Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Rosedale. Ave. Battery La. to Glenwood Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. to Maple Ridge Rd. to the NIH/Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Jones Bridge Rd. to Maryland Ave. to Rosedale Ave. I rushed to get this run in before hooking-up with Ted & Darcy Good and Dave and Heidi Onkst for the evening. After dinner, we had a nice time playing Apples to Apples.

Year-end Summary:

Activity Hours Miles
Orienteering 121:54 241.93
Bicycling 66:38 934.36
Running 63:16 574.92
Other 9:00:00
Calisthenics 4:30:00
Hiking 3:02:16 2.93
Swimming 5:00

Total 268:27 1,754.14

I view the above totals as rather pathetic in terms of training. In particular, orienteering training was down a lot from 192 hours in 2006. My excuse is that working out was not my top priority and perhaps not even my 3rd or 4th. I also got sick and injured a much larger portion of the year than any I can remember in the past. Because I spent a bunch of time vetting this year, some of the orienteering exercise does not include distance which I would normally include. On the other hand, much of the orienteering time includes mapping which is good technical training but usually not much for physical conditioning. My control spiking accuracy was 73%; same as in 2006 and 2003. I was 72% in 2005. That's not a lot of improvement but perhaps I'm more discrete about what I call spiking a control now and I think I'm more confident in taking a more challenging & quicker route than before. There were some gains as was sought after at the begining of 2007. I did increase mileage cycling (not time) and running (time and mileage). A portion of the cycling and a small portion of the running includes time on an indoor trainer for which I don't show miles. I think a major detriment to my ability to train is my apparent inability to sleep more--I always feel like I have more to do or want to do more. I did get better at squeezing workouts in while commuting. More mental than physical, my commitment to do something each day helped me keep coming back to trying to workout better--it amounted to about 4.5 hours of situps, 2 minutes at a time. Twenty years ago this kind of thing would have been a minimum of a half-mile run at a fast pace.

There's a lot up in the air for me in 2008 but I do hope to do a rogain or other long distance event during the year. I also will still aim to get more sleep again.

Cabin John Regional Park, Montogemery County, MD. From the playground area off Tuckerman Ln. I followed the Cabin John Trail north to Goya Rd., then returned with a terrain run on the hilltops between the creek and I-270. As seemingly always these days, I looked at the area from the standpoint of mapping it. Visibility was good almost the whole way. I ran around the areas of green woods but didn't see a lot of green woods either. There were enough boulders, stony ground, ditches, depressions and pits to use for orienteering. The difficulty would not be very hard but the running is good even over the bigger hills. In the past when I'd followed the main trail, I had always lost it and found myself on minor ones later. The blazes must have been re-painted this time. I returned to find Peggy and Max still playing hard, and in the same place where I'd left them. I started raining when we left.

Washington, D.C.: From the intersection of Nebraska Ave. NW and Oregon Ave. NW, into Rock Creek Park, following mostly the Western Ridge Trail to Blagden Rd. then onto the Theodore Roosevelt Trail to the Valley Trail to Beach Dr. via the Rolling Meadow Bridge, to Nebraska Ave. NW via the paved trail along Bingham Dr. NW. This is a very hill route. The Western Ridge Trail goes up and down a lot before dropping a good bit to the valley at Bladgen Rd. There were many rutted sections where the trail was covered with wet leaves. The section of the not necessarily properly named Valley Trail that I ran heading back is a good candidate for the toughest trail in the park. It never climbs very far out of the valley but continually goes up and down steeply. Fortunately, there were fewer wet leaves covering it but there were plenty of tree roots and rocks sticking out. In years past, I was able to keep pace with slower runners below (on the smooth, straight, but gradually climbing Beach Dr.) but not today. Since it was about 52F when I started, I ran in shorts and a long sleeve shirt.

Since it was raining out I opted to spin a bit. I had spent much of the evening getting my new cycling computer (a gift from Peggy's sister's family) installed with all the kinks worked-out. It has a cadence monitor feature so I could see that I wasn't really spinning all that fast; initially and at the end I was over 60 rpm but in the middle I was doing a bit under 60 rpm. It's a long way from the 75 to 80 that I'd do for hours outdoors in years long past but that's very achievable again with some consist training.

From Rosedale Ave. Maryland Ave. to Jones Bridge Rd. to Rockville Pike, to Cedar La. to the Elmhirst Pkwy. to Cedar La. to the Rock Creek Trail to Kennsington Pkwy. to Jones Bridge Rd. to Lynbrook Dr. to Chestnut St. to Maryland Ave. to Rosedale Ave. Going running from home after work I felt a little guilty leaving Max and Peggy behind. I like this run and hadn't done it much this year. Running in 44-45F weather sure felt nice. Also nice was not slipping around on the snow. I was fairly tight at the base of the spine starting out the first mile but I ran pretty smoothly later and through the end of this run. I did start getting tired on the hill climbs toward the end.

C • don't feel guilty! 1

After a leisurely morning at the hotel, some chasing of Max as we partook in the amusement rides in the Mall of America, and the long flight back home, I got on my bike at home in my basement. Outside would have been good too. After Minnesota, 36F in Bethesda, MD felt balmy but it was 10:30pm by the time I was ready and damp. I also felt that a low impact exercise would be good. My back/base of the spine/right hip was rather tight after the sliding around the lake on Christmas.

St. Paul, MN; Como Lake. Thinking the Christmas Day - Joyful 5k race (billed as the only 5k in America on 12/25/07) would start at 10:30am and was close by, it actually started at 10:00am and was in a park much farther away from our hotel. I got to the park too late to enter and race. I had slept in and wasn't all that keen on running fast when it was cold and slippery anyway. The race was in progress when I got there. Since it was two laps around the small lake, I was able to use the kilometer markers. Despite beginning at least a half hour later than the racers, I caught some of the slower runners. I had no warm-up. Kilometer splits for what I ran were: 5:16, 4:35, 4:53, 4:29, 5:29 though I probably didn't start where everyone else did. I also ran a bit over 5K since I ran around the finish line twice as I completed each loop (so as not to confuse the race results) and did a little dog-leg back to where I started from at the beginning and end (the loop around the lake was 1.68 miles and I did the first 1.7 miles in 12:38). The trail was slushy/icy on one side of the lake but a little pavement was showing for much of the other side. The temperatures were around the upper 20's F. All considered, I ran fairly well.

Minneapolis, MN; Hiawatha Park. From E. Nokomis Pkwy. at about 4:43pm, clockwise on the trail around Lake Nokomis, via Cedar Ave. S. I used Cedar Ave. S. not knowing if the trail would have completed a loop around the part of the lake on the west side--it saved me from crossing a busy road too. By the time I was done it was very near dark. I probably didn't wear enough. Temperatures were probably around 13F (the high was 14F) with a light breeze. My socks could have been thicker. Within a mile, my toes were hurting from the cold which is rather unusual for me. The trail was plowed but with a slight layer of ice and packed snow still there. I warmed up a bit but don't think I ever got a sweat going. The distance around the lake via Cedar Ave. S. is 2.53 miles but I parked my rental car a little off the trail.

Bloomington, MN. The temperature hovered around 12F all day with horizontal snow falling throughout. I was tempted to go out but decided I'd get a better and longer workout by using a treadmill inside our hotel. I still don't think that treadmills compare running across the ground but the distance that the treadmill recorded was 4.05 miles. That would have been good enough for 7:24/mile pace, I had started slower but at the very end I was running at 6:00/mile pace.

Bloomington, MN. At our hotel across from the Mall of America, I went to splash around with Max and Peggy. The water was warm to me but it was surprising how fast Max's lips turned blue. He shivered a bunch but had fun. So did I.

Bloomington, MN. While Peggy and Max walked across the street from our hotel to go to the Mall of America, I went exploring the frozen lands. It was in the upper 20's F with some light snow and wind. I found my way along E. Old Shakopee Rd. and west along E. 86th St. into the Long Meadow Lake Wild Life Refuge. With about 1-2" of old icy snow and about another inch of new stuff, I wandered about the trails and around the Bass Ponds. I went under Rte. 77 to Old Cedar Ave. S. where there was an old railroad bridge from 1890 with a swivel section. I think this was on the Ridge Trail. Returning, I explored a few dead end trails. The Bass Lake areas were supposed to be closed for construction but there were a few other new footprints in the snow from dog walkers that I saw. This was a very nice and beautiful way to start the day! Later in the day I passed blood (bright red). I hadn't done that in a while.

After a long night of being an elf and then traveling to Minneapolis, MN and doing some visiting, I did 45 situps and crashed.

Getting ready to go Minnesota.

From Rosedale Ave. to Kentbury Dr. to the Georgetown Branch Trail to Connecticut Ave. to East-West Ave. to Old Georgetown Rd. to Commerce La. to Wisconsin Ave. to Cheltenham Dr. to Tilsbury St. to Maple Ave. to Maryland Ave. to Rosedale Ave. I felt tired all day despite getting a better night sleep. I felt tired and weak for most of the run too. I was again a little tight at the base of the spine and on my right leg while walking around earlier. I suppose it's just the increased training activity that's catching up with me. This was a Chipotle run. I ran the long way to downtown to pick up some burritos for dinner, then ran home with them.

A little shopping and a little working out while watching The Office... I was a little tight at the base of the spine and on my right leg while walking around today.

Rosaryville State Park, MD. Using Jon Torrance's draft map, I wandered about the park to get a better feel for it. Peggy and I got married at the mansion in the park but we'd only been in a small part of it. There are tons of trails--they could make championship White courses. Many of these are very twisty. There's a good bit of contour. Jon hadn't finished modifying the LIDAR based contours upon which he started with but there was definite evidence of the need to extend the reentrants. Having run on and mapped other areas using LIDAR based contours, I expected to be able to see more of the subtle reentrants. Even some of the larger ones in the northern area seemed to need some fixing. Off trail, the terrain was a big mix of things. Parts of it resembled Fair Hill State Park (also in MD) with open fields and horse trails. Generally, the hills were larger or at least steeper than Fair Hill. The woods had many nice areas along with all other shades of green in equal abundance. In the center of the park were distinct groves that were probably once clear cut; they are now tightly spaced trees like tall saplings. I think Jon has yet to add more point features though some that made it on the draft were small. Small streams, gullies and ditches weren't on the map yet and will definately affect navigation. Many gullies are deep. Streams and gullies can have steep sides. Main reentrant bottoms tended to have clutter. As usual it was fun exploring. I stayed out in the 35F windy weather longer than I expected; probably because I didn't have my watch with me (I timed using my car clock). I'm eagar to see how Jon finishes this area. The first QOC meet here should be in April 2008.

I kept moving through almost all of this. I hadn't gone this long in a while. My back felt good despite tightness after the race yesterday; it wasn't tight after today. I'm going to declare myself healed for now. This makes 4 days in a row when I've gotten out into the woods in the daylight. Maybe I should bite the bullet and start running at lunchtime--something I've resisted for a long time. It's amazing how much more I feel I can do and how quickly I can improve when I have the time. In other words it's nice to know that I can bounce back for now. I don't expect to have the time after the holidays and may not always be able to bounce back.

C • Championship White courses 2

Event: QOC: Manassas
 

Stuart's Hill, Manassas, VA. With dire weather predictions, QOC went ahead and had an nice meet. It stopped raining by the time I got out and the temperature was in the low 40's but very damp. It didn't get windy until the end. I ran pretty well in this fairly open, less technical, and flatish area. There were a few baubles like at #1, on the way to #7, and #15. The rest weren't all easy but I got through them fairly well. The complexity was raised by a problem with the map printing; the rough open came out as white. Fortunately there were distinct vegetation boundaries on the map. I felt decent starting out but on the way to #3, I felt odd and needed to slow. It was sort of like being out of breath but somehow different; more in the stomach and head. I started feeling tired toward the end and got a little more complacent than is wise. My back/tendons felt good through the run. I was thinking about declaring myself healthy again but I could feel things tightening at the base of the spine and through the right buttock afterward.

Red - Splits

Rock Creek Park, DC. From the DC/MD border, I ran the Western Ridge Trail to Bingham Dr. to the Valley Trail, then back to the parkinga area at the DC/MD border. It was right around freezing starting out but the damp parts of the trail hadn't frozen hard. I got out early; too early and slow for me to feel the hills much until later. I ran in tights which I don't usually do. They felt fine for the weather and almost like shorts feel. They spurred me to run a bit faster on the flat areas and down hills. I also had some women runners who were going parallel along Beach Dr. that spurred me to push a little. It was hard for me to keep pace with them due to curves and the trail obstacles. This was a nice way to start the day.

Rock Creek, MD. From the southern Lake Frank parking area off Avery Rd. Using just a USGS topo, I ran west across the valley then north over the hills to viewpoints above Lake Needwood. I looped back counterclockwise up and down a lot. It was a beautiful sunny 45F day making it well worth the hassle of getting around the holiday season traffic. In the past I had mostly run in these areas at night. It was really nice to see in the day becuase I could really tell how open the woods were. I think the areas I ran in can be mapped fairly quickly if using a GPS for the point features. It's unfortunate that there aren't a lot of features one the hilltops. There is less rock than the areas I had mapped to the south; there are various dot knolls, rootstocks, areas of stony ground, a ruin, a cairn. Though off trail almost the whole time, I ran in some trail shoes that I hope will be useful for a rogain in 2008. They were a little harder to use running across the steeper slopes on damp leaves. I hardly felt my back at all.

I got a late night ride in just before going to bed. My back feels better.

My back was feeling a bit tight after running yesterday and we decided to do some shopping too. I came back and rode after that watching a Southpark episode on imagination.

From Rosedale Ave. Battery La. to Glenbrook Dr. to Old Georgetown Rd. to Maple Ridge Rd. to the NIH Trail to Jones Bridge Rd. to Maryland Ave. to Rosedale Ave. I did this about 40 seconds slower on 11/20/07. I hadn't been feeling much from my back the last two days so I thought I'd try a run. It didn't take long to fee something though not exactly where I expected it. I felt a bit of soreness in the right buttock but after the run, the mild pain and tightness sort of migrated more the left side of the base of the spine. Weird. I've been eating too much.

I finally got the correct replacement shoes and installed new clips on them so that I can use my indoor cycling trainer again. Who knows, maybe I'll find the old shoes one day too. This was late so just long enough to call it a workout. I miss using rollers--they are more fun but I don't have the space right now.

Event: QOC Avalon
 

It was wet and dreary. Rather than go to the QOC meet at Avalon, I hung around the house and got some things cleaned up. I did a lot of yard work and worked up a sweat trying to rake before the dark came. I saw Pat Zerfas run by at a good clip. Max wanted to help so of course I finished in the dark. My back is still feeling better. Right now the extra rest and sleep seems to help it.

45 situps. I did push Max about in his little car for a while today. My back is feeling a bit better. I would have liked to have gone for a short bicycle ride or run but the day slipped away.

45 situps.

45 situps.

It's very odd when weather persons predict snow and it happens. Usually it's so hyped. After getting Max at daycare, I wanted to give him a chance to play in the 3 inches which had fallen. Our snowman plans weren't working well; the snow was too dry. I would have made a snow angel but Max pulled me over to get the snow shovels which had been sitting out since summer. We cleared enough for people to walk on our long driveway. I was surprised how much snow he could push and for how long. Eventually he got tired or cold and didn't even want to sit on the shovel for a ride.

45 situps. I was up late again writing. My back has been hurting a bunch too. After I get standing and hop about for a few steps with my right foot pointed to the right, it loosens.

45 situps. My back is still giving me fits. I also stayed up late writing.

My back was hurting more than it had earlier. It kept up throughout the day and I was again busy so I only did 45 situps.

Lake Frank, Montgomery County. Starting from the Meadowside Nature Center, I ran north and across Muncaster Mill Rd. I was wearing my O' clothes and set out to explore the area for possible mapping.

Right away I was excited by the possibilities. There were beautiful open white woods with scattered rocky cliffs and boulders. The area is essentially undeveloped park land so I was a bit surprised to also find a good network of trails. Some stayed low near the main stream, and some were high.

I crossed the creek two times and then climbed high on the west side through a successionary cedar forest with some greener but passable areas. Eventually I got into an odd area which I just couldn't figure out from the aerials on Google Earth and GMaps Pedometer. The large rough open had several well defined mowed trails. The trails would have been perfect for Cross Country races which is what Peggy came out for this morning (this also happened to be Max's birthday); only Peggy did her race on the trails immediately around Lake Frank. The rough open area had dried high grasses which would not have been fun to run through but there were many smaller to intermitant trails too. The contour there was rolling enough to keep you from being able to see everything. Scattered groups of trees also created potential for control locations.

Turning back, I found more trails and trail remnants. Staying high on the east side, I crossed a few reentrants got to a rocky knoll and ran along a fabulous ridge of super fast white woods. There were some mappable details there too such as small areas of stony ground and at least one cairn.

I ducked under Muncaster Mill Rd. at the creek crossing--it had been improved from years ago when I was last there. A raised berm with a railing had been added for hikers to pass through. It's a great traffic-free connection to the many areas near the Lake Frank Area which I had already known to have interesting features with a big trail network.

Making all of this even more workable are the parking areas and the Smith Center (environmental educational area that Peggy and D. Linthicum once mapped) which would be great for QOC's winter meeting. I finished the run in the Smith Center area and found Peggy and Max wandering around. Sure, there are constraints with making an O-map of this area. Like most stream valley parks, it's not very wide in places. It's probably not big enough for A-meets either. Another problem is that eventually the 6-lane Intercounty Connector (ICC) joining I-95 to I-270, is to be built across a portion of the woods north of Muncaster Mill Rd. Fortunately, bridges easily wide enough to allow foot and animal passage are planned too (the ICC crossing over Rock Creek which is further west of here is to get an arch bridge somewhat like Key Bridge over the Potomac). The ICC is to be completed between now and 2010. Even with all this, I think this area would be a great addition to QOC's map inventory! It's perhaps better than areas further south in the Rock Creek Stream Valley system like the Montgomery County Civic Center Park and the main Rock Creek valley between Rte. 28 and Southlawn La. since those areas are steeper and a little more narrow.