Rosswog Running Blog

It was another hot one!  Heading out after watching the morning news, I cut my morning run short by just running up to the Sports Authority and back.  The total distance of this run was 4.5 miles.

Then later in the evening (just after 8:30 pm), I headed out for my second run which consisted of an out and back to Sugar House Park (plus two inner loops of the park) for of 12.0 miles.  It was so dark during this run that Aaron from the SLRC rode bike rode by on his bike and said hi, but I was not sure who it was until he sent me a note of Facebook.

While watching the morning new, I completed my non-running workout of just 300 sit-ups.

Five-Minute Plank Challenge: 30 second plank and side planks

Trying-To-Go-Out-Of-My-Way-To-Eat-Healthy Challenge:  a serving of oatmeal and mixed fruit

I arrived at work extra early this morning to get in a run with my good friend Dave.  For this workout, we ran from the International Center and took the Airport Bike Path to North Temple.  I went out to 2200 West to get in an extra half of a mile before heading back.  It was really hot (especially on the bike path circling the end of the runways) even at 8:00 am in the morning.  I was able to complete this 8.1-mile run in a time of 58:57, which equals a 7:17 minutes per mile pace.  My splits for this run were as follows: 7:28, 7:34, 7:34, 7:34, 7:15, 6:57, 7:11, 6:38, and 0:37.

For my non-running workout, I was able to get in 300 sit-ups.

Five-Minute Plank Challenge: 30 second plank and side planks

Trying-To-Go-Out-Of-My-Way-To-Eat-Healthy Challenge:  another serving of oatmeal for breakfast

Running-wise, it was groundhog day in that I did the same pre-work run with my friend Dave.  To recap, we ran from the International Center and took the Airport Bike Path to North Temple.  I went out to 2200 West to get in an extra half of a mile before heading back.  However, the temperature was a little bit cooler, thus we both ran at a faster pace; for example, I was able to complete this 8.1-mile run in a time of 57:15, which is a 7:04 minutes per mile pace.  My splits for this run were as follows: 6:57, 7:22, 7:05, 6:45, 6:27, 6:54, 7:27, 7:34, and 0:43.   

In regards to my non-running workout, I was able to complete 300 sit-ups.

Five-Minute Plank Challenge: 30 second plank and side planks

Trying-To-Go-Out-Of-My-Way-To-Eat-Healthy Challenge:  another serving of oatmeal for breakfast

Worked very late today; therefore just got in an easy pace 4.2 mile run up to the Smith-Klin Chimney and back.  After I got back I spent an hour trying to pack really quickly for my flight tomorrow morning to Portland for the 30th Hood to Coast Relay.

For my non-running workout, I was able to complete 300 sit-ups.

Five-Minute Plank Challenge: 30 second plank and side planks

Trying-To-Go-Out-Of-My-Way-To-Eat-Healthy Challenge:  another serving of oatmeal for breakfast

It was an early wake-up this morning then to spend a few hours packing before heading off to the airport.  I was hoping to get in one last run in Salt Lake City, but it was not going to happen.  Once I arrived in Portland, I had a nice visit with family members in Gresham, before heading off to meet my Hood To Coast team for the first time.  After buying some supplies for our relay and a great dinner, I headed out for a late evening jog, which just consisted of running around the blocks surrounding the Days Inn for 2.2 miles.  I called it a night because it would be an early morning wake-up to get up to the starting line at the Timberline Lodge.

Before leaving to Portland, I was able to get in  300 sit-ups.

Five-Minute Plank Challenge: 30 second plank and side planks

Trying-To-Go-Out-Of-My-Way-To-Eat-Healthy Challenge:  a blueberry smoothie at the airport

We woke up at 5:30 am and we’re on the road to the Timberline Lodge for our 8:30 am start of the Hood To Coast Relay by 6:00 am.  Before yesterday, I had never met a single person in my van or on my team (team name: Coasties and Ghosties); however, we were all getting along extremely well.  It must be something about the running community and runners being able to connect so well just after meeting.  On the way up to the famous lodge, it was raining a little and overcast, which was a welcome relief from the brutally hot weather of the past few weeks.  I found out a few days later from my cousin Alli (who started on another team at 5:30 am) that we just missed an enormous thunderstorm that was lighting up Mt. Hood. 

Once at the Timberline Lodge, the rain had stopped and the sky was starting to clear.  The weather was just perfect for running.  Running this race has been a dream of mine for some time, thus it was surreal to finally be on an awesome team (team captain Z did a tremendous job with organizing our team) and at the starting line where the excitement was building. 

After decorating our van and getting a neat team picture on Hood Rock, we headed down to the starting line.  At exactly 8:30 am our first runner, Julie, was off on a steep descent down the mountain to Government Camp.  The weather stayed relatively cool and pleasant through Julie, Jesse, and Matt’s legs.  However, it started to warm on Z’s leg then after a 0.2 of a mile warm-up, it was my turn.  My first leg (Leg #5 of the race) was a 6.08-mile run from Brightwood along Highway 24 then just before mile 4 taking the Cherryville Road turnoff and finishing with a steep ascent.  This leg turned out to be 6.12 miles and I finished in a time of 36:51, which equals a pace of 6:01 minutes per mile.  My splits were as follows: 5:23, 5:21, 5:52, 6:17, 6:28, 6:44, and 0:46.  As my splits show, I started out fast and I was hoping to run a sub-6:00 pace for this leg; however, my legs started to feel really heavy (strange, because I have not run much in the past few days) and the heat started to get to me.  My eye sockets seemed to be filled with pools of sweat that was just producing a continuous burning sensation.  Cherryville is scenic, but I was sure hurting over the last 2.12 miles; therefore, I was just glad to finish this leg.

I handed off to Dena then we headed to the Sandy Safeway’s which marked Exchange #6 to meet up with Van #2.  It was so hot out that Dena ended up saving a runner that was suffering from some severe heat stroke.  Less than a mile from Exchange #6, Dena came across a runner on team #25 that was weaving from side to side and in need of some help.  While Dena was trying to help the runner out, a gentleman who drove by realized there was an issue and circled back around to help out.  The runner ended up collapsing head first into the passenger-side seat of the car while the gentleman was calling 911.  Just before Dena reached the exchange, we saw two ambulances zoom by to get the fallen runner.  We all hope and pray that he is all right.  Needless to say, the pleasant morning had given away to another brutally hot afternoon.

Taking a detour on the way to Portland, we headed to Matt and Z’s work to shower off.  This was the first time that I had showered off during a relay and did it feel great!  We then headed to the Hawthorne Bridge in Portland where we drove by Hood to Coast Royalty; that is, team Dead Jocks in a Box who were featured in the Hood to Coast movie (one of their runners is one of two runners to have run every single Hood to Cost Relay, so this was his 30th). 

Shortly after seeing the start of the High School Portland to Coast race, Julie took the handoff from Nicole and we were on our way with our second sets of legs.  For my second leg (Leg #17 of the race), it was the flattest leg that I have ever run in a relay race; that is, 7.13 miles (ended up being 7.18 miles) long with a very slight elevation gain.  In addition, this was my first completely-in-the-dark of night leg during a relay.  Somehow through four Wasatch Backs, I had ever run a leg that started and ended in the dark.  Waiting for Z to run in at Scappoose Middle School with a group of fellow runners, the only light was from vans, headlamps, a street light, and the glow bracelets and necklace I was wearing.  Following an exciting handoff from Z, I tried to push the pace.  However, for the first half of a mile, I was slow and my legs were heavy (so much for tapering).  Then I started to notice the neat fog/midst I was running through and how neat it looked under my headlamp.  All of a sudden, I started to relax and all the commotion associated with a relay race started to drift away.  My cadence started to get in perfect rhythm with my breathing.  I was getting into The Zone.  For my first mile I was able to sneak in a 5:59, and then I hit the following splits: 5:53, 5:57, 5:49, 5:51, 5:55, 5:57, and a 1:01 as I finished up at Saint Helen’s High School.  I was able to complete this leg in a time of 42:24, which equals a 5:54 pace.  This felt absolutely awesome!

After the first two legs of the Hood to Coast, I knew I had given myself a change to achieve my long-term goal of running a relay with an overall sub-6:00 pace.  However, I knew enough not to get too excited about this possibility with a brutal ascent and descent for my third leg to come in the mid-morning.

After crashing at the Columbia County Fair Grounds for a few hours, we were on the move again.  I did not get that much sleep on the one of the benches in our van, but it felt like it was some deep sleep, so I was good to go.  Luckily, we gave ourselves plenty of time to get to exchange #24, because there was a big bottleneck getting into Mist (a town that seems to be completely engulfed in mist).  We were able to beat our twelfth runner, Nicole, to this major exchange by 15 minutes while other teams were not so fortunate, thus their runners had to wait around in the cold for the other van to arrive in order to make the exchange.  Also, in this remote location there was no cell phone coverage, thus it was a little chaotic during the early morning hours.

After gulping down an orange-flavor GU for breakfast, it was time for me to complete my final leg which was essentially a 3.6-mile climb followed by a 2.5-mile descent.  This 6.11-mile leg on Highway 202 in Astoria ended up being a little shorter according to my Garmin; that is, 6.03 miles.  With a sub-6:00 overall average pace on the line, I tried to push it as hard as possible from the start.  I knew I needed a 6:02 average or lower and I tried my best to not be discouraged by my early splits that I knew would be slow.  Starting out, I was thinking that 3.6 miles into this run (at its peak) I need a 6:30 pace or lower then I would have a great shot of accomplishing my goal.  The support was awesome along this three-mile-plus climb with all of the other teams cheering you on.  My splits for the climb were 6:29, 6:18 (feeling good at this point), and 6:44 (thing were starting to unravel).  The grade seemed to be getting steeper and steeper with each switch back and at the summit I was at a 6:34 average pace.  I knew that it would take a heck of a descent to dent this average back to 6:02 and I was running out of real estate.  However, this was the Hood to Coast so I was determined to give it my all.  My splits for the descent were 6:07 (0.6 uphill on this one), 5:18, 5:16, and 0:09.  On fresh legs I could have done more damage, but these splits exceeded what I was expecting on my tired legs.  I completed my final leg in a time of 36:21, thus a 6:02 pace!  Yes, yes and yes, this equates to a 5:59 pace for the relay!!!  I’m always just happy to finish and for my teammates to finish, but achieving this goal was just a bonus and it felt tremendous and it stills feels great!

Unfortunately, there was another bottleneck where vans were in a logjam along the descent waiting to get into Exchange #29.  Consequently, I had passed my van and beat my teammates to the exchange.  However, Dena was showing a tremendous amount of heart in that I saw she had left our van over a mile outside of the exchange and was running in.  As a result, I only cooled downed at the exchange for a few minutes then Dena came by to take the slap bracelet baton.  I met up with our van then as we inched our way along to the Exchange #30, we all realized that we were not going to be able to catch up with Dena and there was not cell phone coverage to alert Van #2 that we were arriving.  So I jumped out and ran the last 2.27 miles of this leg #30.  It was fun adjusting to the circumstances and people were yelling out “Go Ragnar!” from their van as I passed since I was sporting my 2011 Wasatch Back shirt (I even saw the famous Utah Relay team CTR: Choose to Run--great D-News article on them).  I bypassed Dena with around a mile and a half to go and got to Exchange #30 a few minutes before she did.  Needless to say, I did not have much time to find Van #2, then I saw our seventh runner Stephanie in a bright (and I mean bright) pink Salt Lake Running Company t-shirt, no one could miss her (by the way, a big thanks to SLRC for hooking us up with such awesome t-shirts for the race and everyone loved them).  I found out that Van #2 had gone ahead to Exchange #31 just as Dena was heading toward the exchange.  Perfect execution and we were on our way to Seaside!!!

We finished in Seaside on the beach in a time of 31:32:39, which equates to an overall team pace of 9:28. Oh yeah, the beach finish was awesome!!!  Perfect weather, powder-like sand, great seafood, awesome firework show, and an off-the-hook concert; that is, when you are completely sleep deprived, a cover band jamming AC/DC, Poison, Journey, Prince, Def Leppard and everyone else is so much fun and just rocks!  Thanks to Z and all my Coasties and Ghosties teammates for an unbelievable race and a memorable experience!!!