Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Northfield Rd. to Arlington Rd. with Max on his bike, then to the Bethesda Metro StatIon. I had told Max to go ahead, then realize I'd forgot my leg loops; I rushed to catchup but at least he had stopped before going too far.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Arlington Rd. to pickup Max's bicycle, then to Northfield Rd. It was very windy and I was going into it. I felt kind of tired.

From the parking lot at Lake Needwood Mansion, I went around the lake. I had planned to take a detour north of Needwood Rd. but as I started down the path, it was blocked by high water. I figured it was just a flooded marshy area from the heavy rains the night before but since I hadn't gone in the area before, I didn't think much of it, and turned around. Going south and around the lake on a clockwise loop, I tried the lake route; dirt trails around the shores that I'd mapped earlier. I realized then how high the water was when I couldn't proceed. I had to bushwack up to the road again. A park service car stopped me there because the park was closed, but he let me finish my loop. I felt pretty slow and awkward, especially on climbs. I passed some blood. This has been the most miles just purely running for me in one month in several years.

Working a little late and having rain in the evening left little time for a better workout.

From Northfield Rd. to Arlington Rd. with Max on his bike, then to the Bethesda Metro StatIon.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Arlington Rd. to pickup Max's bicycle, then to Northfield Rd. It had been a while since I'd towed Max's bike and
I almost had a mishap.

C • Maxs bike 6

From Northfield Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. to W. Cedar Rd. to the Elmhirst Trail, to the Rock Creek Trail, to the Kensington Pkwy., to Connecticutt Ave. to the Georgetown Branch Trail, Pearl St. to East-West Hwy. to Wisconsin Ave. to Old Georgetown Rd., to Huntington Pkwy. to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. I got outside a little earlier today. Working a little later than planned, I missed an opportunity to run homeward from work. It was nice all day and still 51 F when I was running at night in just a long sleeve t-shirt and shorts. The ground was damp all over but the trail wasn't overly wet. The moon lit things well. I continued to work on my stride and this is helping me regain my speed. It does however takes some out of me with a little more pounding. I slowed a good bit going uphills. I passed some blood; probably a sign of losing weight and running faster more than anything else.

From Northfield Rd., Greenwich Park, to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Dr. to to Singleton Dr. to Bulls Run Pkwy., to the trail along the school to Bradmore Dr. to Folkstone Rd. to Hartsdale Ave. to Heampstead Ave. to McKinley St. to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to the trail at Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. It was in the mid 40's F; the ground was wet but it wasn't raining. There was a nice moon and I could see a lot of star--that's unusual for around here because of there being a lot of tall trees and there usually being some light pollution. It took me a while to get myself out the door. My legs were stiff so that I couldn't get a smoot stride. I worked on form but with tired legs, it felt like I was lumbering. I thought I was going faster and loosening-up toward the end of the run. It was uphill for the last third but my second mile was the fastest. I stretched nicely afterward.

Patuxent River Park, MD. Warmup from Croom Airport Rd. to the start of Peggy's Day 1 JROTC course for vetting.

Patuxent River Park, MD. I vetted Peggy's Day 1 JROTC course. It was the warmest it's been all week at 36 F. There was some snow on the ground and water was mostly frozen. I got off line going through or around some green legs. though I dd hit most of the controls on white legs. I was pretty tired from the runs over the last week so I mostly moved slowly. '

From Bradley Blvd., the Cabin John Trail northward to Tuckerman Ln., then the campground loop, then back. The official Cabin John Trail has been moved around a bit over the years and parts of what I ran are no longer on the official route. One stretch on the return which I hadn't run on the way out, has pretty much gone away; I ran along that until slipping on snow where erosion had washed an edge away. It was 31 F when I started and there was a little snow over most of the route. It probably stayed that temperature or got colder as I finished. I was awfully tired and grinded through most of this. I ran slow on all the uphills and it hurt my quads at times. Even going downhill, I ran cautiously a lot. With the snow I was worried about sliding and with tired legs, I was worried about dragging my feet across roots. I hadn't run the early section in a long while. It rolls along. I felt much better approaching the halfway point, and on the way back which is downstream. I noted several new rootstocks to map at some point. These were no doubt from the derecho last summer. The trail I was on tends to stay low but I saw suspect and saw evidence of more deadfall on hilltops.

I did some spinning while watching a movie. I rode slightly faster than the other day judging from the distance.

Washington, D.C. From 12th & Independence Ave., SW, down The Mall along Independence Ave. and the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial, to Ohio Dr. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Calvert St., to the Woodley Park/Zoo Metro Station. It was about 27 F with a thin layer of snow and ice on the ground in most places. The snow wasn't hard to run but as usual the transition areas from snowy ground to dry pavement was usually tricky with re-frozen melted snow. It was a little breezy out too. I was somewhat dead in my quads from recent runs. I worked on stride form; that tends to suffer whenever I increase mileage.

I did some spinning while watching a movie. I thought that I was riding faster than the other day but it was remarkably similar judging from the distance. I worked-up a little sweat and that was good.

Silver Spring, MD. From Rte. 29, north on the Rachel Carson Trail on the east side of the Northwest Branch Creek, crossing over to the west side, I proceeded north more into Wheaton Regional Park, to complete the Campground Loop Trail, then I returned south Northwest Branch Trail on the west bank of the Northwest Branch Creek to the parking lot on the south side of Rte. 29. I had been thinking of doing this run earlier and when John Pifer talked about it the other day. Working in Beltsville today I had the opportunity to do it and I came prepared. I ran in the dark with my headlamp. It's a really good one and I needed it. The Rachael Carson Trail is really bumpy (sometimes rocky) and narrow at the south end. The north end of it is twisty. It was pretty cold for around here lately--20 to 22 F with a breeze. The cold was another reason to retreat to this fairly sheltered valley. In Wheaton Regional Park, I climbed without slowing much--I felt strong but had been moving slowly all along. Running in the dark can do that but I know my body is also tired. I was pretty surprised to find a short but totally new trail. It looks like they are relocating part of the campground loop. It took me past two new rootstocks that I had just mapped earlier this month. I ran it twice to get a good track. Heading back, I enjoyed the flatter Northwest Branch Trail. It looks like they have been working on the trail there too--it was smoother. I moved well for a mile or so. I probably frightened one guy walking his dog as I plowed through the dark, though they saw me coming. Near the end, I know I was pretty tired. I didn't have much energy going downhill and was not feeling in balance sometimes. I did sweat on this run but I was a tad on the cold side.

Wheaton Regional Park, MD. I first covered some areas close-in near the old ice rink. Next, I made my way further west and checked some areas that I had updated earlier. I got to the far southwest where the woods are mostly open and made quick work of that. I got to the northwest after that and fixed a few things that I'd gotten before but had been lead astray on from old online imagery. I did some work around the fence and barn, including some open terrain behind an administrative building. The fencing near the barn is being extended so I mapped it too. The woods in this area were far out of date and mostly green. I didn't have time to get into one section but got some ditches in another. After a few updates around the lake, I realized it was getting late. I still needed to check the placement of a boulder so I did that and made my way back. I hadn't realized that I'd been out so long. I was getting bleary eyed and not concentrating well once the light level dropped--a definite sign to stop field checking.

Event: QOC Greenbelt
 

QOC: Greenbelt Park, MD. After my long workout yesterday, I thought I would be hurting and pretty slow doing Blue today. I warmed-up during the race fairly quickly. It reached a high of 58 F (it didn't feel like it because of the wind), and I had my heavier long sleeve shirt on to protect me from thorns. I subsequently didn't feel so bad. I was just never very fast.

I enjoyed the run across the grass toward #1 and hit it right on. I went a bit left toward #1, then used the trail to attack from high. Going from low would have done me better. I pulled-up short and high, then fumbled my way through the unmapped deadfall to the control. As I closed in, Videlin Aleksiev came in from behind. He'd beaten me the last two QOC events (with some help from my errors) so I wanted to get going. I pushed to the next few controls. I hit # pretty well, attacking fromt he right but getting just past the control before seeing it. I used the trail going to #4 and spiked it. I went back to the trail to attack #5 from the north and spiked that too. From my GPS track, I can see that something, either the mapping, or the control locations of #5 and #6 was wrong. I subsequently missed #6 coming off a knoll and finding myself near the road. I corrected but lost time. I went straight at #7. I crossed a gully, then the stream and figured I'd still be able to aim off into the control. However, finding myself at a sewer, I adjusted cutting back a bit as I went up the hill. I didn't see it when I figured I'd gone far enough so I cut right more where there was another ditch. That wasn't it either. I cut back again but higher and as I got near, Videlin (Vido) popped-up and pointed at it downslope about 15 m away. I punched and ran at #8. It was just up the larger reentrant but old deadfall obscured sight lines. I projected a path of least resistance and saw it a bit further up than anticipated. Going for #9 which was somewhat back down the same reentrant but on the other side, I went left a bit for better running. I closed in on John Baker while doing this. He punched right before me with Vido coming in close behind. John went straight at #10, diagonlly downslope through some not so clear woods. I cut over horizontally to hit the trail and attack closer in from a bend in clearer woods. I got there first. Next, the three of us headed directly uphill with me leading. Hitting the trail, I went to the bend before attacking. When my estimate of distance ran out and I didn't see anything, I cut left, and John hunted behind me. I saw Videlin going up an empty ditch. He indicated it wasn't the right area. I had my look, then went back to where I'd been, behind Vido. I came in higher than I'd been, and further west before I saw how the new deadfall had obscured my view earlier. I got there first. From my GPS track, I should have been on top of the control on my first attack so something is probably wrong with the map here too. Vido was right behind me but I'm not sure if John found it near when I had. I headed off somewhat lower than straight since the running was better. In hind sight, going down to the trail is what I should have done. Instead, I went across, almost straight to attack the control from the campground loop. Vido was behind but within sight when I went into the greenbriar on the right side of the reentrant. I got to the control pretty well, still a little surprised it was as far down the hill as it was. After this (#12), I didn't see Vido or John again until after the race.

I took off from #12, hitting the lower trail--not sure that the new mapping of it made sense or whether it was accurate--my GPS track showed a bigger curve to it. Once past the intersection, I ran up the spur to #13. I got just a bit too high but easily close enough to see it. I ran right a bit on the way to #14; to get around some green. I adjusted at the bottom of the reentrant and climbed. Feeling I'd gone far enough, I stopped and checked the map before going on. It was visible within my next 5 steps, straight ahead. I went straight at #15 until the woods got trashy with new unmapped deadfall. I passed an adventure racer who'd pulled up short. I kept going expecting to see the buildings ahead but never really did. The deadfall obscured me and I seemed to find a lot of unmapped ditches. I cut left a bit and found it soon after, lower on the hill. The adventure racer apparantly got there just ahead of me. I took off fast, passing Keg Good who was going the other way, but also on Blue. I had to zig-zag some going down and as I crossed some ditches I became unsure of my location. At the bottom, I crossed a ditch, near where it crossed the Perimeter Trail so I instantly knew where I was again. I splashed across the creek, headed up the hill and cut over to the reentrant. The control was visible 40m away. Going to #17, I used the trail and climbed higher on it. The area was mapped green so I didn't go more directly until being much higher on the trail. I finally cut across when I thought that I was near a switchback but this was slow. I also wondered if I missed the trail doing this but soon I saw what looked like Mark Mace ahead and walking on the trail. Getting there myself, I found Gary Smith. I passed Gary and left the trail again. After crossing the road, I saw another adventure racer with a backpack coming up. I hit the control and decided that he took a favorable route toward #18, so I u-turned after #17 too. On my climb out after #17, I saw Gary again, attacking #18. I went up the road to the Perimeter Trail. In retrospect, I should have continued up a little, then cut in. It would have been shorter and once on the Perimeter Trail, I could see the road very nearby through some white woods. The adventure racer was still ahead but I closed-in--he'd paused a little, being unsure where he was on the trail. Since I'd come on the trail the whole way, I was sure exactly where I was. The new GPS mapping of the trail probably helped too. I attacked from a bend which happened to be where the old trail was, and I left the adventure racer behind. I followed the old trail to the control. Leaving #18, I ran swiftly down the nice white woods to the trail/road intersection. I crossed the creek on the road, then followed the creek. I angled over to #19 when the valley widened and spiked the control. Going from memory, I cut back from #19 in a dogleg--this was a slight error since going straight up would have been shorter. I corrected and ran across the unmapped rough open spur area with old deadfall on it. I passed 3 guys who were trying to figure out how to get through a wall of thorns--they follwed me as I ran on around it. I took trails to attack #20 from a bend. Getting near, I saw Mike Newman. I paused, attacked and spiked it with Mike behind me. I thought to get to the road for the next control but the trails to the left seemed better, given the state of the forest. I stuck to my plan but I could have improved it cutting across some forest along the way. Once over the road, a teen was contemplating where to cross the creek. We both settled on the same spot at about the same time. I almost hung my foot on a root as I jumped down--that would have caused a face plant into the shallow water but I recovered in time. The kid had been talking but I didn't realize he was talking to me. Once across, he saw me pickup the pace and then asked if we should race it in--I agreed. He started moving faster than me but I think he got hung up on some green or bad footing. I left him behind as we climbed. I read the code for #21 from my description holder--the paper had been folded so when I looked at the second to last control, the numbers didn't match--It took me a few seconds to realize that I WAS on the last control. I ran in after than--AP shows an error for me here and I'm not sure why.

This was a decent race for me. I didn't do so well in the unmapped green areas but came out ahead of the others I was near in these. I was more happy about not feeling too sore after the long Saturday run.

Blue - Splits

Event: 2013 Georgia Navigator Cup & Extreme-O
 

From Rte. 28, the Seneca Greenway Trail to the Mink Hollow Trail, to the Lake Shore Trail (at Lake Clopper), then back onto the Seneca Greenway Trail to Riffle Ford Rd., then to Black Rock Rd. and onto the Seneca Greeway Trail back to Rte. 28. I ran this with Jon Pifer and had a great time. The early miles were a little hilly but they went by fast. It was probably just above freezing but some potentially muddy spots on the trail were frozen over. Jon and I had planned 14 to 15 miles but crossing Riffle Ford Rd. the first time we were only out about 5.5. I thought the loop nearest to this road would be too short to get our mileage and so I thought to run up Mink Hollow. That turned out to be a little longer since I probably didn't calculate correctly with the many zig-zags that the Seneca Ridge Trail does. We'd stopped at the trail head on Riffle Ford Rd. for the Seneca Ridge Trail for some Gatorade and I ate a nutty bar. Jon told me that I picked-up the pace after that but it was less evident to me conciously. Throughout the run, I never felt that strong. Initially I moved pretty slowly over the hills and broke out a sweat. I focused on flowing like water over much of the route. Overall, there were few on the trail. We saw several cyclists going back and about 5-6 other runners. Jon tells me that the Seneca Greenway Trail Marthon and 50K are being planned to be run in the reverse direction compared to the route last year --starting low at the Potomac River, and finishing high in Damascus. I'm not yet fully committed to running it and don't like the change in direction so much. However, I'll give it some serious thought. I'd still like to do the training to prepare me for it since that's just fun and gives me a good base for other races.

C • climb 5

45 situps. I'd planned a short run but working late and going out to dinner cut that out of the day.

From Northfield Rd., to Elm St. and Arlington Rd. through neighborhood streets and back through different streets. I went out to mail some letters and get some groceries, running with a backpack.

Washington D.C. From 14th & Independence Ave., SW, over the 14th St. Bridge into Virginia, then on the Mt. Vernon Trail to Key Bridge, then on the C&O Canal Towpath through Georgetown to the Rock Creek Trail, then to Connecticut Ave. and the Woodley Park Metro Station. The rains had stopped but it was wet outside and 43 F. I wore my Goretex jacket and tights but got too warm as I plodded along, not very smoothly. I had to take off my jacket after 3 miles and that was much better. With a lot of clouds, there was a lot of light reflecting back and lighting up the trail. I could avoid most puddles but there weren't too many of them. The exception was when I got onto the towpath and splashed right on my first step. I did feel much smoother and even better for the last few miles. That's perplexing. I'm still surprised about my weight.

I had the opportunity to do a little indoor training on another wet and rainy day. Odd weight gain. I didn't really eat much.

Spinning and watching Monty Python on rollers. It helps to use the closed captions but it's more fun to hear it. It always suprises me how it feels so awkward and like a struggle starting out, but then gets much easier (except for my butt).

I would have done some running but it was cold and rainy out when I got home. I figured it be better to take a break.

Event: QOC Fountainhead
 

Fountainhead Regional Park, VA. Warm-up from the parking lot to the Start of QOC's event with one false start--I had to go back to the car part way to the Start to get my glasses.

QOC: Fountainhead Regional Park, VA. Nice terrain on the southeast side of the park--we hadn't been there in a long while so I was happy that course setter Victor Lin took us there. The reason we hadn't been there in a long time was that the map is far out of date. The coutours were not sharp, the new biking trails weren't on the map, and the vegetation mapping wasn't representative. I started off going down the trail to #1 and that was probably a good thing. I probably should have done it going to #2 too. I didn't make an error going there more directly but stopped a few times along the way being unsure which reentrant/ditch I was at. It went like this for several controls. I figured I'd go slower and not make any errors. I went direct toward #10 instead of backing up and using a trail route. When I finally did hit the trail, it wasn't what I expected--instead of being in a clearing, it was intermittant under forest. I turned incorrectly, stopped watching my compass and went down the wrong side of the big ridge/spur. I actually recovered from this pretty well but the damage was done. I lost about 6 minutes. I was a little off going to #11--off to the right. I went directly from a "trail" intersection toward #13. Crossing the many ridges, it was really evident that not enough was on the map. I passed Kathleen Lennon who was looking around one ridge short. After popping over into the right area, I didn't see the control but saw someone in orange running up the reentrant. I figured she was leaving the control but after going down that direction and not seeing it, I ran back up. Still not seeing it, I ran back down again but further and found it. Soon after the person in Orange showed-up and it turned out to be Peggy. I ran through the rest of the course fairly well. I was just over from the control on the other side of an unmapped reentrant but saw #14. I crossed the ridge at the saddle going to #17 and almost got sucked down one reentrant too soon. I wasn't running that fast for much of the race, being somewhat tired from other workouts but I was finishing strongly, passing two others in the last 4 controls which were common to most advanced courses. I felt that I was getting more used to the increased running and recovering some speed that's been lacking lately.

Blue - Splits

Rock Creek Park, DC. From the Nature Center off of Millitary Rd., I went down the Western Ridge Trail to Blagden Ave., then up the Theodore Roosevelt Trail to the Valley Trail, then onto an unammed trail just past Pulpit Rock out of the valley on the east side to the tennis courts west of 17th St. From there I went left and back down to the Valley Trail on a different unammed trail which came out just south of Rapids Bridge. I caught another unammed trail going out of the valley for the second time popping out near the Tennis Stadium. I followed the edge of the field to Morrow Dr. back into the valley near Military Rd. For the 3rd climb out of the valley, I went up past the horse center, back to the Nature Center parking lot. For intending to do a flatish run when I left the house, I failed. This was a quite hilly route. I enjoyed the Western Ridge Trail as always. They'd improved some of the surface by laying more gravel and dirt over the gullied areas. The Valley Trail was as difficult with footing as alwasy. There were also a lot of people walking along it. It was fun checking out some of these trails that I'd seen many times before but never ran. The weather was in the low 50s F. The downside was that I lost my van key on this run. I'd never lost a key while running before. I didn't have a pocket this time and just don't know what happened. I had started off with it, came back after 100m to drop my sweat bottoms and am unsure what happpened to it next.

I ran the Seneca Greenway Trail between Rte. 355, and Huntsman Rd. It was 43 F starting out with rain on the way. I ran in tights, a long sleeve t-shirt, and light gloves and that was perfect. Before going, I felt pretty tired from lack of sleep and being daunted by the distance (not a distance I've done lately). However, I really wanted to get one decent run in for this week that I've been off of work. I started feeling okay but was wondering if I should just turn around at the first road crossing, only 2.7 miles up. The greenway was just lovely today and that helped me continue the process of pulling myself up by my britches--I was motivated to push through and calmed by the scenery. On my run along Difficult Run last Tuesday, I had to sort of calm myself down 2 minutes into the run and stop myself from wondering how long I could keep up the pace and distance. I've been in the position of this infirm confidence before. There are physical aspects (what's making me slow lately) but I know that a large component of this fear is mental. To enjoy these kind of runs I just have to keep making them a priority and do them more often. I have to do them and not let work get in the way--that's my wisdom re-learned from being off work for a week. I'll probably have to re-learn it again.

My speed starting out was about 8:36/mile. It's slow and feeling like I was, I figured it'd get slower. I did slow but only when the trail got hillier. I surprised myself hitting the same 8:36 pace several times along the way. The trail conditions were just about optimal. There was not much mud to worry about like the Fairfax Cross County Trail had on Tuesday. This stretch of the Seneca Greenway Trail stayed on the hillsides most of the way--the houses bordering it were much further away from the creek. With the forest so open, I kept getting great views of Seneca Creek below and the land above. I'll have to checkout some of the wider parts (North Germantown Special Park) for mapping some day. When I got on the ridge past the first road crossing, I took a detour that I'd been meaning to checkout that rounds the spur--it was hillier than just crossing the ridge alone on the main trail. It also had less secure footing. On the wide flood plain before Brink Rd., the views were grand. I could see off far enough away that it looked like the Earth's horizon. There wasn't much mud and the tall grasses had been flattened. I saw only about 3 people and 3 dogs during the whole run (except for road crossing). I surprised a King Fisher and some kind of nuthatch. It was lot's of nice solace.

I timed things well. I had a few sprinkles along the way but the first significant rain came 5 minutes after finishing. Later I saw The Hobbitt (an Un-expected Journey); good being dehydrated for an almost 3 hour movie. I generally like Ang Lee movies (Peggy pointed out on 1/12 that I was confusing Directors--Ang Lee directed The Life of Pi which I loved and Peter Jackson directed The Hobbitt.) and loved the book reading it for the first time in 8th grade. It seemed like they tried too hard to embelish parts of the movie with humor that didn't work very well. They seemed to deviate from the book too. I think they just picked the wrong script but I am not panning it altogether. Dinner with Peggy and Max at a popular pizza place we hadn't been to yet, came later--a great day altogether that will give me something to shoot for in the busy work days ahead.

Wheaton Regiona Park, MD. Having gotten my drafting from yesterday done, I went back for more field work. I went over a detailed section from yesterday, then made faster work of the eastern parts of the map. Most things were falling into place as expected. I made some slight adjustments to point features that one just can't be sure about after the contour update without seeing them in person. I converted some old unused trails to ditches and got a lot of vegetation updates. There's no way for me to update all of the vegatation in time for the next meet.

C • Looks like 5

From Northfield Rd. to Arlington Rd. with Max's bike, then back with Max riding it.

Wheaton Regional Park. I got some time in the forest to check various updates I've been making and to cover some other ground/new updates. It was a slow day.

I got into an area we've not used much since most of the forest tends to be rather nasty, and it was not mapped in much detail earlier. It probably changed a lot due to man-made changes too. It was very difficult to map. To make it worse, features on the existing map were out of alignment after having made contour changes. To top it off, it rained lightly a few times just long enough to get my paper wet. If I get it right, it'll add something to well used map that some consider skipping meets for since they've done it so often.

I got into another area and tried to take a track of some rough open. As the rough open changed to low vegetation in open, I kept going. It was much larger than I thought and unfortunately really really slow to get through. The only saving grace was that there were few thorns there. I found more than enough elsewhere.

When I had tracked trails earlier, it had gotten dark and I missed an intersection. It turned-out that an old trail had been moved but was still mapable as a ride. I tracked it and tried to update nearby ditches and point features. They hadn't been moved yet so again, seeing them on the map was confusing me. I hope I have enough time to checkout the other areas where contours were pretty different.

I got a good start on mapping some impenatrable deadfall that clutters what was the one really nice hill in the park. That deadfall had been on the ground for at least 4 years and often messed up my line to controls. Maybe I'll do better next time I race there.

Fairfax County, VA. I ran a section of the Fairfax County Cross County Trail between Rte. 7 and Georgetown Pike. I started from a telephone utility building parking lot near Rte. 7. I hadn't run this section in several years and it had changed a bunch. At first, there was a lot more of a gravel maintenance road. After crossing the creek on concrete blocks near Browns Mill Rd., there was an upland section. It kept me out of some mud. There were muddy sections and rocky sections. When the two combined, that was just uncalled for... Sometimes it was hard to tell what would be slippery. A grassy part in an open field was more slippery than some obviously muddy parts--horse hooves seemed to have something to do with that. The mud got worse in the middle section. It wasn't deep, just slick on the surface. After crossing the creek again on some big stone boulders placed there, the trail became mostly a maintenance road again. I was running short on time and needed a bathroom so I turned around at Georgetown Pike rather than go to the river. Going back and slightly uphill, I found that I could pick the the better fork to avoid the mud. I felt much better climbing some small hills where the trail was dry, than the flatter muddy parts. It was 53 F and I ran in shorts and a t-shirt!

From Northfield Rd. to Arlington Rd. with Max, then back. Max was game to ride in today so we did. It was in upper 30s F with a slight breeze. I initially left his backpack at home so I had to circle back a short way.

Wheaton Regional Park, MD. Having added new contours, I attempted to fix some troublesome areas of the map. It was interesting seeing how the map was before, and after. In an area where some low cairns were mapped, I got distracted with some gullies and new rootstocks. I figured one rootstock was right where one of the mapped cairns should have been and I discovered it just about where it was mapped previously. I think the older contours had been throwing everyone off. For the second cairn, I had more trouble. It wasn't where it was supposed to be. I found it further east and downhill from where it was mapped. I spent a bit of time picking up the stones to get better visibility on the cairns. I discovered two more and found one more that had been mis-mapped just off a paved trail. That one was probably not mapped where it should have been because with a GPS, I got the trail bends more accurate, and I also had house positions, visible at the edge of the park that confirmed my location. There was enough new stuff that I found as it was getting dark that I'll have to go back and confirm locations.

Wheaton Regional Park, MD. After finishing the field checking, I jogged back to the parking lot on a paved trail.

Event: QOC Patapsco McKeldin
 

QOC: Patapsco State Park, MD, McKeldin. I wasn't really looking forward to the event today. Much of it was my slow running (tired quads) lately and the steep hills in the park. I figured I'd look at the day as good endurance training. It was a nice enough day but I felt cold starting on the windy ridge. Almost immediately after starting, I felt fine about the weather and I was feeling not so bad about running. I stumbled a lot initially, falling twice before 3 controls. My navigation was mostly good. A lapse of concentration leaving #3 had me taking what was a shorter route to the creek below instead of going over a hill and using a trail to get there. I had been thinking from memory that it wasn't so bad going this way but I was remembering a parallel feature. I lost about 2 minutes picking my way down the steep hillside with loose deadfall.

On my route to #5 I ran right past #6, then came back. On my way to #7, I went under the bridge and misinterpreted the clue description showing the control to be on the north side of a ruin--I went to the north side rounding the greenish South and West first and didn't see the control so I lost more time figuring it out. I hit #8 fine but wonder if staying low along the water and following the stream in would have been better. I took trails back toward #9 but got confused when I got near the road. I found an unmapped boulder in some green and misinterpreted the contours there before going up higher to the correct boulder group. I saw #10 from far off but was slow climbing. Going to #11, I took the trail so there was no problem other than the wavy footing (removed rail ties?).

My first inclination was to use the road to get to #12. I had never used the higher dirt road/trail, I figured it wouldn't lose me much time and might have a better attack point so I decided to check it out. The mud and ups and downs made a slower route. I came off the trail at a reentrant crossing. I saw some mounds that I thought I could recognize as contours on the map but when I saw two stony ground areas and only one mapped, I got confused. I figured it out quickly and only lost time pausing for this. Going to #13, I had to stop for a nature break and lost at least a minute for this. I attacked the control a bit too early and couldn't see the ruin from above. It was really tucked into the unmapped green there but being so close to the road and trail, it wasn't really that hard to find.

I ran the trails going to #14 but had to run across the dead grass and some marsh when I saw two horses coming at me from the other direction. I hit the rocks well and contemplated going back this way to get to #15, avoiding the steep climb. In the I decided to go straight toward #15. The terraing pushed me more left than I anticipated it would but I corrected easily. I had some hesitation on picking a route to #16. The end was easy enough but my choices left, straight and right were hard to weigh. I went straight but think left might have been better.

I hesitated again leaving #16 for #17, thinking to go straight, and low along the river. My experience going to #4 lead me away from that along wtih another orienteer going for the higher ground. I hit the control well but think that the lower route would have been better Lacho agreed. I ran high, angling up on a deer trail to get to better running on the way to #18. I turned around and ran almost right back up the same way going to #19. When I got to the road, I cut left and right at the intersection for better running. The control was lower than I had been anticipating but was in the correct place. I ran out angling to the road to get to #20. I did cross the field to hit it at the end. My run in was not done very hard.

Patapsco State Park, Mckeldin Area. Warm-up jog to the restrooms for the QOC meet.

C • 6-7-8-9 2

Blue - Splits

Rock Creek Park. From the DC/MD Border Parking lot off Beach Dr., I ran up the Western Ridge Trail to an unammed trail before Bingham Dr. that brought me down to the Pinehurst Trail. I then paralleled Beach Dr. going northward on the west side, but in the valley. Crossing Beach, I headed south on the Valley Trail. Turning up, I took the Holly Knoll Trail back northward to the Valley Trail, continuing northward almost to the border parking lot. I was going to be short of 5 miles so I continued along the creek until hitting the paved Rock Creek Trail and looping back to the parking lot. I felt pretty awful for much of this run, right from the beginning. My quads are rather tired so going up is slow. Going downhill was okay until it was steep. There were lots of people and dogs out. The trails were pretty good except for the part I added on at the end along the creek which was fairly muddy. It was in the low 40s F.

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 Georgetown Pike, to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. I had good plans to run trails in the dark with my headlamp but working late threw that all off. I worked a lot on Wheaton map updates after getting Max to bed and eating dinner so it was pretty late when I finally went out to run. My right calff was a bit tight starting out.

45 situps.

From 14th & Independence Ave., SW, Washington, D.C. Independence Ave. to the Reflecting Pool, to the Lincoln Memorial, to the Rock Creek Trail, to Tilden St., to Connecticutt Ave. to the Van Ness/UDC Metro Station. Leaving in the dark with my electric flashy jacket, it was 33 F but the winds were calm. I forgot to bring my belt pouch so I had to carry essentials in my hands. There were several runners and riders getting to Georgetown but I only saw two other riders and 2 other runners while going up along Rock Creek. I had intended to have an option of going directly to the Woodley Park Metro Station or adding on by going through the National Zoo and seeing the lights display. I felt well enough to I went for the Zoo but the gates were closed. I had to run through the tunnel. A cyclist had passed me just before this and went through before me which is a trick all by itself. The tunnel walkway is very narrow. The paved trail is uneven. Usually it wouldn't bother me, even in the dark but I was more tired than usual. I had to slow going downhill and a few times when car headlights were directed towards me. I climbed comfortably but not quickly up Tilden St. - 210 ft. in under a half mile. I stretched for a while afterward.

My totals from 2012 were pretty good compared to earlier years. It started well with running training for the Greenway Trail 50K. The opportunity cost of running was reduced cycling mileage and when the orienteering season and warmer weather came, my running dropped off too much. I had some good cycling activity in the summer but it came in spurts spaced apart too much to get a cummulative training gain. I also road a lot of shorter commutes to the metro station instead of work. I did get a few more longer runs in in the fall but again there were gaps, mainly due to more focus and time spent on work changes. Weekend warrior activity kept me going until the return of achilles tendon/calf issues (this time on my right leg). That set me back more. I managed to pull together a decent finish in December to catch-up in cycling miles, and at least get my running miles to a level closer to 10 years ago than it was to the last few years. Overall, I kept my weight lower but I slept less, somewhat making up for the lack of sleep on weekends. Here are my totals for 2012. I far exceeded running, and did more orienteering. My cycling miles just barely exceded 2011 and my overall hours cycling were just short of the previous year--probably due to less time spent on rollers where I don't count miles rather than being faster.

My navigation accuracy was significantly improved with 79% of controls spiked instead of 71% in 2011--my goal target for 2012 had been to improve it. I probably did so by being calmer (not worrying about placing higher) and going slower on average--my competition place results were improved:

Activity Time Miles
Orienteering 139:01:02 371
Running 105:42:24 750
Bicycling 99:11:18 1,452
Hiking 5:07:13 10
Calisthenics 1:00:00
Skating 55:00
Rowing 25:00 1

Totals: 351:21:57 2,585
Average sleep: 6.2 hrs
Average weight: 174.8lbs
Average Resting Heart Rate: 52 (few data points on this)

Another way of looking at the above was that for each and every day of the year on average, rain or shine, I orienteered 1.6K in under 23 minutes, then ran 2 miles in 17 minutes, then rode about 4 miles in 16 minutes; working out 56 minutes a day. The orienteering sounds slow but includes field checking. The cycling is primarily commuting and includes riding with Max at his pace.

Over the next year, I'll try to keep my running mileage up and try to avoid long gaps in training with cycle commuting.

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 Georgetown Pike, to Huntington Pkwy., to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. Now that I have achieved my training totals for last year, I need a little easier workout. I was kind of full from a luncheon with my mom, sisters, Max and Peggy.