Training Log Archive: Nadim

Germantown Soccerplex, MD. From the parking lot between fields 15 and 16, Peggy and I went exploring Hoyles Miill Conservation Park. I'd been eyeing this park for a long while for mapping. This was the first time I got off-trail to do that. Peggy and I started on the Hoyles Mill Trail but we quickly found a somewhat new trail, the Diabase Trail. That got us off my planned loop of running a mile or so, and then walking off-trail northwest of the soccerplex. The trail got us to the south side of the power lines and to Schaeffer Rd. Near the power lines, the forest was thicker. There were boulders on the north side but not as many on the south side. However the woods did open up a bit west of the power lines and south of the creek. They just weren't so nice that we'd feel impelled to use them in the summer. We stopped running when we got to Schaeffer Rd.

Starting from Hoyles Mill Creek at the Schaeffer Rd. bridge, Peggy and I continued our exploration of Hoyles Miill Conservation Park. I'd created a base map for doing this. There were problems with the way OCAD converted the contours from the available Montgomery County LiDAR; the datum was off or something, and the DEM was off scale by the ratio of a foot to a meter. I corrected for these things in OCAD, but I wasn't sure what the contour interval really turned out to be. They turned out to be 1m, as planned, but for a long time, I wasn't sure. Using the 1m contours, with an index contour at 5m was awkward too; the reality was so much flatter than the map seemed to indicate. It was pretty hard to tell where we were most of the time.

There was some semi nice stuff early, after leaving the road. The woods were open enough to see far. A long stone wall was off to our left all the way to the power lines and there were some boulders too. At the power lines, things greened-up. We relied on deer trails to get through. Being on a flood plain for a while, we moved closer to the creek. Things were medium green mostly but there was a lot of rock. We eventually got to the old road that is now the Hoyles Mill Trail. We used the pedestrian/cycling bridge to get back across the creek. I convinced Peggy to get back off trail. We tried following a spur; it was pretty hard to recognize with the 1m contours but we did. We were able to successfully navigate to a series of small knoll too--in the wintertime this area would mostly be white forest, but in the summer, there was enough growing low that it would keep one's pace down. The area at times seemed flatter than QOC's Mason Neck map. In the knoll area, we found a lot of nicely scattered rock. It went on for quite a while. With it being away from streams, and in a flatish area, is highly unusual for near Washington. I'd like to get back here when the leaves come off to do some serious mapping.

I have mixed feeling about doing the mapping--I like creating new places for the club and the creative process in general. However creating maps has come at the expense of me doing training. It didn't matter so much last year when I was injured, but I have enjoyed doing more running than mapping this year.

Post-dated entry 3/6/2022:

It turned out that the contour interval of the base map I'd created was 1 ft., not 1m. No wonder it was hard to use and match with what we were seeing. As I got ito mapping this area in 2020, the 1ft contours really turned out to be beneficial, since many areas were really flat. I was able to get a single image of file as a background map, and this had vegetation and buildings on it too. The image was large enough that when I matched it up to the contours obtained via LiDAR, there was a very close match.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I was carrying my laptop and there was a slight headwind. Near the volleyball courts, I passed a woman on her electric bike. On the Capital Crescent Trail, I led for another guy for several miles. He later passed me and I stayed with him until getting dropped. I re-connected at a traffic light. At home I was a little surprised by the finish time. I thought I was going slower.

From Northfield Rd., to Hartsdale Ave., riding with Samantha, then back as I towed her bicycle. After that, I rode on to the Bethesda Metro Station. Samantha was afraid of riding on the small but downhill trail leading to Glenwood Rd., She walked. She was also hesitant in other places--probably normal for many as new to riding as she is, though that frustrated me.

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I'd worked late and I was tired.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. I had favorable traffic and neutral winds until getting to Ohio Dr. along the Potomac. It was probably in the upper 70s F, but humid. I rode alone. The same guy on the electric bike went by me easily again. I kept a better cadence.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. The winds were strong getting to the Lincoln Memorial steps. I passed one woman on an electric bike. After the memorial the wind was a little more at my back. I'd still catch swirls from time to time. I kept up the spinning from the morning but I was tired.

From Cedar Ln., I took paved the Rock Creek Trail south to the Kensington Pkwy and back. I jogged easy on the outbound trip to warm-up but even doing that I felt slow, a little sore and tired. My trail shoes seem lighter that my current running shoes so that was part of it. It was in the mid-80s and 85 F when I finished but I'd have been hot anyway. For the first time in a long while, I did fartlek running. I'd been either injured, didn't have enough of a base, or worried about becoming injured--for more than a year I avoided sprinting outside of racing. After pausing to stretch, I got going and it felt pretty good. Though I'd get winded, I felt better going back on the very slight upgrade, than I had on the way out. I would sprint an estimated 75-175m at a time and did a slow jog of equal or shorter distance before going again. After crossing under the muddy Connecticut Ave., another runner going the other direction turned around and he was doing a similar workout. We ran our own intervals but passed each other a couple of times on our rest legs. I did 12 sprints altogether. This is a pleasant way to get in some faster running and I need to get the mental part of that back.

I was going to start from River Rd., but that parking lot was full. I drove around to Bradley Rd., and got moving. I warmed-up quickly and as I headed down the first hills, I felt I was moving much better than the previous day. It was in the 70s F. but it still felt warm. The trail had been re-routed again since the last time I'd run it. It no longer hugs the creek where parts of it were getting eroded away. It climbs a lot more. As I was descending, I could hear a cyclist coming up from behind. I managed to hold him off until I got to the River Rd., parking lot. I turned around right away, trying to keep the faster pace that I'd been holding. It still was surprising that even though it felt faster, it was over 10 minutes a mile. I managed not to slow down too much heading back, despite it being uphill. After finishing, I tried to cool off. It was still near 80 F. I saw Ken Walker Jr. and his daughter Samantha, emerging from the trailhead on the north side of Bradley.Blvd.

After taking the kids to a movie, I finally got plants into the ground in the garden that I and Max had been preparing on the side of the house. It was a less intensive physical effort today. I didn't have to carry a lot of heavy stuff and the day was breezy, less hot. I drank lots of liquids. Max and I also worked on leveling a part of our driveway where the pavers had sunk a bit. All of the gardening work this weekend was stuff that I had wanted to do for a long time. I just wasn't up to it earlier with my back being questionable or actively hurting over the last 3 years. .

From Rte. 29 at the WSSC station parking lot, I started running up the Rachel Carson Trail. My legs were sore from the gardening work and a lot of standing yesterday. This went away quickly. The lower and flatter route looked like it might be wet or overgrown, so I climbed up the official and steeper route. That part had many areas or erosion needing repairs. I did okay going over the hilliest part, though it took the strength that I'd perhaps gotten from working out lightly the last few days. The heat and humidity also took it out of me. It was in the mid 80s F; it had rained the previous evening. I figured it'd be good summer acclimation training--in the summer time, this will seem like a great and cool day. I returned on the Northwest Branch Trail which is on the other side of the creek. I'd seen parallel trail building work the last 2 times running here. This time, saplings had been planted on the trail over the pipeline ride and the shifts in the trail that get created when people avoid running through puddles. It wasn't clear that the rerouting was active as of this day unitl later when the sapplings had me doing slolam for long stretches. I didn't want to run back on the newer trail which, though not as hilly as the Rachel Carson Trail, was still more than I felt like I had the energy to do. I was surprised about how slow my miles were going but it probably has as much to do with my overall increases in training, as it did with the heat.

After returning home from my run and another trip to pickup supplies, Max was enthusiastic about helping like he had yesterday. Mostly, he seemed enthusiastic about getting to use the chainsaw to take down a dogwood tree which had died in our back yard. The chainsaw needed sharpening--it was slow, but he got it down. We also put slabs of slate in place and spread out new soils for the eroded west side of the house where we'd put rocks earlier. Now we have some terracing there. I was pretty worn out after this.