Training Log Archive: Nadim

I spent the day visiting my mom, and then driving up to NJ.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd., via the library.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

Washington, D.C. From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, across The Mall and past the Washington Monument, to 17th St., along the Constitution Gardens 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.

From Northfield Rd. to Edgemoor Ln. I met Max and his friend Tyler for dinner at Chipotle.

From Edgemoor Ln. to Northfield Rd. with Max, in the dark.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd Bethesda, MD., to Old Georgetown Rd. via Greenwich Park, to Johnson Ave. to Heamsteadt Ave. to McKinley Ave. to Garfield St. to Roosevelt. Ave. to Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. It was still in the 80s F, and humid. The reconstruction of Suburban Hospital is starting to take shape with road changes.

QOC Swanson, MD. I was pretty tired from a late long run the day before. With it being hotter than it has been for while, around 90 F, I went to survival mode early. I felt I just needed the navigation practice before going off to run the Hudson Highlander in NY the next week. I didn't worry about speed.

S-1 - I went through the assembly area and near the house on the hill. I briefly thought I needed to go a reentrant further but came to the road-like trail. I came off the spur mapped green but it wasn't so green. In my head I was think the control was further from the trail and on the far side of the knoll, so I didn't realize I was passing it at first. Once I had, I turned back to find it. I probably lost 30 seconds.

1-2 - I went straight. I lost count of the entrants but it was easy enough to read the bigger one and spike the control.

2-3 - I went across the fields. An elephant trail helped. I ignored the mapped trail along the edge of the forest. I cut straight in and realized the control was on the side of the reentrant. It was actually an unmapped reentrant. David Onkst had been looking in the mapped reentrant so my presence clued him in.

3-4 - I reasoned it'd be easier to take the field/trail route to the left. As I was cutting in on the trail to the bridge, David popped out having taken a shorter route. I crossed the stream and ran along the hillside to the control.

4-5 - I climbed initially (walking) for a shorter route. David was behind somewhere and another guy was taking the longer way around the hill. I got across the first reentrant, then across the next--that was a mistake. As I kept going, I was trying to make things fit. At one point, I looked back and saw David Onkst going up the last reentrant that I crossed--the right way, I saw control #11 on my left but I wasn't close enough to read the code so I kept going. Eventually I turned back and did more climbing. I probably lost 2:30 minutes.

5-6 - I was feeling tired and so I opted to climb right initially and use the field, instead of the shorter straighter route. An elephant trail across the hot fields helped me get to the road. I passed the intersection and then was confused by the mapped field no longer being a field. I plunged into the woods since the road bends and intersection gave me high confidence of where I was. Somehow, I ended up at the power lines. I adjusted my attack, but I wasn't sure how far down the hill I was. With many spurs, I was having trouble matching them to the map. Visibility wasn't good so I banged along the edges of the spur I was on and eventually saw a spur that looked appropriate. I was very hesitant but I'd found the right spur. I probably lost 90 seconds or so.

6-7 - I ran low to the power lines and hit the trail. I came off a bend (the woods were not thick) and into a reentrant. I walked up the hill to spike the control.

7-8 - I walked over the top and read contours running down the control to spike it.

8-9 - I dropped immediately and read the contours along the stream. At one point, I passed the mapped 55 gallon drum. I climbed in the perfect spot and spiked it.

9-10 - I walked over the top. On the ridge, I didn't see the mapped road. However, only needed to continue on down past the reentrant junctions to the control. The feature seemed a little nondescript and away from the stream.

10-11 - I climbed left mostly walking. I noted another field not having been a field any more. I ran the road to the house, then somewhat along the thicker vegetation and change in slope to spike it.

11-12 - I ran along the stream mostly, perhaps climbing too much to save distance near the end.

12-13 - I walked, then ran along the ridge, eventually getting to the trail. I briefly hesitated when seeing Mark hunting on the hillside for something. I went on down to the bottom to spike it again.

13-14 - I waked up the spur and counted reentrants along the top, to spike it.

14-15 - This seemed a little tricky since it was a little flatter and there were changes in slope leading to the saddle. I went over part of the knoll and spiked it. Having passed it earlier helped me know what to look for.

15-16 - I went straight just about the whole way.

16-17 - I initially started in the wrong direction following the stream, but I quickly fixed that. I crossed 2 times and eventually was forced higher by unmapped earthbanks. I got onto an animal track that lead me there for the last part.

17-18 - I used the animal track again, and climbed prior to getting to the second reentrant.

18-F - I could tell where the finish would be from the break in the trees. I wasn't finishing strong but did pickup the pace with Max and Patrick cheering for me.

Red - Splits

Vienna, VA. After visiting my mom and sister, I picked out this run since it was somewhat on the way home. I'd run and biked the W&OD trail many times between Vienna and Reston. In 1999, I did some exploration of the side trails but they've proliferated. As I headed out, it was in the mid 80s F and I felt it pretty much from the start. I was happy to get on a side trail I hadn't been on before through North Park. It was rocky and hillier and somewhat short. I took a route which left me no other choice but to loop back to the W&OD.

As I got my rhythm going better, I saw a few other side trails, but I didn't try one again until crossing Bucktown Ln. I was thinking that his one was a short connecter that I'd found in 1999. It was identified this day as the Reston HOA Nature Trail, but I also found a marker for Fairfax's Cross County Trail. I followed it until dead ending at Lawyer's Rd., so I back tracked and continued another branch. This time I apparently missed a left turn. It turned-out okay since the trail was pleasant and ended up at Sunrise Valley Dr., very close to the W&OD Trail. Part of it was the one I found in 1999 (the other fork went to Twin Brook Rd.).

I felt I wasn't going to get enough distance if I turned back to Vienna, so I went west on the W&OD until Michael Faraday Ct. (just before Wiehle Ave. There was water on the trail near Sunset Hills Rd. which I stopped at both on the way out and when returning. The last part before the turn around was uphill. With the water and downhill, I recovered and my pace improved a lot.

After crossing Difficult Run (on the trail bridge), the way was gradually uphill. I took a phone call from Peggy on the run and knew there'd be Chipotle for dinner. That thought kept me going as my legs were heavy. I woke up from my daze as two cyclist approached from the east. Something happened with the first. He seem to twist his handlebars and maybe put on his brakes before he fell (not really apparent why--an animal?--I'd run within 5 ft. of a tame mother and it's tween-like fawn earlier. The father behind him didn't react well (slowly). He slowed a little but was surprised when his son fell. He slammed his brakes and went over the handlebar himself, landing on his shoulder in a way that looked bad. Even a woman walking 100m further up from them had time to turn around and see most of this. As I got up to them, both father and son were sort of jumping up with adrenalin and stated they were okay--I went on, but knew they'd feel it in the morning.

I grinded out the last few miles feeling cooler with the sun lower in the sky and being completely drenched from sweat. I drank more about half a mile from where I'd parked but not being able to read the small display on my watch, I wasn't sure if I'd get 12 miles going directly to the car. I ran around the field where football and baseball games were being played. The 12 mile alarm buzzed soon after starting this loop. I dragged around the rest.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Northfield Rd. I took my time riding in the dark, carrying my clothes from the day before, as well as my work laptop.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro Station to Tuckerman Ln., to Rockville Pike to Beach Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Cedar Ln. On the Elemhirst Pkwy. to Connecticut Ave. to the Georgetown Branch Trail to the Bethesda Metro Station. I felt okay, but not fully recovered from working out and racing over the last week.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. I got moving well enough starting out. I hit the intersections pretty well in regards to traffic. I started passing people as usual. Eventually I had about 4 people behind me. One was a woman who also works at my building. In Georgetown, the group broke-up with the mix of auto traffic. I felt the tailwind along the river. I finished a little further in the court under the cafeteria, that's closer to my relatively new office.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I was getting out past 6pm but it didn't matter as much from the courtyard I'd parked in, since they don't close it up. There was a little bit of headwind getting to Georgetown. My legs were feeling tired so I didn't push a lot. The way was fairly quiet. However as I climbed a bridge at the sewage treatment plan, I thought I saw David Onkst. I yelled back but didn't make eye contact. He had his helmet and headphones on too so I wasn't sure it was him (later I found out it was David, and he'd been out on a 50 miler). I finished up okay for not having ridden very much this month.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

Washington, D.C. From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, across The Mall and past the Washington Monument, to 17th St., along the Constitution Gardens 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 dragging a bit toward the end but overall, I was moving okay.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Northfield Rd. The ride was cooling me off after the run.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, Wisconsin Ave., to Chestnut St./Kentbury Dr., to Kentbury Dr., to Seaford Rd., to Tilsbury St., to Wisconsin Ave., and to the Bethesda Metro Station. This was to be an easy recovery run. I took it fairly calmly and didn't feel too bad. I was going to return a slightly longer route on the Georgetown Branch Trail but as I got to where I'd enter on Kentbury Dr., it was blocked-off. It looks like the Silver Line construction has started :(.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Northfield Rd.

Event: QOC Hemlock Overlook
 

Letchworth State Park, NY, from the assembly areas to the start area. With some uncertain directions, we'd arrived a little later than hoped for so I was rushed getting ready. However, I got there with almost 7 minutes to my call-up.

Rochester Orienteering Club, Falls Classic - Letchworth State Park (West), Day 2. While disappointing to mispunch, I did take away some good things.

S-1 - I ran the trails calmly, then dropped down the earth bank--it wasn't bad and I spiked the control.

1-2 - This was as steep climb. I got confused about how high I'd been. Seeing others coming up the spur to my right, I wondered if I'd passed the control, when it was far too early. I cut back to the right for the benefit of certainty, so that I wouldn't have to climb again if I was passing the control. I lost 30-45 seconds doing this before going on to hit the control.

2-3 - I went straight and was doing fine until just short of the control. I cut right toward the rough open areas. I looked to the road for evidence of where I was and realized I needed to go way left. I lost about a minute.

3-4 - I ran the trail, over the knoll, then after aiming off, along the edge of the drop-off. I spiked it.

4-5 - I didn't plan ahead a lot. I crossed the first reentrant thinking I was on the second. Then after crossing the trail, I realized I'd climbed unnecessarily. I continued on and dropped quickly. At the bottom I only used the trail a short way before cutting in and reading my way there. I didn't lose time navigating, but I lamented not going around the steep hill.

5-6 - I was catching and then passed a younger guy. I just didn't see the higher route past the building. I used the parking lot to guage my distance and height.

6-7 - I ran straight but I was slow climbing. I thought it'd be one reentrant earlier, but I didn't lose any time when I found it in the next.

7-8 - I angled left a bit and crossed the creek. Cutting back right, I was on target but not seeing it ahead in the reentrant, I cut over to the one to my right. A control was there. I punched but it was the wrong one. I recovered quickly but still lost about 45 seconds.

8-9 - I went over the top and through the start. Taking trails, I rounded the lake and cut through some open forest to get on trails. After climbing enough, I left one trail at a bend and crossed a reentrant. I hadn't read an intermittent trail in between where I was coming from, and to the trail I was going to. Seeing the trail on the ground, I cut left for a short way, then doubled-back and corrected. Once on the right trail I got there quickly.

9-10 - I saw Kim Jepsen from QOC drinking. With not a lot of the course left, I decided not to drink. I ran on bearing, then down the reentrant. Getting around the deadfall, I spiked it with Kim right behind me.

10-11 - I got out quickly and Kim was trailing. Kim took a slightly lower route and got ahead. I think I punched first but Kim was right there w/me.

11-12 - I rushed out too quickly and didn't see the trail route. I ran up the hill and across deadfall. Kim passed me staying more to the left, but he missed the trail too. I got across the gravel lot and because my route was straighter, I almost got to the control ahead of Kim, making-up ground at the end.

12-13 - This is where I mispunched. Things were going great. After crossing a big trail in the forest, I could see across a large flattish reentrant and felt I had a good bearing. Unfortunately, I and Kim got drawn to another control on a knoll. I punched and ran out. Kim was behind me and took the time to check the code--something I'd been doing earlier. I didn't stick with that discipline in the heat of racing Kim. I was probably only 60m from the actual control and it'd have been easy/fast for me to have gone there. The whole time I was with Kim, I figured he was running Red, the course he usually runs for local QOC events. I didn't think much of him not being close any more since I thought he had a different control to go to.

13-14 - I ran out of the wrong control and got on the trails in the field. I missed seeing an intersection and wondered why I my trail was getting so close to the large building. I went with it. It was only slightly longer. At the end, I could see the control 150m away.

14-15-F - I rushed out of #14, down the hill and onto the trail. I had it in my head that there were 14 controls. Not looking closely enough, I also didn't see the control circle touching the finish circle. I ran past control #15 and into the chute. After stopping, I got something to drink. Kim came by a little bit later and explained what had happened.

I felt the difference between day 2 and the first day was that I rushed too much on day 2. If I'd have been calmer, I could have avoided several errors and might not have mispunched. Otherwise, my navigation was okay.

Day 2 - Green X - Splits

Event: Falls Classic - Letchworth State Park
 

Letchworth State Park, NY in the eastern half at the Parade Grounds.

Rochester Orienteering Club, Falls Classic - Letchworth State Park, Day 1. It had been a while since I'd been to this park so I was having trouble remembering the terrain. We started on a steep and angled climb. I felt I was reading it pretty well but I was off to the right at #1. I hit the road, and to be certain I didn't pass the control, I cut back to the right before turning around. I realized where I was on the road by some subtle bends. I probably lost 30-40 seconds on #1.

1-2 - I felt behind so I didn't read the leg very carefully. I took off with a general plan to go straight and should have taken longer to see the lower route linking ponds together. As it was, I thought I was reading features okay, but I mistook one spur for one that was further ahead and lower. It seemed the easiest way around it was up and over. I was then surprised going higher to find myself on the ridge. I also briefly had trouble telling which side of the ridge the control was on--I was rushing again. I ended up climbing to an unmistakable hilltop and then descending about 4-5 contours to the control. I felt I lost 4 minutes.

2-3 - I felt I was losing the race but held out hope since it was difficult to navigate and run in the area. I planned a route pretty well and was encouraged that it went along the hill that I'd climbed unnecessarily on the way to #2. This was a longer route to the right, and mostly around the green along a long rib/spur. I spiked it.

3-4 - I headed for the dirt road through the woods mapped white, but part of what I went through was light green. I never saw the trail intersection that I was going to use for an attackpoint. Realizing it from the road bends, I plunged down at a formline knoll and a spur, ran along the stream reading the bends, and got to the large reentrant northeast of #4. I spiked it.

4-5 - I mostly stayed along the south side of the marsh reading the contours and vegetation along the way. I caught and passed one guy and spiked it.

5-6 - I got onto the road to the west, and ran to the water stop. It was warm and there was a lot more to go, so I drank. I went down the side trail a little before a dropping attack (north) right to the control.

6-7 - I thought I'd see the boulder by going high, but never did. I just read the curving change in steepness until it got me to the stream, then I descended that to the control.

7-8 - I ran low where it was flatter, then after crossing the stream, I climbed back up and spiked it.

8-9 - I'm not sure why I lost time on this other than it being green and steep. I was right on the bearing.

9-10 - I went a little left/higher to reduce time lost crossing the streams. I passed one guy and after passing the last stream, I saw a control. I changed direction to run to it. It wasn't mine and was a dot knoll that I couldn't find on the map. After the race I realized the notes had indicated something about the feature actually being a dot knoll but mapped as a boulder. Fortunately, I didn't lose much time. I adjusted my bearing and went on to spike it. I probably only lost 15-20 seconds.

10-11 - I thought of heading straight to the road, but with that being steep, I angled over. Hitting the steep reentrants at an intersection, I doubled back a little along the edge to save myself from dropping into it--going around was best. I got to the road soon enough on an almost intermittent trail. Along the road, I read the side reentrant and the vegetation. I pulled off in just the right place to allow me to run to the reentrant system that the control was in. I ran along the gully like streams to spike it. I saw Barb Briant ahead leaving the control as I was approaching.

11-12 - Dropping back to the road, I got very hung up in thick vegetation. It was probably mapped as white marsh. Unknowingly, my legs got covered in scratchy stick-em seeds. I passed Barb on the road and went around the bend to attack from the SE. I came down the spur and took a twisting semi-controlled spill, but I was right on target for the control.

12-13 - I dropped low early and ran on bearing. I was confused seeing the hillside continue to drop when I thought I should be in flat ground. I saw a cabin in a field off to the right so I presumed myself to be close to the out of bounds area. Really, I was higher. I caught a younger runner near a stream. I should have known were I was at that point but I was more in race mode. I figured it out soon after and I angled toward the control. Andy Hall came along from behind on my left. I kept right of where he was going and then lost sight of him. I turned out to be too far right but I corrected after climbing.

13-14 - I saw Andy move away to the left of where I was headed. I figured he was on Red, and had another control. I ran straight to the edge of the marsh along the road. Once on the road, I could see Andy Hall ahead. Another younger runner was around too. The finish was pretty obvious, but I chased the younger runner to it.

14-F - I was tired so I didn't sprint hard.

Despite my early errors, I think I did pretty well against the competition, and that it was due to being pretty calm and not rushing. That's a hard balance to find and hold onto.

Day 1 - Green X - Splits

Prince William Forest, VA. From the Pine Grove parking lot, I checked control locations and made some map updates. It was nice to have the day off. I had forgotten to print out a 1:5,000 scale map; I had a 1:10,000 scale printout with control locations to go by. With my eyes these days, that made it hard to do the field checking and to make updates. I was able to make a good many updates to the Pine Grove area. I'll have to get to other locations later.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, Wisconsin Ave. to Norwood Dr., through Norwood Park on the trail to the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT), to Woodmont Ave., to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was a warmer day than it had been. I felt pretty sluggish.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Northfield Rd. I had a lot of stops and starts.

It had been rainy the last 2 days and I was working late. I was less motivated to go out.

From Northfield Rd., to Del Ray Ave., and back. I went into town for lunch and had to rush back for a conference call.

Event: QOC Lake Accotink
 

Lake Accotink Park, VA. Walking from the event pavilion to the start near the dam.

QOC at Lake Accotink, VA. This is the traditional opening event of the club's season. John Torrance set a variation a normal score-o and gave the option for advanced runners to do what he termed a "dog bone" score-o too. The dog bone required one to do designated pairs of controls, and required more strategizing. We were allowed to look at the map before going out, so I looked for a little while. It was set such that once could be efficient through most control pairs. However seeing the routes while standing around is quite different than executing them. The park is small to begin with so with a lot of control pairs, I lost track of which ones I'd done. Running out of time at the far end of the park, I missed a relatively easy pair high up. When I realized it, it was too late to fix it. I did what I could on the way back and finished with almost 4 minutes to spare. It turned out that I'd missed 2 other control pairs without realizing it. It didn't bother me too much. I was happy that I was navigating well, spiking most controls. The worst that I did was leaving one control pair early on and getting over close to the start of another pair that I'd already done (lost about 5 minutes). I figured that the forgetting to do some legs on something like this wasn't so big an issue since it's so different from standard orienteering.

Lake Accotink Park, VA. Walking the finish near the dam to the event pavilion.

From the stone arch bridge at MacArthur Blvd. (near Wilson Blvd.) to the C&O Canal Towpath, to the Angler's Inn parking lot through Great Falls Park, to Falls Rd., to River Rd., to Seven Locks Rd., to MacArthur Blvd and to the stone arch bridge. It was getting late in the day so I took Peggy's advice again and ran from the stone bridge. This way I was not going to get locked-in from my usual starting area at Carderock, on versions of this loop. I felt not so great starting off but with the temperatures in the upper 60s and low 70's F, I got it into gear. My left toe felt better using my road shoes but sometimes I felt the injury from my long run 6 days earlier. For the initial 5 miles, I focused on my running form. I slows on the small climbs at the canal locks but moved well on the long flat stretches. After a restroom break at the Angler's Inn parking area, I moved much slower. The hill is steep and the footing not so great in places but I was just tiring too. At the top, the route was more rolling and I wasn't able to hold my pace. It took some good mental stamina along running on the trails along Falls Rd. and River Rd. It was truly dark by the time I got off River Rd. The hills on Seven Locks were really slowing me down. The last stretch on MacArthur Blvd., was better and it's always fun running across the stone bridge where I finished, knowing that it was once the world's longest stone arch.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. As I neared the station, I could feel my tires being softer than they should have been--after all, I'd just inflated the tires yesterday. I slowed down on the bumps and curves so that I wouldn't crash on a flat tire.

Today marks my 37 year anniversary of training to be a runner. I'd run a few races before then in school, but 9/5/75 was the day I went to Cross Country practice with a friend. It was the second or 3rd day of 9th grade school for me. Others on the team had been training together for almost a month. Today was also my kid's first day of 4th and 7th grade and it'll be interesting to find out what they get involved with that might shape their lives.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to Norwood Park, then to downtown Bethesda. I pulled Samantha and Peggy rode too. We ended up finally buying a replacement dishwasher (to be delivered later). Afterward we tried a new restaurant--expensive with a sort of small serving size, but tasty and supposedly nutritional. By the time we rode back it was dark but I did take it really slowly. I was giving Samantha more practice at multiplication and wanted her to finish a set before we got home--I did small loops to make it work out.

From Black Rock Mill Rd., the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail to the Long Draught Trail, to Thurgood Marshall ES, to Riffleford Rd., then back to Black Rock Mill Rd. via the Seneca Ridge Trail. I need more longer runs to be ready for the long orienteering races in the fall. I hadn't done a variation of this route since before I'd had surgery on my back. The temperature started in the mid 70s F and dropped to the upper 60s F, when I finished. It was also humid from previous rains.

Parts of the route are hilly though there are flat stretches too. Going out it was initially hilly so I wasn't surprised by slow mile times. At MD 118, a sign indicated that a bridge was out somewhere before the next road and that the way was impassable. The lack of bridges doesn't usually stop an orienteer and I knew the trail didn't cross the main creek where it could really be a problem. With the bridge out, that had seemed to decrease the traffic on the trail. The grasses had grown up making it slower, even though there was evidence of someone having bushogged the trail probably 3 weeks ago. There was water on the trail in some places but it wasn't to bad to run around. There was also a detour into the fields at one point. Where the detour returned to the main route, I found the washed out bridge and got across using 2 boards someone had laid over a gully. Slip marks in the mud showed some had trouble crossing, but I got over easily and without slipping.

As I got to Riffleford Rd., I expected to be at about 4 miles, based on my previous runs. However, my GPS was reading 3.6 miles at 44 minutes--I can't ever remember running trail that slow, so I suspected something being off with my GPS. The track for this run looks okay but the GPS track from an October 30th run in 2013 had me at over 4 miles at Riffleford Rd. I did another +2 mile loop past Riffleford Rd. so I'm calling this run 12.5 miles.

Past Riffleford Rd,, circled Thurgood Marshall ES and saw a few people. These were the only people I'd seen not in cars at road crossings, since initially starting (Some hispanic families picnicking and swimming in Seneca Creek were in areas near Black Rock Mill where I started). The trail conditions were good the whole way back. I'd mapped about 1/2 of that way so it was interesting seeing it at this time of year, from a trail running perspective again. Past where I'd mapped, the woods look quite open so I hope to add that field checking sometime. The dearth of anyone else being on the trail was almost disconcerting as my strength slowly drained away. Perhaps some combination of the socks I was wearing or my toe nails being just long enough made it unpleasant when I ran downhill--I had to crunch-up my toes to keep from smashing them and still it hurt. I was strong enough to run up all but the last serious hill, and only where it got too steep.

It was good to get this under my belt and I hope it'll help make other long runs easier. I weight-out at 183 lbs.

From Chevy Chase Lake Dr. and Connecticut Ave., the Georgetown Branch Trail to Porter Rd. (Rosemary Hills ES), then back. It was a whopping 59 F starting out. I recall times when the temperature this time of year was usually closer to 100 F. Heavy rains had occurred earlier but it was starting to dry off. There were only a few muddy spots on the trail. I'd taken Peggy's advice to run this trail while I still could. It's slated to be closed soon. Once a railroad grade, it became a trail again in the 1990s. Now it's slated to become a light railway again. I ran okay, with a surprisingly steady pace except for where the way got steeper.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.