Breaking the Wall

March 28, 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: 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
7.505.001.500.0014.00

Ran with the BYU Army ROTC cadets this morning. We went on a 6.64 mile loop from Smith's Field House to Will's Pit Stop, then up the hill to Timpview, then past the MTC along 9th and back to Smith's Field House.

Had to stop at the Will's, so that gave me 1.5 of tempo building a lead, and then catching up. Towards the end we passed the Air Force cadets, and I could sense some rivalry between the two.

Afterwards jogged back to my car, and drove to the Provo River Trail by Geneva Road. Decided to do a 5 mile tempo at an aggressive marathon pace. The goal was to keep 5:45.

The start did not feel very good - 44 seconds on the first 200 and it felt brisk. However, I got into the rhythm later on and felt better. Total time 28:16. Splits - 5:41, 11:18 (5:37), turnaround in 14:08 (2:50), then 17:00 at 3 (2:52), 22:49 (5:39), last mile in 5:37. I cheated on the last mile to get an even split on the second half by hitting the last 2 quarters in 1:24 and 1:23, but the presense of the motivation to cheat this way is a good sign.

Came home ran with Benjamin, Jenny, and Abby. In the evening ran a little bit with Julia. We were practicing for our The Cat in the Hat skit at a ward talent show, so I was dress as the Cat in the Hat, and she was dressed as Thing 1.

I have been thinking lately about setting up the Fast Running Blog Fund. So far the development and the improvements to the blog have been happening whenever I could find a few hours to hide in my office and code, which does not happen too often. With the fund in place, once there is enough money to pay for a feature, I could pay myself out of the fund to do the work, and thus would be able to make the blog quite a bit better.

Possible sources of money for the fund - online advertising and donations. Online advertising so far has been making pennies, but I recently got approached by Burst Media to run a campaign for a month targeted specifically to runners, and they are willing to pay enough to sponsor about 12 hours of coding. That is a good start. Hopefully the improvements will help us increase the traffic. Once the traffic is up, not only does the blog get more in advertising fees from the volume, but it is also able to get into higher-paying networks.

My eventual goal is to get the blog to the point where it generates enough revenue to provide sponsorships for developing athletes. The recipient of the sponsorship will be required to maintain a blog, train at a serious level, and help other runners in the blog on a daily basis. My dream is to be able to help a large number of marathoners go sub-2:20 (men) and sub-2:40 (women), and maybe even get somebody to win Boston or medal in the Olympics.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Chad on Fri, Sep 15, 2006 at 13:46:58

You should keep a donations link up on the site that connects to paypal or something like that. The blog is a good training tool, and I think folks would be happy to contribute.

From Nick Miller on Fri, Sep 15, 2006 at 19:14:41

This sounds like a good plan Sasha! I think that if it is done in the right way, then it most definitely can work. I have a quick question, though. I was wondering if my taper for the race on Sunday is good. I don't really know what I need to do to perform well (especially after last race), and I am unsure of a good tapering strategy.

From Paul on Fri, Sep 15, 2006 at 20:13:07

Sasha, looking at your blog and so many of the others, I am amazed at the distance and the speed of so many of your runs. How do you stay injury-free? I am 59 years old and I try to put a recovery day after each run day. After my September recovery month, I will get back into my real training. I sure do enjoy browsing through the blogs, though. Thanks.

From Cody on Fri, Sep 15, 2006 at 22:06:35

I like Chad's idea of a PayPal link. A possible method to raise funds is to give away something of value that only people who donate money become elegible for. Possibly a gft certifcate to a local running club or maybe an online running store to include people from all states. I wouldn't turn away advertisers (Burst Media, and others) as I and probably most others understand all the work (time and money) it takes to set up and maintain a site like this. Keep up the good work.

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