Rosswog Running Blog

Following another great night of sleep, I headed out the door shortly after seven o’clock this Sunday morning.  In short, boy was it cold outside!  It took me quite a few miles just to begin to warm-up a little bit.  The morning breeze that persisted throughout my run prevented me from really ever getting warmed up.   Anyways, I ran down to Liberty Park by way of 900 East.  Once at the park, I was forced to dump my water because it was too cold to drink.   As a result, I immediately headed back home.  The total distance of this chilly run was 11.6 miles at an easy pace.  By the way, my metronome held up to the cold weather.  I set it and kept it at 83 strides per minute and trying to keep up with the rhythmic beeping sort of helped me distract my mind from the frigid conditions.

I mainly saved my non-running workout for game #6 of the ACLS between the Angels and the Yankees (the Yankees ended winning 5-2) in which I completed 200 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.

This morning, I woke up just after 5:00 am and forced myself to get out the door for a short wakeup run.  Refusing to look at the temperature (i.e., if I knew exactly how cold it was, I would have absolutely used the frigid weather as an excuse to stay indoors), I slipped on my Vibram Five Fingers and ran over to Big Cottonwood Park where I completed a single lap around the softball complex before heading back.  The total distance of this run was 1.3 miles at an easy pace, but at 7:37 minutes per mile, this was my fastest pace while wearing Five Fingers.  In summary, this was by far my coldest morning run since the end of last winter.

After work, I headed home then outside for a nice evening run up to the Smith-Kiln Chimney at the Brickyard Shopping Plaza and back.  The total distance of this run was and even 5.0 miles at an easy pace.

For my non-running workout, I completed 200 sit-ups, 30 push-ups, 100 (50, 40, 30, 20 lbs) curls, and 20 (50 lbs) reverse curls.

Due to a pending snow storm that our weather forecasters have be warning us about for the past few days, it was much warmer for my sub-6:00-am relative to yesterday’s morning run. Taking advantage of the cool, but pleasant temperatures, I ran over to Big Cottonwood Park in my Vibram Five Fingers and completed two laps of the softball complex before heading back to home. The total distance of this morning ran was 1.7 miles at an easy pace.

After work, I hit the treadmill for a speed workout by running 4 miles of half-mile intervals (i.e., the slow halves at 8.8 miles per hour and the fast halves at 10.8) in a time of 24:38. I followed this interval workout with a 0.2-mile cool-down run at marathon pace. Also, I went out for an evening 1.2-mile, easy-pace run around the neighborhood before calling it a day.

In regards to my non-running workout, I completed 330 sit-ups, 32 push-ups, 80 (50, 40, 30 lbs) curls, and 20 (50 lbs) reverse curls.

With an inch of snow covering the ground from yesterday’s storm, I strapped on my Vibram Five Fingers and headed out just after 5:30 am for my morning workout.  Taking my typical wakeup course, I jogged over to Big Cottonwood Park and completed three-and-a-half loops around the softball complex.  On the way back, I decided that for fun I would run through the fresh snow on the park’s field to see how it would feel in the Five Fingers.  In short, it felt like running barefoot on a white, sandy, cold beach.  In total, I covered 2.4 miles on this morning run.

Following a busy and long day at work, using the bike paths, I ran from the International Center to the Salt Lake International Airport then from the Smith’s to home.  The combined distance of these two runs was 4.8 miles at an easy pace.

Finally, my non-running workout consisted of 220 sit-ups, 33 push-ups, 20 (50 lbs) curls, and 20 (50 lbs) reverse curls.

For my sub-6:00-am workout, I ran over to Big Cottonwood Park and completed a single lap around the softball complex before heading back.  The total distance of this wakeup run was 1.3 miles at an easy pace in my Vibram Five Fingers.

Following work, I jumped on the treadmill for a short 1.4-mile run (with a mile of this distance being at marathon pace) before heading home.  While waiting for the two buses that I catch to get home, I jogged up and down the street and around the block in order to get in an extra mile. 

After I got home, I headed back out.  Repeating the course that I took in the morning, I ran over to Big Cottonwood Park and this time completed four laps of the softball complex in my Vibram Five Fingers before heading back.  The total distance of this run was 2.5 miles at an easy pace.

Finally, my daily non-running workout consisted of 250 sit-ups, 30 push-ups, and 100 (16 lbs) curls.

Feeling the sluggish effects of being at the end of a busy workweek, I just repeated the same sub-6:00 workout that I did the previous morning; that is, I ran over to Big Cottonwood Park and after a lap around the softball complex, I headed back.  Again the total distance of this morning run was 1.3 miles at an easy pace in my Vibram Five Fingers.

Having to prepare for the weekend, I worked late; therefore, I missed out on my treadmill workout.  I was planning to do an interval workout on the treadmill; therefore, I’ll just have to make sure to hit the track on Sunday in order to makeup up for it.  Also, for the second day in a row, on the way home, I was able to sneak in a one-mile jog while waiting for the bus.

After I arrived at home, I immediately headed back out.  For this evening run, I ran down to Granite High School by way of 1100 East then heading west on 3300 South.  Once at the high school, I completed a lap around the track and since I was wearing my Vibram Five Fingers, I ran a couple of lengths on the soft grass of the football field, which for this season is home of the Judge Memorial Bulldogs.  The total distance of this run was 5.8 miles at an easy pace.  In addition, it’s the longest run that I have ever done while wearing my Five Fingers!

My non-running was a concise one in that I only completed 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.

On this Halloween morning, I got out the door around 7:30 am and jogged 2.2 miles up to the Salt Lake Running Company on Highland Drive.  Having heard through e-mail that they were continuing the store’s Saturday-morning group training runs after the Nike 10k Human Race concluded last weekend, I decided to checkout and participate in at least one of these morning runs.  Also, the Salt Lake Running Company is hosting these group runs to help prepare for the Salt Lake Marathon in April.  Since I just signed up to run this marathon again, I’m counting on these group runs to help me keep my training on schedule.  Plus, I usually train alone; therefore, these group runs should be a nice change to my lonely training schedule.

Ten runners showed up for this kickoff-marathon-training run that was initially supposed to be a 10k.  However, since one of the streets was marked by its east-coordinate instead of its name, we missed a turn and ended up running all the way up 2100 South to Foothill Boulevard before running back to the store.  As a result, our total distance ended up being 7.7-miles; nevertheless, the entire group--even the beginning runners--survived the run.  Overall, it was a great experience and an enjoyable workout that I plan on participating in again.

After picking up a pair of Adidas Sequence (i.e., for my upcoming marathon) and running back home (an even 2.0 miles at an easy pace), I decided to tack on a few extra miles before calling it a day.  Consequently, I ran through Big Cottonwood Park, over to Murray Holladay road, up to Highland Drive, then just past the vacant lot that use to house the Cottonwood Mall before heading back.  As a result, I was able to add on an easy-pace, 4.8-mile run to my daily millage.

In regards to my non-running workout, I completed 200 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.

Happy Halloween!