Breaking the Wall

Week starting Mar 23, 2014

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

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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

Totals

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
74.28	1.00	7.02	0.62	82.92

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 82.92

Night Sleep Time: 52.50	Nap Time: 1.00	Total Sleep Time: 53.50

Sun, Mar 23, 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. Went to church. We had our ward conference. Took a nap in the afternoon.

Night Sleep Time: 8.00	Nap Time: 1.00	Total Sleep Time: 9.00

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Mon, Mar 24, 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 - 2014-03-24 07:53:52
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
12.000	1:38:39.70	8:13.31
Total of 12. Benjamin did 9, Jenny 4, Julia 3, Joseph and Jacob 3, William 1.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3	25:36.00.	8:32.00	With Benjamin, Joseph, and Jacob.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.000	25:36.00	8:32.00
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
6	46:42.80.	7:47.13	With Benjamin.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	6.000	46:42.80	7:47.13
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3	26:20.90.	8:46.97	With Jenny.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.000	26:20.90	8:46.97

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 12.00

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

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Tue, Mar 25, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
7.94	1.00	3.50	0.00	12.44

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-03-25 08:16:46
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
12.440	1:33:01.40	7:28.67
Total of 12.4. Benjamin did 10.35, Jenny 4, Julia 3, Joseph and Jacob 3, William 1. Eventful day. Learning from the past experiences with Joseph and Jacob we decided to wait until it was warmer for the time trial. So Benjamin and I ran 7.35 first with a 3.5 mile tempo. Then we did the time trial with Joseph and Jacob, which went very well. Details below.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3.85	30:54.90.	8:01.79	Warm-up with Benjamin.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.850	30:54.90	8:01.79
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3.5	19:42.00.	5:37.71	Tempo run from the magic spot in the Provo Canyon to the house. First 2 miles down the canyon, then a little bit of rolling down, then up to the house for the last mile. We opened with a 5:28 mile, then Benjamin turned up the heat on me and dropped me. His mile was 5:20, mine 5:27. After that he maintained 5:30 until the last half mile, I maintained 5:45 until the last half mile. He struggled at the end but still ended up with 19:13 - sub-5:30 average.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.500	19:42.00	5:37.71
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1.05	9:50.50.	9:22.38	Warm-up with Benjamin, Joseph, and Jacob to the track.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.050	9:50.50	9:22.38
Leg 4
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	6:30.00.	6:30.00	The time trial. Joseph ran 6:09.2 - new PR by 3.4 seconds and first time under 6:10. Jacob got 6:30.0 - new PR by 6.3 seconds, and a new family pre-baptism age record (Joseph's best pre-baptism time was 6:52, Benjamin's 7:12). Benjamin's best Joseph's age (early 9) time was 6:29. So Joseph so far is 20 seconds ahead of Benjamin, and Jacob is 42 seconds ahead of Benjamin. If this holds, Jacob will be running 4:10 mile at the age of 15. Splits - Joseph - 89, 93, 94, 90. Jacob - 96, 99, 99, 94. The temperature was good - 50 F. A little bit of wind, but I blocked it for Joseph, and Benjamin blocked it for Jacob.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	6:09.20	6:09.20	Joseph's split.
2	0.000	0:20.80	0:00.00	Waiting for Jacob to finish.
Leg 5
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	9:08.90.	9:08.90	Cool-down with Joseph, Jacob, and Benjamin.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	9:08.90	9:08.90
Leg 6
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1.02	8:54.40.	8:43.92	With Jenny and William running, and Matthew in the stroller on the big boy course.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.020	8:54.40	8:43.92
Leg 7
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1.02	8:00.70.	7:51.27	With Matthew in the stroller.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.020	8:00.70	7:51.27

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 12.44

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

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Wed, Mar 26, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
13.05	0.00	0.00	0.00	13.05

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-03-26 08:33:44
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
13.050	1:48:55.10	8:20.77
Total of 13. William did 1, Julia 3, Joseph 3, Jacob 2, Benjamin 9, Jenny 4.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3	26:50.90.	8:56.97	With Joseph.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.000	26:50.90	8:56.97
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
7	55:10.80.	7:52.97	With Benjamin.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	7.000	55:10.80	7:52.97
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1.01	9:14.90.	9:09.41	With William and Julia.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	9:10.00	9:10.00	William's split at the mile.
2	0.010	0:04.90	8:10.00	A little extra.
Leg 4
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
2.04	17:38.50.	8:38.87	With Julia.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	2.040	17:38.50	8:38.87

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 13.05

Night Sleep Time: 7.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 7.00

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Thu, Mar 27, 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 - 2014-03-27 09:47:57
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
13.020	1:44:40.80	8:02.40
Total of 13. William did 1, Joseph 4, Benjamin 9, Jenny 4, Julia 3, Jacob 3.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3	26:02.10.	8:40.70	With Joseph, Jacob, and Benjamin.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.000	26:02.10	8:40.70
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1.02	9:41.70.	9:30.29	With William and Joseph on the big boy course.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.020	9:41.70	9:30.29
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
9	1:08:57.00.	7:39.67	With Benjamin.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	9.000	1:08:57.00	7:39.67

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 13.02

Night Sleep Time: 7.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 7.00

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Fri, Mar 28, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
11.25	0.00	0.52	0.62	12.39

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-03-28 08:01:42
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
12.387	1:44:19.90	8:25.36
Total of 12. Benjamin did 9.25, Jenny 4, Julia 3, Joseph 3, Jacob 2, William 1. Benjamin did a "break out the rust" mile time trial on the track at Orem High. I helped him in the first and third lap, and Joseph and Jacob raced him in the last. Details below.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1.311	11:55.50.	9:05.77	Warm-up with strides.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	9:12.60	9:12.60	Jog to the track with Joseph, Benjamin, and Jacob.
2	0.062	0:17.50	4:42.26	100 meter stride with Benjamin.
3	0.062	0:43.90	11:48.06	Recovery for 100 meters.
4	0.062	0:16.70	4:29.35	100 meter stride.
5	0.125	1:24.80	11:18.40	Recovery for 200 meters.
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
0.496	4:52.50.	9:49.72	Mile time trial. The plan was to try to maintain 70 seconds per lap without bleeding too much. The first lap was perfect, second acceptable, Benjamin had a mental meltdown in the third, but recovered a little in the last. All in all, 4:52 is not too bad for the first try in 33 F with almost nothing at mile race pace. But it should have been 4:48 with proper psychological preparation with everything else being the same.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	0.248	1:09.80	4:41.45	Everything was perfect in this lap. I managed to hit the right pace and Benjamin seemed to handle it just fine.
2	0.000	1:13.00		Benjamin was alone here and I think the wind got to him and played tricks with his mind.
3	0.248	1:16.00	5:06.45	This lap was a disaster. Two years ago such laps produced a split of 85. Now at least we progressed to 76. Benjamin started to get negative in the second lap when it got hard, but now he had an audience for his complaints. So the first 200 meters of this lap I had to do some coaxing and Benjamin was vehemently talking back. Naturally, this was not very productive. For both of us the oxygen flow was less than optimal. Benjamin knows that very well, but sometimes in the absence of oxygen or glycogen he gets hit with a compulsive complaining disorder. He thought he was over it by now, and I naively thought that too, but, as I told him afterwards - once an alcoholic always an alcoholic - you have to be humble and be ready for a compulsive complaining disorder attack at all times. Half way through the third lap he came to himself and started running normally, but it was now difficult to speed up.
4	0.000	1:12.00		With Jacob's and Joseph's help taking turns for 100 and then 200 meters and not wanting to be outrun by his little brothers Benjamin kicked and managed a 72 for the last lap.
5	0.000	0:01.70		9.34 meter tax. Less than 1%!
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	9:07.70.	9:07.70	Back to the house with Benjamin, Joseph, and Jacob.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.000	9:07.70	9:07.70
Leg 4
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
6	50:08.90.	8:21.48	With Benjamin. We did not move very fast.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	6.000	50:08.90	8:21.48
Leg 5
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
0.52	3:05.00.	5:55.77	Back to meet Julia, and then finished with her. Hilly segment here, so the effort was more than the time shows.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	0.520	3:05.00	5:55.77
Leg 6
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1.02	9:31.40.	9:20.20	With William on the big boy course.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.020	9:31.40	9:20.20
Leg 7
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
2.04	15:38.90.	7:40.25	Alone.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	2.040	15:38.90	7:40.25

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 12.39

Night Sleep Time: 7.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 7.00

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Sat, Mar 29, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
17.02	0.00	3.00	0.00	20.02

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-03-29 10:54:03
Workout Totals
Distance	Time	Pace
20.020	2:34:04.30	7:41.75
Ran in the late morning/early afternoon today due to an earlier ward activity. Total of 20. Benjamin did 12, Jenny 4, Julia 3, Joseph 4, Jacob 2, William 1.
Leg 1
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1.02	9:22.10.	9:11.08	With William on the big boy course.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	1.020	9:22.10	9:11.08
Leg 2
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
4	34:51.80.	8:42.95	With Joseph.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	4.000	34:51.80	8:42.95
Leg 3
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
12	1:25:49.90.	7:09.16	With Benjamin. First 9 easy, last 3 hard. Benjamin had issues with dehydration, but toughed it out.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	9.000	1:08:20.20	7:35.58	Distance in the legs before the tempo.
2	3.000	17:29.70	5:49.90	Actual tempo. Benjamin struggled, but still dropped me in the last 100 meters and put about a 2 second gap.
Leg 4
Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
3	24:00.50.	8:00.17	Alone.
Split#	Distance	Time	Pace	Comment
1	3.000	24:00.50	8:00.17

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 20.02

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
74.28	1.00	7.02	0.62	82.92

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 82.92

Night Sleep Time: 52.50	Nap Time: 1.00	Total Sleep Time: 53.50

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