Training Log Archive: Nadim

MCRRC: Shooting Starr in Sligo Creek Park, MD. Peggy and I ran together in this memorial race for our friend's husband. I ran it casually while keeping pace with Peggy (Max stayed with our friend Beth Starr). My left calf was hurting some. It was in the mid to upper 20's F when running. I ran as much as possible on the side of the paved trail, and on the grass when the course was on the sidewalk (Inwood Ave.). The Sligo Creek Trail looked to be about as nice as I remembered it. It'd be good to do some loops with it in the future presuming I can keep up my running through busy times at work and all the aches and pains.

Cabin John Regional Park, MD. I went back to the flat marsh grounds that I've been in the last 2 times out. Traipsing around in a cold damp marsh isn't one of the great parts about field checking or map making. I felt a need to check the alignment of point features and made some adjustments. I also discovered an extension of a linear-pond/stream that I added to the map. I think it's a remnant of an old oxbow. After that I went southward, still on the west side of the creek. With fewer features and more uniform vegetation, I moved well. I still did find an odd mix of white and green woods. I had to walk the edges with my GPS to capture it. Most of the point features on the slopes were root stocks. However, I found some cairns and a line of stoney ground. Perhaps these later items are evidence of old farming activity. It was in the low 30's F and a little breezy while I was out.

Max's school had a night at the Cabin John Ice Rink. I saw Ken Walker, Jr. there with Samantha. At times they looked like Max I a couple of years ago when we were struggling to get around the rink together. Max has been ice skating many times now and though he can't yet zip around, he can skate by himself fast enough to be off chasing his friends and knocking each other down. Peggy was moving around steadily, competently, like anyone who grew up in Minnesota should.

Kennsington, MD. From Raymoor Rd. to E. Bexhill Dr. to Kensington Pkwy. to the Rock Creek Trail, to Garrett Park Rd. After work, I drove over to Rock Creek, parked and asked Peggy and Max to pick me up at the end of the run. It was a cold and breezy night (~35 F). The trail had several slow spots where it was covered in water. The auto headlights from the nearby Beach Dr. didn't make it easier. Police were out in force running speeding traps. I took it easy but after 3 miles when going up a steeper part of the paved trail, I got some old familiar warning signs in my left calf. I'll have to strech more.

45 sit-ups. I had planned a run after work but got out too late to make it work.

From the Bethesda Metro Station, to Northfield Rd. I had gotten started in th dark in between the heavier rains. Though well lit, I felt a little more vulnerable knowing that car drivers can't see so well in such situations. I hadn't worn any rain gear and lacked a fender. I went slower and only got a little stripe of wetness. Good thing it was a shorter ride than it took me to write this.

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. I woke up late and didn't have time to check the weather. Knowing that there was a chance of rain in the forecast the night before, but not knowing how much nor when, I decided to go ahead and ride. There wasn't much cloud cover. It was cool out--around freezing. I was a little sore from yesterday.

College Park, MD. From Cherry Hill Rd., the paved Paint Branch Trail to Lake Artemesia, to the Indian Creek Trail, to River Rd. and back. I also had a small out and back addition where there was some construction to move the trail and it wasn't quite clear in the dark which way to go. I thought I might get too warm on this run but perhaps due to sweating and the temperature dropping fast, I was just a bit less than comfortable on the cold side. I moved steadily but kept trying to pace myself. I felt a bit slow and tired at times. I couldn't see my time at mile markers much and with breaks in the trail, I couldn't have gotten many useful splits anyway. However, I did get a few slits: 3:45 (0.5 mile), 3:52 (0.5 mile), 8:05 (1.07 mile), 3:57 (0.5 mile), 3:54 (0.5 mile), 41:54 (halfway), 4:01 (0.5 mile), 4:01 (0.5 mile), 7:59 (0.5 mile), 4:05 (0.5 mile), 4:01 (0.5 mile). When I finished, I realized that I was a bit more wobbly on balance than I should have been. Like yesterday, I had worked in Beltsville. I got out later than planned but with the weather better, I think I made a good choice to run while being tempted to go home.

After an intense day of meetings, and a snowy/sleety, and pretty drive home, I was tired. I eventually got around to doing some spinning. I focused on spinning fast with light to moderate resistance.

Event: QOC McKeldin
 

Patapsco Valley State Park, McKeldin Area. Warm-up going back and forth from our parking spot the start of QOC's meet, to get things I forgot like the map. It was windy on the ridge making it feel cold but when running it was in the upper 40's F.

QOC: Patapsco Valley State Park, McKeldin Area. I was anticipating a physical day and being tired but that part worked out fine--I was less tired than expected while running, and I managed the steep hills okay. I hit most of the controls too. However at #6, the control feature appeared to have been moved. I lost about a minute. Going to #7, from above I spied Victor Lin hunting a bit on the west side of the rock I thought it the control was on. I came in from the east but he got to it ahead of me. I chased him upward headed over the hill before realizing that it would have been better for me to have gone around the longer way on the flat land. I still went wider than Victor but with his more direct route, he got to #8 a bit faster. I closed the gap on him through #9 and #10, and when he was a bit low on #11, I got there ahead of him. I checked the code there but didn't match it with the number. I mistook which control I was leaving from in my haste to get out before Victor figured out that I had found it. Unfortunately, this leg had a sharp turn. I went straightish to the next major reentrant, dropping down several contours before realizing that I had headed 180 degrees in the wrong direction. That probably cost me about 5 minutes. I made good time through #12, #13, and #14. Had I realized there was a usable trail going low to #15, I would have taken it--I had a vague memory of it but on the run, I couldn't see it. Instead, I went right past #17, the climbed along a ridge to a bit above the saddle. I had it in my mind that I was to go to the higher control of the #15, #16 dog leg so I went right to #16. I even had felt encouraged when approaching it to see Victor coming from the other direction but in the next instant, I realized my error. I spiked #15, then coming back to #16, I got a bit higher than needed and had to drop back down a contour. I guess the #15/#16 errors added to about 2 minutes of error. I hit #17 and #18 just fine but didn't have much energy to get up the steep hill to the finish after that. This was a good workout and got me some needed practice. The physical training was good too but it was disappointing to have made some bonehead errors and lost to Victor by a minute. He had lost time too so it seems we were moving at similar paces. Mark Mace's courses were fine. There were a couple of doglegs and places where the most reasonble choice involved walking straight up some very steep hills but once can expect some of that at McKeldin.

Blue - Splits