Breaking the Wall

Week starting Oct 09, 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:

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to Ukraine's Armed Forces

Miles:	This week:	0.00	Month:	0.00	Year:	2724.68
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
59.19	1.00	4.00	1.87	66.06

Khaki Crocs 1 Miles: 62.40	Saucony Type A Miles: 3.66

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

Sun, Oct 09, 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. Fast Sunday.

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

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Mon, Oct 10, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.06	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.06

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-10-10 08:41:50
Workout Totals: Distance10.060Time1:19:58.00Pace7:56.94
Usual run, usual distances for the kids.
Leg 1:Distance4.000Time33:25.60Pace8:21.40
With Joseph.
Leg 2:Distance1.020Time8:44.20Pace8:33.92
With Jacob, Stephen and William.
Leg 3:Distance1.000Time7:26.00Pace7:26.00
With William and Jacob.
Leg 4:Distance2.040Time15:49.50Pace7:45.44
With Jenny and Jacob.
Leg 5:Distance0.500Time4:38.30Pace9:16.60
With Matthew.
Leg 6:Distance1.500Time9:54.40Pace6:36.27
Alone.

Khaki Crocs 1 Miles: 10.06

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

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Tue, Oct 11, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.79	0.00	0.00	0.87	11.66

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-10-11 07:48:39
Workout Totals: Distance11.659Time1:32:18.10Pace7:55.01
Easy runs in the morning, Benjamin and I did 8, Joseph/Jacob/Jenny/Julia 2, William 1, Stephen and Matthew rested. In the evening we ran in the cross-country race. The official distance was 1500 meters, I anticipate it was shorter. I ran a warm-up at a steady pace. It took me 2:03 to run from the start of the 1500 to the start of 1000 going slightly uphill. Then it took me 4:20 to run the 1000 course going slightly downhill. In the race my splits were 1:26/3:19, Benjamin got 1:20/2:57. So I think it would be fair to say this was about 10 seconds short. Our times: Benjamin 4:17 me 4:45 Joseph - officially 5:06, I am suspecting a bit slower, I know they had trouble timing the winner of the heat Jacob - 5:20 - officially 5:24 which I believe is wrong Jenny - 5:43 Julia - 5:56 William - 6:32 - he really did not have it today Stephen - 7:35 Matthew - 10:22 - without holding the hand
Leg 1:Distance2.040Time16:51.30Pace8:15.74
With Grant and Benjamin.
Leg 2:Distance6.000Time45:56.80Pace7:39.47
With Benjamin
Leg 3:Distance1.500Time10:42.90Pace7:08.60
Warm-up before the race.
Leg 4:Distance0.999Time6:21.80Pace6:22.18
The race.
Split 1:Distance0.870Time4:45.60Pace5:28.28 Cumilative:Distance0.870Time4:45.60Pace5:28.28
My time.
Split 2:Distance0.050Time0:58.20Pace19:24.00 Cumilative:Distance0.920Time5:43.80Pace6:13.70
Jenny
Split 3:Distance0.027Time0:13.00Pace8:01.48 Cumilative:Distance0.947Time5:56.80Pace6:16.77
Julia
Split 4:Distance0.052Time0:25.00Pace8:00.77 Cumilative:Distance0.999Time6:21.80Pace6:22.18
Leg reset.

Leg 5:Distance0.150Time1:09.70Pace7:44.67
To the start of Matthew's heat.
Leg 6:Distance0.870Time10:22.10Pace11:55.06
With Matthew.
Leg 7:Distance0.100Time0:53.50Pace8:55.00
Cool-down.

Saucony Type A Miles: 3.66	Khaki Crocs 1 Miles: 8.00

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

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Wed, Oct 12, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.02	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.02

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-10-12 08:38:58
Workout Totals: Distance10.020Time1:20:38.80Pace8:02.91
Usual day, usual distances for the kids.
Leg 1:Distance4.000Time32:35.40Pace8:08.85
With Joseph
Leg 2:Distance1.020Time8:23.50Pace8:13.63
With William and Stephen.
Leg 3:Distance1.000Time7:46.20Pace7:46.20
With William.
Leg 4:Distance4.000Time31:53.70Pace7:58.43
With Jacob. I think we might have had Jenny with us also.

Khaki Crocs 1 Miles: 10.02

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

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Thu, Oct 13, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.04	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.04

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-10-13 08:25:46
Workout Totals: Distance10.040Time1:21:26.80Pace8:06.73
Usual runs today.
Leg 1:Distance4.000Time32:11.90Pace8:02.98
With Joseph.
Leg 2:Distance0.500Time4:17.90Pace8:35.80
With Jacob, Julia, Jenny, and Matthew.
Leg 3:Distance0.500Time3:12.30Pace6:24.60
Alone, then joined the crew.
Leg 4:Distance3.000Time24:10.40Pace8:03.47
With Jenny, William, and Jacob.
Leg 5:Distance2.040Time17:34.30Pace8:36.81
With Stephen.

Khaki Crocs 1 Miles: 10.04

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

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Fri, Oct 14, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
8.78	1.00	0.00	1.00	10.78

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-10-14 08:35:05
Workout Totals: Distance10.784Time1:18:03.40Pace7:14.29
Mile time trials today for Grant, Stephen,Joseph, and Jacob. William had sore legs, did not do one. Otherwise usual distances for everybody. First I paced Grant. I was not sure what he was capable of, so I was just pacing him by feel. We ran the first lap in 89, then 91, then somehow 89. So I thought he would have a good shot of breaking 6:00, but he completely fell apart in the last lap running it in 99. That was the strangest mile run I have ever observed. Usually if somebody is feeling that bad, his third lap is much slower than the second. But he still got 6:11 out of it, which is a decent result. Then I paced Stephen with William's help to a new PR of 7:38.7. He opened with 1:48, then 1:58, 1:59, and 1:51 for the last lap. He has gotten tougher mentally over the last couple of months, but still has some maturing to do. He has plenty of time as he just turned 6 in August. Then I paced Joseph and Jacob. They busted out like a bat out of heck and hit the first 209 meters in 40 - so close to 5:00 pace. I have learned from past experience to never slow a fast-starting kid down. Whenever I did it messed with their drive and they underperformed. So I just let them go for it hoping they would slow down at some point because this would be my all out mile right now. At around 300 it became clear that the pace was too fast for Jacob, but Joseph wanted to push, so I had to make a decision on who to pace. Jacob's PR was 5:41 - 12 second improvement from last year. Joseph's 5:38 - only 4 seconds. So I figured Joseph needed my help today more, and went with him. Joseph's laps were 79,83,84,82 - 5:30.9, new PR, 12 second improvement from last year. Jacob paid for the fast start, and also struggled running alone. So he could only manage 5:46.2 today. We will try again next week with me focusing on him this time.
Leg 1:Distance0.248Time2:21.70Pace9:31.37
With Matthew, and everybody else.
Leg 2:Distance0.000Time0:02.10Pace0:00.00
False start.
Leg 3:Distance1.000Time6:11.00Pace6:11.00
With Grant.
Leg 4:Distance1.000Time7:38.70Pace7:38.70
With Stephen and William.
Leg 5:Distance1.000Time5:46.20Pace5:46.20
With Jacob and Joseph.
Split 1:Distance1.000Time5:30.90Pace5:30.90 Cumilative:Distance1.000Time5:30.90Pace5:30.90
Joseph's time.
Split 2:Distance0.000Time0:15.30Pace0:00.00 Cumilative:Distance1.000Time5:46.20Pace5:46.20
Jacob's time.

Leg 6:Distance0.248Time1:37.10Pace6:31.53
William's attempt at 800. I stopped him after the first lap.
Leg 7:Distance0.248Time2:21.60Pace9:30.97
With Matthew, Jacob, Joseph, and William.
Leg 8:Distance2.040Time17:08.60Pace8:24.22
With Joseph and Jacob.
Leg 9:Distance5.000Time34:56.40Pace6:59.28
Alone.

Khaki Crocs 1 Miles: 10.78

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

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Sat, Oct 15, 2016

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
9.50	0.00	4.00	0.00	13.50

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2016-10-15 07:42:31
Workout Totals: Distance13.500Time1:38:41.50Pace7:18.63
Today Benjamin and I did our 4 mile tempo run down the canyon. For both of us it did not go as well as planned. I was hoping to maintain 5:30 pace, but could only do it for the first mile (5:28), and was somewhat close in the last (5:34). In between I ran 5:41,5:47, so 20:30 total with 5:37.5 average. I'll blame it on the lack of sleep combined with being forced by Joseph to run 5:30 on track on Friday as well as speeding over the last 5 miles (7:00 pace on hills is now speeding for me). Benjamin also struggled. His target was 5:00 pace. He ran 5:02,5:06,5:18,5:18 - 20:44, 5:11 average. He said he felt his heart was beating faster than it should have. What is strange is that both of us were exactly 1 second faster than our 4 mile split the fartlek workout last week. We should have been at the very least 20 seconds faster if not the whole 40 as that workout involved running 600 meters at a jogging pace. Younger kids ran their usual distances except for Stephen who stepped on a toy, hurt his foot, and could only run 1 mile today.
Leg 1:Distance1.700Time14:02.30Pace8:15.47
Warm-up.
Leg 2:Distance4.000Time22:30.10Pace5:37.52
Tempo run.
Leg 3:Distance6.300Time48:35.00Pace7:42.70
Distance with Benjamin.
Leg 4:Distance0.500Time4:39.90Pace9:19.80
With Matthew.
Leg 5:Distance1.000Time8:54.20Pace8:54.20
With Stephen.

Khaki Crocs 1 Miles: 13.50

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
59.19	1.00	4.00	1.87	66.06

Khaki Crocs 1 Miles: 62.40	Saucony Type A Miles: 3.66

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

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