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, Dec 25, 2009

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
11.20	0.75	0.00	1.00	12.95

Merry Christmas to all. We have a Christmas announcement. Sarah and I are expecting our seventh child. Due date is August 20th.

Sarah talked to a friend of hers who has 13 and got the following advice: "Seven was hard, but ten was easy."

The most notable present in my opinion was the one that Benjamin gave Jenny. He made a math book of problems for her, 824 of them. Of course, a couple of days before Christmas he realized there was no way in the world he could solve 824 problems that fast to make the answer sheet. So we took care of it with the help of our good old friend Perl.

A.M. 10.2 in 1:13:30. The trail was much better. Did pickups about 0.1 in lengths at about 5:00 pace on dry sections. Also ran the last 0.75 in 4:28.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin and Jenny in 19:22. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 14:53. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:57. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:52. During the run he fell, got up, and kept going. Tough kid. When I was three, or even five or six, when I fell I performed a concert with weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Of course, Jacob and our other children have heard the story of Lasse Viren winning the Olympics in spite of the fall time and again. I am happy to see that it is getting implanted deep enough into their minds that it is more than a story to them.

Water Clogs Miles: 2.75	Airwalk Clogs Miles: 10.20

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

Comments

From RAD on Sat, Dec 26, 2009 at 17:07:54 from 67.172.229.125

Congrats on the new little one! Nice running as always, especially with the kids, that is always impressive to me.

From Aaron Kennard on Mon, Dec 28, 2009 at 16:21:28 from 24.2.84.184

Congrats!

From Jennifer Pachev on Wed, Jan 06, 2010 at 19:31:47 from 192.168.1.1

That,s 5 days before my birthday!

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