Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Northfield Rd. backroads to River Rd., Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) to the Little Falls Trail near Dalecarlia, Falls Rd. to River Rd. to the CCT, to Glenbrook Rd. to Park St. to Custer Rd. to Moreland Ln. to McKinley St. to the other side of Old Georgetown Rd. to Moreland Rd. to Northfield Rd. We went for a family ride with lunch at McDonalds (Max's choice) and after looping further, Max (on his Trail-A-Bike) stopped off at one his friends houses before I went home. It was around 90F and humid.

Lake Needwood Park, Montgomery County, MD. I got out early enough to take advantage of the cool air before it got hot. However, I was out long enough for the heat to catch up with me when I tried to map some sunny areas. It was mostly nice and quiet wherever I was in the woods. I was able to get within a foot or 2 of a baby deer all nestled into the the base of a rootstock. I walked-up on a box turtle without it retreating into its shell. I also spied what appeared to be a wild turkey hunkered down by a stream and it never took off. I was rather quiet myself because I wasn't moving much. I kept coming across point features--they don't call it Rock Creek for nothing--and it took a lot of time to align them. I didn't really get onto 2 other big hills that I'd hoped to knock off today. However, I still have hopes for those parts going fast since above the creeks, the hillsides tend to be broad with few reentrants and point features--just really nice open woods.

Black Hills Regional Park, Montgomery Co., MD. An impromptu training event was put together on an unfinished new map and done as a cell-phone-o. Peggy and I partnered while Max played with other kids whose parents were running too. There was quite a chatter going on at the start/finish area where people were directing their runners. When I ran, I had the advantage of having directed Peggy before my own run. I already had a memory of the map, and a feel for what some symbols would look like as I got to them. For added incentive, partner times were added together to compare against other pairs. Some control features were not set with a bag but instead used some permanant controls which were just a wooden post. The bags helped. Peggy and I generally directed each other along safe routes and it overall it worked! Even when we tried harder routes, we had success. There was one 400m leg that I went on bearing, kind of following a hillside toward a ridge. David Onkst was with me on that leg. I unfortunately lost him by getting to a control that Peggy never found--one of the wooden posts. This one was just planted in a broad reentrant, off a trail. Most control legs went smoothly and the harder part to sort out was when the director and runner had different ideas about where they were. Peggy and I worked through one of these as she was bringing me to the finish. On the run I used speaker phone mode when my arm got tired of holding the handset next to my ear. Ear buds might have worked too but could have gotten tangled in branches. It was fun!

I was as bit surprised that my left calf didn't hurt. I've had times when they healed fast before but this one felt so similar to what my right calf had done in March, that I'm not sure if I'm all healed on it or not. I still do sometimes still feel some pain in my right calf which I suspect is inflmation along the achilles tendon. It's when I rub the right calf that I feel it. I wore some trail shoes for the cell phone-o and maybe they were soft enough.

From Northfield Rd. to Montgomery Ave. with Max in his trailer, then to C St., SW, Washington, D.C. via the Capital Crescent Trail and Ohio Dr. I finally worked on my bike some more and thought I got the kinks out. However I still have some chain skipping and can see if I watch while stationary and pedaling that there is an odd twist in the chain in one spot. I'll try replacing that soon but at least I can ride more freely again. It was like a summer morning today. I wisely let the first guy who passed me go. Later I traded pulls through Georgetown with another that I caught at Dalecarlia and I did more than half the leading.

From C St . SW, Washington, D.C. to Montgomery Ave., then to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. My ride started out somewhat damp. I was sprinkled upon for half of the way. My chain skipping woes continued. I really had to gear down to minimize it. My cadence resultingly was around 85 on the flats which with little real training is pretty good for me. After picking up Max's trailer, I stopped of at a bike store to get a new chain. They also recommended changing the cassette at the same time, claiming that they wear together but since I changed both last year and my experience with them has been that they last much longer, I was reluctant to. I'll see how changing the chain goes first.

From Northfield Rd., to Montgomery Ave. with Max in his trailer via the Georgetown Branch Trail tunnel, then to the Bethsda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Montgomery Ave. to pickup Max's trailer, then to Northfield Rd. via the Air Rights Building tunnel. It was about 86 F and humid--not so comfortable in my work clothes.

Washington, D.C. From 14th and Independence Ave., to the Lincoln Memorial via the Viet Nam Memorial, then on the Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to P Street, NW, then to the Dupont Circle Metro Station. It was about 81 F when I started and I felt a bit tired still from the weekend. I ran okay. There were lots of people out. At just 12:00 minutes into the run, my left achilles started hurting and in a few more steps, I felt it best to stop and stretch. It was similar to what had happened on my right calf and achilles tendon in March. I took it easier and bailed-out from my planned run to the Woodley Park Metro Station.

I guess I'll be doing more field checking and focusing more on cycling for a while. :( Although it's logical to conclude that I've been overcompensating for my right calf/achilles tendon, I don't really think that's what's happening. I'm guessing it's age, diet or even sleep related. I've been having tendon problems in different places.

C • Age, diet or even sleep related? 7

From Northfield Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. via Greenwich Park, to Johnson Ave. to Heampstead Ave. to McKinley St. to Garfield St. to Roosevelt St. to Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. Though a bit banged-up, because Peggy and Max were out playing soccer and swiming I got out to shake-out my legs from the race yesterday. It felt warm and humid out but my legs felt better than expected. There was a short time after a half mile when the balls of my feet were feeling bruised but it went away. I just took it easy.

Event: Billygoat Run at Mt. Tom
 

Event: QOC: Balls Bluff
 

Mt. Tom State Reservation, MA. From the Lake Bray parking lot, I walked and jogged up to the start of the Billygoat race with Tim Good.

2010 Billygoat (32 Annual) at Mt. Tom State Park, MA. This was billed to be the most difficult Billygoat yet and it lived-up to the description. I thought it was harder than the course Jeff Shapiro set at Mt. Norowatuck a couple of years earlier though more people seemed to achieve at t-shirt finish within the 3.5 hour alotted time. I had not looked forward to it being a difficult course while being in such poor shape. I also decided to experiment with the bi-focal glasses that I'd gotten earlier in the week.

I got sucked-into the straight route to #1 which took me over steep hills with terrible basalt scree-like slopes. I had actually seen a trail route to the right but with my recent performances, I just lacked the will go out on my own so early in the race (a few others did but I missed seeing them). I ended-up covering the initiall messy legs with Jeff Saeger and the mother-daughter Olafsen team. My glasses detracted from my ability to see on the early legs. They fogged-up since it was 65-70 F and humid. I eventually resorted to just pulling them on top of my head where they stayed for most of the race.

By #3, I felt more confident reading the map (in an area that was announced as not being field checked) though I led people a bit too high after an obvious knoll. I found myself with a QOC crowd going to #4: Peggy, Dave Onkst and Jan Merka. We discussed some possible controls skips on the climb. I had leaned toward skipping #14 at that point. The hellish hills kept-up through #6 and were still significant getting through #7, #8, #9, and #10. Along the way in these, I saw Tim Parsons and Jeff Shapiro but I felt like I was still running with Dave Onkst and Jan Merka mostly. I thought we got ahead of Tim and Jeff at one point but Dave and I went out of #9 poorly and then joined-up with JJ Cote and Alar. Dave led us to wrong side of the marsh on #11--this saved a nasty steep decent but we paused there. JJ encouraged us to plow across and it wasn't bad. On the other side, I expected the control to be lower so I went left toward #12 looking for it only to have to come back. I caught-up with Dave and JJ at an intersection on the way to #12. I knew the road routes would be safe and quick but the straight route looked to be mapped open. I took it but it wasn't all open--I got to the aid station just before JJ but had to move faster to do it.

I had a couple cups of a sports drink, a bannana, and some water---I took my time. JJ, Dave Onkst and Alar got out ahead. I waddled along after them on another brutal climb. Alar read most of the detail going in to #13 but I was confident about reading it too. By this point, JJ convinced me that skipping #15 was better than skipping #14. Going up further to #14, I got ahead and closed distance on Ted Good who was walking (more than I). I got out fast and headed along the ridge trail ahead of the group. I started to leave them but kept wondering what the others were doing. I had intended to pass #18 but was less confident of my exact location along the trail. I started walking and Alar caught-up. It was a good thing too because I had started reading the leg to just go to #18 instead of #16. In retrospect, I should have recognized the bend that we did leave the trail at but my confidence was still just lacking--I've been navigating so poorly as of late. The rest of the way to #16 was much greener than mapped but JJ and Erin Olafsen led the way through the ski slopes to the control. I was astonished to see Dasa Merka ahead of me at #16 and having skipped myself, I wondered if she had--she was having a great race. The climb to #17 was again nasty but it made an easier run to #18. JJ and Erin led the way in while I saw Dasa leaving on the road. Her husband Jan, who is usually much faster and lately more often than not beats me, was not having a normal race for him--he was headed the other way to #16. After #18, JJ led the way down the trail and I passed Erin. JJ cut off the trail bend. With the footing so poor in the woods I took the trail--it wasn't good either. JJ came out a little further ahead but I think it took a lot more energy to decend his way. We got to #19 (with my initials from the previous year) w/o trouble.

I took off going to #20. I trailed some others including Glen Tryson and passed them. I felt we were going too high when we should have been descending. Once across the distinctive curving rocky reentrant, I started seeing much too much contour. I slowed. JJ and Erin caught-up. JJ relocated us on a marsh to our east so we knew the control to be to the west and down the hill. I got there last. Erin and her mom took off fast down the steep hill. They were chasing Brendan. I passed the elder Olafsen and got to #21 just after Erin, with JJ behind me. Erin led down further. I wanted to save climb crossing the reentrants so I crossed them angling to my left instead, and got ahead. #22 came-up sooner than expected as I didn't see the trail that I had expected to. I caught Glen Tryson again and got to #22 just behind Jeff Shapiro who was navigating much better than me this day. When looking at the fork for #23, I should have put-on my glasses. I couldn't read the trail under the unbroken line of the left fork but I saw it. I really didn't see the bridge across the leg for the right fork so going left with a little more climb just made sense. I closed-in on Steve Perry on this, getting there just behind him--the climb wasn't bad at all. Steve went straight and I almost decided to do that too. Instead, I went back down the trail and was ahead of him when he popped-back out on the trail at the bottom. I got across the stream w/o getting wet--it might have felt better if I had. I felt strong on the run-in and after finishing, I saw Jeff Shapiro and the Olafsen women coming from the right fork.

Though not happy with my result because of the early route choice errors, I suppose I finished in a very respectable position for my physical conditioning and lack of training. It would have been more satisfying had I been alone on more legs and done more than make a lot of micro-route optimizations. However, the Billygoat is not at all the same as regular orienteering. Cooperation really helped me and not everyone is willing to do that. Speaking of cooperation, I have to thank Michael Lyons, his wife and daughter too--they watched my son Max thus making my and Peggy's run possible. I was amazed at Michaels son being only 8 years old and being able to finish the race within the 3.5 hour t-shirt timeframe.

I'm a bit bruised from the run. My left foot hurts on the top--not sure what that was from. I smashed my right thumb somewhere--I guess that means no hitch-hiking for a while. I felt inflamation pain in my right achilles tendon whille driving the long 375 miles home.

Billygoat - Splits

In a hotel parking lot in NY, off I-684, Peggy and I helped Max get underway with riding his bicycle, sans training wheels. The flatter ground than we have close-by at home helped a lot. Max was very soon able to ride without us having to hold him up any more--yeah!

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. Warm-out.

From Northfield Rd., the Bethsda Metro Station. I haven't commuted on bike for a while since my commuter bicycle is in need of repairs and I can't tow Max's trailer with my other bikes. My commuter bike is still not fixed correctly (at least the chain doesn't skip) but I managed to get 2-3 gears worth of chain movement and get out after driving Max to school and driving back home. I felt extra inclined to ride by bike so as not to completely miss Bike-to-Work Day.

From the Woodley Park Metro Station, I ran down into Rock Creek Park, crossed through Dumbarton Oaks to Glover Archbold Park via the Dumbarton Oaks Trail and the Wesley Heights Trail. From there, I ran up the Glover Archbold Trail out to the Tenleytown Metro Station via Van Ness St. and Wisconsin Ave. This was a hilly route, net gain route. I felt out of shape but it was enjoyable. I hadn't run this route in a while. I had stopped my watch at an intersection and didn't quite get it started again until later in the run so my time is estimated.

On this run, I experimented with using bi-focals for the first time. As feared, I did feel a little more heat around the eyes but it wasn't as much as I thought it'd be. I thought I'd ordered a sport eyeglass through Amazon but these were made by DeWalt, the power tool maker. They worked fine though I'm not sure the +2 diopter was the right number for me. I had no problem running down steep hills on the rough trail and could see out straight without noticeable distortion. I didn't get the lenses sweaty but worry that it still could happpen on a hotter day. It was about 80 F when I ran and the humidity was not high. After the run, I bought a sports strap though I had no problems keeping them on while on the trails.

Having gotten home early enough, I went out with Max to help him learn to ride his bicycle without training wheels. It was hard work and I actually broke a sweat keeping him from falling over. Having had to bend over myself, my back hurt too. I had to take breaks. We made it all the way to Bradley Hills Elementary School and back (about 0.85 miles all together), after Max had some time to play at the playground. Max did fall over once on the way out. I held him more tightly after that but some looseness is necessary for him to learn to turn with his balance. He'd get distracted by noises and other people a lot. He'd do things like turn to look back and loose focus on staying straight or up even. He wanted to move to trickier things too like riding on grass and bumpy things even though he hadn't really been able to do the basics, let alone master the basics. He was much better at keeping balance while returning which was mostly on flatter ground or climbing. Several seconds of riding at a time seemed unassisted.

From Northfield Rd., Jefferson St. to Garfield St./Oneida Ln. to Sonoma Rd. to Hempstead Ave. to Johnson Ave. to Burley Dr. to Beech Ave. to North Bethesda Middle School, to Bradmoor Dr. to Huntington Pkwy. to Moorland Ln. to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. My stomach had been upset before this slowish run. It had been raining the last 2 days but finally stopped. Getting home from work at a reasonable hour got me out to run.

US Team Trials: Lake Welch in Harriman State Park. Warm-up jog to the start of the Classic event. My heart rate looks to be kind of high for as easy as I was taking this jog. I hardly felt any strain.

US Team Trials: Classic. Rockhouse in Harriman State Park. I had some hopes for a decent navigation day though it didn't quite materialize. I started second to last and was caught by Jeff Saeger at the first control. I had stopped at the first set of rocks and done circles there before moving on. On the way to #2, I stayed a bit more right than Jeff did though he had decided his route faster and was ahead. As we neared the hill, I knew I needed to be more to the right but Jeff was still to the left. When I saw a control, I took-off for it even though I knew it was too far left still. I recalled that Peggy had done a similar thing. I knew enough not to run all the way to #3, and instead, used it to attack #2 which as only a short way away.

After punching #2 and #3, I took off ahead of Jeff. I wanted to stay in the open woods as much as possible so I ran through a valley rather than head for a trail to go over a hill. This meant that I'd have to get through some green which kept pushing me right. I got through most of the way on a deer trail which really helped with all of the blueberry and mountain laurel. I was able to correct by coming left and once I got over a ridge and saw some rocks, I felt I had a pretty good idea of where I was. Just ahead 100m, I saw Jeff with Phil Bricker in chase. They were just leaving the trail. I quickly assessed the flatish terrain and thought I was reading my way in to the control pretty well. Phil went left and Jeff went right at some point. With a nice reentrant and cliffs, I thought I was reading my way into #4 pretty well and got to a control just behind Jeff. I commented how I'd taken a different route here and felt it was neat getting there at about the same time again. He answered back about having not wanted to go through the green like I did and while listening I suppose, I didn't take a good look at the control code--this must have been the only one that I didn't read carefully all weekend and it appears to have been my downfall--I probably was never at #4. I took off heading for what I thought was #5 but (I'm still not 100% sure). I stayed high while Jeff fell back and as staying lower. The contours weren't that distinct and I wasn't too worried about it not matching up until I passed what I thought was a knoll and got to a clearing. I wandered back low to a reentrant where I saw Phil Bricker and found #6. I was perplexed at how I'd gotten so far past #6 and #5. I kept hugging the cliff tops and worked my way back to #5, the ran back to #6. As I was descending the reentrant to #7, Phil was still hunting around. I went to a spur to the left but right over to the control after that.

Going to #8, Phil got ahead a bit. We started hitting thick mountain laurel so I ran right more, and around it. Eventually I crossed a small intermittant trail and a marshy stream before hitting the main trail that I was looking for. We'd run through the woods more than we should have. On the trail, I moved out well. Leaving it near the lake, I ran right past #11 and a bit above #12 w/o seeing it. I felt good about my line but started second guessing myself when I didn't see it. I also got drawn off to the left by a Blue coures control. I ran higher, then u-turned at a reentrant. Doubting myself, I also thought I should come back to the Blue control to re-check the code. Eventually I found #8 lower than the Blue control and just past it. I ran the butterfly loop pretty smoothly. I was only off a little on #10, going to the lower spur to my left first. Back at #9 and #13, I spiked #14 and wondered a bunch about what to do with #15. I ran to the left a bit hugging the steeper hillside and cliffs after the saddle. I was running well despite the blueberry bushes. I crossed the intermittant trail and dismissed using it as it would have taken me down unecessarily. I crossed the streams at a bend where they were splitting an popped out on the trail just at a tiny kink, right where I wanted to be. I attacked from there and spiked the control.

I made a bad choice about leg #16. I started to go up the steep hill and past the radio tower. Once there, I chickened out about crashing down through the green on the hillside, even though I'd laid out a route with a lot of white woods on it. Wishy-washy, I noticed that the trail leading just under #16 came out near the long road down the mountain so I ran for it. I moved well but this little maneuver was unecessary had I seen the route earlier--I would have saved about 4 contours and some distance. After coming down the road and up the trail, I spiked #16. With #17 near a gate that I went past on the way to the start, I wasn't worried about hitting it, but I hit it efficiently too. In the process, I'd closed distance on a junior. Going to the finish, I tried to chase him down but only managed to get to his heels. We'd both left the pavement. My spikes were bothering my feet but the sand slowed us too. I'd seen Sergei Zheik several times on the course as he picked-up controls and saw him on this run-in with a bag full of controls in tow and I was barely going faster than him while working hard myself.

After downloading, I didn't immediately realize that I had no split time for #4. My other splits were wierd and I show punching #5 twice so I probably did mistake #5 for #4--sad but true. I can at least take away from the weekend that I was able to run better than expected, given my poor training. I rubbed my calfs before the race this morning and can definately feel soreness in my right calf and achilles tendon that is not present in my left leg. I'll just need to keep being careful while trying to get in some running and bicycling training.

Event: 2010 US Team Trials for WOC
 

Harriman State Park, NY. Warm-up from the Lake Welch parking lot to the start of the US Team Trials on the Rockhouse map.

US Team Trials on the Rockhouse map at Harriman State Park. For this middle distance race, I once again started slowly. I used the trail to get a feel for the terrain but when the vegetation started looking high, I cut over and ended low on the first control. I would have to have been in white woods to have done that from the map but the mouthain laurel looked green to me. I got drawn-off going to #2 by a Blue course runner and a trail through the blueberries. It took some circling before I turned back and got to the control. For #3, I got very near the control, saw another person go to a rock and leave without punching, and then I ran further. I got back to the initial rock after much flailing. My way to #4 was navigated okay but through a lot of bad vegetation. I got to it just as Peter Gagarin came in from behind. I hit #5 a bit too far to the left and perhaps drew Peter off. Going to #6, I hesitated a long while once again to come-in behind Peter. Going to #7, I ran well and pulled ahead of Peter. Another woman whom I'd seen at #3 got to that boulder ahead of me and gave it away. Going to #8, I contoured around the hillside and recognized a flat area after crossing the power lines. As I got near, I again saw the woman at #8 punch but a lot of other people didn't see the control until I got there. I ran up the stream to #9, and hit #10 and #11 pretty well. On the way to #12, I followed the more flat runnable terrain until I got to the ridge where the control was, then I climbed along the ridge. Unfortunately, I pulled-up short and didn't figure it out until just long enough to get there in front of Peter Gagarin, who'd come from a reentrant rather than up the ridge. I got to #13 over a ridge pretty well. I was a bit to the right on #14 and Peter caught me to give it away. At #15, I started to the right but when I heard Peter yell it sounded like left to me. He was probably just yelling at himself but I went left only to waste time on a rocky ridge. I went back higher but past where I was before and had to come back. Peter and another guy got it before me. I closed the distance on them going to #16 and again going to #17 as they hesitated looking left before the control when I knew it to be further. It was downhill from there and more runnable than the rest of the course had been. I opened it up and got ahead but I got distracted after crossing a stream and seeing a Blue control. Peter passed me and I didn't catch him until he'd punched #18. On the run-in, I hesitated, looking at the map and fogetting it was streamered. I gave chase to Peter and closed the distance. It was too narrow to pass though I'm not sure I would have done that anyway. After the race, I jogged a little but walked most of the way back. My right quad was aching a bit and I thought it might be some new muscle injury. I eventually found that I'd only abraised it pretty well on what probably was some vegetation.

US Team Trials: Sprint. Lake Welch in Harriman State Park. I was the last starter so I'd seen some people running through a spectator control and at the finish. When I started, I ran up the trail but mistook an uncrossable fence as a black line to be the trail. It extended well past the start triangle on the so I figured I'd already past that and needed to navigate over a small knoll before crossing a field. I set a bearing and soon saw a control on the other side of the field, while still being careful about my bearing. The problem was that I'd come from the knoll and not the start triangle. After punching the wrong control, I ambled back in the woods and found the right one. This cost me about 1:30 but again was a bad way to start. I got to #2 just fine. I was good going to #3, the specatator control that I'd seen others go to--a big sign and tree gave it away. I hesitated just before arriving at #4. I was too high going to #5; I'd trusted my bearing across the grassy forest, instead of reading the contours. Since the course was fairly flat until this point, I hadn't adjusted to the 2.5m interval. I hit #6 well and saw #7 from far off. #8 was a bit further down than expected. I stayed high going to #9 reasoning that the field was better to run and more direct. I used the mapped trees to know how far to go before plunging down but it also gave me time enough to read the small trail dropping down. I ran on it and through what was mapped as green but never really bad, to the wall feature. I was fine on #10 though at speed, I hadn't seen the building on the map in the green. I ran straight toward #11 but pulled-up short at a Blue course control. Continuing straight, I ran to the control through what was again mapped as solid green and really very passable. I got on the road going to #12 and angled up when I saw the first wall. I didn't realize there were 2 walls but I knew I just needed to cross the road and I was also closing-in on Charlie Deweese as he punched. Going to #13, I used the road. Charlie was ahead still but I cut-in to use the little corridor of white between the green and I got to the control ahead of him. I was thinking that I'd need to hook left to the control at the end of the corridor but the control was right in front of me at the end of the corridor. I was on the road a bit to #14--I again enjoyed knowing that it was downhill toward the finish. I saw #14 from far off. I got my picture taken again going straight to #15 and spiking it. Going to #16, I would have liked to hop the fence but with it marked as uncrossable I didn't know if I'd get disqualified or not. I rounded the corner like everyone else. I didn't go all out to finish #16 nor the run-in but I did push. It was nice to have run better in this race. The error on #1 cost me a few places but I was mostly clean after that. I think it helped that with this being a sprint map, just about all the features I would have mapped in Rock Creek were mapped. The 1:4,000 scale did through me a bit too.

My feet felt pretty bruised after these 2 races. I had to use my thin worn out shoes since the new ones I had ordered had not arrived before I had to travel. At least some of the pain is due to my arches which seem to be shifting somewhat.

Red Middle - Splits

Red Sprint - Splits

Bethesda, MD. With poor weather, poor performances, and lots to do at work, I'm not so motivated to train. I do think some time off is probably good too since something is going on with tendons in my right leg. I feel some renewed calf and achilles aches but my right foot is now similarly pained. The pain runs from my heel across the arch and to just before the right-most toes. I was training pretty well in the worst of the winter and had hopes after the improvements last summer and fall so this round of injury is rather discouraging.

Huntington State Park. Warm-up jog to the start of WCOC A-Meet, Day 2.

WCOC A-Meet at Huntington State Park. Overall, I had a better day but I still had far too much trouble with some controls. I planned to settle into the map by using a trail to get to #1. However, when I intersected it at an odd angle, I wasn't sure which way to go. I compassed my way across going roughly straight but losing track of just where I was. I came up a reentrant and upon a control that I knew wasn't mine so I passed it. A second thought made me think it was my 4th control and others who looked like they might be on the Red course were punching it. I doubled back about 100m to check and sure enough it was my 4th control. I attacked from there, missed, got too low, then went to the control. Jeff Shapiro had started close behind me and had made-up the stagger to punch right behind me. I ran off a bit quick and got to the corner of the marsh as planned. From there, things didn't make sense. I was looking for a reentrant when in fact, the control was on a long spur ridge. I went right by it on the other side and scratched my head. I'd gotten far enough past it eventually to hit a trail and some stone walls. None of what I saw made sense with other walls that I saw on the map. I was really at the edge of the in-bounds and the walls I was seeing were covered by out-of-bounds stripes on the map. I eventually doubled back to the marsh and was successful. I over shot #3 and finally started hitting controls correctly on #4 and #5. In the process, I pulled ahead of David Yee. Like some others I ran to the upper bare rock dome at #6 and lost some time. It was just enough for David to catch-up. I took trails on the right to get to #7 ahead of David, who went straight. I enjoyed the long leg for #8. With the steeper and more broadly contoured terrain, I tracked my way across pretty well. Only at the end of the leg did I flub by attacking the wrong ridge. I'd attacked from the stream bend while thinking I was attacking from the spur behind it. Going to #9, I was doing well but lost concentration and started reading the line for #12. In my tired state, I knew the marsh I was seeing was much too big for the marsh at #12 but I rounded it anyway to get to the side where the control for #12 would have been. I figured this out soon but it was sad. I ran well going to #10 but ran high when attacking. #11 was fine--I basically spiked it. I ran the trails on the right toward #12 but stayed on too long and ended-up using the main trail. I hit #13 a bit high but like #6, I learned enough to go down to the end of small ridge and find the control. I followed a reentrant down toward #14 and figured I knew my position. I figured I'd need to go a little left but a more straight attack would have gotten me to the control. I hit #15 well and was surprised to catch back-up to Jeff Shapiro. While he used trails more than I to #16, I spiked it and got ahead. I got through the fence for #17 in what probably was not the right place but there was a partial gap there. I wasn't pushing all out to finish. My right foot was hurting--more bruising or tendon troubles. I conclude from this mess that I'm not seeing the map well enough and need more practice concentrating in technical terrain--perhaps it's time for eyewear too. Having not made as big an error as the day before was encouraging but making so many errors still left me not feeling so good.

Warm-down run from Huntington State Park, CT to catch-up to Peggy and Max, and catch the bus. Running uphill with my loaded backpack, I just made it.

Red Day 2: Long - Splits

Event: WCOC / US Team A-Meet/WRE
 

WCOC at Ansonia Nature Center, CT. This was my worst day navigating in a long while. Given my history in CT, my expectations were not high to begin with. Getting to the start line just in time to get called up didn't help me get into the right frame of mind either. My problems began near the end of the first leg. My GPS track shows that I just missed the control on my left within 10-20m. I just hadn't been able to pick-up on which rocks I was seeing--the terrain is so different from what I'm used to running in with unmapped boulders over a meter tall. I didn't panic as I passed the control but I wasn't careful enough either. I thought I was returning the way I came but my GPS track shows that I headed off by about 90 degrees. Since I turned during this, I had been thinking that I was above the control on the hill but in reality, I had gotten lower. I hunted rocks for a short while and decided to head back toward the start triangle. Along the way, I camp upon some hemlocks and since I'd just crossed a stream, I incorrectly thought I was at the ones which were mapped. I went off rock hopping again and since I could see a road, I eventually found myself part-way between #2 and #3. I came straight to the control after that but it was a long climb and there were more reentrants along the way than I'd originally seen on the map as I started. I hit #2 with no problems, then misread #3--I got too low. I hit a few controls okay after that but with the rain, being out longer than others and not being in such good shape, my legs were rather slow, I made one other awful error going to #8. It started with a parallel error rounding a hill and running along a stone wall. I mistook my position to be on a different stone wall further down the leg. I climbed early and soon realized what I'd done. However, as I continued up the hill, I lost track of my position. I incorrectly located myself at a field but eventually found #9. Good, I thought. I just had a short run to #8 from there. However I ran 180 degrees off and found myself further away. There were some other small problems on other controls but perhaps a worse development from this race was pain on my right heel. I'm not sure if it's connected to the arch and achilles aches that kept me from training much of March and April or if it's bruises from the rocky terrain--my O'shoes are worn out. Since I've been having some arch pain on the same foot leading up to it, I think it's related.

Red Y Day 1: Middle - Splits

With my bike still not repaired, I figured I'd have little other chance to workout today. I worked then drove to Connecticutt. It was a longish day so after getting Max to sleep I had forgotten that I didn't do anything to exercise.

From Northfield Rd., through Grenwhich Park to Old Georgetown Pike, to W. Cedar La. to the Elmhirst Trail, to Cedar La. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Beach Dr. to Grosvenor La. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Old Georgetown Rd. and to Northfield Rd. via Grenwich Park. I got in what is an increasingly rare run from home, after work. The weather was nice and I felt much better than the last few days.

45 situps. I missed an opportunity to run after work and my bicycle still needs repairs.

I had a very worn out run through Bethesda. I've been really sleepy the last few days despite getting more sleep than earlier weeks. It might be the heat or the little bit of more running that I've been doing. From Northfield Rd., I ran up Custer Rd. to Glenbrook Rd., to the Little Falls Pkwy, to the Little Falls Parkway Trail, through Norwood Park, up Wisconsin Ave. to the NIH and Bethesda Trolley Trails, to Maple Dr. to Lambeth Rd. to Moorland Rd. to Northfield Rd. I added on at the end to ensure getting 5 miles. In Norwood, in the darkest areas, I observed what appeared to be lightning bugs. None were flying--they were on the ground and probably just emerging from their larvae state. They just glowed on the ground and it reminded me of the movie Avatar.

From Northfield Rd., I ran up to Custer Rd., to Wilson La., to Exeter Rd. to Glenbrook Rd. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to the NIH grounds, to Maple Ridge Rd. to Old Georgetown Pike, to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. I was very sleepy all day. Perhaps it was the combination of humid and high 80 F weather, the long day yesterday, and general lack of sleep. I finally felt good enough to go for a run at 11pm. It was around the mid 70;s F when I ran but I was still dragging; especially during the initial part of the run. Upon returning, I started work to replace worn chain rings on my commuter bike.

Lake Needwood, MD. I field checked areas below the lake dam and on the ridges above the streams. I found lots of rock features as well as the many dot knolls. Though it was warm, in the upper 80's F and humid, I enjoyed it just the same.

Great Falls, VA. With part of QOC at the West Point A-meet, others going to CT next week gathered and ran from Rte. 193. We did a steep course that was set for a local meet but was not used due to weather issues. The course was actually steeper than usually allowed and not so fun in the first half. It was also in the upper 80's F or low 90's F with high humidity. Instead of requiring control pickup after the slog, the use of biodegradeable items instead of bag/flags let us leave. Sprigs of white azaleas, marshmallow on sticks, and twizzlers wrapped around twigs were used. These controls made it much harder to find. Some weren't found at all but that may have had more to do with lacking a properly updated map than it had to do with control visibility. Dinner with friends followed.

45 situps after another busy day at work.