Breaking the Wall

Week starting Jul 17, 2016

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:	3010.45
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
59.99	0.37	14.04	1.49	75.89

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 75.90	Nike Double Stroller Miles: 2.05

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

Sun, Jul 17, 2016

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

Add Comment

Mon, Jul 18, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.30	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.30

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-07-18 07:59:19
Workout Totals: Distance10.300Time1:23:19.30Pace8:05.37
10 total. Benjamin did 10 as well. Joseph and Jacob 3.3 from the car shop. Jenny did 4, Julia 3, William 2, Stephen 1, Matthew 0.25.
Leg 1:Distance7.000Time55:43.40Pace7:57.63
With Benjamin
Leg 2:Distance3.300Time27:35.90Pace8:21.79
With Joseph and Jacob.

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 10.30

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

Add Comment

Tue, Jul 19, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
9.23	0.00	5.00	1.00	15.23

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-07-19 07:11:11
Workout Totals: Distance15.230Time1:56:50.60Pace7:40.32
Did a workout with Benjamin, then added 3 with Joseph and Jacob. Kids ran their usual distances. Our workout was 3 up, then 2 down, then 1 down. Benjamin paced me through the 3 up (5:51,6:05,6:09). My legs started giving out towards the end as evident by the splits. When I finished they were shaking from the effort. However, after some walking around and jogging I was ready to continue the workout. For 2, Benjamin ran 9:48 with the splits of 4:58,4:50 - I got 11:09 (5:35,5:34). Then for 1, Benjamin got 4:37 (69,69,69,70), I got 5:14 (77,78,80,79).
Leg 1:Distance2.530Time21:02.10Pace8:18.85
Warm-up
Leg 2:Distance3.000Time18:05.90Pace6:01.97
3 up
Leg 3:Distance1.000Time9:26.80Pace9:26.80
Recovery.
Leg 4:Distance2.000Time11:09.30Pace5:34.65
2 down.
Leg 5:Distance2.000Time21:37.50Pace10:48.75
Recovery.
Leg 6:Distance1.000Time5:14.00Pace5:14.00
1 down.
Leg 7:Distance0.700Time6:49.30Pace9:44.71
Cool-down.
Leg 8:Distance3.000Time23:25.70Pace7:48.57
With Joseph and Jacob.

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 15.23

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

Add Comment

Wed, Jul 20, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
8.93	0.00	1.00	0.12	10.05

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-07-20 07:22:36
Workout Totals: Distance10.049Time1:21:35.00Pace8:07.11
I took Joseph and Jacob to do a mile time trial. Jacob was turning 10 the next day, so I wanted to give him a chance to improve his mile track record of 5:47. Unfortunately it was not his day - he only had 5:49.8 in him. However, Joseph got a mile PR of 5:38.3 - splits 83, 85, 85, and 81 with the remaining 2 seconds going towards the 9.34 meter tax. Benjamin paced Joseph, while I paced Jacob. William got a 200 PR with 40.1. Stephen ran 2 miles total - to the track and back. Matthew ran his usual 0.25 in the evening, but in the morning he and Mary rode in the stroller to the track and back. Benjamin and I also paced William through a 200 in 40.1 - new PR for him. Benjamin and I did a total of 10. Joseph and Jacob did 3, Stephen 2, otherwise usual distances.
Leg 1:Distance1.050Time9:53.90Pace9:25.62
Warm-up with Benjamin, Joseph, Jacob, William, and Stephen - Matthew and Mary in the stroller.
Leg 2:Distance1.000Time5:49.80Pace5:49.80
Paced Jacob.
Leg 3:Distance0.124Time0:40.10Pace5:23.39
Paced William.
Leg 4:Distance0.125Time1:15.90Pace10:07.20
Recovery jog with William and Benjamin.
Leg 5:Distance1.000Time9:48.30Pace9:48.30
Back to the house with the boys.
Leg 6:Distance6.750Time54:07.00Pace8:01.04
With Benjamin.

Nike Double Stroller Miles: 2.05	Black Crocs 2 Miles: 10.05

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

Add Comment

Thu, Jul 21, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.08	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.08

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-07-21 07:59:12
Workout Totals: Distance10.080Time1:20:24.90Pace7:58.66
Usual distances for everybody, except I had Joseph and Jacob run only 3 to help them keep fresher legs.
Leg 1:Distance1.040Time8:58.20Pace8:37.50
With Benjamin, Joseph, Jacob, and Stephen.
Leg 2:Distance2.040Time16:43.00Pace8:11.67
With Benjamin,Joseph and Jacob. Do not remember, we might have had William with us as well.
Leg 3:Distance7.000Time54:43.70Pace7:49.10
With Benjamin.

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 10.08

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

Add Comment

Fri, Jul 22, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
9.45	0.37	0.04	0.37	10.23

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-07-22 07:30:15
Workout Totals: Distance10.240Time1:21:17.20Pace7:56.29
Joseph and Jacob did a 600 today - Joseph 1:54.6, Jacob 1:56.4. I paced Joseph, Benjamin paced Jacob. Jacob has a very remote shot at making the final at the nationals. He will need to run about 2:32, if luck has it 2:34 might be sufficient, but the luck can also go the other way. If stars align, I think he can run 2:34, but this may not be enough. At least we are talking about making the final. Two years ago he would have had no hope - his PR was 3:00.5, 8th qualifying time was 2:42.68. So incidentally, in the last 2 years Joseph improved from 2:53 to 2:36 - 17 seconds, while Jacob from 3:00 to 2:37 - 23 seconds. From a cursory look at the race results it appears that the boys that qualified for the final 2 years ago improved by only somewhere between 8-13 seconds. I like the 800 distance because it does a fairly good job of controlling for the training factor, and is more of an indicator of the natural talent/raw ability - although aerobic base does help a lot and specific 800 training can give you another 10 seconds or so - but maybe not so much for the young kids. Then Benjamin, Joseph, Jacob, and I paced William through 600 in 2:13.8. This gives me hope that he might be able to go sub-3:00 at the nationals, although this would still be good 15 seconds away from making the final - 8 and under division is crazy fast there. Stephen did 100 in 20.9 - this might be his PR. Stephen ended up doing 2 miles, 1 more than normal. Joseph and Jacob ran only 3 to keep their legs fresh. Otherwise we ran our usual distances.
Leg 1:Distance1.100Time8:47.80Pace7:59.82
Leg 2:Distance0.373Time1:56.40Pace5:12.06
Split 1:Distance0.373Time1:54.50Pace5:06.97 Cumilative:Distance0.373Time1:54.50Pace5:06.97
Split 2:Distance0.000Time0:01.90Pace0:00.00 Cumilative:Distance0.373Time1:56.40Pace5:12.06

Leg 3:Distance0.373Time2:13.80Pace5:58.71
Leg 4:Distance0.044Time0:20.90Pace7:55.00
Leg 5:Distance1.100Time10:33.70Pace9:36.09
Leg 6:Distance7.250Time57:24.60Pace7:55.12

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 10.24

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

Add Comment

Sat, Jul 23, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.00	0.00	8.00	0.00	20.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-07-23 07:30:24
Workout Totals: Distance20.000Time2:25:13.40Pace7:15.67
Long run - 20 total. Benjamin did 15. We did an 8 mile tempo downhill starting near a park almost 2 miles up South Fork, and finishing at the press building. Grant rode along on a bike and gave us EmergenC. Benjamin and I ran together for the first 5, then he pulled ahead just a second before the 5 mark and ran 5:22,5:08,4:55 finishing in 45:03 - his target was 5:20,5:10,5:00. I ran the last 3 in 17:08 - 5:44, 5:45,5:39 finishing in 46:47. We were very sluggish in the first 2 miles running it in 12:02 in spite of a steep downhill - part of the problem was the absence of quarter marks, part was mutual laziness. But then we were able to shift gears and run 17:36/17:37 for the next 3. It started to get warm at the end, especially in the open areas. Then we ran home, and I ran another 5 with Joseph and Jacob to the Canyon Glen Park. Other kids ran their usual distances.
Leg 1:Distance5.300Time43:58.80Pace8:17.89
Warmup.
Leg 2:Distance8.000Time46:47.00Pace5:50.88
Tempo run.
Leg 3:Distance1.700Time15:07.90Pace8:54.06
Cool-down.
Leg 4:Distance5.000Time39:19.70Pace7:51.94
With Joseph and Jacob.

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 20.00

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

Add Comment

Totals

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
59.99	0.37	14.04	1.49	75.89

Black Crocs 2 Miles: 75.90	Nike Double Stroller Miles: 2.05

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

Debt Reduction Calculator

Featured Announcements

Most Recent Entries:

New Kids on the Blog
(need a welcome):

Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):