Rosswog Running Blog

Making final preparations for the Wasatch Back, I ran up to REI to pick up a couple of knee braces, two LED lights, and bunch of cliff bars.  In addition, I picked up some groceries (including a bunch of Hershey’s chocolate bars because the exceptionally talented runner/artist who designed our Wasatch Back team t-shirts only accepts chocolate for payment).  The total distance of the run was exactly 11.0 miles all done at an easy pace.

Today was also another repeat of day 11 (i.e., week 4, day 2) of the Push-up Challenge.  I completed a total of 134 push-ups over the following five sets that consisted of 25, 29, 25, 25, and 30 push-ups.   In addition, while watching the Sunday morning news programs, I completed 200 sit-ups.

Today I split up my running workout between running at the State Capital Building and around Big Cottonwood Park.  Following work and filming an interview for our Wasatch Back movie (which is guaranteed to be extremely entertaining when it is all complete), I went to Capital Hill with one of my teammates for a hill and stair workout.  After I got home, I immediately went over to the park and ran six laps around the softball complex before heading home.  The total distance of my combined runs was 4.1 miles at an easy pace.

My non-running workout was short and sweet in that I completed 200 sit-ups and 25 push-ups.

Following work, I jumped on the treadmill and ran a 5k.  In regards to this run, 2.7 miles was at an easy pace; whereas, 0.4-mile was at a marathon pace.  After arriving at home, I ran over to Big Cottonwood Park by way of 4500 South, before heading back home.  The total distance of this run was 1.5 miles at any pace.

For my non-running workout, I completed 200 sit-ups, 32 push-ups, 80 (60, 50, 40, 30 lbs) curls, and 20 (50 lbs) reverse curls.

Feeling a little bit tired after work, I decided to head home in order to do my running workout outside.  For this late evening run, I ran from Big Cottonwood Park to the Cottonwood Country Club and back.  The total distance was 6.5 miles at an easy pace; that is, I made sure to keep the pace slow in order not to tire out my legs or, even worse, sustain an injury before our big race.

In regards to my non-running workout, it was a light one in that I only completed 200 sit-up and 25 push-ups.

It was Wasatch Back eve; therefore, I took the day off of work to fully prepare for the race. This involved making sure I packed everything that I needed and running with my sister over to the grocery store to pickup plenty of food for my team’s breakfast. My running workout consisted of an easy-pace 4.2 mile run through Big Cottonwood Park, over to Murray-Holladay Road, and up to Highland Drive before heading back home.

For my non-running workout, I accomplished 200 sit-ups and 25 push-ups.

Today was day #1 of the Wasatch Back Relay!  Personally, this is the biggest and most enjoyable race of the year for me.  I was runner #10; therefore, traveling in the second van and responsible for completing the infamous Ragnar leg.  However, my first leg was a mostly flat run from the Huntsville area to Snow Basin Road.  It was only supposed to be 3.5 miles in distance, but it happened to be 3.7 miles long.  I noticed the placement of the exchange #10 and #11 were at slightly different locations than compared to last year and many of the runners were confirming that leg #9 was around 3.3 (not 3.5) miles long.  Anyways, I completed this leg in a time of 21:54 (i.e., at a 5:57-minutes-per-mile pace).

Also, I completed my short non-running workout before the race which consisted of 200 sit-ups, 25 push-ups, and an easy-pace 4-mile bike ride.

After resting my eyes for about an hour-and-a-half while lying on a picnic bench in East Canyon Reservoir (this was actually good for my sore back), I ran the 7.7-mile leg from Hoytsville to Wanship (starting out just before 6:00 am).  I tried to push the pace at the start of the run, but I suffered a few side aches throughout the run so it was difficult to keep a fast pace.  Fortunately, I had the husband of one my teammate’s pacing me on his bike which kept me from going too slow.  This leg was much more difficult than I expected in that it consisted of rolling hills.   I completed this leg in a time of 51:32 (i.e., at a 6:42-minutes-per-mile pace).

Following the completion of our second legs, my Van #2 teammates and I headed to Heber’s Southfield Park where we consumed some real food that was generously provide by my father and sister and had nice nap in a dugout of a baseball field.  After resetting for approximately two hours, the wind picked up and it started to rain; therefore, forcing us back into the van to wait another hour for our Van #1 teammates to arrive.  The rain was on and off during our third and final race legs.  By the time I took the handoff and started heading up the infamous four-mile Ragnar leg, the rain started to fall again and just continued to pickup through my 1,631-foot ascent.  The first two miles were particularly steep and my times absolutely reflected it; that is, 10:28 for the first mile and 10:08 for the second mile.  However, I knew that approximately two-thirds of the climb came in the first half of the leg.  Consequently, I kept my composure and tried to make up time on the second half in which I completed an 8:59 and 8:35 mile for miles three and four, respectively.  During the final half mile or so the conditions were pretty nasty; that is, rain, a little head wind, some fog, and plenty of mud.  In short, epic conditions--I love running!!!  My Garmin time for this brutal leg was 38:12 (i.e., at a 9:33-minutes-per-mile pace). 

For the overall race (finish time: 31:01:17), I really have never been more proud to be part of a team!  It seemed like everyone had a good time and we fought as a team all the way through to the finish line.  Our last runner really put forth a heroic effort in finishing the race in that he ran 5.1 miles through an extreme downpour and thunderstorm and kept his pace the entire time.  Truly, an amazing effort by everyone!!!

In regards to my short non-running workout, I completed 200 sit-ups and 25 push-ups after I got home, but before I went for a long, long night of sleep.