Breaking the Wall

Week starting Feb 28, 2016

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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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to Ukraine's Armed Forces

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

Totals

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
74.36	0.00	8.00	4.00	86.36

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 86.36

Night Sleep Time: 58.00	Nap Time: 1.50	Total Sleep Time: 59.50

Sun, Feb 28, 2016

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. Went to church.

Night Sleep Time: 10.00	Nap Time: 1.50	Total Sleep Time: 11.50

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Mon, Feb 29, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
13.00	0.00	0.00	1.00	14.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-02-29 06:57:00
Workout Totals: Distance14.000Time1:48:39.90Pace7:45.71
Finally got good sleep. A nap on Saturday, 10 hours Sat-Sun night with only one Mary-wants-to-watch-a-Russian-cartoon midnight interruption, then then 1.5 hour nap on Sunday, and 8 hours Sun-Mon. I was amazed. My body happily took all of that sleep. It was almost like in the Soviet prisoner song "Comrade Stalin" : "We are falling down on the prison bunks like the trees we have been chopping and we have no knowledge of the insomnia of our leaders." Total of 14. Usual distances for the kids. Did a pickup with Benjamin for 1 mile down the canyon in 5:14. Felt very good. I am still in shock over how I have been able to trick myself into this long term sleep deprivation. I am thankful for the fiasco at the race on Saturday to give me a wake up call to take care of the matter.
Leg 1:Distance10.000Time1:16:34.60Pace7:39.46
With Benjamin.
Split 1:Distance6.720Time52:40.50Pace7:50.31 Cumilative:Distance6.720Time52:40.50Pace7:50.31
Split 2:Distance1.000Time5:14.10Pace5:14.10 Cumilative:Distance7.720Time57:54.60Pace7:30.08
Split 3:Distance2.280Time18:40.00Pace8:11.23 Cumilative:Distance10.000Time1:16:34.60Pace7:39.46

Leg 2:Distance4.000Time32:05.30Pace8:01.32
With Joseph and Jacob.

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 14.00

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

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Tue, Mar 01, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.94	0.00	0.00	3.00	13.94

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-03-01 06:48:04
Workout Totals: Distance13.935Time1:47:02.60Pace7:40.90
Total of 14. Usual distances for the kids except Joseph ran only 3 because his legs were hurting. Did 3x1 mile down the canyon with 0.25 recovery jog with Benjamin. He paced me. Was able to make the target of 5:20 average: 5:21.0, 5:19.9, 5:16.1. The sleep is helping. Once Jacob and I dropped Joseph off he picked it up and ran the last mile on the little boy course in 6:18 with the splits of 1:42, 1:42, 1:26, 1:28. I was quite impressed by his finish as it was faster than his mile PR pace. Maybe we should do a mile time trial in the next couple of weeks.
Leg 1:Distance4.785Time38:16.60Pace7:59.96
Warm-up.
Leg 2:Distance3.500Time22:17.00Pace6:22.00
Workout 3x1 mile down the canyon with 0.25 recovery jog.
Split 1:Distance1.000Time5:21.00Pace5:21.00 Cumilative:Distance1.000Time5:21.00Pace5:21.00
Split 2:Distance0.250Time3:07.50Pace12:30.00 Cumilative:Distance1.250Time8:28.50Pace6:46.80
Split 3:Distance1.000Time5:19.90Pace5:19.90 Cumilative:Distance2.250Time13:48.40Pace6:08.18
Split 4:Distance0.250Time3:12.50Pace12:50.00 Cumilative:Distance2.500Time17:00.90Pace6:48.36
Split 5:Distance1.000Time5:16.10Pace5:16.10 Cumilative:Distance3.500Time22:17.00Pace6:22.00

Leg 3:Distance1.640Time14:47.50Pace9:01.16
Cool-down
Leg 4:Distance4.010Time31:41.50Pace7:54.19
With Joseph and Jacob, dropped off Joseph after 3 miles.
Split 1:Distance3.010Time25:22.90Pace8:25.95 Cumilative:Distance3.010Time25:22.90Pace8:25.95
Split 2:Distance1.000Time6:18.60Pace6:18.60 Cumilative:Distance4.010Time31:41.50Pace7:54.19

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 13.94

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

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Wed, Mar 02, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
14.04	0.00	0.00	0.00	14.04

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-03-02 06:46:05
Workout Totals: Distance14.040Time1:47:38.00Pace7:39.97
Total of 14. Usual distances for the kids except for Joseph who had sore legs. I had him run only 2.
Leg 1:Distance10.000Time1:16:25.50Pace7:38.55
With Benjamin.
Leg 2:Distance4.040Time31:12.50Pace7:43.49
With Jacob. Joseph did 2 with us.

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 14.04

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

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Thu, Mar 03, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.00	0.00	2.00	0.00	14.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-03-03 06:54:06
Workout Totals: Distance14.000Time1:46:24.60Pace7:36.04
Total of 14. Did a 2 mile tempo with Benjamin down the canyon. He paced me through the first mile in 5:20, then sped up to 4:52. I closed in 5:24, total time 10:44. Fastest time of the year so far. Kids ran their usual distances except for Joseph whose legs are still sore (3 miles), and William who had a cut toe (1 mile).
Leg 1:Distance5.720Time46:34.80Pace8:08.60
Warm-up.
Leg 2:Distance2.000Time10:44.00Pace5:22.00
2 mile tempo.
Leg 3:Distance2.280Time19:12.00Pace8:25.26
Cool-down.
Leg 4:Distance4.000Time29:53.80Pace7:28.45
With Jacob. Joseph and Julia ran the first 1.5 with us.

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 14.00

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

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Fri, Mar 04, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
14.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	14.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-03-04 06:49:00
Workout Totals: Distance14.000Time1:50:37.70Pace7:54.12
14 total. Usual distances for the kids. Joseph was able to get through 4 today, but it was very painful and we had to stop for massage several times.
Leg 1:Distance10.000Time1:16:49.50Pace7:40.95
With Benjamin.
Leg 2:Distance4.000Time33:48.20Pace8:27.05
With Joseph.

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 14.00

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

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Sat, Mar 05, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.38	0.00	6.00	0.00	16.38

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-03-05 06:44:28
Workout Totals: Distance16.380Time1:59:42.60Pace7:18.50
Total of 16+ miles. All with Benjamin. Last 5 with Jacob. Joseph was able to run 3 miles today. Otherwise kids ran their usual distances. Benjamin and I did a tempo workout. First 2 miles up the canyon. I got 12:08 (5:59, 6:09), Benjamin got 11:26 (5:40, 5:46). Then 4 miles down. I got 22:37 (5:41, 5:40, 5:43, 5:33), Benjamin 20:51 (5:19, 5:14, 5:11, 5:07). I was happy with the result for both of us. Looks like the extra sleep we both have been helping.
Leg 1:Distance2.280Time18:47.00Pace8:14.30
Warm-up.
Leg 2:Distance2.000Time12:08.50Pace6:04.25
Uphill tempo.
Leg 3:Distance1.500Time13:39.00Pace9:06.00
Recovery.
Leg 4:Distance4.000Time22:37.50Pace5:39.38
Downhill tempo.
Leg 5:Distance1.600Time13:12.70Pace8:15.44
Cool-down.
Leg 6:Distance5.000Time39:17.90Pace7:51.58
Picked up Jacob.

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 16.38

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

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Totals

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
74.36	0.00	8.00	4.00	86.36

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 86.36

Night Sleep Time: 58.00	Nap Time: 1.50	Total Sleep Time: 59.50

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