Breaking the Wall

Draper Days 5K

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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:	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
69.43	1.00	2.00	3.61	76.04

Black Crocs Miles: 64.04	Nike Double Stroller Miles: 9.06

Night Sleep Time: 20.50	Nap Time: 0.50	Total Sleep Time: 21.00

Sun, Jul 13, 2014

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: 7.50	Nap Time: 0.50	Total Sleep Time: 8.00

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Mon, Jul 14, 2014

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 - 2014-07-14 07:33:03
Workout Totals: Distance12.000Time1:36:00.00Pace8:00.00
Total of 12. Benjamin did 9, Jenny 4, Julia 3, William 1, Stephen 0.5, Jacob and Joseph 3. I pushed Matthew in the stroller for the first 3.54 miles. Sarah had a funny incident during her run. A man stopped her and asked her if she was my wife. She wondered how he knew and he explained it was because she was running in Crocs. She said to me afterwards - "who needs a wedding ring if you have Crocs?"
Leg 1:Distance3.000Time26:22.20Pace8:47.40
With Benjamin, Joseph, and Jacob.
Leg 2:Distance6.000Time46:29.50Pace7:44.92
With Benjamin.
Leg 3:Distance2.500Time17:54.10Pace7:09.64
Alone.
Leg 4:Distance0.500Time5:14.20Pace10:28.40
With Stephen.

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

Comments(2)

Tue, Jul 15, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
9.00	1.00	2.00	0.00	12.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-07-15 07:06:54
Workout Totals: Distance12.000Time1:34:07.80Pace7:50.65
Total of 12. Did a mile time trial down the Provo Canyon with Joseph and Jacob, then a 2 mile tempo uphill with Benjamin. David joined us for the time trial. Joseph ran 5:55.4, first time under 6:00. Jacob did 6:10.8 - quite remarkable for a 7 year old (almost 8), although there are kids in the country that can go much faster than that. Benjamin and I ran 11:40 uphill for 2 miles. Benjamin did 9, Joseph and Jacob 3, Julia 3, Jenny 4, William 1, Stephen 0.5. Details below.
Leg 1:Distance1.500Time11:11.60Pace7:27.73
Alone.
Leg 2:Distance0.500Time3:55.80Pace7:51.60
With Benjamin.
Leg 3:Distance0.250Time2:33.40Pace10:13.60
Warm-up with Joseph, Jacob, David and Benjamin.
Leg 4:Distance1.000Time6:10.80Pace6:10.80
I paced Jacob, Benjamin and David paced Joseph. Joseph got 5:55.4. His splits were 88,91,90, and 86. Jacob's splits - 90,94,94,92. I was quite pleased with the results. Now that they believe they can run fast the next step is to repeat this on the track.
Leg 5:Distance1.750Time15:44.90Pace8:59.94
Cool-down.
Leg 6:Distance2.300Time18:52.50Pace8:12.39
With Benjamin to the start of the tempo.
Leg 7:Distance2.000Time11:40.40Pace5:50.20
Tempo run with Benjamin. It started getting a little warmer, but we survived.
Split 1:Distance1.000Time5:48.10Pace5:48.10
Split 2:Distance1.000Time5:52.30Pace5:52.30
Leg 8:Distance1.200Time10:34.30Pace8:48.58
Cool-down.
Leg 9:Distance1.000Time8:05.60Pace8:05.60
With Julia.
Leg 10:Distance0.500Time5:18.50Pace10:37.00
With Julia and Stephen.

Black Crocs Miles: 12.00

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

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Wed, Jul 16, 2014

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 - 2014-07-16 06:57:21
Workout Totals: Distance12.000Time1:42:38.20Pace8:33.18
Total of 12. Benjamin did 9, Jenny 4, Julia hurt her foot riding a bike and could not run, Joseph and Jacob 3, William 1, Stephen 0.5. Steve Ashbaker joined us for 9 miles.
Leg 1:Distance2.500Time18:08.50Pace7:15.40
Alone
Leg 2:Distance3.000Time26:40.70Pace8:53.57
With Benjamin, Joseph, Jacob, Steve Ashbaker, and Matthew + Stephen in the stroller.
Leg 3:Distance6.000Time52:30.40Pace8:45.07
With Benjamin and Steve Ashbaker.
Leg 4:Distance0.500Time5:18.60Pace10:37.20

Black Crocs Miles: 12.00	Nike Double Stroller Miles: 3.00

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

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Thu, Jul 17, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.08	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.08

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-07-17 06:27:42
Workout Totals: Distance12.080Time1:22:15.00Pace6:48.53
Total of 12. Benjamin did 9, Julia did not run - the foot is still hurt, Jenny 4, Joseph and Jacob 2, William 1, Stephen 0.5.
Leg 1:Distance2.040Time0:00.00Pace0:00.00
With Joseph.
Leg 2:Distance2.040Time17:45.90Pace8:42.50
With Jacob and Benjamin - pushed Matthew in the stroller.
Leg 3:Distance7.000Time55:58.20Pace7:59.74
With Benjamin.
Leg 4:Distance0.500Time3:18.60Pace6:37.20
Alone.
Leg 5:Distance0.500Time5:12.30Pace10:24.60
With Stephen.

Black Crocs Miles: 12.08	Nike Double Stroller Miles: 2.04

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

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Fri, Jul 18, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
11.65	0.00	0.00	0.50	12.15

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-07-18 07:49:45
Workout Totals: Distance12.150Time1:39:10.20Pace8:09.73
Total of 12. 4 pushing a stroller with Matthew. Joseph did 2, Jacob 2.5, William 1, Stephen 0.5, Benjamin 7, Jenny 4, Julia was able to run today - I think she did 1.
Leg 1:Distance2.020Time17:25.00Pace8:37.33
With Joseph and Jacob, pushed Matthew in the stroller.
Leg 2:Distance7.080Time55:01.30Pace7:46.29
With Benjamin. Pushed Matthew for the first 2 miles. Later we did a 0.5 pickup uphill to test Benjamin's piriformis. He strained it while playing soccer at the Young Men's activities.
Split 1:Distance5.280Time41:13.10Pace7:48.39 Cumilative:Distance5.280Time41:13.10Pace7:48.39
Split 2:Distance0.500Time2:42.10Pace5:24.20 Cumilative:Distance5.780Time43:55.20Pace7:35.92
Benjamin was quite doubtful about his ability to run fast, but I kept telling him with an injury like this the first 100 meters are usually the worst, then you get used to it. He tried, and in spite of his doubts was able to run 5:24 pace up the Provo Canyon. We will see how he holds in Draper Days tomorrow.
Split 3:Distance1.300Time11:06.10Pace8:32.38 Cumilative:Distance7.080Time55:01.30Pace7:46.29

Leg 3:Distance0.500Time5:18.50Pace10:37.00
With Stephen.
Leg 4:Distance1.550Time11:37.40Pace7:29.94
Alone.
Leg 5:Distance1.000Time9:48.00Pace9:48.00
With William.

Black Crocs Miles: 12.15	Nike Double Stroller Miles: 4.02

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

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Sat, Jul 19, 2014

Race: Draper Days 5K (3.107 Miles) 00:17:14, Place overall: 12, Place in age division: 1

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.70	0.00	0.00	3.11	15.81

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-07-19 06:30:10
Workout Totals: Distance15.809Time2:01:13.50Pace7:40.09
Draper Days 5 K, 17:14, 12th overall, 1st master, $75. Benjamin struggled with his soccer piriformis injury, but pulled off 16:36, good enough for 6th overall, and smiting the high schoolers in "the hinder parts" (per Psalms 78:66, "And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts"). Of course it did help that Kramer was pacing his little brother. Joseph ran 21:37, good enough for 49th overall, and first in the 11 and under division, Jacob 21:43, 51st overall and second in the same division. Jacob is our first kid to break 22:00 before turning 8, and he did it on a slow course. The course got changed at the last minute and became slower - looking at the results I am going to estimate it on par with the correct version of Murray Fun Days. The Pachev team consisting of 4 participants ages 41,15,9, and 7 averaged 19:18. I wonder if this is some kind of record. Probably not for any immediate family - four prime-age brothers can easily beat that, but if you throw in the requirement that one of the team members has to be the parent, it has a decent shot, and if you add that all of the children have to be under 16, the chances are greatly improved. Teren won with 15:15, then Steve Shepherd 15:17, Jason Holt 15:31, Nate Hornok 15:35, Fritz 15:50, then Benjamin after that. Chad got 18:08.
Leg 1:Distance2.000Time16:09.90Pace8:04.95
Warm-up with Benjamin and Chad.
Leg 2:Distance3.107Time17:12.60Pace5:32.35
The race. My official time was 17:14, not sure how they managed this kind of a difference. If anything I hit the button late. Maybe the chip took its time to register when I crossed the line.
Split 1:Distance0.990Time5:27.40Pace5:30.71 Cumilative:Distance0.990Time5:27.40Pace5:30.71
At the start I found Joseph ahead of me and told him to slow down. It took him some time to react. I eventually maneuvered out of the crowd and found a pack with Blake Benion, and other Alta High runners, as well as Mark Payne. I hit the split at the mile post, which was a little off the painted mark - I had 5:30 at the painted mark.
Split 2:Distance2.010Time11:12.30Pace5:34.48 Cumilative:Distance3.000Time16:39.70Pace5:33.23
I ended up running in that pack most of the race. Did not see mile marker 2. With Blake's help got away from Mark at around 2.5, but then we gave back the distance by almost taking a wrong turn. Now the race for the master's win was on. At first I thought - just let Mark have it, he's never beaten you in a race, you are old and you've won plenty. Then I told myself - no, that is false charity. If you care that much about him winning, then you need to make him work for it so that his win will mean something to him, and only if he beats you when you are giving it all you have and are not afraid to let it rip and leave it all on the road, only then does he deserve to win. Do not disguise the weakness of your mind with false charity. So I gave a push and put a small gap on Mark, but I knew it would not be enough if things came down to a kick.
Split 3:Distance0.107Time0:32.90Pace5:07.48 Cumilative:Distance3.107Time17:12.60Pace5:32.35
Then some help arrived. Earlier we dropped Blake, but his coach Rob Murphy got on his case and told him a high schooler had no business getting outkicked by two masters. That worked and he past me, but not quite yet with full healthy young man speed, so I was able to latch on. This was enough to put a safe gap on Mark. Eventually the young man speed prevailed as he turned it on, but by then I had the momentum and could not be outkicked by another master. I ended up first master with officially 17:14, Mark second with 17:17, Dennis 3rd with 17:34.

Leg 3:Distance5.025Time43:07.80Pace8:34.99
Cool-down with Benjamin and Chad. Paced Joseph and Jacob for part of it.
Leg 4:Distance0.500Time5:15.70Pace10:31.40
Leg 5:Distance1.097Time9:25.00Pace8:35.04
With William.
Leg 6:Distance4.080Time30:02.50Pace7:21.79
Alone.

Black Crocs Miles: 15.81

Night Sleep Time: 6.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 6.00

Comments(4)

Totals

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
69.43	1.00	2.00	3.61	76.04

Black Crocs Miles: 64.04	Nike Double Stroller Miles: 9.06

Night Sleep Time: 20.50	Nap Time: 0.50	Total Sleep Time: 21.00

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