Training Log Archive: Nadim

Event: OCIN 25th Anniversary / Flying Pig XIII / Relay Champs
 

McFarlan Woods, Cincinnati, OH. OCIN: Flying Pig The Short - After arriving at the meet site at about 4:40pm because of delayed baggage on our flight out, I got ready as quickly as I could and headed over to the start in a rush. The last starts were supposed to be at 5pm.

McFarlan Woods, Cincinnati, OH. OCIN: Flying Pig The Short: Red. After about a minute after the warm-up run I took off. The hills on the early part of the course were not so fun and I didn't feel very energetic. I was pretty good with most controls but lost at least 10 minutes on leg #10. I pulled up short at another control and had difficulty relocating. Having been out longer, I ran slower after that but liked I the last half of the course. Hopefully I've had my last big error for a while.

Friday Middle Red - Splits

From Northfield Rd. to Old Georgetown Rd. via Greenwich Park, to W. Cedar Ln. to Rockville Pike, to the Bethesda Trolley Trail to Maple Ave. to Old Georgetown Rd. to Huntington Pkwy. to Custer Rd. to Northfield Rd. I probably shouldn't have run this distance before racing with heavy competition in the M45+ category at the Flying Pig but it was a nice enough day. I saw Pat Zerfas along the way and stopped to talk as she was headed out on her run.

With poor weather and not a lot of time. I got on my bike indoors again and watched a movie. I spinned pretty well. An exciting movie usually helps with that. My legs had felt tired earlier.

Washington, D.C. From 12th & Independence Ave. to the WWII Memorial, to the north side of the Reflecting Pool and south side of Constitution Gardens Lake, to the Lincoln Memorial, to Parkway Dr. NW., to the Rock Creek Trail to 24th St. NW, and the Woodley Park-Zoo Metro Station. The weather was perfect for running (upper 50's F and sunny) and the Cherry Blossoms were great too--they are in full bloom. Despite the winds few petals were being blown away. I left work after 6pm and felt okay starting out. I had to weave through the crowds until I got to the Reflecting Pool but there were still lots of people out after that. There was an inordinate number of women runners. I worked on getting back to an efficient stride and was pretty smooth. My arms were dead. By the time I got to the climb up to Woodley Park, I was fairly tired all around. I trudged up steadily but not very fast and ensured lots of personal space by sweating on the metro trains trying to cool off going home.

From Northfield Rd. to Maple Ave. with Max in his trailer, then to the Bethesda Metro Station via the Georgetown Branch tunnel. It was windy but most of it was coming from behind. I was glad to be able to ride-in again even if it's only to the metro station. My legs felt a bit tired from the weekend racing.

From the Bethesda Metro station to Maple Ave., then to Northfield Rd. via the Georgetown Branch Trail. As I pulled in to Max's day care, Peggy was there just getting ready to take him home. Instead, Max rode with me. We had to stop off at a playground of course. After that we fought the winds and I struggled on the modest grades. To make it harder, my tires started exhibiting the mushiness of what is perhaps a slow leak. To make it more urgent, Max indicated needing a toilet. The traffic slowed us but we made it home without incident.

QOC: Ran-It-Granite Long-O in McKeldin State Park near the old Nike Missle Site off Hernwood Rd. I was to volunteer helping with the meet later so I had an early, 9:00am start time--first on Red. I enjoyed the initial downhill start though the course made everyone pay for it getting to the finish from the other end of the map. For the initial going I was fairly accurate but feeling like my legs were dragging. On the low route going toward #10 I took a Gu only 30 minutes into the race. After that, I did feel a little better but never was fast. As our routes merged on a trail for a short way while I was going to #13, Vadim, on the way to #2 was easily running much faster. My accuracy remained good until after #13. I didn't see many other people through the run. It might have helped or hurt as I went into the technical section at the end. I knew I'd need to be careful and attacked #14 by going out of the way a little to come off a clearing. I just had trouble reading the map in the area. I saw the top contours but not the lower one that the control was on where the slope changed. I hunted around to the left and not reading the map I eventually got to #15 since it was the only thing I could see. Finishing #14 and getting to the next two were easy though I had a little hesitation on #16. I got to #17 just a bit high. Going over near the top to #18 I again couldn't read the detail on map in the area. I hunted many deep depressions not seeing the one with the control further down the hill and again abandoned reading the map which would have shown me it was near the trail. I did better on #19, by recognizing the longer depressions and navigating up higher after checking only one wrong depression. I lost over 4 minutes the last part of the course but the other competitors were just doing better today. I had the 5th fastest time on the course and dropped to second on M45+ for the two-day event. It was still fun and I did well overall for having little in the way of placing expecatations. I look forward to more races and losing my recent weight gains. Maybe my metabolism has slowed again.

Red X Day 2 - Splits

From the field in Bon Secourse Spiritual Center to the start of the QOC Ran-It-Granite meet.

QOC: Ran-It-Granite on the Driver Road map which covered part of the Bon Secours Spiritual Center and McKeldin State Park, MD. I hadn't really formed any expectations for the day other than to try to have a good run. I knew we were running a middle distance course but hadn't read the notes, known the distance or the climb. I got to the park with about 45 minutes to get ready including getting Max into the day care. I started well, pacing myself a bit after the sprints yesterday. Physically I was feeling rested and better than the day before. I found a bit more green on the course than I would have guessed from the map but overall I ran where I intended to. I probably missed a better route choice going to #5 and lost around 30-40 seconds on #10. I certainly felt the climb and walked up several hill; #9 and #11 come to mind. In the poor shape that I'm in, I didn't expect to come away leading the M45+ age group so that was nice.

At the QOC Rani-it-Granite races I had run my first race kind of late compared to most. I hadn't talked with anyone about joining a relay team so I got Max and myself some food. I would have joined a team up to the point of getting food but afterward, I was just as happy to stay out of it. I figured the rest would do me good in a number of ways. My knee has been having some warning aches and with a long race tommorow, resting was the wiser decision. I briefly had the opportunity to join up with some very fast team mates.

Instead of racing, I donned my camera gear and walk/jogged from place to place taking videos and pictures. I've done a lot of photography in the past and miss doing this a lot. Other QOC people graciously watched Max for me as Peggy was still working as a volunteer. I felt rusty with my cameras, trusting more in the camera than in my technical skills used to enable me to, but those skill started coming back too. At most meets when Peggy and I are taking turns watching Max, there's no time to do this and doing nature photography away from these events has taken a back seat to other priorities.

Red X Day 1 - Splits