Rosswog Running Blog

Late this morning, I jogged over to Big Cottonwood Park and ran four times around the park’s parameter trail before heading back to home.  My goal was to knock out five laps, but my left hamstring went from stiff to painfully sore as I finished my fourth time around the park.  Consequently, I did not want to risk a setback in order to accomplish one more lap.  The total distance of this run was 5.1 miles at an easy pace.  Also, I was able to accomplish an 8:37 and an 8:49 mile, which is pretty fast for me these days and probably brought on the discomfort.  The objective of this run was to get some experience running off of the road because my Xterra National Trail race is less than two weeks away (yikes).  For this race, my goal is just to run the entire course without reinjuring myself.

In order to get in some extra miles, I biked over to the Holladay Lions Recreation Center in the early afternoon and completed 12.8 miles on the elliptical machine I a total time of 2:02:29.

As I biked home through Big Cottonwood Park, I noticed a runner cruising around the softball complex which not only got me motivated to run, but also made me think about how I left some unfinished business in the park this morning by not being able to complete that last lap.  Consequently, after I got home, I jogged over to the park and completed a single lap around the softball complex before heading back and calling it a day.   The total distance of this run was 1.3 miles.

Overall, I’m continuing to make progress with the rehab of my hamstring (i.e., feeling less sore compared to a week ago and I’m regaining flexibility).  Also, considering that last week I could not even run without a severe hobble and this week I ran some miles off of the elliptical for seven consecutive days, progress is being made!

Besides my 3.9-mile bike ride to the Lions Recreation Center and back, I completed 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups for my non-running workout.

Happy Labor Day!  However, it was a regular work day for me and that goes for my rehab on my left hamstring.  Speaking of the devil, it was pretty sore and stiff today when I rolled out of bed, probably because I gave it very little rest this weekend (I remember the same sore-stiff feelings at the beginning of last week).  Anyways, I kicked off my holiday by biking to work, then during my late lunch break, I ran over to the airport bike path and to the west end of the Wing Point golf course before heading back.  The total distance of this run was 2.7 miles.  Also, my hamstring seemed to relax a little bit after a mile or so.

For the second half of my running workout, I hit the elliptical machine for 3.5 miles while watching CNN.  Afterward my hamstring seemed to be a little bit sorer.  I’m guessing it’s getting tired of the elliptical too.

Finally, for my non-running workout, I completed 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.

Following work, I had a date with the treadmill (hopefully, we can become reunited after I have been spending so much time with the elliptical lately).  I was able to run for 2.4 miles.  Once again, for the opening mile my troublesome hamstring was sore and stiff. However, my stride seemed to open up a little bit and I was able to get into a pretty good rhythm with minimal discomfort.  I felt like running further on the treadmill, but decided to cut it off a little bit early in order to get in an outside run.  Consequently, after I got home, I jogged over to Big Cottonwood Park and completed two laps of the softball complex before calling it a day.  The total distance of this evening run was 1.7 miles.

In regards to my non-running workout, I was able to complete 300 sit-ups, 30 push-ups, and 40 (50 lbs) curls.

Following work, I was able to sneak in a short 1.4 mile run on the treadmill before heading home.  Then I went out for an evening run up to the Smith-Kiln Chimney and back for a total distance of 4.3 miles at an easy pace.  I’m probably thinking about it too much, but on the way back my hamstring tightened up, but I just tried to focus on keeping good form and being relaxed in order to run through it.

For my non-running workout, I completed my typical routine of 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.

After a long day at work, I did not have time to get to the gym.  As a result, I went on a late evening run over to the Cotton Country Club and back.  The total distance of this run was 6.7 miles and it was sort of a gut check.  I seriously thought about turning around a couple of times and calling it a day because my leg seemed to be tightening up.  Then it started to rain.  So running though a dark and stormy night while trying to fight through my injury sort of boosted my confidence in that I felt all tough even though it took me over an hour to cover this distance and I was glad to get back home.

Lastly, for my non-running workout, I completed my standard 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.

After finishing up the work week, I warmed up on the elliptical machine for 2.2 miles then hit the treadmill for an even 2.0 miles before returning to the elliptical to cool down for 2.2 miles. By the way, I was able to get into a great rhythm on the treadmill and it sort of felt like I had a normal running gait. In short, it felt awesome! I wanted to increase the speed above 7.5 miles per hour and continue beyond two miles; however I decided to play it safe since I still wanted to get in an evening run and plenty of miles during the weekend.

When I got home from work, I headed out for a nice, easy pace run up to the Smith-Kiln Chimney and back. During this 4.0-mile run, even though my left hamstring was stiff, it was not as bad as on Wednesday when I did the same run. So, I’m getting closer to overcoming my hamstring injury!

To close out the work week, my non-running workout consisted of 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.

This nice and cool Saturday, I woke up and jogged 3.35 miles down to the Salt Lake Running Company where I met up with members of our Las Vegas Ragnar team for a group run. For this run, we ran up to Sugar House Park, where we made one outer and one inter loop around the park before returning. The total distance of this run was 6.35 miles at a relatively easy pace. The I jogged an additional 5.4 miles to and from the Trax station out to the Wasatch Running Center and back to home in order to pickup a Wasatch Back Ragnar 2010 shirt that one of my teammates never received on race day. I was relieved that my left hamstring survived 15.1 miles of running. This is good news!

In order to add on some additional miles, late in the afternoon, I biked and took Trax out to work where I ran 7.2 miles on the elliptical machine while watching the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game (entertaining contest that Michigan just snuck out a win over my Irish).

Besides my 12.3-mile bike ride, for my non-running workout, I completed 300 sit-ups, 30 push-ups, and 100 (16 lbs) curls before calling it a Saturday.