Breaking the Wall

March 29, 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: 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
12.800.006.000.0018.80

I think some runners feel they need to match the air temperature highs with their weekly mileage. I've counted 4 runners who cracked 100 mile barrier last week - Clyde, Dave Holt, Bill Cobler, and myself. Back in our old ward a few years ago our Elder's Quorum President was also a state trooper. He told us about the 100 mile club - any time they write a citation for 100+ mph, they put it up on the board and the person joins the club. In that spirit, I am going to start a new club on the blog. Anytime a runner cracks the 100 miles in a week, he will be inaugurated. A word of caution - do not do it just to join the club, but only if your body is ready for it, and you can do it productively. 

Ran with Jeff this morning. 3x2 miles on the Provo River Trail workout with full rest - jog around until the next repetition starts to sound appealing. Warmed up 1.84. The goal was to run 10:50 for each. Did all of them on the standard 2.5 stretch from 0.5 mark to the turnaround alternating directions with the first one going towards the Utah Lake.

Ran the first one in 10:36.1 with the splits (by 0.5) of 2:41 - 2:36.5 - 2:38.5 - 2:40. That one felt a bit hard for me, and very hard for Jeff, although he made his way through it.

Jogged 600 meters. Found Karl Jarvis on the trail. He decided to join us for however long he could make it. On the next one, just to keep things in check, and to keep myself from working too hard as well, I invited Jeff to lead without feeling the pressure to perform, just run whatever pace felt right to him. He started out with a 1:25 quarter. I really enjoyed it, but knew it would not last. Next two quarters in 1:22, then the fourth in 1:19, 5:28 mile. Karl made it to the mile. Now it looks like we can actually hit this one on target in spite of the early relaxation. Jeff started fading a bit and fell back. I continued at a steady  5:20 pace. Finished it in 10:49.6. Jeff ran 10:57.

Jogged 0.75 before the next one. I wanted to make sure I was fresh for the last one. Karl joined us. I set the pace on this one trying not to drop Karl or Jeff for as long as possible without letting up on the pace. Hit the splits of 2:41 - 2:39 - 2:39 - 2:36 (1:18, 1:18) for the total of 10:35.0. Felt good until I started going 1:18 per quarter pace on the last 0.5, but it was not a near death experience like it used to be. I would call it just uncomfortably hard. 1:20 was almost relaxing. Karl made it a bit past 0.5, Jeff fell back early, but then finished strong with the last 0.5 in 2:33 and 10:43 for the whole thing.

Ran back home from the turnaround where we finished. Total of 12.8 for the run.

Did another 6 miles in the evening, which included kids' runs. Each running child got in his own run. It was not a super easy pace - Benjamin hit his 2 mile run in 15:27 with the last mile in 7:13. Jenny ran 9:00 for the mile. Julia ran 5:36 for 0.5.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 00:24:40

Nice workout! That is what I was talking about the other day, extra easy easy days and faster hard days. 5:20 pace is where you want to be for trials training.

Who is Jeff?

From Superfly on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 12:03:16

I guess I get to post 5 notes on the board so far for 2007. I think? I'd have to go back and count for sure but some where around there.

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 13:25:42

Sasha, I think the blog could have a mileage club beyond "in spirit". I always thought a cool idea for the blog would be to have a series of public "Top 10" lists that are updated dynamically. For example, top 10 mileage of bloggers for:

A)the given day

B)the month

C)the year

As people post, the public lists are updated. Also, if you standardized the race reports (ie - have a preset list of distances to be selected through drop-down box), then you could have Top 10 race performance lists for each pre-set race distance - by year and by "all time". I think public summary lists like these would really motivate people at all levels. It may become peoples' goal just to get on a Top 10 list, even for just one day. I imagine this would be a bit of work, but should be doable for a database-driven site like this one. Plus, many other online running logs (your competitors) have features like this.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 13:36:29

Paul - good idea. I'll try to get it done in the next two weeks.

James - Jeff used to run for BYU. His last name is McLellan. He is planning on running St. George this year.

From Cody on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 14:02:52

Great Idea!

Another fun list would be the top ten lame excuses for not running that day. Not practical to implement but entertaining.

From Maria on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 17:02:55

I second Paul's idea for mileage leader board. It will definitely be a motivational tool (well, for me at least). I hope there will be two separate lists though, for men and women, since women are usually running less mileage than men. You can check athleticore.com for one example.

From ashman on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 19:27:19

Word of caution on 100 mile weeks in the middle of summer, Everything works harder for a given pace. Chronic dehydration, electrolyte depletion becomes a hidden snake pushing the body into a state of overreaching and then bam! OVERTRAINING sets in. Very tough to recover from in the dog days of summer. Bill Rodgers never did a high mileage buildup in July, they always took place before Boston in the winter and then in late August before the New York City marathon.

From Mike K on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 23:19:16

Can I join the 100 km club? 100 km club on a treadmill?

Sasha,

Are you planning to go for a OT qualifier at Des News?

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 23:41:00

Mike - somebody who cannot run St. George in under 2:18 should not attempt to run a Trials Qualifier at DesNews. The DesNews course, in spite of the many efforts to make it faster, is still quite slow. That is where you really get no bang for the foot of elevation drop. My goal for DesNews is to put in a good tempo with a strong finish and not to have sore legs afterwards. On that course this approach gives you a better time anyway.

It also gives me an excuse to take it easy for a week, I probably need it anyway. And if things play well, I might even get some decent cash as a bonus.

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