Rosswog Running Blog

Wow, today I ran my first trail race and it was more challenging than I ever imagined it would be.  To begin with, since it was a late start to the race (i.e., 9:00 am), I slept in; that is, I woke up just after 7:00 am.  After putting on my racing gear, I jogged one-mile from my Great Uncle’s house on Cumberland over to the Old Mill Shopping District (i.e., the site of the starting line, which was directly in front of REI) with my Aunt and Dad who were on their bikes.  At the starting line I met up with my Uncle; therefore, the three members of my support crew were all on hand and their support is extremely appreciated (i.e., not only before, during, and after the race, but also in getting me Bend in the first place in order to give me the opportunity to run something that I have never tried before).  Following some last minute stretching, the showdown at the Old Mill/Deschutes-River Trail to determine the National Champions was on (Actually, it was not much of a showdown on the men’s side with Max King repeating as National Champion and making the challenging course look easy by running a 1:06:46--winning by a margin of 6:12.  On the women’s side, Lauren Fleshman won by over two-minutes with an impressive time of 1:19:10).

Before the start, the race director informed us that due to some work by the Forest Service, they had to cut a small section of the course out; therefore, the 21k course would only be 12.8 miles long.  After the introductions of last year’s winners, the race started.  For the first mile, I kept a pretty good pace by running a 5:48; however, approximately three-fourths of this first mile was on a paved running trail around the Old Mill Park.  After we hit the dirt trail, my minutes per mile seemed to get slower and slower as the technicality of the trail continued to increase (my slowest mile was 7:59 for mile 9) . 

In the beginning the trails were pretty soft and dusty, then there was a steep and difficult climb before we reached the 5k marker which signaled the commencement of a loop that approximately 10k in distance to Meadow Camp and back (as a result, with the exception of a few minor differences, we would essentially run back on the first 5k over the course’s final 5k).  The 10k loop included many technical aspects, which ended up hammering my body and psyche.  First there were a couple of deep trenches (i.e., straight down and straight up) that were wide enough not to risk trying to jump over.  Second, a sun baked meadow of sagebrush with a steady incline and numerous switchbacks up a hill.  Third, a steep descent with sharp and rocky switchbacks.  Fourth, a straight descent with extremely soft sand; that is, basically red quicksand (for example, my left leg sunk down into the sand up to my ankle; therefore, filling my shoe up with sand).  Fourth, a burnt out section of the sage-brush forest which involved leaping over a fallen tree and following marked wooden steaks planted in the ground because there was no trail.  Finally, an up-and-down trail along the Deschutes River featuring large boulders (I’m use to hiking up these types of rocks and not running over them).  

After I got out of this treacherous 10k trail-loop, I was back on a familiar trail and able to make up some time especially with the final section of the course being paved.  With my legs plastered with mud and shoes filled with sand, I finished!  My time was 1:26:09 (i.e., 6:44 minutes per mile) and even though the course took a lot out of me, it was a humbling and valuable learning experience in that it thought me that I still have a ways to go to become a better runner both physically and mentally.  When I was giving him his post-race congratulations, Max informed me the “course is only as tough as you make it,” which is very true.

In addition, I was able to get in a post-race, easy-pace run in over to Cumberland then over to my Aunt and Uncle’s house on Hawthorne and back to Cumberland for a total distance of 5.6 miles.  Lastly, my non-running workout consisted of 200 sit-ups and 25 push-ups.

Following a great night of sleep, my legs felt pretty good after the thrashing they took yesterday on the Xterra Nationals Trail Running course.  Consequently, I went on a morning run in my Vibram Five Fingers through the Old Mill District then over the south side of Bend near the town’s minor league ballpark.  After meeting up with my Aunt, Uncle, and Dad for breakfast, I ran back to my Great Uncle’s place on Cumberland.  The total distance of this run was 5.2 miles at an easy pace.  Also this was the longest distance that I have ever run in my Five Fingers and my feet still feel strong!

After doing some yard work and studying for the CFA, I went on a second run down to the Bend Library then up to my Aunt and Uncle’s place on Hawthorne for dinner before heading back to Cumberland.  This run amounted to 4.1 miles at an easy pace.

For my non-running workout, once again I kept it short and sweet by completing 200 sit-ups and 25 push-ups.

This morning, I got out of bed and went for a short morning run over to the West River part of town to get some breakfast with my Aunt, Uncle, and Dad.  The total distance of this short morning jog was only eight-tenths of a mile in my Vibram Five Fingers.  Also, my calves were a little bit sore from yesterday’s five-plus-mile run in my Five Fingers.

I went out for a late-morning run through Drake Park and over to the FootZone on Wall Street to pick up a couple of pairs of stocks and some running sleeves (in regards to the later, I’m thinking ahead to the cold weather of the Philadelphia Marathon); that is, I might as well take advantage of Oregon’s zero sales tax.  Since I’m a big running geek, I love to visit running stores when I’m away from Salt Lake City in order to find out about all the neat races that are going on in the area.  In short, there are a number of trail races that take pace in Central Oregon and not that many marathon road races (e.g., the Bend Marathon was cancelled a couple of years ago after only a few year’s of existence).  With all the trail racing opportunities that I found out about around Central Oregon, no wonder they call Bend “America's Best Trail Running Town.”  After my FootZone visit, I ran through the downtown part of Bend before heading back to Cumberland to get some lunch.  The total distance of this run was 2.5 miles at an easy pace.

In the late afternoon, I headed out for a my third and final run of the day.  For this run, I ran over to the Bend Library.  Then after studying for the CFA for a couple of hours, I ran over to Juniper Park where I took a lap around the outer wood-chip trail encompassing the park before heading over to my Aunt and Uncle’s house on Hawthorne for a spaghetti dinner then running back to Cumberland.  The total mileage of this final run was 5.5 at an easy pace.

In regards to my non-running workout, I completed another day of 200 sit-ups and 25 push-ups.

Shortly after I got out of bed this morning, I went for a quick run over to the West River part of town to get some breakfast with my Aunt, Uncle, and Dad before running back to Cumberland then over Hawthorne.  The total distance of this morning run was an even 3.0 miles and with the exception of the middle mile that I ran at marathon pace, I kept it to an easy pace.

For the afternoon, we took a family road trip up north to the Warm Springs Native American Reservation where I spent time relaxing, studying for the CFA, and running trails.  In regards to the latter,  I ran parts of all four Kah-Nee-Ta trails for a total distance of 5.6 miles.  This run was not only quite technical, but also pretty steep (considering my lack of trail running skills, this was great practice).  Consequently, even though I was spending a lot of effort, it took me almost an hour and two minutes to complete this distance.  Finally, having the opportunity to run over the beautiful high desert terrain is what trail running is all about.  While covering the Kah-Nee-Ta trails, I ran by red clay cliffs, maneuvered between two canyons (Kah-Nee-Ta and Charley canyons), and saw a hawk hovering overhead and lizards scampering across the red-dirt trail.

In the evening, after we got back to Hawthorne, I went on my third run of the day.  This one was 2.0-mile run to the Bend Library then over to Cumberland.  The combined distance of my running for the day was 10.6 miles.

For my non-running workout, I was able to accomplish 200 sit-ups, 25 push-ups, and 10 metronomes.

When I was a kid, during my family’s summer vacations to Bend, I regularly walked up Pilot Butte with my Aunt and Dad in the morning.  Consequently, having the opportunity to run to the top of Pilot Butte was one of the things I was most looking forward to on my trip to Oregon.  The Butte sits on the east side of town and as a kid one of the things that truly amazed me was that people actually ran up it; that is, fifteen to twenty years ago I could not imagine running such a monstrous hill.  However, this morning it was my turn to run Pilot Butte.

I woke up at 5:30 am to get started by jogging from Cumberland, through Juniper Park, up Greenwood Avenue to the base of Pilot Butte for a distance of 2.9 miles.  Then I proceeded with running five intervals up-and-down the Butte for a total distance of 11.30 miles.  The distance from the front gate up to the top of the Butte measured exactly 1.13 on all five of my ascents with an approximate elevation gain of 450 feet (i.e., 3700 to 4150).   I was able to pace myself pretty good running up the Butte; that is, my first climb was in a time of 11:54 and from there I just focused on increases the pace for each subsequent trip up.  On my last interval, I went all out and reached the top of the Butte in a time of 9:31.  Overall, I ran 11.30 miles on the Butte in a time of 1:36:48.

Not to go un-noted, the panorama view of the Cascades from the top of Pilot Butte is absolute amazing.  Look out to the west, you can see from south to north, Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top, the Three Sisters (i.e., South, Middle, and North), Mt. Washington, 3 Fingered Jack, Mt. Jefferson, and Mt. Hood (in regards to the latter, I plan on visiting this one again on my way to Portland this Saturday).

After accomplishing my Pilot Butte objective, I jogged to the east side of town to have breakfast with my Aunt, Uncle, and Dad before running back to Cumberland then over to ED’s grocery store to pick up some lunch.  The total distance of this run was 4.9 miles at an easy pace.

Lastly, my non-running workout consisted of 7.5 miles on the bike, 200 sit-ups, 25 push-ups, and 10 metronomes.

Shortly after I got out of bed this morning, I went for a quick run over to the West River part of town in my Vibram Five Fingers to get some breakfast with my Aunt and Dad before running back to Cumberland.  Then I went out for a relaxing, easy-pace destination run.  First, I ran down to the Overturf trailhead and climbed the 200-plus feet to the top of Overturf Butte.  From the top, there is a great view of Bend and Pilot Butte (i.e., where I did my interval workout yesterday).  Then I ran back down the trail and into town where following my “Bend Historic Sites” map, I jogged around to about half of the sites taking pictures and reading the plaques.   Consequently, I learned about such iconic Central Oregon figures as Klondike Kate (legendary business woman of the old west that took care of sick children in her Bend home) and George Palmer Putman (publishing mogul who operated the Bend Bulletin and would later marry Amelia Earhart after leaving Bend).  The total distance of morning warm-up and destination runs was 6.2 miles.

During the late afternoon, I went on another run.  This one involved running from Cumberland to the Bend Library on Wall Street then over to Hawthorne to have some diner with my Aunt, Uncle, and Dad before heading back to Cumberland.  The total distance of this second run was 4.6 miles at an easy pace.

In the evening, I hit the Juniper Park Gym with my Aunt and Uncle to lift some weights.  For this non-running workout, I completed 3.0 miles on the stationary bike (this bike was really interactive in that it was like a video game with a flat screen television and you had to actually steer around the turns and the other bikers on the course), 2.0 miles on the hand bike, 200 sit-ups, 25 push-ups, 20 metronomes, 100 (30, 20 lbs) curls, and 50 (50, 40 lbs) reverse curls.

After packing up last night in preparation for my road trip to the Portland airport and the return flight to Salt Lake City, all there was left to do in the morning was to get in a nice run.  Consequently, I headed out the door just after 6:30 am in my Vibram Five Fingers and ran down to Drake Park.  Then I crossed the Deschutes River by running over the park’s wooden bridge (running over the bridge’s wooden planks of in shoes that offer very little support is a neat feeling) and headed into town and up to my Aunt and Uncle’s place on Hawthorne where I met up with Dad to drive up to Portland.

On the way to the airport we made a couple of rest/running stops.  First, we stopped at the town of Madras where I practiced running back and forth over a fifty-meter section of the Safeway’s parking lot.  I’m sure the shoppers were probably wondering about why some strange guy was repeatedly running fifty-meter forward then backwards across the parking lot.  Only true runners can understand the method to our madness (i.e., I have read in Runner’s World that running backwards will help lengthen your stride).

For our second stop, we took a nice long break at Mt. Hood’s Snowpack Summit ski lift (i.e., on the west end of Government Camp).  During the trip, the weather was perfect, until we reached the Mt. Hood National Forest where it all of a sudden the sky became overcast and it started to drizzle.  Consequently, I put on a windbreaker, gloves, and a ski-cap before I started my ascent to the Timberline Lodge.  I was really excited to see this site since my Aunt informed me that one of my Great Aunt’s had her picture taken with President Franklin Roosevelt in this legendary lodge that is probably best known as the outside of Overlook Hotel in the movie The Shining.  In regards to the latter, my 3.5-mile run up to the Timberline seemed to turn into a Stephen King novel; that is, the climb was extremely steep (it took me just over 50:19 to compete and I was running the entire way up), the trail was very technical and rocky, the intensity of rain continued to increase, and a thick fog engulfed the mountain side.  In fact, the fog was so think that I could only see about twenty-meters in front me; therefore, the various ski lifts that I ran under seemed to come out of nowhere.

When I was completely soaked from head to toe, I felt the wind really pick up and it began pushing against my body.  As the wind was howling through the pine trees, I checked my Garmin watch and it was reading approximately three-and-a-half miles and there were no signs of a lodge (or anything for that matter) as I looked around through the haze.  I was wondering if I made a wrong turn and decided to tough it out for another half of a mile before turning around.  Of course, this is when the shingled-frame of the Timberline Lodge appeared through the fog.  I was surreal to run through the fog, gusting wind, and pelting rain around this historical landmark.  Since I was completely soaked and not wanting to freeze to death, I decided not to go into lodge in order to maintain some of the body heat that I created with during the climb.  As a result, I high-tailed it down the trail in a time of 33:42.  The total distance of this run was 7.5 miles at a slow, but gritty pace.  In addition, given that I was heading to the airport (what a heck of a trip), I had plenty of dry clothes to change into; however, it took me some time to become un-waterlogged.

Finally, my non-running workout was concise in that I completed just 200 sit-ups and 25 push-ups.