Rosswog Running Blog

Being a history geek, I enjoy running past historical markers and, if there is a plaque, picking up a few tidbits of information. Since Baltimore is loaded with historical sites, I decided to take advantage of the sunny and cool weekend weather in Charm City and go out for an historical destination run. Having picked up a Maryland Civil War Trails map for Baltimore, I identified the following two sites within running distance that I have not seen before: the Greenmount Cemetery and the Battle Monument.

Starting out on Yolando Drive, I ran down to 33rd Street then over to Calvert Street (named after the founder of Maryland). I jogged down Calvert to North Avenue then ran a few blocks over to the Greenmount Cemetery where many Civil War figures and the Booth family are buried including the ill-famed John Wilkes Booth. Maryland was one of the Border States during the War and Baltimore was very much split between the northern and southern sympathizers.

After running by the cemetery, I headed back over the Calvert Street then down to the Battle Monument located between Lexington and Fayette Streets. This happens to be our nation’s first monument dedicated to the civilian solider and was erected to celebrate victories over the British in the War of 1812 in the Battle of North Point and the Bombardment of Fort McHenry. In 1861, the governor of Maryland and mayor of Baltimore gave speeches at this monument to try to calm the citizens down after the Baltimore Riot. Also, the Battle Monument, which depicts Lady Liberty holding up a victory laurel, is used in the Baltimore City symbol.

On my way back to Yolando Road, I ran by Mt. Vernon Place and took a lap around the cobble street road circling the famous Washington Monument. I discovered that President Lincoln gave a stirring speech from this site on April 18, 1861. Also, reading from a plaque, President John Quincy Adams gave Baltimore one of its well know nicknames of “Monumental City” due to these two famous monuments. In total, I ran 8.6 miles at an easy and enjoyable pace.

Finally, for my non-running workout I was able to complete 300 sit-up and 30 push-ups.

After packing up and before catching my flight back to Salt Lake City, I headed out for a late morning run in a cloudy and wet Baltimore.  The rain steadily came down my run that started at Yolando Road where I ran over to and around Stadium Place to 33rd Street.  Then flowing part of the Baltimore Marathon course, ran to Gilford Avenue then up Saint Paul Street.  I headed down Saint Paul and over to Mt. Vernon Square where I took a lap around the Washington Monument before heading down to Camden Yards.  Passing Orioles Park, I took Pratt Street to Emory Street where I ran by the birthplace of one of Baltimore’s most famous residents, Babe Ruth.  Continuing up Pratt Street I ran to the historic Mt. Clare Station, which is now the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum that houses numerous antique trains.  Before heading back to Yolando Road, I jogged up to Lombardi Street past the Hensley Market to Union Square.  The total distance of this run was 12.5 miles at an easy pace.

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

Following over a week-and-a-half on the East Coast, it felt wonderful to be back in Salt Lake City!  Taking advantage to the sunny afternoon weather, I headed out for a run up to Olympus High School.  Since I’m officially in training for the Salt Lake City Marathon on April 17th, I took the opportunity to run part of the course by jogging down 2300 East then up to Holladay Boulevard to 6200 South.  Then I ran down to and headed back home by way of Highland Drive and Murray-Holladay Road.  The mileage of this run was 11.5 miles at an easy pace.  Also, even though I had a bit of a side ache during the middle of this run, it felt great to be back and training at altitude!

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

During my lunch break, I went out for an early afternoon run.  For this workout, I ran up to the Smith-Kiln Chimney and up to Harmon’s before heading back.  As a result, before returning to work, I was able to get in 4.1 miles of running at an easy pace

In regards to my non running workout, I was able to get in 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.

For the first time in a few weeks, I was back running on the treadmill.  With how frigid the temperatures are outside, I did not mind doing part of my run indoors.  I ran 2.7 miles on the treadmill after work mostly at an easy pace with the exception of a 0.4-mile stretch which was at marathon pace.  In addition, while waiting to catch the bus home, I was able to get in a 1.5-mile jog around the Temple Square block in downtown.  Even though it was a little chilly, it was nice to enjoy the holiday lights and festivities.  The sort of funny part of this run was that that one of the carriage drivers asked me, “Do you want a ride because I can get you to wherever you are running to slower.”

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

With the exception of a 0.5-mile jog outside, I stuck to the treadmill today.  Following work, I ran a total of 5.7 miles with 2.7 miles of this distance being at marathon pace.  Nearly two-weeks removed from my marathon race, I’m starting to feel comfortable with picking up the pace.

Since it worked an extra long shift on the job, I was only able to get in my typical 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.  However, next week I hope to get back to the weight room.

After a few weeks on the East Coast, it felt great to be back running with the Salt Lake Running Company group.  After running 2.1 miles at an easy pace through the frigid morning air to meet up with the group, we proceed to run a run an eight-mile course that actually turned out to be 8.5 miles.  Running along with the faster members of the group, we ran basically a loop-and-a-half which involved running up 1700 East, over to 2100 South, up to 2100 East, then over to 3900 South.  We completed this run at a 6:51 pace with the following splits: 8:06, 7:02, 7:07, 6:51, 6:37, 6:51, 6:28, 5:56, and 3:18.  Following this great workout and spending a half-an-hour warming my hands in the store (i.e., I wore gloves, but the wind-chill just cut right through them), I jogged 2.1 miles back to home.

My non-running workout consisted of 300 sit-ups and 30 push-ups.