Breaking the Wall

Utah Valley Half Marathon

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:

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Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	40.31	Year:	3073.12
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
59.33	0.99	16.11	0.00	76.43

Nike Double Stroller Miles: 18.50	White Crocs 1 Miles: 76.42

Night Sleep Time: 48.00	Nap Time: 4.00	Total Sleep Time: 52.00

Sun, Jun 07, 2015

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: 7.00	Nap Time: 2.00	Total Sleep Time: 9.00

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Mon, Jun 08, 2015

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.04	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.04

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2015-06-08 07:28:12
Workout Totals: Distance12.040Time1:35:55.90Pace7:58.06
Usual 12. Kids ran their usual distances.
Leg 1:Distance4.000Time33:47.20Pace8:26.80
With Benjamin, Joseph, and Jacob. William did the first 2, and rode in the stroller on the way back. Matthew rode in the stroller all the way. I pushed it for the first 3, Benjamin did for the last mile.
Leg 2:Distance6.000Time47:03.20Pace7:50.53
With Benjamin.
Leg 3:Distance2.040Time15:05.50Pace7:23.87
Alone.

Nike Double Stroller Miles: 4.00	White Crocs 1 Miles: 12.04

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

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Tue, Jun 09, 2015

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
11.70	0.00	3.00	0.00	14.70

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2015-06-09 07:18:15
Workout Totals: Distance14.700Time1:55:20.40Pace7:50.78
Usual day, except I ran a little longer - 14 miles today. Benjamin did 10, other kids ran their usual distance. Benjamin and I did a workout - 3 mile tempo down the canyon. I got 16:33, splits 5:24, 5:35, 5:34. He had 15:08 - 4:59, 4:59, 5:10. Both of us struggled. I think we need more sleep. Hopefully we can get it before the half-marathon this Saturday.
Leg 1:Distance5.400Time44:04.30Pace8:09.69
With Benjamin.
Leg 2:Distance3.000Time16:33.40Pace5:31.13
Tempo run.
Leg 3:Distance2.300Time19:21.10Pace8:24.83
Cool-down to the house.
Leg 4:Distance4.000Time35:21.60Pace8:50.40
With Joseph and Jacob. William ran the first 2 then rode in the stroller. Stephen ran the first mile, then rode in the stroller.

Nike Double Stroller Miles: 4.00	White Crocs 1 Miles: 14.70

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

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Wed, Jun 10, 2015

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 - 2015-06-10 07:03:58
Workout Totals: Distance12.000Time1:35:34.20Pace7:57.85
Usual run, kids ran their usual distances, except Benjamin started tapering and ran only 8.
Leg 1:Distance4.000Time33:40.70Pace8:25.18
With Joseph and Jacob.
Leg 2:Distance8.000Time1:01:53.50Pace7:44.19
With Benjamin.

White Crocs 1 Miles: 12.00

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

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Thu, Jun 11, 2015

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
9.05	0.99	0.00	0.00	10.04

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2015-06-11 07:57:44
Workout Totals: Distance10.044Time1:23:11.90Pace8:17.00
Total of 10. Did a workout with Julia 800 + 2x400 on the track. Joseph and Jacob helped me pace her. She got 3:07.0, 87.2, 91.1 - an improvement. Benjamin did 6. Other kids ran their usual distances.
Leg 1:Distance1.050Time9:23.80Pace8:56.95
Warm-up with William, Julia, Joseph, and Jacob to the track. Joseph, Jacob, and myself paced Julia in the workout.
Leg 2:Distance0.498Time3:07.00Pace6:15.50
800 with Julia, Joseph, and Jacob - splits 93,94.
Leg 3:Distance0.500Time4:38.30Pace9:16.60
Recovery.
Leg 4:Distance0.248Time1:27.20Pace5:51.61
400
Leg 5:Distance0.250Time2:23.60Pace9:34.40
Recovery.
Leg 6:Distance0.248Time1:31.10Pace6:07.34
400
Leg 7:Distance1.250Time11:41.40Pace9:21.12
Back to the house with Julia, Joseph, Jacob, and William.
Leg 8:Distance1.000Time9:21.20Pace9:21.20
With Benjamin and Stephen.
Leg 9:Distance5.000Time39:38.30Pace7:55.66
With Benjamin.

White Crocs 1 Miles: 10.04

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

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Fri, Jun 12, 2015

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
8.04	0.00	0.00	0.00	8.04

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2015-06-12 07:57:31
Workout Totals: Distance8.040Time1:05:20.40Pace8:07.61
8 total. 5.5 of it with a stroller. Today was a day of records for little boys. First Stephen set a mile record - 8:41.9, splits 2:18, 2:18, 2:09, 1:56 - quarter mile record over the last quarter, and half-mile record (4:05) over the last half mile. William's fastest time before turning 5 was 8:40. Stephen has a bit over 2 months to take that down - I think he will. Seeing his brother get a record motivated William and he wanted to try. I did not think he would pull it off because his record was recent and set on the track, and he was running on the little boy course which is slower, but he succeeded with 7:09.1. Splits - 1:48, 1:53, 1:45, 1:43 - repeat of half mile record over the second half. Benjamin ran 4.5, Jenny jogged a little bit on the Pioneer Trek, other kids ran their usual distances.
Leg 1:Distance1.000Time8:41.90Pace8:41.90
With Julia, Joseph, Jacob, William, and Stephen. Mary and Matthew rode in the stroller on the little boy course. Stephen got a new mile record.
Leg 2:Distance1.000Time7:09.10Pace7:09.10
With Benjamin, Joseph, Jacob, and William. Mary and Matthew rode in the stroller. Little boy course. William got a new mile record.
Leg 3:Distance2.040Time17:37.30Pace8:38.28
With Benjamin, Joseph, and Jacob. Matthew and Mary rode in the stroller.
Leg 4:Distance1.500Time12:40.90Pace8:27.27
With Benjamin, and Julia. Matthew and Mary rode in the stroller.
Leg 5:Distance2.500Time19:11.20Pace7:40.48
Alone.

Nike Double Stroller Miles: 5.50	White Crocs 1 Miles: 8.04

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

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Sat, Jun 13, 2015

Race: Utah Valley Half Marathon (13.109 Miles) 01:15:54, Place overall: 11

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
6.50	0.00	13.11	0.00	19.61

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2015-06-13 05:29:38
Workout Totals: Distance19.609Time2:09:42.80Pace6:36.90
Utah Valley Half marathon - 1:15:54, 11th overall, 1st master, $150. Benjamin did 1:10:27, 5th overall, $75. New course record in the 15-18 age division. He almost got his driver's license - 27 seconds to go. This was the first time Benjamin earned cash in a race. It just happened that I earned cash as well - it was a special occasion for both of us to share the cash podium for the first time. We also set our father/son double-half PR - our times added up are 2:26:21, improvement of 1:30 from Top of Utah Half. As for my race, I ended up in more or less no man's land after the first half mile, and ran there the entire time. First mile was 5:34, then 5:46, 22:59 at 4, 28:34 at 5, 57:19 at 10. I ran the next uphill mile in 5:55, and then just did not have the adrenaline to push for the last two, so I ended up coasting at around 6:00 pace to the finish. Got to watch Ryan Hall do his workout. His original plan was to alternate 5:00 and 7:00 miles, but he did his recoveries somewhere closer to 6:00. Apparently he stopped to visit a port-a-potty somewhere around 3-4 miles because I saw him ahead, never passed him, and then saw him come from behind around 5 miles. For the next few miles I would pass him on his recovery, and then he would pass me on his interval. Then in the last three miles I slowed down and he maybe sped up, so I was not passing him anymore. He ended up doing the whole thing in around 1:14 - including the pit stop. The day before at the expo he gave a good talk on how to train and race. A lot of inspired ideas. You get faster when you sleep. You have to see yourself better than you currently are. Find something to be thankful for when you race. Make yourself slightly uncomfortable in training. Expect gradual, almost invisible, improvements - not quick immediate jumps. He quoted the Bible frequently, which I appreciated.
Leg 1:Distance1.500Time12:29.80Pace8:19.87
Warm-up with Benjamin.
Leg 2:Distance13.109Time1:15:54.60Pace5:47.44
The race. Decided I did not want to mess around with the split button, so no Fast Running Friend splits.
Leg 3:Distance5.000Time41:18.40Pace8:15.68
With Joseph and Jacob. Pushed Mary and Matthew in the stroller so that Sarah could get some sleep. She had to get up early to take Benjamin and myself to the start.

Nike Double Stroller Miles: 5.00	White Crocs 1 Miles: 19.60

Night Sleep Time: 6.00	Nap Time: 2.00	Total Sleep Time: 8.00

Comments(4)

Totals

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
59.33	0.99	16.11	0.00	76.43

Nike Double Stroller Miles: 18.50	White Crocs 1 Miles: 76.42

Night Sleep Time: 48.00	Nap Time: 4.00	Total Sleep Time: 52.00

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