Rosswog Running Blog

On this Indianapolis-500 Sunday, I essentially took a recovery day from yesterday’s twenty-plus mile run up Mill Creek Canyon.  However, I did get some running in by jogging back from Smith’s after picking up some groceries.  Then after the rain let up and the sun came out, I went on a mid-afternoon run over to Big Cottonwood Park where I ran two laps around the outer path and a single lap around the Soft Ball Complex before running back home.  The total distance of these combined runs was 4.2 miles at an easy pace.

During my non-running workout, besides doing my standard 200 sit-ups, I set a personal record for most consecutive push-ups by completing 35 in a row!  Even though this amount is only 14 more push-ups than I did when I commenced the Push-up Challenge back on February 13th, it’s a two-thirds increase.  However, I’m still far, far away from my objective of accomplishing 100 consecutive push-ups.

Memorial Day is absolutely one of my favorite days of the year not only due to the great weather, but also due to the amount of American flags that are flying in everyone’s front yards.  Running through the neighborhoods and seeing all the Star Spangle Banners makes me feel proud to be an American.  In addition, as I day dream while I’m running on this holiday, I like to imagine that I’m competing in the US Olympic Trials with all the flags flying along the marathon course.  This is probably the closet I’ll ever get to running in the Trials, but it does not hurt to pretend.

Anyways, in an effort to continue my preparation for the infamous Ragnar leg of the Wasatch Back, I went on another run up Mill Creek Canyon.  However, this time I opted not run all the way up to the Winter Gates and instead took to the Pipeline and Grandeur Peak Trails.  I ran the entire Pipeline Trail and half of the Grandeur Peak Trail.  One mile (or halfway) up to Grandeur Peak, I ran into stray dog that did not look too happy to see me (i.e., I only got about ten feet way from the dog and it looked like he was foaming at the mouth).  As a result, I slowly backed away and got the heck out of there.  Surprisingly, I did not see anyone heading up the Grandeur Peak Trail on my way back down; however, I think someone (i.e., there were a number of bikers, hikers, and runners heading down when I was going up) must have called the dog in because I saw a cop car heading up the Canyon on my way down.  Also, in order to make up the miles I missed, I ran an additional mile up the Canyon to the Galaxy Quest campgrounds before heading back down.

In addition, it was another repeat of day eleven (week 4, day 2) of the Push-up Challenge and I came closer than ever before in completing this day.  This time I completed a total of 136 push-ups over five sets that consisted of 25, 29, 25, 25, and a max set of 32 push-ups.  I finished four push-ups short on the final set.  Lastly, to finish off my non-running workout, I did 200 sit-ups.

Today was absolutely a recovery day from yesterday’s twenty-plus-mile run up Mill Creek Canyon.  As a result, following work, I ran on the treadmill for only 2.2 miles before heading home (two miles of this run was at marathon pace).  After I got home, I decided to go on a second run; therefore, I ran over to Big Cottonwood Park and completed three laps of the Softball Complex before running back home.  The total distance of this easy-pace run was another 2.2 miles.

For my non-running workout, I completed 200 sit-ups, 25 push-ups, 40 (30 lbs) curls, and 20 (50 lbs) reverse curls.

With the exception of a half-mile jog outside, I did my running workout on the treadmill today.  After doing a majority of my running outside over the past week, it was a nice change to run inside in order to concentrate on increasing my pace.  I completed 3.5 miles a marathon pace in addition to a 0.2-mile cool-down run at an easy pace. 

In regards to my non-running workout, I completed 200 sit-ups, 25 push-ups, 80 (30 lbs) curls, and 20 (50 lbs) reverse curls.

Following a long day at work, I decided to head home and go for an evening run outside.  After I got home at got a snack to eat to increase my energy level, I went out for an easy-pace, 4.2-mile run in which I ran to Big Cottonwood Park, over to Murray-Holladay Road, and then up the Highland Drive before running back home.

In addition, my non-running workout was also short and sweet in that I completed 200 sit-ups and 25 push-ups.

With a day off of work to study for the CFA, I decided to get my run out of the way early in the day and to take advantage of Einstein Beagles free beagle before 11:00 am promotion.  As a result, I ran to Big Cottonwood Park, over to Murray-Holladay Road, and up the Einstein Beagles on Highland Drive where I picked up my beagle and ran back home.  The total distance of the run was 4.1 miles at an easy pace.

Today was also another repeat of day eleven (i.e., week 4, day 2) of the Push-up challenge.  I was able to complete a total of 125 push-ups over five sets, which consisted of 25 push-ups each.  I was unable to get in any gym time to do some butterfly exercises this week and it showed because my push-up tally did not improve over the course of the week.  Consequently, I will try to get in some butterflies over the upcoming week.  In addition to push-ups, I was able to get in 200 sit-ups.

On this warm and sunny Saturday morning, I ran over the Sugar House Park to meet up with my Wasatch Back team members.  We did two laps of the park mostly around the outer trail before heading down to Paradise Bakery and Café to have a post-run snack and strategic planning meeting for our relay run.  After getting everyone on the same page, I ran back home to register a total distance of 13.8 miles all at an easy pace.

In regards to my non-running workout, I completed 200 sit-ups and push-ups.