Breaking the Wall

December 21, 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: 3010.45
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: 1743.12
White Slip Resistant Crocs Lifetime Miles: 759.93
Fri, Jan 24, 2014
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.560.000.000.0010.56

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-01-24 08:07:32
Workout Totals
DistanceTimePace
10.5601:22:16.007:47.42
Total of 10.5. This was strategic. I still have appetite, although reduced, and have not yet thrown up, but applying the law of the partially clogged pipe - if you dump a little bit at a time it may just flow through, but if you dump a lot at once it will clog completely, I have been taking food in small portions and survived so far. Given the race tomorrow, and the possibility of not being able to eat at all before then I reduced the mileage a little to have at least some glycogen in the legs. Benjamin did 3, Joseph and Jacob 1, William 0.5, Julia and Jenny 1.
Leg 1
DistanceTimePaceComment
1.029:08.90.8:58.14With Benjamin, Joseph and Jacob. Joseph and Jacob are both recovering from the stomach bug, and they were still not 100%, so we kept it short. Benjamin threw up last night so he was struggling today. Hopefully he can recover for the race tomorrow.
Split#DistanceTimePaceComment
11.0209:08.908:58.14
Leg 2
DistanceTimePaceComment
2.0416:55.30.8:17.70With Benjamin. Discussed the difference between racing an immediately all out 10 K after running near all out 20 miles vs racing all out 10 K after a 24 hour fast. We agreed that the post-fast performance would be faster. Jack Daniels in The Running Formula has a story about a runner that ran a 10 K PR after a 36 hour fast forced by a stomach problem. Since that experienced he started fasting before his 10 K races and apparently had success. I would like to know who that runner was as well as his time, but I think it is safe to guess it was sub-30:00, otherwise I imagine Jack Daniels would not have considered telling about it. That is an odd outlier, though. There is a lot of evidence that the principle of the toothpaste tube applies to glycogen availability. A full tube is easier to squeeze. So if your glycogen is low, you will have a hard time getting going at 5 K intensity because even though there is more than enough glycogen for the job the body will trigger a defensive energy conservation mechanism designed to keep you from complete depletion.
Split#DistanceTimePaceComment
12.04016:55.308:17.70
Leg 3
DistanceTimePaceComment
0.54:40.50.9:21.00With William.
Split#DistanceTimePaceComment
10.5004:40.509:21.00
Leg 4
DistanceTimePaceComment
751:31.30.7:21.61Alone.
Split#DistanceTimePaceComment
17.00051:31.307:21.61

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