Breaking the Wall

Week starting Apr 16, 2017

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

Favorite Blogs:

Click to donate

to Ukraine's Armed Forces

Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	2724.68
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
54.26	0.00	13.13	0.25	67.64

Camouflage Crocs 1 Miles: 67.64

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

Sun, Apr 16, 2017

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: 0.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 0.00

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Mon, Apr 17, 2017

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.52	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.52

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2017-04-17 07:51:12
Workout Totals: Distance10.520Time1:21:13.00Pace7:43.21
10 total, paced Sarah through 1.5 down the canyon in 11:31. Usual distances for the kids.
Leg 1:Distance1.220Time11:36.90Pace9:31.23
Warm-up with Sarah.
Leg 2:Distance1.500Time11:31.90Pace7:41.27
Paced Sarah through 1.5 down the canyon. We had some headwind which I tried to block. Splits 3:45,3:46,4:00.
Leg 3:Distance2.280Time15:46.80Pace6:55.26
Alone to the house.
Leg 4:Distance5.000Time37:04.90Pace7:24.98
With Benjamin and Jacob to the car.
Leg 5:Distance0.000Time0:00.00Pace0:00.00
Leg 6:Distance0.520Time5:12.50Pace10:00.96
With Matthew

Camouflage Crocs 1 Miles: 10.52

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

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Tue, Apr 18, 2017

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.42	0.00	6.13	0.00	10.55

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2017-04-18 07:55:33
Workout Totals: Distance10.555Time1:14:49.70Pace7:05.36
Did a workout with Benjamin. Total of 6 miles of tempo running. We started with 1 mile warm-up down the canyon in 5:50. Then jogged half a mile and ran 2 - he got 9:44 (4:50, 4:54), 11:07 (5:33, 5:34) for me. Then we jogged 0.5, ran 1 up the canyon in 5:53, then after some more rest 2 down the canyon. Benjamin got 9:56 (5:00, 4:56), myself 11:03 (5:33, 5:30). Headwind on the downhill repeats. Kids did their usual distances on their own except for Matthew who was stubborn today and ended up not running.
Leg 1:Distance3.250Time24:55.60Pace7:40.18
Warm-up with a tempo pickup down.
Split 1:Distance1.750Time14:24.60Pace8:14.06 Cumilative:Distance1.750Time14:24.60Pace8:14.06
Split 2:Distance1.000Time5:50.10Pace5:50.10 Cumilative:Distance2.750Time20:14.70Pace7:21.71
Split 3:Distance0.500Time4:40.90Pace9:21.80 Cumilative:Distance3.250Time24:55.60Pace7:40.18

Leg 2:Distance2.000Time11:07.10Pace5:33.55
First 2 mile interval.
Leg 3:Distance2.825Time23:28.00Pace8:18.41
Recovery with an uphill tempo mile in the middle.
Split 1:Distance0.500Time5:10.80Pace10:21.60 Cumilative:Distance0.500Time5:10.80Pace10:21.60
Split 2:Distance1.000Time5:53.60Pace5:53.60 Cumilative:Distance1.500Time11:04.40Pace7:22.93
Split 3:Distance1.325Time12:23.60Pace9:21.21 Cumilative:Distance2.825Time23:28.00Pace8:18.41

Leg 4:Distance0.130Time0:46.00Pace5:53.85
False start.
Leg 5:Distance0.130Time1:16.20Pace9:46.15
Return after the false start.
Leg 6:Distance2.000Time11:03.90Pace5:31.95
Second tempo interval.
Leg 7:Distance0.220Time2:12.90Pace10:04.09
Brief cool-down.

Camouflage Crocs 1 Miles: 10.55

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

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Wed, Apr 19, 2017

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.24	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.24

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2017-04-19 08:29:02
Workout Totals: Distance10.243Time1:14:05.50Pace7:14.00
Total of 10 for me and Benjamin today, time trials for the younger kids. Jenny , Julia, and Matthew ran easy. Benjamin helped me pace. Stephen got a PR - 7:23.0, splits 1:50, 1:49, 1:53, 1:48. William ran a small PR - 6:24.1 improving by 0.7 - splits 93, 97, 97, 94. Joseph and Jacob struggled - I think both mostly mentally. We went through the first lap in 81, too fast, but should not have been a killer. Then Joseph started struggling and slowed down a lot. Jacob must have had sympathy pains and also slowed down. Joseph stopped at the 600 meter mark complaining that his legs felt like they were going to collapse. Jacob kept going, but all the commotion knocked him out of rhythm and produced an 89 lap. Benjamin and I tried to get him back on pace, but after you have run an 89 and imagined that it was hard, it is extremely hard to go much faster. So he ran 84, 83, but that only gave him 5:40.8, 2.8 slower than his record. To help them with the mental issues I had them run a 2000 with a rough target pace of 90 seconds per lap. They opened in 93, then sped up. Joseph ended up with 7:27, Jacob 7:32. The idea of that 2000 was this. The mind optimizes for the minimum pain. If you know you are running just 1 mile with no consequences for slowing down when you should not, the mind will imagine their is more pain than there really is and will trick you into slowing down. However, if you know there will be more distance should you run the interval slower, then the pain optimizer might be tricked into ignoring it because giving it too much attention will result in more pain later. It does not always work, but it is worth a try. We'll see what happens next week.
Leg 1:Distance0.500Time4:32.40Pace9:04.80
With Matthew.
Leg 2:Distance1.000Time7:23.00Pace7:23.00
Stephen's time trial.
Leg 3:Distance1.000Time5:40.80Pace5:40.80
Jacob's time trial.
Leg 4:Distance1.000Time6:24.10Pace6:24.10
William's time trial.
Leg 5:Distance0.500Time4:39.30Pace9:18.60
Recovery jog with Joseph and Jacob.
Leg 6:Distance1.243Time7:32.80Pace6:04.28
2000 with Joseph and Jacob.
Leg 7:Distance5.000Time37:53.10Pace7:34.62
With Benjamin.

Camouflage Crocs 1 Miles: 10.24

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

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Thu, Apr 20, 2017

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2017-04-20 07:21:14
Workout Totals: Distance10.000Time1:13:11.10Pace7:19.11
Usual day, usual runs except for Matthew who had a fit and refused to run.
Leg 1:Distance10.000Time1:13:11.10Pace7:19.11
With Benjamin.

Camouflage Crocs 1 Miles: 10.00

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

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Fri, Apr 21, 2017

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.52	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.52

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2017-04-21 08:31:08
Workout Totals: Distance10.520Time1:22:18.10Pace7:49.40
Turned 44 today. This gave me a chance to reflect on the blessings of my life. The most important blessing that I received was the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Restored Gospel in our day. From that flowed other blessing. First came Sarah who was willing to be my wife and raise the children with me. Then came the children, ten so far. My family is a precious gift from the Lord. I have been blessed with the knowledge of how to maintain good health and how to help my family members do so. I have also been blessed with gift of persistence which has made the gift of knowledge effective. It also helps me teach the children and deal with all the frustrations and setbacks. Assuming the regular life span, I am about half way through the marathon that we call life on the earth. If so, I hope to endure well in the second half and return to the Lord in due course of time with something that He would approve of. Running wise, I paced Sarah through 1.5 miles down the canyon with the first 1.25 in 7:59 as evenly as possible, and then a kick in 1:47 (7:08 pace). Benjamin, Jacob, and I ran to get the car afterwards. Otherwise, usual distances for the kids.
Leg 1:Distance1.220Time11:34.20Pace9:29.02
Warm-up with Sarah.
Leg 2:Distance1.500Time11:46.90Pace7:51.27
Paced Sarah through her tempo run.
Leg 3:Distance2.280Time14:59.80Pace6:34.65
Alone to the house.
Leg 4:Distance5.000Time39:17.20Pace7:51.44
With Benjamin and Jacob.
Leg 5:Distance0.520Time4:40.00Pace8:58.46
With Matthew.

Camouflage Crocs 1 Miles: 10.52

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

Comments(1)

Sat, Apr 22, 2017

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
8.56	0.00	7.00	0.25	15.81

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2017-04-22 08:53:57
Workout Totals: Distance15.810Time1:54:25.70Pace7:14.26
Did a workout with Benjamin. The plan was to do 6 down the canyon, but part of the trail was blocked, so we had to setting for 2x3 + some extra fast running. The wind was friendly for about 1.5 of the first interval, then became largely unfriendly afterwards. In the first I had Benjamin run fast, in the second he paced me. He ran 14:51 (4:54, 5:00, 4:57), I got 16:35 (5:25, 5:32, 5:38). In the second one we ran 16:29 (5:32, 5:31, 5:26). During the warm-up we did a quarter at roughly the target pace (79) - mine was quicker than the target pace, Benjamin fell asleep and ran 77. We ran a good portion of our recovery between the tempos with a runner named Mark who is in the Air Force National Guard. We also did an uphill mile to our house at the very end in 5:51 to practice uphill running in the state of fatigue. Younger kids ran their usual Saturday distances. Jenny did a mile pickup down the canyon in 6:18 with the sluggish start (3:19) but a fast finish (2:59). Joseph was supposed to be her pacer, but he found himself in a bad mood again and dropped out after the first half mile.
Leg 1:Distance2.600Time21:06.80Pace8:07.23
Warm-up.
Leg 2:Distance0.750Time5:46.70Pace7:42.27
A quarter pickup + some jogging.
Split 1:Distance0.250Time1:19.50Pace5:18.00 Cumilative:Distance0.250Time1:19.50Pace5:18.00
Split 2:Distance0.500Time4:27.20Pace8:54.40 Cumilative:Distance0.750Time5:46.70Pace7:42.27

Leg 3:Distance3.000Time16:35.80Pace5:31.93
First tempo.
Leg 4:Distance3.000Time26:40.70Pace8:53.57
Recovery.
Leg 5:Distance3.000Time16:29.20Pace5:29.73
Second tempo.
Leg 6:Distance0.900Time8:35.80Pace9:33.11
Jog to the car.
Leg 7:Distance2.040Time14:28.40Pace7:05.69
More distance at the house with a quick uphill mile at the end.
Split 1:Distance1.040Time8:36.50Pace8:16.63 Cumilative:Distance1.040Time8:36.50Pace8:16.63
Split 2:Distance1.000Time5:51.90Pace5:51.90 Cumilative:Distance2.040Time14:28.40Pace7:05.69

Leg 8:Distance0.520Time4:42.30Pace9:02.88

Camouflage Crocs 1 Miles: 15.81

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

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Totals

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
54.26	0.00	13.13	0.25	67.64

Camouflage Crocs 1 Miles: 67.64

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

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