Training Log Archive: Nadim

Lake Bernard Frank, MD. Starting from Sweetbirch Dr. on the east side of the park, I covered areas south to just beyond Sunfish Pond and the Sunfish Trail. A sign at Sweetbirch Dr. warned people of deer culling going from after 5:30pm till sunrise all the way through March. The population control is new to many areas of Montgomery County where it was not allowed earlier. While I think the park can sustain a population and reach equilibrium, there are large herds which have probably been losing habitat elswhere, like from the Inter-County Connector properties that are being constructed upon now. I guess that these have been seeking refuge in the park pushing the population to a bad state.

It was breezy and in the 20s F starting off but I wore enough to keep me plenty warm. The difficulty today was the coating of ice. The snow last week followed by freezing rain, then freezing and re-freezing has left a glazed sheet of ice coving the ground. In many place it was thin enough, especially on the sunny slopes, to crunch through it but in on trails or other areas, it wouldn't budge with weight. I only fell once and not too badly but it was enough to make my knee hurt a bit.

I covered some fair areas of nice woods along with other stuff. It was difficult to decide how to show an area which had patchy green areas with patchy clearings and other white and light green parts all intermixed. I found a lot more man made objects too. I still have areas of green to cover in getting the Lake Frank areas finished but the parts I started checking on the south side of stream near Sunfish Pond are more uniform and should be easier. I covered one hill there with fairly nice white woods and some scattered boulders.

From Northfield Rd., to the Huntington Pkwy, to Irvington Ave., to Folkstone Rd. to Ewing Dr. to Bradmoor Dr. to Ridge Pl. onto the school trail to Bulls Run Dr. and Adelaide Dr., to Wilmett Rd. to Beech Ave. to Old Georgetown Rd. to Glenbrook Rd. to Moorland Ln. to Northfield Rd. I went out at around 10pm. I slowed often to make sure that I didn't slip on the partly icy spots. It was about 31F with a slight breeze so things were slick at times; especially where it had been shady.

The ground conditions are improving but still not so good outside. I was a bit more tired doing this riding than the day before but it went fairly well. The worst is that my rear end is still adapting and that's not been much of an issue. I find it harder to sit on a stationary bike for an hour than to ride one outside for that long.

With more freezing rain going on outdoors, it was an easy decision to ride indoors. I felt a bit stronger. The time was going quickly with the movie I watched so I rode for an hour. I hadn't done that in what is probably several years. I usually get too bored or fatigued in other ways. Later, I had some milk and ate too many of the yummy brownies with nuts that Peggy and Max had made.

With the icy streets and sidewalks, I just rode inside. We had about an inch or two of snow followed by freezing rain.

I rode inside partly to make sure my plan to increase running miles is gradual. I watched a movie.

Event: QOC: Greenbelt
 

QOC Greenbelt Park: It seemed like a long time since I last had an orienteering race and I enjoyed the break. I picked up a few pounds over the holidays putting me at a rather normal weight for this time of year but it was still much less than levels I was at in much of 2008.

I was probably the last to start and started the first few controls feeling a need to pace myself. The distance of this race should be a good start to building a better base for later season races. I've been in Greenbelt Park so many times that I feel I shouldn't make any errors but I did anyway. The course set by the QOC Juniors was pretty fun and a bit different. I stuck to trails when possible but in some cases like going to #7 and #19 a straighter route would have been better. I reasoned both that when feeling in a not-so-good shape it's best to run smooth on easier terrain going around and to not risk getting my feet wet on a cold day (both control legs that I erred on crossed Still Creek). I made errors on #7, #9, and going to #22. The vegetation has changed a bit here and there. The contours on this map could use some updating too. The newly added blue root stocks didn't register in my head until looking at the map after the event. More comments in the Split List.

It's time to retire this pair of O' shoes. The balls of my feet were hurting at times though it was probably partly due to the more frozen ground.

Warm-up for the QOC meet in Greenbelt Park. Most of this was a run to the Holly Knoll bathrooms since the facility in the Sweetgum parking area was closed.

Blue - Splits