Breaking the Wall

Utah Valley Half Marathon

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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:

Click to donate

to Ukraine's Armed Forces

Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	72.31	Year:	3105.12
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
48.89	0.00	17.97	0.00	66.86

Kimisant Black Clogs Miles: 66.86

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

Sun, May 28, 2023

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. Our local ward, then the Russian-speaking branch.

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

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Mon, May 29, 2023

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.00	0.00	2.00	0.00	12.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2023-05-29 09:22:52
Workout Totals: Distance12.000Time1:34:34.10Pace7:52.84
12 total. Did a quicker 2 miles in the middle from the house to the mile mark on the trail and back in 13:05. If I were younger, I would have written this down as an easy run, but now this pace has become a tempo - especially on hills. Stephen had a sore throat and ran only 2 miles. Bella is still struggling. We had friends from Ukraine join us for the evening run with the girls. Denis ran 1 mile with Mary, kept up until she kicked at the end, and got 8:55. His 3 year old sister Milana ran about 0.7 or so at about 16:00 pace. His other sister Polina ran a little bit as well.
Leg 1: Distance8.000Time1:01:12.60Pace7:39.07ZoneEasy Miles
With Joseph, Jacob, and Bonnie. Part with William, Stephen, and Matthew.
Leg 2: Distance2.000Time13:05.40Pace6:32.70ZoneThreshold Miles
Alone. A little tempo run of sorts to beat the 7:30 average for 10 miles.
Leg 3: Distance1.000Time8:46.80Pace8:46.80ZoneEasy Miles
With Mary.
Leg 4: Distance1.000Time11:29.30Pace11:29.30ZoneEasy Miles
With Mary, Bella, and Leigha.

Kimisant Black Clogs Miles: 12.00

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

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Tue, May 30, 2023

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.05	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.05

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2023-05-30 08:35:02
Workout Totals: Distance12.050Time1:38:36.80Pace8:11.02
12 total. Easy pace for everybody except Jacob. He did the usual 200-100 fartlek and started struggling towards the end. Then he also did 0.5 in 2:40 shortly after and that was all he had. So something is going on with him.
Leg 1: Distance10.000Time1:19:19.70Pace7:55.97ZoneEasy Miles
Part with the kids, part alone.
Leg 2: Distance1.000Time10:01.70Pace10:01.70ZoneEasy Miles
With Mary, Bella, and Leigha to the park.
Leg 3: Distance1.050Time9:15.40Pace8:48.95ZoneEasy Miles
More at the park with Mary and Bella.

Kimisant Black Clogs Miles: 12.05

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

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Wed, May 31, 2023

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.19	0.00	1.86	0.00	12.05

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2023-05-31 08:45:49
Workout Totals: Distance12.050Time1:41:35.20Pace8:25.83
12 total. Bonnie and Matthew did 3000 on the track in 11:54.6. Everything was good except laps 6 (98) and 7 (1:40). I paced them. Jacob did 2 miles down the canyon in 10:58, opened with 5:17 and then struggled. Stephen did 800 with us in 3:08. Easy runs otherwise.
Leg 1: Distance0.940Time8:03.10Pace8:33.94ZoneEasy Miles
Warm-up.
Leg 2: Distance1.860Time11:54.60Pace6:24.19ZoneThreshold Miles
3000 with Bonnie and Matthew.
Leg 3: Distance1.250Time12:08.30Pace9:42.64ZoneEasy Miles
Back to the house.
Leg 4: Distance1.000Time10:24.20Pace10:24.20ZoneEasy Miles
With Leigha and Bonnie.
Leg 5: Distance5.000Time39:28.30Pace7:53.66ZoneEasy Miles
Alone.
Leg 6: Distance2.000Time19:36.70Pace9:48.35ZoneEasy Miles
With Mary and Bella.

Kimisant Black Clogs Miles: 12.05

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

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Thu, Jun 01, 2023

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
9.05	0.00	1.00	0.00	10.05

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2023-06-01 08:29:42
Workout Totals: Distance10.050Time1:24:16.60Pace8:23.14
10 total. Tapering. Pickup for 1 mile in 5:54. Jacob did it in 4:59. Joseph went with him for the first 0.5 in 2:30. Easy runs otherwise.
Leg 1: Distance1.000Time10:39.40Pace10:39.40ZoneEasy Miles
With Bonnie and Leigha.
Leg 2: Distance6.000Time46:26.30Pace7:44.38
With Jacob, part with Joseph.
Split 1:Distance3.050Time24:05.90Pace7:54.07ZoneEasy Miles Cumilative:Distance3.050Time24:05.90Pace7:54.07
Split 2:Distance1.000Time5:54.60Pace5:54.60ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance4.050Time30:00.50Pace7:24.57
Split 3:Distance1.950Time16:25.80Pace8:25.54ZoneEasy Miles Cumilative:Distance6.000Time46:26.30Pace7:44.38

Leg 3: Distance2.000Time19:09.90Pace9:34.95ZoneEasy Miles
With Bella to the park.
Leg 4: Distance1.050Time8:01.00Pace7:38.10ZoneEasy Miles
Alone.

Kimisant Black Clogs Miles: 10.05

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

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Fri, Jun 02, 2023

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

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2023-06-02 09:02:16
Workout Totals: Distance6.000Time51:29.80Pace8:34.97
6 total. Tapering. Maddy ran a mile PR of 8:30. Bella was struggling today, could not even keep up with Leigha.
Leg 1: Distance1.000Time11:03.40Pace11:03.40ZoneEasy Miles
With Leigha, Maddy, Mary, Benjamin, Stephen, Matthew, and Jacob. Bella fell behind at the end.
Leg 2: Distance1.000Time8:30.40Pace8:30.40ZoneEasy Miles
With Mary, Maddy, Benjamin, Matthew and Jacob.
Leg 3: Distance4.000Time31:56.00Pace7:59.00ZoneEasy Miles
With Benjamin. Part with Jacob and Matthew.

Kimisant Black Clogs Miles: 6.00

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

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Sat, Jun 03, 2023

Race: Utah Valley Half Marathon (13.109 Miles) 01:19:42, Place overall: 37, Place in age division: 8

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
1.60	0.00	13.11	0.00	14.71

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2023-06-03 05:24:55
Workout Totals: Distance14.709Time1:33:27.30Pace6:21.22
Utah Valley Half, 1:19:42, 37th overall, 8th master. This was a miracle race. I ran a minute faster than my optimistic target based off the workouts. Benjamin got 7th with 1:10:40. His quad cramps were gone, but got replaced with calf cramps. So he did slow down to 5:30-5:40 pace midrace, but at least it was not 6:00. And he was able to speed up to 5:15 in the last 2 miles. Some progress. Jacob ran 1:15:36, 22nd place, which was better than I was expecting from his workouts. I would have been happy with a small PR or even a near PR performance, but he improved by almost 2 minutes. Only 1 mile (uphill) slower than 6:00.
Leg 1: Distance1.450Time11:58.60Pace8:15.59ZoneEasy Miles
Warn-up.
Leg 2: Distance13.109Time1:19:44.10Pace6:04.95
Race.
Split 1:Distance1.000Time5:57.20Pace5:57.20ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance1.000Time5:57.20Pace5:57.20
Split 2:Distance1.000Time6:05.80Pace6:05.80ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance2.000Time12:03.00Pace6:01.50
Split 3:Distance1.000Time6:01.30Pace6:01.30ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance3.000Time18:04.30Pace6:01.43
Split 4:Distance1.000Time5:51.00Pace5:51.00ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance4.000Time23:55.30Pace5:58.82
Split 5:Distance1.000Time5:48.90Pace5:48.90ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance5.000Time29:44.20Pace5:56.84
Split 6:Distance1.000Time5:53.30Pace5:53.30ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance6.000Time35:37.50Pace5:56.25
Split 7:Distance1.000Time6:00.50Pace6:00.50ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance7.000Time41:38.00Pace5:56.86
Split 8:Distance1.000Time6:08.50Pace6:08.50ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance8.000Time47:46.50Pace5:58.31
Split 9:Distance1.000Time6:07.70Pace6:07.70ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance9.000Time53:54.20Pace5:59.36
Split 10:Distance0.980Time6:07.60Pace6:15.10ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance9.980Time1:00:01.80Pace6:00.90
Split 11:Distance1.020Time6:30.50Pace6:22.84ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance11.000Time1:06:32.30Pace6:02.94
Split 12:Distance1.000Time6:10.50Pace6:10.50ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance12.000Time1:12:42.80Pace6:03.57
Split 13:Distance1.000Time6:23.00Pace6:23.00ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance13.000Time1:19:05.80Pace6:05.06
Split 14:Distance0.109Time0:38.30Pace5:51.38ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance13.109Time1:19:44.10Pace6:04.95

Leg 3: Distance0.150Time1:44.60Pace11:37.33ZoneEasy Miles
Cool-down.

Kimisant Black Clogs Miles: 14.71

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
48.89	0.00	17.97	0.00	66.86

Kimisant Black Clogs Miles: 66.86

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

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