Breaking the Wall

April 24, 2024

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:	882.94
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

Mon, Oct 13, 2008

Easy Miles	Marathon Pace Miles	Threshold Miles	VO2 Max Miles	Total Distance
12.34	0.00	0.00	0.00	12.34

A.M. Ran with Derek. Total of 8 miles in 1:00:29. Ran into a couple on the trail and they joined us. Their names were Stephanie and Tim, a brother and a sister from Burley, Idaho. Both BYU students. They ran with us most of the way. We also briefly ran with a lady from New Zealand, I think her name was Debbie if I heard it right.

A.M -2. Julia got busted for sucking her thumb in a sneaky way when she thought I was not looking. We do not tolerate this type of behavior - when a child knowingly does something wrong thinking he can get away with it because nobody can see him. Her punishment was a multitude of jobs around the house, but she could always cancel the remainder of the list with a sub-10:00 mile including the very first job. She cleaned the living room, then cleaned two toilets. After that she decided to go for a sub-10:00 mile, and we ran 9:21. I pushed Joseph in the stroller.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 15:51. 1.5 with Jenny in 13:05. We saw a girl running ahead of us. I challenged Jenny to catch her before we got off the trail. She hesitated, then said she'd do it for a carob bar. I agreed, she picked up to about 6:00 pace for 0.1 mile and accomplished the task. 0.34 with Joseph in 4:07. Jacob ran 200 meters in 1:58.

Five Fingers - 1503.97 miles.

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

Comments

From jhorn on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 18:34:45

I can appreciate your creative discipline, let's just hope that using running as a punishment doesn't make for viewing running as unpleasurable. Nice to see you at the 5K, it would have made my day to catch up to you, even knowing you were just jogging.

From jona on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 at 20:44:08

Sasha, I don't know if its new, but if it is, I love that you can edit your comments. (I can think of at least one way I could have not seen it, so if its not new, good feature anyway!)

From air darkhorse on Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 03:23:34

Sasha, I agree with JHorn, Your kids will grow to hate running with a passion that way. By the way studies show that most kids will grow out of that behavior in time on their own. Time, love and patience..

From tarzan on Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 11:16:18

I love that you run with your kids. Good thing you weren't my parent - I'd have been cleaning house all the time. Oh wait - I did that anyway to escape my mother's anger. :)

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