| 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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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 61.65 | 11.75 | 10.00 | 1.50 | 84.90 |
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| Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 84.90 |
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| Night Sleep Time: 54.50 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 54.50 | |
| | 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. It was a fast Sunday. The lesson in Sunday school was on covenants. A long forgotten concept. Very simple and very powerful. When you make a promise to the Lord to keep His commandments and serve Him and actually keep it, He has much greater blessings for you that greatly exceed the value of your contributions. The idea can be even applied by the "unbelievers", I put this word in quotes for two reasons. One, they say there is no such thing as an atheist in a fox hole. Two, those of us who do not believe are in this state temporarily, one day we will all believe because we will see. But the time to act is now before we have seen, that is when it really counts. Good chess moves are much more valuable over the board under time pressure than during a quiet computer-aided post-game analysis. As far as how the "unbelievers" can apply the idea of a covenant - decide to do good, and do it consistently! You will feel the power. The lesson in the Elder's Quorum was on honesty which connected well with the Sunday school lesson. What great power is hidden in the teachings of the Church! And it does not have to be hidden if we honestly keep our covenants.
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| Night Sleep Time: 8.00 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 8.00 |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 9.50 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 12.50 |
| A.M. I decided to try running with a knee brace today. The idea is this - the right foot is out of whack, the right hip is out of whack. So we encourage the knee, which is in the middle, to work straight. That would hopefully give a reason to both the foot and the hip to correct some. Unfortunately I had a bad start in the experiment with some bad luck. I got lost in thought and tripped while I was running with Jenny and Julia, and the fall bruised my left knee. I finished my run with the kids - Benjamin did 3 miles, Jenny and Julia 2, Joseph 1, and Jacob 0.5, and then went for more. With 3 miles to go I felt the knee would let me do my 3 mile tempo, so I went ahead. In spite of the hurt knee, and being low on fuel from the 20 miler on Saturday and the fast Sunday, I managed 17:10.6. What was odd, though, is that in the last mile I felt like I was not able to get full power out of my legs in an odd way that I had never experienced before, and I was losing speed. I do not know if it was related to being low on fuel, hurt left knee, or the knee brace on the right knee making the muscles work in a way that they are not used to. I will have to wait until the left knee heals from the fall to try it again.
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| Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 12.50 |
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| Night Sleep Time: 8.00 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 8.00 |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 12.50 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 12.50 |
| A.M. Benjamin had a sore throat today, so I just ran with Jacob (0.5), Joseph (1), and Jenny and Julia (2). Then ran by myself, just easy, total of 12.5, to let the left knee rest. I still wore the brace on the right knee. Similar feeling to the last mile of the tempo run yesterday for a good portion of the run, except for a few parts when I felt like I was actually getting some power of out the right leg. |
| Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 12.50 |
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| Night Sleep Time: 8.00 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 8.00 |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 10.75 | 2.25 | 0.00 | 1.50 | 14.50 |
| A.M. Did 2 with Jenny and Julia, 1 with Joseph, and 0.5 with Jacob. Benjamin was still sick. Then I ran another 2 miles and started my workout. First max HR 1.25 - "coast"a mile in 5:20, then run as hard as possible trying to max out the HR. I could only hit 167 and could not sustain it, legs started caving. I ended up with the last quarter in 78, and 6:38 for the interval. I was wearing the knee brace and the buzzer, still not sure what to think of the knee brace, but my instincts told me I need to run as much sub-6:00 mileage with it as possible. Then I jogged some, and ran 2.5 in 14:41 with the last quarter in 81. Total of 12.5.
P.M. Benjamin started feeling better, so I ran 2 miles with him.
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| Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 14.50 |
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| Night Sleep Time: 7.50 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 7.50 |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 9.50 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 12.50 |
| A.M. Kids runs first - 3 with Benjamin, 2 with Jenny and Julia, 1 with Joseph, 0.5 with Jacob. Then 6 more alone with the last 3 in 16:47. |
| Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 12.50 |
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| Night Sleep Time: 8.00 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 8.00 |
| | Add Comment |
| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 9.50 | 0.00 | 3.00 | 0.00 | 12.50 |
| A.M. Kids runs first - 3 with Benjamin, 2 with Jenny and Julia, 1 with Joseph, 0.5 with Jacob. Then 6 more alone with the last 3 in 16:37. That is the fastest I've run on that course under this setup this year, and it felt good. I am getting used to the knee brace, although I am still not quite sure if it is doing me any good. But at least it is a step, something to do. |
| Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 12.50 |
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| Night Sleep Time: 7.00 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 7.00 |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 9.90 | 9.50 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 20.40 |
| A.M. Long run. Started with a 2 mile warm-up, and then a 10 mile tempo on my standard course. Did it in 58:10 with the following splits: 5:52 - 5:52 - 5:46 - 5:47 - 5:51- 5:51 - 5:51 - 5:49 - 5:50 - 5:41. Felt fatigued after the first 2 miles and thought I would not be able to go any faster, considered stopping, but then the horror of plodding out the rest of the run for eternity hit me, and I decided to finish out the tempo. I gave it a little push and it woke me up. Had a small kick in the last mile as well. Overall not too unhappy with the tempo, viewing it as a stepping stone. Ran with the kids - 0.5 with Jacob, 1 with Joseph, 2 with Jenny and Julia, and 3 with Benjamin. Challenged Benjamin to run the last 0.5 under 3:00, he made me work, we ended up running 2:50. It felt easier than I expected. Possibly part of my problem is that lately I've been doing my workouts alone for the most part. When Jeff joined me a couple of weeks ago, all of a sudden I started hitting much faster times.
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| Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 20.40 |
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| Night Sleep Time: 8.00 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 8.00 |
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| | Easy Miles | Marathon Pace Miles | Threshold Miles | VO2 Max Miles | Total Distance | | 61.65 | 11.75 | 10.00 | 1.50 | 84.90 |
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| Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 84.90 |
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| Night Sleep Time: 54.50 | Nap Time: 0.00 | Total Sleep Time: 54.50 | |
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