Breaking the Wall

April 19, 2024

15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

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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to Ukraine's Armed Forces

Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	870.94
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

Tue, Mar 18, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
9.54	0.00	3.50	0.00	13.04

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-03-18 08:04:35
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
13.040	1:40:19.40	7:41.61
Total of 13. Joseph did 4, Benjamin 9, Jacob 2, William 1, Jenny 2, Julia 2. Benjamin and I repeated the 3.5 mile tempo run from last week with better results for both of us. Details below.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
4	33:52.00.	8:28.00	With Joseph. Did some mental math with inequalities and absolute values in the first half going a little faster than 9:00, then stopped talking in the second half and ran in the low 8:00s.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	4.000	33:52.00	8:28.00
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3.5	27:53.80.	7:58.23	Warm-up with Benjamin.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.500	27:53.80	7:58.23
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3.5	19:30.70.	5:34.49	The purpose of the tempo was to test Benjamin's recovery from the Phoenix half. He did much better than last week, and that pushed me to do better as well. The target was 5:36 pace in the canyon, then once we hit the hills just try not to bleed too much. We held slightly sub-5:30 average all the way to the Center street (2.75 miles), I survived by a miracle, then Benjamin slowed down on the hills over the next 2 miles to 5:50. I was still with him with 300 to go, but then he cranked it up on the uphill at the end, and I had nothing left. So he finished with 19:23, a new course PR, and I was 7 seconds back also with a new course PR. So good result for Benjamin, but he probably still needs another week. If he was fully recovered, he would not have had the 5:50 plop over that half mile, even though it was uphill.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.500	19:30.70	5:34.49
Leg 4
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
2.04	19:02.90.	9:20.25	With Jenny. She had some hip pain so we ran slow.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	2.040	19:02.90	9:20.25

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 13.04

Night Sleep Time: 7.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 7.00

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