Breaking the Wall

Week starting Apr 13, 2014

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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: 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 MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
75.145.004.250.0084.39
Schwinn Double Stroller Miles: 3.00Green Crocs 7 Miles: 84.39
Night Sleep Time: 54.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 54.00
Sun, Apr 13, 2014
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Day of rest. Went to church. We had a Fast and Testimony meeting, then a lesson on Christ's role in the Plan of Salvation in Sunday School, and a lesson on Joseph Smith in the Elder's Quorum.

Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Mon, Apr 14, 2014
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.000.000.000.0013.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-04-14 08:36:19
Workout Totals
Distance Time Pace
13.000 1:45:07.90 8:05.22
Total of 13. Benjamin did 9, Joseph and Jacob 3, Julia 3, Jenny 4, William 1. The Saturday dream so far is correct. The ultrasound showed that we are having a girl. We will name her Mary. We will have to see how the rest of the dream goes. She was short, light-framed, with light-brown hair, and fast.
Leg 1
Distance Time Pace Comment
3 25:19.50. 8:26.50 With Joseph, Jacob, and Benjamin.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 3.000 25:19.50 8:26.50  
Leg 2
Distance Time Pace Comment
6 47:59.60. 7:59.93 With Benjamin.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 6.000 47:59.60 7:59.93  
Leg 3
Distance Time Pace Comment
3 22:24.90. 7:28.30 Pushed Matthew in the stroller.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 3.000 22:24.90 7:28.30  
Leg 4
Distance Time Pace Comment
1 9:23.90. 9:23.90 With William.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 1.000 9:23.90 9:23.90  

Schwinn Double Stroller Miles: 3.00Green Crocs 7 Miles: 13.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
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Tue, Apr 15, 2014
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.003.000.0012.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-04-15 08:13:58
Workout Totals
Distance Time Pace
12.000 1:24:39.60 7:03.30
Total of 12. Joseph did 4, Jacob 2, Benjamin 6, Jenny 4, Julia 3, William 1. Joseph shifted gears after the turnaround and ran a 2 mile PR in the second half. Details below.
Leg 1
Distance Time Pace Comment
4 31:37.10. 7:54.27 With Joseph. He turned around and started moving with the mile that rolled down in 7:17 followed by 7:14 nasty uphill mile. This gave him 14:31 for 2 miles, a PR by 2 seconds. He also ran a 4 mile PR of sorts. This is not really a true PR because he never runs it all out, but it is the fastest he has ever covered 4 miles in. I suppose his 2 mile PR is not indicative of ability either. I expect him to be able to run around 13:00 in the 3200 on the track.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 4.000 31:37.10 7:54.27  
Leg 2
Distance Time Pace Comment
8 53:02.50. 6:37.81 Alone - ran a 3 mile tempo at the end.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 5.000 35:34.90 7:06.98  
2 3.000 17:27.60 5:49.20 3 mile tempo from the magic spot in the Provo Canyon to the house.

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 12.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
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Wed, Apr 16, 2014
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.100.001.000.0012.10

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-04-16 07:44:07
Workout Totals
Distance Time Pace
12.098 1:35:44.50 7:54.83
Total of 12. Benjamin did 9, Jenny 4, Julia 3, Joseph and Jacob 3, William 1. Benjamin's friend and classmate Dave came to run with us. We went to the track. First Jacob ran 800 time trial and set a new PR of 3:03. We all paced him. Then Benjamin and I paced Dave through a mile time trial which he did in 5:46.9. Then we ran some more. I pushed Matthew in the stroller in the last 3 miles. Details below.
Leg 1
Distance Time Pace Comment
1.1 9:33.40. 8:41.27 To the track with the gang.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 1.100 9:33.40 8:41.27  
Leg 2
Distance Time Pace Comment
0.498 3:03.00. 6:07.47 Jacob opened crazy fast - 19 seconds for the first 100, but I did not want to hold him back. I learned from past experiences that when you hold back a little kid he does worse. He would do better if he paced himself, but if you force him to control his adrenaline for one reason or another he runs slower. So I just surreptitiously stepped forward and gradually soft-pedaled the pace to a more sane level. But our first 200 was still 42. After 300 in 1:05 I realized that not only Jacob, but maybe even Joseph could get a record today and told Benjamin and Dave to pull Joseph while I stayed with Jacob. At 400 Joseph had 87, Jacob 89. At 500, Joseph 1:50, Jacob 1:53, then 2:15/2:17 at 600. Joseph was mentally not ready for a fast 800 and started spacing out/having an attitude. Joseph is the kid that said when he was 4: "Jacob - you are not lazy. Lazy is when you have the energy to work, but you do not want to work" - we all laughed because of how well we knew that he was speaking from experience. However, Joseph is also very competitive. So having his little brother breath down his neck woke him up and he kicked in the last 100. At 700 we had 2:38/2:40, and Joseph finished with 3:00. Jacob's 3:03 made me very happy. This is a 5.9 second PR, and the family record for 7 and under age division by 13 seconds.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 0.498 3:03.00 6:07.47  
Leg 3
Distance Time Pace Comment
0.5 4:12.00. 8:24.00 Recovery jog with David, Joseph, Jacob, and Benjamin.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 0.500 4:12.00 8:24.00  
Leg 4
Distance Time Pace Comment
1 5:46.90. 5:46.90 Benjamin and I paced David. We opened in 79, too fast, then 84, then David started struggling, so we ran in the 90-92 range.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 1.000 5:46.90 5:46.90  
Leg 5
Distance Time Pace Comment
1 8:41.30. 8:41.30 Back to the house.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 1.000 8:41.30 8:41.30  
Leg 6
Distance Time Pace Comment
5 39:37.20. 7:55.44 With Benjamin. Ran the last quarter uphill in 83.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 5.000 39:37.20 7:55.44  
Leg 7
Distance Time Pace Comment
3 24:50.70. 8:16.90 With Julia pushing Matthew in the stroller.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 3.000 24:50.70 8:16.90  

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 12.10
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Comments(2)
Thu, Apr 17, 2014
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.140.000.000.0012.14

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-04-17 07:20:29
Workout Totals
Distance Time Pace
12.140 1:36:18.60 7:56.00
Total of 12. Benjamin did 6, Jenny 4, Julia 3, Joseph 4, Jacob 2, William 1.
Leg 1
Distance Time Pace Comment
4 32:59.20. 8:14.80 With Joseph.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 4.000 32:59.20 8:14.80  
Leg 2
Distance Time Pace Comment
2.04 15:33.10. 7:37.40 With Jacob. He was on the move today.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 2.040 15:33.10 7:37.40  
Leg 3
Distance Time Pace Comment
3.06 23:18.20. 7:36.93 With Benjamin.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 3.060 23:18.20 7:36.93 With William and Julia.
Leg 4
Distance Time Pace Comment
1 8:08.70. 8:08.70 William's split at the mile.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 1.000 8:08.70 8:08.70  
Leg 5
Distance Time Pace Comment
2.04 16:19.40. 8:00.10 With Julia.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 2.040 16:19.40 8:00.10  

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 12.14
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Fri, Apr 18, 2014
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.900.000.250.0015.15

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-04-18 07:47:30
Workout Totals
Distance Time Pace
15.148 1:56:01.20 7:39.55
Total of 15. Julia set a new 400 PR - 83.4. Benjamin did 6, Jenny 4, Julia 3, Joseph and Jacob 3, William 1.
Leg 1
Distance Time Pace Comment
3 23:42.10. 7:54.03 With David, Benjamin, Joseph, and Jacob. Joseph showed class by solving x^2 - 6*x + 5 = 0 in his head while running at 8:00 pace. Not bad for a 9-year-old. He cannot do it quite that well all the time, but I suppose things clicked today.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 3.000 23:42.10 7:54.03  
Leg 2
Distance Time Pace Comment
3 23:12.30. 7:44.10 With David and Benjamin.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 3.000 23:12.30 7:44.10  
Leg 3
Distance Time Pace Comment
6 41:38.10. 6:56.35 Alone.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 6.000 41:38.10 6:56.35  
Leg 4
Distance Time Pace Comment
1.1 9:31.10. 8:39.18 Warm-up with Julia to the track.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 1.100 9:31.10 8:39.18  
Leg 5
Distance Time Pace Comment
0.248 1:23.40. 5:36.29 Julia's 400 meter time trial. She got a PR by 2 seconds.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 0.248 1:23.40 5:36.29  
Leg 6
Distance Time Pace Comment
1.8 16:34.20. 9:12.33 The rest of Julia's run.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 1.800 16:34.20 9:12.33  

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 15.15
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Sat, Apr 19, 2014
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.005.000.000.0020.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-04-19 08:26:22
Workout Totals
Distance Time Pace
20.000 2:26:00.10 7:18.00
Total of 20. Benjamin did 9, Joseph, Jacob, and Julia 3, William 1, Jenny 4. I did 5 mile tempo at the end.
Leg 1
Distance Time Pace Comment
7 55:20.90. 7:54.41 With Benjamin.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 7.000 55:20.90 7:54.41  
Leg 2
Distance Time Pace Comment
3 24:50.20. 8:16.73 With Julia, Joseph, and Jacob. I got concerned about Joseph pushing himself too hard after taking his HR a few times, and make him slow down to 8:30. He did not like it, but I did not want him to run at 180 HR. His resting HR is 66.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 3.000 24:50.20 8:16.73  
Leg 3
Distance Time Pace Comment
5 36:22.10. 7:16.42 To the magic spot in the Provo Canyon from the house. Started feeling the distance, and as usual wondered how I was going to do the tempo.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 5.000 36:22.10 7:16.42  
Leg 4
Distance Time Pace Comment
5 29:26.90. 5:53.38 This tempo was hard. I did not think I could break 6:00 in the last mile, which is uphill since the one before it that is naturally 10-15 seconds faster was only barely under 6:00. But I felt that I should use my faith and at least try. I was rewarded with a 5:59. 5:59 even uphill is not that great for me in general, but it was today. It was beyond what I thought I could do, and that is what matters. This is the mechanics of running with faith. You look beyond yourself, and you try. Do this not just once, but consistently. Eventually you reach the area that you otherwise would not have reached. I believe the reason the Kenyans are fast is not just natural talent and preparation. It is that looking forward mindset of constantly believing you can be where you are not not today, and acting on it.
Split# Distance Time Pace Comment
1 5.000 29:26.90 5:53.38  

Green Crocs 7 Miles: 20.00
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Totals
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
75.145.004.250.0084.39
Schwinn Double Stroller Miles: 3.00Green Crocs 7 Miles: 84.39
Night Sleep Time: 54.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 54.00
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