Breaking the Wall

Week starting Nov 14, 2021

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:	40.31	Year:	3073.12
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
48.41	3.00	0.00	0.00	51.41

Amoji 2 Miles: 51.41

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

Sun, Nov 14, 2021

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. As usual went to our ward, then to the Russian branch.

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

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Mon, Nov 15, 2021

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

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2021-11-15 08:54:14
Workout Totals: Distance9.000Time1:11:41.70Pace7:57.97
9 total, and it was 1 mile too much. My right calf got overworked compensating for the IT band. So I had to slow down in the last mile to 8:30. The IT band is feeling a lot better that on Saturday, though I still cannot take a full length stride. But it did not take as much mental fortitude today to get through the run. The kids did their usual distances, easy pace.
Leg 1: Distance4.000Time31:04.00Pace7:46.00ZoneEasy Miles
With Joseph, William, Stephen, and Matthew.
Leg 2: Distance5.000Time40:37.70Pace8:07.54ZoneEasy Miles
Part with Jacob, part alone.

Amoji 2 Miles: 9.00

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

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Tue, Nov 16, 2021

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

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2021-11-16 09:02:49
Workout Totals: Distance8.000Time1:03:42.20Pace7:57.77
Jacob did 2 x 1.25 in the canyon, one up in 7:19, then 1 mile recovery jog and down in 6:34 closing in 2:32 for the last 0.5. I was happy with this workout. Other kids ran their usual distances easy. I did "easy" 8. It was easy in terms of cardio effort, but it was not easy to run having to shorten the stride to avoid the knee pain.
Leg 1: Distance8.000Time1:03:42.20Pace7:57.77ZoneEasy Miles
With Jacob except for his speed.

Amoji 2 Miles: 8.00

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

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Wed, Nov 17, 2021

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

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2021-11-17 09:16:48
Workout Totals: Distance8.000Time1:03:34.70Pace7:56.84
Total of 8. Jacob paced William and Matthew in the 3 mile tempo run. Matthew ran a PR of 19:17. William tried to pull away with a mile to go, but could not really separate until the last quarter. Their splits were 6:29, 6:32, 6:16 (6:09). Stephen ran 1.5 with them in 9:44. My knee/IT band is healing, but was not yet at the point of being able to run with them. So I just ran easy today. Matthew, William, and Stephen did 6 miles. Otherwise easy pace, usual distances.
Leg 1: Distance8.000Time1:03:34.70Pace7:56.84ZoneEasy Miles
Part with Jacob, part alone.

Amoji 2 Miles: 8.00

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

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Thu, Nov 18, 2021

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
5.00	3.00	0.00	0.00	8.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2021-11-18 10:24:02
Workout Totals: Distance8.000Time1:01:09.30Pace7:38.66
8 total. Did my first tempo run of sorts. Ran 3 miles down the canyon in 19:51 (6:39, 6:37, 6:35). On the plus side this is the fastest I have gone since the Monumental half. On the minus my calf was tightening up and I felt it on the cool-down quite a bit. On the plus again, I was able to finish the distance for the day. Joseph chased me and ran 18:28. I wanted to go with him when he caught me, but my calf was too tight. He had a side ache and slowed down in the last mile for about 0.5 to slower than 6:40 pace. Otherwise he was headed for about 18:15. Easy pace for other kids, usual distance except for Mary. She could not run today, had a cough. So she did 0.2 and then later added 0.5 with Julia.
Leg 1: Distance0.500Time4:36.60Pace9:13.20ZoneEasy Miles
With Joseph and Bella.
Leg 2: Distance0.200Time2:06.60Pace10:33.00ZoneEasy Miles
With Joseph and Mary.
Leg 3: Distance0.980Time7:51.10Pace8:00.71ZoneEasy Miles
Warm-up with Joseph.
Leg 4: Distance3.000Time19:51.10Pace6:37.03ZoneMarathon Pace Miles
Tempo run, acted as a rabbit for Joseph.
Leg 5: Distance3.320Time26:43.90Pace8:03.10ZoneEasy Miles
Cool-down with Joseph.

Amoji 2 Miles: 8.00

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

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Fri, Nov 19, 2021

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
8.41	0.00	0.00	0.00	8.41

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2021-11-19 09:05:04
Workout Totals: Distance8.413Time1:08:11.90Pace8:06.38
Went to the track. Matthew did an 800 time trial. Jacob paced him. First lap was good. Well, the first 200 was good, 39.6. The second 200 was OK time-wise, but mentally Matthew was starting to check out. He ran 41.0. And then that check out started to grow and he ran 46 for the next 200. It was hard to kick after that, he could only run 44 in the kick. So 2:51.7 for the 800. I did not want him to end the day on a bad note, so I had him run a quick 400 after some rest. Again, his start was good - 36.4, but then he fell apart in the second half and ran in it 43.9. I am thinking this is psychological. He had the endurance, and he showed it earlier this year by running 5:54 in the mile. In fact, just on Wednesday he negative split a 3 mile tempo. But he is very stubborn. If he gets into his mind that the pace hurts too much, then he will let that perception dominate. If he believes he has the energy, then he can push through the pain, and it even does not feel that painful to him. I ran total of 8+, easy pace. Hopefully the knee is good enough by Thanksgiving that I can be somewhat competitive. If I had to race today, it would be at around 6:40 per mile.
Leg 1: Distance2.300Time19:32.90Pace8:29.96ZoneEasy Miles
Warm-up, most of it with the kids.
Leg 2: Distance0.088Time0:42.10Pace7:58.41
Matthew false start - timing.
Split 1:Distance0.088Time0:42.10Pace7:58.41ZoneEasy Miles Cumilative:Distance0.088Time0:42.10Pace7:58.41
Split 2:Distance0.000Time0:00.00Pace0:00.00ZoneEasy Miles Cumilative:Distance0.088Time0:42.10Pace7:58.41

Leg 3: Distance0.357Time2:51.70Pace8:00.95
Matthew 800 meter time trial - timing.
Split 1:Distance0.082Time0:39.60Pace8:02.93ZoneEasy Miles Cumilative:Distance0.082Time0:39.60Pace8:02.93
Split 2:Distance0.085Time0:41.00Pace8:02.35ZoneEasy Miles Cumilative:Distance0.167Time1:20.60Pace8:02.63
Split 3:Distance0.097Time0:46.70Pace8:01.44ZoneEasy Miles Cumilative:Distance0.264Time2:07.30Pace8:02.20
Split 4:Distance0.093Time0:44.40Pace7:57.42ZoneEasy Miles Cumilative:Distance0.357Time2:51.70Pace8:00.95

Leg 4: Distance0.500Time4:23.60Pace8:47.20ZoneEasy Miles
Part with the kids, part alone.
Leg 5: Distance0.168Time1:20.30Pace7:57.98
Matthew 400 interval - timing.
Split 1:Distance0.076Time0:36.40Pace7:58.95ZoneEasy Miles Cumilative:Distance0.076Time0:36.40Pace7:58.95
Split 2:Distance0.092Time0:43.90Pace7:57.17ZoneEasy Miles Cumilative:Distance0.168Time1:20.30Pace7:57.98

Leg 6: Distance5.000Time39:21.30Pace7:52.26ZoneEasy Miles
With Jacob, part with William, Stephen, and Matthew.

Amoji 2 Miles: 8.41

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

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Sat, Nov 20, 2021

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
10.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	10.00

Fast Running Friend Workout - 2021-11-20 09:05:20
Workout Totals: Distance10.000Time1:14:53.10Pace7:29.31
Did 10 miles alone, first 3 with the kids. Was happy to break 7:30 average. This was my longest run since the Monumental Half. I also recovered from it well, was not limping afterwards. However, I still did not feel like I could run in the 6:00 range for any duration of time. Hopefully I will be able to get there on Monday. Jacob did a 4 mile tempo out and back in the canyon with the splits of 6:00 (up), 6:02 (up), then down 5:57, 5:42. Joseph did the first and the last 0.75 with him. William did 0.5 up in 3:06, then later down in 3:04. Stephen and Matthew did the first 0.25 in 90, and the last in 85. Benjamin had a good workout - he found and measured a flat stretch on the trail and did 10x1000 with 1 min recovery averaging 2:55 with the range being 2:53-2:58. That was the first good longer interval workout since he got to Austin. I am very happy about it. He is coming on Tuesday for Thanksgiving and will race in the Earn Your Turkey. Hopefully he will able to translate that fitness into a good performance.
Leg 1: Distance10.000Time1:14:53.10Pace7:29.31ZoneEasy Miles

Amoji 2 Miles: 10.00

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
48.41	3.00	0.00	0.00	51.41

Amoji 2 Miles: 51.41

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

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