Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Riffleford Rd., I set out to place control streamers in Seneca State Park. I got a slow start with getting to the right locations even missing some controls. The bushy vegetation had grown up a lot, over the wet summer. Other places traditionally open were just as open. I'd planned to do all of the controls but I also got to a big area and soon realized it had changed a whole lot. I spent a lot of time re-mapping it. As I got away from remapping activity, my progress improved and I felt better despite being tired. I did run between controls when possible. It was a +70 F sunny day which was much better than being at work! I surprised one hunter in a blind and came across 2 more--I guess all of them were bow hunting. Two of them asked me if I'd seen any deer, and I hadn't on this day up to that time. Later I saw a few deer including a nice looking buck. Everytime I saw them they were running.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I worked late so it was dark.

Event: Susquehanna Stumble XX - Pine Grove Furnace State Park
 

Event: Harriman Orienteering Festival
 

Harriman State Park, NY; at Lake Welch Beach. This was the walk to the mass start.

Harriman Orienteering Festival in Harriman State Park, NY. Greg Alswede set the mass start goat course as a Junior Team fund raiser. It raised around $3,000 which they'll use for traveling. The weather turned out to be pretty well.

S-1 I lined-up near the back but got a decent start going to the road. My son Max was running the Baby Goat, his first time running more than Yellow in Harriman. He had seen a road route to #1 which turned out to be my #1 too, but Joe Brautigam had pulled over to go that way just in front of me, after we got through the tunnel. I felt okay running and that was good. I kept the pace comfortable. There was a big group of people converging after we left the trail and went down a reentrant. I had to wait a minute at the control where there was only one punch and a line of people waiting.

1-2 - I went fairly straight but got pulled right, into the briars. Once out of them I used the walls to get close but I felt a little lucky coming out of the briars close to it.

2-3 - I went fairly straight. Pavalina Brautigam was up ahead and I closed the distance.

3-4 - Behind Pavalina in the blueberry, we were on our line when we came to a control. It seemed early and again there was a line. I was hurrying to punch because of the line behind me, and I didn't check the code. Kristen turned off and I started to follow when I heard Peggy behind me say this isn't our control. That made sense so I doubled back, then down the hill much further. I have navigated well in this area previously. I can only think it was me running too fast, getting distracted by people, and fog on my glasses that made me make this bonehead error. Peggy had punched just behind me.

4-5 - I chased a group upward along the hillside. Jeff Seager was leading but Bernie was near me too. I was on a good line kept my basic position.

5-6 - I went straight with the group. Again Jeff was ahead and seemingly pulling away. I wasn't climbing so well. The vegetation clued me in at the end, but the group was pulling me along.

6 - 7 - I went straight like those around me. Along the way heard others talk about skipping and I'd just about forgotten we could! I thought skipping #8 would be good. Half-way there, Jeff Saeger was ahead and leading again. JJ Cote was off to my right but he converged behind Jeff. Once we hit the mountain laurel a few went left and a few went right. Peggy was falling behind. I went more to the right but not so far as Jeff. I climbed a bit of a ridge and should have realized it. I broke into the open and went more right but I was high and past the control already. I cut right seeing more people going that way, and then realized how far above and past the control I was. I turned quickly but it probably took me over a minute running to the control.

7 - 8 - As I was intending to skip 8 by taking the trail to #9, Daniel Schaublin passed me and quietly suggested skipping #18. While I was evaluating that and behind him, I committed to getting to #8. JJ led us there up a trail. I concluded that skipping #8 would have been better but it didn't matter at that point.

8 - 9 - I liked running straight down the gradual hillside. I was on target parallel to JJ, when just before the control I saw Max. Max looked worried and said he thought he'd run off the map. I had to let JJ and Daniel go. I didn't want Max to have a bad experience his first time deep into the back woods of Harriman. Max told me he was going to #108, where I'd just come from. Max's map had a different scale and I think he had run off the printed map. I eventually got it oriented and pointed him in the direction he needed to go in. I found out later that he was able to find it, even with it being 300m away. I punched after that and I figured I lost almost 2 minutes.

9-10 - I ran straight but got a bit to the left. I'd been reading up and down incorrectly. People started crossing my path--the were coming from #11 and going to #12. I corrected and hit the control with little time lost.

10-11 - I ran straight and got gained ground on a man I'd see later.

11-12 - I was again fairly straight. Another guy was on my right. That probably pulled me right since I had to turn left near the end. I was able guess the control location from far off before I descended to the bottom of the hill.

12-13 - I hit the road after breaking through some mountain laurel. I gained ground and caught Daniel Schaublin. It turned out that he and JJ had a slight error getting to #10.

13 - 14 I went around the right side of the mountain laurel. JJ Cote passed me on the right, but after we turned left, he slowed later. I was able to get to the control ahead of a group, and I was feeling like I was reading the map better.

14-15 - I didn't consider the trail option to #15. I went straight. JJ and Daniel S. seemed to be doing the same. I and the guy I'd caught at #11 were on the right side while they were on the left. At one point, I saw a distinctive edge of some mountain laurel ahead, and correlated it to green on the map. I ran confidently to get passed it before cutting more to the right. What I found out later was that I was seeing a second patch of green, and that I was already passing the control. At the bottom, people were running toward me from my right. Pavalina was leading a group and asked me where I was going. When I told her #15, she pointed back where she was coming from. I was over a minute getting to it from there.

15 - 16 - I ran and walked straight. The other guy I'd been with passed me on the climb but we both got to the control at about the same time.

16 - 17 - I was slow going up the steep climb. As we climbed we thought about skipping #18, as Daniel had suggested long ago. The other guy got ahead and to the right a bit. He'd corrected at the top by the time I got there.

17 - 18 - The other guy paused for me and recommended going to #18 since it was just along the ridge along an intermittent trail. We moved well and got there w/no problem.

18 - 20 - We decided to run trails to 20. My glasses were just foggy enough and I was out of breath keeping up with the other guy enough that I just didn't see this leg being forked! We came down the trail south of #18. At the intersection, we went straight, w/me leading. It was a bit rough. We popped out on the big trail near #19B, but I still didn't see it. The other guy had gotten ahead of me and I was trying to catch-up. We moved well on the trail but I slowed as we started to climb. Three West Point runners led by a woman passed me. The all passed the point I wanted to jump off the trail. I yelled ahead as the other guy was thinking about it. We cut right and SW on a trail through some stone walls. We stayed with the walls too long, and then made a general run down to the stream to correct. We hit it well. The other guy got there first, and David Oxertierna was just coming in on my right.

20-21 - I chased the other guy and was trying to get some ground on David too. I fell back a few steps by the time we'd gotten to the tunnel. On the other side, I went a bit further to get past the worst of the green. It sounded like the other guy had gone in early but I wasn't sure. I hit the open woods and moved well. I could see Carl Alswede ahead of me near the end but I couldn't run down the hill very fast without fear of falling.

21-F - I chased Carl, making up all the 30m distance except for the last step. When I realized he'd get there ahead of me, I slowed and punched the left control, less than a second behind.

It was nice running in Harriman again. Peggy remarked that she was having a hard time imagining running another 15K like the Hudson Highlander usually does. She hasn't missed any of the Highlanders and this race unfortunately took the weekend for it. I didn't feel like I navigated well and neither did Peggy. I think the fog on my glasses had a lot to do with that. I found myself reading around them a lot. I was happy that I felt strong enough to run the whole time. I even finished with an almost sprint. I cramped up a lot, later in the car when I was trying to put my dry socks on.

Fall Goat - Splits

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. There was a bit of traffic early but I got through the intersections quickly later on. I was heavy from a late dinner with my mother and sister.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. There was light rain falling with more on the way. Predicted rain was one reason I didn't bring clothes to work for it, but in retrospect, I could have run at lunchtime.

From Northfield Rd to the Bethesda Metro Station. It was stop and go getting there and in the upper 30s F.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, up Wisconsin Ave., to Battery Ln.

From Battery Ln. to the Bethesda Trolley Trail, to Maple Ridge Rd., to Glenbrook Rd., to Edgemoor Ln. to the Bethesda Metro Station. This was at a very leisurely pace, after an appointment.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I was a little tired.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was warmer this morning; only about 40 F when I started out. I was probably dressed well. I sweated just enough. The trail was very busy with cyclist. Just about all of us were probably not wanting to miss the nice weather as it is forecast to reach 66 F. The winds were calm. I was tiring out at Fletcher's Boathouse but cruised in. One guy passed me. I messed up the timing with my watch so my overall time is estimated.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. There were some slight headwinds. I'd gotten to the water past the Jefferson Memorial when some other riders were coming off Haines Point. Two women from that group passed me but I got ahead again. Upon leaving Georgetown, I caught 2 riders and eventually set into a pace behind one as the other fell off the pace. After Fletcher's Boathouse, where the climbing begins I led and continued to the water treatment plant. I lost the guy I'd been riding with on the bridge ramp. I cruised up toward Falls Rd. On the River Rd. overpass another woman passed me--she was older than the first 2. I was wondering if she was very strong or if it was that I am just weak, fat, and in not so good shape. I did make it home before dark. I also messed up my timing by accidentally saving instead of restarting at a light. The overall time is estimated.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

Event: QOC Balls Bluff
 

QOC at Balls Bluff Regional Park, VA. I was cutting it close with the end of the start window quickly approaching. Though there was word out on the QOC website when I checked in the morning, I hadn't set my departure time from home expecting not one, but 2 bus rides. I also had a meeting coming up about the Mid-Atlantic Championships so as soon as I got out of the bus to the start, I registered my epunch and got started. Rick Oliver was on the bus but he was helping his son get ready, so I got a bit of a head start.

S-1 - I realized I didn't bring gaiters so I decided to avoid some potential green and hill climbing by going left from the start. The woods were wondrous--it looked like someone had gone through cleaning up leaves and sticks. There was a pretty good wind blowing and it was about 50 F. I got myself across a reentrant and climbed mostly on a trail. I came in from the west and didn't think I'd lost any time until seeing Rick's time after the race.

1-2 - I went straight, thinking it not worth going right to the trail so that I could get around the green near the road. I did have to zig right to get through, and then a little left once across the road. I ran straight along the ridge from there and into the reentrant to spike it.

2-3 - I went straight and was happy to see the end of the reentrant coming up.

3-4 - I went straight again, rather than follow the reentrant, which was less risky. I spiked it. I usually do run pretty straight in terrain as open as this was. The leg being downhill helped.

4-5 - I ran straight again toward the road. I saw Rick Oliver going to #2 and as I told him to enjoy it, I wondered if he'd catch me. I didn't want to get caught-up in the light green before the road. I cut left a bit but wasn't sure if I was in the green (where there was distinctly more tree leaf at low levels) or not--I saw a narrow clear way through it and took it. Where I hit the road, there was a trail intersection so I knew where I was. I basically kept straight off trail, but got one one briefly, and used the place where that trail dipped at a reentrant as an attack point to spike it.

5-6 - I ran a bit to the left, but not so far as to get stuck above the cliff line. I planned and took the low route along the river. I didn't feel that I was running that fast. The leaves still being green, made it hard to see the cliffs at first. When I did see them, it was only briefly but it was enough to tell me to go further. When I cut in, I was just past the control by a hair. It was much lower than I'd initially thought it'd be.

6-7 - I thought about backing down the hill and going around to the left but I went up. Down and around was probably faster. Going over was much greener than expected but not bad. I got on a trail that took me to the bottom and then I followed along the stream. I climbed up to go around the rootstock.

7-8 - I'd messed up a similar leg here in the past, but this time I just took a slow route by crossing the stream to where the running was better. I almost ran through the stream which was at bedrock, but I just didn't want to get wet at that point. After the trail crossing, I crossed back over the stream and counted reentrants. After the second, I started climbing, expecting the control to be higher. In the reentrant, I was half way up before it ended; I came down to it. I think the control was hung a little low.

8-9 - I crossed the creek right away and got on the trail. After the trail intersection and at the bend, I kept going straight to the reentrant junction. I walked/ran on the left side of the one on the left, all the way to the control past the saddle.

9-10 - I took the big reentrant to the junction of 2 big reentrants, then climbed, ignoring the trail. I kept a bit to the right instead of going over the formline hilltop, and then on the right side of the next reentrant. I again ignored the trail. To be safe, I aimed off to the left and then turned right into the control.

10-11 - I read this as up the reentrant, turn left and turn right. I hesitated a little at the end because I hadn't seen the slight left bend and other on the left reentrant at the end, that the control was in. That reentrant seemed more pronounced than the map shows.

11-12. I immediately went left so as not to have to cross the reentrant I'd run up. This got me around another person. I ran over the broad spur to the junction of many trails and streams, and got on a trail. There was a slight bend to the right of how the trail is mapped and I wasn't completely sure I was on the right trail at first--my compass wouldn't line it up well. Another guy was ahead but I wasn't gaining on him much. Across the saddle, I recognized the forked reentrant on my right and planned to cut over from there. A downed tree was in the way so I stayed on the trail a little longer. When I dropped, I landed in the reentrant that the leg line is on, so I climbed the last hill confidently, ran past the rootstock, and into the reentrant with the control.

12-13 - I ran straight. I saw additional rootstock but ruled some out as too soon. The big one was a little soon too but I ran past it. it being newer was an additional clue as to not being the right one. I was happy to see the mapped rootstock just ahead, and on the hillside.

13-14 - I was getting tired. I didn't workout enough the last week, and I'd stayed up too late, too many nights, working on some map drafting. I ran fairly straight to I had to correct my bearing after the open park playground, so that I didn't run into the houses. I cut left to get across the second reentrant because it was green in the steep parts. When I crossed the last spur, I spiked the control.

14-15 - I didn't really see the trail option but it would have been slower for me. I went almost straight, with some adjustment for the hills. I corrected my bearing on the last hillside, then instead of climbing early, I contoured--that was partly because of #8 being low.

15-F - On the run-in, I initially had a bad bearing; rushing too much. I wasn't that fast either.

I was fairly pleased with my run. I didn't make a big mistake for a change, and I ran with a good sense of presence almost all the way. I didn't think I lost any time except at #8 where the control seemed to be hung low in the reentrant. It was fairly satisfying even though I'm out of shape. I didn't remember the woods here being so open as they were today--nice oak forest land!

Green - Splits

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. There was traffic.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

Seneca Creek State Park, MD. From Germantown Rd., Rte. 118, I spent most of the time in the uplands where it is wide open. I was checking and fixing the alignment of point features. It was fun to be in the forest on such a nice day. I only saw 2 people and 2 dogs. The 2 dogs were somewhat friendly though one kept wanting to jump up on me with claws; I got a slight scratch. The dog wanted to stay with me despite the owners calls from 60m away. The owner eventually came and asked the usual questions about what I was doing--she knew of orienteering and seemed slightly interested in the upcoming orienteering event. She told me of a 50 miler that was to come through the area soon. The only other person I saw was just as I was leaving. He'd parked behind me and was headed into the woods as it was getting darker with his bow.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

Seneca Creek State Park, MD. From Germantown Rd., Rte. 118, I went feature to feature in the flood plains. I spent a while trying to get one area right--too many tightly packed features there. It was cooler, in the 50s F. but there were still a few active mosquitoes. I also finished off a part of the flood plain that I hadn't field checked before. Now all of the areas in the park for the Mid-Atlantics have been mapped. I'm still waiting for time to go over the Smokey Glen Barbequers property, but I feel that with a lot of open areas, it's not going to be very difficult, especially as more leaves come off.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station.

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

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I was feeling a little tired. The trail was a bit damp and had some wet leaves. I felt a bit of a headwind being in the open after Georgetown. By the time I was at work, it was 77 F and 89% humidity.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I left work at around 6:30pm so like last Friday it was already dusk-like. I'd been tired all day at work but I got moving okay as I weaved past heavy traffic going to the 14th St. Bridge. I did the same on trails with other cyclists and runners/walkers. It was good I had my helmet lighting up for others to see me. The trail was damp in places again since it had apparently showered again--still humid. I was happy with my pace. My legs were speckled with leaf parts sprayed-up from my front wheel.

From Northfield Rd., to Pyle Middle School. Peggy and I rode to the school for Parent Teacher night. There's limited parking and this was the fastest way.

From Pyle Middle School to Northfield Rd. Peggy and I rode home after the school open house. We'd gotten to see Max's media class--they learn to do news reporting and other things that can be video taped in that class. We listened to a critique the teacher was giving on one student group's class project. It sounded like a nice class in which one can learn some very practical skills!

Seneca Creek State Park, MD. From Germantown Rd., Rte. 118, I continued working my way back east to where I'd ended the map 2 years ago. Most of the time was spent in beautifully open ground. The main features were root stocks and dot knolls. These were spaced far enough apart that they will make navigating challenging, but the contours were simple--two sizeable hills over an area of 900m x 400m. I did revisit some places that I'd already drafted, so that I could improve them. It was warm, and humid again - in the low 80s F. I did get into some areas with deadfall and lowlands that had mosquitoes. It'd have be much easier to do the field checking in cooler weather with the grasses and mosquitoes gone.

Event: QOC Patuxent
 

QOC: Patuxent River Park. I ran Red today. I hadn't done that in a long while. I got started while it was still cloudy and maybe in the 70s F. Later it got to be sunny and in the mid to upper 80s F. I started out pacing myself. Things went well with me spiking everything in the first 7 controls. Sometimes I'd lose contact with the map briefly on these but my instincts were good. Going to several of these it seemed my course used the same controls as Rick Oliver, who I think was running the Green course. Rick just about caught-up to me on my 6-7 leg and passed me briefly going toward my #8. On that leg he probably was going to a different control since we diverged later. I felt I was reading the terrain okay as I rounded a ridge to attack off of a stream. However, when I got to the stream and ran up it, I somehow did a 180 and started reading the map upside down. I ended up crossing a creek that I had crossed already, and running up the wrong side reentrant. There were parallel features there. It took me off the map. After long pauses, I correctly surmised my error but I lost a lot of time. As I got back on course, I saw a guy ahead of me at #9, whom I'd passed at around #6. I went fairly straight on legs #10, #11, #12 and #13, all of which were largely across relatively featureless flat areas. I was happy about nearly spiking these. I did pause 3/4 of the way to #11 to make a correction when crossing a reentrant to #11. I was most happy about hitting the always tricky spur at #12. From #13, I went west to use the trail. The rest was easy, with nice open forest or field. I was also glad that my strength running is improving. I didn't run fast but could run through places where the terrain was open and not too steep.

Red - Splits

Seneca Creek State Park, MD. From Germantown Rd., Rte. 118. Before getting out, I'd had breakfast out with Peggy and the kids. We'd gotten haircuts too; it didn't occur to me to bring my gaiters with all of that. I was wearing shorts and had high socks; the terrain wasn't so bad to need gaiters a lot, going at a walking pace. However, I started on the flat lands and the mosquitoes were terrible. I had even sprayed myself before getting out. Bugs were buzzing in my ears. If I stopped and looked, I could see 10 of them around me. The temperatures weren't bad but I did sweat and that washed off a lot the spray I had put on. I got into some technical features in the flatlands and it was hard to put it to paper because I had to keep moving. There were high grasses (that will disappear in the winter) covering sticks, some mud in the ditches, and some more mud at the edge of marshland.

After over 2 hours of that I finally got to higher ground. This was a long with some side streams that I did next. I stayed on the west side which was greener and along the edge of farmland. At one point I was rounding a bushy area to map it and I noticed a big black snack curled-up inside it, on the branches. Further up that side stream I turned around and noticed that a herd of cows snuck up on me--they were on the other side of a fence in field but they were definitely all staring at me. I suppose they get fed by people and wanted me to give them something too. They followed me around (on the other side of the fence); cows never bothered me before but these were a little creepy. The west side of the stream took me closer to areas of old farmland that are now tree covered. Some man made features were not so easy to place with the forest having a mix of green clumps with white or open parts in between. I found some trails near a pond and a dam. That got me to the east side of the creek. I found a nice little water fall on a side stream, then got a bit confused on a spur or a hillside that was green--1993 pictures showed it to be open field. I finally went back down the creek on the east side and found lots of really nice open ground. I put in a lot of time working on the not so nice stuff so I should have a better time the next time I go out!

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was a cooler morning than it had been. However, it was still humid. I moved well with an apparent tailwind. A pair of faster riders passed me before Fletcher's Boathouse. I tailed them for 300m before backing-off because I was feeling the recent runs. I cruised the rest of the way in with mixed winds seemingly out of the NE.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. It felt late leaving work. It was already dusk-like with it being cloudy. The air was cool and I apparently had an unexpected tailwind. Riding in the dark I tend to slow for some unknown reason. I was comfortable without a headlamp. I had my Lumos helmet flashing and it gave just enough light where it was dark; it was plenty enough for cars and people to see me. I rode comfortably all the way home.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

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. I was feeling fairly beat on this run. It was 77 F starting out but humid. I'd worked late so I was feeling good about not bagging this run.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I worked late but had a productive day.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., to Huntington Pkwy., to Old Georgetown Rd. to Beech Ave. to North Bethesda MS, to Bradmoor Dr., to Folkstone Rd., Hartsdale Ave,. to Heampstead Ave. to McKinley St. to Garfield St., to Roosevelt St., to the trail at Jefferson St. to Northfield Rd. This was kind of slow; it was warm and humid, and I was just tired. People have already started putting out Halloween decorations/lights.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. It was nice and cool with temperatures in the 60s F. I had a slight headwind. I rode a comfortable pace most of the time. At Fletcher's Boathouse, a guy joined the trail, and I passed him as he was trying to accelerate. He passed me, which was good. I slowly caught up and drafted a while before passing him back. I was feeling tired by Georgetown.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. It was nice leaving the office before 6pm. I carried double my clothing--left over clothes from running last Friday. The car traffic wasn't so bad after getting past Main Ave., but there were bunches of people and a normal amount of cyclists to slow me occasionally. I kept my pace comfortable most of the time, except for passing. I moved up the Capital Crescent Trail okay. I did get passed by the small rider who carries a laptop on a rack, and I held off another until turning off at Little Falls Pkwy.