Training Log Archive: Nadim

Laurel Ridge XC Ski Center, PA. After driving away from a snowy home we eventually reached the southwestern PA highlands. The Merka family was already there and the Lennons who left only an hour behind us, got even more delayed due to highway conditions and closings. Being only about 3 hours away, the Merka's come here a lot and introduced us to the area. My usual XC ski habit was to go to White Grass in western MD but I hadn't even done that much over recent years due to lack of cold snowy winters, o' schedules and child care. It all came together for this outing. After hauling Max and Alexis around in sleds a bit, Peggy returned. I then got out on classic skis and did the Red loop (they ran out of skis to rent for Max but he was having fun anyway). It's fairly flat on a 2,800ft ridge. My now old and edged waxless skis were literally rusty but I got them cleaned-off a little and got them to slide okay. Jan Merka went by me quickly on the groomed skate ski trail. I kept wondering how far it'd be before reaching the aphelian of the long oval loop. The few downhills were not hard for me though there were some bumps and turns. I sweat a bunch, perhaps overdreassed for the temperatures in the teens F but it had taken me half the loop before my fingers felt warm. I used muscle groups that I don't usually use, especially my arms so I felt fairly tired after this short distance venture. By contrast, Jan, who skis rather well, had done a 30K workout.

After the skiing, the whole group of us retreated to a house in Confluence, PA that we rented for the evening. The kids seemed to love it, sharing a bunk bed room all together. The pizza from Riverside Pizza that had just opened at the beginning of this month was good too. They plan to have a bakery next door.

I had to pickup Max on the way home so that ruled out an evening run. By the time I was free, it was late and I was tired. I just did 45 situps.

Time for a run at work or on the way home did not materialize and then the cold winds set in. I just spinned and watched a movie.

Silver Spring, MD. From what appears now to be called Burnt Mills Park at Rte. 29, I ran north on Northwest Branch Trail, crossed the Northwest Branch on the wooden bridge before Kemp Mill Rd. and returned on the Rachael Carson Trail. Starting out I felt a bit sore and figured it best to stay on the smoother and flatter west side of the creek. This time of year, running in the daylight I could see much more than usual--lots of rock features. I felt okay at the turnoff for the bridge and even better running downstream on the flat parts of the windy and hillier east side. It seemed that more of the Rachael Carlson Trail had been moved to higher ground.

C • We Cross Paths Again 2

Berwyn, MD, Lake Artemesia. In Beltsville this afternoon for work meetings, I was able to take advantage and get out for a run when finished. In thinking about where to go, I was hedging between 6 and 10 mile run options. I lived in nearby Greenbelt for about 10 years but had trouble remembering some of the distances of my old routes. I ended up adding on to an old favorite course in two places. Starting out I went down the Indian Run and Northeast Branch Trails, around the historic College Park Airport to the Paint Branch Pkwy. I went west, then joined the Paint Branch Trail using a spur trail. I went past UMD and the tornado damaged area from 2001 (a new spur trail has been added across the marsh there) to Cherry Hill Rd. Crossing Rte. 1 to Edgewood Rd. I used the Narragasett Pkwy. and Lackawanna Rd. to get to the Greenbelt Metro Station where I could cross under the tracks. Exiting onto Cherrywood Ln., I used Ivy Ln. to get to Kennilworth Ave. and Crescent Rd. Using Buddy Attic Park I passed along Greenbelt Lake briefly and Lakecrest Dr. to get to Greenbelt Rd. To finish I used Edmonston Rd. and Berwyn Rd. to get back to the Lake Artemesia parking area. I needed to do a longer run. I didn't feel up to running for +90 minutes but I find these runs to be a sort of way to pick myself up by the boot straps. Running through Old Greenbelt as I had so many times before triggered many memories from years long past. It's hard to believe that all started 20 years back. On the flat Paint Branch Trail in College Park, I took some half mile splits: 3:38, 3:35, 3:36, 3:40, 3:40, 3:35. These were a minute/mile slower than shorter runs I used to do there only 10 years ago. The splits weren't bad for my current running but I slowed a lot whenever going uphill after the first hour.

45 situps. I had planned a lunchtime run but got too busy. I also needed to pickup Max after work today so the opportunity to run after work was further limited. Since I my legs were still feeling somewhat tired, I felt it best to just rest and run more the next day.

Event: QOC: Meadowood
 

Pohick Bay Regional Park, VA. From the parking lot near the mini golf, out on the main park road, to a trail, then across the woods to Gunston Rd. and to Harwood Rd., Meadowood SRMA in Fairfax County, VA. I was suprised on the trail within Pohick Bay Regional Park to discover that a lot of pines had fallen though the trail had been cleared of them. I decided to forego the QOC shuttle van to the start of the race which I had just missed because of the van being full. I ended up getting there faster than I would have if I waited. I'm not sure why my heart rate averaged this high for a slow warm-up. Though slightly uphill, it's not much different from what it was during the race that I did later but this felt pretty easy; more like intensity 2.

QOC: Meadowood SRMA in Fairfax County, VA. I had been looking forward to the nice open woods in this area; perhaps too much. Once again I ran too fast and made errors that I shouldn't have. I started off well on #1. I knew #2 was going to be tricky but I didn't take the time to think it out a better attack. The safe route to the left seemed too far out of the way and down. When I went more straight at it, I was too far right and didn't read the map well enough to know just where I was crossing a middle ridge. I ended up too far to the left and then too high. After running around a bit before finally getting there in almost 11 minutes, it kind of took the wind out of my sails. I was more careful and right on for the next 7 controls. I was a bit off on my bearing to #10 but made a bone-head mistake coming off a field for #11. #15 was a longer leg but usuall a kind that I excel at. The mapping of some scattered trees confused me so that I thought I was much further along than I really was. Some sapling plantings in protective pipes started much ahead of this area and I mistook them for the beginning of the mapped scattered trees. At a distinct spur, I feared I had passed the control so I doubled back 200m up it. A similar thing happened to Ted Good on this leg but he figured it out a bit before I did. I need to do better with my navigation than this. Without much analysis yet, I probably made about 8 minutes of error today. I felt tired in this race early on. It may just be because of increased training activity this last week.

From QOC: Meadowood SRMA in Fairfax County, VA, to the mini-golf parking area in Pohick Regional Park. I ran along Gunston Rd., through the woods, on a dirt trail, and on the main park road pretty much reversing my warm-up. The van shuttle beat me this time but it wouldn't have if I'd started earlier instead of exchange race comments with Ted Good.

Blue - Splits