Breaking the Wall

March 18, 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:

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 25.00 Year: 668.87
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
8.800.000.000.008.80

A.M. It was an adventurous morning. Last night we stopped at Marriott Inn in Bakersfield,CA. Steven got sick and has been coughing all night. Then we woke up and found Jenny disoriented and delirious. So we called 911. The operator could not figure out where our hotel was from "Marriott Inn on Chester Lane in Bakersfield, room 1112". Google search for that phrase minus the room brings up a map with the location of the hotel. Additionally, we were using a cell phone, which should have allowed pinpointing our position to within a few hundred feet anyway. Fortunately, as we were talking to 911 dispatch, Jenny drank some orange juice and started feeling better, so there was no need for us to spend the time and effort looking up the address of the hotel. The moral of the story is that you need to know your street address when you talk to 911 - at least in Bakersfield, CA.

Along the same lines of the need of city services to progress in the use of technology. Provo City encourages residents to report graffiti, which I often do. One time the location of it was rather difficult to describe in words, so I used the map, determined the GPS coordinates, and called the police dispatch with the information. They did not know what to do with it so I had to resort to the complicated verbal description,

After the morning adventure, I ran 8 miles, then another 0.8 with Benjamin, Julia, and Joseph (Jacob ran 0.3), and we drove home to Provo. 660 miles in 9:45 with 7 kids, some of them sick. Sarah is very efficient at the stops. A small adventure on the way. About half way between Barstow and Las Vegas we were going up a hill and saw a slow moving bus in the slow lane protected (you would hope so) with a solid white line. I commented to Sarah that there must be a lot of fat people on that bus, that is why it has a hard time going uphill. Right as we approached it, the bus, seemingly in revenge, suddenly moved into our lane. I was able to react and swerve to avoid it. To complicate the matters, another car was passing us at the same time. Fortunately that driver reacted quickly, and swerved to avoid us in time, so it all ended well.


Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 8.80
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Comments
From Nan on Tue, Feb 08, 2011 at 14:39:15 from 98.245.117.176

That'll teach you to call people "fat." LOL. Gotta be careful with that negative energy...sometimes it comes right back to bite you.

Seriously though, I'm glad that Jenny is okay and that you didn't get side swiped by a bus full of "healthy" people. That sounds like it was a bit scary.

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