Breaking the Wall

Week starting Nov 08, 2020

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:	72.31	Year:	3105.12
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
65.27	0.00	10.25	1.25	76.77

Brown Crocs 3 Miles: 76.76

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

Sun, Nov 08, 2020

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. Church at home.

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

Comments(3)

Mon, Nov 09, 2020

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 - 2020-11-09 08:35:38
Workout Totals: Distance12.060Time1:32:40.50Pace7:41.07
12 total, easy pace, usual distances for the kids, Benjamin did a mile pickup in 4:47.
Leg 1:Distance9.000Time1:07:16.30Pace7:28.48
Alone.
Leg 2:Distance1.060Time8:55.60Pace8:25.28
With Julia.
Leg 3:Distance1.000Time7:25.60Pace7:25.60
With Julia.
Leg 4:Distance1.000Time9:03.00Pace9:03.00
With Julia.

Brown Crocs 3 Miles: 12.06

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

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Tue, Nov 10, 2020

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.55	0.00	1.25	0.25	12.05

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2020-11-10 09:32:44
Workout Totals: Distance12.050Time1:34:34.90Pace7:50.95
12 total. Did 1.5 with Joseph and Jacob. I got 8:40, they had 8:35. We targeted 6:00 for the first 1.25 miles, then a kick. We were 4 seconds faster at 1.25, then they kicked in 69, I kicked in 74. Otherwise, usual distances for everybody, easy pace, mostly. Benjamin did a mile pickup in 4:59 down the canyon.
Leg 1:Distance9.000Time1:09:15.20Pace7:41.69
With Joseph and Jacob.
Split 1:Distance3.550Time28:03.80Pace7:54.31 Cumilative:Distance3.550Time28:03.80Pace7:54.31
Split 2:Distance1.250Time7:26.60Pace5:57.28 Cumilative:Distance4.800Time35:30.40Pace7:23.83
Split 3:Distance0.250Time1:14.10Pace4:56.40 Cumilative:Distance5.050Time36:44.50Pace7:16.53
Split 4:Distance3.950Time32:30.70Pace8:13.85 Cumilative:Distance9.000Time1:09:15.20Pace7:41.69

Leg 2:Distance1.050Time8:47.00Pace8:21.90
With Julia.
Leg 3:Distance1.000Time7:29.70Pace7:29.70
With Julia.
Leg 4:Distance1.000Time9:03.00Pace9:03.00
With Julia.

Brown Crocs 3 Miles: 12.05

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

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Wed, Nov 11, 2020

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.30	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.30

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2020-11-11 09:32:34
Workout Totals: Distance12.300Time1:40:08.10Pace8:08.46
12 total. Easy runs for everybody except Benjamin. He tried 10x0.625 workout, but after 4 his back tightened up and he could not open up his stride to run the right pace, so he stopped at that point. Also Julia did a mile in 7:25, which is in the range of fast for her right now.
Leg 1:Distance9.000Time1:10:51.10Pace7:52.34
Part with the kids, part alone.
Leg 2:Distance0.250Time2:27.00Pace9:48.00
With Bella.
Leg 3:Distance1.050Time10:07.70Pace9:38.76
With Julia.
Leg 4:Distance1.000Time7:25.40Pace7:25.40
With Julia.
Leg 5:Distance1.000Time9:16.90Pace9:16.90
With Julia.

Brown Crocs 3 Miles: 12.30

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

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Thu, Nov 12, 2020

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.06	0.00	1.00	1.00	12.06

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2020-11-12 10:15:09
Workout Totals: Distance12.052Time1:32:54.60Pace7:42.55
12 total. Benjamin paced Joseph and Jacob in 2x800 with full recovery. The target was 2:24. Jacob did 2:23.2, 2:23.8. Joseph was leading in the first one, but then with 100 to go Jacob started pulling ahead, and Joseph just gave up, finished in 2:26, and then would not do the second interval. I paced William, Stephen, and Matthew in the same workout. First one with Stephen and Matthew (2:57), then next one with William (2:45), then next one with Stephen and Matthew (2:58, Stephen had 2:57), and then the last one with William in 2:44. It was cold and I felt sluggish. I think the boys felt the same - except for Jacob - either that, or he is just strong and can hit the target regardless of the temperature. Julia had an upset stomach, so she ran only 2 miles.
Leg 1:Distance5.000Time36:48.80Pace7:21.76
Alone.
Leg 2:Distance1.060Time8:29.60Pace8:00.75
To the track.
Leg 3:Distance0.498Time2:57.90Pace5:57.23
800 with Stephen and Matthew.
Leg 4:Distance0.250Time2:21.80Pace9:27.20
Recovery.
Leg 5:Distance0.498Time2:45.20Pace5:31.73
800 with William.
Leg 6:Distance0.250Time2:13.20Pace8:52.80
Recovery.
Leg 7:Distance0.498Time2:58.10Pace5:57.63
800 with Stephen and Matthew.
Leg 8:Distance0.250Time2:27.70Pace9:50.80
Recovery.
Leg 9:Distance0.498Time2:44.10Pace5:29.52
800 with William.
Leg 10:Distance1.250Time11:13.70Pace8:58.96
With William.
Leg 11:Distance2.000Time17:54.50Pace8:57.25
With Julia and Benjamin.

Brown Crocs 3 Miles: 12.05

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

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Fri, Nov 13, 2020

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 - 2020-11-13 09:38:39
Workout Totals: Distance12.000Time1:33:35.80Pace7:47.98
12 total, easy runs.
Leg 1:Distance9.000Time1:09:49.20Pace7:45.47
Part with the kids, part alone.
Leg 2:Distance3.000Time23:46.60Pace7:55.53
With Benjamin.

Brown Crocs 3 Miles: 12.00

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

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Sat, Nov 14, 2020

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
8.30	0.00	8.00	0.00	16.30

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2020-11-14 09:56:38
Workout Totals: Distance16.300Time1:59:13.30Pace7:18.85
Total of 16. Did 2x4 miles down the canyon, first one with Joseph and Jacob in 24:05, second alone in 23:37. Benjamin did the rabbit chase with 3 minute handicap, 20:47, 20:46, first time he caught us, second time I was able to hold him off. The conditions were cold and windy, so we wore pants. In the first one, we were on track for sub-6:00, but then Joseph started struggling in the last mile, so we ran the fastest he could handle. In the second one, I surprised myself. My splits were 6:00, 5:51, 5:54, 5:52. Last week in warmer weather wearing shorts and with what appeared to be less wind I ran only 24:14 on the second interval. So adjusting for the pants, and also using Benjamin as a benchmark for the conditions compared to last week, this indicates an improvement of 15 seconds per mile over the last week for the second interval. Where did it come from? Possibly a result of my last supplement experiment. In my recent halves I have been experiencing a weird weakness in the last 6 miles. It felt like the heart not being strong enough to pump. I began to wonder if this was some kind of age-related hormonal decline. So I decided to try Testogen. The name sounds suspect for obvious reasons, but it is actually a plain herbal supplement with a fancy eye-brow raising name. I have also been taking ashwagandha for the last few years, and I feel it has been holding off the decline. So with Testogen added to my regular ashwagandha, something happened. During the workout, I was actually not feeling either super-energetic or motivated - some of it may have just been the cold weather and the wind in combination of thinking about having to do 16 miles in it. In the first interval, after running the first mile in 6:06, I thought things were not going to go well. But then I felt strong in the subsequent miles. However, I saw most of the difference in the second interval. I was not motivated at the start, but then I noticed that gusts of headwind did not make me feel as discouraged as they normally do - I was quickly getting back up to pace once the gust was over. The heart felt stronger, and was doing its job. I kept waiting for the blow-up, but it never happened. So maybe Testogen in combination with ashwagandha is doing something for me after all. We will see what happens in the next few months.
Leg 1:Distance1.480Time12:15.90Pace8:17.23
Warm-up.
Leg 2:Distance4.000Time24:05.60Pace6:01.40
First interval - with Joseph and Jacob.
Leg 3:Distance4.150Time35:21.20Pace8:31.13
Recovery with Benjamin.
Leg 4:Distance4.000Time23:37.10Pace5:54.27
Second interval - alone.
Leg 5:Distance2.670Time23:53.50Pace8:56.89
Cool-down/distance with Benjamin.

Brown Crocs 3 Miles: 16.30

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
65.27	0.00	10.25	1.25	76.77

Brown Crocs 3 Miles: 76.76

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

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