Breaking the Wall

Week starting Aug 20, 2023

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:	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
51.34	0.00	17.61	0.00	68.95

Black Crocs 2023 Miles: 68.95

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

Sun, Aug 20, 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.

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

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Mon, Aug 21, 2023

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 - 2023-08-21 08:48:54
Workout Totals: Distance12.000Time1:33:22.00Pace7:46.83
12 total. Easy pace.
Leg 1: Distance10.000Time1:16:42.90Pace7:40.29ZoneEasy Miles
With Benjamin.
Leg 2: Distance2.000Time16:39.10Pace8:19.55ZoneEasy Miles
With Mary and Julia.

Black Crocs 2023 Miles: 12.00

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

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Tue, Aug 22, 2023

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 - 2023-08-22 10:07:43
Workout Totals: Distance12.000Time1:34:01.80Pace7:50.15
12 total. Easy pace.
Leg 1: Distance10.000Time1:16:10.20Pace7:37.02ZoneEasy Miles
With Benjamin.
Leg 2: Distance2.000Time17:51.60Pace8:55.80ZoneEasy Miles
With Mary and Bonnie.

Black Crocs 2023 Miles: 12.00

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

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Wed, Aug 23, 2023

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
9.00	0.00	3.00	0.00	12.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2023-08-23 08:16:21
Workout Totals: Distance12.000Time1:32:10.10Pace7:40.84
12 total. Did 3 miles down the canyon in 17:59. Felt sluggish. Paced Bonnie and Matthew for the first 2 in 12:03, then tried to pick it up, but did not have much juice. Benjamin did it in 15:08, felt tense in the middle, ran a 5:10 mile, then was able to speed back up to sub-5:00 in the middle. Joseph and Jacob did 2, their target was 5:20, need to follow up with them and figure out what time they ran.
Leg 1: Distance2.050Time16:57.50Pace8:16.34ZoneEasy Miles
Warm-up.
Leg 2: Distance3.000Time17:59.70Pace5:59.90
3 mile tempo. First 2 with Matthew and Bonnie.
Split 1:Distance2.000Time12:03.80Pace6:01.90ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance2.000Time12:03.80Pace6:01.90
Split 2:Distance1.000Time5:55.90Pace5:55.90ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance3.000Time17:59.70Pace5:59.90

Leg 3: Distance4.950Time39:50.60Pace8:02.95ZoneEasy Miles
Part with the kids, part alone.
Leg 4: Distance2.000Time17:22.30Pace8:41.15ZoneEasy Miles
With Bella and Julia.

Black Crocs 2023 Miles: 12.00

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

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Thu, Aug 24, 2023

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
7.54	0.00	1.50	0.00	9.04

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2023-08-24 09:35:50
Workout Totals: Distance9.040Time1:13:17.70Pace8:06.47
9 total. Tapering. Did 1.5 pickup down the canyon in 8:44. Benjamin did it in 7:19. Jacob tapering. Do not remember what Joseph and William did. 2 for Mary and Bella, 1 for Leigha as usual.
Leg 1: Distance3.520Time28:01.00Pace7:57.56ZoneEasy Miles
Warm-up.
Leg 2: Distance1.500Time8:44.00Pace5:49.33ZoneThreshold Miles
Pickup.
Leg 3: Distance2.020Time17:23.90Pace8:36.78ZoneEasy Miles
Cool-down.
Leg 4: Distance2.000Time19:08.80Pace9:34.40ZoneEasy Miles
With Mary.

Black Crocs 2023 Miles: 9.04

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

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Fri, Aug 25, 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 - 2023-08-25 09:37:42
Workout Totals: Distance6.000Time47:00.30Pace7:50.05
6 total. Tapering. Benjamin did 6, Jacob 4. Usual distances for other kids for the most part.
Leg 1: Distance6.000Time47:00.30Pace7:50.05ZoneEasy Miles
With Benjamin.

Black Crocs 2023 Miles: 6.00

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

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Sat, Aug 26, 2023

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
4.80	0.00	13.11	0.00	17.91

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2023-08-26 05:29:13
Workout Totals: Distance17.909Time2:03:06.00Pace6:52.42
Top of Utah Half, 1:22:11, 16th overall, 1st in 50-54. Benjamin ran 1:11:42, 5th. Jacob ran 1:21:52, 14th. The conditions were a bit warmer than normal, so maybe a minute slower, but not 2:30 slower. Which means I lost some fitness since the Utah Valley Half. Benjamin's troubles continue. This time he got shaky legs after 3 miles, tripped, got up, started running normally again and was able to go to 8 miles at 5:10-5:15 pace. Then suddenly he ran 5:43 and then slowed all the way down to 6:00, but he actually kept that pace when he hit the uphill, which is also strange. Then in the last mile he was able to speed up to 5:20. Not sure what has been happening to him in the last 2 years. Some nervous system disorder. We are going to try Ashwagandha and B-complex to see if it will do anything. Jacob got the same side ache that he did last Saturday during the workout and barely finished. But even without it, he has been struggling lately. With him I think we will now focus on shorter distances and see if that will reboot him.
Leg 1: Distance1.900Time15:53.80Pace8:22.00ZoneEasy Miles
Warm-up.
Leg 2: Distance13.109Time1:22:11.30Pace6:16.18
Race.
Split 1:Distance1.000Time5:55.00Pace5:55.00ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance1.000Time5:55.00Pace5:55.00
Split 2:Distance1.000Time6:06.80Pace6:06.80ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance2.000Time12:01.80Pace6:00.90
Split 3:Distance1.000Time6:05.80Pace6:05.80ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance3.000Time18:07.60Pace6:02.53
Split 4:Distance1.000Time6:18.30Pace6:18.30ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance4.000Time24:25.90Pace6:06.47
Split 5:Distance1.000Time6:01.90Pace6:01.90ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance5.000Time30:27.80Pace6:05.56
Split 6:Distance1.000Time5:55.20Pace5:55.20ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance6.000Time36:23.00Pace6:03.83
Split 7:Distance1.000Time6:03.90Pace6:03.90ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance7.000Time42:26.90Pace6:03.84
Split 8:Distance2.000Time12:34.70Pace6:17.35ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance9.000Time55:01.60Pace6:06.84
Split 9:Distance1.000Time6:28.60Pace6:28.60ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance10.000Time1:01:30.20Pace6:09.02
Split 10:Distance1.000Time6:45.20Pace6:45.20ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance11.000Time1:08:15.40Pace6:12.31
Split 11:Distance1.000Time7:04.80Pace7:04.80ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance12.000Time1:15:20.20Pace6:16.68
Split 12:Distance1.109Time6:51.10Pace6:10.69ZoneThreshold Miles Cumilative:Distance13.109Time1:22:11.30Pace6:16.18

Leg 3: Distance2.900Time25:00.90Pace8:37.55ZoneEasy Miles
Cool-down.

Black Crocs 2023 Miles: 17.91

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
51.34	0.00	17.61	0.00	68.95

Black Crocs 2023 Miles: 68.95

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

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