Breaking the Wall

Salt Lake Track Club 15 K

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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:	72.31	Year:	3105.12
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

Totals

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
66.15	0.00	9.32	1.00	76.47

Green Crocs 6 Miles: 64.43

Night Sleep Time: 38.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 38.00

Sun, Feb 16, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Day of rest. Talked to my mother on Skype. Went to church. Took Matthew and other kids for a walk. Went to a fireside with Benjamin and Jenny in the evening, and then went with Benjamin for a home teaching visit.

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

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Mon, Feb 17, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
13.02	0.00	0.00	0.00	13.02

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-02-17 08:05:22
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
13.020	1:46:44.20	8:11.87
Total of 13. Benjamin did 9, Joseph, Jacob, and Julia 3, Jenny 3, William 1. Jacob did a mile time trial on the track. Details below.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	9:10.80.	9:10.80	Warm-up.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	9:10.80	9:10.80
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	6:43.50.	6:43.50	Jacob attempted to break his record of 6:36, but the air was too cold for him - he ran into asthma issues. The splits were 1:37, 1:42, 1:45, 1:37 with the balance going towards the 9.34 meter tax. I was encouraged by his kick, though - 46 for the last 200. Benjamin and Joseph helped with the pacing. We will try again in a week.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	6:43.50	6:43.50
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	8:36.00.	8:36.00	Cool-down.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	8:36.00	8:36.00
Leg 4
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
6	46:41.20.	7:46.87	With Benjamin. Discussed the plan of assault on the BYU general education requirements. A side effect of growing up in a militarized society is that you think of everything that is somewhat challenging as a military operation. Perhaps this is not a bad thing, helps you get things done - that is the part of my heritage I think I should keep.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	6.000	46:41.20	7:46.87
Leg 5
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3	25:33.80.	8:31.27	With Julia. Discussed the parable of the swan, the crab, and the pike and how it applies to the sum three vector forces that add up to zero.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.000	25:33.80	8:31.27
Leg 6
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1.02	9:58.90.	9:47.16	With William on the big boy course.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.020	9:58.90	9:47.16

Green Crocs 6 Miles: 13.02

Night Sleep Time: 7.50	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 7.50

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Tue, Feb 18, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-02-18 07:54:19
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
12.000	1:37:55.00	8:09.58
Total of 12. Benjamin did 9, Jenny and Julia 3, Joseph 4, Jacob 2, William 1. Benjamin got offered an undergraduate research assistant job by his vector calculus professor. However, when he started the process of application they ran into a problem - child labor laws. Since this was only something like one hour a week anyway, Benjamin volunteered to do it for free as this is going to be a good learning experience. But I chuckle - it is legal to have a kid work for you, but it is not legal to pay him. And another reason to laugh - child labor laws prevent a 14-year-old from doing hard math. Maybe that is why we lag in math education.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
4	35:15.30.	8:48.83	With Joseph. Taught him how to add vectors.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	4.000	35:15.30	8:48.83
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
7	52:51.00.	7:33.00	With Benjamin. Talked about binary search trees.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	7.000	52:51.00	7:33.00
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	9:48.70.	9:48.70	With William on the little boy course.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	9:48.70	9:48.70

Green Crocs 6 Miles: 12.00

Night Sleep Time: 7.50	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 7.50

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Wed, Feb 19, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.04	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.04

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-02-19 08:12:00
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
12.040	1:34:06.20	7:48.95
Total of 12. Benjamin did 9, Jenny, Julia, Joseph, and Jacob 3, William 1.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3	24:56.40.	8:18.80	With Joseph and Jacob.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.000	24:56.40	8:18.80
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
6	44:23.60.	7:23.93	With Benjamin.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	6.000	44:23.60	7:23.93
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
2.04	14:49.10.	7:15.83	Alone.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	2.040	14:49.10	7:15.83
Leg 4
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	9:57.10.	9:57.10	With William.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	9:57.10	9:57.10

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

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Thu, Feb 20, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-02-20 07:04:45
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
12.000	1:38:54.80	8:14.57
Total of 12. Benjamin did 9, Jenny and Julia 3, Joseph 4, Jacob 2, William 1.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
7	54:17.20.	7:45.31	With Benjamin. Studied Russian grammar. His vocabulary is decent, but he keeps messing up the cases - which for me, a native Russian, is quite entertaining. In fact, if a Russian is in a bad mood, all he needs to get out of it is to hear a foreigner try to speak his language. For some reason Russians find it extremely entertaining when the usual flow of grammar experiences some kind of a creative change. Sometimes it comes from a change of meaning - getting the cases wrong can change "The cat ate the mouse" to "The mouse ate the cat". A very subtle mistake can change "Have they taken their showers?" to "Have they received the souls? (as if they were angels at the gate welcoming the ones that just died to the other side)". And a non-existent ending in an attempt to decline a word is for some reason more entertaining than all of the above. Benjamin keeps telling me Russians have complicated their language on purpose to make fun of the foreigners and to be able to easily tell a real Russian from a foreign spy.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	7.000	54:17.20	7:45.31
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
4	34:51.10.	8:42.77	With Joseph. Taught him about Pythagorean triples (n^2+m^2=l^2).
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	4.000	34:51.10	8:42.77
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	9:46.50.	9:46.50	With William.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	9:46.50	9:46.50

Green Crocs 6 Miles: 12.00

Night Sleep Time: 7.50	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 7.50

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Fri, Feb 21, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
11.04	0.00	0.00	1.00	12.04

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-02-21 08:10:51
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
12.040	1:36:37.40	8:01.51
Total of 12. Benjamin did 9, Jenny, Julia, Joseph, and Jacob 3, William 1. Benjamin and I did a mile pickup in 5:19.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3	25:37.70.	8:32.57	With Joseph, Jacob, and Benjamin. Spent most of the time teaching Jacob how to add fractions.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.000	25:37.70	8:32.57
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3.05	24:57.80.	8:11.08	Warm-up with Benjamin to the canyon.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.050	24:57.80	8:11.08
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	5:19.30.	5:19.30	Practice at Benjamin's target half-marathon pace in Phoenix.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	5:19.30	5:19.30
Leg 4
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1.95	15:58.70.	8:11.64	Cool-down.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.950	15:58.70	8:11.64
Leg 5
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
2.04	14:52.00.	7:17.25	Alone.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	2.040	14:52.00	7:17.25
Leg 6
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	9:51.90.	9:51.90	With William.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	9:51.90	9:51.90

Green Crocs 6 Miles: 12.04

Night Sleep Time: 7.50	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 7.50

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Sat, Feb 22, 2014

Race: Salt Lake Track Club 15 K (9.321 Miles) 00:53:58, Place overall: 11, Place in age division: 2

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
6.05	0.00	9.32	0.00	15.37

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-02-22 09:17:19
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
15.365	1:41:06.50	6:34.83
Ran Salt Lake Track Club 15 K. 53:58, 2nd master, 11th overall. Benjamin's assignment was to pull me at 3:36 per kilometer (on pace for 54:00) for 13 K, and then run the last 2 K in 6:40 - his target half-marathon pace at sea-level. With the half-marathon in a week I felt that Benjamin would have a hard time being fully recovered if he raced an all-out 15 K, but a long tempo run with a fast finish to feel the pace and prove the fitness would be just right. So I recruited him for a noble cause - to pace his aging dad along with another master - Dennis. I figure it is good to teach the youth to take care of the elderly. The plan was carried out successfully. At home, Jenny and Joseph did 4, Julia 3, Jacob 2, William 1. Details below.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3.3	25:19.00.	7:40.30	Warm-up.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.300	25:19.00	7:40.30
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
9.315	53:58.20.	5:47.63	The race.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	0.621	3:28.40	5:35.59	We maneuvered out of the crowd and eventually found Josh E. Benjamin upon seeing the split wanted to ease off, but I was feeling good and told him to keep going.
2	0.592	3:21.70	5:40.71	Hit the split at the wrong mark.
3	0.029	0:09.80	5:37.93	Now the right mark. 3:31.5 for the kilometer.
4	0.621	3:28.80	5:36.23	We caught up to Nate Nornok, and dropped Dennis. The pace still feels good.
5	0.621	3:31.30	5:40.26	The pace got too hard. I decided to make it to the 4 K with Josh and Nate, and then back off.
6	0.621	3:40.50	5:55.07	Recovery kilometer. Dennis caught up. I was glad that Benjamin was taking the wind. It was not terrible, but would have been difficult to battle alone. 17:40 for the 5 K.
7	0.621	3:38.70	5:52.17	We picked up a little.
8	0.607	3:31.30	5:48.11	Wrong mark.
9	0.014	0:04.70	5:35.71	Correction. 1 K split 3:36.0.
10	0.621	3:40.60	5:55.23	This kilometer had a turn-around which we hit in 26:47. Josh and Nate were 26:30.
11	0.621	3:39.50	5:53.46	I think this section is a slight uphill. We now had a tail wind, and I felt that Benjamin had stepped up the effort, but the split did not show it.
12	0.621	3:29.00	5:36.55	Now the effort is paying off. I think it levels out here. Good split, but it is starting to get difficult.
13	0.621	3:33.70	5:44.12	Need to fix Fast Running Friend to add up the splits for me to have the total at each split. Around 35:44 at the 10 K. Good split, but I am not feeling too fresh.
14	0.621	3:39.20	5:52.98	Asked Benjamin to back off.
15	0.621	3:41.20	5:56.20	Starting to struggle more. We passed the 12.K mark in 44:44 and I told Benjamin to just go. He did. Dennis passed me shortly after that. I tried to keep contact, but could not. Dave Olsen passed both of us.
16	0.621	3:45.30	6:02.80	This was quite a plop. I told myself I was not going to plop and miss the 54:00 mark. So I dug in and tried convince myself to increase my pain tolerance.
17	0.621	3:34.50	5:45.41	Really digging in, trying to shift gears. With age I've lost some pain tolerance. But not the will to win. I squeezed out some semblance of a kick and managed to dip under 54:00 just barely. Dennis was 12 seconds ahead with 53:46. Benjamin finished in 53:04 with the last 2.5 K in 8:20, on pace for 16:40 5 K, and the last 1 K in 3:14. He was closing on Josh but ran out of road - Josh did a good job holding his own and finished in 52:49.
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
2.75	21:49.30.	7:56.11	Cool-down.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	2.750	21:49.30	7:56.11

Green Crocs 6 Miles: 15.37

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

Comments(4)

Totals

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
66.15	0.00	9.32	1.00	76.47

Green Crocs 6 Miles: 64.43

Night Sleep Time: 38.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 38.00

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