be more focused. I started getting a little confused and when I saw a gully that I couldn't match-up I was more confused. This gully was east of the control and only shows up as a little reentrant notch in the hiilside. I don't recall seeing before though I had been below previously, at the pointy map border. I ran around at the bottom more confused as I didn't find the control in any of the reentrants that I'd turned right to inspect--in my mind, I had a memory of a boulder cluster control that Gavin had used in the summer short series here last summer. It might have been the same one as #13 but my memory of it placed it in the areas I was searching. I was making the mistake of using my memory rather than reading the map. Concluding that I was nearing the bigger stream with the bridges leading back to the parking lot, I turned back still unable to match-up reentrants. The one gully that wasn't mapped was really confusing me. I ended up running into the out of bounds areas north of the control and realized it when I climbed and saw the houses. After that, I ran right to the control. I lot over 8 minutes on this adventure and did a lot of extra climbing.

13-14 - I took a step or two up the hill, then decided to stay mostly low--I'd been there already and knew it was very runnable. That unmapped gully got in my way a little but once I dropped fully, I ran well. After crossing the bridges, I ran up the now unmapped ride of the old trail. In the EX2 Bushwhacker Adventure Run in 2012, pre-many inuries, I'd sprinted up this ride after a 10 mile run and left behind other racers. This time I walked. Near the top there was a guy hunting for a control that was probably the one I was headed to. I kept going and spiked it.

14-15 - I started going straight and crossed the trail a step or two before pausing. I was having trouble reading the trail. That was probably because it was just a trail segment not connecting to anything anymore, in the direction that I was going. I decided to play it safe and use it even though it was a little longer. It took me to within sight of the control on the spur.

15-16 - I went straight and liked that we had a different finish. We usually end up coming past the cemetery and sprint in across the grass. As I got moving, the guy I'd seen as I was going to #14 came up behind me and on my left. I picked up my pace and even though I had to cross the reentrant where it was deeper, I got there first.

After downloading I found out that I'd mispunched. This must be the 4th time in about 6 races. The last one at PWF wasn't my fault since that control had been mis-hung before it got reset by Jordan Loughlin. I really need to do better at focusing. That should come as I get in better shape again, as long as I don't overrun my map reading. Overall, the course today was fun. I was tired.

Green - Splits