Breaking the Wall

March 29, 2024

Recent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesSasha Pachev's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewMonth ViewYear View
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
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:

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
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
13.910.000.000.0013.91

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2022-11-24 07:14:52
Workout Totals: Distance13.912Time1:44:36.90Pace7:31.19
Earn Your Turkey 3.95 Miles, 23:52, 26th overall, 1st in 45-49, turkey.

Our results:

Benjamin 20:27 (6th, 2nd in 19-24)
Jacob 21:55 (12th, 2nd in 15-18)
Joseph 22:35 (16th, 4th in 15-18)
Dad 23:52 (26th, 1st 45-49, turkey)
William 25:59 (42nd, 3rd in 12-14)
Bonnie 26:04 (9th woman, 2nd in 15-18)
Nate 28:42 (55th, 14th in 19-24)
Jenny 30:47 (for some reason not in the official results)
Sarah 36:50 (65th woman, 3rd in 45-49)
Maddy 45:48 (122nd woman, 20th in 19-24)

1 mile (really 0.97)

Matthew 5:55 (1st in 9-10)
Stephen 6:03 (2nd in 11-12)

800 meters:

Mary 3:23 (1st in 7-8)
Bella 3:36 (1st in 5-6)

400 meters:

Leigha 2:20 (1st in 3-4)

This year's race featured the presence of the 2016 1500 meter Olympic Champion Matt Centrowitz. Interestingly enough, he did not win the race. I believe he and Mike Ottesen did a friendly tempo run of sorts, and finished together in 19:34, but Mike's chip ended up registering about 0.1 earlier. Third place went to Payton Riggs with 19:46, Brian Schultz 19:50, and Dustin Bybee 20:02. Then Benjamin with 20:27.

I did not think I had another sub-24:00 in me, but I was happy to find it. Benjamin got confused about when the race was supposed to start, and got there 10 minutes prior, so no proper warm-up. When the temperature is around 30F, you pay for it in particular, and he did. Still 20:27 is a decent result, and on the plus he did not get a spasm.

Sarah is starting to struggle more with the race effort when she does not get enough sleep. She had a hard time pushing herself today. But still averaged close to 9:00.

Maddy ran her first race. She was really worried about being able to run the full distance, but her preparation paid off and she was able to do it at sub-12:00 average.

Joseph had a decent race, course PR. Big improvement from last year in spite of his challenges with irregular heart beat and muscle pain.

Jacob cracked 22:00 for the first time on this course. His endurance is still lagging, though. With his 3 mile speed he should be running this course in a low 21:00 or maybe even a bit under.

William goofed off today running barely fast enough to beat Bonnie. As a result Maya Bybee earned the status of his running girlfriend :-)

Stephen put in a lot of effort during the race, but his lack of preparation in training prevented from winning just it did last year. He was disappointed. Hopefully he will remember and try harder over the next year.

Matthew did not have any serious challengers, and once he had a commanding lead he let his focus slip. He still won but I believe he had another gear that he could have found had he dug deep.

Mary and Bella ran in separate heats, and both achieved decisive wins. I was not sure if Leigha would win her race, but the field was not as strong as it used to be, so she won fairly decisively as well.
Leg 1:
Distance1.663Time13:18.30Pace8:00.04ZoneEasy Miles
Warm-up.
Leg 2:
Distance6.400Time45:59.50Pace7:11.17
My race + pacing Sarah + pacing Maddy.
Split 1:Distance4.000Time23:53.20Pace5:58.30ZoneEasy Miles
Cumilative:Distance4.000Time23:53.20Pace5:58.30
Split 2:Distance1.500Time13:11.50Pace8:47.67ZoneEasy Miles
Cumilative:Distance5.500Time37:04.70Pace6:44.49
Split 3:Distance0.900Time8:54.80Pace9:54.22ZoneEasy Miles
Cumilative:Distance6.400Time45:59.50Pace7:11.17
 
Leg 3:
Distance0.085Time0:40.60Pace7:57.65ZoneEasy Miles
Jogging around.
Leg 4:
Distance0.248Time2:21.80Pace9:31.77ZoneEasy Miles
Leigha's race.
Leg 5:
Distance0.498Time3:36.20Pace7:14.14ZoneEasy Miles
Bella's race.
Leg 6:
Distance0.498Time3:23.70Pace6:49.04ZoneEasy Miles
Mary's race.
Leg 7:
Distance0.970Time6:03.50Pace6:14.74ZoneEasy Miles
Stephen's race.
Leg 8:
Distance1.000Time8:50.30Pace8:50.30ZoneEasy Miles
Cool-down.
Leg 9:
Distance2.550Time20:23.00Pace7:59.61ZoneEasy Miles
To the house.

Joybees 1 Miles: 13.91
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Your Comment.
  • Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
  • Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
  • If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.
Only registered users with public blogs are allowed to post comments. Log in with your username and password or create an account and set up a blog.
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
Recent Comments: