Breaking the Wall

Day of rest. Went to church. The missionary work is progressing in our ward. We had an investigator galore today by our standards. Two families came - a mother with her four children, and another mother with her three children. The lesson in Sunday school was on work and personal responsibility, and it just happened that the Elder's Quorum lesson was on a similar subject - family responsibility. Then in the sacrament meeting your young women told about their experiences at the camp.

Yesterday we went to see Sister Pace who taught me the Gospel back in 1992 in Russia with her husband, who passed way 10 years ago. She is still quite energetic at the age of 92. She was happy to see our family.  She gave us two books of her family history which we studied in the afternoon. Those books contain a wealth of information. I felt like Lehi when he got his hands on the brass plates and studied the genealogy of his fathers.

A.M. Did total of 10, including kids runs. Benjamin did 4, Jenny 3, Julia and Joseph 1.5. I did some pickups - 200 and 3x400.

A.M. Did a workout. Warm-up, two 100 m strides then 8x400 with 200 recoveries on the trail. I found a stretch that was as flat as it gets, but it was still a bit bumpy. Splits: 74.1, 72.9, 74.0, 73.2, 73.9, 73.6, 73.2, 71.8. Recoveries were between 1:35 and 1:45. I think I picked the intensity right because I started to feel like I was finding a good rhythm and at the same time was getting a good cardiovascular push in the last 200. Generally happy with the workout. Ran a total of 15 including the kids runs. Benjamin did 4, Jenny 3, Julia and Joseph 1.5.

A.M. 10 total including kids runs. Benjamin did 4 miles in 28:20, last two in 12:44. Jenny ran 3, Joseph and Julia did 1.5.I ran the last mile in 5:47 to test the legs and breathe some air.

A.M. Tried my 2 mile workout, but after the first mile in 5:24 I saw it was going nowhere, and decided today was the wrong day to do it. I already know how to run slow, I need to learn to run fast. So my rule is that if 5:20 is too difficult to sustain, no point it battling it out at 5:30 or slower. The same training stimulus can be reached by jogging without learning the bad habit of running tense. Ran with the kids. Benjamin did 4, Jenny 3, Julia and Joseph 1.5. I ended up with the total of 13.

A.M. Ran with the kids - 4 with Benjamin, 3 with Jenny, 1.5 of it with Joseph. Julia ran 4 with Sarah. I have been thinking about quickness of muscle contraction vs force and decided to do a test. So I ran 7:30 pace for about 1.5 miles, and then picked up to about 6:15, and then to about 5:55. It appeared to me that the difference between 7:30 and 6:15 was mostly in how quickly I was moving my legs, but the amount of force I had to put into the step was not much difference. But 5:55 compared to 6:15 required a whole lot more force. Also, in terms of breathing, I was not breathing much harder at 6:15 than 7:30, but much more at 5:55.

P.M. 0.6 doing errands on foot.

A.M. 20 mile run. Chad Robinson came to run with me. He is a recent convert to the true religion of running in Crocs. I observed the he looked much like Ed Eyestone and spent a good portion of the run trying to figure out why he cannot run 27:41 10,000 meters yet. We did a test running a mile in 5:55. I watched the splits, listened to his breathing, monitored the patterns of fatigue using the "how do I drop this guy" sense, and concluded that the main weakness was the lack of leg strength. Chad weighs only 120 lb while 6-1 tall. So my recommendations were smart hill work and appetite boosters like garlic and cayenne pepper in addition to consistent mileage.

Chad was only going 12, but I was easy to talk into going a little further out, so he ended up going to about 7.5 and then waiting for me to come back to finish the 15. I went to the 10 mile mark to make the total of 20. On the way back, starting about 10.5 into the run I did a 3 mile tempo down the Provo Canyon. The target was 5:20 pace. I did the first mile in 5:11, then got scared/tired and ran 5:27 for the second mile. After hitting a quarter in 83 right before the 2 mile mark I realized I need to get down to business and gave it a more serious push, which gave me 5:17 for the last mile, and the total time of 15:55. It felt good to do this workout, as the downhill helped me move my legs faster for longer than normal. I was pleased with the last mile, as I had serious doubts about my ability to break 5:20 after the 5:27 middle mile "goose egg". It was nice to have Chad for a little bit in the last mile.

Some thoughts on the "how do I drop this guy" sense. It is developed through racing, and its original purpose is to know when and how hard to surge so you can make your competitor suffer the most at his weakest moment. But just like nuclear energy it can be used for peaceful purposes such as pacing or evaluating fitness.  For example, you can know that the person you are pacing has two 6:20 miles in him left, or one 6:10. So if you have 2 miles to go and you are leading him at 6:10, he will slow down to 6:30 in half a mile from fatigue and the fear of having to run another 1.5 miles.

P.M. 0.6 miles doing errands on foot.