Training Log Archive: Nadim

Little Seneca Creek Regional Park - Starting at Camp Seneca, I finished-up mapping everything to the south that I hadn't before. I also validated some areas that I'd covered before. This led me to an area I thought would be too wet and green, but I found a 2 nice passage ways through it for another link to the areas mapped last spring. I finished up on the big ridge and jogged some of it to the finish.

Event: DVOA Rodney Scout Reservation - NRE
 

DVOA at Rodney Scout Reservation - I didn't run the first day of this event. This was the first time that run since October 17th and the 9th. The cellulitis on my right foot had improved but my foot was still swollen.

S-1 - I ran straight toward the reentrant system. It was such a short leg that I was there before reading the detail. I'd gone to the first reentrant, then realized I'd have to go around it. After rounding it and getting onto the spur between it and the next reentrant, I dropped into the reentrant going past the control. If I'd dropped-in just a little earlier, I would have seen it. Obviously, I came back up.

1-2 - Getting to the road, I took it and turne left to use the trail. After passing the thicker vegetaion I came down and knew I was east of the control. I adjusted but not enough. Crossing the big reentrant I cut south but not enough again. I came back lower to find it.

2-3 - I sucked up the climb, basically dog-legging my way back to the trail and road. I saw Kim Jepsen ahead of me but he had turned through the valley. Coming to the control from a spur SE of it, I spiked it.

3-4 - Leaving #3, I saw Kim Jepsen again--his route to #3 through the greenish valley was slower. I somewhat dog-legged back to the roads but did find an unmapped ride helping me to cut the corner better. I came into the control from the building (NE) and spiked it.

4-5 - I climbed to the trail thinking I'd go further up this time but after a few steps, I realized I could avoid climb by doglegging again to go past #1. I basically stayed on roads and trails, attacking the control from the NW. I hit the ditch tool low, and went lower. Seeing a runner come up where the hill started dropping more steeply, I doubled-back but stayed out of the green and almost caught the guy I'd seen.

5-6 - I got to the road and past the bridge, then basically went straight. The reentrants helped me know where I was. The unmapped green and rootstocks were in the course notes so I didn't worry about them much. I spiked it.

6-7 - I doubled-back the way I'd come for a little while, then broke off to the left more. Getting in the circle, I read the control to be in a shallow reentrant near the stream, but it was much further away where it was flatter. I lost a little time because of that.

7-8 - I went a straight, got across the road, an happened to hit the intermittent trail. Attacking from a shallow bend, NW of the cairn, I spiked it. The charcoal platform seemed hard to detect.

8-9 - I made my way to the ride, went south, then cut the corner before the next ride to get to the road. I saw Ken Walker, Jr. and then my son Max, near #8. I saw Ken again on the road as he was coming out on the ride. I was moving very slowly. A few people passed me. Lydia almost caught me but I speeded up going down to the bridge. I left the road before the man-made feature, crossed the reentrant and hit the control well. It probably helped that Janet Tryson had been coming into the control ahead of me from the west.

9-10 - Straight past the houses then along the road south of #10. I got too far past the control by trusting the vegetation mapping when I knew I shouldn't. I could see the house around the bend. Popping in, I estimated a bearing and hit it well.

10-11 - I went past the house and knew that I was drifting right to get through the woods in the better places. I passed someone but when I had to cut left much more than I thought I should have, I had to push to keep ahead of the guy I'd passed earlier.

11-12 - I opted to go past the house since the forest in the reentrant north of #12 looked good on the map. The forest turned out to be full of fallen trees so the way was slow. I spiked the control.

12-13 - I went straight but knew I was drifting left to get past vegetation. I could hear footsteps coming-up behind me but I got to the control first.

13-14 - The footsteps I'd heard on the last leg turned-out to be from my son Max. I was going straight but did get passed just as I decided to use the bridge. Greg Ahlswede encouraged me not to let Max beat me but it wasn't to be.

14-F - I was feeling pretty tired and my right foot as I'd done the last few controls. I couldn't muster much speed.

Green X - Splits

Little Seneca Regional Park. With Peggy and Samatha gone, I had the whole day to make progress on the map. I started from Camp Seneca and went up the ridge so that I could come down a steeper part that I hadn't covered before. After that I did a lot in the valley below the big ridge and between the main creek. When I'd gotten south of the ridge, I found a small interesting area that had man made dot knolls, depressions and some earth walls. The bigger valley after that took a lot of work since neither LiDAR nor imagery showed the extent of streams and linear marsh delta. There were a few features with half the woods nice, and half not so nice. I mapped this complicated vegetation with GPS but still had to rely on handwritten note a lot to make sense of it. I got all the way to small cliffs and a stream where I'd stopped mapping last winter--the Bumble went more north and west of this area. It was nice to get so much done, but some more on this side of the creek, and all of the other side remain.