Rosswog Running Blog

Okay, when I woke up this morning my right foot felt sore. However, I still wanted to give my morning run a try; therefore, I ran over to Big Cottonwood Park and met up with one of my friends from the Salt Lake Running Company. We proceeded to run the 5.25 miles up to the Mount Olympus trailhead. After a few miles, my right foot stopped hurting, but I could not get full push off with it and it felt a little bit tender and sore. I made the climb in 48:23 (i.e., a 9:11 pace), which is not too bad. Following my run back to home, I gave my right foot an ice bath that felt great. The total distance of this run was 11.8 miles at a relatively easy pace.

In order to finish up my Sunday workout and to give my sore foot a break, I biked over to the Lions Rec Center in Holladay where I hit the elliptical machine for 7.1 miles. Then I hit the treadmill for an easy pace 4.0-mile run (it took a good 1.5 miles for my foot to adjust to running). Since the weight room is next to the pool, it’s extremely humid. Consequently, my gym clothes were completely waterlogged in sweat. In other words, it was a great workout!

Besides the 3.8-mile bike ride to the Rec Center and back, I completed 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups for my non-running workout.

With a sore right foot (i.e., probably a little bit of PF--last fall it was my left foot), I played it safe and stuck to the elliptical machine.  However, safe does not mean that it was not a challenging workout; that is, I knocked out 4.6 miles in a total time of 38:02.  With the temperatures over 100 degrees outside, the gym was a little stuffy, so it was a solid workout. 

For my non-running workout, I accomplished 300 sit-ups, 30 push-ups, 70 (50 lbs) curls, and 60 (50 lbs) reverse curls.

My right foot is still feeling sore and stiff today; however, better than previous days.  Consequently, I took it easy again today by doing my running workout on the elliptical machine.  I was able to get in 4.1 miles at an easy pace (everything on the elliptical for me seems like an easy pace; that is, I miss the pounding of the treadmill).

The positive thing about PF is that I get to focus more on my non-running workout which consisted of 300 sit-ups, 30 push-ups, 60 (50 lbs) pull-downs, 60 (50 lbs) curls, and 40 (50 lbs) reverse curls.

My right foot is slowly getting back to normal; however, I once again stuck to the elliptical machine today by knocking out 8.1 miles at an easy pace.  Depending on how my foot feels, I’m aiming to split up my workout between the elliptical and treadmill tomorrow.

Besides my 32.2-mile round trip on my bike to and from work, I was able to accomplish 300 sit-ups, 30 push-ups, 60 (50 lbs) curls, and 20 (50 lbs) reverse curls for my non-running workout.

With my right foot slowly improving, I decided to mix in a little bit of running on the treadmill into my workout. Following work, I warmed-up for 2.1 miles on the elliptical machine then ran on the treadmill for an even 2.0 miles. Starting out at 6.0 mph, I slowly increased the speed to 8.0 mph during this treadmill run. By the end of it, my right foot was feeling a little bit sorer, but it was mainly just tired. I then jumped back on the elliptical for 2.1 more miles in an effort to cool down.

For my non-running, I was able to complete 300 sit-ups, 30 push-ups, 130 (60, 50, and 40 lbs) curls, and 20 (50 lbs) reverse curls.

Following another busy week at work, I hit the elliptical for a 1.0-mile warm-up before transitioning over to treadmill for 2.6 miles at a relatively easy pace.  I transitioned back to the elliptical for a 1.0-mile cool-down before heading back to home.  After I arrived at home, I headed out for a 4.0-mile, easy-pace evening run up to the Smith-Kiln Chimney and back.

In regards to my non-running workout, I completed 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.

Before I started to develop PF in my right foot, I had signed up for the annual Half Road/Half Trail 8k (i.e., a Sports-AM race) in order to get some trail racing experience before the Xterra Trail Nationals next month in Bend, Oregon.  Plus, since last year was a complete downpour, we were unable to do the trail part due to safety concerns.  I have never run this trail up City Creek, so I was really looking forward to good weather and the trail-running opportunity.

I woke up before 6:00 am and stretched out my foot, which still felt a little sore, but not bad.  After putting on my racing gear and completing my non-running routine (i.e., 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups), I headed out by jogging a half of a mile over to the UTA stop to take the bus downtown.  I got off at the Cathedral of the Madeline and ran up B Street to the road that loops around to the front of City Creek Canyon. Compared to last year’s wind and rainstorm, the weather was perfect as I ascended through the Avenues up to the mouth of the Canyon.  At the starting line, I picked up my bib number and timing chip before making final preparations. 

Just before the 8:00 start, James--the race director--announced there was a change in the race.  However, this year it was not about closing down the trail part, but we were going to run up the trail and down the road.  From a safety and race perspective, this made total sense.

From the start, I set the pace; that is, unlike last year, there was no 2:27 marathoner leading the way.  So I just tried to use my Garmin to push myself.  Due to the trail aspect of this year’s race, I knew my 27:07 time from last year was not going to be broken.  In addition, even though my right foot seemed to loosen up as I pushed myself forward, I was playing it a little conservative in order to not aggravate it anymore than necessary.  Consequently, my splits were as follows: 7:41, 7:54, 6:42, 5:32, and 2:42 (this last one was basically a half-mile split; that is, according to my watch this course is basically four tenth of a mile shorter than an 8k).  All of my splits were slower than last year, but it was a heck of a workout (i.e., a good mile of the trail was overgrown, which made for some fun running/bushwhacking) and I survived without further irritating my foot!  Also, it was fun to cheer on my fellow Saturday-morning runners at they crossed the finish line and posted some impressive times.

Following the post-race festivities, I ran at an easy pace back to home by way of the State Capital Building and stopping by Liberty Park to run two laps on the woodchip trail.  Consequently, I was able to run an extra 11.4 miles; however, my right suffered from a few muscle cramps over the last few miles forcing me to stop and stretch it out.