Breaking the Wall

Kiwani Park Cross-Country 1500

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:	2724.68
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

Tue, Oct 08, 2013

Race: Kiwani Park Cross-Country 1500 (0.932 Miles) 00:05:13, Place overall: 2, Place in age division: 1

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
9.00	1.00	4.00	1.00	15.00

A.M. Did a tempo run. Since I was planning to run the cross-country race in the evening did it a little easier, but still worked pretty hard. First 3 miles down the Provo Canyon in 16:34.9 with the splits of 5:39, 5:35, and 5:20. 5:39 felt hard, 5:35 felt harder, but somehow I found a 5:20 at the end. Then jogged 0.75 and ran another 2 down the canyon at a tempo pace to build the sub-6:00 mileage in 11:30 with the splits of 5:50 and 5:40. Benjamin did 4, Jenny, Julia, Joseph and Jacob 1. I did a total of 12.

P.M. Cross-country race. They wanted to have more people and invited the parents to participate. I was one of the few who took up the offer. Ran 1500 in 5:13 and learned why the kids have been hitting such slow times this year. The course had 9 narrow 90 degree turns. They may have just as well been 180. On every turn Benjamin kept gapping me by 2 seconds or so by the time I recovered from it and could accelerate to pace. He ended up with 4:53. Joseph ran 6:36 winning his division, Jenny was 5th in hers with 6:38, Julia won hers in 6:42, Jacob was second in his after his bully brother with 6:48 and William was 5th in his pushed back by his two bully brothers with 8:54. We'll see if I do better in the 3000 next week.

Saucony Type A Miles: 3.00	Green Crocs 6 Miles: 12.00

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

Comments

From Jake K on Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 18:02:53 from 67.177.11.154

You're the only marathoner ever to run a 1500m XC race 2.5 weeks later!

We're toying around with the idea of putting the USATF-Utah Association XC Champs on the circuit next year. Try to increase open participation.

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