Breaking the Wall

March 29, 2024

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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: 133.01 Year: 776.88
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: 1312.70
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.615.500.000.0020.11

A.M. Jeff and I paced Ben Crozier through the Uneventful Half in 1:32:45. At first we were going sub-7:00, then Ben started to fade, so we gradually slowed down all the way to 7:40 pace on the uphill section. Then in the last mile he recovered and sped up to 6:40.

Then we turned around and started the tempo. I did notice something wrong during the Uneventful Half. For some reason HR was too high. I thought I was dehydrated. Due to the cardio power to muscle power discrepancy (the cardio is much stronger), I can be lightly dehydrated and not notice it other than HR being a bit high. 

Then there was another sign of trouble. I was not feeling bad, legs actually felt strong, the fuel seemed OK, the head was working, so no blood sugar problems, but for some odd reason 6:00 pace was barely manageable. It took me 5.5 miles into the tempo to understand what was wrong. Last Monday after the hill sprints in Five Fingers on aslphalt the top of my right foot was irritated. Since then I felt uncomfortable in the first mile or so of my runs, but then the increased circulation would remove most of the discomort. Most, but not all. There was a problem. I was dealing with it by slightly altering the form, which was killing the economy.

Around 4.4 into the tempo Jeff was neighing to go after the bikers, and he could no longer control himself, and just went. I coasted at a bit slower than 6:00, then finally at 5.5 I understood the problem and took measures slowing down to a jog. 5.5 time was 33:00, exactly 6:00 pace.

During the cool down I noticed that I felt a whole lot more comfortable on grass than I did on aslphat. Bad sign. Total time for 20.11 miles was 2:18:36.

So from now on I need to take some measures. No more Five Fingers or barefoot on asphalt. Yes, I can, but I need to practice what I preach: "Just because you can does not mean you should!" I do not want to go back to a whole lot of shod running, though, so I am going to measure out a big grass loop and do a good portion of my mileage there. Need to figure out what to do for the shoes on the road - how to get the right amount of cushioning without messing up the form. So far Crocs sound promising, but they last only 500 miles, and they do have issues on turns. Maybe with some clever modifications they could be OK.

P.M. The foot was still sore, so I decided to ride the bike for the kids' run.  Benjamin ran 2 in 15:55, Julia 1.5 in 14:52, Jenny 2 in 18:18. Joseph ran 0.5 with Sarah in 5:02.

Five Fingers 2 Miles: 20.11
Night Sleep Time: 7.75Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.75
Comments
From Kory on Sat, Aug 22, 2009 at 23:33:54 from 24.116.159.75

Sasha, why don't you just try the lightest racing flats you can find or afford and use them on the road. You've proven that you can handle anything real light for a long period of time.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Aug 22, 2009 at 23:38:57 from 192.168.1.1

Kiry:

The problem is that light racing flats get ripped up very fast. Maybe 1500 miles to a hole, sometimes less. Crocs are 500 miles to a hole. Actually Five Fingers have the same problem - with speed work, they are 500 miles to a hole as well. So the only difference is less cushioning and the price. Crocs are $5 at Walmart.

From josse on Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 15:50:38 from 75.216.129.165

What is wrong with the foot? Maybe I can help?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Aug 24, 2009 at 18:00:14 from 64.81.245.109

Josse:

There is some pain at top of the right foot in the metatarsal area when I put weight on it. There is also some minor swelling. It started after hill sprints in Five Fingers on Monday. I believe the cause is hard impact at unusual angle combined with the imbalance on the right side. My right foot does quite a bit of sideways rolling to deal with the lack of stability.

It goes away to a great extent but not entirely once I warm up. Which is why I have not done anything about it for a week. I've had it before. In fact, when I finish a marathon, I do experience some minor soreness in that area, but it goes away by Monday. This time it got aggravated beyond normal due to running in Five Fingers on pavement on top of the hill sprints. I guess I experimentally discovered the fine line between hard and retard :-)

Running on grass barefoot felt good today, but I could still feel some soreness on pavement in Crocs.

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