Training Log Archive: Nadim

My back pain has worsened. It is in the lower area where the right hip and spine meet.

A combination of being busy, weather, and the back pain kept me from running. The back pain has been happening off and on over the last 2 weeks. I don't know if it is related to running in the snow, stress or even a virus (a few people at work told me of their back pain before I got mine).

From Northfield Rd., to Custer Rd., to Huntington Pkwy., to Old Georgetown Rd., to Johnson Ave., to Heampstead Ave., to McKinley St., to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to Jefferson St., to Northfield Rd. I felt pretty awful on this run. I had been cleaning up the house and outside the house for most of the day before going. I think my blood sugar was low. Additionally, my back, which had been hurting off and on for about 2 weeks, was hurting again. It took the whole first quarter mile for that to start feeling better. After that the ball of my right foot was hurting when I strode. Lastly, my quads were tired; I was dragging all the way to the end of the run. I started feeling a bit cool, but I was sweating by the end.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From 14th & Independence Ave., SW, to 15th St., SW (Raul Wallenberg Pl., SW), to Ohio Dr., SW., to Buckey Dr. SW, to Ohio Dr., SW., to Independence Ave., SW. to 14th St., SW. I almost ate lunch with a co-worker but when he cancelled, I got out to run in the daylight again. It was quite sunny and pleasant out at 41 F, and I was over dressed again. My first mile was slow partly due to traffic but partly because my legs were feeling so dead. I didn't realize that I had picked-up the pace for the 2nd and 3rd miles. After taking off my gloves, I unzipped my jacket but even that was too much. I kept the jacket on however just so I didn't have to carry it. It still bothered me as the wind would blow it off my shoulders repeatedly.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd., in the dark.

Back from having holidays, I took advantage of the warmer weather here in Bethesda, MD; it was about 29 F. I rode from Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station. The scale was a shock--I think it equals my all-time high.

From 14th & Independence Ave., SW, to Madison Dr., NW, to 15th St., NW., to Constitution Ave., NW., to Ohio Dr., SW., to East Basin Dr., SW (around the Jefferson Memorial), to 15th St., SW (Raul Wallenberg Pl., SW), to Independence Ave., SW. to 14th St., SW. I took advantage of lunchtime to go running. I usually eschew this since I'm hungry at lunch time and because the weather will usually make me too sweaty. It was 37 F starting out and by the time I was done it was 41 F (in MN, at the same time, it was 21 F). I felt fine starting but somewhat hot by the time I was done. I ran faster than I had been lately and that I think is the effect of getting used to running in snow, then it seemingly being easier to run on pavement that my shoes can grip. Despite that, my legs were feeling kind of dead the last half mile. There were lots of tourists walking along the Potomac River.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd., in the dark.

Christmas Day - Joyful 5k - Como Lake, Saint Paul, MN. Peggy, Max, Peggy's brother Paul and his housemate Annabel all participated in our annual run around the lake this year. Luckily it was warmer than the days leading up to it--somewhere around 17-20 F with little to no wind. I ran in long underwear, tights, a long sleeve t-shirt, a hat, and gloves with overmits--this was just right. Max was mentally tougher this year. He'd been planning to do the run for the last several days and though he was hedging the morning of the race, he got himself out there. We dressed him in more than I had on and Max did only one loop, but he ran most of it. Paul was walking behind doing sweep. Annabel ran somewhere in between doing both laps. The night before it had snowed 3-4 inches but the trail had been plowed. A residue still made it slippery enough to keep me slower or at least I'll blame my slow time partly on that. I started a brisk but steady pace. One guy was out all alone in front. A few trailed him including one woman and 2 guys running shirtless and in shorts. A deaf runner from Ghana and perhaps a younger relative of his were ahead of me for a while. I passed the kid after half a mile and then the deaf runner just after a mile. After that, I cruised along as best as I could, saving harder running for the last half mile. No one passed me and I didn't pass anyone else the whole race. I finished in 8th place. I think Max finished his one loop just a few minutes ahead of me.

Saint Paul, MN. From Forbes Ave., to Douglas St., to Forbes Ave., to the bike path paralleling I-35E, to Saint Clair Ave., to Pleasant Ave., to Saint Albans St., to Fairmont Ave., to Crocus Place, to Crocus Hill Rd., to Dale Ave., to Lincoln Ave., to Grand Ave W., to Smith Ave., to Forbes Ave. It was 10 F when I got going. This felt much warmer despite as much wind as the day before. I had an over mit on top of my gloves which kept my hands a lot more comfortable, and I ran my own pace which let me generate more heat. The bike path had been recently plowed; it had snow on it still but it felt much better than running on the packed snow like the day before. I was still somewhat slow but this is to be expected with the conditions, the extra clothes, and the hills.

Saint Paul, MN. From Forbes Ave., to Douglas St. To Grand Ave., to Victoria St. S, to Summit Ave., to Douglas St., to Forbes Ave. It was cold out--0 F with a 12 mph wind. This might be the coldest temperature that I've ever gone running though I had been winter camping in colder weather. Peggy and I were pretty well dressed though I could have used more on my hands. My right thumb was aching going out, into the wind. It hurt afterward. There was fresh snow on the ground but most of the way I ran on shoveled walkways.

Bloomington, MN. From Killebrew Dr. across from the Mall of America, I ran to Old Cedar Rd. and back. There was snow on the sidewalks and though much of it was cleared earlier, enough new snow had fallen to make it slippery. It was about 20 F and I felt somewhat tired, using muscles that i don't usually use, to slip and slide.

Later we celebrated Christmas with Peggy's family.

Bloomington, MN. From Killebrew Dr. across from the Mall of America, I ran to Bass Ponds Park. I ran loops along Long Meadow Lake (Minnesota River), downstream of Cedar Ave. (Rte. 77). It was about 21 F with a steady wind. There was about 4-5 inches of snow on the ground. I ran on packed snow from hikers. I saw one hiker with his dog and I startled a deer and some geese. It was a nice run that felt pretty slow. On the few parts where there was actual pavement, I ran much better.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Madison St., running and holding Max's bicycle, then back with Max on his bicycle. It was colder this morning but it heated up oddly. I ran in shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt. It was about 60 F. I was rather full still from eating lunch.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was about 36 F.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. in the dark. It was somewhat cold too; in the low 30's F.

Event: QOC Wheaton
 

Armco Park, OH. Warming up between the parking area and the start of OCIN's Middle Distance event.

Armco Park, OH. OCIN's Middle Distance event was in a park that was more appropriate for a sprint. The really hadn't intended this for A-meet material but took on the work of doing the Championships for NIght-O and the Relay. I think the event for Sunday was just a way to round out the weekend. I heard from several people who more or less stopped racing and just wanted to finish on the least unpleasant route, even if it were longer. Certainly the weather did not help matters much. The ground was snow covered (2-4 inches), it was well below freezing, and with increasing winds. Almost out of the starts I had thoughts of taking a more pleasant route, on the way toward #2. The basic approach involved going across one or another flowing streams. I unknowingly had picked the worse of the 2 options plunging in on the left side. To get to #3 the most efficient route was across some green and across the same stream. I learned after the event that the Red course had to cross this set of streams 5 times. There were several controls which involved crossing mowed fields. Going to #4 was one of these. I went on the longer left approach around fenced-in ball fields so that I could use more pavement. I approached well but got distracted at the end by a control more visible but on a different nearby ditch. For controls #5-12, I ran prostrate most of the way. I had to duck to get through the green. Most of the navigation involved keeping a good bearing or aiming off or even following the right snowy elephant path. I managed to mess up a few of these controls one of which I passed by within 10 ft. Of near a shoreline and still couldn't see. Navigation came more into play when correcting errors. For leg #13, I ran down the snowy rough open ride passing a woman and a man. When another ride merged in from the left, I cut right at an angle sharper than needed to get around some green. As the terrain dropped of to a stream, I cut left, once again missing the control by less than 15 ft. as I did so. By the time I looped back, I crossed paths with Ali Crocker and Bill Pullman who were apparently making the same mistake that I was doing.
I think Bill figured out something was amiss when he saw me running the other direction. I lost about 2 minutes. The last 6 controls were better. The green wasn't as bad. I did choose to cross some green and another stream that I know others chose to go around. It saved me a little time but not much. I found it hard to run at the end. I was just tired. I caught the man I'd passed on the way to #13 but couldn't quite catch the woman. Once again, my feet were numb after finishing. That's a wierd feeling knowing that I'm touching something with them but not being able to feel the touch. I could see an old line that I thought had long ago healed from a frostbite in the 1980's.

Armco Park, OH. Warm-down jog back to the start to pickup my coat.

OCIN_Armco_Middle_Dec_2013_Green - Splits

Camp Liederer, Loveland, OH. Warmup at the lake near the start of OCIN's Relay Championships. It was raining, around 32 F and cloudy. I warmed-up in a Goretex top with long john top and pants underneath.

Camp Liederer, Loveland, OH. OCIN's US Relay Championships. I ran on an all QOC team of Greg Lennon, Keg Good, myself, and Ted Good all running in the afore said order. Greg and Keg ran okay 1st and 2nd legs.

At the last few seconds before taking the handoff from Keg and starting, I decided to leave behind my Goretex running jacket. It was a good decision. Despite the rain, I wasn't feeling cold from it. I did however have trouble finding control #1 on the map as I started. This cost me some time getting to #1. The first leg, and the rest of the course for that matter was very sprint-like. I was a bit hesitant getting to #2. Just before getting to #3, Ian passed me. His presence helped me on the next several controls but he was pulling away. I caught at least one other orienteer before getting caught myself by Dave Swanson (MNOC) at around #8. I got ahead of Dave on the way toward #10 but in doing so, I made an error in reading the control location. I thought the control would be in a reentrant but it was really on the spur across a reentrant from where I ended up. Dave had taken a similar path. He crossed more quickly and got to the control first. I got ahead again until missing at #14. I'd passed the control just a bit, then turned back as Dave came in still just behind me. I was having trouble reading detail with wet glasses but I saw enough to sort of see the second trail intersection. I used it and spiked #15 but Dave seemingly took the first trail. I had a decent run-in. After finishing and seeing Ted take his turn, I changed outside under a shelter. My feet got so frozen, that I couldn't feel anything in the entire areas in front of my arches. Ted was running okay, or so we thought. He did come in ahead of the anchor for the MNOC team and QOC would have been 2nd but both Ted and his MNOC competitor had mispunched early by skipping the short leg to #4 on the Red course.

OCIN_US_Relay_2013_Green - Splits

Event: OCIN - US Night and Relay Championships
 

Hueston Woods State Park, OH. Warmup in the snowy lodge parking lot. It was around 32 F and cloudy.

US Night Orienteering Championships, OCIN, Hueston Woods State Park, OH. This was one of those times when a do over would have been really nice. It was cool (~30 F) at the start, but I planned for that and was ready. There was about 2 inches or more of snow on the ground and i was more or less ready for that too. The first 3 controls seemed to come up really fast, especially since it was night orienteering in which distance travelled is usually perceived to be longer than it actually is. I had to check and re-check the map on the first 2 controls (I'd also forgotten to grab control descriptions at the start). For the 3rd control, my bearing was off so I hit a road passing well under the control, then had to go up the road and back. On the 4th control, I wanted to stay high so as to avoid a slippery steep climb at the end. However, I was too far to the right and had to come back to the left at the end. For #5, I chased a guy and then ran true as he missed to the right; I spiked it!

Control #6 was my downfall. I thought to use the roads and trails. First, I wanted to hit the roads well left of the straight route. I don't know what was happening but I kept drifting right. The result was that I went across some green going almost straight toward the control. When I hit a road, I wasn't sure which road it was but eventually left it, knowing where I was. If I'd have just stayed on the road, I would have been better off. However, I returned to my plan to hit a power line trail in a greenish slashy looking power line ride. I was okay at first but hit some dense vegetation and started adjusting a lot. Soon, without knowing it, I got turned around and even read my compass 180 degrees off. I never seemingly got to the power line ride. I stopped when I realized this and not knowing where I was, I bailed for the road again. Once on the road, not far from where I'd left it earlier, I headed toward the finish and Go control. I passed both going for the lake shore. I realized that I needed to head back up a little when I saw that some streams were high. Eventually, I got in the right reentrant, followed it up to the power line ride, then climbed the side of the reentrant slowly to the control. I think I lost 15:00 minutes,

After that debacle, I settled down. I ran straightest toward #7 but when. Hitting the reentrant valley, I paused a long while to figure out if I was left or right of the control; I had been left of it and analyzed it correctly, I went straight to #8 too but got caught in unmapped green right before it; I even fell and had trouble untangling myself to get up. For #9, I crossed the reentrant, ran up a kind of spur, and went along the top of a reentrant to spike it. Somewhere along here, it had started snowing harder. For #10, I wasn't sure what to do. Rather than take long to decide, I decided to just run straight up the reentrant. This took me back and forth across the creek a few times. I also used a trail further up. I spiked it. For #11, I ran a straightish angle to the road then with some hesitancy, I went around to the right side if the hotel. The rest was just run and run. I did however stay in the snow on the run in.

This was a disappointing race. Knowledge of the park would have helped a lot.

OCIN_US_Night_2013_Green - Splits

From the Friendship Heights Metro Station at the DC/MD border (Western Ave. & Wisconsin Ave.), Friendship Rd. to Willard Ave. to the Little Falls Trail, to River Rd. to the Capital Crescent Trail, to Bethesda Ave. to Woodmont Ave. to Old Georgetown Rd., to Edgemoor Ln. I worked late but at least I did my short planned run. It was icy so I went slowly for a while. Once on the CCT I picked up the pace a little. It was straighter and I could tell but not necessarily see in the dark, that there was less ice.

Though tempted to go run, I realized that it was too icy.

I woke up early enough to at least start out with Peggy on a run (it was later than Peggy would usually run on a weekend). I was a little like that long ago time before we had Max and ran together on weekends a lot. I covered the Seneca Greenway Trail between Rte. 355, and Huntsman Rd. It was 26 F starting out. There was just a dusting of snow on the way out but when returning, the last +2miles had steady snow that started to accumulate. I could tell that I was closing-in on Peggy when I could distinguish her running stride foot prints in some places. The first 9 tenths of a mile I felt pretty well but I struggled on hills after that. I was okay on flats and moved pretty well going down hills. My knees could feel it afterward. As usual, the Greenway Trail was fun and did not disappoint me.

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 43 F with steady light rain and drizzle. I had been feeling pretty tired all day from not sleeping enough. This was wearing on me along with the added resistance of wearing my rain suit and running into the wind. Overall it made me feel better but I felt like it was taking a long time to cover the first 3 miiles.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was about 40 F.

From the Silver Spring Metro Station, to 2nd Ave. to Grace Church Rd., and following the Georgetown Branch Trail over the road portion, (Talbot Ave. Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas Ave. and Stewart Ave.) to the unpaved portion, to Elm St. in Bethesda. Max had started basketball practice today so I met both Max and Peggy for dinner. On the run, I didn't fee so good starting out but I got better once I headed down hill and kept it up. I ran carrying a backpack. It was in the mid-50s F. Peggy gave me a ride home.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Madison St. on my road bicycle with Max on his bicycle, then back to Northfield Rd. towing Max's bicycle, then to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was about 41 F.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Northfield Rd. in the dark.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Madison St. on my road bicycle with Max on his bicycle, then back to Northfield Rd. towing Max's bicycle, then to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was about 41 F.

Washington, D.C. From 14th & 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 Connecticut Ave., to the Cleveland Park Metro Station. It was warmer than I thought it'd be. I was overdressed in sweat bottoms and top. I ran with a backpack too so that helped warm me up more. Like the other week, I felt good the whole first mile. After that, tiredness set in. I was (35:28 at the Woodley Park Metro Station. This was slower than last time but I didn't have a backpack last time.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Northfield Rd. in the dark.