Breaking the Wall

March 29, 2024

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Location:

Orem,UT,United States

Member Since:

Jan 27, 1986

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Olympic Trials Qualifier

Running Accomplishments:

Best marathon: 2:23:57 (2007, St. George). Won the Top of Utah Marathon twice (2003,2004). Won the USATF LDR circuit in Utah in 2006.

Draper Days 5 K 15:37 (2004)

Did not know this until June 2012, but it turned out that I've been running with spina bifida occulta in L-4 vertebra my entire life, which explains the odd looking form, struggles with the top end speed, and the poor running economy (cannot break 16:00 in 5 K without pushing the VO2 max past 75).  

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

Qualify for the US Olympic Trials. With the standard of 2:19 on courses with the elevation drop not exceeding 450 feet this is impossible unless I find an uncanny way to compensate for the L-4 defect with my muscles. But I believe in miracles.

Long-Term Running Goals:

2:08 in the marathon. Become a world-class marathoner. This is impossible unless I find a way to fill the hole in L-4 and make it act healthy either by growing the bone or by inserting something artificial that is as good as the bone without breaking anything important around it. Science does not know how to do that yet, so it will take a miracle. But I believe in miracles.

Personal:

I was born in 1973. Grew up in Moscow, Russia. Started running in 1984 and so far have never missed more than 3 consecutive days. Joined the LDS Church in 1992, and came to Provo, Utah in 1993 to attend BYU. Served an LDS mission from 1994-96 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Got married soon after I got back. My wife Sarah and I are parents of eleven children: Benjamin, Jenny, Julia, Joseph, Jacob, William, Stephen, Matthew,  Mary,  Bella.  and Leigha. We home school our children.

I am a software engineer/computer programmer/hacker whatever you want to call it, and I am currently working for RedX. Aside from the Fast Running Blog, I have another project to create a device that is a good friend for a fast runner. I called it Fast Running Friend.

Favorite Quote:

...if we are to have faith like Enoch and Elijah we must believe what they believed, know what they knew, and live as they lived.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie

 

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 133.01 Year: 776.88
Saucony Type A Lifetime Miles: 640.15
Bare Feet Lifetime Miles: 450.37
Nike Double Stroller Lifetime Miles: 124.59
Brown Crocs 4 Lifetime Miles: 1334.06
Amoji 1 Lifetime Miles: 732.60
Amoji 2 Lifetime Miles: 436.69
Amoji 3 Lifetime Miles: 380.67
Lopsie Sports Sandals Lifetime Miles: 818.02
Lopsie Sports Sandals 2 Lifetime Miles: 637.27
Iprome Garden Clogs Lifetime Miles: 346.18
Beslip Garden Clogs Lifetime Miles: 488.26
Joybees 1 Lifetime Miles: 1035.60
Madctoc Clogs Lifetime Miles: 698.29
Blue Crocs Lifetime Miles: 1164.32
Kimisant Black Clogs Lifetime Miles: 720.62
Black Crocs 2023 Lifetime Miles: 1312.70
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.844.220.000.0014.06

A.M. Ran with Jeff. He had a job interview, so we had to run early - 5:00 AM. We also had to be done quick, so we had to hurry through the run a bit. We started out slow as usual, first 0.5 at 9:00 pace, but then feeling the urgency of being done in time picked it up a bit and eventually were going a bit over 6:40. Hit the turnaround (5.03) in 36:14 and then started the mini-tempo. We ran an odd distance - 3.67 because that was the distance from the turnaround to where we had to cross Geneva (the bridge is still flooded). Our time was 21:35 (5:52.8 average). We started out around 6:00 pace, then with 2 miles to go sped up to 5:50,  and ran the last mile in 5:43. Due to the early hour I felt sluggish. At 6:00 I felt like I was pressing against a hard wall. Then as we sped up the wall advanced 10 seconds, and was now at 5:50. And towards the end it advanced to 5:40. Total time for 10.06 was 1:08:15 which is fast for us, Jeff and I are a couple of lazy bums, we rarely break 1:10. In fact, had we not run the tempo we would not have broken 1:10 even with the mid-run briskness. Of course, we could run 1:04 every day, but then Jeff would be injured and I would be neurally fatigued.

Then 2 more with Benjamin. We did 0.5 in 2:59 (89,90) plus a little bit more, about 0.05 at that pace to help him mentally extend himself.

P.M. Ran barefoot. 1.5 with Julia in 13:16. She was conversational even though the pace was sub-9:00. 0.5 with Joseph in 5:45. Jenny had a cut on her foot, could not run.

Five Fingers 2 Miles: 12.06Bare Feet Miles: 2.00
Night Sleep Time: 6.75Nap Time: 1.00Total Sleep Time: 7.75
Comments
From Kory on Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 14:56:13 from 134.50.89.55

Sasha - how much is the route you run every morning actually part of the Provo Marathon course? I know I ran the marathon a couple weeks ago, but I don't remember how much of what you run every morning is on the course.

What I found about running the course is you really need to practice on your turning speed. Next year I plan to run some courses in training that have a lot of turns so your pace isn't broken up so much. Now a 2:40 isn't bad to what I thought my fitness level was at. But I can see adjustments to make to get better at running the course.

If you won't have ran in your five fingers what do you think you could have done on this course, time wise? I really thought you were going to tear this course apart.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 16:41:32 from 64.81.245.109

Kory - I enter the course 0.46 miles into my run at around 16.25 and follow it to about 19.8. Same on the way back.

from about 17.2 (the bridge with a pump) to about 19.3 (last gate on the trail, start of the parking lot) is the course of my 5 mile tempo, also the course of the Fast Running Blog 5 Miler.

I run that 5 Miler all the time, and for some odd reason it is slow. My PR on it is 26:48, and I did it trading quarters with Jeff the entire time. I have raced a flat 10 K working with Steve the entire time in 32:59 while having a comparable level of fitness, or possibly less since the fastest I could go in the 5 mile tempo around that time was 27:16. So 5 miles at 5:21 average vs 10 K at 5:18. You can say it is a race vs. time trial, but I do not buy it. I did not taper for either, and I when I raced Steve it was essentially a time trial comparable to running with Jeff. BJ and Alexander Thomas were gone, and Adam was too far behind to be a threat.

I do have a few ideas why it is slow, but not 100% sure. It is on the bank of a river, and banks tend to be uneven. The tree cover makes it hard to see the undulations, so you think it is flatter than it really is. Either that or SLC Track Club has a miscalibrated wheel, I certainly hope not.

Hard to tell how much I lost because of Five Fingers. I think I lost something because I am still not used to running in them. Jeff thinks about 2 minutes. He might be right.

Note that next year the Utah Valley Marathon course could very well be different.

From Kory on Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 16:57:56 from 134.50.89.55

Interesting, what I found that really broke my pace was going down the tunnels and then coming up again at various times. Then you would turn on some of them. I really don't think I was ready for that or expected it. I could see how it could break a tempo pace with not a consist stretch of road.

Also with the turning and twisting I would assume it would be more difficult with the less cushioning you had to deal with. Make a point tomorrow when your turning on the course in the five fingers to diagnose how it feels with less cushioning vs shoes.

Your right about being uneven it did feel that way. It felt like a incline at times, but all the turn too could have made that an illusion.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 17:06:27 from 64.81.245.109

Kory - I do not feel anything particularly special aside from a minor burn when turning, but I am sure it adds up over 26 miles.

A bigger problem, though, would be excessive right foot rotation - this gave me a bloody blister near the big toe.

From Kory on Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 18:46:32 from 134.50.89.55

Now the blister could have altered your stride during the race and slowed you down. Also causing you to be more dominant on the other leg while running.

I don't know just my thoughts. I was predicting you to be closer to a 2:30.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 18:51:45 from 64.81.245.109

Not on that course, and not with this level of fitness. I was expecting around 2:33. However, Top of Utah will be interesting (I am sitting out DesNews, do not feel ready for it).

From Kory on Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 22:06:36 from 134.50.223.250

Sasha - you have the ability to do well in Des News, but if you don't feel it than it must be from God. Your an amazing runner and experimenter on your feet. I've noticed you sort have cut back your training this year. If you've noticed most of the elite runner's on the blog have cutback from last year (well it seems the one's on the relay team, a lot of injuries).

Curious, why didn't you run the marathons in SLC and Ogden this year?

From Mike Warren on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 00:03:42 from 208.117.124.133

Sasha, I have noticed the same thing with your cutback. Do you have some naggy injuries? Also, I signed up for DesNews. The problem, several people suggested I don't run it. I have never ran it and do not know the course. I have been told it beats the tar out of you. With my past history of stress fracture, maybe best to sit it out.

From Kory on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 01:03:35 from 134.50.223.250

Mike Warren - The steep downhill is what can get you if you start out too fast. I've ran it once and it didn't beat me up. In fact it was the first course I qualified for Boston on. You just have to stay patient on the downhill and save some for the second half of the course.

From AmberG on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 02:03:52 from 64.255.88.143

Sasha- just wanted to say Thank You for your advice on my 'cleanse'. You are one smart whipper-snapper!!!!

I am only doing it for 3 days and plan to really focus on healthy eating afterwards.

Thanks again for your comments!

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 14:45:22 from 192.168.1.1

Kory, Mike:

No injuries. Extra miles means time away from the family or work. I gave 120 week long enough of a try and only saw gradually degrading performance in all distances. Even if I could make it work with time, the benefits are going to be marginal. I do not really care to run mega miles to run a marathon one minute faster.

I am already hitting world-class marathon to 5 K ratios, which indicates failure to improve from increased mileage should not be a surprise. To make a substantial improvement I need a Quality X breakthrough. As I mentioned numerous times, there is no Quality X improvement science, this is an uncharted territory. So I am trying various odd things such as running in Five Fingers and explosive sprints.

Regarding DesNews - I decided if I do not feel safe running a race in Five Fingers I will not run it at all until I feel confident that my form experienced permanent positive corrections. I do not feel confident running down 8% grade for 3 miles, and then 23 more with some serious decent involved in Five Fingers.

SLC - was not fit to run the marathon due to the ear infection in February. Ogden - was not fit to run the marathon when I made the decision. However, if I could have changed the day of the race, I still would have stayed with the half to save the legs for Utah Valley. I'd much rather use my legs to give a fast time to the race director that cares to have a fast time.

From Jon on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 14:52:25 from 138.64.2.76

It will be interesting to see if running fewer marathons this year results in better performance in the fall. Are you doing TOU and SGM?

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 15:23:59 from 64.81.245.109

I am thinking TOU seriously, as seriously as you can in Five Fingers that is, SGM to keep Jeff company until I die, then hang on to stay in top 10 so I can come back next year.

From Mike Warren on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 18:12:13 from 207.50.149.221

Great point Jon. I always wondered if Sasha would of hit the OTQ without running TOU before STG. I believe that was 2007? I have never met anyone that can run back to back to back marathons like Sasha. All world class times, but man seems like it had to take something out of you? Any thoughts on that Sasha?

From Kory on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 18:26:35 from 134.50.89.55

Sasha - Great points. I fully agree. Why run a marathon just to run it. There's so many runners that just want to see how many they can run. I find it more of a benefit to see how fast you can run them when you feel you've reached a peak or high fitness level. Versus seeing how many medals you can pile in your closet.

I really hope the experiment your trying works because your an determined individual and deserve a breakthrough.

Also (on a side note). Thanks for getting me a comp entry into the Utah Valley Marathon. I don't feel I disappointed him with a 2:40 time.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 19:35:16 from 64.81.245.109

Mike:

If I could run sub-2:22 in St. George fresh (I am not saying OTQ because with the new standard 2:22 in St. George is a far cry from OTQ), I would have run at least 2:26 in TOU fresh. I did not. In a way, I am glad that the St. George loophole got closed, and that the standard is now 2:19. Let's face it, 2:22 even on a flat course is no world-class. In fact, 2:19 is not either. 2:22 in St. George is definitely not world-class. A great time for a local runner, maybe good enough to make top 100 in the nation, so maybe entry-level national class, but no world class by any means. World class for men has to begin at the very least above the women's world record (2:15). If you have any claims towards being world class you should not be getting chicked.

Not a pleasant reality for somebody who runs 15 miles a day for years and cannot even run 2:22 in St. George, but nevertheless a reality that needs to be faced. The cheerleader fairy tale says if you just believe it and work hard you can do it. Heck, no. You need Quality X to be world-class, and it is just as about as difficult to improve Quality X as it is to make a pig fly without wings, a propeller or a jet engine. You have to invent some kind of pig anti-gravity. I am not saying impossible, but very very difficult, takes a lot of faith. And that faith will not come until you at the very least appreciate what kind of faith it takes, not something that can happen until you've tried hard, hit that limit hard, and are fully aware of it.

From Mike Warren on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 20:57:33 from 208.117.124.133

Ok, I will agree with you on the World class classification. You have worked your tail end off trying to get there. So a simple question. You sound like you have I won't say given-up, but have serious doubts you can reach that level. With that said is running for fun enough for you? After all, you have won several races, set numerous PR's, possibly ran to your max potential?

If you have reached your max, you should be very proud. Even though I don't always agree with you. I must say, you have helped me and countless others reach or attempt to reach there max. So in the end, in my humble opinion thats worth more than reaching the OTQ. You never know, one day Pigs may fly.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 23:13:51 from 192.168.1.1

If I just wanted to run for fun I would jog seven miles a day and never race. No, I have not given up. I just know better than get excited about pursuing known dead ends.

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