Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: QOC - Wheaton
 

QOC: Wheaton Regional Park, MD. It was one of those days when I probably shouldn't have gone out to begin with. I wanted to go since I had a day of rest, since it was Mark Mace's first time course setting, since Peggy's brother Paul was willing to run, and since I had to pickup controls later. However, I wasn't mentally prepared and had been worried about injuring my left knee more. I played with Max a bit while waiting for Peggy to finish and my knee loosened up nicely. By the time Peggy was back, it was after the official last start time. I should have gotten to a bathroom before I left but didn't--something I regretted the whole race. Being warned about errors people were making on #1, I went out confidently and quickly. However I quickly lost track of reentrants that I'd passed. With #9 directly in-line with #1, I ran up to #9 and was perplexed when it wasn't my control. I ran circles and then kept misinterpreting trails, etc. Had the battery not run out on my GPS, the track it would have shown would have been ugly. I kept thinking #9 was #1. Finally figuring it out, I ran across a trail on a ridge and straight to it--It was a nine minute leg which should have taken me 3 minutes or less. After that, it wasn't much better. I went inefficiently to #2, then left it badly. I was hesitant to #4, and badly read the 4-5 leg as 4-6. My navigation improved after that however my knee didn't. It started hurting on the way to #8. The need to go to the bathroom kept me from thinking about it too much. The entire day, I had not read the map well and I ran too fast in light green areas. My strength held up okay but was not very strong either. Ultimately, I did more damage to my knee. Mark's course was fun though there were a lot of dog legs; the course got me to a few controls which no one had used before that I could remember.

Wheaton Regional Park. I picked up controls in the eastern part of the park. Having cooled down a bit, I my knee was stiffening up. I had to walk several times but pushed on. Traveling along slopes was painful. Besides the controls, I picked up a control stand and 2 water stops.

Red - Splits

Washington, D.C. From Ohio Dr. SW., along the Potomac River to W. Basin Dr. to the Franklin Delanor Roosevelt Memorial, through the memorial to the Tidal Basin, north to Independence Ave. to Ohio Dr. SW. Peggy, Peggy's brother Paul, Max and I went on an evening stroll to see the famous Cherry Blossoms. They were very pretty and at peak bloom. The setting sun made it all the better but for the chill air. The walk ended poorly when we had just got finished warning Max not to walk with both hands in his pockets and disaster struck. He crashed badly on his face cutting his forehead, upper lip, and mouth. We made up for it with an unusual cheap dinner in Dupont Circle--nice.

45 situps.

Vienna, VA. From the Vienna Metro Station, Virgina Center Blvd. to Vaden Dr., trails in Nottoway Park to Courthouse Rd. to Locust St. SW, to the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail to Vienna Town Park, to Follin Ln. SW back to the W&OD Trail, to the parking lot at Park St. After work, Peggy, her brother Paul, and Max picked me up so we could visit my brother's family at my sister and parents house. All this family sharing would have been better had my knee not been hurting. My left knee had been hurting while walking around earlier in the day. I had almost almost called Peggy back after arranging a meeting place when I got up from my desk in at my office and felt a lot of pain. It loosened up when I got on the metro andI ran slower to keep the stress down. After running it hurt more; mostly when walking down stairs.

From Rosedale Ave. Maryland Ave. to Jones Bridge Rd. to Rockville Pike, to Cedar La. to the Elmhirst Pkwy. to Cedar La. to the Rock Creek Trail to Kennsington Pkwy. to Jones Bridge Rd. to Lynbrook Dr. to Chestnut St. to Maryland Ave. to Rosedale Ave. In January when I ran this, I was heavier and it was colder but I was about 2 minutes faster today. I started out trying to keep the pace down. It was in the 50's F. It had stopped raining and was perfect for shorts and long sleeves. As I climbed out of Rock Creek, I suppose I tried to keep the same 7 minute pace and after reaching the top, I kept the level of effort going to the end. My half mile splits on the trail were 3:31 and 3:30. I've been eating a bit too much lately. My knee is more bothersome walking about than it is when running.

It's Cherry Blossom season in Washington, D.C. so as a native I naturally wanted to see them. For the last couple of weeks now, tourist numbers have been swelling thus there have been a lot of people standing on the wrong side on the escalators, insisting on taking pictures such that anyone walking would have to cross between photographer and foreground subjects to get by, and generally making lunch lines longer. Most want to time a spring trip for the peak of the blossoms. My excursion from 14th and Independence Ave. went along the Washington Monument grounds to the WWII memorial then over Independence Ave. to the Tidal Basin, over the Kutz bridge and down Maine Ave. past the waterfront on Washington Channel to the Titanic memorial at Fort McNair. I returned to 12th and C Streets, SW. With 60 F mostly sunny weather, the pink buds on the cherry trees are starting to pop white. They should be at peak by the weekend. I had to negotiate foot traffic in places. The parking lot on the Tidal Basin off Maine Ave. was closed for the first time during Cherry Blossom season that I can remember but vendors were busy setting up food concessions probably for the upcomming festival. The park service decided to close the lot since everyone tries to head for the 180 spots (according to the Washington Post) and causes traffic jams that back up into Virginia. On the run I felt like I was struggling a bit to keep up the pace and haven't been running enough to be comfortable running every day yet. I didn't realize that I was running this pace.

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 and out to the Tenleytown Metro Station via Van Ness St. and Wisconsin Ave. I'm not sure when I last ran this but believe I was running slightly quicker today. It was odd seeing the areas without leaves. It seemed like the trails had been moved a bit causing me to make some detours. Also, Glover Archbold Park looks as if it would be horrid for orienteering in the summer but looking at it today, much of it was passable and some of it looked rather nice. The trails were in great condition with no mud and good dirt. This was a hilly route and I didn't feel all that good on the climbs which meant most of the way. Going down I was agile and my steps were rather confident; my knee didn't bug me. The temperatures were in the 50s F. For those curious like Peggy, once in the metro station and car, people did give me a wide berth. The spike in my weight was unexpected but perhaps due to eating late the night before.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, Wisconsin Ave. to Highland Ave. to Maple Ave. throught the parking lot, to Maryland Ave. to Rosedale Ave. I was bushed after the earlier run and running up the escalator stairs off the clock. A tailwind helped me get home.

From Rosedale Ave., I ran the Two Mile route through E. Bethesda. I got busy at work and wasn't able to run at lunchtime. I left work too late for a run on the way home so I left my gear there for tommorow. After getting Max to bed for the second time and still not having any dinner after 9:30pm, my will to run was waning; I haven't been running after work from home much this winter so not being used to it didn't help. I started modestly. My stride felt funny since I ran in my lighter track shoes. I never felt comfortable but kept mulling my way through and climbing the hills okay.