Breaking the Wall

April 26, 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: 0.00 Year: 882.94
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
Sat, Jan 04, 2014
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.003.003.000.0020.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-01-04 08:14:46
Workout Totals
Distance Time Pace
20.000 2:31:15.90 7:33.80
20 mile run. After the lesson in the last 6 miles of Rocket City I decided to be diligent about making sure my long runs are 20, and that I do at least some fast running in the second half of it. Benjamin did 12, Jenny 4, Julia 3, Joseph 4, Jacob 2, William 1. Benjamin and I did 2+1 tempo, then I did some more tempo running afterwards.
Leg 1
Distance Time Pace Comment
4 33:14.70. 8:18.68 With Joseph to 800 N bridge and back.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 4.000 33:14.70 8:18.68  
Leg 2
Distance Time Pace Comment
4.9 40:05.10. 8:10.84 Pre-tempo warm-up/mileage with Benjamin. We ran to the 4 mile mark in the canyon taking a detour to the bathroom and then returned to a little bit past the 3.5 mark. We discovered that a portion of the trail where we originally wanted to do the tempo was covered with ice enough that we would want to change the workout.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 4.900 40:05.10 8:10.84  
Leg 3
Distance Time Pace Comment
2 11:01.50. 5:30.75 2 mile tempo down the canyon - well, the last half was already out of the canyon because we could not go up very far. The target was 5:20 pace for Benjamin. My goal was to hang on until I get dropped then survive. Benjamin pulled me through the first mile in 5:19, then the headwind started and we both slowed down, but I did quite a bit more than him. He ran 10:43 (last mile 5:24), my last mile was 5:42.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 2.000 11:01.50 5:30.75  
Leg 4
Distance Time Pace Comment
1.1 9:58.50. 9:04.09 Recovery jog
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 1.100 9:57.30 9:03.00  
2 0.000 0:01.20 0:00.00 False start.
Leg 5
Distance Time Pace Comment
2 14:58.60. 7:29.30 Back to the house with a mile interval from marker 2 to marker 1.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 1.000 5:33.10 5:33.10 Mile interval. I did not push myself to the limit here because I still had 7 more miles after that. Benjamin gave it a good push and ran 5:12.
2 1.000 9:25.50 9:25.50 Cool-down to the house.
Leg 6
Distance Time Pace Comment
3 22:13.00. 7:24.33 Ran the first mile with Julia, then sped up. Shortly before the mouth of the canyon Jason Witt, a 13:58 5000 BYU runner caught up to me and I joined him for a mile up the canyon to my turnaround. We ran it in about 6:20.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 0.000 0:00.20 0:00.00 Shaky hand.
2 3.000 22:12.80 7:24.27  
Leg 7
Distance Time Pace Comment
3 19:44.50. 6:34.83 On the way back I did a 2 mile tempo from marker 3 to marker 1 the cooled down a mile.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 2.000 11:56.60 5:58.30 I felt better than last week, could run sub-6:00 towards the end of 20, but I had to focus and push.
2 1.000 7:47.90 7:47.90 Cool-down.

Green Crocs 6 Miles: 20.00
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
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