Rosswog Running Blog

After sleeping in (or recovering) and getting caught up on some of my CFA studies, I headed out for an early-evening run over to Granite High School by way of running miles 17.8-19.9 of the Salt Lake Marathon course and back.  The total distance of this run was 6.3 miles at an easy pace.

Also, while watching the Winter Olympic Games and Bode Miller win first gold medal in the Super Combine, I completed my non-running workout that consisted of 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.

Following work, I jogged on the treadmill for a third of a mile before heading home.   Then I headed out with my walkman and listened to the second half of the Jazz-Hawks game while running laps around the softball complex at Big Cottonwood Park.  In summary, the Jazz lost a hard fought game and I completed eleven laps before heading back home for a distance of 6.2 miles at an easy pace.

For my non-running workout, I completed 300 sit-ups, 30 push-ups, and a 60-second plank and elbows and toes.

Following work I hit the gym and jumped on the treadmill where I grind out 4.4 miles (of this distance 3.3 miles were are marathon pace) before heading home.  Shortly after I arrived at home, I headed out for an evening run around the neighborhood and over to Big Cottonwood Park where I completed a single lap around the softball complex before heading back.  In total, was able to get in an extra 2.1 miles at an easy pace.

In regards to my non-running workout, I completed 300 sit-ups, 30 push-ups, a 60-second plank and elbows and toes, 40 (50 lbs) curls, and 20 (50 lbs) reverse curls.

Since I got off of work later than expected, I could not get in my full interval workout (probably dragging my feet to avoid this brutal workout).  However, I was still able to accomplish half of my typical speed workout in my Adidas Zero racing flats by completing 3.0 miles of half-mile intervals (i.e., the slow halves at 9.0 miles per hour and the fast halves at 11.0) in a time of 18:09.  I did a tenth-of-a-mile cool-down at marathon pace before heading home.

Once I got home, in order to get in a little more mileage for the day, I headed back out for a run around the neighborhood and over to Big Cottonwood Park where I completed four-and-a-half laps of the softball complex before deciding to call it a day.  The total distance of the second run was an even 3.0 miles at an easy pace

Lastly, my non-running workout consisted of 300 sit-ups, 30 push-ups, and a 60-second plank and elbows and toes.

To get my day started, I was able to get in a seven-tenths-of-a-mile morning jog before heading off to work.  During my lunch break, I jogged a half of a mile on the treadmill in my Nike Frees and followed this workout with a tempo run on the treadmill after work.  In regards to this workout, I accomplished 3.5 miles increasing the pace throughout the run (workout breakdown is as follows: 0.3 of a mile warm-up/cool-down pace, 2.2 miles at marathon pace, an even 1.0 mile at threshold pace).  In addition, while waiting for my bus on my commute home, I jogged 1.4 miles around the Social-Hall block of downtown.

While watching Bill Demong and Johnny Spillane win the gold and silver for the USA in a Nordic Combined race, I completed my non-running workout of 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.

Since I had to pick up my Fight For Air Climb race packet at the American Lung Association of Utah before work, I had the opportunity to get in a weekday morning run.  Consequently, shortly after I woke up, I head out for a run up to the Brickyard Shopping Plaza by way of 1300 East.  I circled around the Smith-Kiln Chimney and back down 1100 East, up to 1300 East and to home by cutting through Big Cottonwood Park.  In total, I was to knock out 5.2 miles at an easy pace.

Following work, I took the Trax train up to the University of Utah and jogged up to the Huntsman Cancer Institute to hear a speak by Dr. Jeff Spencer who was the team doctor for all seven of Lance Armstrong’s Tour De France victories.  In summary, an extremely interesting presentation that covered many concepts which are important in running and life.  In particular, I thought his first phase of developing Adaptive Fitness that called for stabilizing was particularly important for distance running; that is, Dr. Spencer emphasized that the Tour can be lost but not won (e.g., by letting your emotions get the best of you, taking too many risks, being overly conservative) during this stabilizing phase.  Anyway, jogging 1.5 miles to and from the Institute completed my running for the day.

While watching the reruns of Apolo Anton Ohno’s final races of at least for the Vancouver Games, I completed my non-running workout that consisted of 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.

Today marked my first race of 2010!  This one was a completely unconventional race for me, in that it was a stair climb up to the top of the Wells Fargo Center in downtown Salt Lake City.  At 23-floors high, the Wells Fargo Center is currently the tallest building in downtown Salt Lake City.  Considering that my only experience at running stairs is running up and down the football bleachers at local high schools, I was a little unsure how many stairs I could climb consistently without my legs just giving out.  Consequently, my goal was to accomplish 5-10 trips to the top of the tower.

I commenced my day by completing my non-running workout (300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups) then taking the Trax train to the Temple Square area of town where I jogged 1.4 miles down to the Wells Fargo Center.  Since I purchased my heart-rate monitor, I realized that my heart beats much faster during my morning runs; therefore, the purpose of this warm-up run was to just to get my heart beating so it would not beat too rapidly during my first few climbs.

After checking in my warm-up gear and doing some stretching, I decided to get the climbing started.  The starting gate was the fire exit in front of the building (the nice cool morning air felt great every time I started one of my interval climbs).  My first run to the top actually felt really good.  In fact I was focused so much on climbing the stairs in front of me that I skipped the 23rd-floor exit from the stairwell and started to climb to the rooftop.  However, I quickly realized my mistake and backtracked to the finish line, which only cost me a few seconds.  Completing my first trip to the top in 4:28, I took the elevator back down to the starting line to continue the fun.

Like most of my interval training, near the completion of my second climb to the top, I started to question how many climbs I could actually complete.  Halfway to the top of my third climb, I was wondering what in the world I had gotten myself into.  However, I soon regained focus and developed a consistent rhythm of breathing, leaning slightly forward, and picking my feet up.  Before long, I completed my goal of ten climbs and continued on to complete a total of fifteen climbs in a little less than two hours.  Everyone that I ran across in the stairwell was really supportive and kept me going (one of the photographers stated, “you are a brute for punishment” which was an interesting description that stuck in my mind).  My splits for these climbs were as follows: 4:28, 4:51, 4:44, 5:02, 4:56, 5:21, 5:08, 4:57, 5:00, 4:52, 5:02, 5:02, 5:05, 4:57, and 4:56 (average: 4:56).  Not too bad of a range (i.e., 4:28-5:21) considering the traffic on the narrow stairwells slows you down at times.  Also, the range on my beats per minute according to my hear-rate monitor was 165-174.

After climbing 345 flights (8,970 stairs, 6,330 feet), I did not feel that bad and still had enough energy to take a nice 12.2-mile jog back home along the Salt Lake Marathon course (during the last 5k of the long and slow distance run, my legs were absolutely tired).  I am absolutely up for participating in this race again in 2011.  It was a really fun event that involved a number of firefighters from around the state ran to the top with all of their gear (these guys and gals are awesome and truly heroic), a costume contest (my favorite was the lady trucking up the steps dressed like a pioneer), mayor Ralph Becker of Salt Lake City ran to the top, and famous local bookseller Ken Sander climbed the tower.  Plus, lots of money was raised for the American Lung Association of Utah!  I cannot wait for 2011 Fight for Air Climb!!!