Training Log Archive: Nadim

From the Friendship Heights Metro Station at the DC/MD border (Western Ave. & Wisconsin Ave.), Friendship Rd. to Willard Ave. to the Little Falls Trail, to River Rd. to the Capital Crescent Trail, to Bethesda Ave. to Woodmont Ave. to Old Georgetown Rd., to Edgemoor Ln. It'd been raining nearly all day but I managed to sneak-in a run in-between the rains. My right quadriceps had been dully aching at times during the day, especially when walking. This seemed odd because it hadn't hurt the same way right before the weekend. Worse than that however, my right calf was sore and slowed me down. This doesn't look good for running the Billygoat in a couple of weeks.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro station. I was surprised that my weight was still high but suspect that most of it is water weight.

From the Bethesda Metro station to Northfield Rd. There was light rain. I slowed-down for turns. My right leg is achy and feels a little out of synch.

White Clay Creek State Park, DE. From a bus drop-off location, to the start of DVOA's A-meet day. I jogged behind Ian Smith and once we hit the main paved road, we both missed a sign (it was folded over by wind) and some streamers. We went upstream a way before turning around and started seeing others who'd gotten off on the same bus but had been walking. It was comfortable in the mid 50s F.

DVOA: White Clay Creek A-Meet Day. I'd been heavily forewarned about how green this park was. I also felt a little guilty running Brown when I was able to run pretty well on Yellow the day before. I took off 2 minutes behind Charlie DeWeese.

The initial leg was straightforward with just a question about how long down a straight flat road one would go before cutting over to a control on a hillside. I planned to go around some ponds/marsh and some green but when I got to a point between the ponds, it looked clear. I cut in early but was surprised to find a wet ditch that I couldn't jump over. I thought that going back would be a time waste so I took a running leap. I expected to splash and run across the bottom but my right leg went into the water and kept going down. The water looked to be almost a foot deep but my foot sank in that false bottom into muck above my knee; I just about face planted in the cold water. It woke me up and I sprung out. After that it was a jog to the hill and a walk up the steep slope to spike the control.

1-2 - I angled down, then passed Peggy who was running Red. I angled back up when I got near the control and spiked it.

2-3 - I noticed that Charlie DeWeese was near when leaving #2. We both got on the trail and onto the bridge to punch at the mandatory crossing point.

3-4 - This seemed to be an odd control being so close to the bridge and equally as easy but I guess it got us to a water stop and made cutting across on the next leg a little more tempting.

4-5 - Initially I thought to cross the woods on a close to straight line. I passed Charlie, started into the woods, then backed out. Charlie had similar second thoughts. I ran up the road and cut in just past where the marshiness ended It wasn't hard to cross the low vegetation. I climbed the spur on a ride but cut off of that slightly before it ended. Running again, I contoured until I could see the correct reentrant, then climbed a little more to the control.

5-6 - I angled down the hill, staying to the right a bit, and using the trail for a short way. I crossed and kept going straight. I became aware that someone was closing-in on me and wondered whom else on Brown would be running this speed. I didn't recognize the guy but did get to the control before he did.

6-7 - I got passed as the other guy got his bearing more quickly than I did. I closed some distance on him just before the control.

7-8 - Initially, I started going to the left. However, as the guy who'd just passed me moved ahead on the right through what was more open terrain, I shifted too. I made up some ground on him as he got stuck in the green and I crossed a side reentrant to get into the fields. Near the top I saw JJ Cote crossing from left to right and getting through a nasty field edge green. That made me more confident to do so myself, instead of going around to the left. Linda Cohen was doing something similar but was about as far along as I was only coming from another direction. I only saw one way through the green wall so I picked my way through on what seemed to be an animal track. Finally at the road, I cut right, then cut left to drop into the reentrant south west of the control. I saw rocks ahead across the stream and knew I was in the right area. However I didn't see a control at the cliffs on my side of the stream, nor the other. Closer examination of the map revealed it be shown on the other side, and after moving about a bit, I saw it. Charlie DeWeese had just caught-up w/me when this happened, and when I announced it to myself.

8-9 - I contoured across the hillside, and eventually climbed enough to reach a trail. I took that to the correct large reentrant, then went-on straight upward. This landed me in a higher reentrant/ditch which I spiked.

9-10 - As I dog-legged out of #9 and back onto a trail, I saw Charlie DeWeese again. At the bottom of the trail I cut left and right on the road to cross the stream. I climbed on bearing to the relatively easy control.

10-11 - I more or less went straight. At one point, I was on an animal track.

11-12 - I contoured out of #11 and got onto a trail near the bridge. I ran into the field soon after, and somewhat went around rather than straight over the grassy spur.

12-13 - I climbed on the left side of the marshy ground. A kid was ahead of me and he led me to the control. By this time, my injured quad was aching and feeling weaker. The cumulative effect of the run and minimal training was catching-up with me.

13 -14 - Straight over...

14-15 - Around the bushes to the Go control.

15-F - I ran fairly well but held back on a faster sprint so that I didn't injure myself.

I felt that I ran a better race than the day before. My right leg was a factor more toward the end as was being out of shape but there was truly pain that wouldn't normally be part of such a run. Instead of just my right quadriceps, my right calf felt involved in the pain too.

C • #1 2

White Clay Creek - Brown X - Splits

Event: 2014 US Relay Champs and Intercollegiate Champs
 

Fair Hill Wildlife Management Area, DE. Warm-up near the Mason-Dixon Line for DVOA's A-meet. With the warmup I felt better and more confidence about running.

DVOA: 2014 US Relay Champs and Intercollegiate Champs at Fair Hill Wildlife Management Area, DE. After my fall last Saturday and limping around through Tuesday, I decided it'd take me longer to heal. QOC teams were being formed and so I decided to drop back to let others run on a competitive QOC team. Istvan Nagy was going to run with Ted Good and David Onkst in the 6 point category. After Tuesday I started feeling better walking about, but on Friday Istvan became ill. Suddenly, I was back on the 6 point team with David and Ted. My test "run" the night before was to sort of jog up the stairs at home and that didn't feel bad.


Instead of leading off, David Onkst did that for us, returning to the exchange area as the 4th 6 point team. He'd had some problems on the tightly packed Brown course. Next, Ted Good took us through a Red leg and returned in 3rd place in the 6 point category. I ran a Yellow leg and sort felt like it'd be a sprint. After my warm-up, I felt I could move okay and make good progress toward the first control; along the way, I became unconfident that I was reading the trees correctly. I let myself drift left a little to see the shapes of the copses and relative locations of the single trees. I let myself get distracted by Amy Loudoun (on Peggy and Jon Torrance's ineligible team) who'd left before me, and was walking away from a control in the distance. I ran to it, confirmed it wasn't mine, then went right to the actual location at the end of a line of trees. The second was just a short leg, and I spiked that. I went over a horse jump, and some brambles going to the 3rd. I cruised down the field to a trail and tried to cut across but ended-up past the actual control on the trail--when I saw the control, I thought "that's not mine" but when I couldn't see any others, I went back to find out that it was indeed mine. I was better on the next few but somewhere around the 6th control I started down a wrong trail when someone I passed was following me. I corrected by climbing over a hill that would not have been in my way had I taken the correct trail--this no doubt confused the person who was following me and I never saw him again. I took a questionable route climbing to go across a field to #10. For #11, I somehow got past the control and had to cut back a little. I was slow climbing up toward the Go control and into the finish.





Hills took it out of me. I did feel my injured right leg being weaker than my left but I was more befuddled by making small errors on a not so easy Yellow course. Team-wise, I neither gained nor lost any position (I'd passed others on the Yellow course who were running in different point categories). We finished 3rd in the 6 point category. That was kind of nice after the relay in Ohio in December when we were in contention to place but had an unfortunate mispunch.

Unforked - 6/9 Point - Leg 3 - Splits

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro station.

From the Bethesda Metro station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro station. I was surprised yesterday when I realized that I could stand up and walk without the shuffle that I'd been doing the last few days. I thought I'd be ready to try riding. It felt okay but it probably was good that I didn't try to go all the way into work.

From the Bethesda Metro station to Northfield Rd. It was cool and windy out and starting to turn to dusk. Riding felt better than when I was trying to walk fast to the metro station after work.

While vetters were out, I was streamering control sites and checking out some other potential control locations locations.

After a vetting session, I went back out to finish streamering advanced controls. As I moved down a trail, I decided to take it easy and not take a short cut down a steep slope. Going around on a switchback, I closed in on some hikers who were both walking and jogging. I got a little distracted and as I stepped up over an erosion break, I caught my spike or toe. I fell face downward on the downslope, and got my hands out in front before hitting. I avoided some rocks when I hit but the landing ripped a square inch or two of skin off a portion of my right palm. My right thigh went right into a blunt but pointy shaped tree root that was sticking up (because of the trail erosion) about 4 inches above the ground. Sprawled on the ground with my feet above my head, I wasn't sure at first if I'd broken anything--I think if it were any other bone than my femur and quadriceps hitting the root, that and it probably would have broken.

It took me a while before I could make it up. I got a contusion/bruise like never before. Usually I just bounce up after a fall, then limp around for a few minutes. Probably with some adrenaline, I was able to walk but was in some pretty good pain. I was also determined to finish my streamering to save another trip the park before more vetting. I reasoned that the walking would help the flexibility later and trudged on. It was hard to go uphill and if I led with my injured right leg, I could get downhill okay. It was however hard to concentrate. I puzzled for a while over the exact small reentrant of a control location. I'm hoping that I'll recover soon (making this entry 2 days after the fact, I can't run or ride my bicycle; walking slow is okay and stairs are still awkward. Overall, I'm blaming my fall on being too busy and a lack of sleep making my feet drag.

C • Am I suffering from selective memory... 3

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was 38 F starting out but I felt dressed appropriately. I felt a bit slow at times and adjusted gearing/cadence to try to keep it easy. There was a slight headwind coming from the east. Though there were few other riders, there were plenty of runners, many seeming to commute into D.C.

From 12th St & Independence Ave., SW, in Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I left work late so I first had to ride through the courtyard and the building. For only the second time in many years of doing this when I left late, a guard challenged me taking my bike out through the building. The courtyard gate closes at 6pm and I'm usually rushing to get out just under the wire but there was no way to do that today. After I got out, I was a little huffed so I let loose going down Independence Ave., SW toward the river. A lot of tourists were out and the few workers who'd come to work on this Good Friday were still leaving the city for home. I set about passing the cars in sometimes close quarters but felt confident. I eased up once on the trail. Getting through Georgetown wasn't bad. One car that was driving kind of quick and had made a U-turn in the busiest section moved ahead of me, around another car, and cut off another further up that'd been either parked or was moving ahead slowly. The car that got cut off let loose it's horn and I felt he had a point. The car doing the passing turned out to be an unmarked police car. It put on it's lights, backed-up, and had some words with the car that honked. I cruised the flats and had a slight tailwind. After Dalecarlia, I saw a familiar shape up ahead and sure enough, it was David Onkst. He'd been out on another overly long training run (+25 miles which was about my cycling distance for the day) and was blowing off some steam from a tough week too. I slowed to his running pace which had been getting slower than he thought and we caught-up on things for about the next mile. I finished up the rest at a decent pace (I'd been moving well until seeing David).

Washington, D.C. From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, down Independence Ave., to 17th St., along the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial circle, to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to P St., NW., to 20th St., NW., to the Dupont Circle Metro Station at Q St., NW. I was kind of tired from 2 long days at work but glad that I could get outside and run today. I was of course a bit weak and didn't push the pace. Instead of a nice quite run in the dark, I kept crossing paths with lots of tourists. Many were still at the Lincoln Memorial or other parts of town. It was about 50 F but felt a little colder. The good thing about the run was that I didn't think of my injured calf until after finishing. It seems just about healed. I stretched afterward.

45 sit-ups.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Dr. with Max on his bike, then to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I had to go all the way back to October to find the last time I rode all the way into work :( It was in the mid-60s F which was rather comfortable. To begin with, I had to take my usual backpack with a change of clothes, then my laptop in a carrying bag (about 9lbs.). On top of that I had to an overnight bag for Max's. We rode slowly; Max is still weak from being sick. After leaving him, I kept my pace fairly comfortable. The potholes and other bumps on the road in Bethesda were not fun, especially with the extra weight of the laptop. Though basically downhill, there was a strong headwind that negated any advantage. I was glad when I got into the cover of the trees. However, even there the wind was slowing me down. I definately am out of shape for riding (and sitting) in but I held my own on the trail. One guy coming from behind drafted off of me on the flats after Fletcher's Boathouse and passed me just before going into Georgetown. The winds along the river were worse after Georgetown. The Cherry Blossom mania was still going on (Ohio Dr. was blocked-off) but the trees are now past peak. Snow showers of petals were happening.

From C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Arlington Rd., Bethesda, MD, then to Northfield Rd. It was payback time--The headwind from the morning was a tailwind. I started out weaving my way past other cyclists, pedestrians and of course, cars. It was the kind of traffic requiring careful attention. One pedestrian came out from between parked cars and into my path. Fortunately she was coming from the other side of the street and I had time to react. I passed a bunch of cyclists on the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) and kept up my cadence going up the hill. I think one cyclist whom I had passed caught back up after the MacArthur Blvd. tunnel. He drafted off of me until Falls Rd. I made it to Arlington Rd. right at 40 minutes. I was going to pickup Max's bicycle but it was gone. He probably took it over to his friend's house for the sleepover Peggy had arranged.

Event: QOC Rosaryville
 

QOC: Rosaryville State Park, MD. It had been a while since I last ran at Rosaryville. It's the park where Peggy and I got married. I only ran the Green course today since I didn't want to further aggravate my pulled right calf. Overnight, the ball of my left foot was hurting but neither the ball of my foot nor my hurt calf were really bothering me today. I took it a little easier when going uphill and when pushing off for jumps. Getting to the meet site with only a few minutes before the starts closed, my only warm-up was about a 100m jog from the assembly area to the actual start. A big warm-up wasn't needed, unlike in Patapsco a few weeks back in cold rain; it was sunny and the temperature when I finished at Rosaryville was 84 F.

S-1 - I moved okay but didn't feel fast going over the first hill, and around the green on the left side. The second green seemed to me to have gotten extended but I went around it and right to the control. There was some mashed down grass much of the way.

1-2 - I ran the field to the trail, and saw the photographer. I didn't realize until after the event that it was course setter Kenny Walker, Jr. I kept going and soon caught Mark Mace. He cheered me on by also seemed to pickup the pace behind me. I slowed a little early but took off again when I saw the control on the rise ahead.

2-3 - I wanted to cross early since I figured it'd just get harder downstream. I ran along the stream, but not too close to it. I cut upward when I saw the hill contours ahead.

3-4 - I climbed to the trails but didn't cut left to the lower one; I probably should have gone lower but I didn't lose much time getting to the power lines. I dropped to the creek in the powerline ride but cut right before crossing it. I saw the trail cutting across the stream and used that. Peggy was in the area and coming from a different direction. I took the diagonal trail to the ridge, the dropped down to the gullied creek. I followed the spur up to the saddle. Jan Merka and his dog Benny were approaching it at about the same time.

4-5 - I reasoned that the woods weren't so fast so I left #4 heading west, not NW. It took a long time to find a trail and once on one, it didn't seem like the one I thought it'd be. When I came upon a horse jump, I couldn't find it on the map, but I guessed where I was and left the trail on bearing. I ended up on a spur but it was the one to the east of the spur with the actual control. Fortunately I figured this out w/o too much loss of time--perhaps 2 minutes.

Leaving #5 to get to #6, I ran straight and hit the trail intersection. After that, I followed the edge of the green to the control.

For #7, I ran the low route, left of the line, to the control. Doing this, I skirted the left side around a rootstock right next to the stream--I wasn't sure if it was mapped. Once to the road, I rounded the lake, hopping over the stream on the NE side, as close to the lake as I could. I angled up but realized I was too far left. Without seeing the control, I corrected and spiked it.

7-8 - I ran a little left of straight, going over the ridge and spiking the control.

8-9 - Initially I stayed low, off of the ridge, until I got around the green and the first trail. I followed the ridge and detoured a little left before the next hilltop. At the trail crossing, I realized that I needed to cut right, and did so to spike the control.

9-10 - I ran straight. I was a little hesitant at the trail intersections but I read them correctly and soon saw the control.

10-11 - I thought the low rout to the left would take me up and down more so I went straight initially. After hitting the trail at the bend I followed it as it curved to an intersection. Cutting left, I stayed on it until the woods opened up enough for me to go over the ridge. After that, I cut into the field and ran diagonally across that. As I was approaching the Go control on the horse jump, 3 horse riders were hovering off to the right, apparently waiting for me to go past. Gary Smith was coming to the control from the south.

11-F - I could see Peggy ahead but I wasn't able to catch her. I also didn't think it would be good to try since I'd be likely to injure myself more. Ken Walker Jr. was taking pictures again though I still didn't recognize him.

Green - Splits

I was out doing course planning and streamering for an event. Like last weekend, the woods were open and enjoyable. Before I got out, I got rather frustrated with some false starts. I kept forgetting things. I got to the park and got my o-shoes (running without them last week, I was slipping on leaves a lot) on only to discover that I'd left my streamer roll in another bag at home. To make the most of the day, I had to drive 20+ minutes away, to a Home Depot (making some unplanned detours along the way), and then come back. When I was ready again, I got down the first big hill and partway up the next before realizing that I'd left my glasses in the van. Back I went again, cursing but trying to be calm too. I think all of the lack of concentration had to do with lack of sleep this week and working too much.

Once finally out for good, I calmed down. I could actually run for a while. I had less in my hydration pack and the o-shoes helped. The hill climbs aggravated my right calf but I never wrenched it. It just got more sore as I got more tired so I walked a lot toward the end. Though the woods were good, eventually I did get into some areas with more green to navigate through. It was rather minimal compared to other places I've been and none of what I went through was thorny; usually just some areas of deadfall. The temperatures were in the 70s F. An ultra-marathon was going on and there were lots of faces with pain in them whenever I came across people on the trail. I cheered and they inspired me. Toward the end of my efforts, I came across 2 deer skulls and a turtle shell which was enough to clue me in to call it a day. At home, I weighed-out at 179 lbs.

Leawood, KS. From 119th St. the Tomohawk Trail southward to Hawthorne Park, and back. Work had been busy and I was working on presentations the last 2 evenings. I got to the park and felt okay for the first 0.3 miles. My right calf started feeling tighter again so I slowed for a while. As the paved trail along the creek and through the suburbs flattened a little, I moved my pace back up as I was getting around another runner, and the pain had gone. The calf does seem to hurt more when going uphill. As I turned around, I was spured on again as another runner whome I had just passed going the other way was, suddenly ahead of me. He was older looking and visually seemed to be running not so fast. It still took me some time to catch-up and pass him. I didn't really have a sense of my pace but the next mile I had completed was about a minute faster than the first. Near the end, the pain started returning so I slowed the last couple hundred meters. After finishing, I was back to limping around so going a little shorter would have been better.

Overland Park, KS. From Metcalf Frontage Rd., to 105th St., to Barkley, to 103rd St., and the Indian Creek Trail, to Antioch Rd., and back. The best way to shake off a 1,000 mile (almost exactly as the butterfly flies) trip is with a run. I'm glad I took the time away from work for it. It was partly cloudy and in the low 60's F--much better than the rain at home. I ran in shorts and a t-shirt. I started out feeling pretty good and running an 8:04 min/mile pace that wasn't challenging. There were some short steep hills on the route and some longer gradual ones. A little past 1.6 miles out, my calf started hurting more. I should have turned around there but wanted to get to a better landmark and also to go further on the trail. The last time I went up this part of the Indian Creek Trail, it was blocked-off for highway I-435 construction. I think it's the only part of the trail that I hadn't run fully because it didn't exist before. I didn't connect to the parts I'd run before but got close. On the return trip, I slowed more to avoid straining the pulled calf more. I favored my left leg on climbs and went downhill gingerly. I needed a bathroom for a ways, and I stretched at the end.

I was out doing course planning and streamering for an event. The woods were quite open and enjoyable. I was able to shuffle around; my right calf started more sore than it was when I finished. I carried a hydration backpack and took some pictures. I even took one of Jon Torrance.

Event: QOC Pohick Bay
 

I had a busy day, watching Max's soccer game, doing some course planning, and visiting with my mom and sister. By the time I had a free spot, there wasn't much left of the day to workout.

Event: OCIN Flying Pig XVIII / US Interscholastic Champs
 

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro station.

From the Bethesda Metro station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro station.

From the Bethesda Metro station to Northfield Rd. I was carrying dinner in one hand.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro station.

From the Bethesda Metro station to Northfield Rd. I was carrying back dinner in one hand and riding with the other. At home I got a nice hug of thanks and even flowers.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro station. Despite it being 45 F, it felt colder. Still, I was happy to be able to bicycle.

From the Bethesda Metro station to Northfield Rd. I caught the initial traffic lights just right and moved pretty well in the dark despite not being able to see the bumps. I felt that I was moving pretty well. My right calf was still sore today when walking down stairs.