Breaking the Wall

December 21, 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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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, Jul 22, 2011

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
9.00	3.00	0.00	0.00	12.00

A.M. Had some fun this morning, maybe too much. Sarah left on her 5 mile run about 10 minutes before I did, so I decided it was a perfect opportunity to chase the Hot Chick. I warmed up for about 0.5 and then started going a bit sub-6:00. It took me about 3 miles to catch up. When I did, I found that she had met a new running partner Merylin and they were going a bit sub-9:00 pace. So I ran with them back to the house for the remaining 1.5 miles of the run. With a quarter to go I gave Sarah a challenge to break 2:00 (sub 8:00 pace). She complained at first, then I quoted Elaine Dalton's "I can do hard things", and she accepted the challenge running it in 1:57. That was a major improvement for her to be able to run sub-8:00 after running sub-9:00 for a while at the end of a 5 mile run.

Then I ran with the kids. Benjamin did 4 with the last two in 12:50. Jenny did 3, Julia and Joseph 1.5. I ended up with 12 total.

P.M. Did another stride experiment. Laid out my magic rubber squares 4 feet apart for the distance of 72 feet and tried to cover the distance as quickly as possible. It took me 7 tries starting at 4.7 before I got to 4.3. Then I did it one more time and was done. 4.3 translates to the speed of 5:15 per mile, and turnover of 251 steps per minute. All of that with a 4 foot stride length. I learned that it is possible to run like that, although not for long. The feeling was drastically different from trying to do the same thing with the 5 foot stride length. 5 foot stride length was mostly about power. 4 foot stride length required special coordination, as well as some odd type of power that made my legs feel like I've just done a nice fast downhill run. Not explicitly sore, but what I would call stale. I think I have now formulated the question I am trying to answer with these experiments - is there a drill that can be done using the artificially controlled stride length that can help me improve my speed across the board?

Green Crocs 1 Miles: 12.00

Night Sleep Time: 8.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 8.00

Comments

From Steve Piccolo on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 23:31:14 from 67.2.46.110

I would love to run one of your free/cheap races if it works with my schedule. I wanted to run some of your previous ones but they didn't work with my schedule. Please let me know if/when you put one on. 8K is a good distance, but I am flexible.

From neumannator on Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 23:32:25 from 67.2.51.197

On a lighter note, the "drill" as you called it may just be the drill that someday doctors may use to do "leg transplants". As we get old, the speed just starts fading. I think that less mileage and more speed specific workouts can slow it though. Good luck.

"pufftorenia mats oohchenya"

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