Breaking the Wall

Orem Earn Your Turkey

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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: 0.00 Year: 870.94
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
Thu, Nov 25, 2021
Race: Orem Earn Your Turkey (3.95 Miles) 00:24:32, Place overall: 27, Place in age division: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.650.000.006.2211.87

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2021-11-25 07:15:04
Workout Totals: Distance11.868Time1:28:54.90Pace7:29.52
Earn Your Turkey 3.95 miles, 24:32 (though probably 2 seconds off, should be 24:30), 27th overall, 2nd in 45-49

I was happy to be able to race competitively given that I ran my first sub-6:00 mile down 1% grade only two days earlier. Could definitely feel the loss of fitness. Hopefully I can regain it.

This year we did not get as many turkeys, only 4. Would have been 5 if they had given one to the largest family. We had some challenges.

Benjamin - 20:52 gun time, 20:49 chip, 20:50 on his watch, 5th overall, and turkeys went only to top 3 this year with overall winners double-dipping for the age division. Got a fever the night before, but it was not the fever, but his quad spasm that slowed him down. He basically had a repeat of the first 4 miles of the Monumental and Fort Ben.

Jacob - 22:05 gun time, 22:02 chip time, 22:03 on his watch. Excellent race. Unfortunately, no turkey being 15 in 15-18 age division, but missed it by only 8 seconds.

Joseph - 24:23. Had problems with his legs, and with his heart, but overall a decent performance given his latest struggles.

William - 26:44 on his watch, 26:45 gun time. About what I would have expected given his current workouts. 2nd place in 12-14.

Julia - 30:55 gun time, 30:53 on her watch. The time was a bit better than what I was expecting, but the place a lot better - she won the 19-24 age division and gave us an unexpected turkey.

Jenny and Nate - ran together, Jenny had some stomach problems, they finished in 31:36. Jenny's time is still not recorded correctly in the race results, not sure if they will ever fix it.

Sarah - 35:59 gun time, I timed her at 35:58. She had some struggles with an upset stomach in the last couple of days, so her goal was to break 36:00. The night before she was not sure how she was going to run, and I told her a good goal would be to follow the pacer (me), at the end without allowing herself to drop back. Unlike in previous years she did it, and she got her goal.

Leigha - 400 meters in 3:14, she now races in 3-4, but she just barely turned 3 and still wears a diaper. So we were happy she ran all the way and finished in something respectable.

Bella - 800 meters, 4:23, first in 5-6. Her race was again a lesson on doing what you know is right rather than following the crowd. Just like last year, many people got confused and turned around early. She ran the entire distance and won the race.

Mary - 800 meters, 3:51, first in 7-8. We need to figure out how to teach her to race. But as luck would have it, this level of effort was good enough to win today - to make up for Jacob not getting a turkey.

Matthew - 800 meters, 2:54, first in 7-8. I was hoping he would blow away Jacob's course record of 2:51, but he again busted out from the start, blew away the competition, and then did not feel motivated to push. We had a discussion about that afterwards.

Stephen - 1 "mile", really 0.97 (we wheeled it), 6:01, second in 11-12. He put in a valiant effort and performed above what he was doing in his recent workouts. Unfortunately, as he learned today, being valiant in the race you care about cannot compensate for the lack of valor in training and other races. So he missed the turkey by 10 seconds, which he would have found had he been more focused in his training. Of all the kids he was the most disappointed about the result, but it was all good. Disappointments teach us important lessons the hard way.
 
Leg 1:
Distance2.000Time16:16.20Pace8:08.10ZoneEasy Miles
Warm-up.
Leg 2:
Distance5.251Time35:58.10Pace6:50.99
My race + pacing Sarah.
Split 1:Distance0.463Time2:46.50Pace5:59.61ZoneVO2 Max Miles
Cumilative:Distance0.463Time2:46.50Pace5:59.61
Split 2:Distance0.492Time3:02.50Pace6:10.93ZoneVO2 Max Miles
Cumilative:Distance0.955Time5:49.00Pace6:05.45
Split 3:Distance0.485Time2:53.60Pace5:57.94ZoneVO2 Max Miles
Cumilative:Distance1.440Time8:42.60Pace6:02.92
Split 4:Distance0.499Time2:57.20Pace5:55.11ZoneVO2 Max Miles
Cumilative:Distance1.939Time11:39.80Pace6:00.91
Split 5:Distance0.484Time3:07.50Pace6:27.40ZoneVO2 Max Miles
Cumilative:Distance2.423Time14:47.30Pace6:06.20
Split 6:Distance0.976Time6:23.50Pace6:32.93ZoneVO2 Max Miles
Cumilative:Distance3.399Time21:10.80Pace6:13.87
Split 7:Distance0.552Time3:20.00Pace6:02.32ZoneVO2 Max Miles
Cumilative:Distance3.951Time24:30.80Pace6:12.26
Split 8:Distance1.300Time11:27.30Pace8:48.69ZoneVO2 Max Miles
Cumilative:Distance5.251Time35:58.10Pace6:50.99
 
Leg 3:
Distance0.153Time1:13.40Pace7:59.74ZoneEasy Miles
A short jog.
Leg 4:
Distance0.248Time3:14.70Pace13:05.08ZoneEasy Miles
Pacing Leigha
Leg 5:
Distance0.498Time4:23.10Pace8:48.31ZoneEasy Miles
Pacing Bella.
Leg 6:
Distance0.498Time3:51.50Pace7:44.86ZoneEasy Miles
Pacing Mary.
Leg 7:
Distance0.970Time6:01.80Pace6:12.99ZoneVO2 Max Miles
Chasing, then pacing Stephen.
Leg 8:
Distance1.250Time9:46.40Pace7:49.12ZoneEasy Miles
Distance/cool-down.
Leg 9:
Distance1.000Time8:09.70Pace8:09.70ZoneEasy Miles
More distance with Joseph and Jacob at home.

Amoji 2 Miles: 11.87
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
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