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, Mar 03, 2006

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.20	0.00	1.30	0.00	13.50

Started the day with a 1 mile jog. Another 2 mile jog in the early afternoon. Met George on accident. He was also doing his "always on the run". Looks like this is becoming a fashion.

Took Benjamin and Jennifer for their run in the late afternoon, and then started my real run. Did 3 miles with a babyjogger. First Benjamin really wanted to get a rock half a mile away from the house, but did not want to run another mile. Then Julia needed to be taken away from the house for a few minutes while Sarah did the clean up after dinner. The combination of headwind, 33 pounds of weight in the stroller, and a flat tire gave me a good chance to practice correct form in high resistance running. I focused on engaging the hamstring and the glut earlier during ground contact, really trying to feel the impact in the glut.

Then it was time to do some fast running. First, half a mile into a headwind in 2:43. Again practice correct form in high-resistance running. A couple of miles of jogging, and now the same stretch backwards. I got to half-mile mark in 2:39, and was feeling good, so I decided to keep going and add a downhill quarter with the same effort. 3:55 for 0.75 mile.

Another 0.75 jogging to cool down. As soon as I got back to the house I found a bunch of kids buying Sarah's healthy ice cream. They started asking me questions about running. One kid by the name of Curtis wanted to know his top running speed . I ended up taking all of them and having them sprint 100 meters. Curtis ran 17.7 (he is 11 years old). Benjamin set his PR of 21.2, and another 8-year-old girl got the same time as Benjamin. Other kids either did not try hard enough, or maybe were extremely out of shape - they could not break 25. I ended up running a total of about half a mile with them. Total of 13.5 for the day.

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

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