Breaking the Wall

Week starting Aug 31, 2014

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
72.21	4.50	4.50	0.00	81.21

Black Crocs Miles: 81.16

Night Sleep Time: 49.50	Nap Time: 1.00	Total Sleep Time: 50.50

Sun, Aug 31, 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. The speaker in sacrament meeting talked about faith. He shared some interesting experiences of miraculous recoveries from a number of health problems. Along with that I also learned that back in the 60s you could drive a Greyhound bus for the summer and have enough money to go to graduate school and support a wife and 4 children.

Night Sleep Time: 8.00	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 8.00

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Mon, Sep 01, 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 - 2014-09-01 07:40:26
Workout Totals: Distance12.000Time1:40:55.00Pace8:24.58
Total of 12. Benjamin did 10. We are upping his mileage a little bit to help him improve his endurance. Of course, there is only so much we can do - it is inevitable that his endurance will lag for a while as he goes through puberty, but I think we can mitigate the fallout a little. After watching him for some time I decided that middle distance intervals right now are counter-productive for him. He has plenty of speed, and it is tempting for him to use it, but when he does it overworks his heart and generates a whole slew of substances that are counter-productive to healthy aerobic development. So I told him no middle-distance stuff until his half is at least sub-1:10. Another indicator is that 7:30 pace should not run him out of breath like it does right now - I suspect the inability to run sub-1:10 half and all this huffing and puffing at 7:30 pace are connected. Jenny and Julia had minor colds and cut down their runs to avoid making it worse. Other kids ran their usual distances.
Leg 1:Distance3.000Time24:57.30Pace8:19.10
With Joseph, Jacob, and Benjamin.
Leg 2:Distance7.000Time57:38.30Pace8:14.04
With Benjamin. He said he was feeling some kind of odd fatigue, so half way through the run I made him slow down to make sure the run would be beneficial. He wanted to run one mile less at a faster pace, I told him to listen to his dad, sometimes teenagers need this reminder.
Leg 3:Distance0.500Time5:03.40Pace10:06.80
With Stephen.
Leg 4:Distance1.000Time8:49.90Pace8:49.90
With William.
Leg 5:Distance0.500Time4:26.10Pace8:52.20
With Jenny.

Black Crocs Miles: 12.00

Night Sleep Time: 7.00	Nap Time: 1.00	Total Sleep Time: 8.00

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Tue, Sep 02, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.60	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.60

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-09-02 06:54:10
Workout Totals: Distance12.600Time1:37:23.60Pace7:43.78
Total of 12. Today the kids ran in the Kiwani's park cross-country 2 K. Benjamin did not run because he had a class during that time. Everybody else except Matthew who is too little ran. I was not going to have Stephen run because the distance was too long for him, but he caught on to the excitement and wanted to, so he started, but made it only to about 600 meters and then saw Sarah and just went off the course to her. He should have better luck in the 1 K. Joseph took 5th overall and 2nd in the 9-10 division with 8:03, Jacob was 10th overall and 1st in the 7-8 division with 8:24. Julia and Jenny struggled with their colds but still ran decent - Julia 9:10, first in the 11-12 division, Jenny 9:41, 3rd in the 13-14 division. William won the 6 and under division with 10:19. Benjamin ran 9 miles with me in the morning.
Leg 1:Distance3.000Time20:35.90Pace6:51.97
Alone.
Leg 2:Distance9.100Time1:11:52.00Pace7:53.85
With Benjamin.
Leg 3:Distance0.500Time4:55.70Pace9:51.40
With Stephen.

Black Crocs Miles: 12.60

Night Sleep Time: 7.50	Nap Time: 0.00	Total Sleep Time: 7.50

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Wed, Sep 03, 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 - 2014-09-03 06:50:14
Workout Totals: Distance12.000Time1:34:25.40Pace7:52.12
Total 12. Benjamin had a sore throat, so he ran only 7 just in case. Jenny and Julia were recovering from their colds and ran less as well. Other children ran their usual distances.
Leg 1:Distance1.000Time7:35.40Pace7:35.40
Alone.
Leg 2:Distance3.000Time26:19.30Pace8:46.43
With Joseph, Jacob, Benjamin, and Jared.
Leg 3:Distance4.000Time32:54.40Pace8:13.60
With Benjamin.
Leg 4:Distance4.000Time27:36.30Pace6:54.07
First mile alone, the rest with Tommy Gruenewald. Unlike many collegiate and post-collegiate runners he knows how to keep the easy runs easy.

Black Crocs Miles: 12.00

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

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Thu, Sep 04, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
8.50	0.00	4.00	0.00	12.50

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-09-04 07:07:42
Workout Totals: Distance12.500Time1:39:37.60Pace7:58.21
Total of 12.5. Joseph and Jacob did 3, Julia and Jenny 2, William 1, Stephen 0.5.
Leg 1:Distance3.000Time29:19.30Pace9:46.43
We had a visitor today. His name is Greg. He is getting back into shape. So Joseph, Jacob, Jared and Benjamin ran ahead, and I stayed back with Greg.
Leg 2:Distance4.000Time32:50.40Pace8:12.60
With Benjamin.
Leg 3:Distance4.000Time23:50.40Pace5:57.60
Tempo run out and back from the house on the usually hilly course.
Leg 4:Distance0.500Time4:47.40Pace9:34.80
With Stephen.
Leg 5:Distance1.000Time8:50.10Pace8:50.10
With William.

Black Crocs Miles: 12.50

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

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Fri, Sep 05, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.06	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.06

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-09-05 06:52:13
Workout Totals: Distance12.060Time1:30:21.50Pace7:29.54
Total of 12. Benjamin did 5 due to a cold and fatigue resulting from it. Other kids ran their usual distances. We discovered that Jenny has anemia - 8.4 ng/ml ferritin (normal range 13-300), and 20 ug/ml iron (normal range 24-154). That explains her struggles with endurance lately. She started taking an iron supplement.
Leg 1:Distance1.000Time7:19.10Pace7:19.10
Leg 2:Distance2.060Time16:25.70Pace7:58.50
With Benjamin
Leg 3:Distance3.000Time25:08.60Pace8:22.87
With Benjamin, Joseph, and Jacob.
Leg 4:Distance6.000Time41:28.10Pace6:54.68
Alone.

Black Crocs Miles: 12.06

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

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Sat, Sep 06, 2014

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
15.05	4.50	0.50	0.00	20.05

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2014-09-06 07:30:04
Workout Totals: Distance20.050Time2:27:32.60Pace7:21.53
Total of 20. Did 5 miles of tempo running. Joseph and Jacob did 3, Benjamin 7, Jenny 3, Julia 3.5, William 1, Stephen 0.5.
Leg 1:Distance3.000Time25:47.50Pace8:35.83
With Joseph and Jacob.
Leg 2:Distance1.000Time6:57.50Pace6:57.50
Alone.
Leg 3:Distance7.000Time56:03.50Pace8:00.50
With Benjamin.
Leg 4:Distance4.550Time32:27.20Pace7:07.96
To the start of the tempo. Did a pickup and caught to a highschool runner named Clint. Ran with him for a little less than 2 miles.
Split 1:Distance2.300Time16:24.40Pace7:08.00 Cumilative:Distance2.300Time16:24.40Pace7:08.00
Alone.
Split 2:Distance0.500Time2:50.60Pace5:41.20 Cumilative:Distance2.800Time19:15.00Pace6:52.50
Pick-up to catch Clint (up the canyon).
Split 3:Distance1.750Time13:12.20Pace7:32.69 Cumilative:Distance4.550Time32:27.20Pace7:07.96
With Clint.

Leg 5:Distance4.500Time26:16.90Pace5:50.42
Tempo run back to the house. The last 2 miles were difficult due to the fatigue and the terrain, but managed 11:56.

Black Crocs Miles: 20.00

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

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Totals

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
72.21	4.50	4.50	0.00	81.21

Black Crocs Miles: 81.16

Night Sleep Time: 49.50	Nap Time: 1.00	Total Sleep Time: 50.50

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