Training Log Archive: NadimIn the 31 days ending Mar 31, 2005:
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Thursday Mar 31, 2005 #
Running (Street & Trail) 22:27 [3] 3.0 mi (7:29 / mi)
slept:6.0
In Fort Collins, CO. From E. Horsetooth Rd., to Northstar Crse. to Warren Lake, around it clockwise on roads and back to E. Horsetooth Rd. I got out early before work so that I could at least do something before flying home in the evening. On my flight home I was literally squeezed into a seat next to a very large guy who could not fit in his seat alone--I think he had too many cookies.
Wednesday Mar 30, 2005 #
Running warm up/down (Warm-up) 15:40 [2] 2.0 mi (7:50 / mi)
slept:6.0
In Fort Collins, CO. From the visitor parking lot off W. Prospect Rd. in Colorado State University, to the Jack Christiansen track and around it several times. A coldish (~37F) wind was whipping snow showers out of the north snapping the flag straight out. I got there just as the track was officially opening to the public at 6pm.
Running intervals (Track) 18:19 [5] 1.65 km (11:06 / km)
It felt like a pitiful effort trying to do 8 x 200m with a 200m jog. I used to race 1,600m faster than my splits would have added up to (34.6, 37.3, 36.3, 37.6, 37.8, 36.4, 37.3, 36.2). Even with mostly a tailwind it felt slow yet I was tiring less than 100m into each run.
Running warm up/down (Warm-down) 20:36 [3] 2.6 mi (7:55 / mi)
From the Jack Christiansen Track in Fort Collins, CO along the train tracks and College Ave to the Spring Creek Trail headed east. From the Prospect St. underpass I turned around and ran back to Centre Ave. to the CSU visitor parking lot off Prospect Rd.
Tuesday Mar 29, 2005 #
Calisthenics (General) 2:00 [3]
slept:7.5
I thought to run after eating so I could see the Amazing Race but couldn't find it on the tube. Instead I ate first and got tired. 45 situps.
Monday Mar 28, 2005 #
Running (Trail) 1:03:09 [3] 8.0 mi (7:54 / mi)
slept:4.0 weight:170lbs
In Fort Collins, CO. From Horestooth Rd. into the Pine Ridge Natural Area looping over the ridge, around the Dixon resevoir and other side loops. The maps led me astray when searching for the Foothills Trail so I didn't have time to get up there. The prarie dogs were cool. Starting off into the stiff wind up the ridge and feeling lack of sleep, the change in altitude (~5,000ft.) and yesterday's runs, I felt rather weak. The sun and running w/o sweats was nice.
Sunday Mar 27, 2005 #
Running warm up/down (Warm-up) 11:11 [2] 1.85 km (6:03 / km)
slept:7.0 weight:171lbs
In Pocahontas State Park and Forest southwest of Richmond, VA. Warm-up with Dave Onkst on the roads with a couple of pickups.
Orienteering race (Score-O) 1:07:21 [4] 6.29 km (10:42 / km)
QOC: Pocohantas State Park Score-O. Course setter Tim Gilbert gave us our maps in which all the controls fit within only 2/3's of an 8x11" page and explained that due to the downfall, he didn't think anyone would be able to get all 20 controls in the allotted 90 minutes. All the MD contingent did except Peggy who injured her ankle early in the course and made a good decision to go back early. Starting after Ted Good, Peggy, and Dave Onkst. With a road down the middle of the map it divided the controls up neatly. I decided to do the west half first since they seemed easiest--I wanted to get a feel for the map which had been photocopied, blown-up to 1:10,000 from the original 1975 1:20,000 version and none of the vegegation except clearings was shown. I whipped through the first half tentatively at first but picking-up speed and getting 11 of 20 in under half an hour. I went slow to my first control and missed #20 by a spur over because new changes to the road threw me off. I missed on #19 by climbing much too early being in a couple reentrants over. I missed on #18 (too far south), took a slow route to #15, and made a massive parallel error leaving #14 headed toward #13 (I got near #12 and zig-zagged back toward #14 before relocating). I also overshot #11, then left it wrong getting to the finish. I estimate about 9:00 of errors.
Control Time Error
9 2:08
8
7 4:59
6 2:58
3 2:16
5 1:42
2 2:16
4 1:46
1 1:48
20 3:07 1:00
19 6:12 1:00
18 3:46 1:00
17
16 5:39
15 3:47 0:40
14 1:45
13 8:54 5:00
12 3:46
10 3:05
11 4:37 0:40
F 2:41 0:20
Control Time Error
9 2:08
8
7 4:59
6 2:58
3 2:16
5 1:42
2 2:16
4 1:46
1 1:48
20 3:07 1:00
19 6:12 1:00
18 3:46 1:00
17
16 5:39
15 3:47 0:40
14 1:45
13 8:54 5:00
12 3:46
10 3:05
11 4:37 0:40
F 2:41 0:20
Orienteering (Scouting) 2:12:46 [2] 7.6 km (17:28 / km)
In Pocahontas State Park and Forest, southwest of Richmond, VA. Dave Onkst organized another crew (Dave, Mike Ball, Keg Good, Ted Good, Peggy and myself) to examine parts of the park that we didn't run the Score-O through. The large park had been used for an A-meet in 1975. Contours were still very good and not very steep. I started just below the lower dam on the west end of the park cold and wet from the shin deep crossing. I explored the northern portion of the park above the lake back to the footbridge and parking area in the east. The initial loop I did was great with open woods, a few boulders and other point features. Old felled areas looked ominous but once in these closely spaced pines, one could still run at a slow pace and linear broken ground areas were inside; leftovers from felling that were probably bulldozed together. These sometimes formed dot knolls. The pine areas were often 100m wide and with several of them, it was easy to pass through and make errors when emerging back into the oaks. There were some large fallen oak trees but these could be run around. Going west, I found it got a little worse. The pine areas were older and fallen branches motivated me to change directions when running through. In a couple places there were series of rides and more linear broken ground features that didn't follow contours--these would be technical when matched against contour features. I passed some nice streams with some boulders, a slightly thorny marshy area with blowdown, several roads, a big open felled area, some smaller trails, and nice areas along the lake. It seems worth the effort to map this park however, the club would need to think of the ability to perform logistics for an A-meet so far from the majority of members. The two hour drive south from Bethesda took closer to 3:30 coming back in heavy holiday traffic and rain.
Saturday Mar 26, 2005 #
Running warm up/down (Warm-up) 5:00 [2] 0.5 mi (10:00 / mi)
slept:4.75 weight:169.5lbs
In Brandywinde State Park, DE for DVOA's meet. We ran into traffic on the drive up I-95 and had to rush a warm-up run to the restrooms and back to the start. However, the drive up was fun with the QOC crowd discussing O' technique yet self-depricating our abilities to live-up to them.
Orienteering race (Competition) 1:05:26 [4] *** 7.69 km (8:31 / km) +280m 7:12 / km
spiked:10/15c
DVOA: Brandywine Creek, near Wilmington, DE. Starting after 1pm with Mihai Veres, Ted Good, Dave Onkst, and Michael Warlters minutes ahead, I chased. I only ever saw Michael but placed okay. I kept second guessing myself, changing plans and resulting with errors. Since we were rushed starting after starts were to end, I lost a little time at controls by not having written control descriptions and codes on my card. I had to verify by unfolding the maps then find myself on the course again after checking the codes. See the Split List--I have been getting so used to e-punching that I kept forgetting to take splits at several controls.
Friday Mar 25, 2005 #
Calisthenics (General) 2:00 [3]
slept:5.0 weight:169lbs
Exercising the mind today. Heidi Onkst got us together to go to a play in one of her company's theatres. It was on a Columbine story; very well written, executed, acted and timely. Maybe the production aspects will spur me to run well at Brandywine. 45 situps.
Thursday Mar 24, 2005 #
Calisthenics (General) 2:00 [3]
slept:5.25 weight:169lbs
Working late again after taking a day off leaves me little time for running. 45 situps.
Wednesday Mar 23, 2005 #
Running (Street & Trail) 54:14 [3] 7.29 mi (7:26 / mi)
slept:5.75 weight:168.5lbs
From Old Georgetown Rd. and Montrose Rd. to Randolph Rd. to the Rock Creek Trail to Cedar Ln. to Rockville Pike, to Jones Bridge Rd. to Maryland Ave. to Rosedale Ave. With our zoning variance hearing today, I took the day off. It rained hard all day so expecting a wet one, I grabbed the heavy Goretex and got a ride w/Peggy to a fabric store so I could run back. The rain stopped but it was still ~40F. I felt tired pretty soon after getting to the Rock Creek Trail and must have been dropping in blood sugar levels as I got light headed (this has happened several times this week even when not running). Slowing and taking off my gloves I recovered and decided not to extend it as planned; I headed straight home. Because I was expecting flooded trail (only a bit of it was under water) I had used my old running shoes--they felt hard and didn't cushion much for my left knee. Oh yes; the variance hearing was positive but not yet finalized.
Tuesday Mar 22, 2005 #
Calisthenics (General) 3:00 [3]
slept:5.75 weight:168.5lbs
Working late again to get on-track for being off tommorow, I found myself too beat too do anything but 45 situps. I've been really sleepy this week.
Monday Mar 21, 2005 #
Bicycling (Resistance Trainer) 43:30 [3]
slept:6.0 weight:169lbs
I was sleepy all day and with some sore spots around the ankles I thought to just ride and read.
Sunday Mar 20, 2005 #
Running warm up/down (Warm-up) 10:00 [2] 1.15 mi (8:42 / mi)
slept:6.5 weight:169.5lbs
Jogging around the Prince William Forest Turkey Run parking lot to warm-up for QOC's meet.
Orienteering race (Competition) 1:45:02 [4] **** 9.56 km (10:59 / km) +335m 9:21 / km
spiked:8/11c
QOC at Prince William Forest; South Fork, Quantico Creek. QOC's course setter trainee's set the course under the direction of Francis Hogel. I should have expected the classic long leg of Francis' courses but was surprised to find 6 legs approaching or well over 1K. Mistakes were costly with few easy relocation features. I enjoyed it all including the almost 60F day. I lapsed concentration twice and paid the price (~4:00 and 10:00 minutes); I not only lost my place but suddenly presumed I was elsewhere on the course at big reentrant junctions. I think the lack of taking a Gu with me added fatigue and contributed to the mental errors. The starts were from Turkey Run Ridge thus allowing us to get to many nice parts of the park that I was not very familiar with. See the Split List.
Orienteering warm up/down (Control Pick-up) 26:30 [2] *** 2.11 km (12:34 / km)
spiked:3/3c
I was pretty beat after running around at #8 so long. However with few people to pickup and Jon Torrance's inspiring dual races, then control pickup, I decided to grab a few controls and e-punch boxes too--thanks for waiting Peggy... Jon ran a 10 mile trail race in the park getting 3rd and then ran 77 minutes on the same Blue course that just took me 104 minutes. Scary thunder sounded as I gathered them but no rain fell on me. My left ankle/achilles hurt some.
Saturday Mar 19, 2005 #
Orienteering (Scouting) 1:35:00 [2] 3.0 mi (31:40 / mi)
slept:6.25 weight:171lbs
In Cunningham Falls State Park, MD. Dave Onkst got together eight adventurous and eager QOC members. We hiked and jogged about to evaluate the William Houck area for mapping and a 2007 A-Meet. It was promising. The woods were mostly open but rocky. There were sudden changes where some areas of blowdown occurred. Elevation gain would pose some setting problems to solve. There were plenty of point features unbecoming of the usual QOC terrain such as boulders, charcol terraces and rocky knolls. There were enough trails for beginner courses too. The consensus of this committee was that this should be mapped.
Orienteering (Scouting) 2:42:00 [2] 6.75 mi (24:00 / mi) +400m 20:16 / mi
In Cunningham Falls State Park, MD. For round two of scouting the park, we split-up. I started from the Manor Area and rounded the south side of Bob's Hill to the top. Nearer to the bottom I discovered useable unmapped roads, trails, a distinct clearing, and multiple charchol terraces. Some of this was just outside the park boundary. Above 900ft. the mountain laurel got in the way along with downfall. Above that I did discover an interesting 100m wide shelf that was rimmed with small boulder clusters and another trail but vast areas were disappointing due to downfall and more pervasive mountain laurel which required much walking. Coming down again on the NE side of the Catoctin Trail, things were bland with some deadfall at first but runnable if contouring the hillside chasing after rootstock. It got much better again below 900ft. There, multiple ditches would make for some tricky stuff. Upon getting back, most others were dissapointed too except for Dave Pruden and Sam Listwak. They found some wild contours in what appeared to be a mined area low down along Rte. 15. Coming up the power lines and over the mountain one way, Tom and Andy Strat did find a little nice stuff getting to the Manor Area. They were pleased at Cat Rock too. Questions remain if we could put enough of this together for a second map. My left achilles started to hurt coming down.
Friday Mar 18, 2005 #
Calisthenics (General) 4:00 [3]
slept:5.5 weight:170lbs
It was a busy evening seeing Tango and then celebrating Heidi Onkst's birthday with Dave and Tim by squaredancing. By the time I got home I could only muster 45 situps and 20 painful pushups.
Thursday Mar 17, 2005 #
Running (Trail) 55:07 [4] 7.92 mi (6:58 / mi)
slept:5.5 weight:169lbs
From the Glenn Dale Community Center and Splash Park I went out and back on the Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis Trail (WB&A) to/from the parking lot at Race Track Rd. I was out in my old Bowie haunts for work and for Tango's surgery. I started out feeling this was a level 3 (though flat, going out was more downhill). I didn't think I felt well enough to hold the pace) but I pretty much did and finished strong (hence the level 4). More speed work would help. My endurance was good but I found it difficult to just move my legs fast and difficult to gauge pushing on hills. My left knee and ankle groaned just a little in the beginning and I worked on using better form at the left heel strike--thick socks helped. Half mile splits: 3:29, 3:27, 3:29, 3:28, 3:24, 3:32, 3:22, 27:29 (at the turn around), 3:26, 3:27, 3:34, 3:29, 3:28, 3:32, 3:23.
Wednesday Mar 16, 2005 #
Bicycling (Resistance Trainer) 38:00 [3]
slept:5.5 weight:170lbs
Working late again... Just some time on the trainer reading.
Tuesday Mar 15, 2005 #
Calisthenics (General) 4:00 [3]
slept:6.0 weight:168.5lbs
Working late. 45 situps and 20 pushups (Right shoulder still hurts). I was a bit sore from yesterday's sprinting (good) and walking to work made my left ankle hurt (bad).
Monday Mar 14, 2005 #
Orienteering warm up/down (Control Pick-up) 34:00 [2] * 2.63 km (12:56 / km)
spiked:5/6c slept:6.0 weight:169.5lbs
I was back at UMD to pickup controls inadvertantly leftover from yesterday's meet. One appears to have been stolen. Doing this at night with only my little Petzel light was much more difficult and would be fun for a summer event. My hands froze since my gloves got dropped before I got into my car when leaving home. I was a little sore from yesterday and my left knee was bothersome most of this jog. My knee got better at the end.
Running intervals (Track) 17:53 [5] 3.2 km (5:35 / km)
Since I already had to be there to pickup controls, I took advantage of the lighted track. I had it and the cold (36F) wind all to myself. I ran fartlek with 16 110m sprints mostly on the straights, then easy full recovery jogs on the curves. This was enough to warm my cold bare hands.
Running warm up/down (Warm-down) 4:13 [2] 0.5 km (8:26 / km)
Warm-down on the UMD Track.
Sunday Mar 13, 2005 #
Running warm up/down (Warm-up) 12:00 [2] 1.3 mi (9:14 / mi)
slept:7.25 weight:168lbs
At the University of Maryland, College Park for QOC's meet hosted by the Terrapin Trail Club. Warm-up in the parking lot and to/from the track. My knee felt better but not much at first.
Orienteering race (Score-O) 1:02:17 [4] * 8.57 km (7:16 / km)
spiked:37/41c
QOC at UMD. This was a Street-0 held on the UMD campus. There were 45 controls set with equal value. I got 41. I intentionally skipped 2 of them due to time shortage (Jon T. who had raced XC earlier in the morning got all of them with 15 seconds to spare and I estimate it would have taken me about 3 more minutes to pick them up). Some were hidden away in building nooks and bushes. At least 4 on the course were set incorrectly. There were a few other map problems like 3 controls being shown inside an unpassable building (stadium) that was really partially passable. This led to people not knowing how to get in/out and losing time. I was confused right out of the start by the north south lines being at angles to the paper edges; it drew me to a control that I might otherwise have gotten later. The order I went was: 44, 19, 16, 17, 18, 1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 24, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 45, 30, 31, 32, 33, 37, 36, 34, 35, 38, 41, 43, 42, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. I had troubles in the stadium, and more minor troubles with 8, 28 (came at it from the wrong side and couldn't see it over the hedge right next to me), 32 (miss-hung), 38, and 41. I got distracted being yelled at when safely crossing the collegiate bike race course and inadvertantly skipped right past number 2 out in the open. Being 2:17 over the one hour limit, I had a 3 point penalty. I measured the distance in straight lines through uncrossable features. Afterward, my right achilles hurt a little--one more joint going down. All in all, it was a fun outing on a decent but windy day and I got in an game of disc golf afterward in which I was much improved.
Saturday Mar 12, 2005 #
Bicycling (Mountain) 57:33 [3] 9.0 mi (6:24 / mi)
slept:8.25 weight:168lbs
I decided to take Rich Feliciano's advice to explore the trails off Rock Creek and near the Army Medical Center. I ran the paved trails there last summer. Riding out from Rosedale Ave. on the Georgetown Branch Trail to the Rock Creek Trail, after crossing the bridge I turned left and stayed along the creek when the trail split. It was flat and a bit wet initially (0.88 miles to the next bridge). Someone had blazed the trail purple not long ago. Cutting right I went up more of the purple trail eventually reaching the northern most paved trail and going up to Linden La. I came back and turned left when I could on the purple trail. Not very suitable for my riding ability it got to me to the southern paved trail and into the medical center. Eventually I rode back up the Rock Creek Trail to Connecticutt Ave. and home along Jones Bridge Rd.
Friday Mar 11, 2005 #
Running (Trail) 38:51 [4] 5.57 mi (6:58 / mi)
slept:5.5
In Greenbelt Park, MD. I flew back to BWI and found cold rain. Having to pickup Tango from the specialist vet in Bowie I decided to take advantage of the proximity to the park to run the Perimeter Trail. Getting there I found it sunny and in the 50's F. I ran without sweats. The trail was a bit mushy in places with new sections of downed trees (I stopped the clock for most of these). I ran right into one of the low tree branches at almost full speed and bruised-up my left shoulder good. The soft ground was good for my left knee. I pushed some but I was still slow on hills. I was glad to run this pace again especially on this course.
Thursday Mar 10, 2005 #
Calisthenics 4:00 [3]
slept:4.25 (rest day)
In New Orleans, LA. My late dinner the previous night led to staying up to revise my Thursday presentation. It went well but left me tired today. With one night left and my knee needing a rest anyway, I decided to make it a rest day and reward myself by exploring the town more. I quickly did 45 situps and 20 pushups. The pushups hurt my right shoulder. With my right front shoulder, my left shoulder blade and left knee all hurting, I feel somewhat banged up. Walking about I found another nice place to eat. Upon finishing, standing up and walking, I actually hurt for eating too much and finishing the sampler--a substitute for the Cookie Diet. The waiter pining for a good tip gave me one first--I went to Frenchman's St. and Snug Harbor and heard Tuey Connell's 4 piece jazz guitar band. The music and improv was excellent but Tuey could be richer sticking to what he does best and not sing so much--ahh but it not always best separate talents from what feeds the soul. Other club's on the street were good too and could be heard almost as well from outside as from in. In contrast, on the southern Sin City's famous Bourbon St. the bands there made up for talent by adding good looking and synchronized dancing lead singers along with more amplification. Too bad my other rest days aren't this good.
Wednesday Mar 9, 2005 #
Running (Street & Trail) 56:51 [3] 7.5 mi (7:35 / mi)
slept:4.5
In New Orleans, LA. I took another slow streetcar up Canal St. to the end of the line at the cemetaries to get to a starting point. Dark when I started, I took City Park Ave. to Marconi Dr. where City Park starts. I followed Marconi Dr. all the way to Lake Pontchartrain (28:55) and dipped my fingers in before returning. I had wanted to run inside the park more but with it being dark and knowing that most of the roads on the Internet map dead end I just stayed along the edge. Most of this didn't have sidewalks so I used the grassy shoulder. The early part near the cemetaries did have a sidewalk but the concrete was broken up and very uneven. My left knee hurt enough on it that I probably should have stopped but I was eagar to use my tourist time here and went on slow. The knee felt better before long. Though I didn't see any Snowy White Egrets in the trees like yesterday, it still would have been prettier in the daylight. At the dark lake I could just make out the far shoreline of the inland sea. A slight rain started on the way back.
C • 7
Tuesday Mar 8, 2005 #
Running (Street & Trail) 1:05:40 [3] 8.75 mi (7:30 / mi)
slept:6.5
In New Orleans, LA. with temp. about 60F. After work I took the St. Charles St. streetcar (a.k.a. "Streetcar Named Desire") from Canal St. to Audobon Park (The tourists, commuters and I had bad traffic for 4 blocks--accounting for 15 minutes--then stopped about every other block after that so it took 40 minutes). Finally there I jumped out and ran around Audobon Park clockwise taking the extension to the Mississippi River. According to a runner the short loop would have been 1.8 miles and the long one 5k. It seemed to be taking longer and with the sun setting and the bends of the river confusing me, I made a wrong turn at Magazine Rd. I ended up looping back to the river the way I had run earlier. I reversed steps and completed the full long loop of Audobon Park. Since the streetcar had taken so long getting to the park I decided it would be good to run back. I was warned that people (students from Loyolla and Tulane) don't usually run in Audobon Park in the dark due to crime but they do run in the dark right on the dirt between the streetcar tracks in-between the cars going both directions. The usual pattern is for someone to run on the tracks facing the oncoming cars then move out of the way to the other track when the car gets somewhere within 100m. It worked for me. I was told getting back to Canal St. would be 3.5 miles. Though tired from Sunday there's no way I ran that slow and think it was 4 miles. The run on St. Charles St. was nice with antebelum mansions (some of which have become hotels) and big churches. Going back to Canal St. (30:42) I passed about 6 streetcars going the other direction. None passed me but I caught and passed one.
Monday Mar 7, 2005 #
Calisthenics (General) 3:00 [3]
slept:6.5 weight:166lbs (rest day)
I flew to New Orleans for some meetings this week. I had intended to do a little more than 45 situps and 10 pushups but arrived too late with thunderstormy warm weather. The pushups were weak but my right shoulder hurt less than it had last I tried. Running this week could be difficult here in the French Quarter and the gym charges each day. I suppose some rest would be okay. My last week paltry 3.5 hours of running was the most I'd done since August when I ran the Catoctin Trail. Before that I had to go back to February 2004 just before getting an achilles injury.
Sunday Mar 6, 2005 #
Running warm up/down (Warm-up) 11:51 [2] 1.2 km (9:52 / km)
slept:7.0 weight:167lbs
In Westmoreland State Park, VA. Warm-up for QOC's meet. It was a nice sunny day close to 50F at the start. I did a couple of strides too. My right knee complained a little.
Orienteering race (Ridge & Reentrant) 1:50:24 [4] *** 10.85 km (10:11 / km) +365m 8:43 / km
spiked:15/19c
QOC at Westmoreland State Park, VA. The 20 year old map had been updated partially by Scott Pleban who was also the course setter. Heavy blowdown from a hurricane 18 months back made the flatter tops and a couple of the bottoms of reentrants rough running. Reentrant bottoms were often mud-sucking flat wet marshes. Hillsides were very steep and tall. Though the contours are advertised on the map at 5m, the originals were 20ft. so I don't think these had been updated. If true, this means the climb was higher and it felt like it. There were several doglegs on the course but route choice was emphasized in design. I mostly did okay on route choices but my #3-#4 leg was not optimal partially due to on-the-fly adjustments for unmapped blowdown. Some real dog legs appeared at control #7. A big black lab (one of several things today reminding me of Piper who was also black) left it's owner and followed me through almost 6 controls. We crossed the park over two big ridges and two marshes. At a campground, he either got too tired or decided the campground was a people place and he should stop. A couple minutes later I was stopped by it's owner who drove around and luckily recognized me as just as I was crossing the park road. I directed her back (17 seconds) to the campground where after the dog followed two other runners, dog and owner were reunited. I caught Ted Good when he made an uncharacteristic error and though he out-navigated me from controls #13-#19 (I made three less than optimal route choices), I cramped less than he and got in first. See the Split List.
Orienteering (Control Pick-up) 52:24 [2] *** 3.14 km (16:41 / km)
spiked:6/7c
Meet director Mike Brooks had controls all over the place and due to the remoteness of the park, no pre-assigned volunteers for pickup. Ted Good, Francis Hogel, Michael Warlters and I split it up. I picked-up the far away ones by driving around. I picked-up #5-#11 of the Blue course in the exact order of the race. I certainly wasn't runing as fast. Getting to #5 I had to cross the grain of the blowdown for half a kilometer. I was cramping good by the end.
Saturday Mar 5, 2005 #
Running (Trail) 35:13 [3] 4.9 mi (7:11 / mi)
slept:7.5 weight:168lbs
I did not make it to the sprints in DVOA. From Carderock Recreation Area, I went north on the C&O Towpath to the Widewater Mile Mark 13, then back via the towpath and the Billygoat Trail Section B. Going out mile marker splits were 7:11 (0.99 mile) and 5:56 (0.84 mile somewhat into the wind). I slipped and fell on a rocky part of the Billygoat Trail but landed so that I only felt it in my right shoulder which had been bothering me before. This was a beautiful run in the sun along the wild waters of the Potomac River but one heavy of heart with a little one on my mind. After our run I stood alone on Carderock to watch the sun set over the river, listening to the water and birds and I said more goodbyes.
Friday Mar 4, 2005 #
Running (Street & Trail) 43:28 [3] 5.96 mi (7:18 / mi)
slept:6.0 weight:170lbs
From Rosedale Ave., Chestnut St. to Lynnbrook Dr. to Jones Bridge Rd. to Kensington Pkwy. to the Rock Creek Trail to the Old Georgetown Branch Trail, to Kentbury Dr. to Rosedale Ave. & Maryland Ave. 7:17 mile split on the RC Trail. Tonight's run in the cool air and dark was contemplative. I'm very bummed because I reached the conclusion with my vet that I must put one of my cats down tommorow. The other is sick too but so far in much better shape. They both have been with me through thick and thin over the last 15 years and are considered family. One of my early enjoyments out of running 29 years ago was the escape it provided me while growing up. Maybe that's why I always think of myself as a runner. Running has partly been a natural crutch/strength in this way for me when stressed; the strides a metronome bringing things back to normal as well as getting me away. Context is everything when stress makes us try to make meaning of things. As I ran I picked-up on the many dog walkers and yard barkers that I passed and remembered good and bad times with my kitty Piper. With Piper's impending death on my mind, I happened upon debris on the sidewalk off Jones Bridge Rd. Snapping to attention I soon came upon the reason. Just minutes or a minute earlier a car came over the sidewalk, through some tall bushes and landed overtuned in someones yard. Several people were helping before the police and ambulance were heard and seen. I kept running and before getting home I started feeling better.
Thursday Mar 3, 2005 #
Calisthenics (General) 2:00 [3]
slept:6.5 weight:169.5lbs
Working late, hunger for dinner and cat troubles conspire to make a lame 45 situps my workout for the day.
Wednesday Mar 2, 2005 #
Running (Street & Trail) 41:23 [3] 5.56 mi (7:27 / mi) +77m 7:08 / mi
slept:6.0 weight:170lbs
From Rosedale Ave. to Kentbury Ave., to the Georgetown Branch Trail to the Rock Creek Trail via Susanna La. to East-West Hwy & Meadowbroook, to the Georgetown Branch Trail via Terrace Dr. over the bridge over Rock Creek to Kentbury Ave. to Rosedale Ave. It was around 29F out with a strong wind so I aimed for some sheltering trees. The trail had some snow and ice but mostly was okay. I still felt weak on hills but better than the last time out this way. My left shoulder hurt again. It's getting worse. I feel a sharp pulling sometimes when I swing my arm forward. My knees bothered me going out on the downhills.
Tuesday Mar 1, 2005 #
Running (Street & Trail) 37:29 [3] 5.05 mi (7:25 / mi)
slept:6.75 weight:171lbs
From Rosedale Ave., Battery La. to Huntington Blvd., Gargield St. to Hemsted Ave. to Sonoma, around Arylawn Park to Johnson Ave to Old Georgetown Rd. to the NIH Trail to Jones Bridge Rd. to Maryland Ave. to Rosedale Ave. I'm still feeling the remnants of being sick. I felt virtuous for persevering. I took a nap and held off dinner till I felt more ready to run. Though not fast at all, I felt okay once I got out. It's a wonder what a good pair of socks will do for your feet. Going mostly downhill through NIH I did 6:56 for a mile.