Breaking the Wall

Day of rest. Had Stake Conference today. Got a new Stake President, the old one is going on a mission. Had a member of the Quorum of the Seventy Elder Mask. He happens to be a grandson of Andres Gonzalez who was the first LDS missionary from Mexico back in 1910. Elder Mask told us about how his grandfather got called to go on a mission soon after he got married. He had to walk 24 days to get to the mission field. During the mission he and his companion were about to be executed by a firing squad, but they managed to talk their way out of it by bearing their testimony and telling the soldiers they had an important message for the new president of the federal government. They got to see the president, and they got along with him well enough to be able to ensure the safety of the missionaries in Mexico.

A.M. Ran with Daniel, Matt, and Mary Ann. Jeff slept in, will run in the afternoon. We ran 7 together, then dropped off Daniel, ran another mile and then Matt needed to turn towards BYU. So I stayed on the trail, and Matt and Mary Ann ran towards BYU with the expectation to flirt. Total of 10 miles in 1:16:39. Interestingly enough, add another hour and you get Hobbie's marathon PR.

Did explosive sprints. I think they have done some magic in the last month. On December 31 I raced a 5 K in 17:03 on a course and under the conditions very similar to the one last Saturday. The only  difference I would consider material is that I ran the first one alone and the one last Saturday drafting. But I do not think I could draft up 42 seconds. Maybe 20. The other 20 I think are a legitimate improvement in fitness.

The feeling in the 5 K on Saturday was also very different compared to the 5 K a month ago and the half-marathon two weeks ago. I felt some power in the legs, they were not caving. That is why I think I was able to negative split the race. I have never been able to negative split a 5 K before, the race is just so fast that my legs get too tired to run the last mile any faster than the average pace.

That gets me thinking. In 2005 I worked a lot on explosive power. Then I did an 800 meter time trial (in 2:14), and I was able to even split it. Makes me wonder if the explosive power for a distance runner correlates with the ability to finish strong, and I am not talking about the kick, but the entire second half of the race.

P.M. 1 with Julia in 9:44. Then ran with Benjamin and Jenny. We did a warm-up of 0.5 in 4:22, then ran fast. Jenny went the first quarter with us, Benjamin and I ran 0.5 hard then jogged and waited for Jenny. Then we jogged to the finish of Jenny's 1.5 - her time was 12:58. Benjamin and I finished his 2 miles, his total time was 15:57. Jenny's quarter was around 1:41, Benjamin's half mile was 3:11.

A.M. Ran with Daniel, Jeff, and Mary Ann. 10 miles in 1:14:31. Did explosions, and picked it up a bit in the last quarter to 5:50 pace. We dropped off Daniel at 6.5. Soon after we ran into Tommy Gruenewald, a BYU runner. He joined us for about a mile. He was wearing sweat pants and a ski jacket, and did not look like a guy that could run 8:21 3000 at all judging by his clothes. I love it when fast runners dress down. One time Bill Rogers hammered out a 20 mile race at around 5:00 per mile wearing jeans and tennis shoes, I think. It was back in the day when sponsorships were hard to find, and he was too poor to afford more traditional running apparel.

This also reminds me of an experience of my own. On July 24th, 2003 I was headed to the start of the Deseret News Marathon. Half way through I realized that I had left my racing flats at the house. The only shoes I had were a 13 oz pair that I got from a gift certificate to the Riverwoods Mall won in the 10 miler two years earlier. Those were the closest to running shoes you could find at that store. I tried running in them, but pretty soon they were relegated to the walking shoe status due to their heavy weight and general awkwardness. I was not even thinking of running a race in them as a possibility.  So I tried to call a couple of friends to see if I could borrow their racing flats, but nobody was awake at that early hour. I said a silent prayer, and in response heard a gentle answer:

Run in the shoes you have, it is not the shoe that makes the runner.

So I did. I ended up with 2:34:48, which was a course PR by 2:27, and the second fastest marathon I had run to that point. It was a PR equivalent considering the nature of the course.

I learned something. What matters the most in running is the fitness. Fitness, unlike beauty, is not skin-deep. It is in the muscles, the heart, the lungs, the bones, the nerves, the brain, the liver, the glands, and other numerous organs, most of which are internal. It cannot be bought, it has to be earned.

P.M. 1 with Julia in 9:09. 2 with Benjamin in 17:14. Jenny ran 1.5 with us in 13:24.

A.M. Ran early with Jeff. 10.1 in  1:22:09. Did the explosions. Talked about computers. It was a surreal feeling - I felt like I was sitting down at a desk explaining something. Well given a slower than 8:00 average on a course with near perfect traction my perception was perhaps not too far away from reality.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 15:44 including 0.5 in 3:04. 1.5 with Jenny in 13:11. Julia ran a mile with us in 9:13.

A.M. Ran with Jeff, Daniel, and Mary Ann. Dropped off Daniel and Mary Ann around 6.5. Mary Ann ran less today because she wanted to run a race at UVU later. Jeff and I finished 10 in 1:17:56. We did explosions, and I also did a 0.3 post VPB tempo at 5:30 pace.

Jeff and I discussed the importance of maximum leg power in the ability to negative split. My theory. Suppose you have two runners one named Powerhouse and the other Aerobic Animal. The Powerhouse is so strong he can run the same pace as the Aerobic Animal applying only 70% of his maximum force while the Aerobic Animal has to apply 80% of his maximum force. Both run at the same VO2 at that pace. The Powerhouse cannot go faster aerobically because he cannot bring in more oxygen. The Aerobic Animal cannot go faster aerobically because of neuro-muscular issues.

My prediction is that during the first half of a long race (5 K or longer), the Powerhouse and the Aerobic Animal will run alongside with equal degree of comfort. Then the Powerhouse will gradually pull away in the second half. Why? The Aerobic Animal will get tired for running at 80% of his maximum force for neuro-muscular reasons, and would have to slow down.  The Powerhouse was running only at 70%, he might not have any more oxygen, but he can keep the pace, and then even increase it in the last 2 minutes since he can afford to go into oxygen debt at that point, and his muscles can use that debt.

Ran 2 miles with Benjamin in 17:27 after finishing with Jeff.

P.M. 1.5 with Jenny in 13:07. Julia ran the first 1.5 with us in 9:09.

A.M. Ran with Jeff, Matt, Daniel, and Mary Ann. Usual route and drop off points. Did a 0.4 post-VPB tempo at 5:20 pace. Did explosions. It rained, I was soaked when I came home. Total time for 10 miles was 1:16:11.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 15:27. 1.5 with Jenny in 13:26. Julia ran 1 mile with us in 9:20. 

A.M. Ran 10.1 with Jeff in 1:22:39. Daniel ran the first 2 miles with us, then turned around. Helped Mary Ann set up the race course. The trail was very slippery, but then the ice melted when we were coming back. 2 more with Sarah at home in 21:25. Then ran to the start of the race, about 1.2 miles. 

In the 10 K I hoped to relax and coast through it in about 36:00 or a little under if I felt like closing strong. However, the 5 K started at a faster pace than I anticipated, and I did not want to get dropped by the 5 K runners. So I figured, let's have some fun. After the half in 2:39 we still had a pack. Then it was just Bryce. I figured I'd run 5:20 to the 5 K turnaround, then take it easy. Bryce fell back. I hit 1.5 miles in 8:00, 8:18 at 2.5 K, and took my foot off the gas pedal immediately.

Then I noticed that Bryce did not turn around and was in the 10 K. So I realized I would have to run pretty hard the whole way. I did a couple of 87 quarters to rest, then sped up to 86. That felt hard, but doable. Ran like that pretty much the rest of the race, sped up a little bit in the last mile to dip under 35:00. The first 5 K was 17:13 (8:55), then 26:11 at 7.5 K (8:58), and 8:44 for the last 2.5 K. Second 5 K in 17:42. Bryce finished in 36:45.

Ran back to the house with Daniel.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 15:25. 1.5 with Jenny in 13:40. Julia ran a mile with us in 9:39.

Day of rest. Went to church.

A.M. Ran with Daniel, Matt, and Mary Ann. Usual deal, except Daniel is now up to 8 miles. And he ran a 17:44 5 K earlier thanks to the increase in mileage. That is his 5 K PR since I've known him.

After Daniel got off the trail I ran some more with Matt and Mary Ann. Then Matt and Mary Ann ran in the direction of BYU, and I stayed on the trail. Due to the extra mile on Daniel's part I miscalculated the turnaround and went about 0.1 further, which is OK. 

Did explosions as usual. Finished with 1:18:53 for 10.1.

Then added 2 miles with Benjamin in 16:38. Did an explosive game with him as well. He was the antelope and I was the cheetah. Once in a while I'd give him a 2-3 second warning to run away from the cheetah. Then I'd sprint until I caught him.

P.M. 1 with Julia in 9:57. Jenny ran 2 miles with Sarah in 19:26.

A.M. Ran with Jeff, Daniel, and Mary Ann. Pretty much the same run as yesterday except it was too slippery for the explosions. 10 miles in 1:18:30. Afterwards a mile with Julia in 10:27.

P.M. 2.4 with Benjamin and Jenny. Benjamin actually ran only 2. Jenny ran the whole 2.4.

A.M. Big group today. Chauncy, Mary Ann, Jeff, Daniel, and Matt. Our usual route. Total of 10 miles in 1:18:30. Did explosions. Then 2 with Benjamin in 17:20.

P.M.  2 with Jenny in 19:30. Julia ran a mile with us in 9:14. Jenny was not feeling well, so Julia actually dropped Jenny, and then I waited for Jenny at the mile.

A.M. Ran with Jeff, Daniel, and Mary Ann. Jeff is learning Linux so we had an on-the-run computer class. 10.15 miles in 1:20:40. Later ran 2 with Benjamin in 15:52. Too slippery to do explosions, but Benjamin managed to run the last mile in 7:21 anyway.

P.M. 1 with Julia in 9:42. Jenny ran 2 miles with Sarah.

A.M. Ran 10 miles with the usual crowd in 1:20:40. Then 2 more with Benjamin in 17:26.

P.M. 2 with Jenny in 19:09. Julia had a fever, did not run.

A.M. Ran the SLC Track Club 10 K. 37:46, 5th place. I've run in training in worse conditions (for speed), but never in a race. The entire course was covered with snow. On the way out I could run more or less normal pace. But then on the way back we got a strong headwind, and on top of that, the road became more slippery.

I  also  had a cold, but no fever. Not sure how much it affected me. Probably 20-30 seconds.

Went through the first mile in 5:27 in a pack with Jeff, Seth, Brian Summers, and James Moore from the blog. At that point we did have some traction as evidenced by the time. Then around 1.25 the pace felt too fast, and I decided to back off. In restrospect this was a mistake. The lack of traction eventually became my number one limiting factor. So the right way to run would have been to run my guts out from the start, and then do my best once the slippage became the main problem. This would have been effective because the fatigue from the early aggressive pace would not have been sufficient to make it impossible to run the fastest the friction would permit.

Unfortunately today I became painfully aware of the formula F = k*P, where F is the maximum achievable friction force, P is the ground contact force, and k is the friction coefficient that is dependent only on the properties of the surfaces in contact. With that in mind my strength became my weakness. A runner needs to put a decent amount of P into the ground to get a forward propulsion force. Over the years I happen to have learned how to get a decent amount of forward propulsion  with a very low value of P. This is very good. It helps me do well in long races and not get injured. However, today was a bad day for low values of P. k started out small and kept getting smaller. Eventually the forward propulsion force began to be limited by friction.

My second mile was 5:39, and I was actually quite happy. The pack was about 10 seconds away. 5:48 for the third mile, not stellar, but respectable for the conditions. 17:34 at the 5 K, 17:06 for the leaders, they are still together.

And then the surprise came. Quite a headwind. However, I would have taken double that any day if only I could have decent traction. My next mile was 6:32. I would have normally blamed this on the misplaced mile markers. But I knew they were in the right place because I had checked them going the other way. So I doublechecked the math instead. I never make time calculation mistakes during a race, calculating a split is second nature to me, as easy as noticing the color of the shirt of my competors. But the split was so off the wall today that I had to double check, and sure enough it was right.

Mile 5 - a glorious split of 6:34. Beautiful. Minus the cold, I am feeling great, though. OK, last mile, lets see if I can reel somebody it. Not with a 6:28 mile, though. I do not know how Jeff and Seth maganged to run it in 5:35. Their values of P must be quite a bit higher than mine, that makes sense given Seth's great performance on Ragnar.

Glorious closing 5 K of 20:12. After opening in 17:34 that did not hurt too bad I never thought I'd be closing that slow in the most pessimistic analysis. Live and Learn.

Seth won with 35:12, then Jeff 35:14, James 35:35 (I think), and Brian 36:30.

Mary Ann ran a very solid 38:53 going through the 5 K in 18:36. Second 5 K was rather bogus for everybody due to the traction and the headwind. But the first one shows she is capable of sub-36:00 on that course in good conditions.

Cooled down 2 miles.

P.M. Just to be cautions and not make the cold worse I did not run. The kids ran with Sarah.

Our family has been hit with a cold. Stayed in bed most of the day. Made it to the sacrament meeting in another ward, so that I could stay home with the sick kids during our block while Sarah went to church. She felt good enough to go.

Started feeling better in the evening after some salt water gargling, garlic chewing, and horseradish sniffing and swallowing. Remembered a Russian saying that horseradish is no sweeter than radish. I'll tell you that for sure.

Benjamin is growing up to be my son. I convinced him to try my horseradish treatment before he went to bed. His immediate comment was that there would be no way in the world he would do it again, but then in the next instant he opened the fridge, pulled out a piece of garlic and started sucking on it. I suppose garlic tastes like candy after horseradish.

A.M. Felt better this morning, but still not 100%. Thought 4 miles would be a good idea. Ran with Jeff, Daniel, and Mary Ann. Felt better than I expected, but decided to err on the side of caution anyway. Total time was 34:33. 

In the morning the fever was still around 100, so I rested. It dropped to 98.9, and I felt like I wanted jog a little bit to breathe some fresh air. Ran 0.5 with Julia in 5:07, and then 3 alone in 21:29.

Felt solid in the morning even though an earache kept me up most of the night. Had the blood coming out of my nose, there was some kind of bleeding going on as well. Felt thirsty all night, had to get up to go to the bathroom, but then was so thirsty I had to drink, but then that would lead to another bathroom trip. Why can't the body just use the water I give it, or at least not dump it so fast?

Figured since there was some serious dehyrdation going on I'd better take a bottle with me on a run. Was not sure if I was going 2 miles or more. Surprisingly felt good the whole way. Used the bottle only once. Ran with Jeff, Daniel, Chauncy and Mary Ann.

Felt good after the run too, and got too excited. Did too many things, and the fever was back by the evening. So the kids had to run by themselves around the block. Benjamin and Julia ran 1.05 in 12:13.

The first part of the night was rough. Kept going to the bathroom, felt thirsty, drank, the cycle repeats. Fortunately the earache subsided and I was able to sleep in between bathroom trips. Decided to start the day easy, sleep in, and not run in the morning.

Felt better in the evening, not 100%, but good enough to run the kid's pace for a little bit. And I had been inside for long enough to want some fresh air. So I ran a mile with Julia in 10:07, another with Jenny in 10:29, and one more with Benjamin in 9:07.

A.M. Ran with Jeff, Matt, and Mary Ann. The night before was the best I've had this week. I was able to sleep through the ear infection pain since it is reduced, and did not get up to go to the bathroom as much. Did not talk much during the run because talking made me cough. Ran with a bottle just in case but did not use. Noticed an increase in aerobic capacity compared to Wednesday. On Wednesday I was huffing and puffing at 6:20 pace during the post-VPB tempo. Today I averaged 5:52 pace for 600 meters, around 5:40 towards the end, and I did not feel as challenged in the way of breathing. Probably has something to do with all the bleeding on Wednesday that has mostly stopped by now.

10.1 miles total in 1:14:23.

A.M. The ear infection has subsided some, but is still there. Decided to just go ahead and run through it. Ran with Jeff, Daniel, and Mary Ann. The plan was to pace Mary Ann through a long tempo at 6:20 pace until failure or until 20 miles was reached. This is a solid pace for a girl - 2:46:03 marathon, an OTQ. And we are also doing it at altitude on an out-and-back course.

To avoid overstressing the body I went only 6.25 with them. Daniel stopped at the same place as well. Our split was  39:13, which is 6:16 average. Then Daniel and I ran back to the house.

Mary Ann made it to 15 miles on pace with one stop at 10 to eat some snow. We will work on better hydration techiniques.

P.M. 1 mile with Benjamin, Jenny, and Julia in 9:58.

Day of rest. Ear infection still there. Attacking it with garlic in the ear. This seems to relieve the pain enough to be able to function. The pressure is also gradually reducing.

Went to church. Taught a lesson on adversity in the Elder's Quorum. No, it was not planned that way by the leadership - the lesson schedule was prepared a long time in advance.

A.M. Ran with Jeff, Matt, and Mary Ann. Still have the ear infection, although it is slowly improving. At least I can run through it. 10.1 miles in 1:14:13. Did some post-VPB tempos. A quarter in 82, and another quarter in 86. Those felt hard. The body produced a lot of mucus during the run. When I finished, my last words were: "7 tomorrow, Jeff, Hello world" and I went off to cough. In  full sentences, "We'll meet again at 7:00 AM tomorrow, and Jeff, remember your programming assignment to write  the Hello World  in several different languages."

P.M. 1 mile with Benjamin, Jenny, and Julia in 9:41. Actually Benjamin, Jenny, and I turned around a bit later and then caught Julia, so we went about 1.1 in that amount of time.

A.M. Ran with Jeff, Daniel, and Mary Ann. 10.1 in 1:12:57. Daniel turned around at 4. Still have the ear infection, but felt better. Ran 1:43 for 500 during the post VPB tempo. Did explosions for the first time since getting sick.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 16:50. 1 with Jenny and Julia in 9:52.

A.M. Ran with Jeff, Daniel, and Mary Ann. Daniel turned around at 4. Did a post-VPB tempo - 500 in 1:43. That is an improvement. Did explosive sprints. 10.1 in 1:17:16.

P.M-1. About 0.5 from parking the car.

P.M-2. 2 with Benjamin in 15:32. 1 with Jenny and Julia in 9:42. 0.2 with Joseph.

A.M. Same run as yesterday, same partners. Again, could not do it without a VPB. Ran 500 in 1:38 (5:13 pace) to catch up. Felt better, although still not 100%. Did explosions. 10.1 miles in 1:16:47.

A.M. Ran with Jeff, Mary Ann and Susan. 10.1 miles in 1:21:47. Post-VPB tempo - 600 meters in 1:57, 5:12 pace. Felt better than yesterday. I've been getting stronger every day. However, I am still not that certain what is going to happen in the 15 K. There is a big difference between feeling good at 5:12 pace for 600 meters and feeling good at 5:25 pace for 9 miles. I guess we'll see.

Did explosions.

P.M. Had a funny indicent. This lady with odd colored hair in running apparel shows up by our house right when Benjamin and I are getting ready for a run. She acts like I am supposed to know her. I am thinking she is in our ward, but I cannot think of anybody in our ward that looks like that. Then she asks me if she could use our bathroom, and this finally helps me connect the dots and figure out that this is Michelle. I have forgotten that she dyed her hair.

She ran a bit less than a mile with us and then turned off to her car. Benjamin and I finished 2 miles in 14:45. Then I ran another mile with Jenny and Julia in 9:15.

A.M. Ran the SLC Track Club 15 K in 54:39. Did not realize how much the ear infection had knocked me out. Was also surprised by the pattern of slowdown.Life is full of surprises, I suppose.

Warmed up with Jeff and Steve for about 3.4. Did one stride for 0.1, and then the race started.

We had a nice group in the first mile - in addition to myself Jeff, James Moore (Fiddy), Seth, Steve, Fritz, and Bryce. First mile was 5:35 and it interesting. Definitely sustainable, but with a twist. Perhaps the twist was what made it unsustainable. The breathing made my ear feel like it was being hosed down with water. This is not necessarily an unpleasant feeling, but it is distracting when you are trying to run hard. I managed to run the next mile in 5:33. By that time the pack split and Bryce and I got dropped.

I got behind Bryce and felt good. I thought I'd be able to stay behind him for a while, and then pull away. We made it to 3 miles in 16:52. Now that was interesting - 5:44 mile and it did not feel any slower than the second mile. I had started to feel the legs caving a bit. 17:29 at the 5 K. Pretty soon even that slow pace was not sustainable. I slowed down to 6:00 mile for mile 4, 22:52 at 4 miles. At this point I began to have second thoughts about entering the race and the effect of running so hard on my health. But by that point I was almost exactly half way out and the only way to get back was to run. I considered slowing down and waiting for Mary Ann to catch up, but then I was not sure with the way the things were going if I'd even be able to keep up.

26:53 at the turnaround, 28:56 at 5 miles, 6:04. My fears of the worst started to leave. I knew that my health was good enough to keep running, and I began to feel the strength in the body telling me that if I kept running to the finish my health would not be damaged. Next mile in 5:55, 36:07 at the 10 K. My spirits cheered up a bit. 5 K in 18:38 at a fairly even pace. I knew I could run around 6:00 pace to the finish. Normally this would be little consolation. But after experiencing the fear that I might not make it to the finish at all, I was thankful for this measure of strength.

I was happy about hitting a 10 K in 36:07 en route in this condition. With that, however, I realized that had the race been only 10 K I would not have run it much faster. For some odd reason I was stuck in 6:00 gear and could not go any faster. I could not understand why, either. Nothing really hurt. I was not breathing very hard anymore. Perhaps the body decided to control the breathing to avoid the ear discomfort.

So I coasted at that pace to the finish. Last 5 K in 18:32. Jeff met me with about a quarter to go, and I actually was conversational enough to ask him who had won. My last quarter was 1:29. I tried to kick but could not.  Yet I felt I could have gone further. Odd. Do not know how to explain it. Maybe some governor in the ear. Could a minor irritation or compression of the vestibular nerve act as this kind of governor? Is it possible to have vestibular nerve irritation with no obvious balance function disruptions?

So this race was definitely a learning experience.

Seth won with 49:04, then Jeff 49:12, Fritz a high 51, great performance, then Steve 52:10, James 52:26. Bryce was not officially in the race. His time was 53:00. Mary Ann ran 55:42 well ahead of the competition.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 17:40, 1 with Jenny and Julia in 10:16, 0.34 with Joseph in 3:48.