Training Log Archive: Nadim

Jacob Loose Memorial Park, Kansas City, MO. Clockwise around the park on the paved perimeter trail with Spike. It was kind of hot out and we went slowly to warm-up. It worked!

Jacob Loose Memorial Park, Kansas City, MO. Mike Eglinski and Mary Jones had lent me a copy of a Possum Trot Orienteering Club Sprint which had been held recently. Mike and I ran it (Mike started a couple of minutes behind). After being in meetings all day and running a good bit so far this week, I wasn't sure how much effort I was willing to muster. The warm-up, downhill start and the open grass made me feel good starting off. Knowing Mike was somewhere behind me probably gave me incentive to keep up some speed. It felt good. Since we were running without any pre-placed actual controls or ribbons, we had to make quick judgements on exact locations. I was slightly off a few times especially on controls where we had to identify the shape of a boundary edge where the boundary was inditinct and defined by the difference between scattered trees and open ground. I started getting a little tired on the last third of the course but this was just the right distance for me on the day. Splits:

S-1: 0:30, 0:30
1-2: 0:24, 0:54
2-3: 0:38, 1:33
3-4: 1:01, 2:34
4-5: 1:01, 3:36
5-6: 1:03, 4:39
6-7: 0:31, 5:10
7-8: 0:35, 5:46
8-9: 1:01, 6:47
9-10: 0:45, 7:33
10-11: 1:07, 8:40
11-12: 0:41, 9:21
12-13: 0:29, 9:51
13-14: 0:34, 10:25
14-F: 0:21, 10:46

Jacob Loose Memorial Park, Kansas City, MO. For a warm-down, Mike and I jogged through the course. The pace and Mike's navigation helped me realize places where I was off slightly earlier. I must have ineffective in trying to explain to Mike how running faster made the hills seem easier for me. There are some efficiencies when going faster such as being able to carry momentum but that wasn't what I tried to convey. It had to do with the percent of effort accounted for by a climbing a hill at different speeds.

I had some side pain after these runs. It was of the type that I had felt over a year and a half back when I had been passing blood though I didn't seem to do any of that again.

Shawnee Mission Park, KS. After a longer than usual travel day to Kansas City, MO, I made it to the park to meet Mary Jones and Mike Eglinski for a run. We met at the marina parking lot near the tennis courts. I was suprised to see a new paved trail paralleling the roads. Mary was injured so she walked while Mike and I took an easy run on the new unpaved Violet and Orange trails (the old Test Loop trails in the same area are history). We had a decent trail map which showed a good bit of detail. I followed along with a compass and initially had trouble keeping track of where we were. The trails were fun and would have been great to bicycle on. It had been a long time since I had run the dirt trails there. My salad dinner afterward was good but the company better!

My after lunch, lawnmowing was interrupted by a thunderstorm so I went running instead. Though the rain had cooled things off, I got weighed down a bunch with water. I was also still digesting. From Rosedale Ave., I went down Maryland Ave. to Jones Bridge Rd. to Cedar La. to the Elmhirst Trail, to the Rock Creek Trail, to Kennsington Blvd. to Connecticutt Ave. to the Georgetown Branch Trail, to Kentbury Rd. to Rosedale Ave. I started feeling tired after just over a mile and was fortunate to be able to have access to toilet facilities. Available half mile splits were 3:43 and 3:54. There was only one other runner running but a few cyclist; most of the cyclists were hunkered down under sheltering bridges or other makeshift protection.

Out for a family ride, I pulled Max in his trailer while Peggy rode along behind us on her bike. We used a lot of sidewalks and secondary streets. The best part was in Rock Creek. From Rosedale Ave. Rockville Pike and the Elmhirst Trail to Beach Dr., to Grosvenor Rd. to Tuckerman La. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Executive Blvd. to Jefferson St. With stuff in the trailer along with Max, I guess I was pulling 50lbs; Max alone weighs 27.5 now and is just under 3ft. tall. Once we got there, we ate bagels with MCRRC at Panera Bread Co.

From Jefferson St., to Executive Blvd. to Old Georgetown Rd. through various neighborhoods to explore for possible house locations, onto the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd., to the NIH Trail to Battery Rd., to Rosedale Ave. This was basically a return ride from Panera Bread Co. Max started getting tired while returning on the sometimes bumpy paths. They are now calling the NIH Trail the Bethesda Trolley Trail even though the two were separated by over a mile of streets.

QOC Summer Short Series in Greg and Kathleen Lennon's back yard. This is some of the best technical training ground around. The "hike" was a nice course using existing manmade point features. The flags were very low to the ground so you had to be right where you needed to be in order to see them. Several times I would stop, go a few steps forward or to the side and then see the control. There was significant climb, it was humid and the vegetation was a bit out of date; the vegetation was also mapped more appropriately for winter. The temperature at the start was around 90F but it was noticeably cooler in the forest. My water loss was substantial but I kept running. We got there a bit late so I started after everyone; I saw most of them in the woods. Here's a short summary:

S-1: 6:01, 6:01, Out along the trail. I should have climbed the spur but past it and went up an earth bank.
1-2: 1:49, 7:51, Climbed a bit too high to avoid some green that wasn't so bad.
2-3: 3:34, 11:25, I ran a bit to the right. left was probably faster.
3-4: 6:36, 18:02, Fairly straight but a little to the right and past the control at the end. I saw Mark and Patti along the way.
4-5: 2:38, 20:40, Tentative at the end in the silk grass. Though it'd be closer to the road.
5-6: 2:03, 22:43, I ran a bit to the right and then past it just a bit on the left at the end; I'd have spotted a real control flag w/o error.
6-7: 1:55, 24:39, Left a bit. It seemed a long way going right along the ridge at the end.
7-8: 1:43, 26:22, Fairly straight to the intersection and off the curve.
8-9: 2:27, 28:50, The mapping in the area has always confused me. I attempted to go straight and was a bit right at the last reentrant. Fortunately I recognized it. I still couldn't see the flags at the end until I was right there.
9-10: 4:12, 33:03, I should have sucked it up and dropped to the trail. I lost count of the reentrants getting too far right due to the vegetation and paused too often. The trash bag for the water helped me see it at the end. Going high like I did, I should have just pushed straight on until hitting the control or the trail.
10-11: 3:18, 36:22, Straight to cross the trail, up the ridge and off a spur and small knoll to the control.
11-12, 4:11, 40:33, Angle to the trail and down it to the bottom I saw Tom Nolan going up the trail toward my #13 along the way), left, then in. I first went to the prominent permanent manmade fenced sewer before seeing the actual control on the way toward #13.
12-13, 8:31, 49:05, After passing Francis who was getting to #12 and had gone straight, I went up, up, and away rather than take the easier trail like Tom Nolan did. It was a bit more climb and I executed it a bit poorly but it was for training. At the end, I passed some flags that I thought weren't mine and climbed two more contours to the top before coming back.
13-14, 3:46, 52:51, It was wierd that I left going too much south. Tom Nolan had done the same. I relocated quickly and got there okay after that but it was a bit farther up than I had thought.
14-15, 2:00, 54:51, To the trail intersection, then off a bend to spike it through the green.
15-16, 2:12, 57:03, Down the valley, but tentative with pauses. I was getting tired but things weren't mathing up well for me.
16-17, 3:34, 1:00:38, Down and around but I followed the right linear marsh that was mapped instead of the left one. I got too high at the top of that and took a while to figure out that it was just to my right--the low flags weren't visible with the green there so this turned out to be the hardest control on the course for me. I'd have been quicker finding it if we used real controls, but as Greg said, this way there's no control pickup.
17-F, 4:25, 1:05:03, Tired. Down the trails the whole way.

Fun day with a nice relaxing dinner at Tally Ho--a spot I hadn't known about in Potomac, MD. Max had gotten soake by jumping in a stream waiting for us and a bit manically tired.

From Rosedale Ave., roads around E. Bethesda. I thought we were out of diapers so I had another diaper run. This was pretty late; after working on US Champs logistics. Coming back, I ran with my arms full of diapers, baby wipes, pencils and my keys.

C • diapers 1

45 situps at home. I was thinking about running but having other things to do I let it go.

From Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD, to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I felt much more tired today. I warmed-up eventually and got into a good pace. I caught a guy and traded pulls to Georgetown. It seemed there were slight headwinds.

From C. St. SW; Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD. When I had rode in this morning, I had thought I was slipping on some debris on some of the sharper curves. It turned out that I had a slow air leak on my rear tire and the partially deflated clincher was getting stretched/deformed. Going home I had to stop to pump it up. When pumping, I have must have been stressing the presta valve with the tiny road pump I carry for such situations. The copper screw broke off after pumping it but it didn't lose all the air. I managed to make it home without further problem though I was going slower and being careful. I had some mixed winds and traded some pulls before stopping off to pickup both dinner and Max's trailer.

Rockville, MD. From Mark Twain School and Park, I ran a loop going north almost to Lake Needwood, down along Rock Creek, up to Lake Frank, then along the ridge to Rte. 28 before returning. I also ran into the old land fill area. Most of this was in open white woods but there were many steep hill sides to run across and sometimes over. I'll enjoy mapping some of this, hopefully during next winter. I think the land fill area would be fun to use but due to natural gas colllection, we're not likely to get permission to use it for a long while. It's rolling with open fields and various pockets of tree growth. This was a nice night to run. I started before 9:30pm. Though I had a compass, I didn't use a map; staying along big features, I remembered the USGS contours. It was cooler and a bit breezy with a quarter moon out. The people playing baseball at the school where I started probably didn't know what to make of me as I ran past them with my headlamp into the woods.

From Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD, to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I got a late start due to the usual Monday gathering of stuff. My back was tight starting out and after getting to work. It has been that way since needing and taking a nap yesterday after my visit to PWF--I had slept fitfully on my side and had weird dreams probably induced by the aching in my hamstrings. It's a little bit of a good aching. It reminds me of college when I'd train hard and regularly have sleep like that. On the ride, after dropping off Max and his stuff, I got passed in the Bethesda tunnel. I started to respond but I needed to take it easier and the other guy was moving too fast. I caught others and traded a pull on the flats; using a faster cadence really helped on the flats. It was a nice cooler morning with some tailwinds.

From C. St. SW; Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD. Like Friday, I had a lot of headwind. I took it easy until a young guy commuting with a track bike passed me on the flats. I never got on his wheel and was going to let him go but as we climbed, I gained on him. He stayed 100-150m ahead for a long way. He started to pull away again near MacArthur Blvd. so I eased off after River Rd.

Prince William Forest, VA. Starting from the parking lot at the Pine Grove Visitor Center, I ran a variation of what I call the Quantico Creeks route. It was down the Laurel Trail, to the North Valley Trail, to Pyrite Mine Rd., to the Geology Trail, to the North Valley Trail, to Burma Rd., to Taylor Farm Rd., to South Valley Trail, to the North Orenda Rd., to the Laurel Trail, to the parking lot at Pine Grove. It's been a long time since I ran this route. I used to run it from time to time from the 1980s until around the late 1990s but cycling and orienteering have since replaced that fun. I took the opportunity today while Dave Onkst setup some block vetting of his courses. I ran conservatively going out and felt good coming back. It's a rather pretty (and hilly) run and it was a cooler than normal morning (despite getting a later start due to yet another traffic accident on I-95). I saw a few other trail runners.

C • I'm jealous 7

Prince William Forest, VA. I walked and jogged along with Dave Onkst checking control areas, clue descriptions and the mapping.

From Rosedale Ave., to Glenbrook Rd. via Maple Dr., to Kennedy Dr. to the Capital Crescent Trail to Connecticut Ave. to Kentbury Way, to Lynbrook Park, to Lynbrook Dr. to Maple Dr. to Rosedale Ave. Out early while it was rather nice and cool, Peggy, Max and I set off. I thought Peggy was going to ride her bicycle along side of Max and I but with some miscommunication as I dropped off some mail, she went off and ahead. On the spur of the moment, I pieced together a route that I could manage with the babyjogger. I felt a bit tired in places. As part of the usual negotiation, we stopped off at the playground on the way back.

From Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD, to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It took me a bit of time to gather up things this morning. Strapping my laptop around my back, I felt heavier and started slow. It was much cooler than it has been and a good breeze blew. I dropped off Max, and got on the trail a bit after two people passed by. I caught both and drafted off one who picked-up the pace. There were lots of walkers going both ways and forcing us to weave. I guess I made the guy in front of me nervous since as a spot opened up, he slowed. I moved ahead to take a turn pulling but inadvertantly dropped both riders behind me. Moving fast downhill, I could feel some wind resistance. I caught some more peole and drafted off one on the flats who traded a pull into Georgetown. There were good tailwinds along the water. I felt tired at this point so I didn't push the pace the last several miles.

C • KC training 3

From C. St. SW; Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD. I took it easy spinning and had a lot of headwind.

45 situps at home. It was a travel day back home. With it being rainy out, I opted to get some things done around the house.

Boston, MA. After finishing my presentation, I was fortunate to have had the rain stopped and the ground to dry-up. I left the Prudential Center at Belvidere St. & Dalton St., to Boylston St., to Fenway Park. I followed the park along Park Dr. through the Back Bay Fens to the trail along Riverway St. From there, I went to Brookline Ave. Continuing to follow the trail along River Rd., I turned around at about 18:30 at Washington St. Reversing direction but now on the west side of the river to Park Dr. to Fenway then along the south and east side of the creek, to Boylston St., to Dalton St., to Belvidere St. at the Prudential Center. I didn't push much and could have used a restroom returning. It was a nice run that emphasized how liveable Boston can be as long as one can afford it. The famous Fenway Park wasn't visible to me on this run though I did see the lights from the game there the previous night. The many fenced community gardens in the Fens have far more flowers than other similar city gardens that I've seen. Whole enclosures that I would have expected to have vegetables were blooming with Summer's finest. There was a lot of foot traffic along Boylston St.

Boston, MA. From the Prudential Center at Belvidere St. and Dalton St., to Beacon St. via Hereford St., to Massachusetts Ave., across the Charles River (Back Bay) on Harvard Bridge, to Longfellow Bridge via the trail along the river and Memorial Dr., to the trail along Embankment Rd., back to Harvard Bridge/Massachusetts Ave., to Boylston St., to Dalton St., to Belvidere St. at the Prudential Center. I was a bit eagar to get out for a run after day 2 of my meetings. I thought it might be hot but even though sunny, it was breezy and fairly pleasant. I passed a lot of people and kept a good pace on the flat trails. I got slowed a bit on the narrow parts of bridges and because of foot traffic on the sidewalks going through the city. This was a pretty good effort that I was going faster on (than the average pace) wherever it was open enough. There were lots of people out running and cycling--many of the runners were doing a fairly good pace though I passed all that were in sight.

Boston, MA. 45 situps in the hotel. After a day of meetings and dinner with Peggy's transplanted friend from Minnesotta, there wasn't much time to workout.

C • only one 't' 4

Medford, MA. Out at 7:15am, Kristin Hall and Wendy Johnecheck took me on a counter clockwise loop around all three Middlesex Fells reservoirs. We went at a comfortable pace. We talked the whole way which was interesting and made it pass quickly--this was Kristin's estimate of the distance. Not really following a prescribed route, we took mostly outer loop trails and avoided a few dogs without leashes in the process. Wendy finished early so Kristin and I finished with another, slightly faster loop around the south reservoir. It was a nice way to start the morning; I'm almost starting to feel like a runner again with the Hall tag-team giving me two runs over one hour in length in less than 24 hours.

Later in the day Peggy, Max and I walked around Boston Commons, rode the Swann boats, ate lunch and mostly watched Max in the Tadpole Pond play area. It's a nice city.

C • addition 8

Winchester, MA. After waking up slowly, and walking around the Boston Children's Museum a lot, Andy Hall gave me a tour of the Middlesex Fells Reservation. It was very nice. We started from the Long Pond parking lot and tried to stay out of the way of the cyclists. Though orienteering maps exist for parts of the area, much is unmapped. The unmapped parts are considered too thick by local standards but if QOC had such places, we'd have been sure to map them due to the nice rocky point features, confusing trails and contour detail. I think that around here they must have many other nicer places to choose from. At one point on the run Andy and I left our clockwise loop around South and Middle Reservoirs and crossed many ridges to get to an old lookout. I could see my hotel in Medford, the Boston skyline, the harbour and hills beyond--it was very nice! The run distance is estimated just by pace and I was unsure just what that pace was due to the many ups and downs with often rocky footing.

Medford, MA. 45 situps in the hotel room. Our flight from Baltimore was delayed. By the time we got in our hotel, it was about 11pm. Getting to the hotel, we had wandered some darkened streets where the power was out (man holes blew off). We discovered that for the 4th time for us in the last year, the hotel had booked had since changed its name--this one went from AmeriSuites to the Grand Hyatt and raised its rates.

From Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD, to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I started fairly slow and left a little late. It was much cooler than it has been. Very shortly after dropping off Max, I got passed by two older men--they had momentum going up a hill that I was getting going on. One stopped but one kept going after Bethesda Ave. I drafted off of him until River Rd. where I unintentionally dropped him on the bridge climb. After that there was a fairly steady flow of people and some walkers tto pass. There were mixed winds but nice tailwinds along Ohio Dr.

From C. St. SW; Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD. Enjoying the cooler weather, I still had to face headwinds beyond Georgetown. As in the morning, I steadily passed people--I felt pretty good. However, I got caught by a roadie doing 19-20mph up the grade. I latched on for a good way but broke contact as he got past some slower riders and I didn't due to oncoming traffic. By then there were a few more to draft off of and to pull. I stopped for Chipotle before going to the day care for Max's trailer and before going home.

45 situps. I had prepared to run home but working late blew that. I also needed to get things done before going to Boston.

From Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD, to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was about 80F this morning but it was much more humid than yesterday. I had some headwinds and took it easier. Eventually I caught up to a guy wearing a Ride Across the Rockies jersey--the same one that I had gotten. We reminiced the fast descent coming over Wolf Creek Pass and also the wild tailwind of the last 6 miles on the ride into Salida. It's hard to believe that was almost 10 years back.

From C. St. SW; Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD. It was rather humid after the afternoon thunderstorms had passed. I had headwinds to Georgetown. From there, I picked-up one rider in my draft and towed up to River Rd. before he cut off. The rains had left lots of leaves and Sycamore tree bark on the trail. There was one downed limb blocking the trail. I took it easy finishing the ride. It seems like the grade of the hill such that even when I slow down, the resistance stays the same--probably because my cadence slows too.

From Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD, to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was about 81F this morning but it felt cooler after having yesterday afternoon to compare it to. I dropped Max off and as soon as I hit the trail again, there were cyclists ahead of and behind me. I found it hard to hold back. Cruising at 24mph down the hill and 22mph on the flats, I towed a small crew of people behind me all the way from Bethesda to Georgetown. I slowed a bit there and wondered about whether or not I had a tailwind. It's possible but the willow trees that I usually can tell by showed no sign of it.

From C. St. SW; Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD. I had some initial headwinds and took it easy until leaving Georgetown. I had just passed someone and he rode my draft until River Rd. There, he and another guy finally took over. There might have been 4 of us altogether. It was warm out. I pushed hard at times but eased back others.

Greenbelt Park, MD. The QOC Summer Short Series event for the afternoon was setup by Peggy and Kris Beecroft. Dasa Merka's mom watched Max and Alex. It was quite nice. I had not really looked forward to it since the afternoon was so hot and I figured I'd feel it in my legs from the run yesterday. Surprises are a nice thing--there was a breeze and once in the woods, it was fairly cool. I also felt my legs had much more spring in them than anticipated. I hit the first three controls well, catching Dasa Merka on the way to #2. I caught Jan Merka as we both made made a slight mistake on the way to #4 being in the wrong gully/ditch. I passed Mike Brooks on the way to #5 and remembered the location incorrectly; I walked right by it looking on the wrong side of the trail. Mike nearly caught me while HE was walking. On the way to #7, I knew going via the trail would be faster but I decided to test going straight through a green area. I got too far to the right, then remembered the control incorreclty again looking in a green reentrant for a gully that wasn't there. As I corrected, I saw Jan leaving the control but I caught him at the next. I was a bit lucky because I was thinking the control was in a gully much further away that I'd been to many times before; I just happened to pass it on the way there. Catching Jan and moving slightly downhill made me feel good. Going to #8, I opened out my stride getting to the road, then used the road a bit before cutting across the white woods to a trail to get there ahead of Jan; Jan had gone straight through a greener area. I almost stopped early on the way to #9. Forr #12, I was hedging between two gullies but ultimately picked the correct one. This was a fun event. It would have been more challenging and beneficial for me had it been in a park that I was less familiar with. I would have had to go slower in other parks. The event served its purpose which is to get us out to train in the summer heat. Dinner was nice afterward but twice as expensive as the restaraunt used to be.

C • And Valerie 4

From Rte. 355, N. Frederick Ave. in Gathersburg, MD, I took the Greenway Trail up to the creek crossing prior to where the Magruder Branch Trail begins. Dave Onkst and I ran together and started at around 8:30am. The woods were nice and comfortable. I hadn't been there since January 16, 2006 and had only gone about 10.4 miles then. The distance today was measured using Dave's Garmin Wrist GPS. We ran at Dave's pace but even that was much slower than he usually runs on the paved trails around here. On the trail there were several runners, several walkers, a few mountain bikers and a group of people building a foot bridge. Some sections of this stream valley might be worth making into a somewhat narrow map.

Splits and distances:
* Rte. 355 parking to Watkins Mill Rd. parking, ??:?? 2.8 miles
* Watkins Mill parking to Brink Rd. parking, ??:?? 1.4 miles
* Brink Rd. parking to Huntmaster Rd. crossing, 54:27, 1 mile cummulative time
* Huntmaster Rd. crossing to the Seneca Creek crossing/before the beginning of the Magruder Branch Trail, 1:13:??, 1.8 miles & turnaround
* Seneca Creek Crossing to Huntmaster Rd 1:??:??, 1.8 miles
* Huntmaster Rd. to Brink Rd., 1:??:??, 1 mile
* Brink Rd. parking to Watkins Mill Rd. parking, 1:55:18 cummulative time, 1.4 miles
* Watkins Mill Rd. to Rte 355 parking parking, 2:26:20 cummulative time, 2.8 miles

From the Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro Station, down Tuckerman La. to Rockville Pike, to Beach Dr., to the Rock Creek Trail near Franklin St. then north to the Edgebrook Rd. parking lot (north of Randolph St.). Originally I had intended to start from the Medical Center Station but after work, it took longer to get ready than anticipated. I ran with a belt pouch to hold my essentials and left the rest of my clothes at work. The pouch bounced every step and always ended on my left side. Peggy and Max were waiting with my change of clothes and playing on the new playground there. We went to eat and to Home Depot to get some more plants. It got a bit late for Max again.

My legs felt rather awkward and the calf muscles felt twisted but better than they have felt the last few days. Though strong, I was tight and couldn't move with fluidity. I had intended this to be easier but got worried about Peggy and Max waiting. Half mile and mile splits: 3:41, 3:36, 3:35, 7:24, ~7:10. Though a hot day, the shady breezy woods were nice.

45 situps. With storms expected during the time I'd normally bike back, I decided to rest and sit it out. I was tempted to run once home but got started on some things that I rather continue making progress on.

I dug out a garden where a bush used to be and planted some shrubs. I was tempted not to log this but it seemed to wear me out. I had to rest before getting some lunch and I took a short nap afterward.

Provinces Park, Odenton, MD. I did a short sprint course. Despite it being in the open and waiting for my turn with Max while somewhat watching people go across fields/make errors, I made the same errors too. I followed my compass bearing out of #2 toward #3 and it seemed left a bit, going toward a trash can. I blew #4, hedging on which side to go around the fence. I wasn't able to read fast enough that going around on the right would not get me around the fences. I thought I'd jump the fence when I realized that but a look at the thorny plants made me decide to do otherwise--I went around on the left. Going to #5, I wasn't sure about the summer growth potentially blocking the short way through along some paved courts. I went around and got confused almost getting to #6 before realizing I'd passed #5. The rest were okay. I forgot to pickup streamers until the end. This was a poor showing but it loosened-up my legs which had been sore and tired from bicycling and gardening in the sun.

Provinces Park, Odenton, MD. Pickup of streamers which I'd forgotten to get earlier.

Fort Meade, MD. The first sprint warmed me up. My legs stopped aching. Starting the second, my legs felt like the first, sans the soreness. It felt like I was heavy and moving slowly. On #1, I cut through the dark green, and approached fromt the field. I entered the woods again too early and wasn't sure what the control clue was on. I got distracted by some streamers overhead a but north of the sewer before finding it. On #2, I came out of the woods a bit south of the line and had to correct at the end. On #3, there wasn't a clue description. I got on the wrong side of the uncrossable fence, then had to climb over it. I got #4 but started to go around the building on the west side before turning back. #7 was a short leg but leaving #6, I only saw one trail, not two. I realized I was making an error and cut back going around the knoll in the process. I pulled up short on #8 and was confused by the trail intersections shown on the map that I never saw. I spiked #9 and wanted to go straigtht to #10 only a tree was blocking that approach. I came off the parking lot a bit too soon for #15. I got off to the left for #13, on an unmapped ditch. On #14, I hesitated while figuring out hte mapping of green. I picked-up streamers as I went for all but the first control.

Odenton, MD. Jog back to warm down.

From Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD, to C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I dropped Max off but realized that I'd left his lunch and diapers at home. I re-hitched the trailer so I wouldn't have to take it back home later, rode home, then went back to the day care before going to work. It was another nice cool morning. I took it easy most of the way and was feeling sore. There were headwinds most of the way. After crossing the over Canal Rd., I saw a guy pushing his bike up to the Capital Crescent Trail from the towpath. He caught me after about a mile and a half. I increased my speed from around 21mph to +24mph to keep in his draft as he sprinted toward Georgetown. There he slowed and I passed him again--he looked older but it was hard to tell.

From C St., SW, Washington, D.C., to Rosedale Ave. via the Rock Creek Trail, Beach Dr. and the Georgetown Branch Trail. I had some tailwinds initially and seeing the trail to be busy with more potential headwinds, I thought a change of view would be good. There was some construction going on. It was good to ride on the roads instead of the trails though riding the Rock Creek Trail to get to Beach Dr. is much bumpier than the Capital Crescent Trail.

From Rosedale Ave., to C St., SW, Washington, D.C. It was a cool morning for July that started around 58F. I had started slowly and enjoyed Max's singing till I dropped him off. After getting passed a bit before the MacArthur tunnel, I almost decided to let the guy go. Since he didn't pass too fast, I accelerated to be in his draft. He did too so we were steadily going 25-26mph down the hill and +23mph on the flats to Georgetown. He was too fast for me while carrying gear to try to pull for him. There were some winds (out of the NE) and traffic slowdowns finishing up. Though the usual tourist busses weren't around, there was a long line for Washington Monument tickets.

C • Old? 2

From C. St. SW; Washington, D.C. to Rosedale Ave.; Bethesda, MD. I felt sore a bit heading out into some strong winds. I dogged it a bit too until starting the climb and getting more wind protection. It took me a while to catch and pass an older guy who had been passing others while towing his kid up the hill. The trail was somewhat busy.

Prince William Forest, VA. Block vetting of controls. I helped identify suggested map and clue description edits. One control may have to be moved due to a new scientific study that was started right next to it. It was a relatively nice day for July 1--low humidity and a high of around 80F. It was another good day for the ticks too--I removed 4. I still have some minor back pain but it got better as the day went.

After returning home and mowing the lawn, I wacked away with a pick axe again at the root system of the bush that I had removed earlier. I got the main tap root. I started to remove grass to make a new garden but Max and Peggy returned, signaling time for Peggy to run and for me to play ball with Max.