Breaking the Wall

Striders 5K

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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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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
3772.97624.01368.8395.414861.22
Night Sleep Time: 23.83Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 23.83
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.805.000.000.0012.80

10.04 in 1:06:38 in the morning with 2x2.5 in the middle, first in 14:33, second in 14:30. HR stablized at 154 on the first, and at 157 on the second towards the end. The last mile of the second (first mile of the first) was 0.5% net uphill grade.

Ran with the kids in the evening.

Updated the donor list on the Fund page. Please report errors/omissions if you find any.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

Ran 10.04 in 1:05:50 in the morning at a steady pace. HR fluctated between 133 and 139 once I got going, while the pace fluctated between 6:40 and 6:20.

Saw Dr. Jex. He had my the X-Ray of my lower back in a sitting neutral position. The L1-L5 angle has changed from -5 to 5 degrees over the period of 4 months. However, the ideal angle, according to the Pettibon system is 35-45 degrees. Interestingly enough, I get fairly close when standing up, but something is out of whack when sitting down. I suspect running falls somewhere in between. I tried feeling my lower back with my hand when running, and it felt closer to the sitting position than to running.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Added a little bit of a run from the car to Home Depot on the way to Dr. Jex's.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.800.000.000.0011.80

Ran with Ted in the morning. Usual 10.04. Chatted for the first 4 miles, then got serious about the 7:00 mile guy. Sped up to 6:30-6:40 pace. HR at 6:30 was 132 when I arched my back the right way, otherwise 137. Arching the back made a noticable difference. I noticed Ted was starting to suffer when I did that while I did not increase the effort, and HR dropped. On the rough parts of the trail, I could not concentrate enough to think about arching the back, Ted was putting in the same effort, while I had to work harder to keep up. Total time was 1:09:02.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Jenny wanted to get a special prize - a treat from Good Earth. I told her she had to run 1.5 miles at sub-9:00 pace. She cruised at 8:48 pace for the first 1.25, then kicked in 1:55 on the last quarter.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.002.000.000.0012.00

Ran with Ted in the morning. 10.04 in 1:09:42 with a light fartlek in the middle - alternating a quarter in under 1:30 with a quarter in 1:50 8 times to catch the 7:00 mile guy.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. I told Benjamin I'd get him a Palm Pilot if he breaks 7:00 mile. His scriptures got ripped up quite a bit and are reaching the point of being unusable, so I figured a Palm Pilot would be a nice replacement with some extra features as a bonus.

Benjamin has a hard time running fast in the cold, so we waited. Finally it got warm enough, we thought, so we decided to try it. The Provo High track was covered with snow. As soon as we got to the Orem High track it started snowing pretty hard, but the track was still clear. Benjamin still wanted to give it a shot. He ran 7:13.9, not bad at all for the conditions. We'll have to wait for another warm day, though.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.800.000.000.0011.80

Ran with Ted in the morning. Usual 10.04. Lots of snow today, we had to slow down. On the way back, we ran into a guy named Tyler, and he joined us. Turns out he is dating the oldest daughter of Doug Padilla. Well, it was very fitting for him to be out for an 18 mile run on this cold and snowy morning. If you want to have the honors of dating a daughter of a great runner, you must show some character!

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.002.001.000.0015.00

Ran 13.5 with Ted in the morning. Warmed up 2 miles. Then did the standard 10 mile tempo on the 2.5 stretch between Geneva Road and the Utah Lake parking lot. The roads were mostly covered with snow with occasional dry patches. It was also cold - probably 15 degrees at the start. Ran with Ted the first 7 miles. He was tired. We did the first 2.5 in 16:09, then 16:04 coming back. Then at 7 miles I decided to go ahead and push it a bit to measure the conditions of the road more accunrately. Hit the next 2.5 split in 16:03. On the way back, decided to chase down the 6:20 guy, but it was difficult - had to slow down on ice for safety reasons. Made up only 8 seconds on the next mile. A song I heard a few times on a BBC English learning program back in 1990 in Russia came to my mind - "have to catch an early train, got to be at work by 9, but even if I had an airplane I still would not make it on time". The dry strethes were not long enough to get going, and then you have to ease off early enough before an ice patch. Pushed it on the last mile, managed 5:55, half of it was solid snow, put in a valiant effort, but ended up a second behind - 1:03:21.

I like to re-write popular songs sometimes when I am working hard, usually when things are going well. One of my favorites when drafting behind a tough competitor in a race - "and I swear, like a shadow that's by your side, I'll be there. For better or worse, till kick do us part, I'll hang on with every beat of my heart..."

Cooled down 1.5 to the house. Ran with the kids in the evening.

Tested my vertical jump. It was 18 inches. An improvement from 1.5 years ago when Ian Hunter tested it on the force plates (he says it gives you a very accurate estimate), and it was only 13 inches back then. The reason I decided to test it was that the whole body was feeling jumpy. I attribute this to the improvements in the lower back. Today I felt more like a pouncy cat than I can ever remember.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From sammack on Mon, Jan 08, 2007 at 19:02:13

Thanks for the comments. The 800 was definitely a slow one but I'm almost using it as validation that my week was a good one in terms of quality. The big test for me will come on the 20th at the New Balance Mile held at the Armory. After that, it's time to think about popping a fast 1500 in the spring/summer.

Keep up the good work with the training. 2:22 doesn't seem too far off for you. (That's the B standard, correct?)

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.500.500.000.0013.00

Ran with Ted in the morning at 4:45. It was a cold and early morning. My bed felt good, and I missed it. Ted started from BYU and I met him on the trail. We ran to his turnaround, and then back to BYU. There we did a strength test for a mini-experiment - max leg extension on a weight machine with one leg. Ted was my guinea-pig to establish a comparison base. The test measures your raw quad strength. My expectation was that I would outperform Ted by a lot more than you would expect from our running difference. My expectation turned out to be correct. I was able to lift 200 lb and failed at 220 lb, while Ted lifted 140 lb, and failed at 160 lb.

Then we did a vertical jump. We did not have any way to measure it, so we just did a basic visual evaluation by the number of blocks on the wall. Our vertical jump was essentially the same.

I think the preliminary results confirm my suspicion that I have very much below average spinal resilience. And also, that the spinal resilience is critical in the running economy, and just as important as the raw leg strength for sprinting. That is why you can see a guy with skinny legs run 100 in sub-12 quite often, while somebody with bigger legs may not be as fast. The skinny legged guy has to be very well coordinated and has the back of a cat.

However, I would like to do more of those tests. Ideally, it would be nice to find a graduate or P.H.D. student who wants to do a study for his paper/dissertation and do it with him. But at least doing some informal measurements is a good start. If anybody wants to participate, let me know. The catch is that the leg extension test needs to be done on the same machine and with the same starting angle, so you'd have to come down to Provo for it.

On the way back caught the 7:00 mile guy. Ran a bit of a tempo on the last 0.5 at sub-6:00 pace. Total of 11 miles in the morning.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 13 miles for the day.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.303.500.000.0011.80

Ran with Ted at 4:45 AM again. Was thinking about my warm bed the entire run. We did a fartlek, 6x400, then 4x800, all at around 5:45-5:50 pace. The recoveries at 7:00-7:20 pace. HR readings were normal once I worked up enough sweat. 10.04 in 1:07:48.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.421.580.000.0012.00

My cellphone woke me up with the "Serenade" at 4:30 AM to run with Ted at 4:45. It says on the menu - Seranade, 4:30 AM, Daily. A most lovely melody that would get a corpse to arise. Sarah asked me if I could put it on something less lively. I explained it had to be lively enough to get me out of bed. I also get dressed faster while that tune is still vividly playing in my mind.
Met Ted on the trail - he ran from BYU. Saw a runner from afar in the dark and wondered if it was Ted. Should not have wondered. The probability of it being somebody else was extremely low. In fact, I believe the last time I saw anybody other than Ted running before 5 AM was in the Wasatch Back Relay. We were both asleep and ran at 7:20 pace or so most of the time. I proposed a 6:00 mile to wake up, but Ted's legs were tired from yesterday. Followed Ted part of the way to BYU until it was time to turn around. Then I had 1.5 left to the house, which I decided to do at marathon pace. Turned out it was 1.58 because I miscalulated the turnaround. No problem. Ran 1.5 in 8:41 at a steady pace, HR eventually climbed to 150, total time for 10.08 was 1:11:49. Ran with the kids in the evening.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From mike on Thu, Jan 11, 2007 at 11:10:56

Nice addition to the blog. I like the added space and the word processing formatting.

From Cheston on Thu, Jan 11, 2007 at 17:17:39

Nice updates as well, I had fun playing around with all the options.

From steve ashbaker on Thu, Jan 11, 2007 at 22:00:20

Sasha,I could only manage 4 plates on the machine at our complex I am not sure but I estimate them to be 25lbs each? How much were the ones you tested?

From steve ashbaker on Thu, Jan 11, 2007 at 22:01:22

Sasha,I could only manage 4 plates on the machine at our complex I am not sure but I estimate them to be 25lbs each? How much were the ones you tested?

From steve ashbaker on Thu, Jan 11, 2007 at 23:46:42

I can give fixing your stereo a shot if you give it to me for a while. But honestly like I said before I work on older tube radios. Newer solid state equipment is trickier for me and may require equipment such as a oscilloscope or signal tracer. Sadly I do not have this equipment. If it is something simple I may be able to weed it out. Let me know what you want to do.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.302.500.000.0011.80

Ran with Ted in the morning. Did a tempo 2.5 in 14:23. The rest was at a very relaxed pace. Total of 10.13.

Ran with the kids in the evening.

Worked all night figuring out little and  not so little bugs in the new text editor. It is still buggy, but at least functional. Please report bugs as you find them. One thing I really need tested is try entering some text, then wait about 5-10 minutes to submit it. If you can reproduce it posting the numbers, but not the comments, please report. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Kory on Fri, Jan 12, 2007 at 01:17:17

Sasha what type of running shoes do you wear? Currently my high miler shoe is the Brooks Adrenaline 6 and my Marathon shoe is the Avia Lite which is 10.1. I want to go with a lighter shoe to run marathons and I was thinking of trying out the

Asics GEL-Ohana Racer. They weight 8.5 ounces.

From Superfly on Fri, Jan 12, 2007 at 06:58:00

Sasha thanks for the call. I just came home and downloaded Firefox and it worked. I hope the Safari thing isn't too big of a bug to work out. Anyways thanks again.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Jan 12, 2007 at 08:37:21

Kory:

Let me first start with a story. I was on my way to run DesNews 2003 when half-way I realized I had forgotten my racers. There was no possible way for me to get them. I only had a pair of walking shoes each weighing 13 ounces which were too heavy even for easy runs for my taste and had a lot of wear already. I prayed to know what to do and heard a still small voice in my mind: "Run in the shoes you have, it is not the shoe that makes the runner." I did, and had a good race finishing 4th in a strong company in 2:34:47, which was a course PR by 2:38.

Having said that, I do race marathons in the lightest shoe I can find. I would not recommend this to everyone - many people will get injured if they did this. You have to know yourself to find the right shoe.

From Dallen on Sat, Jan 13, 2007 at 15:14:56

Congrats on being one of the Marathonguide.com marathon runners of the year!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.800.000.000.0011.80

Easy run with Ted in the morning at 4:45 AM. 10 miles through some serious snow. Ran very relaxed at about 7:40-7:50 pace in chat mode. Then ran with the kids. Went to Sarah's youngest brother's wedding afterwards. He and his wife were sealed in the Jordan River Temple.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.103.000.000.0012.10

Today was a big sleep-in day. I slept until as late as 6:30 AM. Ted had a hard time getting out of the snow, so we did not get going until 7:30. It was cold at the start (12F) and lightly snowing. When the temperatures are around 10F and below the snow becomes brittle and starts cracking under your feet. This provides decent traction, almost as good as asphalt. So we had good traction at the start. I decided to do mile pickups. Ran the first one with decent traction in 5:45 with HR at 152. Started slipping more as it got warmer on the second - 5:52, HR hit 154 and went back down to 150 probably as I lost motivation from slipping. And then one more in 6:00, slipping even more with HR at 152. Towards the end we were struggling to keep 8:00 pace conversationally, while at the start we were cruising at 7:10 pace. Ended up with 1:12:59 for 10.24 - a little longer because I kept coming back to Ted after the pickups.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Maria on Sun, Jan 14, 2007 at 07:26:27

Sasha,

in case you haven't seen this, National Marathon in D.C. is offering some incentives for OT quailifiers. They're offering $1000 for breaking 2:20 and $500 for 2:22. They also might offer free entry/travel, it's worth checking. This marathon is on Saturday, 03/24. Here is the full info: USATF - News.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jan 17, 2007 at 00:24:33

Maria:

Thanks for the tip. I checked with Keith Downing who is the race director. They do not have any travel money, unfortunately for us, and maybe fortunately for the local runners.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.900.000.000.0011.90

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Did 10.04 in 1:11:43. The temperature varied from -8F to -4F during the run. Wore anywhere from two to three layers of clothing, including gloves and socks. That was perfect - very comfortable, but not too much. Special emphasis on on the extremities and the crotch. Years of running through Russian winters have helped.

The entire time we discussed Ryan Hall's 59:43 in the half. I want him to run 2:03 marathon to prove the pundits wrong. I love proving the pundits wrong or see them proving wrong. One of my favorite scriptus is 2 Nephi:9:28-29 :

O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.

But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.

I think the "pundits" start making wrong predictions when they are out of tune with the Spirit of God and start placing their own wisdom above it. I think the prediction of 2:04 limit for the marahton world record fundamentally underestimates our potential, and I am looking forward to watching it proven wrong by somebody who has the talent and obeys the laws of breaking 2:04.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Dustin Ence on Tue, Jan 16, 2007 at 10:34:10

Sasha I like some of the new features on the blog, it is improving all the time. You asked me the other day what I measured on the half marathon. I measured the Painter's Half to be 12.95. I think Dave Holt had a similar distance. I think it was a little long last year and probably a little short this year. It was a different course this year from last year, but still included much of the bike path.

From Mike on Tue, Jan 16, 2007 at 13:16:56

I had the good luck to see Ryan Hall at the 10 mile mark on his record run. He was running angry fast. The conditions were not great for running a fast half. He could have run 20-40 seconds faster on a point to point dry course with pacers. Remember, this was a national championship race. There were not any pacers like during Geb's run last year.

From Kory Wheatley on Tue, Jan 16, 2007 at 16:45:41

Sasha, what do you wear on your face in such cold weather? I use a breathable thermal ski mask.

What type of gloves do you use? My hands seem to be the only part that get cold when I run in -2 degree weather.

From Kory Wheatley on Tue, Jan 16, 2007 at 16:46:46

Sasha, what do you wear on your face in such cold weather? I use a breathable thermal ski mask.

What type of gloves do you use? My hands seem to be the only part that get cold when I run in -2 degree weather.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jan 17, 2007 at 00:17:11

Kory:

I put on a special hat that covers most of your face. Makes me look like I am about to rob a bank. For gloves, I use the cheapest kind, but make sure to wear two on each hand.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.903.000.000.0011.90

Another cold day. 0F at the start, -2F at the finish. Ran with Ted at 4:45 AM. Usual 10.04. Did a tempo 2.5 in 14:59. Hard to run fast with 2.5 layers of clothes, on snow, in the cold, and that early. Not sure how much it slows you down, we'll find out when the roads clear up.

Afterwards, read Lesson 2 Tragedy or Destiny out of the church lesson manual. After the challenges of the run, my mind was very open to these words of President Kimball:

Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. All three set a record for the coldest they've run it - 7F.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Wed, Jan 17, 2007 at 12:23:43

Sasha, congrats on being named the #15 Male Outstanding Marathoner of the Year for 2006!!

Check it out everyone:

http://www.marathonguide.com/features/Articles/2006USAMarathonHallOfFame.cfm

Rankings were based on number of marathons run, finish times, and finish places.

From Clay Simmons on Wed, Jan 17, 2007 at 13:34:57

Yes Sasha that is quite an accomplishment, congratulations, and thanks for all your expert advise and this great web site to use, I do appreciate it.

From Dave Holt on Wed, Jan 17, 2007 at 13:37:11

Congratulations Sasha - that is a very neat bit of recognition.

From Cody on Wed, Jan 17, 2007 at 15:10:39

Wow!

I am impressed! What a great year for you. I bet it is nice to receive recognition (from the running community) for all the hard work. Keep it up!

From Paul T on Wed, Jan 17, 2007 at 19:42:21

My congrats as well, but I'm maybe more impressed that you actually go out and train at 4:45am in zero degree weather. When it hits single digits I head for the treadmill (or basketball court). That's probably the only thing keeping me from being the #15 Male Outstanding Marathoner of the Year. Well, maybe not the only thing. Seriously, I'm sure it contributes to why you are so good. You inspire the rest of us.

From Nick on Wed, Jan 17, 2007 at 22:15:39

Nice work Sasha! Your intense training is leading you to great places!

From steve ashbaker on Thu, Jan 18, 2007 at 15:09:03

Congratulations! I hope this will be the year of breakthroughs for you. Being on the list signifies a lifetime of work, sacrifice and dedication. And don't forget the wife who has supported you all the way. I know without Kim's patience and long suffering I would not be where I am today. Good Luck and God bless.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.800.000.000.0011.80

10.03 miles in the morning at 4:45 with Ted in 1:09:58. Met him on the trail - he started from BYU. Another cold day - 0F temperature.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

Got a K-TEC blender in the mail today. Sarah made soup in in for dinner, as well as some apple sauce and salsa.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.502.500.000.0012.00

Ran with Ted. Today was our sleep-in day  - we ran at 5:30 AM instead of the regular 4:45. Did a tempo. Ran 14:37 on our standard 2.5 mile stretch from Geneva Road to the trail entrance partking lot by the Utah Lake. The road conditions were a lot better, although the first mile still covered with snow for a good part. Still cold, 0F, wore the standard 2.5 layers of clothes.

Ted was feeling tired. I encouraged him to run 7:40 pace the rest of the way. This also gave me a nice mental break after the tempo. Although I am not putting in a lot of physical effort into those tempos, mentally they are very hard. It is dark and cold, the road traction is not the best, it is early in the morning, and the clothes weigh enough and block the movement enough to cause some serious mental resistance. That's why I keep them down to only 2.5 miles and run them at 5:45-6:00 pace. 

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.001.000.000.0012.00

No sleeping in this morning. Met Ted on the trail. Did not feel like I had a good attitude the entire run. Missed my warm bed all the way long. The inversion dampened my spirits. I can feel the quality of the air that is going in when I pick up the pace. And when I feel the quality is not good, I do not want to pick up the pace. And I feel depressed, a bit of a panic from the realization that something I depend upon for life is does not have very good quality.

Finally decided to do an attitude improvement tempo pick up. Ran the uphill mile (the last one of the standard tempo course, 0.5% grade) in 5:55. That made me feel better. My mind has a natural tendency to notice or recall connections or associations. So I remembered Pushkin's cure for dampened sprits that I had to memorize in the Russian equivalent of grade school or some time early in junior high: 

Выпьем с горя; где же кружка?
Сердцу будет веселей.

which in my translation, is:

Let us drink from sorrow, where is the mug?
The heart will be merrier.

Combine that with the fact that your average Russian literature teacher approaches Pushkin
the same way a devout Christian would approach the Bible. No wonder Russia has serious alcohol
problems.  While Pushkin wrote beautiful poetry, I think the teachers should emphasize that had he chosen not to drink, it would have been even better. And he probably would also have had a less explosive temper which would have given him the wisdom not to duel.

 

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

Found a story that just cracked me up about how a bug in a cake printer produced a very
interesting birthday greeting message for an 80-year old Italian lady. I could not stop laughing for about 5 minutes. Good exercise for the abdominal muscles.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Dave Holt on Mon, Jan 22, 2007 at 09:48:20

I found a variety of ways to calculate max heart rate and various thresholds, so here's what I came up with:

Max 189-191

Tempo 160

And I have no clue about a 100m, probably around 14 seconds (just a guess)

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.0011.000.000.0016.00

Tempo run with Ted in the morning. Sleep in day - we ran at 7:15 AM. Warmed up to Geneva Road, and did the standard 10 mile tempo. I had too goals - stay with Ted as much as possible, and catch the 6:00 mile guy eventually. The trail was partially covered with snow, but a good part of it was dry. However, you did have to swerve from side to side to catch the good parts. Also, it was around 1F, so I had my standard 2.5 layers.

We ran together for the first 1.5 miles at 6:15 pace. Then stopped for a bio break, while Ted kept going. I started chasing him, and sped up to 5:45. It felt easier than I expected, and I felt some extra bounce in my stride. There are a couple of things I did different last week. Ted brought me some Synflex to try. It is a glucosamine-based supplement that is supposed to promote the growth of cartrilage. My hope is that it will improve the quality of my spinal disks and thus increase the resilience of the spine. I also changed my Pettibon exercise routine to walk around carrying a medicine ball above my head while wearing the headweights.

Hit 2.5 in 15:08, then caught Ted 0.5 miles later, along with the 6:00 guy. Decided to stay with Ted until we were 30 seconds behind the 6:00 guy. Ted was not feeling good - a bit sick, and a bit overtrained. We ran at 6:20 - 6:25 pace, and then slowed down to a 1:38 quarter. We were 28 seconds behind the 6:00 guy, and I decided it was time to take off. The road was covered with snow, so I fell behind even further - 30:32 (15:14) at 5 miles. That was bad news. So I pressed it a bit harder, and managed to not fall behind any further on the way back through the snowy section. Then with the same effort, I started closing the gap when the road was dry. 45:17 at the turnaround, 14:45 for 2.5. Now I was fully aware of the conditions of the trail and the difficulty of running 5:50 pace on it with all the clothes on, so I got down to business. Still 7 seconds to close with a mile to go, and it is uphill and covered with snow. Barely made it - 59:59.7, 14:42 on the last 2.5. 

Ran back to Ted, finished with him, then we ran to my house. 13.7 for the run. Ran with the kids a short while later, and then went cross-country skiing with Benjamin at Sundance. This was his first time cross-country skiing, and my first time in 20 years. I did a few tempo stretches, all I could do was 9:00 mile pace putting in 6:00 mile running effort. However, I believe, cross-country skiing is exactly what I need for my back. It bends it and stretches it in a way that feels just right when I lean forward and push off with both arms. I remember that in the past I felt cross-country skiing made me run with better form. I need to find a time and cost-effective way to do it as often as possible. If anybody knows of a good place to buy a pair of boots and skis, please post a comment or send me an e-mail. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Mon, Jan 22, 2007 at 13:39:30

What size shoe do you wear? What is your weight? I might have some gear to sell...

Also, try ebay. It usually has a lot of XC stuff for cheap.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

Sleep in day today. Ran at 7:30 AM with Ted. Met him on the trail. He started from BYU. Then Ted headed back to BYU, and I stayed on the trail. Found a runner named Cameron. He was going pretty fast - about 6:40 pace through the snow. Ran with him a bit. His marathon PR is 3:07. Suggested to him he needed to increase his mileage - based on how well he was handling 6:40 he should be able to hold it for the marathon with proper training. Invited him to join the blog crowd.

Afterwards, running alone and focusing on the form (nothing else to think about), noticed it was better than normal. The push off felt more effective. The hamstrings were working. The pace also showed - according to The Toy I was going 6:20-6:30 pace, and it did not feel that fast in spite of the 2.5 layers of clothes. The questions are: Is this for real? Will it continue? If yes, is it from Synflex?  Carrying the medicine ball above my head with headweights? Stretching the the muscles in the upper back? Cross-country skiing? Or possibly all of the above. Or maybe none, just another fluke, I've had many days when I felt great at 6:20 pace, but terrible at 5:40 immediately afterwards,  

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. After dinner they wanted carob cookies. Each sufficiently mature child had to earn it by solving a math problem.  Julia had to do 6+1, solved with no hints. Jennifer had to do 6x7, needed a hint (6x5+6x2).  Benjamin had to calculate the cosine of 60 degrees. Solved after he had drawn the picture of a circle on a coordinate plane.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Chad on Tue, Jan 23, 2007 at 11:16:17

I would starve in your household!

From Ryan Woods on Tue, Jan 23, 2007 at 13:42:33

Hey Sasha, thanks for the advice. My recovery days are more focused on less miles (1/2 my regular run days) as opposed to pace. Typically though the pace is a little slower. But it's good advice and I'm going to work on keeping easy days easy. With that said, I'm a 5k runner with a 13:50 pr. I typically base hard and easy days based on feel but if I'm going to drop a days run in half then I should make sure to take it slow so it can have it's full recovery purpose. Thanks for the advice

From Andy on Wed, Jan 24, 2007 at 09:50:52

I'm not sure if you saw this but you were listed on Marathon Guide's list of outstanding marathoners for 2006 http://www.marathonguide.com/features/Articles/2006USAMarathonHallOfFame.cfm

You are listed at number 15. Congratulations!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.502.500.000.0012.00

Tempo 2.5 in the middle of a 10 mile run with Ted at 4:45 in the morning. Still cold. It snowed some more, the trail is almost entirely covered with snow. Still cold. Felt sleepy, missed my bed. 15:01 was all I could do. The form did not feel good - the spring in my stride I felt yesterday was gone. But yesterday it did not come through until later on in the run either.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Did a quarter with Julia on my shoulders in 2:05. It felt like 6:20 pace. Julia is 4, and weighs about 30+ pounds.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.900.000.000.0011.90

Easy run with Ted early in the morning. The form was not good. The quads were being overutilized. I wonder if it has to do with the degree of wakefulness, perhaps some critical point at which my nervous system kicks it, adjusts something a little bit which puts it past the critical point.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From ArmyRunner on Wed, Jan 24, 2007 at 22:43:21

Sasha,

I think carrying Julia on your shoulders while running a 2:00 quarter may not be good for your back/neck and may therfore have caused a set back in your spine/neck condition and thus the change in form. 30+lbs on the shoulders, up so high on the back and neck, is not a good thing for the back and neck just walking but running just compounds the potential harm.

From Ryan Woods on Thu, Jan 25, 2007 at 15:51:08

it's florida, you have to change your mind set. technically though it was 55 today when i ran. i expect no sympathy from the rest of america though.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.402.200.000.3011.90

Ran with Ted this morning. It was our sleep-in day - we started at 5:30 am. With the extra sleep I felt livelier in the tempo run, and so did Ted. We ran our standard 2.5 tempo. Most of the trail was covered with snow, but there were a bit more dry spots than on Tuesday. First mile in 5:59, trying to wake up. Next time I had a chance for a reliable split was at 1.5 + 1/16, which was 9:14, 8 seconds ahead of the 6:00 mile guy. Then around the 2 mile mark I really needed to take a bio-break. This gave Ted a chance to pass me. However, I was quick enough to put Ted within reach. I knew I had to work, because I could tell that he was having a good day, and he usually runs much better the further he goes this time of day. At first I had a hard time getting going (The Toy reported 1:26 quarter), but then my tiger chasing a pray instinct turned on. The Toy reported a quarter in 1:18, and I managed to catch Ted. My total time was 14:24, which gives me 5:10 for the last 15/16 of a mile, this is 5:31 pace average. However, I did not start going fast until the last 0.5, so that 1:18 quarter was probably really 1:18. Ted ended up with 14:48, a record for him for the comparable conditions.

This goes to show that perhaps the biggest factor that makes me struggle to break 6:00 pace on those tempo runs is not the extra clothes, the cold, and the snow, but rather the lack of excitement at this early hour. Once I had a reason to run sub-5:20 pace, it came without a superhuman effort that I would expect from the difficulty of running 5:50 on those runs.

The economy felt average. Quads worked more than I wanted them too, but not terribly out of the ordinary. The spring from the back felt average, maybe even slightly better than average.

Afterwards, my adrenal glands did not want to work, I think. We ran 8:00 pace the rest of the way, and it felt fast. If 7:00 felt fast, I could have blamed it on lactic acid buildup, maybe. But in this case, I think it was just running out of mental energy to push.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

Easy run with Ted at 4:45 AM. Met him on the trail. He started from BYU. After my lips got used to the cold, I could finally carry a conversation. That made the run less tedious for me. Ted told me about the red necks in Alabama that drive as if they were trying to hit you, see how close they can get, and then swerve at the last moment.

Saw another runner on the trail later, I believe it is the second one I've seen on those runs. This was after my turnaround, so Ted missed her, but he had a good chance of spotting the rare creatures near BYU.

Weighed myself with clothes I've been running in - 155lb. Then changed to summer running clothes - 151lb. So 4lb difference. According to the Daniels Running Formula Vdot tables, this should translate to about 5-7 seconds per mile loss just from the weight. There is probably also a movement restriction factor involved. With the cold temperatures, and the snow on the ground you lose some more. Plus being asleep at the early hour. So struggling with 6:00 pace over 2.5 miles perhaps is not that bad in those conditions.

Curt Catmul came by and brought me a pulley contraption to simulate the cross-country skiing movement of the back, and do other stretching and strengthening exercises. I tried it and liked it so far. I am still doing Pettibon exercises and treatment, but I am starting to suspect I've reached the limit of the method for my problem. The last X-ray showed no improvement compared to the previous test - 20 degree angle (decrease from 23, ideal 45), and the unchanged head forward tilt of 8mm (ideal 0). So I improved very fast from the start, but have now plateaued. This is not to say that eventually it could not work, but something needs to be done differently.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. They are starting to get used to the inversion.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From tlee on Sat, Jan 27, 2007 at 12:33:39

Being new to the blog, just wanted to thank you for all your efforts setting up this website. Also congrats on your great running performances over the years.

From Ryan Woods on Sat, Jan 27, 2007 at 16:20:46

Mykola Antonenko was his name. he ran 14:49. There's a group of Russians that train in the winter in Jacksonville. I don't beleive they live in America year round as I've met up to 3 of them and none have known any english. there's a REALLY good masters female that is always there though. her name is Firaya Sultanova. She took second overall today with a time of 16:34 behind Amy Rudolph. Do you know any of them?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.8010.000.000.0015.80

Major sleep-in day. Tempo run with Ted at 7:15 AM.  10 miles on the standard course between Geneva Road and the Utah Lake. Ted was not feeling well in the morning, so to make things interesting we decided to give him a head start of one minute. The conditions of the trail for the first 2.5 miles were better than Thursday but worse than last Saturday. Later on, they became significantly worse as the snow became wet and lost its crispiness. As it was warmer (14F), I decided to wear 1.5 layers on my legs (shorts over tights).

First mile in 5:56 on snow, felt good. The snow was still crisp, decent traction. Stopped for bio break at 1.75.  First 2.5 in 14:45. Ted was about 1:40 ahead already. Turned out he actually opened up 10 seconds on me on top of the head start and the bio break. 23:37 at 4 miles, still decent pace. Then I hit a solid mile of wet snow - 6:10, 15:03 for the 2.5, 29:48 for 5. Ted is a minute ahead, and the 6:00 mile guy is gaining on me, not good. I thought with me wearing only one pair of pants  he would never be gaining on me.

Next mile in 6:09 on wet snow, hanging on trying to hold off the charging 6:00 mile guy. He runs like a moose on wet snow, he does not care. Next 1.5 miles have frequent dry ground patches, time for revenge. However, the patches of snow are killing the pace. 44:50 at 7.5, 15:02 for 2.5, Ted is now only 30 seconds ahead.

On the way back working hard to build a nice cushion before the last mile. Who knows, it might get even worse than 6:10 for that mile. Passed Ted with 1.5 to go. 1:03:44 at 9 miles. Let's hope 16 second lead is enough. Figured out a trick from desperation - surge hard on every smallest dry patch, then coast on the snow - it does not pay to push there. Exponential increase in effort results only in marginal increase in speed. Finished in 59:50, 10 seconds ahead of the 6:00 mile snow-plowing hard charging moose. Last mile in 6:06, last 2.5 in 15:00.

Jogged with Ted back to my house, put on ankle weights, jogged some more to make it 14. Worked out on Curt's contraption, liked the feeling afterwards. Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

As got back home and we knelt down for a family prayer, I saw a flock of moose trophies on the shelf that I've collected from 8 Top of Utah "in the moose" finishes to remind me of today's run.  

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Ryan Woods on Mon, Jan 29, 2007 at 14:11:48

wow, 2:13! that's an amazing marathon time. I figured he'd be good because of the people that train in that group in gainesville but 2:13 is quite impressive. Thanks for the update! what about the russian masters female? do you know of her? she's been dominating a lot of road races here in fla for the past few years

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

Easy run with Ted at our standard 4:45 AM time. The pace was not fast enough for long enough to test the form/spine spring. However, I did hit a quarter in 1:38 at the end that felt easy.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Warmer weather and less inversion. Benjamin and Jenny ran faster. Benjamin ran the last 0.5 in 3:45 rather comfortably. I think he is ready for another sub-7:00 mile attempt. We will probably try on Thursday if the weather is good.

The Fast Running Blog is overdue for a number of improvements.  We have added a few more runners to the point where even I find the current blog navigational system inadequate, and that is bad - I can use a very rudimentary user interface and be happy. I have had plans to do a predictor with GPX course uploads, or even better - a plotter like gmaps-pedometer.com. Also, need to find a way to place the Google ads better - in a way that is not annoying, but effective for generating click-throughs. The click through rate on the Fast Running Blog pages has not been very good - I hope mostly because the pages have been too interesting to read to leave them. Just need to find the time to code it all up.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Kory Wheatley on Tue, Jan 30, 2007 at 01:33:33

Upgrades alway take a lot of time and planning. You've done a wonderful job with what's available now.

Question: What shoes do you wear in your training and what shoes do you wear in the Marathon's you've ran?

I'm really thinking about going with a real light shoe in my next few marathons.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jan 30, 2007 at 09:23:16

Kory:

I wear whatever I can get for free. Given a choice I use a sturdy shoe for no other reason that it lasts a long time. I've put about 3000 miles on a pair of New Balance Off Road and they are still in decent condition by my standards (no holes). Ted just brought me two pairs of his shoes he did not want to use - Nike Zm Air and Adidas adiPRENE, both very light, about 8 ounces, and I've been running in them as well. For racing a marathon ( as well as any other distance), I've recently been using Saucony CRM S, also a light shoe. Thanks for asking, it made me look up and document which shoes I was actually using.

However, for you I would recommend going by what your body is telling you. Everybody is different as far as shoes are concerned, and I am an anomaly. I believe most runners would get injured fairly quickly if they tried to put their feet in my shoes and run the same kind of mileage.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.503.002.000.0012.50

Early morning tempo with Ted. Standard 4:45 AM. Short warm-up, then 2.5 in 14:11. Ted and I started at a good pace. I had to do a bio-break at around 0.75. After that kicked into gear to try to catch Ted. Hit the mile in 5:47. Caught up sooner than I expected - Ted had to take a bio-break at 1.5, I think I am infecting him with the decease. Went passed him, did not wait. Stayed in gear except for getting out of rhythm on short snow patches. The trail was in good condition except for the first 0.5 miles. Ted finished in 14:13. I think were it not for the bio breaks we probably would have pushed each other into the sub-14:00 range.  Not bad for the cold, early, and lots of clothes.

On the way back tried to trick Ted into running another 2.5. He went about a quarter, then did not feel good. I coasted putting in a marathon pace effort. Total time was 14:44, but the last 0.5 was 3:02, and I was slipping a lot more than in the first repetition.

The stride was far perfect, but better. I felt like I was using the full length of my legs, that is the best way I can describe it. What would be nice is to come up with some measurement devices/techniques and record the measurements along with the feelings. Then after some calibration I'd be able to tell what is going on, just like I can tell the pace and the heart rate correctly by feel right now.

Did back exercises on Curt's contraption. Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.800.000.000.1011.90

Easy run with Ted at 4:45 AM. It was snowing.  The roads were quite slippery. Both of us almost fell a couple of times.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. It warmed up, and it looked like the inversion had cleared a bit. Benjamin wanted to do a mile time trial. So all of us went to the Orem High track. However, the cold wind was too much for the kids. All Benjamin could do was 7:37. Jenny was supposed to race the Fast Running Mommy, but being still little she had some breathing problems and did some sort of a stop and go. She did run about 8:00 pace during the go. Not having Daddy around did not help either (I was pacing Benjamin). The Fast Running Mommy set a post-Jacob record for the mile in 8:19. Afterwards, Julia wanted to run a special lap with Daddy. Jenny joined us and surged ahead. Half way through Julia changed her mind. That was OK, since she had already run her daily quarter. By that time Jenny had gotten quite far ahead. I wanted to be there at the finish to time her, so I sped up. With 100 meters to go, I realized I really needed to speed up. Ran 15 seconds for the last 100, which I was pleased with. I was in street clothes, it was cold, I had not done any speed work recently, and it did not feel like an all out sprint. My best 100 m ever is 13.9.

Worked out on on Curt's contraption. It is basically a bucket with weights attached to a rope on one end, the rope goes over a suspended pulley, and comes out attached to a handle on the other end. So you pull holding the handle, and the bucket comes up. Then you can hold on to it at any angle or height you want, and it can stretch the spine or the muscle group of interest as the weight of the bucket pulls on the rope. Simple, clumsy looking, but very effective. I feel like I am getting a quality workout on it.

Added a long-overdue fix to the race entries - now they show not only on the race entries page, but also during the regular blog viewing.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From ArmyRunner on Thu, Feb 01, 2007 at 20:53:55

A couple of great quotes rom Ryan Hall in a recent interview. You can find the whole interview at http://www.mensracing.com/athletes/interviews/2007/ryanhall020107.html

I am really cheering for him now! I would love to see him break all of the American Records and go after a World Record as well.

"It’s a long story, but the whole point is that even when you don’t have perfect build-up and you get stressed out sometimes, the Lord is just with you, and it works out, and you have a great race."

"That’s the nice thing, too, about being up in the mountains is you kind of stay out of the limelight. I don’t have TV or Internet, or even a computer up here right now, so I am just doing my own thing and getting back to training."

"I have this dream of being a world class runner and I feel like God has given me a gift to run and I feel like I haven’t ever really…I have seen glimpses of it but it’s never really come out. And that’s what I was so thrilled about. Sara told me that coming down the last hill I was acting like a crazy man and she’s right, I was. I was just so excited that finally, after all this time, finally I am starting to realize my dream and starting to be all that God has given me."

"So we found this really cool mobile home with this awesome view of the mountains. It’s just a mobile home, not anything pricey or anything, but just to have a place we can call home here while we’re training."

"You know whether or not I actually run 2:05 my first time out, it depends on a lot of things."

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.004.250.750.0012.00

Sleep-in day. Ran at 5:30 AM. Tempo run with Ted. Took care of the potential bio-break problems in advance. The road conditions were better than on Tuesday - enough dry spots on the first mile to make much faster than normal. After that, only occasional snow patches. However, you did have to swerve around quite a bit to hit the dry spots on the first mile.

Splits by 0.5 - 2:53, 2:56 (5:49), 2:50 (8:38), next quarter in 1:26. After that, I saw we were behind the 5:40 guy by 9 seconds and went after him. Next quarter in 1:20 (2:46, 5:36, 11:24), then 1:22, 1:22, last 0.5 in 2:44, last mile in 5:30, total time 14:08, new inversion/cold/clothes/early morning season record. Ted finished at a steady 5:44 pace in 14:22. The pace felt relaxed for the first 1.75, after that it felt like a slow 10 K/fast half-marathon, which I am happy about.

On the way back I knew better than try to persuade Ted to run another tempo with me. Inversion has been hitting him harder than me, and he has developed a cough. So I ran it solo. Decided to cruise at a marathon pace. Ran 5:50 pace for the first 1.5 fairly relaxed, then picked up a bit to compensate for the uphill and the upcoming snow. Overcompensated a bit and ran the last mile in 5:44. Total time 14:29. First 1.5 felt like a true marathon pace just hanging out with the guys getting to know them. 5:44 on the last mile felt like a move try to break somebody. This is good news - this is how those speeds felt in shorts, 50 degree weather, and no inversion leading up to Ogden last year.

I felt some bounce in my legs, more efficient stride. I hope it is the Curt's contraption exercises kicking in, not just a fluke. We'll have to wait and see where that goes.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Lots of inversion. Did some more exercises on Curt's contraption, and then tug-of-war with the kids.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Marquette on Mon, Feb 19, 2007 at 20:37:28

I hope you don't mind if I ask a question. Months ago you mentioned starting the Pettibon System. My 15 year old daughter has 32 degree scoliosis and I am considering the Pettibon System. What has been your experience? How often was your initial treatment? What was the cost per visit?

From Marquette on Mon, Feb 19, 2007 at 20:38:20

I hope you don't mind if I ask a question. Months ago you mentioned starting the Pettibon System. My 15 year old daughter has 32 degree scoliosis and I am considering the Pettibon System. What has been your experience? How often was your initial treatment? What was the cost per visit?

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Feb 20, 2007 at 13:04:20

Marquette:

My initial treatment involved 3 visits a week. Then down to 2 after about two months, then two months later down to 1. My chiropractor charged me a flat fee for the whole year, which came down to about $3000.

My problem is a bit different, and perhaps not as well researched. I am a competitive runner with the world-class endurance, but average biomechanics, which I believe stems from the average health of the spine (average as defined by the standard of our sedentary culture, which really means not very good). I am trying to move from average to exceptional, which relatively few people try. So there is a lot of trial and error. It took my chiropractic 6 months, for example, to discover that I needed a shoulder weight for the head weights to be effective.

I've seen some independent studies showing the effectiveness of Pettibon method for treating scoliosis. I think a Pettibon chiropractic treating scoliosis would be in a more familiar area, and the results would show quicker.

From Marquette on Fri, Feb 23, 2007 at 08:03:24

Sasha, Thank you so much for answering my question. It is really hard to find people who have benefitted from Pettibon and are independent of the chiropractors sites. My daughter will need head, shoulder and hip weights and a Boston brace for 12-18 months. The cost in Michigan runs about $6,000. I just wanted independent opinions from Pettibon patients before I actually spent that kind of money. Thanks again and good luck to you.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

Easy run with Ted at our standard time - 4:45 AM. Met him on his way from BYU. A few miles into the run we saw a couple of dogs. Ted told me about being chased by an angry pit bull in Australia at around mile 15 of a long run. 

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Worked out on Curt's contraption. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.3010.000.000.0016.30

Woke up from a dream. I was running in the Top of Utah Marathon. We had a good pack. Suddenly around mile 9 everybody took too long to consume their drinks. I gulped down two Powerades in an instance and broke away. My form felt terrible, but I was in the lead. I went through my competition one by one trying to estimate how many of them would be able to cover the move and not pay for it by 23. It was too many, but I figured I still had a fighting chance for top 3. Suddenly around mile 10 my cell phone alarm woke me up to reality. To make the dream come true you need to train!

Standard Saturday 10 mile tempo run. The trail was clear except for the first mile. It was manageable at the start, but subsequently became worse. 5F temperature, standard 2.5 layers of clothes. Ted helped me on the first 2.5, hit the split in 14:37. After that, he needed to back off to an easy pace to avoid overtraining. 14:56 on the way back, the snow mile did not help (5:59), 29:33 at 5 miles. Coming back the snow mile was 6:04, with the first 0.5 in 3:06. This is as bad as it gets on this run - 180 turn knocks you out of rhythm, and then you have some wet snow to battle. Finally recovered, 14:55 for the next 2.5. Now getting the 59:00 guy becomes a possibility - I need to run only 14:32. 14:32 in shorts, 50-60 degrees, no inversion, and completely dry ground is a nice and relaxed rhythmic marathon pace. Under the conditions of today, 14:32 would require some serious effort. I decided to put in good effort, but not try to run at 10 K pace to get it. If it happens, it happens, otherwise, I'll take what my body and the road will give me.

With a mile to go I needed to run 5:42 to catch the invisible runner. If the road had been in its Thursday's condition, this would have been doable. But it was way too slippery. I ended up running it in 6:04 with the last 0.5 in 3:04. 14:54 for the last 2.5, 59:22 for the whole run, course record for the 2.5 clothes layers/inversion/below 20F conditions.

Got home, put on ankle weights, ran another 1.7 to make the total of 15 for the run.

Benjamin got sick with a fever. Not too bad, but not good to run with. Just ran with Jenny, and then Julia.

Got my Nada Chair in the mail to help me maintain proper posture while I sit. Unfortunately I do have to sit to make a living. We'll see if it makes any difference in running. I like it so far.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Ryan Woods on Sun, Feb 04, 2007 at 08:55:14

Thanks! The race went faster than I had anticipated. I would have thought 30:40-31:00 so you would have outpredicted me as well. Try and stay warm!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.900.000.000.0011.90

Easy run with Ted at our usual time - 4:45 AM. Met him on the trail.  We ran at about 7:10-7:20 pace most of the way. We split at 8.5. On the way back not being in chat mode any more I sped up to 6:30 pace without trying to run harder. The form felt very good. However, when it gets better I start to remember what it is supposed to feel like, and it drives me nuts. I wish I could do some measurements to see if what my intuition tells me is right. I feel my center of gravity tends to fall closer to the heel, too far back. So my choices are to either bring the foot unnaturally back to avoid landing in front of the center of gravity which does not give me full power on the push, or to land ahead of the center of gravity (overstride), which makes the quad do extra pulling forward - also inefficient. The ultimate solution is to fix the spine.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Nick on Tue, Feb 06, 2007 at 01:23:34

Thanks for the comment Sasha. Like you said, I am hoping that my increased endurance will help me out in this 5k. I have never felt like I have a speed problem, but maintaining this speed seems to be a different story. I think that time and miles are the only real solution.

From wheakory on Tue, Feb 06, 2007 at 23:39:52

How many easy runs do you run a week. I guess I would call these recovery runs. Because I know you don't what to run hard everyday.

From Maria on Wed, Feb 07, 2007 at 06:52:45

Sasha, I saw something interesting today at one of the sites regarding blog promotion/generating revenue from Google AdSense. Basically, they're offering to publish your blog content on their site and help attract audience to your blog. They also run Google Ads and if anyone clicks on them while reading your content, they'll split the revenue with you 50/50.

Now, I thought it's a great thing to try to promote fastrunningblog, as this site is rather popular, BUT then I saw one caveat - while they publish your content, they don't include the URL of your actual blog anywhere! You can mention it in your user profile, but it's not obvious to the reader. The bit about the Ads is still valid though. Another thing that might present a problem, is that they may require RSS capabilities of your blog to be able to syndicate it. As far as I know, fastrunningblog does not support RSS.

Anyway, perhaps you can check it out and decide whether it is feasible/worth it. Here is the info

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Feb 08, 2007 at 10:54:01

Kory - I do 3 easy runs and 3 hard runs a week. Plus a little jogging with my kids every day, and it usually a good jogging pace - 9:00 mile.

Maria - yourrunnning.com indeed requires an RSS feed. This is a good reason to add one. I'll do it when I get a chance. Probably after the GPX course feature, which has been in the queue for almost a year.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.502.500.002.0012.00

Ran with Ted at 4:45 AM.  The weather was warmer. In preparation for the upcoming Striders 5 K we modified our usual workout. The trail was mostly clear. A mile in 5:20, then 0.5 jog, then another mile in 5:19. Then some more easy running, and 2.5 on the way back at marathon pace effort in 14:31. The form felt better. 5:20 pace felt too slow for 5 K, but too fast for 10 K. Not bad for the dark, 20 F, and 1.5 layers of clothes + inversion.

Ran with the kids in the evening. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.100.000.000.8011.90

Easy run with Ted at our usual time. In preparation for the Striders 5 K did some strides (very appropriate). Hit a few 200 meter stretches between 36 and 38 seconds, and a few unmeasured stretches on the trail. All in the dark. 1.5 layers of clothes, inversion. The form felt very good on the accelerations. I would say normally I need a couple of months of 400 meter repetitions to get it to feel that good. I wonder if all those 400s are for me is a fancy way of stretching and strengthening the back. There have been days when I felt I could run a better tempo after 12x400 than before.

Saw the profile of the course. Not fast at all, good hill workout, though. 6% grade up for 0.5 mile is going to be fun. Anything sub-17 will be good.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Managed to sneak in some coding and work on a feature to notify people posting comments of a reply if they have a Fast Running Blog and identified it in the URL field. Almost done, need to test it before I make it live, but it will probably have to wait until tomorrow. After that, long awaited GPX course upload and time prediction.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Dave Holt on Thu, Feb 08, 2007 at 09:42:37

Just like in class, some of my wise-guy runners made sure to point out to me today that "running accomplishments" is spelled wrong.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Feb 08, 2007 at 10:36:43

Thanks for reporting the problem. It is now fixed. And if my new feature is working, you should get an e-mail notification.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Feb 08, 2007 at 10:44:18

Never mind - you have comment notification disabled in your profile, so you should not have gotten the message. So if you did not, that is good, at least the no part is working properly.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.500.000.001.5013.00

Tune up for the upcoming Striders 5 K. Ran with Ted. Sleep-in day - ran at 5:30 AM. First time in the last two months, I believe, that we had a morning run with temperatures above freezing. Weather report said 36F right before we left. No inversion I could notice. Only 1 layer of clothes - tights and long-sleeved T-Shirt. 

After a 2.34 mile warm-up ran 1.5 at a conservative 5 K effort. The goal was to break 8:00 without cheating by taking advantage of a shorter distance and accumulating extra oxygen debt. Ran even pace , splits by 0.5 - 2:39 - 2:38 (5:17) - 2:39 (7:56). Felt strong, but also felt that the limits were not too far away. It felt like I was running a 10 K sticking my nose in the midst of things. Ted was not feeling good, so I ran this part alone. The form felt good, or I should say on the better side. It is never good in the sense of being where it ought to be.

I felt that by working the abdominal muscles I could push the air out more vigorously. That is a good sign. The need to push it out more vigorously at that pace  is perhaps not that good of a sign, and points to poor running economy. Nevertheless, you do what you can to push your VO2 up. Then when the
proper economy is restored, that extra VO2 capability will have a chance to shine.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Ran an errand to our bishop's house later in the evening. Total of  13 miles for the day. 



Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From ultrajim on Mon, Feb 12, 2007 at 13:55:25

Glad you like the pic. It's one of my "buddies" out on Antelope Island. I figure it goes along with the "hit the dusty trail" blog title.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.900.000.001.0011.90

Easy run with Ted this morning at our usual time. Ted ran only 6 - a small, possibly a non-running  foot injury. After dropping him off, did 4x400 on the trail at a more aggressive 5 K pace - all between 77 and 78. Caught the 7:30 guy at the end. Wore the heart rate monitor. It showed that I was asleep - average HR of 118.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

Went to see Dr. Jex. My progress had stalled earlier as indicated by the measurements - 20 degree neck curvature and 9 mm forward head tilt - no improvement in over two months after a quick improvement in the first four. I did point out to him that we were going nowhere if we continued to do the same thing. So he came up with a couple of tests to troubleshoot the problem. Turned out that if I wore the shoulder weights on the right shoulder with 8 pounds on the front side and 2 pounds on the back side + Pettibon shoulder strap + the head weights, my neck curvature improves to 35 degrees - the highest we have ever seen it under any conditions by far. In other words, somehow the muscles in the shoulder region restrict the neck. And, according to the Pettibon teachings, whatever improvement you can get on a stress test can be eventually achieved without external means if you can train the muscles to hold that position.

To fix that I will be wearing the shoulder weights along with my head weights now. I did this today - it was quite a sight. The kids really enjoyed it. I've got to take a picture of that - I look like an English knight ready for the battle.

I am excited about this discovery. 35 degrees is within the range of normal. This means, if Pettibon is right, I have a good shot at developing an athletic neck, which is the key to developing an athletic spine everywhere else. Now I feel, after 6 months of somewhat of a windmill fight, we are getting somewhere.

Striders 5K tomorrow. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Kory Wheatley on Sat, Feb 10, 2007 at 15:35:24

I've always heard the straighter your back is when you run (Shoulders square up) and not leaning your running performance will prove. I've been trying to incorporate this in my running by watching my running posture.

Race: Striders 5K (3.107 Miles) 00:17:06, Place overall: 7, Place in age division: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.300.000.003.4011.70

Striders 5 K. Drove up to Ogden with Ted. Checked out the first mile of the course in the warmup. Paul's profile was correct. Did some strides. Felt good.

The starting line was full of trouble: Corbin Talley, Bob Thompson, Joe Wilson, Leon (Lion) Gallegos, Steve Ashbaker, Paul Petersen, and a few others. I told Ted earlier this race for me was more of an experimental nature. The goals were:

  • To see how well I could run a 5 K with my current training - mild mileage, mild sporadic tempos, and overall focus on keeping it hard enough not to lose fitness, but mild enough to let the spinal improvements happen.
  • Measure my max heart rate.
  • See how well I do on hills of different grades at VO2 Max effort
  • Be there to grab good circuit points and prize money in case nobody showed up or I had an exceptional race.
  • Grab one circuit point for participation in case I got pushed down low enough to end up dropping this race from the circuit.
  • Be able to add this race to the predictor.
  • Learn enough about the course to evaluate the performance of other runners and offer them meaningful advice.
  • Have fun racing the competition.

The pack was thick going out. Usual contenders. By the mile, Bob, Joe, Corbin, and Leon were in the lead, Paul a bit behind them, then Steve and another runner (need to look up his name) that used to run for Weber State a bit ahead of me. First mile in 5:27, HR at 170. Not bad for the grade. Leon started fading, passed him. 2 K in 7:03. The Weber State runner took it easy on the up, I did not want to take it that easy, passed him. Caught Steve on the down, but then could not stay with him on the immediate up. The Weber State runner passed me. Towards the end of the 0.5 uphill at 6.7% grade near 1.5 I averaged HR of 173 for the quarter, and maxed out at 175. I am thankful for having The Toy to record it. At that point I would not have been able to read it due to fuzzy vision from the effort.

2 miles in 11:18 (5:51). 4 K in 13:54. Finished in 17:05.9 in 7th place. Ahead of me - Corbin won with 16:25, then Bob 16:34, Paul 16:36 (nice breakthrough/comeback), Joe 16:50,Steve 16:53 (good performance, PR equivalent), Weber State graduate 17:00. 5 Fast Running Blogger in the top 10, I am happy about that - Chad finished 10th in 17:55. Three more between 10 and 20 - Ted (ArmyRunner), Scott Browning (NGU Siren), and Cody.

Afterwards, Bill Cobler took us for a cooldown on the 10 K course. It is going to be even hillier than the 5 K one.

Ran with Benjamin in the afternoon.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Dustin Ence on Sat, Feb 10, 2007 at 23:49:52

Good job Sasha. Like you mentioned it is nice to see so many of the bloggers running good times. We also had a race down here today in St. George and many of the guys from the St. George Running Club and the blog turned in good performances. I was also able to talk to some other runners at the race and pointed them toward the fastrunningblog when they were asking for some advice on what I do. I know for me, it has helped a lot, just being able to track my training,and receive feedback from so many good runners.

From steve ashbaker on Sun, Feb 11, 2007 at 22:41:14

Good race Sasha, You always bring the best out me. Good luck at the 10k.

From Cody on Sun, Feb 11, 2007 at 22:47:36

Sasha,

It was great to meet you and see you in action. I am glad you put the race into your predictor. I think you are right on the money with that thing. Look out for that 10K ouch!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.600.000.000.0011.60

Easy run with Ted. Standard time, standard place. Legs still sore from Saturdays race - quads and gluts. Not too bad, probably a bit better than after Alta Peruvian last year. About the same as after the St. George Marathon. I am happy that the gluts are sore. It is a challenge for me to get them to work.

Ran in the afternoon with Benjamin. Total of 11.6 for the day.

Checked the news today and found this.  A body was discovered near the course we ran this morning in the river. I think this is the closest I've been to a murder scene running or otherwise. Nevertheless, I feel at peace that comes through faith in Christ. I have not always felt that peace, so I know the difference.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Tue, Feb 13, 2007 at 00:20:48

That is kind of a freaky thing! I always ran through that park for years when I lived just down the river, and later with my cross-country kids. Something like that always hits close to home.

I am not used to this whole blog thing yet, but I find it interesting to see what everyone else is doing. I have been using your training log since right after WBR last year and I think that it is pretty cool. It looks like you have a pretty good thing going here. Keep up the good work.

From ArmyRunner on Tue, Feb 13, 2007 at 14:33:45

Funny article from The Onion about joggers finding bodies. This is not real for those familiar with The Onion.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/58443?utm_source=slate_rss_1

From Zac on Wed, Feb 14, 2007 at 09:48:26

About that computer problem. About half the time I open the data entry screen all the new editing features show up as a mess and it won't let me enter anything but the mileage. I pretty much gave up on it for a while but I'm trying it again. I use MS explorer. I found that if I tried to open it and then left it alone and went on to do other things that after a while it typically begins to work.

Is no one else having this problem? I've only had it since the new editing features were added.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Feb 14, 2007 at 16:56:14

Zac:

Let's try Firefox. If you do not have it, click on the box on the right side of this page to get it. As a side benefit, if you are on Windows, Google will pay me $1 once you get it up and running.

MSIE in theory should work fine, and I suspect it will after some clean up - reinstall the browser, reinstall OS, remove a virus, etc. Half of the Fast Running Blog are on MSIE, and they have not reported any problems with this.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.202.502.500.0012.20

Tempo run with Ted. Legs still a bit sore from the race. Could tell kneeling down for the prayer in the morning, but could not tell walking down the stairs.. On the first 2.5 my plan was to run with Ted until it was about time to catch some guy. I was not sure what guy it was going to be. I wanted to beat my 4 K split in the 5 K race (13:54), but would have been happy just breaking 14:00.

The conditions were good. 30F, dry roads. Ted set a good pace and we hit 0.75 in 4:11. Then he faded a bit, and I decided it was time to catch the guy. From that point, I did every quarter in 1:22 with the exception of the one between 1.25 and 1.5, which was 1:21. Finished in 13:44, caught the 5:30 guy. HR eventually worked its way up to 160.

During the recovery jog I wanted to run slow, and we did.  On the way back I wanted to relax at my marathon race pace, and I sure did. First quarter in 1:29, HR still at 135. Then I took out a whip and hit myself to go faster. Next three quarters in 1:28, 5:53 for the mile, HR not even at 150. More whip. Next mile in 5:46, HR at 152, 154 on the uphill section. More whip. Now the pace is 5:40, and the HR is 157-158. Now we are talking marathon pace business. Finished in 14:29.

The whip was needed for two reasons - one, you need it at 4:45 AM, Ted served as one on the first tempo, but not on the second. And the legs were tired from the race at the very start. They were fresh enough on the first repetition, but tired on the second. They were working way too hard for the HR of only 150.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Benjamin is fully recovered from the cold. Jennifer ran for the first time since being hit by the fever on Saturday. 


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Nick on Wed, Feb 14, 2007 at 00:33:37

Nice work Sasha! It looks like you definitely got a good workout in. I am a bit sore too from the 5k this past weekend. Thanks for all the support in the last couple of days!

From steve ashbaker on Wed, Feb 14, 2007 at 16:04:07

Hey Sasha, The package arrived! Thanks again for the gift. Im having trouble with my computer right now. It crashed last night for some reason. I got the operating system back up and running and some limited connectivity to the net. However Im still having some issues with my internet provider and also with reconfiguring my router. If you have any suggestions my ears are open.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Was not feeling well. Stomach bloated. After a couple of bio breaks started feeling better. We had some profound conversations and were going about 7:30-7:40 pace, good for recovery. Profound conversations are important, recovery does not happen without them as silence makes you feel bored and you start to push the pace.

Did not follow Ted into town in anticipation of another bio break. Once left on my own, sped up to 6:30 pace, which felt just as good as 7:30. HR was a bit high, though, probably from subtle dehydration - 138-140 at 6:30 pace.

We decided to celebrate the Valentine's day with a mile time trial for Benjamin and  Fast Running Mommy.  Benjamin is sensitive to cold air at high speeds, so we decided to do it indoors at the BYU indoor track. To allow me to pace both, we did it separately. First, Sarah ran a huge post-Jacob PR of 7:33, which is not too far away from her life-time PR of 6:52. It is nice to be married to a woman that is in better shape 6 months after giving birth to her fifth child than she was in high school.

Afterwards, Benjamin ran a PR of 7:09.

Feel like I am catching a cold, a large doze of onions, garlic, and EmergenC. Nice present for Fast Running Mommy for Valentine's day, I am sure glad she is a good sport about it.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Scott Browning on Thu, Feb 15, 2007 at 12:47:17

Hi Sasha,

I cannot tell you the last time I ran 100 meters all out, but I will stroll out to the track and give it a try. I have had a series of achilles related injuries over the last few years that have kept me from running well. There is no doubt that I have biomechanical issues that lead to undue stress on the achilles insertion. I have been working hard since about Sept. to correct the source of the problem and I feel like I have a handle on it. I still have some pain and inflammation, but each week it gets progressively better. I will let you know what my 100 meter time is a bit later. Thanks for the comments and I appreciate whatever help you have to offer.

From Scott Browning on Thu, Feb 15, 2007 at 15:09:41

Sasha,

I managed to get to the track, I only used a short warm-up and some gradaully progressive strides to warm-up, probably not quite enough, but I felt loose enough to give a hard effort. I ended up running 4 efforts - the first 2 were not quite 100%, the third was, and the fouth - I did not have much left. Times: 14.1, 13.8, 13.4, 14.0. I have not tried to run that hard for a while and felt completely out of sych. I was running very upright and tight. The track was wet, and I was a little concerned with slipping, but I do not think that cost me too much. In the right conditions with a little longer warm-up, I think I could close 12.5, maybe 12.8. I have had ok speed, but not great. The last time I tried to run 100 all out was in college, and I ran 11.8. I would be interested in whatever feedback you may have.

Thanks!!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.150.001.500.2511.90

My original plan was to run a 5 mile tempo. However, due to feeling a little sick I decided to do whatever Ted would. He wanted to do some shorter repeats. We first thought we were going to do 5x1000 in 3:20. On the first one, we missed the mark on the trail. So we went to 0.75 getting 4:04.9 for the split. Then we did another 0.75 in 4:11.5. Ted was not feeling good. We decided today was not a good day for him to do a hard speed workout. He felt his form had problems. I suggested several 100 meter sprints. We did the first three in 17.7, 16.3, 15.8. On the last one I suggested we should get a bit competitive to see what we can do, but not so competitive that we get injured. I can be up to a whole second faster in 100 meter sprint if I have somebody racing me by my side.

I did the last one in 14.7, Ted felt his quads getting tight and backed off a bit to 15.0. I am very pleased with this time as it was done in less than ideal conditions for sprinting. The trail was wet, it was dark, I had to watch the road not to miss the mark, too early for the nervous system to be ready to sprint (6:30 AM), chilly (32F), the trail did curve some on that stretch, and I was wearing tights and a jacket. I suspect I would have have broken my PR of 13.9 today in ideal conditions. This gives me some food for thought - my speed work since St. George was limited to a couple of races, a few strides, tempo runs, and very infrequent 1.5 mile repetitions. However, I have been working on my core strength, and doing Pettibon treatment. Back when I set my 100 PR I did 10x60 up a 3% grade once a week for a couple of months. This provides an argument for my hypothesis that for a distance runner, top speed comes more from proper spinal structure than from explosive strength. And if that is true, then for a true distance runner (slow-twitch dominant) an all out 100 meter sprint is a reliable test of biomechanical efficiency.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Bob on Fri, Feb 16, 2007 at 12:49:50

Sasha

to respond to your earlier comment, I am planning on running Ogden this spring. You are likely correct about execution, but Olympic goals trump logic in my mind. Besides, even if i run a 2:24 and fail to reach my goal, I still PR.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.100.000.000.0012.10

Easy run with Ted in the morning at our usual time. The form felt good. Had a discussion about how effective running doubles is for marathon training. I think the consensus was you need to go at least 10 in one run consistently, and do frequent tempo runs of 10 - 12 miles at marathon pace. However, Ted is more in favor of longer runs than I.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Benjamin ran with Sarah and her new training partner Adrianne this morning, so it was just Jenny and Julia.

Have been doing 1 minute sit-up sessions in the last few days. Managed 40 in one minute today, that's a a record. In November, I could only do 37 in two minutes, but I was sick that day. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.009.500.500.0018.00

The throat was still scratchy. Figured I was one really hard workout away from coming down with a cold that will seriously impair me, but could handle a lighter workout. Decided to cruise along through the standard Saturday 10 mile tempo. Warmed up and cooled down with Ted, but we ran the tempos separately.

Road conditions were great. Temperature a little cold, 27F, but not too bad. Went at a steady pace on the standard course. 2.5 out in 14:38, 180 turn and back in 14:40, out again in 14:37. HR was 150 for the first 4 miles, then drifted up to 155 on the 0.5% grade mile, then backed down to 152. On the last one, saw that I was only 9 seconds behind the 5:50 guy. Decided to catch him. Hit 5:46 mile. HR went up to 155. Kept 5:50 pace on the rise, HR up to 157. 0.5 to go, and he is still ahead. Shifted gears to 5:40. Legs are tired, do not want to do it. HR up to 158. Quarter to go, he is still ahead. I really need to get going. Sped up to 5:20, HR at 164. Caught him with 100 to go, then being tired and feeling the job was done eased off and finished with him. Last mile in 5:42, total time 58:20, last 2.5 in 14:26.

Ted set a course PR with a low 1:01. We cooled down for another 4+ miles to make the total 16.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Benjamin turned 8 today. He will be getting baptized in 2 weeks.

Worked on the GPX course analyzer. As of this writing, it can read,parse,store,update, delete, and compute the total distance. Probably another 2 hours of work from first release.

I am in the catch 22 with the Fast Running Blog - to be able to make it better, I need to work on it full-time. To work full-time it needs to generate revenue to replace my other full-time work. To generate that much revenue, it need to become better. But, hopefully, one step at a time, we can get into a better cycle. The volume of data , the number of active bloggers, and the amount of search engine traffic (three variables that drive the revenue) has doubled in the last three months. Hopefully the trend will continue.

On the positive side, Marathon And Beyond accepted my proposal to write an article about the progress of runners on Fast Running Blog. 


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Comments
From Chad on Mon, Feb 19, 2007 at 16:42:46

Sasha,

That's great news about the Marathon & Beyond article. I bet you'll get a big jump in hits (and some new bloggers as well). I had a subscription last year, but let it lapse; maybe it's time to renew.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.000.500.000.0011.50

Easy run with Ted. We had another guy named Ricardo from our church join us for a little bit. Ricardo is just starting to run, so he ran 1.5 out with us. 

Contemplated doing 5 mile tempo, but the throat was still sore. No cough or fever, but uncomfortable. Figured a hard run could very well do me in. Additionally, there was a lot of snow on the trail. So we ran easy.

Shortly after dropping off Ricardo, we saw a runner ahead of us going at a good pace. We went for a chase to find out who it was. Sped up to 6:00 pace for a short while. Turned out it was Katy Bowen, a BYU steeplechaser.  Ran with her a bit, then it was time for her to turn around.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Still doing core strength work - sit-ups and Curt's contraption.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.800.000.000.2012.00

The throat still scratchy. Decided to take it easy. Ted was also feeling tired. So we jogged and chatted for 10 miles. The roads have cleared up.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Did a 100 meter time trial for Benjamin on the trail. He ran 20.0, 20.2 up a slight grade, and then 19.6 down. I ran those with him. I told him he would be ready to run 2 miles a day when he break 7:00 on the mile, and 19.0 on 100.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.001.001.000.0012.00

Ran with Ted at 4:45 AM. Met him on the trail - he started from BYU. My throat got better, but still did not want to take chances with it. After some discussion we decided to do a mile at Ted's 10 K pace effort, followed by 4x400 a bit faster, but not too hard.

We ran the mile in 5:44. The quarters were 1:23, 1:21, 1:20, 1:18. Each of them felt easier. I felt my form was getting better as we went along.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.000.000.001.5012.50

Ran with Ted at 5:30 AM. Standard sleep-in day. The throat finally felt almost 100% healthy, good enough to try something fast. Ran the standard tune up 1.5 miles in 7:54.9, quarter splits 1:19 - 1:19 - 1:20 - 1:18 - 1:19 - 1:19. HR peaked at 165 on the fourth quarter, then fluctuated between 162 and 165 for the remainder of the interval. 1:20 quarter was caused by the caution of trying not to hit the gate in the dark. This  gave me enough of a break from the pace to start feeling very good. Then I sped up to a 1:18 quarter, and that felt a bit too fast after a while. 1:19 quarters felt just right. Overall, I think the right 10 K pace for a flat course in 1:20 quarters.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.700.000.000.6011.30

Slept in this morning, this time not on purpose. Ted woke  me up at 4:59 AM. It was snowing hard, but still fairly warm. Ran about 3 miles with him. Then he headed to BYU, and I continued on the trail. Did 2x100, one untimed, the other in 19.2. Then 2x400 76.0 - 75.5. Felt good.

Ran with the kids in the evening.

Exciting moment in the history of Fast Running Blog. I just barely gotten the course magic tool to the point of the first release. UI is still rather rudimentary, but at least on my Slate Canyon Loop, which I used for testing, it rocks. I tuned the algorithm until it correctly predicted every quarter split for an evenly paced hard run. If you want to give it a try, login to your account, then go to Course Tool. Add New Course, then you need a GPX file. You can make  one at gmap-pedometer.com.

When I get around to it, I'll add a map similar to gmap-pedometer so you can it everything in one shot here. Also, add the ability to share courses with the public, display elevation profile graphically, add comments and notes to the course, and maybe a few other things. But now it is time to get ready for bed. Running the Strider's 10 K tomorrow.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From steve ashbaker on Sat, Feb 24, 2007 at 16:38:49

Good race buddy, I will get up there eventually so we can workout together!

Race: Striders 10K (6.21 Miles) 00:36:08, Place overall: 7, Place in age division: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.500.000.006.5016.00

Striders 10 K - 36:07.9, 7th place. Cold day - about 26F at the start. Tough course. It highlighted my weaknesses. I do not do well on a long hill, or immediately afterwards. I have tried to work on it in the past and discovered that training on a long hill only makes things worse for me. The root of the problem is probably neurological or biomechanical. That in combination with racing at a higher than normal percentage of HR and VO2. I remember being able to drop the competition on a hill when I was slower, had lower VO2 Max, higher HR, and raced at a lower percentage of HR.

We had the same field as last week, with the addition of Dennis Simonaitis. We started out slow, then gradually warmed into a harder effort as we started the climb. There was a bit of a slight downhill to give us a break. I maintained a steady effort, and it resulted in pulling ahead a little bit. I figured I could use a bit of a buffer before the serious uphill. Then we started the climb for real. 5:59 on the first mile (going by the mile marks). The lead pack pulled away from me at first, then I gradually reeled them in right as we approached the end of the hill. Then it was immediate down. I had a hard time shifting gears, and dealing with the slippage and they got away. Did fine for a while - had them in view, probably within 10 seconds for another mile or so. Missed 2 mile split.

Then the nasty climb on the third mile that gains 300 feet. That is 6% grade for a mile. My Garmin 305 (The Toy) showed quarters at 7:00 pace, HR finally started reading normally as I had worked up some sweat. Steady 166. The leaders kept moving away further and further. 18:27 at mile 3, 12:28 for the last 2 miles. I was running with Steve Ashbaker for a while, but then he started to drop back. The leaders have lost Kenneth Richardson, and I hoped to catch him. However, the long uphill mile put me out of commission. Even though we were now going downhill, I could not get into a good rhythm for a while. My HR dropped to 155. Next mile in 5:27, 23:54 at 4 miles, finally caught the 6:00 mile guy.

Around the 4th mile mark I finally started getting into a good rhythm. Did the next downhill mile in 5:09. Closed a bit on Kenneth. Dennis Simonaitis went by - he was doing a win-the-masters paid tempo run of sorts. Had he been racing he would have gone out with the leaders. I thought of latching on him, but did not feel strong enough to do it.

Another little bit of downhill, and how we are climbing the final hill. Closed a bit on Kenneth at the start of the hill. The Toy reported a 1:38 quarter. Steve is not too far behind. I figured I focus on catching Kenneth, I'll be safe from Steve's kick.

Got to the end of the hill. Kenneth put on a move to make me not want to catch him, and opened a wider gap. We stayed in that order to the finish. 34:59 at mile 6 (5:56).

Bob won in 34:28, then Corbin 34:30, Joe 34:42, Paul 34:47, Dennis 35:47, Kenneth 35:56, me 36:07.9, Steve 36:28, Chad 37:15. Ted finished 18th in 39:13.

Splits by the GPS (distance 6.30): 5:48 - 5:40 - 6:37 - 5:31 - 5:17 - 5:40). Interestingly enough, other GPS's reported similar discrepancies both in distance and in splits. I wonder why. The course was certified.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Later we went to the dinner/talent show at our church. We did our famous Cat In The Hat skit, with Julia and Joseph starring as Thing 1 and Thing 2, Benjamin and Jenny as the boy and the girl, Sarah being the mom and speaking the part of the fish, Jacob being the actual fish, and me acting as the Cat. My favorite part is when Thing 1 and Thing 2 come out of the box, and start running around making a mess.

Sarah's Carob Chip Cookies won the first prize in the chocolate chip cookie bake off. I asked our Elder's Quorum President earlier if carob chips were allowed. He said that it would be OK, but suggested our chances of winning would be greatly reduced. He and his family ended up taking second.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From steve ashbaker on Sat, Feb 24, 2007 at 18:34:18

No, Sasha you do have a kick, I have seen you tap into it on training runs before. I think you just dont believe you have it anymore...

From Chad on Sat, Feb 24, 2007 at 19:13:50

I talked with Bill Cobler after the race and he said he certified the course based on the tangents. Apparently, also some of the cones were placed in ways that required us to run outside the line he used in certification.

Great job today, Sasha.

From Cheston on Sat, Feb 24, 2007 at 20:13:08

Nice race. Considering the hills and weather, you did well. Sounds like one I'm glad I missed.

From Cody on Sat, Feb 24, 2007 at 22:25:24

Great Job Sasha!

You always show up on race day ready to roll. You are very consistent and I enjoy watching the "pros" like yourself do it. We all learn so much because of you. Good Race

From Sasha Pachev on Sun, Feb 25, 2007 at 00:06:45

Bill - if you are reading this can you comment? It seems like the turn near the mile mark at about 0.9 into the race going to the mile should have been via a shorter route, not going all the way to where the roads branch. It would also have made more sense logistically as it was quite a mess to try to make a 150% turn while the runners going in the opposite direction were trying to do the same.

Steve - I have a really nice kick if you let me run slower than the threshold for a mile. Most of the time, the competition does not let me do it or I choose not to to get a better overall time. Otherwise, I have a death grip on my legs, and cannot get anywhere near my already low top speed.

From Paul Petersen on Mon, Feb 26, 2007 at 14:04:48

Sasha, I tried out your course tool. The splits it came up with were very close to my actual splits. Very nice! That was with just a quick-and-dirty gmap. It would be cool to provide your own google map interface to make the actual maps. You can get elevation data as a web service from the USGS site:

http://gisdata.usgs.gov/XMLWebServices/TNM_Elevation_Service.php

1 5009 4.36 6:09 6:09

2 4822 -3.55 5:20 11:29

3 5101 5.28 6:31 18:01

4 4848 -4.79 4:51 22:53

5 4803 -0.85 5:06 27:59

6 4781 -0.42 5:35 33:35

6.2158 4782 0.09 1:11 34:46

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Feb 27, 2007 at 10:53:02

Paul:

I have added the ability to make the course public. I saw you and Cody had the profiles, and turned on the public sharing on them. There is something wrong with your course now - not sure if it is the bug in my parsing code, or if your profile got messed up. Can you double-check, and if looks right to you, e-mail me the GPX file so I can debug it.

From Paul Petersen on Tue, Feb 27, 2007 at 11:11:28

Sasha, I had deleted my original course (made with gmap-pedometer) and replaced it with a high-res course that I made at home with GIS. That is the one you are seeing, and no, it doesn't work. I need to play with it some more, but my spare time has been limited. I imagine the problem is something on my end, as I have to do several conversions before I get to gpx format. BTW, consider supporting kml format as well. KML is similar to XML and is a pretty simple language. It is what Google Earth uses, and several gps units export it as well. Plus, my GIS software supports it. :-)

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Feb 27, 2007 at 11:49:51

Paul:

E-mail me the file, and I'll try to get it to work.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.002.000.0012.00

Ted called the night before and said he would be doing a fitness test with his cadets. I figured I join them. As usual, it took me a bit longer to get ready in the morning than I anticipated due to misplaced clothing items. So I got to the start of the test late. Due to the slippery road conditions, they were running their 2 mile time trial indoors. I took off the jacket and gloves, but still had my tights and T-shirt. Too hot for indoors.

Knowing that decided to run at a good tempo pace that would not overheat me. Was planning on about 11:00 - 11:05. Figured I would slow down on the second mile due to overheating. To my surprise, I managed a steady pace at a fairly comfortable effort. Most of the 0.2 laps in 1:05, occasionally 1:04, and there were a couple in 1:06 when I could not pass slower runners in time before hitting a congestion. On the last lap, I sped up a bit and ran 1:01, this would be 5:05 pace. Total time 10:45, with the splits of 5:23.5 and 5:21.5. HR was 163 at the mile, but then crept up to 168 before the last lap, and maxed out at 172 when I picked it up. 168 HR feels a lot more miserable outdoors. Ted ran 11:01, also a surprise considering his race, overall fatigue, and doing 101 sit-ups in 2 minutes + 83 push-ups in 2 minute prior to the run. I suppose Sunday rest did him some good.

Afterwards he and I ran a few more miles to make it 10 for me for the day.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Nick on Tue, Feb 27, 2007 at 22:42:22

Hey Sasha,

What does it mean to "go anaerobic"? I have heard multiple people say this on the blog, and I don't quite know what it means. Is it the point at which you feel that you will have to slow down later if you push hard now, or is it any pace that is harder than threshold?

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Feb 27, 2007 at 22:52:11

It is both. You can hold your threshold for as long as 1 hour. If you go faster than threshold, every second per mile costs you in the exponentially quicker arrival of fatigue.

When you run, you derive energy from two sources - aerobic (using oxygen) and anaerobic (not using it). The ultimate anaerobic run is 800 meters. The marathon is mostly aerobic, I believe 98%. 10 K is about 92% aerobic if I remember right.

From sammack on Tue, Feb 27, 2007 at 23:50:45

Sasha: Nice workout. Did you get the infamous "track hack" from running hard indoors? That's always the worst part of indoor track.

To throw in my two cents on the anaerobic question, from an exercise physiology standpoint, anaerobic refers to any energy system working in the body that doesn't require oxygen. These would be creatine phosphate stores (which you can go on for about 8 seconds) and glycogen used in glycolysis (about 1:30 if you're well-trained or a natural mid-d guy). Everything else involves burning O2 and the production of lactate--which contrary to popular belief is a useful fuel before it accumulates to the point where it can't be cleared fast enough (acidosis or, more simply, tying up).

The cool thing biologically is that you're usually using multiple systems in a race. For the real long stuff (e.g. marathon), you want to keep it almost all aerobic because you've got a virtually unlimited supply of fat to burn given its fantastic energy/mass ratio and only a finite amount of CP and glycogen.

You can assess the point where you're exceeding aerobic capacity by taking blood lactate measurements and looking for the point where you pass about 4 mmol lactate/L blood (this value is different for everyone and realistically you'd only do in a lab) or simply do it by heart rate.

Here's the useful part of my blathering: The heart rate point where you start going anaerobic is referred to in the literature as V4 after the 4 mmol of lactate; although we know by now that this is a misnomer since it's different for everyone. Anyway, in general as your exertion level increases, so does HR. This is because you're running almost all aerobic at those easier levels. More importantly for this discussion, this relationship is linear. If exertion is on the y-axis and HR is on the X, when you start seeing a less steep slope in your line (a break point), this is V4. It means that the heart can only output so much blood (take in O2 and clear CO2) and other (anaerobic) systems have started to compensate. You can find your own V4 with a good heart rate monitor and a little bit of desire to hurt.

To clarify Sasha's point, the 100 meter dash is actually the ultimate aerobic event. I'm guessing he said the 800 since what you're essentially being asked to do is stretch that 1:30 minutes of available energy into some time human beings can actually run. I'd say the 800 meters is the ultimate pain event!

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 16:51:43

Sam - thanks for the explanations and clarifications. Yes, I did get a bit of a "track hack", but it was not bad.

The linear break method to detect my anaerobic threshold is a bit of a challenge, as I do not have a lot of room for maneuver once I cross it. Below is my regular HR data - varies plus or minus a couple of beats either way depending on the day, but fairly consistent, speed/HRM:

7.5 mph - 120

8.0 mph - 125

8.5 mph - 129

9.0 mph - 133

9.5 mph - 139

10.0 mph - 145

10.5 mph - 153

11 mph - 161

11.5 mph - 167

12 mph - 171

171 is as high as it will go without a hill. With a hill I can hit 175 for a very brief moment, but cannot sustain it. So at jogging speeds my dHR/dV is around 9 bpm/mph. When I approach my marathon race pace it is the highest - 16 bpm/mph. When I start approaching my 5 K race pace it drops to 8 bpm/mph.

I race a marathon at the HR of 157 when in good shape, around 90% of my max. I've also had a VO2 Max test done, which recorded 75.9 with RER hitting 1.00 at VO2 of around 68.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.400.000.001.0011.40

An easy run with Ted in the morning on the Provo River Trail towards the Utah Lake. Towards the end, did some accelerations, all at about 5:05-5:10 pace. First 6x100. Then I felt 100 was too short, I did 200 in 39. Then 400 in 76. Decided to do another 400 for a round number of speed - 75.5.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Benjamin earned his Bobcat badge in Cub scouts. This is the first time any of my children earned a scouting award. I got to hold him upside down while the award was being attached to his uniform according to the custom.

Made some improvements to the course tool. You can now add course description, and share courses with others. Feel free it give it a try. You can map out any course in the world as long as you can follow it on a GMap. Right now you have to go to GMap Pedometer to do it. I plan to fix it in the next couple of weeks so you can do your courses right here on the Fast Running Blog, depending on when I can find a coding time window.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Superfly on Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 22:30:32

Sasha what are your plans Saturday moning. I will be staying in Orem Friday night and may want to run with you guys Saturday moning if we can get together. Let me know what you've got planned and what time.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Feb 28, 2007 at 22:41:54

We are planning a 12 mile tempo run at 6:00 AM in the Provo Canyon with a couple of miles to warm up and cool down. Call me 801-788-4608 to arrange the details.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.800.504.500.0011.80

Tempo run on the standard 5 mile course on the Provo River Trail at 4:45 AM. Warmed up with Ted - he started from BYU. He was feeling tired, so I ran the tempo alone. Due to the early hour and the lack of sleep I had a hard time warming into pace and pushing myself. It is a strange feeling when it happens. Subjectively, you feel like you are working and cannot go any faster. But HR readings are low, and the pace matches it. With that in mind, I adjusted my expectations. My goal was to hit somewhere between 28:20 and 29:00 minutes.

First quarter was 1:28, and I felt lazy. Then sped up to 1:27, still sleepy and lazy. Then did 1:25, and settled into a steady 1:25 per quarter pace. Mile in 5:43, next mile in 5:41, 14:15 at the turnaround(2:51). I felt like I was working hard, but HR was around 148-149. For a while, I thought The Toy was wrong, but it was too consistent to be wrong. Plus the early hour effect should have been contributing something.

A bit of a struggle with the rhythm after the 180 turn, then recovered. To test the measurements, I decided to pick up the pace to see what happens. 17:05 at 2 miles (5:41,2:50). I settled into a steady 1:23 per quarter pace. HR got up to 157. Unfortunately, as soon as I did, I had an urgent need for a bio-break. Trying not to break the rhythm I did it as quick as I could, HR dropped to 143. When I got going again, I had a hard time finding that magic rhythm. 22:42 at 4 miles, 5:37. Uphill quarter in 1:26, the next one in 1:25. Now it is time to get down to business and catch the 5:40 guy. But I am too sleepy to deal with as much pain as it takes, next quarter in 1:25 again. Now it is really time to get serious. Ran the last quarter in 1:20, had to dodge a construction cone at the end - they are building a new bridge around Geneva road and things are quite a mess right now. HR went up to 162.  Last mile in 5:37, total time 28:18, last 2.5 in 14:03, good negative split.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Superfly on Thu, Mar 01, 2007 at 10:30:13

Sounds good. I'll call you Friday evening to get all the details.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.900.000.000.0011.90

Easy run with Ted on the Provo River Trail. Yesterday Julia wanted to skip after her run, so I did it with her. Then I thought I'd show her some other plyometrics.  I tried a bum kick and it felt really good for the form. So today I decided to try some bum kick and high knee in the middle of the run. Ted remembered doing those with Bill Dellinger , his coach at Oregon State who took bronze in the 1964 Olympics in 5000, where Bob Schul won the gold. With some instruction from Ted I finally got the hang of the bum kick more or less to where it was effective. My goal was to learn how to lean forward without bending at the waist. Ted remembered a secret - if you think lean forward, you will bend at the waist. If you think run tall, you will still lean, but you will not bend at the waist. We ran 10 miles at an easy pace.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From steve ashbaker on Fri, Mar 02, 2007 at 21:23:31

I have been practicing a lot on form in that manner. After observing the form of both older and younger runners I saw something very interesting. Not only does stride appear shorter in older runners but knee flexion was not as prominent so the legs seem to swing up and and back in a wider arc. Which of course if know how a pendulum/lever works, you then know that the wider the arc the more energy that is required. I concentrate on lifting my knees and kicking back for the swing back up. Im not sure if this will make my runnning faster, but I have felt an increase in leg turnover. And also some soreness in areas I don't usually become sore in. This may work for you as I have seen your form and have noticed what I think might be excessive leg trail. By the way thanks for teaching me the course tool function. It's been invaluable.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.402.500.000.0011.90

Another run with Ted in the morning. He started at BYU, I met him on the trail. He wanted to go a bit longer than normal. We went faster than usual, the pace was under 6:40 once we got going. On the way back, we kept picking up the pace. I suggested we run a tempo on the standard 2.5 stretch and try to beat the 6:00 mile guy since we were almost going that pace already, and then run easy. Ted said he'd try. 

We hit the first half of the tempo in 3:04. Ted did not seem to want to go any faster, but the scent of the 6:00 guy ahead was too tempting for me to resist. I went after him. Next two miles in 5:53 and 5:52. HR stayed between 150 and 152 once it stabilized. Finished the tempo in 14:49. Ted ran it in 15:24.

Did bum kick plyometrics after the run. Also started working on the back in addition to my standard Pettibon routine and abdominal strength work.

Saw Dr. Jex. He had me stand on a vibration machine with the head weights, shoulder weights, shoulder harness, and hip weights on. Afterwards he took a couple of X-rays. He'll have the results next week.  

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Planning to run early with Clyde tomorrow. Need to be back early - Benjamin is getting baptized.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.5011.001.000.0016.50

Ran in the Provo Canyon with Clyde  . It was 10F and 7 mph wind blowing out of the canyon. Did a short warm-up, then ran the standard 12 mile tempo (4 stretches of the standard Mouth to Nuns Park 3 mile tempo). There was some snow on the ground, not too much, but enough to knock you out of rhytm when going up.  Kept  6:25 pace on the good parts of the up, slowed down to 7:00 on the bad parts, on the way down went a bit sub-6:00 once we got going. HR was low, probably because of the cold conditions - hovered between 135 and 145 depending on the effort. Ran the last mile in 5:35 to catch the 6:15 guy. Total time 1:14:41. I told Clyde he were to race today he was ready to run about 2:40 in Boston, maybe faster. The cold seemed to affect his nervous system - he would push the pace at times, and then all of a sudden lose the momentum, then repeat. Cooled down, total of 14.8 miles for the run.

Came home, and as they say in Russian, from the ship to the ball. Benjamin was getting baptized. I have performed many baptisms before, but this is the first time I got to baptize my own child. I have waited for this for a long time. When a person is baptized, he makes a promise to God to be faithful for the rest of his life. In our church we often talk about enduring to the end. Baptism is the starting line. Then it is all about enduring to the end. Very much like distance running.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Afterwards, Sarah and I went to the temple for our date. When I came home, there was still work left to do. Got it done. Now is the end of a long busy day, I am looking forward to hitting the sack.
 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Maria on Mon, Mar 05, 2007 at 09:32:28

Sasha, I tried the course tool today - pretty cool! I measured the course for my half marathon next Sunday and uploaded it. For some reason, it shows here a full mile longer than in GMaps pedometer (it is 13.2mi. there - still long, but it's probably due to my inaccurate measurement, it is a certified course by South of England Athletics Association). So why is it a full mile longer after importing the .gpx file? Did you notice it before with other routes?

I wanted to see elevation changes, and I was not disappointed! This course is marketed as flat and "excellent PB potential", but I saw few pretty steep hills there. Ugh, I better adjust my expectations, especially since I don't train on hills at all now. I put in a flat pace of 7:48, and the tool gave me mile splits in the range of 9 to 11 min/miles. Is it correct (seems really slow)?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Mar 05, 2007 at 10:31:56

Looks like either there is a bug in my course tool, or perhaps the course elevations are not correct. The profile looks like you have to stop sometimes and climb a vertical wall. If that is the case, I'll add an option to even out crazy impossible grades.

GMap pedometer does not account for the vertical component of running, the course tool does. So perhaps somehow your profile managed to accumulate an extra mile from the vertical component. I'll try to debug it in the next couple of days to see what is going on.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Mar 05, 2007 at 17:48:18

Maria:

I found the problem. The course profile apparently did not have the elevation data for some points. Those showed up as zero after import. Perhaps there is was a way to detect them during parsing - I could look into that if you e-mail me the original GPX file.

So occasionally because of that the course would bring you down to sea level in a quarter of a mile or so, and then immediately bring you back up over the same distance. To deal with that, I added a special option to smooth out the course. If you select it, and then mark the maximum reasonable grade that course can have (crazy grade cutoff), it gives you reasonable data. Your course works well with 15% crazy grade cutoff.

From Maria on Mon, Mar 05, 2007 at 18:33:18

Thanks Sasha! You're right, some points have 0 elevation, I checked the .gpx file and confirmed that's the case. If you're parsing by XML tags you should be able to catch these points. It's still a mystery why some elevations are missing - a bug in Goggle Maps, perhaps? And how would one know what crazy grade cutoff to use in smoothing? I need to try mapping some other courses and see if the elevation problem is consistent. Meanwhile I'll email you the gpx file. Thanks for looking into this!

From RivertonPaul on Mon, Mar 05, 2007 at 18:35:36

Congrats on the special occasion.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.004.750.2512.00

Another early morning run. Met Ted on the trail - he started from Smith's Field House at BYU. Figured since I was rested I'd better do a tempo. Ran 5 miles on the standard Provo River Trail course. Ted ran 2.5. We hit the first mile in 5:40. Then he had to stop for a bio-break at 1.75. I continued. Next mile in 5:40, and 14:10 at the turnaround. My heart rate monitor was not working. I think the battery is dead. But that is fine. I can tell my heart rate by feel most of the time, and use the heart rate monitor mostly for entertainment.

Next quarter in 1:27.7 - the turnaround always knocks me out of rhythm. Quickly sped back up to 5:40 pace. 17:03 at 3 miles (5:43). The next mile in 5:39. I kept hitting the lap split button, mostly to be able to see the time at the quarter instead of using the auto-split feature. I do get annoyed when The Toy gets the splits in wrong places even if it is only a couple of seconds off. If it was not dark, I would not even have bothered with lap splits, but it is a good way to turn the light on. I wish that Garmin had a feature to turn the light on for N seconds every M seconds. I also wish it would show your split with 0.1 second precision, or at least round it off to the nearest whole number rather than truncating the fractions. Seeing the splits of mostly 1:24 and only one of 1:25 misled me into thinking I was headed for a 5:37 mile. But those 1:24s were high 1:24s, and 1:25 was also a high one. So the mile ended up being 5:39, and I was a whole 2 seconds behind the 5:40 guy. And now I had to run the last mile uphill, and my quads were feeling tired.

I did the next quarter in a high 1:26 followed by a high 1:25. Now I was 4 seconds behind the 5:40 guy. On the next quarter I just about said, forget it, I do not want to chase him, I am too tired, it is too early in the morning, 5:41 is as good as 5:40 when I should really be in bed. While I was having those attitude problems, I ran it in 1:26.8. This gave me enough of a break to improve my attitude. I decided to give it an earnest try and put in a solid kick. I decided I'd start right with a quarter to go, and take 60 hard steps, then ease off. This was a mental trick. Two things were going to happen in that time - I would get good momentum, and I would be close enough to the finish to where I could take a few easy steps, and then push all the way through. It worked. I managed 1:17.8 on the last quarter, and 28:18.7 for the whole run beating the 5:40 guy to the tape.

Overall I felt I was not exerting myself cardiovascularly, but my quads were starting to quit when I tried to go sub 5:40. This is usually what I feel limits me most of the time. I suspect I run in such a way that overworks my quads and underworks other muscle groups. Fast 400 meter repeats in the past have helped me to some extent. I think I'll do them on Wednesday. 

Ran with the kids in the evening.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Nick on Tue, Mar 06, 2007 at 11:31:19

Sasha,

I would consider my diet pretty healthy, high in carbohydrates, low is fats and sufficient amounts of dairy and proteins. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and rarely eat any kind of junk food or greasy food. A large portion of the food I eat is organic, lacking all of the unhealthy chemicals used to grow many types of fruits and vegetables. I think that my diet is good, and supports what I am doing right now. Maybe I did eat something, though, that made me feel that way throughout the run.

From olga on Tue, Mar 06, 2007 at 11:51:05

Jesus, I am not even going to try and fathom these times! Awesome job though:)

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Mar 06, 2007 at 12:14:01

Nick:

In 1999 I had a dehydration problem during the Boise Marathon. I noticed the heart rate was higher than normal during the race, but the pace felt good. Then at mile 15 I was out of action - slowed down to a 7:30 jog, and barely made my way to the finish. Afterwards I was drinking water like crazy, and did not regain a normal state of mind until the fluids got replenished.

My diet was very good by American standards, but not as good as it is now. Back then this was an extreme case of dehydration, but I did dehydrate in some noticeable form in long runs. I think overtime as I continued to improve my diet and put in the miles, I solved the dehydration problem quite well. Towards the end of a marathon my heart rate actually drops a bit as I run out of fuel, but it is correct for the pace I am going. Whereas many other runners in the same situation would have their heart rate going through the roof. So I think you need to continue doing what you are doing, and overtime this issue will resolve itself.

From Maria on Wed, Mar 07, 2007 at 07:04:13

Sasha, just wanted to pass this site on: www.runners.ru - it's the first Russian interactive site about long distance running I found. Lots of information on Russian runners, athletics and an interesting forum. Some of the posts are pretty funny, but I was taken aback with some people's spelling - perhaps because I'm not used to reading posts in Russian. It's probably the same number of errors as on US boards, but they somehow stand out more in Russian. It's interesting to read how they train - quite a bit different than in the West.

Anyway, check it out!

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Mar 07, 2007 at 15:16:45

Thanks. I've taken a look at it. Too bad most people on the blog cannot read Russian. I really like the joke about fighting with a runner - not a good idea, if you are stronger, he will run away from you, but if he is, you will not run away from him. A typical Russian joke, I would say. I remember in our school we had a well established fighting ability hierarchy. For any two boys, it was a fairly well known fact who would win in a fist fight, and that of course, was learned from experience. That knowledge helped maintain peace, unless somebody started getting stronger or weaker.

I also found it interesting that you mentioning the word Russian four times in the comment triggered an ad for atheist.net in my GMail when I viewed the comment notification mail. This reminds me of a joke Sarah's dad likes to tell:

A Jew in the Soviet Union is sitting in a park and studying a Hebrew language text book. A policeman approaches him and says - why are you studying Hebrew, don't you know we would never let you go to Israel? The Jew responds - Hebrew is the language of Heaven! The policeman says - what if you do not make it? The Jew replies - well, I already know Russian.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.700.000.000.8011.50

Ran the usual route with Ted this morning. He uploaded our route to the Course Tool, as well as the tempo course. It is amazing what a military helicopter pilot can do with  a GMap. Ted has the eye of an eagle and amazing attention to landscape detail. Too bad the elevation profile supplied by the US Geo Survey does not have the right resolution. I think it put up the start of the 5 mile tempo at the right elevation, but it averaged in the drop to the adjacent Provo River for the rest of it. It says there is a 17% grade drop in the first 0.01 mile. The only way that is possible is if you jump down to the river.

I did some bum kick drills and short strides on the way out. On the way back we did 8x100. My splits were - 17.3, 16.9, 16.3, 14.9, 14.5, 15.1, 15.2, 15.3. The last two were up a slight grade. We did a fairly brisk 300 meter jog in between. The form felt better. I could feel some power on acceleration. I think I would have PRed in 100 on the track - it was dark, and early, I had to watch out for the mark, and those 100s are actually 1/16 of a mile which is about 0.5 meters longer that 100 meters. I am going to run 100 on the track on Thursday so I'll stop wondering if I would have PRed.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Julia surprised me - she ran half a mile in 4:55. That is the fastest a child has done it in our family prior to turning 4.5. Jenny did not like it - she likes to start out at 11:00 mile pace. It is nice to have a younger child to motivate the older. I do not think Benjamin would have been running as well had it not been for some positive pressure from Jenny.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.330.000.001.5012.83

Was originally planning on 12x400. However, I caught the same scratchy throat type of cold again. Decided not to push the body too hard, but I still needed some anaerobic speed. Figured 6x400 would be the right type of workout. Did them with Ted, he ran them a bit slower, but not too far behind.

Warm up, then we started on the flattest portion of the trail. First 5 very consistently between 70.2 and 70.9. The recovery was usually a very slow 200 meter jog except one time we did 300 to get to a better place, one time we stopped for my bio break,  and another time (before the last one) we stopped for Ted's. But that is OK, this workout is more about speed for me than recovery, I just keep the recoveries fairly short to get it done in a reasonable amount of time, and I can get away with a very slow 200 meter jog.

On the last one pushed a bit on the last 200 meters. Got 68.5. In all repetitions the anaerobic bear started to climb on me at 200, and was comfortably (for him, not for me) sitting on my back by 300. However, as the last repetition shows, I could run through it for a while with a little bit of willpower application. Probably all of the repetitions were about 0.5 to a full second slower from having to ease off before the mark so as not to miss it. It was still dark.

Did a fairly long cool down. Ran to the library and back with the kids in the afternoon. Benjamin did well on the way back - hit a mile in 7:39 fairly relaxed, and in spite of a side ache.

Treating the cold with large doses of onion mixed with agave to make it somewhat edible.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Cody on Thu, Mar 08, 2007 at 00:16:02

Sasha,

I have a Garmin question for you or anybody who might know. Is there a way to split up a workout or quit recording a workout and start a new one on the same day. For example, I would love to run a warmup then record a run and then record a cool-down all with a different "workout" for each section. The only way I can do it now is to hit the lap button when I am done with each section and then go back in the Training Center software and look at the pieces that I want. My desire is to have the total time reset and ave values reset so that when I run the hard miles, I know the real-time results of that phase of the run. Understand? That is one of my pet peeves of the Garmin. I have to mentally subtract the warmup from the rest of the run.

From Maria on Thu, Mar 08, 2007 at 05:14:34

Cody, I've done it several times, specifically in races, when I want to record warmup, race and cooldown separately. All you need to do, is just reset the workout time by holding the lap button until it resets itself, and then hit the start again. Then, if you go to history on the unit (or software), you'll see several workouts for that day, all recorded separately.

From Cody on Thu, Mar 08, 2007 at 10:02:20

Thanks for the tip Maria. I will try it out later today to see it in action. That sounds like it is exactly what I want do. Thanks

From steve ashbaker on Thu, Mar 08, 2007 at 10:39:03

You need to sleep more.

From Ryan Woods on Thu, Mar 08, 2007 at 13:32:55

Thanks for the advice. I've actually taken a lot of the steps you've just suggested. pretty much my last 2 years of college and the next 3 years out of college I ran every run at 5:45-6:00 pace including my long runs. These last 3 years I've dropped that back to 6:00-6:15 pace. Basically that's a pace where I'm very comfortable...ie low heart rate and breathing rate. It's "conversation pace." But this is the formula I've been working with now for that last decade and I'm rarely injured. It's pretty obvious that the plantar problem came from my first track workout in spikes and since then it's been a battle of keeping it under control. Also, as for taking a day off, I've found my body responds much better to a shorter easy mileage day than to a complete day off. ie, my 5 mile run. It gets the system started up, warms up the muscles, and I get in a good stretch afterwards. This is all from my personal experience and what I've responded best to over the years.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.700.000.500.4011.60

The 100 meter sprints on Tuesday have stirred my curiosity as to what I could do on the track in an all out 100. Today was not quite the best day to do it, but there will never be a best day. So I decided to give it a shot. Ted and I warmed up to the Provo High track. Then I did a few accelerations to get ready. Then Ted timed me from a standing start. In two attempts I managed 14.8 and 14.6. Nothing unusual - just about what I used to get in the past, although I had never tried them in the dark before, or at least never ran that fast in the dark and that early in the morning. It felt awkward to run from a standing start.

I can think of a few reasons why the sprinting felt a lot better on Tuesday. One, is I had not done it on Tuesday yet. Two, I had not done the 400s the day before. Three, they were not from a standing start, which I think for me makes a lot of difference - having to accelerate that fast tenses me up for 60 meters or so before I can finally get into the groove.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. My cold got a bit worse during the day, and I've even considered skipping the 10 miler, but then I attacked it with large doses of garlic and fluids with electrolytes (EmerenC) and it got quite a bit better. 

Now what is the big deal about 100 meters? I believe regardless of what distance you train for, if you are a runner you need to know how to run. 100 meter sprint is a good home test of your running form. Let us think of a bike for an analogy. Let us say we have untrued wheels. Riding a slow speed will take more energy, but you can still do it. However, riding at a high speed will be impossible even if we try to do it for a very short period of time. If your distance performance suffers, there is an equal probability that the problem is endurance or biomechanics. However, if your sprint performance suffers, the endurance factor is eliminated. The element of natural or trained explosiveness comes into play, but I believe it is not as important as the endurance for a long distance event. It is not unusual to find men that do not do squat for exercise of any kind, and can still run a 12.0 100 meters or faster. That is only 20% slower than the world record. 20% slower than the world record in a marathon is 2:30. How many guys can run a 2:30 marathon with no training?

Thus, training in a marathon can obscure or compensate for the effects of bad biomechanics. But it is much more difficult to do it in a sprint. And it is nearly impossible to do it for somebody with dominant slow twitch fibers. On top of the untrued wheels bike effect, he has another problem. If you train him to sprint, he has very little he can train. Therefore, it is reasonable to suppose that if a slow twitch dominant runner can do a decent 100 meter sprint, he is doing it mostly off good form. And, if the sprint is slower than a certain threshold, the problem is biomechanical.

So I would roughly put people into the following groups (some adjustment might be needed, it would be nice if somebody did a research on this):

GroupIdentifying Qualities
Sprinters
With proper biomechanics, 100 meters under 11.0 for men, under 12.5 for women. Trained for distance, slow down way more in longer distances than what McMillan calculator estimates.
Middle-distance runners
With proper biomechanics, 100 meters under 12.0 for men, and 13.6 for women. Trained for distance, slow down according to the McMillan calculator from 100 to the mile, then a bit more towards 5000 meters, then much more after that.
Regular distance runners
With proper biomechanics, 100 meters under 12.7 for men and 14.4 for women. Trained for distance, slow down a little bit less than the McMillan calculator curve from 100 meters all the way to the marathon.
Distance runners with unusually high proportions of slow twitch fibers
With proper biomechanics, 100 meters under 14.0 for men, and 15.8 for women. Trained for distance, hardly any slow down from 100 meters to 800 meters - can almost run 800 in 8 times their 100 meter PR. However, the slow down from 800 to the marathon matches that of the Regular distance runners.

I would be a regular distance runner with bad biomechanics. Sometimes we explain away the poor performance in 100 meters of a regular distance runner by saying he just does not have a lot of fast twitch muscles. I think it is a mistake. First, if he does not run 100 under 14.0, he either has biomechanical issues, or some form of mild muscular dystrophy or some other health issue otherwise. Second, if he indeed is so slow twitch, when properly trained, he will very closely approach his 8x100 PR time in 800 meter race.

The above is an expression of my intuition I've gained from  22 years of running experience. I would really, really like to see some research on this, though. If anybody has any feedback on this, feel free to comment. I am very much open to correction/clarification of my ideas. 


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From steve ashbaker on Fri, Mar 09, 2007 at 22:04:50

You know, your reasoning is sound but as I think we have discussed before there may be other properties of the human body that you might be overlooking. Because I am not trained in medical science I really don't like to comment in this area. But for the same reasons we all look differently, talk differently, and sound differently... We will all run different. There comes a point where we can not put in what God has left out. Even so God has still indeed blessed us all. With most people no amount of work will ever get them to run a 2:24 marathon like yourself. The true test comes in being the best we can with what we have been given.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

I was originally planning on doing my regular distance today. However, the cold has changed my plans. I figured even if I did not have to race tomorrow, going 10 miles in the morning still would not have been as beneficial as 6. I met Ted on the trail and we ran at an easy pace.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

Went to see Dr. Jex. He said the hip weights would do me no good, at least the kind that he tried on me. X-rays showed that if I put them on, my hips become even more imbalanced that in neutral position.  So we scheduled a long session Monday to try all kinds of things, take X-rays, look at them, and then decide what to do next. I think he has a lot at stake now. First, professional honor. I know that if I am working on a programming project for somebody, and it does not quite work, I really do not like to say, well, too bad, I've tried my best. I'll try my very thorough best before I say it, especially when it is something critical to the business of the client. I think he is the same way - if it does not work right away, he will not just quit. 

Another aspect is that I have already maxed out my potential with what training and diet can do. I suppose there is some room for improvement if I could run 120 miles a week and sleep 10 hours a day, but that is not happening, not at least until I find a way to make money without being there doing it all the time. Which is still at least a few years away. My current regimen has produced very consistent results for the last three years. To the point where I go to a race knowing exactly the time I am going to run. It is good my times are not getting worse, but they are not getting better.  If I improve even only 5 minutes in the marathon due to his treatment this will serve as a loud indicator that he has some magic in his hands.

Started working on integrating a Google Map into the Course Tool, so you would not have to go to GMap Pedometer to make maps. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Race: Striders Winter Series 10 Miler (9.86 Miles) 00:59:02, Place overall: 6
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.140.009.860.0015.00

Winter Series Striders 10 miler, 59:01.8, 6th place. To to a mistake by the race director in laying out the course the morning of the race, we ended up cutting off a certain distance that was 0.14 according to my Garmin 305. But in the end it does not matter, as we all ran the same race, and the course was so hilly that the time is meaningful only in comparison with other people in the race.

My cold started getting better the day before. However, I was still not quite healthy. As Ted and I drove up to the race, I decided I would pace Chad for the first three miles, if I felt healthy enough. Then take off if I felt good, or just hang on and finish the race if not. When I got to the race I remembered that Chad was not running. I convinced Steve Ashbaker to hang around with me for the first three miles. He agreed, figuring a slower start could do him some good.

We went through the first uphill mile in 5:54. It felt easy. Too easy. Ted caught us and told us to speed up. Joe Wilson was way out front, followed by Paul Petersen and Bob Thompson a distance behind. I was in a group with Steve, Ken Richardson, Ted, and Albert Wint.

Second mile was downhill. We pushed a bit harder, and got a good split - 5:11. Only 10 seconds behind Paul and Bob. The pace felt good. I even thought of making a move to catch them, but decided it would not be a good idea for a couple of reasons. I was not fully healthy, and I know that in that condition the early miles for me feel a lot easier. And the hills were coming up.

The wrong turn happened some place during the third mile. For the record, the split at mile marker three was 17:05, which was long. The race director guessed that one, it was not at the certified location. By that time I was with Ken and Steve. Shortly after, the climb started, and I fell behind. Running up the hills I decided to pay attention to two things - first the feeling, and second the heart rate to catch possible errors of perception, and also for the purpose of gaining experience and understanding. I figured as long as those hills were, I needed to stay right at my anaerobic threshold for best results. If the competition is pulling away, do not worry about it. They are stronger on the hill, and there is not much I can do about it now. The time to worry about it was before the race. All I can do by pretending I am as strong as them on the hill is lose it half way through the hill, not be able to go fast on the downhill, and end up further behind. Otherwise, with proper pacing, I might even be able to catch them on the downhill.

Official mile 4 (3.86 on the GPS), 21:44. Steve and Ken are within sight, Bob and Paul are out of sight. Hills are getting nastier and there seems to be no end of them. 28:07 at the official mile 5, 6:23 mile. Now the official mile markers are actually separated by exactly one mile since we are back on the certified course. The next mile has a nasty climb, I saw one quarter in 1:57 on the GPS, and otherwise were comparably slow. However, there was a downhill stretch towards the end which saved the mile split somewhat - 34:58 at "mile 6", 6:51. I closed a bit of a gap on Ken on that stretch. I wished it were longer.

Now the infamous 10 K hill. Paul called it the stairway to the place for those who sin and do not repent for a good reason. I am hitting 1:50-1:55 quarters, and Ken is not gaining much distance on me, and I can still see Steve, and he is not separating from us either, at least not by very much. Interestingly enough, as I kept the effort at my perception of anaerobic threshold my heart rate dropped from 162 in the early sections of the hill to 158 later on. I have seen this before running up Squaw Peak. The heart rate starts to drop towards the end of the hill. The hill has to be fairly long, though, so that you cannot get through it with a surge of effort. And it needs to be steep, about 6-7%. The way I feel the threshold is by the feedback from the quad. Right around there it starts feeling a bit sour, that is the best I can describe that feeling. On a flat or slightly downhill sections I get that feeling at around the heart rate of 161-163 if I am well rested and having a good day. On a bad day, I might get it at 157. It is that feeling that keeps me from going faster in a tempo run or a 15 K/10 mile/ half-marathon.

What is interesting is that in the past, I used to go by breathing to determine the correct pace for the half-marathon. Now it is not the breathing that limits me any more, it is that feeling of muscular fatigue in the quad. I suppose going up a steep hill for a while overworks the quad, and it starts quitting, which drives the heart rate down.

The hill keeps going up and up. I am starting to believe there is no end to it. Finally, we reach a point where I see no roads above us. That is a good sign, the hill is over. A short downhill stretch at the top give a bit of a saving grace for the mile split. 42:07 at the 7 mile marker, 7:09 for the mile.

Now the downhill. Here the mind is playing tricks on me, I knew it would. My heart rate goes down to 155 for a second. I push it a bit, now 157. Starting to get into a good rhythm. Now 160. Next mile in 5:24, starting to close a bit on Ken. Headwind is not helping. Next mile, less steep down in 5:32. Ken now is only 3 seconds ahead. I decided I'd do my best to pass him. But I think he decided he'd do his best to not get passed.

Nasty climb on the last mile. He pulls ahead, then comes back a bit. The climb is over. Now he shifts gears faster than me and is gone for good. I am pressing as hard as I can, but I just cannot shift my gears that fast. Right as I am approaching the finish chute my heart rate is only 161. And I am thinking kick, kick, get him! 59:01.8, last mile in 5:59, Ken is 13 seconds ahead, Steve  37 seconds ahead.

Short cool down to not make the cold worse, then the Zmei Gorynovich treatment after that (a clove of garlic). Zmei Gorynovich is a three headed flying fire-breathing serpent in  Russian fairy tales. My mom calls me Zmei Gorynovich whenever I eat a lot of garlic.

Overall, I thinking although the cold was a factor, mostly it was the hills that killed me. Nothing new. The hips and the spine need to be fixed. I am happy I was able to run somewhat decent under the circumstances. I am looking forward to the half-marathon, which is mostly downhill. 

Ran some more with the kids in the afternoon.




Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Chad on Mon, Mar 12, 2007 at 10:18:17

You had a great race, Sasha. I wish I could have been out there to hang with you in the first few miles. I'm sure I would have suffered mightily as a result--but it would most certainly have improved my performance.

From wheakory on Tue, Mar 13, 2007 at 10:26:02

Nice race Sasha, your speed and endurance is credited to your great dedication. Hills are tough sometimes you feel your at a great pace going uphill and then your quads start to fatigue and slow you down a

bit.

What our your marathon plans this year?

Thank you for you comments on my site. I'm really trying to do everything I can in my training to break 3 hours

I

do take Sunday's off, because my spirituality is more important than my running (basically what you stated). Our running abilities only come from God, and having fatih through him allows us to achieve what God wants us to achieve.

One of my favorite scriptures I try to live by and my family

Galatians 5:25 “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Mar 15, 2007 at 13:07:45

Kory:

My marathon plans are Ogden, DesNews, Top of Utah, St. George, and then the Trials if I make it.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.750.000.000.0011.75

Easy run on the Provo River Trail with Ted in the morning. Averaged 7:27 pace, Garmin 305 reported the average heart rate of 119 in spite of going crazy at some point and hitting a max of 151. I never ran fast enough to get that heart rate, so I assume it was off for a small segment of the run. Felt sleepy. Getting over the cold. Apparently it is only at the respiratory level, otherwise the heart rate would have been higher.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Figured out a new way to motivate Benjamin - let Jenny out of the stroller at the end of his fast 0.5 segment with 0.1 to go. Today this resulted in a fit which kept him from catching her, but he ran the last quarter in 1:47 nevertheless. Afterwards we had a talk and he did some attitude improvement core strength exercises. He needs to do them anyway, and he gets in trouble enough during the day to get his fair share. I also made him write about the experience in his blog, which he did, although rather reluctantly.

Went to see Dr. Jex. He took lots of X-rays. The good news is that my neck curve has made the most significant improvement since we started the treatment. The curvature angle is now 27 degrees with the forward head tilt of 5 mm. An improvement from 16 degrees/18 mm in the beginning, and 20 degrees/9 mm about a month ago. The ideal measurement is 35-45 degrees and 0 mm tilt. So we are on the right track in the way of neck correction. The shoulder weights we added have helped a lot.

However, the lower back is still acting odd (which is the reason he decided to spend some extra time with the X-rays), and right now we have the following issues:

  • The lumbar curve is almost normal while standing up, but I lose entirely (down to 0) when I sit down.
  • The lower spine has a lateral curve towards the right. In theory, hip weights should correct it. However, with the hip weights on it becomes worse (always bending towards the right) regardless of the direction of the torque the hip weights are positioned to create.

Dr. Jex was rather perplexed by this. Indeed my lower back is both literally and figuratively is throwing him a curve. He decided to take a more thorough look at it. We are going to have even a longer research session on Thursday. I am excited about this. Finally we are getting somewhere. For a while I felt like we were trotting in place. I have always felt that a thorough research is what this problem needed. But I could never find a specialist that would recognize the need and be willing to do what it takes.

I think I have a clue as to where the whole problem came from. Between the ages of 12 and 13 I ran 4 hard track workouts a week at the Znamenskiye indoor track in Moscow (Maria would know that one very well). They were all high volume and high intensity. Here is an example of a three day segment from one week that I recall: Monday, 6000 m in 21:42 (5:45/mile pace). Tuesday, 1000 in 3:09, 800 in 2:30, 600 in 1:48. Wednesday - 600 m in 1:47, 400 m in 67, and 200 in 32. My coach loved to give us tempo runs on the indoor track which I would do usually at a pace faster that 6:00 per mile. I can only imagine what that could have done to the developing  bones and muscles - you hit a sharply sloped curve that is about 25-30 meters long that gives you a 180 degree turnaround 16 times a mile and at a high speed times and again.

So, yes, Dr. Jex is dealing with a very unusual case. Very few people get this sort of damage. And the few that do rarely even think about it, much less care to get it fixed, just happy to run where they are at if they continue to run at all. Not me. I am persistent. I will not let this be in my way. I will not give up hope, I will not quit. I'll find a way to get it fixed and run at my true potential.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Maria on Tue, Mar 13, 2007 at 16:29:45

I'm very impressed with your tenacity. I hope you get your back fixed, but more importantly, that it gives you the improvement you expect and takes you to the next level. You deserve it after so many years of hard work.

I agree that running such high volume at high speeds on that track could have done the damage. "Spartak" indoor track was considered one of the most steeply banked tracks in Moscow. I have run on CSKA track, and on "Trudovie Reservi" track, and both were significantly less banked that ours. My back is seriously screwed up too, but I think it happened even before I started running. I've been diagnosed with scoliosis when I was around 12, and no exercises could fix it. I should have taken up swimming, and I did, for a time, but I loved running more, and stuck with it. I don't think our track did me any favors either. Last year, when I went to a podiatrist regarding some persistent calf pain, he measured my legs while I was laying down, and said that my left leg is 1.5 inches longer than my right!! I know it's not really longer, it's just my hips are so messed up (and probably rotated, too) that it creates functional leg length descrepancy. But I'm afraid to let doctors do anything for the fear that things will get worse, and I won't be able to run at all. After all, my body somehow learned to compensate for my improperly curved back. Sometimes I think it's nothing short of a miracle that I can tolerate 50+ miles a week without major problems. It's very possible I could gain something in performance by fixing the issue (assuming it's even possible to fix), but I have no elite potential, and so I think the risk outweighs potential benefits, in my case.

From Jon on Thu, Mar 15, 2007 at 00:12:34

It's interesting that you think your problems stem from some workouts so many years ago. Too much running can certainly be hard on a growing kid's body. I know I was not developed enough to run 5k's until ~14 years, and would not encourage marathons until 18 years old. I took a few years off running (20-21 years old) and my body was much, much better suited to handle hard distance running with only a 2 year difference. It's kind of like wrestling or gymnastics- the kids do so much training (and trying to lose weight) that they can permanently stunt their growth. Hopefully your doctor can help you with everything.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Mar 15, 2007 at 07:25:55

Maria:

I have suspected there was something wrong with your back. There is something wrong with being able to run 100 m in 15 s, but only 22 minutes in a 5 K when you are training for distance. It could of course be just the slow twitch dominance, but then your 100 m should be a lot faster if your back was normal. And I believe that a bad spinal curve not only limits your top speed, but also limits your ability to hold it. Again going back to the bike with untrued wheels analogy. It is hard to go fast, but it is even harder to go fast for a long time. However, if you slow down, the resistance is reduced, and riding becomes to feel more normal.

I think you might have quite a bit of an elite potential. How much I cannot tell for sure, but I would not be surprised if you ran a 2:40 marathon if you were successful in correcting your spine. You mentioned the lack of talent in your profile comment. I am starting to believe that the talent is 90% or so in the spinal shape. Slow-twitch to fast-twitch ratio is almost irrelevant for athletic talent - you just specialize in the right event for your ratio. Have you noticed how if somebody is exceptionally good in a sprint, they are often at least decent in almost any sport, and they do not have to train for it, but if someone is way below par in a 100 meter run, they struggle in almost any sport even if they train very hard? They often become distance runners because that is the sport where hard work can provide a reasonable measure of compensation for the lack of what we call "natural ability". I think it is so because the spinal shape is critical to athletic performance, and it is something that you just have, at least when you are young, regardless of how you train.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.900.000.000.0011.90

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Very slow and relaxed. Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

In the evening started feeling chills and very fatigued. Sinus infection, this time a bit stronger than normal. Went to bed early. Taking it easy for the next couple of days. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Wed, Mar 14, 2007 at 14:17:45

That time of year where pollen and environment changes, affect are immune systems. I hope you start to feel better.

Still impressive that you got out and ran almost 12 miles not feeling very well. What pace did you maintain today?

God Bless.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Mar 14, 2007 at 14:23:03

About 7:50 per mile.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.450.000.300.006.75

Slept in this morning to allow myself to get over the cold. Took the whole day easy. Did not run until late afternoon. First ran with the kids. We had an adventure with Benjamin being chased by a dog. It was a small dog, but he got really scared and swerved in panic. But he still managed a good last 0.5 in 3:38 with the quarter splits of 1:49 and 1:49. The dog quarter would probably have been 1:46 or maybe even faster if he had not panicked. 

Afterwards, I went for a 5 mile run and Benjamin rode his bike with me. We started out at 7:30 pace, then gradually warmed into 6:35-6:40. The construction around Geneva road slowed us down. My heart rate was hovering around 140 at 6:35 pace, which is about 6 beats per minute higher than normal.  That is to be expected with the sinus infection.

On the last 0.4 Benjamin decided to test my limits. Sick or not, I still have some competitive spirit, so I responded to the challenge. Then with 0.1 to go I decided to show him class and picked up the pace. He held up fine for as long as we were going 5:20 pace, but his little bike could not go any faster. The turn with 60 meters to go did not help either. The last quarter was 1:19. At first, I thought it was only 1:29 and figured I must be really sick if I had to work that hard to run that slow. The good news is that it felt easy enough for me to consider it could have been 1:29.

Worked some on the GMap for the Course Tool. I got it to the point where you can go to a location of your choice, zoom in and out, toggle between satellite, hybrid, and regular map, and plot course. I still need to figure out a way to save the course data, and obtain the elevations. Hopefully will have it ready in a few days.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.050.000.000.0010.05

Felt better this morning, although still not 100% over the sinus infection. Ran with Ted early in the morning. 8.3 miles, easy pace. Ted told me about Weldon Johnson's training method that he credits for the improvement from 29:30 to 28:17 10 K. First, all speed work and tempo runs must be done by feel - do not look at the watch until you are done with the workout. Second, easy runs must be as easy as the body wants them. For Weldon, this often went going 7:30 per mile. He often ran 140 miles per week with the page averaging 7:00 mile including his speed work.

First day of Benjamin's Team Provo practice. Ran some with him. He ran some extra afterwards.  

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Mike on Fri, Mar 16, 2007 at 08:02:19

Wejo has a recent post on letsrun.com about his training.

http://www.letsrun.com/2007/askwejo1317.php

Good luck this weekend at Moab. While I wouldn't wish a cold on anyone, it does serve as a nice taper.

From steve ashbaker on Fri, Mar 16, 2007 at 08:23:34

I may not run a 140 miles a week but thats how I have always trained. I go a lot by how my body is feeling for a certain period. I run as slow as 8min miles in recovery runs and have run tempo runs purely on feel. However sometimes my recovery runs may be as quick as 6:40/mi. For me it all depends on various factors such as length and intensity,stress at work, hydration afterwards, how much sleep I consistently get etc. Sometimes you gotta throw the numbers out the door after all you know how your body is feeling better than anyone else.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.350.000.000.0010.35

Feeling better, but still not 100%. Ran easy with Ted, 8.6 miles. Pretty much the entire run we debated the issue of the correlation between 100 meter sprint and marathon potential in the same runner. His point of view - there are way too many factors that could either make a good marathoner sprint slow, or a fast sprinter run  a poor marathon for the correlation to exist. My point of view - while a fast sprint does not guarantee a fast marathon, and a slow sprinter has some hope in the marathon, a slow sprint puts a cap on your marathon performance. Being able to sprint not too terribly slow is a necessary but not sufficient condition for a good marathon performance. We agree with each other to a point, the disagreement is in the numbers.

My contention that Ted disagrees with - unless you have an extreme proportion of slow-twitch fibers ( Alberto Salazar style) which is found probably in no more than 3% of all distance runners, 100 meter time of 15.0 means you will not run much faster than 2:30 in the marathon. This actually makes a nice rule - take your 100 meter time in seconds, do it times ten. That is your limit in the marathon in minutes.

We also had a disagreement on how fast a slower runner (that runs a marathon in over 3:00 even with some decent training) could run 100 meters. So I thought it would be helpful to gather some data for our future discussions, and perhaps also for inspiring some more serious exercise physiology research. If you would like to contribute, please submit the following data in the comments - does not have to be current, but needs to come from the same time period: your marathon performance, the training you did to achieve it, your 100 meter performance from the same time period, and the specific 100 meter training you did to achieve it (for most of us it will be nothing more than some strides and short speed work intervals at best).

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Feeling a bit better towards the evening, good sign, sinus infection pain is going away.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Maria on Sat, Mar 17, 2007 at 16:15:16

I think that research on correlation between 100m time and marathon time would be pretty hard to conduct. The problem is that to get your best 100m time requires completely different training than to get your best marathon time. That's why you cannot seriously look at equivalent performances from, let's say, McMillan's calculator. Performances from 800 (maybe even 400) and up are correctly correlated, but 100 and 200m are not. In fact, Greg stated himself that these distances are included for fun, and times given are nothing more than educated guess.

If you're looking at marathoners, they train in a way that maximizes endurance and makes even fast twitch fibers take on characteristics of slow twitch. It is impossible to get the best 100m time out of yourself with such training. Maybe the best sample for such research could be middle distance runners (800-1600m) who need very decent speed and good mix of endurance and speed endurance. They probably train better to have meaningful correlation between sprints and longer distances.

I think that if I moved up in distances when I was able to run 100m in 13sec, I would lose some of that speed, UNLESS I put in extra effort to maintain it. But the problem is that to run your best in sprints you need to do a lot of weight lifting that would be detrimental to performance in longer distances. You need a lot of muscle mass and strength that would only slow you down in 5K+ events.

So I think there could be pretty dramatic differences in times that you would get for 100m sprints from long distance runners. I read somewhere that most runners have roughly 50/50 fast/slow twitch fibers, so vast (1-3 sec/100m)improvement in sprints is possible if they train specifically for sprints. Even if runner spends a months doing drills and sprints his time in 100m will improve. If you take people that are just doing strides twice a week, and people doing some specific training, how can you compare them?

From ArmyRunner on Sat, Mar 17, 2007 at 21:47:44

These are exactly some of the points I brought up as well. I tend to think that for amarathon runner there is really no direct correlation between 100m time and marathon time. For the most part I do not think ones marathon potential is limited by ones 100m time and if one were to improve there 100m time this would not mean they would improve there marathon time as well.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.754.000.000.0012.75

Felt better than the day before, but still not 100%. Still yellow stuff coming out of my nose, some sinus pain, cough, and a bit of overall weakness. Ted wanted to do 15 miles. I was not quite up to the distance. However, I figured a few miles at marathon pace would be helpful as a health test. We went up the Provo Canyon. Almost hit a gate over by Bridal Veil Falls, good thing it was white and Ted has good eyes, we stopped soon enough. Then we hit a few patches of ice. Then we turned around and ran back to the start of the standard 3 mile tempo at Nunn's park.

For a change, I decided to try Weldon Johnson's idea of not looking at the watch during the run. We ran 3 miles down, immediate 180 turn, and then 1 mile back up. My splits were 5:42 (HR 142), 5:42 (HR 151), 5:29 (HR 154) and 6:20 (HR 155). The effort felt harder than the HR feedback, but the breathing was appropriate for the level of HR. I think the respiratory congestion created a false perception of difficulty. I think I really like the idea of looking at the watch afterwards. Total of 11 miles of for the run.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From ArmyRunner on Sun, Mar 18, 2007 at 17:11:24

New 1/2 Marathon World Record today. Same as previous owner .lst month. Wanjuri runs a 58:35. He is still a very young up and coming Kenyan who has not run the marathon yet. He plans on debuting in DEC in Japan. He actually lives and trains in Japan full time. As a junior he ran 26:41 int he 10K setting the junior world record. Today he ran with the following splits establishing a 20K world record as well.

5K = 13:40

10K = 27:27 (13:47)

15K = 41:30 (14:03)

20K = 55:31 (14:01)

1/2 = 58:35

More amazing is that he ran solo from the 3k mark on because the paid pacers could not run fast enough! He said he plans on breaking his own record again in SEP. He seems very confident and it would not surprise me to see him be the next Marathon World Record holder. In fact I say he will own the Marathon World Record by the end of 2008 and will be the first person to ever run a sub 2:04!

From steve ashbaker on Sun, Mar 18, 2007 at 22:53:58

I tell you what I find even more impressive is that Lee Bong Ju of South Korea won the Seoul Marathon this week in 2:08:04 at age 37. He surged past two Kenyans in the last mile to grab victory. My Man!!

From steve ashbaker on Sun, Mar 18, 2007 at 23:00:07

I just turned 36 and so I guess I can relate to this performance more. But you're entry about Wanjuri leaves me going huh?.... Wo.

From Mike on Mon, Mar 19, 2007 at 07:30:35

Wanjuri is 20 and Lee Bong is 37. It is amazing the range of ages that can thrive in this sport. Steve, don't forget that Carlos Lopes won gold at 37 and set the WR at 38. Salazar went on to win Comrades after his marathon career was over. There is hope for us old guys.

Wanjuri will probably run a good marathon but the marathon is such a different beast than a 10 or 21 k. Geb would be the WR holder in the marathon instead of Tergat if their 21 k times translated to the fastest marathon.

From Nick on Mon, Mar 19, 2007 at 23:02:33

Hey Sasha,

The course was in a very new section of town, with many of the paths not even updated on the g-map pedometer. I found the general area, however, and the elevation change is about 120 ft. I guess this isn't that much, but I was operating under some bad conditions and I honestly could not run very well at all. I had thoughts of stopping and walking, but I figured that I entered a race and I might as well make it count. I was unsure of what to expect from a race while doing extensive training, and now I know.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Mar 21, 2007 at 12:44:30

Nick - do you mean the course had a flat first mile and then 120 feet of elevation gain in the last 2 miles? If yes, you would lose a total of about 40 seconds, or your performance equals 15:55 on a flat course.

In any case, I noticed you have a tendency to not run well when you put pressure on yourself. Your nervous system seems to give out. This race was a good practice in overcoming it. And a win is always a win.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.751.000.000.0011.75

Easy run with Ted. I've done so many of those that my blog now ranks number 2 on Google for the search term "easy run with Ted". Feeling better. Ran the last mile in 5:48, felt strong, but did not like my form.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Jenny impressed me with an 8:02 mile after 0.5 warm-up. It's been a while since she's run this fast. Benjamin was playing rather crazy in the back yard and fell on a rock. He could run, but his form did not look good. I told him to take a day of rest.

We went swimming in the evening. I timed myself over 50 yards - 55 seconds. That is the fastest I've swam 50 yards since 1994 when I took Intermediate Swimming at BYU from Tim Powers, the BYU swim team coach. He tried hard to teach me good form, and made enough progress to where I improved from 60 seconds to 51 seconds in the 50 yard distance. But even with the improvement I was still significantly slower than everybody else in the class including all of the girls. Since then, whenever I would occasionally time myself I was consistently between 58 and 60 seconds. I think this improvement shows that the recent addition of shoulder weights in my Pettibon routine has been effective. I also felt more power in the right arm in the water.

I am very excited about this development. This is the first time something changed measurably in my athletic performance since the start of Pettibon if you do not count my informal vertical jump test earlier. This one is a lot more significant - with the vertical jump it could have easily been a measurement fluke, and I am thinking it was. I did not have standard measurement procedures, and the improvement was not recorded on the same type of test. A small thing, but I am excited. For the first time something improved. This small development strengthens my faith that running can also improve. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Maria on Tue, Mar 20, 2007 at 16:59:55

Isn't it amazing how little running translates to swimming? Both use aerobic system extensively, but upper body involvement and swimming economy make the difference, I guess. I was swimming for couple of years before I started running, in 5-6 grades, and the best I managed was 57 sec. for 50 meters. Then in 9th grade because of my running I was selected to be on the regional team for a rather weird thing that was called "mnogobor'e GTO" (it had 3 events: 50m swim, pneumatic gun shooting and 60m sprint). Was it still around when you were growing up? In the swim, I was hugely embarassed, as I was far, far behind all the girls who covered 50m in about 32 seconds. By the time I emerged from under water after my horrible jump from the blocks, they were at least half way down the lane. It was awful, there were lots of spectators in the pool. I didn't do much better in the shooting, but I destroyed them all in 60m. sprint. That was my revenge - of course there was no spectators then :).

Somehow, other sports relate to running more, for example x-c skiing. I can ski very decently and for a long time, even though skiing also requires upper body strength, of which i have none.

Anyway, given my total incompetence, I'm amazed how my daughter now can swim 50m in 34 seconds and in practice does sets like 30x50m on 50 seconds. Of course, she specializes in swimming and has strong upper body, but it's still mind boggling for me. I'm curious as to what she can do in running, but I have yet to convince her to enter a mile race. All I know is that she beat everyone in her class (including boys) in 400m in PE class, but she didn't get the time from the teacher!

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Mar 21, 2007 at 13:01:50

Maria - I never got a chance to do Mnogobor'ye GTO. However, I've done my share of interesting activities - throwing a hand grenade for distance, taking apart, cleaning and putting back together an AK-47, even got to shoot from one once. I ran in a relay race on the Garden ring representing the vocational school team (PTU). The director of the local PTU figured the way to get his team to look good was to put distance runners from our track school on the longer legs. We only lost to the Pervomayski district, and I suppose you would know why - the boarding school (sport-internat) was in that region. Then I also got to be the young pioneer the friend of police in the police relay race, ran it wearing the young pioneer uniform. Afterwards, they even gave me 3 roubles, which was a lot of money to a kid back then. Got to run in a few races representing a factory.

I raced in cross-country skiing, was the best in my school, and one time even won the district championship. However, on the city level I was not competitive at all. At a smaller level I was racing against the people with bad technique and could beat them with my running endurance. When I raced against the people with good technique and good endurance, they would beat me by 3 minutes in a 3 K.

I am not surprised your daughter is a great swimmer, and seems to have a potential to be a good runner. I have a suspicion that genetically you have a lot of athletic talent, but something got messed up in your childhood. You still do well in spite of everything, but I do not believe you've yet seen your true genetic potential.

From Maria on Thu, Mar 22, 2007 at 06:39:44

It's funny how many activities were common for runners and students in Russian schools back in the day! I did AK-47 drill too, assembling and disassembling it by time. Never shot from it though, but we were shooting from small caliber and pneumatic rifles. All part of the NVP class in high school :). And I also ran the Garden Ring relay, twice. Once in high school, representing my district, and the other time in college, representing my university (MISI, Civil Engineering Institute). I wasn't fast enough to get on Znamenskie team. Relays were a lot of fun!

As for my daughter, she may be a good swimmer, but she is one the slowest in her age (14). She did not qualify for county championships, and Nationals are completely out of reach. It's unbelievable how tough the competition is, the counties qualifying times are very fast - she needs 32.2sec. in 50m freestyle!! Even in her best event, 100m backstroke, she is 5sec. outside of qualifying time (she swam 1:22.2, but needed 1:16.8 to get to counties). So I don't think there is any genetic talent there. But she works extremely hard, and this is her first year of serious training, her team in US wasn't very serious. She complains that life is unfair, that she has to work so hard for every second of improvement, while other kids are so much faster, but all I can tell her is "welcome to the club!". I'm telling her that for us, hard work is the only way to go, and she can still get very good no matter her inherent abilities. She learned one important lesson over the holidays when we went to US for 2 weeks and she didn't swim - she lost a lot of fitness and it took her 1.5 months to get it back. Now she doesn't want to take any vacations and go anywhere for fear of missing practice!

On an unrelated topic, on that Russian forum I mentioned before (www.runners.ru), there is one forum where Leonid Shvetsov is answering questions, don't know if you saw it, - I find it rather interesting, he has some solid advice for marathon runners.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.855.000.000.0011.85

First day of feeling almost normal. Only a little bit of runny nose and sinus pain. Ran a light tempo with Ted. We went on the standard 5 mile tempo course on the Provo River Trail by Geneva Road. Again, used the Weldon Johnson hit the split but do not look method. It produced interesting results this early in the morning (the tempo started at 5:00 AM). Splits by 0.5 - 3:10 - 3:10 - 3:06 - 3:06 - 3:07 - 3:04 - 3:00 - 2:58 - 2:55 - 2:49. Total time 30:25, first half in 15:39, second half in 14:46, last mile in 5:44. The first two miles felt way too easy cardiovascularly, but there was enough of a neurological stress for me to believe we were going a decent pace. Ted did not push it, so I did not either. Then I began to suspect that we were probably going way too slow, and started pushing it a bit. Then I started breathing.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Then went to see Dr. Jex. He showed an exercise with it he wanted me to do.  I am supposed to lay in a very strange position 6 minutes a day that produces the correct reverse twist for my hips. We'll see what it does.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Wed, Mar 21, 2007 at 14:03:24

What's your threshold pace? That's awesome tempo times. I believe you've got the dedication to be an under 2:20 runner.

From April Larsen on Thu, Mar 22, 2007 at 09:43:10

Thanks for the welcome! That's quite an awesome life story you've got & even more impressive running history. All the best to you in reaching your goals. I've no doubt you'll master them.

From Clay Simmons on Thu, Mar 22, 2007 at 23:03:07

Good work Sasha, you are an inspiration to me. When I feel like not running then I think of your scolding and it gets me out of bed and down the road, keep it up.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.501.500.000.0012.00

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Started to feel recovered from the sinus infection. The naps have been helping. Ran 1.5 at marathon pace effort at the end, timed the last 0.75 of it - 4:17. Heart rate of 148 at the end.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.208.002.000.0014.20

Woke up from an interesting running dream. My dreams have become very close to reality when it comes to running. When I run in a dream, I feel the pain, my splits and times are very realistic. In the dream I was running against Paul Petersen in a 5 mile road race. The race started out flat, then had a downhill section, then flattened out again. It was a fairly fast course. In the beginning Paul pulled away. Then gathering all of my strength I closed the gap on the downhill right before we got to the final flat section. We had a mile to go.  Paul put in a surge to get rid of me. I first thought of letting him go, but then decided no way, I worked way too hard to catch him, and I have nothing to lose. There was another short runner with us I did not quite recognize. I tucked in behind Paul and tried to hang on. It felt very painful. The short runner dropped back a few seconds but was still within striking distance. Then we approached the finish and the kick started. I moved out into the passing position, and tried to turn on top speed. My legs felt like I was at the end of a mile race, they felt like lead, I could not pick it up any more. Neither could Paul, but he managed to stay ahead no matter how hard I tried. We ended up finishing with 25:03.1 for him, and 25:03.3 for me.

Now reality that followed the dream. Tempo run with Steve on the standard 10 mile tempo run course. We did it using Weldon Johnson's method of hit the split do not look at it until you are done. Went through the first 2.5 in 14:42. Heart rate eventually climbed to 150. Then as we turned around Steve started pushing it. I started feeling uncomfortable and asked him to back off. Next 2.5 in 14:24 with the pace fluctuating between 5:40 and 5:55. I would get the heart rate of 155 at 5:40 and 153 at 5:50. Not a big difference in numbers, but 5:40 required a lot more effort. It was probably mental - I was expecting to coast through the run at my marathon pace effort and did not want to push it. I should not be hurting that bad with the heart rate of only 155.

We turned around and in the same pattern continued to another 2.5 in 14:28. Then another turnaround. I decided this time I would not hold Steve back, let him run whatever he feels like, and just grind my teeth and hang in there. But I did tell him I wanted it closer to marathon pace than threshold. The pace eventually became 5:40, the heart rate this time climbed to 158, and this time it felt more comfortable. Perhaps now my mind came to terms with the idea that it was going to be hard. Then on the last mile Steve picked it up. I tucked in behind him hanging on for dear life. Without a watch and the split times to look at to soothe the pain, I began counting 100s - 1500 to go - still alive, 1400 to go, still alive ... 300 to go, can't believe I am still alive. Finish, I made it! 57:43 for 10 miles, 14:09 on the last 2.5, 5:30 on the last mile, probably about 5:23 flat mile equivalent. We even split the last mile. The heart rate climbed to 163 in the first half, and then to 165 in the second for split average, maxing out at 166.

Ran with the kids in the evening. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Fri, Mar 23, 2007 at 12:36:11

That's a fast 5-mile time for me, close to a PR. In my running dreams, my feet are usually made of lead and I have to run on really confusing courses that go through buildings, playgrounds, and other weird places.

I think your sickness was a blessing in disguise. It forced you to back off and take it easy. Now you are healthy and rested, and will come back stronger than ever. Think of it as a training cycle.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.600.001.250.0011.85

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Dropped him off at 6.5, then went on for more. Decided to do a short tempo to feel the waters. Ran 1.25 in 6:42 from the DI bridge to the railroad bridge on the trail. It is a slight down, about 0.5 %, but it does roll. Heart rate eventually climbed to 159. Legs felt strong, I felt I was getting a lot of power in my stride.

Ran with the kids in the evening. Got the GMap plotting feature in the course tool to the point where I could make it public. Check it out. Lots of little and not so little things are still lacking, but at least you do not have to go to GMap Pedometer and do the GPX dance to upload your course. One step at a time we'll get there.

The new feature helped me discover an interesting problem in Google Maps. There appears to be a shift or a small discrepancy between what you see, and the coordinates Google Maps API gives you. Here is my evidence for it - I clicked around the parking lot where the Provo River Trail intersects the Geneva road to get an idea of what the actual elevation of it is. I figured, I am getting averages of 30 meter squares from the US Geo service. Well, the parking lot is big enough, and it is nearly perfectly flat, you should not be getting any variation more than 1 foot or so. Well, the elevation data I am getting shows there is a 10 foot deep hollow right in the middle of the parking lot, which matches the width of the adjacent Provo River. When you click on the Provo River, there is no drop in the elevation, and it actually happens to be above the hollow of the parking lot. I am still not quite sure what to do about it. Paul, any ideas?

I do have a friend who is a runner who works for Provo City, and does survey measurements. Maybe I should have him stop by and get the actual coordinates of some easily identifiable point in that parking lot, then file a bug reports to Google Maps.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Sat, Mar 24, 2007 at 23:16:08

Sasha what type of course do you do your tempo runs on? All flat, uphill, downhill.

Your running is out right impressive. Your heart rate for that pace is excellent.

From Breanna on Sun, Mar 25, 2007 at 09:14:56

Sasha, Is there anyway to make your blog week start on Monday instead of Sunday?

From Paul Petersen on Sun, Mar 25, 2007 at 10:48:25

Sasha: is that coordinate shift consistent everywhere? It could be that the USGS DEM is offset or there is some coordinate system projection issue. Pretty common. Welcome to the world of geographic information...

We can talk about it in PHX. I'm really interested in how the API works in general, and I'm hoping you can teach me a few things.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.005.000.0013.00

Tempo run on the Provo River Trail. Warmed up. Then ran 2.5 out in 13:46. Did not look at the watch until I was done. I was anticipating 13:55 and thought I had slowed down on the last 0.5. It turned out that quite the opposite happened - my splits by 0.5 were 2:49 - 2:44 - 2:44 - 2:44   - 2:43. The heart rate eventually made its way up to 162. On the way back, which is always slower due being a slight uphill, I had quite the opposite experience. I thought I was running 13:52. It turned out to be 14:04. The splits were 2:52 - 2:50 - 2:46 - 2:50 - 2:46. The heart rate was much higher - it climbed to 165 on the last 0.5 for average, and maxed out at 167. Nevertheless, I did feel strong and in control through the run.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Need to do more of those runs to get used to the pain of running at threshold. I wonder about the whole physiological model of threshold, how accurate it is. There have been some recent studies that showed the concept of threshold is rather artificial. I define it as the pace you can sustain for an hour in a race situation. Physiologically, it is defined as the point where you break down lactic acid at the same rate you are producing it. When I reach the threshold pace, my quads start feeling funny. It feels like I am eating a lemon, but the feeling is coming from the muscles. It is as if I could actually taste the acid that is building up. When I was a teenager, I never felt it in the muscle, my breathing would just become uncomfortable to the point of feeing like I was about to vomit. Now I still breathe pretty hard, but I could breathe harder if my muscles would let me. Although I can hold that effort for an hour in a race, when I am in good shape it becomes very uncomfortable and requires a lot of concentration. When I get out of shape or if I am just having a bad day, I feel like I am not working very hard, but just cannot go any faster. 
So I have a strong suspicion that the threshold for me is not so much about the lactate level in the blood or muscle, as it is in the ability of the nervous system to deal with it, and still keep firing at the muscle even if the muscle is fussing and trying to inhibit it. I have had quite a bit of experience where an anaerobic workout once a week in combination with tempo runs would raise my threshold pace past the level that I was reaching with tempo runs alone.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Mon, Mar 26, 2007 at 10:06:52

That's very interesting research, and thank your for sharing yor insight.

Very nice tempo run. I'm kind of the same way I never really feel it in my breathing when I reach threshold, but rather in the muscles, but more so my calves not quads.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.250.002.000.0013.25

Ran with Ted in the dark today at 4:50 AM. He told me about his adventure race. On the way back I ran a 2 mile tempo in 11:15.7. Splits by 0.5 - 2:49 - 2:46 - 2:49 - 2:50. Heart rate averaged 155 for the last 0.5, and maxed out somewhere at 158. I went to bed late last night, so I was sleepy. I felt that I was reaching threshold way too early, again using the threshold definition to be the quads feel like I am eating a lemon. I think this is a neurological limit. When I have had enough sleep, my heart rate can get up to 163 and sometimes even higher before I start feeling that the quad lemon is holding me back, and I am running faster too.

Took VanGoGo (our GMC Safari van) to Computune to get checked out. We do not want any car problems during the relay. On the way back ran with the kids. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Christi on Mon, Mar 26, 2007 at 23:10:30

Thanks for setting up this great website and thanks for your comments on my blog. Reading your blog & the blogs of other elite runners has been really inspirational!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.002.502.0016.50

Ran with Ted in the morning. He ran easy and did my warm-up/cool-down. I did 4x400 with 200 rest, then a tempo run 2.5 miles coming back to Geneva road (slight up), and then 4x400 to follow up. Did not look at the watch during the interval session, only after. In the first session, did 75s in the first 3, then 74 on the last one. Got sprayed by a skunk for the first time in my life. However did not notice the problem for a while.

Then the tempo run in 14:04. Interestingly enough, I started at 5:30 pace, but then kept slowing down doing the last mile in   5:43. It was not that bad, though, as that one mile is a rolling uphill, and probably about 7 seconds slower than flat. The heart rate peaked at 162, but was steady at 160 at the end of the run.

Then on the 400s after the tempo I was quite a bit slower than  on the first - 77 - 75 - 78 -78. It probably had to do with having only 400 meter jog to recover from the tempo. And I had only 400 meters to recover from the 400s before the tempo. So the fatigue built up, but I think it was more of a neurological nature (not surprising, I did the fast running between 5 and 6 AM), and not having a watch to look at allowed me to get as lazy as I wanted.

Ran to Computune to get Vangogo with the kids. Then in the evening took Sarah out for her tempo run. Determined her max heart rate, or I should probably say the lower bound for her max heart rate - 190. She ran 2 miles in 16:15 on the first mile of my standard 2.5 tempo run stretch, out and back.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.800.002.000.0011.80

Ran with Ted early in the morning. It was snowing and unpleasantly cold. A little bit of wind. But we've had it worse. I was planning to do a 2 mile tempo. I want to experiment with 4 fast workouts a week with on of them being a 2 mile tempo instead of my usual three. This morning I was sleepy, Ted was dragging me along. The first 4 miles my legs refused to go faster than 7:20, and my heart refused to above 120. Finally I woke up, the cold wind helped. Got the pace to sub-7:00 and the heart rate to 126. Finally, after 6.5 miles of this weather I made it to the tempo run spot. 2 miles coming back, so slight uphill. Did it without looking at the watch. Felt very good, the legs were responding well, felt like I got into a good rhythm. I was sure it was going to be at least 11:09. I was shocked to see 11:31 on the watch. However, the mile splits were good - 5:45 - 5:46, with the last mile being a slight up, 7 seconds slower than flat. The heart rate stabilized at 155 on the last mile. I suppose when your feet get thoroughly wet, your perception of fatigue changes. I was guessing the heart rate to be 162, as hard as I was working. I think I am going to do some of the tempos the old way - splits every quarter, and others the splitless way to see how it changes things.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Now packing for the trip to the Ragnar Del Sol relay. 

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Mike on Wed, Mar 28, 2007 at 23:10:53

Sasha, kiss the snow and cold good-bye for a few days. Enjoy the race in Phoenix, the weather should be quite nice. Good luck to you and your team.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.060.000.250.006.31

Drive to Mesa, AZ for the Ragnar Del Sol Relay. Got in as many miles on the road as I could jogging in between stops. I probably could have done more, but I figured about 6 would be enough - a bit of a taper for the relay.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From patrick on Fri, Mar 30, 2007 at 11:44:27

Sasha

Thanks for the encouragement and wanted to wish you the best on your race. Have fun and let us know how it went.

Patrick

From steve ashbaker on Fri, Mar 30, 2007 at 19:37:27

How many miles and in how many legs are you running?

From Bill on Fri, Mar 30, 2007 at 22:58:22

good luck Sasha. your already world class in my book.

Race: Ragnar Relay Del Sol (187.2 Miles) 19:10:57, Place overall: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.700.006.990.0013.69

Ragnar Relay Del Sol. First Day. Went for an easy jog in the morning. Decided to try a tempo mile. Ran it in 5:13, lower elevation and good sleep made quite a bit of a difference. Took Benjamin to a track. He ran a mile in 7:02, new PR. Took Jenny and Julia for their runs.

Then picked up the team and we went to Wickenburg. From the very start, the contention for first place was between our team (MarathonGIS) and Google One. I ran legs 3, 15, and 27. The first one was a gradual roll uphill. I got the baton about a minute behind Google. The length of the leg according to Garmin 305 was 5.99 miles. I ran it in 33:22, 5:34 pace at a steady pace. It started at the junction of Highway 60 and Highway 74 and went towards New River on Highway 74. I was running against Chris Estwanik. He is a 3:39 1500 meter runner, has been running for Nike, but stopped running professionally 8 months ago cutting down the mileage from 80-90 a week to only 20. He ended up opening over 3 minutes on me on that leg in spite of not being in top shape. I maintained a steady heart rate in the 162-165 range. Felt strong. Overall pleased with the effort in spite of being beat badly.

The race continues...

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Race: Ragnar Relay Del Sol (187.2 Miles) 19:10:57, Place overall: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.700.0012.320.0016.02

Ragnar Relay Del Sol continues. Midnight leg 15. 6.93 miles according to Garmin 305 down a fairly steady 1.5% grade. My specialty. Not so much because I am a great downhill runner, but more due to the form challenges I have that are mostly apparent when running uphill. A downhill reduces them and evens me out with the competition a bit. I ran it in 36:49, 5:19 pace, steady. The nervous system began to shut down, and for me this is bad. I have combination of a weak nervous system and a strong cardiovascular system. When the nervous system cooperates, I can run at 93% of my max heart (163/175) for over an hour and maintain flat 5:30 pace at 4500 feet elevation. When it does not, I can get stuck at 88 % (155/175) running 5:40-5:45 miles, which is slower than my good marathon pace. I came up with a creative way to deal with the problem. I had my team mates stop at 2 miles, get out of the van, and sing "There was a farmer, had a dog, and Bingo was his name" fast, loud, and clapping. Now imagine that, somewhere in the middle of nowhere near Scottsdale 5 guys get out of the van under a full moon, and start singing and clapping while another is running past them as fast as he can. That did help though. I had that tune in my head for the entire leg, and was able to hold my heart rate at 159. Chris opened up 2:45 on me, a little better than on the first leg. We are now 7:45 behind Google. Still pleased with the effort in spite of being beat.

Afterwards, Dan held his ground, and Paul made up 5 minutes on an uphill leg. When the other van was done, the gap was down to 20 seconds, and the Dave cut it down to 12. Clyde was running against a tough competitor, and lost a little bit on his leg. I got the baton about 30 seconds behind Chris. Now this would be an interesting test. With only 20 miles a week, I was expecting him to hit the wall on this leg at least to an extent, and hoped to be competitive. Apparently, a smooth runner with good form can go a long way on 20 miles a week for a while. I felt I was running strong, but he gradually slipped away from me outside of visibility and ended up beating me by 2:10 on this leg. Lesser gap, but still quite impressive. The leg was 5.39 miles (according to Garmin 305) on a dirt road, and featured a steady climb for the first
3.4 miles at a gradually increasing grade culminating in a stretch at 10% grade. My teammates sang me the Bingo song again to get me going. The first mile was  5:48, second in 6:17, third in  6:44, then there was a quarter in 2:15 on the steep grade.  The heart rate dropped to 154 as I was climbing. I was not hitting the wall, though, just could not find the right form and the right rhythm to push the heart. Then a steep drop. I was able to shift gears and start driving the heart at 158-160. Next two quarters in 1:18 and 1:14. Those felt fast on a dirt road.  Next mile in 6:10. Then the decent gradually flattened out, and it was uphill again. Next mile in 5:44. Last quarter in 1:35 giving it all I've got after that. 33:17 for 5.39, 6:11 pace.

Google ended up pulling away and beating us by 11 minutes in the whole race.

Interestingly enough, before the race we were talking about the importance of biomechanics in running. I made a point that pure endurance without good biomechanics does not get you very far, it is like riding a broken bike. And I did get to experience the truth of this personally on my legs running against somebody with inferior endurance but superior biomechanics. 3x6 miles in a 12 hour period was a win hands down for better biomechanics. I am reminded of Ether 12:27 in the Book Of Mormon:

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

I have a biomechanical weakness, but I am determined to turn it into strength. Already it has pushed me to develop a strong cardiovascular system, and strong leg muscles. Now the challenge is to fix the actual weakness. I have succeed at what originally appeared impossible in the past. I will keep trying at this problem until it is fixed. With the Lord's help, nothing is impossible.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Kerry on Mon, Apr 02, 2007 at 10:49:45

Congratulations on a great race! I hope I can get as good at recognizing my weaknesses and turning them into strengths. You're a good example for all of us.

From David Nelson on Mon, Apr 02, 2007 at 12:08:47

I was wondering why we were singing that song... glad it helped you.

Did Chris say why he only runs 20 miles/week?

From wheakory on Mon, Apr 02, 2007 at 13:42:08

Nice running Sasha. Your determination will definitely put you over the top.

"I love the scripture in the Holy Bible that says (Isaiah 40:31)

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up as wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint."

Sometimes our faith is waiting in God's timing. Where God allows that running ability to be increased, or developed. If its God's will for us to run than great accomplishments are going to happen.

I've got a chance to run the Sawtooth relay in June, which is sort of like the one you ran. Should be fun if I decide to do it.

From ashman on Mon, Apr 02, 2007 at 22:40:31

Great job! You guys really did it well!

From James on Tue, Apr 03, 2007 at 15:11:52

Good job at Del Sol! I didn't get to talk to you much during the relay, except for on the phone talking about how far behind Google we were. I thought you did an excellent job trying to hang with their ringer. And if he told you that he was only running 20 miles a week he was lying, because everyone on the Google team that I talked to said he puts in plenty of miles, and they all thought that he was pretty hot stuff. I never actually saw him run though. Thanks for making the relays interesting, they wouldn't be as fun without you!

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Apr 03, 2007 at 16:19:37

James - Chris's story is that he went from 80-90 miles a week when he ran professionally to only 20 about 8 months ago when he started working for Google. He said he was running on muscle memory. I do not see any reason for him to not tell the truth about his mileage other than a mistake in counting. It is possible he is just running and not counting his miles.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.300.500.000.004.80

Driving back to Provo. Threw in some random miles during breaks. Could not feel the effects of the relay, but I hardly ever feel anything. I know I am tired when I am not able to run fast.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.003.002.5014.50

Time to start training for real. I've been in the maintenance mode since St. George. Today was the start. Well, the relay was the start, to a certain extent, but today was the official start of training for real. Got good sleep. Went to the Provo Canyon. Warmed up, then 5x400 alternating down and up. 72.7 down - 78.8 up - 71.3 down - 75.2 up - 72.7 down. Still not used to the pain of a good 400, but that's OK, it takes about 3 weeks for it to come. Jogged up to Nunn's Park, and ran the standard 3 mile tempo in 16:01. Mile splits - 5:19 - 5:21 - 5:21. For some reason the pace started feeling a lot harder and I started losing it after 1.5. But I pushed through it. There was a quarter in 1:22, afterwards, no slower than 1:21. There was a slight head/side wind, maybe it got stronger at that point. The heart rate did what it was supposed to - stay at 163. So that means the nervous system was working fine, I was able to push the heart. However, I was not quite happy with the pace, especially with slowing down, but I am just starting the misery drill, so it is OK for the start. I am possibly underestimating the effects of the head wind. And coming back from a lower elevation is probably also a factor. So probably nothing to worry about.

The tempo run felt miserable enough to where I thought perhaps the additional 400s would be counterproductive for a moment. Then I decided to just go ahead and do my best. I did another set of 5x400. 74.0 down - 77.2 up - 73.0 down - 76.2 up - 69.3 down. Pushed it on the last one, and got a taste of a real 400. The consistent difference of only 3 seconds between up and down shows there was a head wind when running down on that stretch. In still air the difference is 5 seconds. It was also on that stretch where the pace started feeling harder in the tempo run earlier.

Got 12.7 in the workout. Then ran with the kids in the afternoon.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From steve ashbaker on Wed, Apr 04, 2007 at 19:39:45

Great workout! These are the type of workouts that I loved to do most with you.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.200.000.000.0013.20

I am now on "the day does not end until I've run 13" diet. Ran easy 10 miles in the morning mostly alone. Ted ran a bit with me, but he cut his run short - his legs are overtrained, and he felt he could use some rest before the race on Saturday. I was exceptionally sleepy, some from yesterday's workout, and some probably from Ragnar Del Sol. So I essentially slept through my run. Did not catch 8:00 mile guy until mile 6 or so. Averaged 7:50 pace and 112 heart rate. I think this is a record low for the heart rate in my recovery run since I started using Garmin 305. I am sure I've had it lower before as I've done recovery runs with slower training partners at 9:00 pace.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon, plus some more to bring the total to the minimum quota. The glut muscles are sore. I am very excited about that. It is very difficult for me to be sore there, and it always coincides with running well. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.000.002.000.0013.00

Ran early in the morning with Ted. For a tune-up ran a 2 mile tempo on the Provo River Trail coming back from the lake. The first mile was 5:29 and it felt easy. However, the second mile was 5:40 and it felt hard. The second mile is a slight uphill, but the same effort should have given me about 5:35, not 5:40. A harder effort should have given me 5:30. The heart rate maxed at 162, but then dropped to 159. I interpret this as the nervous system being tired and not being willing to work. It is a very strange feeling. It is very easy to confuse it with just starting out too fast and/or being out of shape. Here is my take on what happens:

When you are starting out, the acidity of the muscle is low. So your regular threshold pace feels easy. Then the acidity of the muscle goes up as you keep going. About a mile or a mile and a half it reaches a critical level. When the nervous system is in top shape, it is able to fire the muscles in spite of the negative feedback it is receiving from the increased muscle acidity. But if the nervous system is tired for some reason, it cannot override the negative feedback. So the cardiovascular system could potentially deliver more oxygen and maintain the acidity in check at a steady, although higher level, but the nervous system says, no that is too much for me to deal with. So the heart is cruising along at a lower rate, the pace is slow, but it feels hard. I've had this happen to me so many times, but I think am just beginning to get a clue at what is actually going on. There are two things that I have found effective in the past - get more sleep, and do brutal quarters.

Ran with the kids in the evening, and added some more to make it 13 for the day.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Fri, Apr 06, 2007 at 00:13:19

Great workout. Your recovering very well from the weekend relay. It's always a very interest topic to discuss when somedays your tempo's feel so easy, but other days they feel like your pushing through it. I would have to agree with your theory. Do you get more of a benefit with running a short tempo or a continuous 40 minute tempo?

You mentioned you ran a two mile tempo, what did you run after the tempo?

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Apr 06, 2007 at 12:40:57

40 minute tempo at threshold is very tough, it is almost a race, considering that you can only hold your threshold pace for an hour after a pre-race taper. I prefer breaking it down into shorter segments.

I jogged at a very easy pace the rest of the run.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.500.001.500.0010.00

Mini-taper before the Ogden Half-Marathon tomorrow. Ran 3.11 miles with Stuart. Then went for some more. Decided to do a 1.25 tempo for a tune-up/nervous system check. Ran it from the DI bridge to the Union Pacific bridge. Union Pacific, and the fact that it is going to Utah, has a special significance in my life. Back in 1991 I was learning English. My goal was to learn it so well that I could score very high on the verbal section of the SAT test. America for me was a land of opportunity and I wanted to make a statement that I belonged there. I read every book in English that I could get my hands on, which at that time was quite easy - there were not many English books around within my reach. It happened that I got my hands on a book that detailed the history of the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad. I read it start to finish. It was a very tedious reading. But the text contained many uncommon words which were likely to appear on the SAT test. I looked up every one of them along with their synonyms and antonyms, and thoroughly studied usage examples to make sure I knew those words as well as regular common speech English words as if it were my native tongue. 

The railroad construction progressed through the United States, and eventually  Utah was mentioned. Along with that, the book mentioned a religious group that lived in Utah - the Mormons. I felt a desire to learn more about that group. That interested eventually led to my conversion and joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, of which I have now been a faithful member for almost 15 years.

And along with that, reading the railroad book along with my other efforts of similar nature to acquire proficiency in English also paid off. I scored 720 out of 800 on the verbal section of the SAT, which put me in the 99th percentile among mostly native speakers. This was a miracle of hard word magnified by the inspiration and the light of God. Three years earlier I had  no knowledge of English and started by looking up the word "WE" in a dictionary.

So I ran the tempo to the historic bridge, historic for me in 6:47 at a steady pace. The course rolled downward. I wanted to know exactly how much the downhill helped. So shortly after I finished I turned around and ran a quarter backwards putting in the same effort. Got 1:25. Going out it was 1:22. Applying the 2:1 rule for uphill downhill, we take the 3 second difference and split it at the ratio of 2:1. This gives us a 2 second slowdown for the uphill, and a 1 second speedup for the downhill. Thus the flat equivalent of this tempo run is 1:23 quarter, or 5:32 pace on that stretch.

Did some more easy running. Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Total of 10 miles.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Sat, Apr 07, 2007 at 00:23:11

That's quite an accomplishment Sasha. Pocatello exactly has a Union Pacific railroad plant/station running right through the heart of Pocatello. It has created a lot of jobs in Pocatello and has been around ever since I was born.

Nice strong tempo. What time are you training for the Odgen Marathon?

Race: Ogden Striders Half-Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:14:29, Place overall: 6
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.200.0013.100.0018.30

Ogden Striders Half-Marathon. 1:14:29, 6th place. Knowing from the tempo runs earlier in the week that the nervous system was not functioning well, I made a plan to hang on with the leaders while it was still working, and then do my best after that. I thought I'd be able to make it to mile 5. The first mile felt comfortable (5:23). I'll give my splits from Garmin 305 - race mile markers were not reliable.

Towards the end of the second mile I had a frivolous feeling that I did not want to run with the pace. I tried to dismiss it, but I think I am beginning to understand what it means - neural fatigue. I have experienced it before - the breathing is OK, legs feel fine, then at first you feel you do not want to run with the pack, you fight it, and then you cannot - it is almost like you are under a spell that you can do nothing about. Second mile had more downhill, and we did it in 5:10. When we reached 2.5 I began to experience the spell. Breathing is fine. Heart rate is hovering around 163-165, a little high, but nothing I could not normally hold for at least 5 miles. But for some reason I just cannot go. I backed off, but still hit the mile in 5:19. Paul, Bob, Steve Ashbaker, Joe Wilson, and Neal Gassmann went ahead. 15:51 at 3 miles.

Ken Richardson passed me shortly, and he was gone moving away from me quickly. I considering latching on, and trying to hang in there, but I do not think I could have done it even if they told me the race ended at 4 miles. Next mile in 5:40. Heart rate goes down to 158-160.  Next mile in 5:37, HR at 158, followed by a 5:38 (HR 157). 27:08 at 5 miles.

Sarah and the kids sang me the  BINGO song to get me going, it helped  bit. Now the downhill is over, next mile in 5:44, HR 158, followed by 5:48, HR dropping to 156.  More BINGO singing, and now I am able to push it a bit,  5:49 mile with some rolling  hills, HR going up to 160, and I am starting to close on Ken.  Another mile in 5:49, HR at 160.  Next mile in 5:56, with a bathroom stop, number two. I figured I lost about 5 seconds on it. 56:03 at 10 miles. HR dropped to 157. Now a new excitement develops. Ken is coming to me. He beat me in all other races by a few seconds, and I am determined to not let it happen again. Heart rate goes up to 160, next mile in 5:54, and it did have some uphill. I passed Ken, now need to make him not want to follow me because he has a better kick.  Another mile in 5:56, uphill, HR dropping to 157.  And one more in 5:56 with HR going up to 159. Kick, a slight downhill, Garmin says I did 5:35 pace, HR going down to 158. Not much of a kick, but I just could not shift gears. 1:14:29  at the finish.

Paul, Bob, and Steve ran incredibly well beating Joe and Neal who also ran well but with no breakthroughs.

Cooled down with Ted. Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

Post-race analysis - the problem appears to be of neurological nature. I need to get more sleep. It will take some time to bring it back to order. Also, tempo runs and 400 meter repeats will train it to respond properly at fast pace so it will not quit.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Chad on Sun, Apr 08, 2007 at 00:39:54

Sasha--you had a strong race today in a strong field. Nice work! I also appreciate your detailed post-race analysis. It really puts a lot of racing details that often go overlooked into perspective. Good job today.

From Scott on Sun, Apr 08, 2007 at 16:15:40

Just wanted to say thank you for the encouragement and advice on my blog. Great job on your race.

From Brent on Sun, Apr 08, 2007 at 16:23:34

Sasha, you are the most scientific runner I know. Your comments are often insightful in regards to your races and training. From my viewpoint, your are always ready to race and give it your best regardless of the outcome. You have mental toughness.

From steve ashbaker on Sun, Apr 08, 2007 at 18:59:52

Lets start running those 3 mile flat out tempos again like we use to do starting this Saturday ok?

From patrick on Mon, Apr 09, 2007 at 22:25:25

Sasha I agree with the previous comments made by Brent and thanks for your advice. I need some mojo on diet or lack thereof being the case. Can we talk some time?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.600.000.000.0013.60

Easy run with Ted, and then with Stuart early in the morning. Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.750.003.002.5015.25

Speed workout in the Provo Canyon. Same as last week. Warm up, then 5x400 alternating up and down. 72.0 down - 76.7 up - 72.3 down - 74.4 up - 73.3 down. Cross wind the entire time, became more of a headwind for going down on the last two. Then jogged up to Nunn's Park and started the standard 3 mile tempo down to the mouth of the Canyon. Head/cross wind almost all the way. First mile 5:26, HR jumps up to 158 quickly. That is a good sign. If HR is slow to respond, you are running anaerobically for too long. Next mile in 5:23, HR makes it to 161. It is interesting that gusts of wind make it drop to 158, and one strong gust managed to drop it to 156. You would think the extra resistance should raise it, but I think what happens is that a gust knocks you out of rhythm, you lose concentration and stop pushing as hard.

Finally a clear spot on the first quarter on the last mile. No headwind for the whole quarter for the first time. Hit it in 1:18. Heart rate goes up to 163! I feel like I am getting into good rhythm, setting my sights on showing the 5:20 guy who's the boss.  However, more headwind followed, I barely manged 5:20 for the last mile. Total time 16:09. Although it was 8 seconds slower than last week, there was quite a bit more headwind this time. I felt more in control, though, and was consistently speeding up in spite of having the gusts of headwind periodically knock me out of rhythm. The effort also felt easier.

Then jogged back and did 5x400 one more time. Unlike last week when I seriously considered not doing the last set, I did not have such thoughts. 73.3 down - 77.4 up - 73.7 down - 76.0 up - 66.9 down. Pushed the last one.

Running at 4:50 pace or faster feels like I am riding a bike with a bent wheel. I do not feel it as much at slower speeds, but at faster speeds there is a wheel feeling, and you get to feel the quality of your wheel more acutely. For me that wheel is not as bad as it is for some people, probably average for a 2:40 marathoner, which is much better than what it is for the average runner, but the deformities make a difference between being a good local runner and being able to run professionally. This needs to be fixed.

13.5 for the workout with the cool down. Ran some more with the kids in the evening. 


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Tim on Wed, Apr 11, 2007 at 12:45:13

Thanks for the oportunity to get some support and help. Here's my story and I'll try to keep it brief:

I did not run long distance in high school. I was not serious about it at all. My interest was peaked in college when a friend of mine was talking about running and I acted like it was no big deal. I remember saying, "Running is easy- you just run until you want to stop." He challanged me to run 10 miles with him and I asked if that was as far as he wanted to go. He knew I wouldn't be able to do it but wanted to teach me a lesson. At 5 miles I was hurting pretty bad. I got to about 8 miles and my legs shut down. I had never experienced anything like it. We both worked for UPS at the time and I was a load trainer. I had to call in sick for the next two nights because I could hardly move. Every muscle in my body was sore. That's when I gained a healthy respect for long distance running and I made it my goal to one day finish 8 miles and be able to walk away from it feeling fine- not sore. I did that and decided that that wasn't enough. About 3 and a half years ago I decided to run a marathon- I had never trined or run in a race before. I looked online and got a training scheldule and did it. I trained by myself and ran it in 4:36. I've run the country music marathon the next two years basically going about it the same way with around the same results. Somewhere in the journey I thought that I would love to make it my goal to run a marathon in a qualifying time for Boston but at this pace I can't see it happening before I'm 75. I thought I would try to network a bit and get some training tips that could help me start to improve my time and get rid of the 22 mile cramps under my knees that compleetley destroy my time in every marathon I've run in.

I average about 9 min miles when I'm running 15 or more miles. Shorter distances I can maintain around 8:00 min mile (give or take). I know I need to get to 7:30 min miles for the durration to qualify- just not sure how to get there.

Well- thanks for reading and I'll look forward to any help.

From Tim on Wed, Apr 11, 2007 at 14:31:53

I'll definitely try that. Have you found a good system for replacing fluids and nutrients durring the longer runs? I'm not sure but I think that may have something to do with the 20 mile cramps I get.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Apr 11, 2007 at 14:57:57

I think just improving your fitness will go a long way. Right now your marathon is really an ultra. As your aerobic base improves, your marathon pace will be significantly faster and you'll be able to outrun the starvation/dehydration demon. Aside from that, eating a healthy diet can make a big difference. It did for me - replacing white flour with whole wheat and red meat with poultry and fish greatly improved the quality of my running in the last 6 miles of the marathon.

From James on Wed, Apr 11, 2007 at 20:33:13

Sasha,

I was just wondering if you go by the 400s that Hawk has marked on the trail or if you just go by your Garim?

Also, I wondered if you still help Curt with his river runs? I might come down for one of them, if they are still any good.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Apr 11, 2007 at 22:14:09

James - I go by Hawk's marks. They are accurate - I have verified them with a wheel. They are actually 1/16th of a mile apart, so a bit more than 100 meters. I am still helping Curt with race timing and registration system. His races are growing and I feel it in particular when I have to manually scan 1500+ bar codes after racing a half-marathon.

From wheakory on Wed, Apr 11, 2007 at 23:28:34

Nice hard workout Sasha. Definitely increasing the speed work overtime is going to help with the faster pace.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.700.000.000.0014.70

Easy recovery run with Ted in the morning. Was feeling sleepy. 7:37 pace for 10 miles, average heart rate 116.

Ran with the kids in the evening. Took Benjamin and Jenny to the Team Provo Practice. Benjamin ran all the way, Jenny ran the first mile. On the way back, pushed them in the stroller. They sang BINGO, and got me to speed up to 6:40 pace at the end. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Dave Holt on Thu, Apr 12, 2007 at 17:46:06

I just checked out the Course Tool. Very Cool feature.

From April on Thu, Apr 12, 2007 at 21:25:05

no, not injured. just working up to being able to handle more running days. i've only ever run 4 days/wk. i've been doing 5 for a couple months now- just afraid to do too much too soon & end up injured. what are your thoughts on that? and thank you for your comments.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Apr 12, 2007 at 23:43:54

April - I believe it is almost always safe to run 6 days a week. Take the number of miles you are planning to run for the week and divide it by 6. Run that many miles every day. It will have less stress on your body than the same number of miles spread over 4 days, but will give you just as much if not more benefit. The principle of the table - it stands better on 6 legs than on 4 or fewer. The more legs the better.

From April on Fri, Apr 13, 2007 at 10:26:27

makes complete sense. thanks sasha!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.005.000.0014.00

Slept in this morning to have the nervous system ready for the tempo run. Ran later in the morning. Found Karl Jarvis on the trail. We used to train together a lot, but then his schedule change to where we could not do it any more. Turns out we live only a mile away from each other. Ran with him for a while. Got a nice 5.4 mile warm-up for the tempo. Then ran the standard 5 mile tempo from Geneva Road to the Utah Lake Park and back.

First mile 5:30, second 5:32. So far so good, feels easy, very steady pace, HR at 159. 13:49 at the turnaround (2:47). Had a glitch recovering from 180 turn, next 200 in 45, then 43, 1:28 for the quarter. Next quarter in 1:25, 5:40 for the mile, 16:42 at 3 miles. Then 1:26, followed by 1:24, and again, 1:26 and 1:24. 5:40 for the mile, 22:22 at 4 miles. HR climbed to a steady 162. The pace now feels harder, although it is slower. Next quarter uphill is 1:26 followed by a 1:24. I cannot seem to break the pattern. Leftover from the quarter repeats maybe? I push, and then I want a break. Then 200 in 40 seconds, I got excited. But then slowed down to 43, (1:23 for the quarter), followed by the last quarter in 1:25. I think it would have been 1:24, but with 100 to go I saw a dog without a leash or visible owner, it looked like a playful dog, and it looked very interested in playing with me. So I lost concentration and slowed down a bit. After I finished, the dog started playing with me, but I was not in the mood. 28:00 for the run, best time of the year so far. Last mile in 5:38, which I consider a 5:31 equivalent going the other way, or flat. HR climbed to 167 at the end. I might have been getting slightly dehydrated, or perhaps the surge to 40 seconds for 200 m after 4.5 raised the HR. What is odd is that the surge did not hurt as much as it should have, but at the same time, the last quarter was slow, and it felt the same as the surge. There were small random and rather mild bursts of wind. Maybe they were stronger than they felt. I wonder if that what caused the odd fluctuations of the pace on the second half.

Ran a cool down, 12.25 for the run. Ran with the kids in the evening.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From sammack on Fri, Apr 13, 2007 at 11:03:25

Man, 167. I wish I could stay there on a run like this. A while back you asked me what my max HR was. Well, yesterday I did some lactate threshold intervals and got up to 194--which is certainly above lactate threshold! I think 195 is a close albeit fairly conservative estimate for my max. Need to get fitter!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.750.001.250.0013.00

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Did some tempo pace pick ups. Ran a quarter in 1:19, then another in 1:23, and then 0.75 up a slight grade for the last 0.3 in 4:14. Did not get enough sleep at night, but made up in the afternoon. Right now sleep is one of the most critical elements of my training. Demetrio Cabanillas Jr. once told me about a sleep study where they paid subjects to sleep. That is the kind of study I would love to participate in!

Ran with the kids in the afternoon and in the evening. Total of 13 miles for the day. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Fri, Apr 13, 2007 at 23:29:03

I'm trying to get more sleep over the next month as well. I think marathoners need 8-9 hours/day to maintain optimum health and recovery. I've only been getting 7 hrs lately, so am trying to improve.

From christi on Sat, Apr 14, 2007 at 18:04:18

Thanks for your feedback on my race today. I think I have this blog to thank for my time improvement. Its given me extra inspiration and structure! Have a great weekend.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.207.502.800.0020.50

Got very good sleep the night before. Did not get out of bed until my body told me it did not need any more sleep, which happened at 7:00 am, 8 hours of sleep total. Started the day by running with Benjamin to the Team Provo practice. Saw ROTC cadets there. They were doing a 3200 meter run. A couple of them wanted to be paced for 14:00. I led them pretty much on pace. Only one was able to keep it. With the kick it ended up being 13:44. Then Benjamin wanted to run 100 meters. He was pretty tired from everything, but still managed 19.8. On the way back, I pushed Benjamin in the stroller. By the time we got home I had 6 miles on the odometer for the day done in a one hour period.

After a two hour break which included a play practice for our Stake Conference tomorrow and calling the ward leadership to remind them of the afternoon meeting, I continued the run. Ate a banana and drank a 17oz glass of water immediately before the run. Jogged 1.9 to warm up, then ran my standard 10 mile tempo. First mile in 5:54, then 5:50, 2:52 for the next half, 14:36 at the turnaround. On the way back held a steady 5:48 pace. HR finally stabilized at 151 until mile 4. Then there was a slight uphill section, and it went up to 154. 29:08 at 5 miles, 14:32 for the 2.5, and 5:49 for the uphill mile.

Picked it up a bit on the next 2.5 stretch. Next two miles 5:42 and 5:43. HR stabilized at 157. Then 0.5 in 2:53, 14:18 for the 2.5 and 43:26 at the turnaround. Decided to push the pace hard on the last 2.5. Two bikers, a young couple on a date, passed me and made an encouraging comment. I asked them to pace me. They agreed. They wanted to chat, but I told them I'd chat in 2 miles. I started seeing 1:24 quarters, with occasional 1:25s. Steady 5:38 pace until the mile to go. With 0.75 to go I started pressing harder. I saw the heart rate climb to 166, but it felt sustainable. This could be partially due to the warmer weather, but also to an increased level of fitness. Ended up with the last mile in 5:33, last 2.5 in 14:00, last 5 miles in 28:18, and 57:26 for 10 miles, fastest time for the year.

Cooled down with the bikers. Their names are Steve and Rachael. I guess if our Steve (Ashbaker) is not available to pace me, I'll find some Steve to do it even if he has to be on a bike. Having the Steve and Rachael at the end was very helpful. I am not used to people leisurely chatting around me when I am pushing the pace, but it was very nice. It got my mind off the pain, and I ran sort of in a trance.

What is interesting is that on Thursday I ran a 5 mile tempo putting in a threshold effort in 28:00, which is only 18 seconds faster than the last 5 miles of the 10 mile tempo today, and I did not shift into threshold pain gear until the last 2.5. It is also interesting that the last 2.5 was 11 seconds faster than the last 2.5 of the tempo on Thursday in spite of the fact that this 2.5 stretch was from mile 15.5 to mile 18 for the day, and more precisely for the first 4 hours of the day. Part of it certainly is the gain in cardiovascular and muscular fitness, but I wonder if a part is biomechanical. I got up on my toes more on the last 2.5 and it came naturally. The form felt more smooth and relaxed once I started going faster. The uphill or 180 turns did not seem to knock me out of rhythm as much as they usually do. Of course, all of that could be the result of increased neurological strength gained from the sleep.

Arthur Lydiard used to say that miles makes champions. That is not quite right. Beds make champions, not miles. Miles only prepare the champions for the bed to do the job. Miles make only tired and overtrained runners without proper sleep.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Lybi on Sun, Apr 15, 2007 at 01:53:19

Way to go Sasha! I'm right there with you about sleep. I think it is every bit as important as eating correctly. Not to say that I have developed ideal habits in either area, but I aspire to get there!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.400.000.000.0013.40

Got up early in the morning, woke up Benjamin, put him in the stroller, and ran to the BYU Football Stadium. The BYU ROTC were doing a 2 mile time trial around the big parking lot. Benjamin wanted to race the cadets. Some of them are out of his reach (11 minutes), while others run 14 minutes or slower. The course turned out to be a little longer, 2.10 on my Garmin 305, Ted said it was closer to 2.05, and adjusted the times of the cadets by 15 seconds. Benjamin ended up running 14:43, 14:28 with the adjustment, and beat a few cadets, about 25% by my count. It was raining, and somewhat windy. The course also has some up and down, maybe 0.5% grade. So I was very happy with Benjamin's accomplishment. Many cadets were surprised to see an 8 year old kid running with them and holding his ground.

Pushed Benjamin back in the stroller. It started raining. Dropped him off at home, and went for some more to make a total of 10. It started raining harder, and I was soaked. Then a little bit of hail. To give me a taste of Boston, I suppose. Whenever it hails, I think of Helaman 5:12 in the Book of Mormon, which in summary says if we build on the foundation of Jesus Christ, the hailstorms of life will not bring us down.

Had an interesting dream about Craig Lawson. Some of you may remember him. He ran for BYU, with 28:35 PR in the 10,000. Then he ran some afterwards, was in the 2000 marathon Trials, finished 13th with 2:19 in very hot conditions. He, Dennis Simonaitis, Brandon Rhoads, and Larry Smithee ruled the roads in Utah races around that time. Then as it often happens, life got too busy. He disappeared from the running scene. So in the dream he decided to start running competitively again. I told him he had a 2:10 potential, and he was very happy because somehow he knew I would never say somebody has a potential when I do not clearly see it. When I woke up I agreed with my dream assessment. Craig indeed does have a 2:10 potential if he had not yet irrepairably messed up his spine from the extra weight and hours of sitting. It is rather unfortunate that we value a decent but in the big scheme of things average and replaceable accountant, programmer, or salesman much more than we value a superb, one of a kind runner. I find it rather ironic that a society that fails to invest in things of spiritual nature such as art, music, or sports, ends up chasing the material things and never finds them. Yet a nation that invests into those finer matters does a lot better materially.

Watched the Boston Marathon, or rather, followed it on the Internet. Was very impressed with how Clyde and Dave ran in terrible conditions(2:37 and 2:40). Congratulations to both of them. It did not come without some serious blood. Look at their blogs, all the training they've done. Both had to be treated for hypothermia after they've finished. We had two more bloggers that broke 3:00 - Kenny B (2:49), and Kory (2:57). Andy B had a good race too - a PR effort, missed PR by 6 seconds (3:06:06). Again not without blood, look at their blogs. So far the biggest success of the bloggers has been the 1-2-3 punch in the Ogden Half Marathon against some serious competition and with exceptional times. Now Clyde broke the top 100 in Boston for us. I hope the day will come when we can do 1-2-3 punch in Boston. Right now it is a dream. Martin Luther King had a dream, it appeared impossible but it became reality. I've had dreams that appeared impossible but became reality. I have a dream. Today Clyde, Dave, Kenny, Kory, and Andy brought it one step closer.

Added another 3.4 in the evening pushing Jacob in the stroller and with Benjamin on a bike.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Scott Browning on Tue, Apr 17, 2007 at 01:07:27

Well said Sasha!! Much of your writing is indeed an inspiration. I think I speak for many runners, you have done great things for many people - Thanks.

From ashman on Tue, Apr 17, 2007 at 10:00:08

Echo that for sure...

From Chad on Tue, Apr 17, 2007 at 19:32:22

That's a top 5 entry, Sasha.

From wheakory on Wed, Apr 18, 2007 at 19:40:36

Thanks Sasha your help is much appreciated for my attempt in Boston. I did PR and get under 3 like I wanted, but I could have done so much better.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.700.003.002.5016.20

Ran in the Provo Canyon. Speed work. Warmed up, then 5x400 alternating up and down with 200 recovery. Headwind when going down as usual this time of day (late morning). 71.3 down - 77.3 up - 73.3 down - 75.2 up - 72.3 down. That shows a solid headwind. Still air difference between up and down should be 5 seconds. This did not come as a surprise. I noticed during the warm up that I was running 7:12 pace downhill and the HR of 127. Usually it is around 6:50 with the same effort and HR over there.

Jogged up to Nunn's park and ran the standard 3 mile tempo down. Mile splits - 5:24 - 5:24 - 5:21, 16:09. HR gradually made its way to 162-164. I kicked the last 100 meters, it went up to 169. Solid headwind virtually with no breaks. Not a single quarter faster than 1:20 except the last one (1:18). However, not a single quarter over 1:21 either possibly with the exception of the first (there is no mark there, but it actually uphill for the first 0.15).

Jogged back to the place where I did the 400s earlier and repeated 5x400. 72.9 down - 76.4 up - 73.9 down - 75.9 up - 67.5 down. The last one shows that I am lacking anaerobic ability. When I have it in full force, I am only able to speed up by 2 seconds on the last one. I could also tell I was losing steam after the first 200.

Then cooled down to the car. It started to get warm, and I could tell I was dehydrating a bit. HR went up to 138 at about 7:20 pace uphill. Normally it should have been around 128.  Total of 14.8 for the workout.

Ran with the kids in the evening.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.500.000.000.0013.50

Easy run with Ted at 4:50 AM. 10.05 miles at 7:44 pace, average HR 113, new record. On the first quarter which we did in 2:18 it did not crack 100 - only 98, but the pace felt fast. I take it as an indicator of aerobic fitness gain, if 9:00 pace feels fast in the first few minutes of the run while the heart rate is low. The engine is taking its time to warm up, the stronger the engine, the longer it needs. Added another 3.5 in the afternoon running with the kids and some more.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From braden on Wed, Apr 18, 2007 at 22:21:17

I did built up too fast after I fractured my toe. I ended up pulling my I.T. band so, I'm trying to take it easy, but there is the salt lake city half marathon, that I want to run and track races too.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Apr 18, 2007 at 22:43:22

Braden:

Salt Lake Half-Marathon will be around next year (maybe, if not there will be lots of other half-marathons). Track races will be around next month, etc. Do not allow the urgency of the race preparation affect your training. This is not school, cramming before a test does not work.

From steve ashbaker on Thu, Apr 19, 2007 at 08:28:14

Yes, Sasha is absolutely right. Just take it easy and listen to your body. Focus on the shorter distances like 5k, but run them later when your injuries have cleared up.

From Tim on Thu, Apr 19, 2007 at 10:55:45

You asked how my training was going. It's okay. I need to log in my experience here but blogging isn't something I'm used to doing so I don't think of it often.

I have started to run a bit faster just to see how my body would react. I've always just ran at a comfortable pace- never really pushed my pace. For the last week I've been speeding up a bit to see how my body would react and surprisingly I think I could have been running a bit fast this whole time. It's been encouraging. I'm runing the Country music marathon (the half) next week so I'll be wanting to see how I do then. I think that's going to give me a good idea of the work ahead to hit my goal for the marathon in the fall.

Thanks for checking up. I'll be sure and blog some of my progress.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Apr 19, 2007 at 13:37:32

Tim - most of the value of this blog is in having a daily record of your training. Seeing what you do on a day by day basis gives us the ability to offer very specific advice. It will also give you a chance to go back later and see a big picture of your training. The entries do not have to be long - just put in how many miles you ran, and one or two sentences about how you felt. You do not even have to do it every day - you can put in three entries twice a week, for example.

The upcoming half-marathon will be a good test of your fitness, and will give you an idea of how you should train from there to reach your goal of qualifying for Boston.

From Lybi on Thu, Apr 19, 2007 at 16:56:07

Thanks for the encouragement! This whole accountability thing is really working for me. Plus it's so fun to get feedback from all these amazing runners.

About the keys--I moved every piece of furniture in the family room (including the sofa) and no keys. :( I still have to check under the crib in the baby's room and I will continue to keep an eye out. I'll let you know if I find anything.

From Lybi on Thu, Apr 19, 2007 at 20:27:20

Sasha--I found your keys!!! They were behind the dresser in the kids' room. Yeah! We will priority mail 'em out in a padded envelope tomorrow morning.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.900.005.000.0014.90

Tempo run this morning. Got decent sleep, went to bed at 11, got up at 6. It was cold, around 35 degrees, but warmer than last winter. No significant wind. Ran the standard 5 mile tempo from Geneva Road to the trail entrance by the Utah Lake Park and back.

First mile, 5:32. Second 5:31 (11:03), then 2:47 for the next 0.5, 13:50 at the turnaround. The pace felt very comfortable, however I knew that any faster would be exceptionally uncomfortable. HR took forever to get going, but finally stabilized at 158 by 1.5 miles.

2:50 for the next 0.5 with the first quarter after 180 turn in 1:26. The first 100 of it was 23 seconds,  so 2 second loss. 5:37 for the mile, 16:40 at 3. Next mile in 5:35. HR climbed to 160, and now the pace is starting to feel harder, although it is still the same pace, even a bit slower, but coming back is a very slight uphill, so 3 seconds per mile is about the correct amount of difference. The breathing became harder too. The sour feeling in the quad appeared but I was able to run through it this time.

Quarters for the last mile - 1:25 (uphill), 1:24, 1:23, 1:20. HR maxed out at 169 at the end. Total time 27:47.8, best time for the season. Last mile in 5:32, last 2.5 in 13:57, I would call this a true even split, perhaps even negative if you throw in the 2 seconds lost on the 180 turn.

Did a long cool down, total of 13.1 for the run. Ted did the easy running with me, he was planning on joining me for the tempo, but got sick. Ran with the kids in the afternoon, total of 14.9. I am running the Salt Lake Half, not the full marathon. Will do it completely untapered. It is fun to race a half at the end of a 90 mile week, I've done this before. You hurt from the start, as opposed to from mile 3, so you actually get better pacing.

I was very happy with this tempo, most particularly about being able to hold the pace as the quads start feeling sour. 

I am perplexed as to why HR takes so long to get going in a tempo run. It took a good 4 mile stretch before it got to where it was supposed to be. My average HR for the run was actually 153! This has been a pattern regardless of the weather. So here is what I am wondering about. If I am running 5:32 pace, and the HR eventually stabilizes at 162 then if it is let's say 153, and assuming I do not severely dehydrate in 4 miles of tempo running in 35 degrees (reasonable assumption), and the stroke volume does not drop as the tempo run progresses (reasonable assumption?), and the biomechanical efficiency does not change that much (reasonable assumption?), then at 153 HR my cardiac output is significantly lower than what is necessary for a steady state that happens at 162. But the energy for the pace has to come from somewhere, so that in essence means I am running anaerobically for the first 4 miles of this run. Could it be that HR response to lactic acid build up, and unless you have a certain lactic acid concentration, it will not increase?

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Bill on Fri, Apr 20, 2007 at 11:41:14

Hey Sasha, takes me awhile to get the engine warmed up my self. especially before a race. I have to tun a mile or two to get things going before the gun.

Tell me about the ogden marathon. I plan on running it. What should i work on as far as course Preparation?

thanks

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Apr 20, 2007 at 12:20:45

Bill - read by description of the course here

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.250.000.000.0014.25

Easy run with Ted in the morning. A little faster today, supersonic speeds compared to Wednesday, 7:18 pace. Ran with the kids in the afternoon, and a little more in Salt Lake to the expo and back. I will probably have 74 miles on the odometer for the week when I start the half-marathon tomorrow. Added a mile with Sarah late at night.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Sat, Apr 21, 2007 at 00:41:51

Make us proud tomorrow! Is the Pachev family choir going to be serenading the SLC Half tomorrow with BINGO?

From Mike K on Sat, Apr 21, 2007 at 17:30:45

There is a nice picture of you on the starting line of the SLCM.

http://www.sltrib.com/portlet/article/html/render_gallery.jsp?articleId=5722838&siteId=297&startImage=1

I look forward to reading your race report.

M

From steve on Sat, Apr 21, 2007 at 18:02:49

Race: Salt Lake Half-Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:13:25, Place overall: 4
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.100.0015.000.0029.10

A very long day. It started with racing the Salt Lake Half-Marathon. Ran it in 1:13:25. Got beat by Mbarak Hussein (1:05:17), Simon Sawe(1:05:33), and BJ Christensen (1:10:59). Not quite sure what to think of it. I am inclined to believe this is a better performance than two weeks ago in Ogden. I held by heart rate in the higher ranges for longer, although it still was not what I wanted it to be. Went out with the leaders from the gun. The marathon and the half started at the same time. At first it was more like the jail break in the Russian movie Gentlemen of Fortune. The police put in an infiltrator and organize a break for the three inmates of interest. The fourth one joins them. They ask him why he ran. He answers: "Everybody ran, so I did run too". Then I began to think about the reasons to continue to run fast. Enjoy the company of great runners while I can. Some TV time for the Wasatch Running Center. So I figured I'd hang in there for a while. We did the first mile in 5:03, probably 1-2 % down. I was in a pack with Mbarak Hussein, Simon Sawe, BJ Christensen, and Dave Danley who was running the marathon. I told Dave we were going 5:00 pace several times, but he kept going. We backed off a bit from the Kenyans and BJ. Second mile in 5:23, some down and some up. Next mile uphill in 5:47. My heart rate was hovering around 164, and I felt the pace was very aggressive. But I wanted to push it for as long as we were with the marathoners to make things a bit nicer for Steve Ashbaker. The more people are out front, the faster the marathon lead pack will go. And the faster it goes, the more casualties for him to devours in the last miles. I knew I could relax for a mile, clean up the lactic acid, and then pick it back up and still run a decent, even if less than perfect race.

Pushed hard on the downhill down 21st south, hit the mile in 5:05. After that, we split from the marathoners and the mile markers were fuzzy. I had an idea of how fast I was going from the Garmin. But I was not so much concerned about the pace reading as I was about the heart rate reading. Garmin may be off on the length of splits, and there could be subtle factors such as a slight grade or slight but steady head or tail wind. But I know that if I can sustain my heart rate above 160, I'll be running well. I went in spurts. Sometimes I would get into good rhythm, Garmin would start giving consistent splits of 1:22 per quarter, and HR would be at 161. Other times, I would see it drop to 157 and the splits go down to slower than 1:25. Interestingly enough, running at HR of 161 was a lot more pleasant than at 157.


This observation, as well as a number of others in training led me to formulate a theory that Steve Ashbaker suggested I post in the blog. When running 15 K -  half marathon type of race, what we would call anaerobic threshold pace, the traditional exercise physiology states that you reach a steady state when you are breaking down lactic acid at the same rate you are producing it. But I suspect in reality things are a lot more complicated. The lactic acid levels are in a state of constant flux. They go up and down. When they go up, two things can happen. If the muscles and the nervous system are not conditioned for the lactic acid tolerance, they will shut down before the heart and the lungs can respond by delivering extra oxygen to clean up the lactic acid. If the muscles and the nervous system are properly conditioned, though, the muscles will work through it for a while, and in time the heart and the lungs will start working at a higher capacity making the faster pace sustainable. This explains why doing brutally fast 400s with 200 meter recovery on top of regular aerobic training make a difference of 10-15 seconds per mile in my half-marathon pace, and 5-7 seconds per mile in my marathon pace. The 200 recovery is a great form of aerobic training - you learn to clean up anaerobic byproducts very well.

I got to 10 miles in 53:30. Kept on going, ran the last 5 K in 17:55. They were a couple of guys from Westminister college on my tail. I knew they were somewhere there and could be dangerously close. So I pressed hard enough to make them not want to catch me.

Ate a banana, and ran back to find Steve. Followed the course and got to the start of the 5K. Figured I needed to seriously refuel to be prepared for the pacing job. Was very pleased to see Hobie Call in second place. He was two minutes behind Lemo, and pressing hard. Hobbie ended up finishing second, and missed the qualifier again by a minute. I think he can get it at Grandma's. Then there was another Kenyan, then Nick McCoombs, Dave Danley, Steve Tanui, and now here comes our Steve. A little later than I expected him, but very strong. I drank 4 cups of Gatorade to have the energy for pacing him, and I needed every ounce of it. He was going faster than me in the half. He got my HR to 161, and it hurt. A grimace started showing on my face. We flew past Steve Tanui. Steve (Ashbaker) was very excited about passing a Kenyan. He has never had the experience. He asked me if the Kenyan was just messing around. I told him no, he is just done. Now he needed to pass just one more guy to be in the money. Dave Danley was the next victim. I know the feeling, I've been on both sides of the deal. For some reason, I like to compare it to Abraham finding a ram in the thicket to offer a sacrifice. All of a sudden, there comes a dead runner out of nowhere, and you know he will not fight you. You also know you are in the money once you pass him. You begin to rejoice. I also know what it feels like to be the ram.

Steve had about a mile left. I told him since he was in the money, he should now do it by himself to avoid possible, although very unlikely complaints about receiving assistance from a pacer. I slowed down and ran with Dave to the end.

Congratulations to Steve on a new PR (2:36:31), great last 5 K (17:45), and 5th place in a tough company.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Also for our date Sarah and I did her long run, which was 6 miles. So that gave me 29 miles for the day, and 101 miles for the week. 



Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Nick on Sun, Apr 22, 2007 at 00:53:17

Great work Sasha! 29 miles in one day, and half of them were threshold at that. whew. It looks like you really ran well, and Im sure the new additional mileage you are doing is definitely going to help you out.

From ArmyRunner on Sun, Apr 22, 2007 at 09:24:30

Happy Birthday Sasha!

From christi on Sun, Apr 22, 2007 at 10:42:20

Hi Sasha- Great job on the SL 1/2! I answered your questions regarding my "tempo" run on my blog. I always love your tips!

From Maria on Sun, Apr 22, 2007 at 14:51:34

Good job! This is a great time, especially for not tapering and at the end of 100 mile week.

Running 6 miles on a date - how novel! I wish my husband would find it exciting :).

Oh, and happy belated birthday to you! Did you just move into another age group?

From ashman on Sun, Apr 22, 2007 at 19:33:16

Its your birthday today? Well Happy Birthday! And many more...

From calcio on Sun, Apr 22, 2007 at 20:06:31

I posted some info about your theory you might like on my blog. It was a bit too long for here. Great job on the whole day/race.

From Scott Browning on Mon, Apr 23, 2007 at 00:41:56

Great run Sasha - you are quite the machine!! Happy Birthday - if the above posts are correct. I would like to hear more about your 400 meter with 200 recovery set. How do recommend doing the set, rep count, pacing, etc... Any feedback you could give would be greatly appreciated. Again, well done yesterday!

From wheakory on Tue, Apr 24, 2007 at 15:18:05

Incredible threshold mileage for the day. That's definitely going to put you over the top in the Ogden Marathon. Very impressive.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.600.750.000.0013.35

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Supersonic speeds of 7:12. Daylight makes it faster. Felt energized, tried to talk Ted into picking it up on the last mile, managed to convince him to go fast on the last 0.5. Timed the last quarter, it was 1:26. I was pleased with the fact that HR went up to 151 very quickly, I started breathing right away, but the pace did not feel hard.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon, and some more with Benjamin and Jenny in the stroller. Talked to a guy named Jason on the trail for about a mile. He is training for a marathon in Rexburg, ID in July. With Benamin and Jenny in the stroller it was about 100lb + the weight of the stroller.  On the last quarter they sang me the BINGO song and got me going. I hit it in 1:34. Not sure what it translates into stroller-less, I would guess around 1:24. The inflation of the tires makes a big difference.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.600.003.002.5017.10

Saw Dr. Jex. He took an X-ray of my lower back in the running position with the knee lifted up. I wanted him to check if I lose the lumbar curve when I lift up my knee. Sure enough, I do, it goes down from 35 degrees to 13. This explains why I do not lift up my knees very much. However, it is not yet clear what the root cause of this would be, or how we should go about fixing it. He also gave me a special cylinder for mid-back exercises.

Then went to the Provo Canyon for some serious painful work. Started with a warm-up followed by a prayer asking for the courage and humility to accept the pain. Then 5x400 alternating down and up. 70.6 down - 76.7 up - 70.1 down - 75.8 up - 69.1 down. I think that was close to still air.

Then a jog up to Nunn's Park, and the standard 3 mile tempo down in 15:53. Splits - 5:21 - 5:16 - 5:16. The head wind has picked up, but it was not as bad as last week, I think. Regardless, this is the fastest time of the year. It was quite painful, but I was holding the pace. The last two miles felt like a very long quarter. I think taking the headwind into account, this is probably worth 2:26:30 in St. George.

Then a jog back to the place of quarters. The place of pain that leads to success. Again, the same 5x400. The head wind now got stronger and it showed in the splits. 72.2 down - 75.0 up - 71.9 down - 74.8 up - 66.3 down. Pushed hard on the last one, but I think if there was somebody to push me it could have been faster.

2.7 mile cool down. Total of 15.2 for the workout. Came home, the weight was down to 141lb, this means I need to eat and drink a lot.

Then I thought about all the things I had to do. I remembered a comment made by one Russian coach who coached high school runners. "Those teachers, they just do not get it. The guy has just finished a 20 K run, and they expect something from him. He cannot do it, he is as if had just  had 100 grams of vodka!"  The fatigue of a workout has an interesting effect on you. I think it is very good. It helps you lay aside the matters that are not important and pay more attention to the things that really matter. In the New Testament there is a story of Mary and Martha. Mary is listening to Christ, while Martha is busy serving guests. Martha gets upset because Mary is not helping her, yet Christ says that Mary has chosen the better part. Sometimes we fill up our lives with stuff, mostly not that important in the eternal scheme of things, and forget to take the time to choose the better part. I think the fatigue of a workout, combined with the experience of overcoming pain prior, has a tendency to take us from the Martha territory into Mary's territory and take the time to choose the better part.

Ran with the kids in the evening. Total of 17.1 miles for the day.
 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From sarah on Wed, Apr 25, 2007 at 00:21:47

I love you

From wheakory on Wed, Apr 25, 2007 at 00:52:37

Well put Sasha. We need to be spiritually minded and not carnally minded, and living and walking in the spirit.

Nice workout! These are the types of workouts I need to do to obtain peak performance.

From Ryan Woods on Wed, Apr 25, 2007 at 19:04:30

I don't disagree. A month off would no doubt take care of the plantar but my situation won't allow that. I live in Central Florida and by June it's just not possible to run longer than 6 miles. It's grueling, oppressing, and the most miserable 6 miles that will ever be run as well. I can't take a month off now then follow it up with 2 moths off in the summer. So I currently find my self in the pattern I'm in. Luckily things are working well for me right now and I'm starting to get fit again without upsetting the plantar balance. As for the regular run pace, I've been checking my pulse recently because I want to get the pool work and aquajogging in the same cardio level as the running. I've yet to get a pulse over 140 on a regular run. 6min pace is in my comfort zone. I've run that pace for all runs for almost a decade now. It's just not going to change.

From Lybi on Thu, Apr 26, 2007 at 00:40:39

Hey Sasha--What an impressive run! Interesting view on the fatigue of running. I see how running is about spiritual progression to you.

I really want to leave feedback about your back, however I feel a little awkward about it since I am such a beginner and you are a pro, but here goes . . . In short: I think that your ability to maintain your lumbar curve when you raise your legs would be much increased if you worked on your flexibility.

After I had my last baby, I went to the chiropractor because my lumbar curve had become exaggerated. He told me I need to stengthen my abs, hamstrings, and quads. Apparently they are the ones that support the lumbar curve. I know that these muscle groups must be like iron after what you put them through, so maybe they are over doing their jobs? Tight tendons/ligaments? would make it worse.

Question: can you touch your toes with your knees straight?

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Apr 27, 2007 at 12:31:56

Lybi - thanks for the ideas. My quads are very strong, hamstrings are above average, and abs are about average. I can touch my toes after a warm-up and with difficulty. I do have a number of tight tendons and ligaments. However, all the stretching and strengthening I've tried in the past had no effect on my running speed, even over 100 meters all out.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.200.000.000.0014.20

Ted was out of town, but I still had to run early to make it to the temple. Had a little bit of an upset stomach, but not too bad compared to the rest of the family.  Set two records this morning. Average HR was 105. And I made 5 bathroom stop. So the records were related. However, HR was still low, around 110-112 most of the way. I ran 1:17:37 for 10.05. Aside from the stomach issues, felt good.

Ran to Team Provo practice and pushed the stroller most of the way. Total of 14.2 miles. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.902.003.000.0014.90

Ran the standard 5 mile tempo this morning. Did not realize I would feel the consequences of the stomach problems yesterday. I was able to eat simple foods and drink liquids, but I was not nearly as hungry as I should have been. It did show in the tempo run. First mile in 5:30, things are going well. Next 0.5 in 2:44, now I am a second ahead of the 5:30 guy. HR gets up to 160 like it should. Then the next quarter in 1:23 followed by 1:24, HR dropping. Maybe just lost the focus. Pressed harder, HR stuck at 158, next two quarters 1:24 and 1:26, 13:51 at the turn-around. Now something is definitely wrong, but I can still hang in there and run a bit under 28:00, I thought. Next quarter in 1:27, that is actually not too bad for the 180 turn recovery, but then the next two are trouble - 1:25 with HR dropping down to 156 in spite of the increased mental effort (5:42 for the mile), followed by 1:27. OK, odd problem, this usually happens around mile 15 in the marathon except it does not feel the same way because the muscles are feeling tired and the joints start to hurt, but this time the muscles and joints are just fine, but there is still very little glycogen in the legs. I've had this experience a couple of times before. Last year, shortly before DesNews marathon after three weeks of no less than 15 miles a day with at least 6 at sub-6:00 pace this happened in a 10 mile tempo run. And in October of 2004 I tried a tempo run after getting a similar ingestion bug and not eating very much for a day.

Next two quarters in 1:30, HR goes down to 152. But it feels hard, I am putting out my top tempo muscular effort. If I did not look at the watch, I would have said I was still running at 5:30 pace! Then 1:28, 4th mile in 5:55. Next quarter uphill in 1:31 followed by 1:30. With 600 to go I started feeling stronger and was I able to pick it up to 5:30 pace again. HR got up to 160, and I ran the last 600 in 2:03 at a steady pace. 28:27 for the whole run, 5:49 for the last mile. The weirdest tempo run I've had in a while. I thought of cutting it short a few times, but decided to finish it for scientific as well as mental purposes.

The cool down was also unusual. A tempo run would normally put my HR even at the cooldown pace (8:00 mile) to at least 127. Today HR stayed at 118. I considered cutting the mileage today given the upcoming 30 K on Saturday and the glycogen depletion caused by the stomach problems on top of high mileage, but decided to stick with the program. Cooled down until I was at 13 miles for the run. Came home, and still was not hungry, bad sign. Drank some raspberry tea, that got things going. Was able to eat three normal size meals afterwards, and now feeling hungry as I am typing this.

I did much better than Sarah in the stomach area, though. She was throwing up last night. So were Joseph and Jacob. Benjamin did not throw up, but was not able to eat much.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Then went to the USATF meeting after dinner with Benjamin and Jenny. Benjamin gave me our mile splits as we drove, a new way to entertain an 8 year old (as well as a 34 year old) while driving.

I have always been curious about the negative feedback mechanisms that kick in once the muscular glycogen is low. I know that some people have them more developed than others. I remember in the Top of Utah Marathon 2005 at mile 17 I was running low on fuel. The pack made a surge, and Demetrio Cabanillas Jr not only went with them but he actually was a very active participant in that surge. Had they told me the race ended at 18 I would not have been able to stay with them. Then he came back to me at 21 even though I had already slowed down to a 7:00 mile premature cool down. He obviously had a lot less glycogen left at 17, but he did not have my negative feedback mechanisms to stop him in the surge. I often start my marathons aggressively, and hardly ever run an even or negative split. It is not uncommon for me to hit a half in a time that would be under a minute slower than I would have raced it all out. However, I do not recall running slower than 7:10 pace at the end of a marathon in the last 6 years. I think my negative feedback when glycogen is low is very strong, perhaps maybe even so strong that it inhibits my shorter races. But it saves my rear end when I make bad pacing decisions in the marathon.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Mike Salkowski on Fri, Apr 27, 2007 at 22:57:28

Sorry to hear about the stomach distress. If half the family is throwing up and you're having your own stomach problems, it's no wonder your heart rate was a bit off.

I've had similar problems with glycogen depletion, and your theory on negative feedback mechanisms is interesting.

Thanks for the half marathon suggestions. While Chicago would be great, I'll probably just end up at Twin Cities.

From Lybi on Sat, Apr 28, 2007 at 00:52:46

Hey Sasha-thanks for the feedback.

Okay. I gotta get this out... BINGO!!!??? I get neural fatigue just thinking about that song for longer than 10 seconds. (He he) However, you are the elite runner. Therefore I will try it. *Whimper*

Hey, what did you think about the flexibility thing? I was thinking about your back and remembering when I was in gymnastics as a teenager. When we were doing high kicks, it was considered a form break and a point deduction if our backs rounded out. The cure for this was working on our flexibility--especially the splits.

I am also thinking about piano. There are two major muscle groups that control the individual fingers. One raises a finger up, the other pushes down.

One huge key to playing fast is to make sure that both muscles are not engaged at the same time. They fight against each other like gas and brake. If flexibility is an issue in your normal running stride, it would be like having the brakes on (just a little) all the time. It takes very little time to fix and might have a huge positive impact on speed.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, May 02, 2007 at 16:45:02

Flexibility is a thought, although things a bit tricky. When I was 11, I had a basketball coach that gave us a lot of flexibility work. I was able to do a sideways split after his drills. At the same time, my 60 meter sprint improved from 11.3 and looking like a ostrich according to my classmates to 9.7 and no comments from anybody including the running coach. Not sure if the improvement necessarily correlated with the increased flexibility, increased explosive strength and coordination may have played a role. As I recall it, my ability to beat up a pesky classmate had also improved, and I remember scoring more goals in soccer too.

Since then I have tried different stretching programs on several occasions with no noticeable improvement in running performance on any distance. My lower spine does have a sideways curve, I think that has something to do with losing the normal curve on hip flexion.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.400.000.000.0013.40

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Started out at 8:00, then gradually progressed to 7:00. HR was consistently 124 at 7:00 pace, that is about 4 beats per minute low for me. Ran with the kids in the evening, and added some more, still with the kids, but the non-running ones this time, and they were in the stroller. In fact all of the evening running was done with a double stroller. 30 K race tomorrow, it is going to be very interesting.

Added a new feature to the blog. You can now change the logging template. There are some limitations - it has to be already there among the pre-existing ones (I still have to create them manually), and you can only change to the one that has compatible set of fields with what you currently have. And of course, being in beta it may give you a surprise. Send me an e-mail if it does.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Breanna on Sat, Apr 28, 2007 at 22:24:14

Sasha,

I tried changing my blogging template, and when then when I went into my blog all my miles were erased. My entries were there but the miles were gone. Is there anything that can be done about this or do I have to manually go in and recalculate every workout?

From sasha on Sun, Apr 29, 2007 at 08:23:34

What I did to cause the problem was click on the change blogging template, I changed the template and then went back and looked at my blog and I had no mileage. I went back in and fixed it manually by recalculating every workout, but in any entry before april I did not fix.

From breanna on Sun, Apr 29, 2007 at 08:28:09

I accidentally wrote your name instead of mine like an email when you are addressing it to someone, sorry.

Race: (18.88 Miles) 01:50:38, Place overall: 3
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.1018.870.000.0022.97

Striders 30 K in Ogden, 3rd place. Actual finish time was 1:50:38, but I took the wrong turn on the last mile and ended up adding an extra 0.24 that also added a downhill followed by a steeper uphill than the original course to make up. Fortunately, my Course Tool helped estimate the difference. It said at 5:50 flat pace equivalent, the wrong way would have taken 1:38 longer. The race directors apparently overheard me talking about the wrong turn and adjusted my time. At least, I had 1:50:38 on watch, and my official finish time was 1:48:37. This is actually a very good guess at what I would have run without the wrong turn. The detour alone cost me 1:38 physically. Half way through it I realized I was off the course, and I was not sure how much I was adding. I saw a big hill to make things worse. I lost the focus because the goals I've set for myself earlier now had to be readjusted. The natural tendency in that situation is to ease off to a comfortable pace at least for a while. Had I been on the normal course, I would have seen my split at 18 miles and would have shifted gears to get a solid sub-1:49:00. Nevertheless, the mishap did not change the placing - Paul and Steve were too far ahead, and Ken Richardson was too far behind.

Coming into the race, I was just planning on a long tempo on tired legs. Stomach flu on Wednesday while doing high mileage did not help with glycogen stores. Or maybe it did, after all. I did not back off on the miles on Friday, but I was panic-carboloading Thursday night and all day Friday. Ted brought me some Hornet Juice, which makes you burn more fat during the run. I think that definitely helped.

Paul and Bob took off, Steve and I followed them, and quickly caught them about 0.5 into the race. Then we ran like friend on a long run for a while, very conversational, telling stories, etc. I was not much of a conversation partner, but I did chip in when I could. I was amazed at how conversational the other three were at sub-5:50 pace on rolling hills at 5000 feet. I felt sluggish in the first three miles, then started feeling better, and after 5 I started feeling really good, although not as good as Bob, Paul, and Steve. Mile splits were (going by the markers) 5:50 - 5:54 - 5:46 - 5:42 - 5:43. We were rolling a bit down, but still we were rolling. 28:55 at 5 miles. At 6 miles I missed the Gatorade from the hand of the volunteer, and stopped to get it being very concerned about bonking later on. Then I was able to close the gap. During the early miles, HR was around 154. When closing the gap, HR hit 163, and it felt sustainable for a while, although not the whole race.


Then we started a gradual ascent at about 1% grade. There was a 5:50 mile at HR of 158, and then on the mile from 8 to 9 the effort picked up. Were still on the climb, and the split was 5:41. My HR hit 161, and I started to hurt. I started feeling more confident in my glycogen stores and decided to skip the next water stop, just to try to hang on at fast pace longer, then maybe they will end the surge, and I might have company for another couple of miles. But they were running very strong not letting up at all. I got dropped at 9.25, and eased off to a nice marathon pace effort. HR was at 155. 57:52 at 10 miles. Now we are on the Ogden Marathon course and going in right direction. Next mile in 5:40, downhill, but into a bit of a headwind. Another mile in 5:43. This is good, I am almost going the same pace I did in the half-marathon, and I am further along into the race than I was back then. And it hurts a lot less in spite of the mileage.

The downhill quickly ended, now the nasty rolling hills, and this time we are rolling up. Still doing slightly sub-6:00 miles, that is very good this late on those hills. 13 mile split was 1:15:14, that makes 1:15:53 half. I was very happy about that half. Three weeks earlier I raced a half that dropped quite a bit  of elevation (I think about 600 ft) in 1:14:29. This one maybe dropped 50-100 feet net, but the rolling and climbing was much more serious than in the half earlier. And this is en-route in a 30 K!

1:27:08 at 15 miles. Very encouraging, still going sub-6:00. Next mile in 5:55, followed by 6:07 on a more steady uphill. Nothing to complain about. And then somehow I ended up following the Ogden Marathon course instead of going straight to the Red Moose Lodge. Then I see a downhill. I do not remember that downhill being at the end of the half. Bad sign. Then I see the road ahead of me that I know leads to Ogden. Downtown Ogden is 12.5 miles a way. I was planning on a 30 K tempo today, not a 30 mile tempo! Fortunately, I saw a turn-off to the Red Moose Lodge, and now I new where I was. So I ran to the finish the best way I knew. Backed off just in case.

At the finish, I found out that Bob's calf decided to give me $50. He cramped up and was forced to stop at 16 miles. So I ended up 3rd, and that also gave me 3rd in the whole series. Paul and Steve ran amazingly well, especially Steve coming back from running a marathon a week earlier. 1:45:18 for Paul, and 1:45:33 for Steve. Just think about it - 3x10 K back to back each in a bit over 35:00 on average at 5000 feet on rolling hills and no elevation drop a week after a marathon!

Ran with the kids in the evening. Another high mileage week. 


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Sun, Apr 29, 2007 at 13:57:47

Nice job! Good to see you get into the top three, eventhough it is too bad that Bob got hurt. I thought you ran well after a tough week, and I know how those weeks can take a toll on a person.

From ashman on Sun, Apr 29, 2007 at 21:48:08

Great job in spite of everything and all the mileage you put in this week. I could literally feel the seriousness and the effort you put out on Saturday. It's only a matter of time I think.

From Cody on Sun, Apr 29, 2007 at 22:07:28

Good Job Sasha!

You are starting to run some great times. Especially after a great effort at the SL Half. I am glad you decided to finish at Red Moose Lodge and not in Ogden. We might have started to wonder about you...

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.700.000.500.0013.20

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Standard 10.05. Started out slow, then gradually sped up. Did a pick-up for 0.5 mile in 2:44 in the middle. Ran with the kids in the evening. HR a little higher today probably due to warmer weather. Saw it above 130 at 7:00 pace a few times at the end.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Scott Zincone on Tue, May 01, 2007 at 15:11:35

Thanks for changing my template.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.500.003.002.5016.00

Ted joined me for my speed workout this morning. This workout was meant to be unpleasant. I do not understand the physiology behind it, but I know from experience that it brings great results. Something happens to the mind and body, and I start running better on every distance from 5 K to the marathon. I think running fast enough to make it properly unpleasant is the key.

Due to the lack of time we did not go to the Provo Canyon today, and did it near my house on the Provo River Trail instead. So it was all flat compared to the Provo Canyon, only occasional mild grade. Warm-up, then 5x400 with 200 rest, very nice slow jog, alternating directions. 71.5 - 71.8 - 70.5 - 71.5 - 69.8. HR hit 160 at the end of the interval and was back down to 100 at the end of the recovery at first, then it became 110 on the later intervals. I thought this stretch was a slight downhill the other way, but apparently not - steady 0.5 - 1.0 difference both for me and for Ted as we changed the direction. There was no noticeable wind going either way.

Then a jog to the start of the tempo run. We did not have an official 3 mile mark, and did not feel like doing a 180 at 2.5, so we just went by the GPS for the last 0.5. First mile in 5:25, next 0.5 in 2:42. HR got up to 160. Then started losing it a bit - 2:45, 5:27 for the mile. Next 0.5 in 2:46, 13:38 at 2.5. I would have been slower, but I noticed HR dropped to 158, and pressed harder to bring it back up to 160. I was happy that I could run 5:32 pace keeping HR under 160, but not happy about struggling to hold it. However, there was a positive development. As I put in more effort, the quads tensed up. This usually means I am about to start running slower than 5:40. But this time I was able to just keep running with tense quads and hold the pace. I even sped up on the last 0.5 hitting it in 2:42. 16:20 for the 3 miles.

Some more jogging, and now the final part of the workout. Another 5x400 session. We were running out of time, so we just did it coming back to Geneva Road, which is a subtle uphill most of the way, and there is one quarter where it is not so subtle. 72.3 - 73.8 (through the parking lot) - 72.1 - 73.4 (non-subtle uphill) - 69.0. It felt good to be done.

Did a long cool-down. Total of 14.15 miles for the workout. Ran with the kids in the evening.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Lybi on Tue, May 01, 2007 at 23:10:50

Good job on piano! And what a workout.

From JohnK on Wed, May 02, 2007 at 09:04:47

That is a super tough workout and you ran great. What distance/time was there between the first set of 400s and the tempo run, and between the tempo and 2nd set of 400s? Nice job!

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, May 02, 2007 at 16:29:14

John - we jogged a mile between the first interval set and the tempo run, and another mile between the tempo run and the interval set.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.500.000.000.0014.50

Easy run with Ted in the early morning. Both of us were tired and were happy to plod along through the first 4 miles at about 8:15 average. My HR sat below 110, but the pace felt fast. Then as usual, I finally woke up. HR started hitting 120, and the pace got up to 7:30. I started feeling strong, and felt like running fast, but I knew better since this was a recovery run. We sped up a bit and finished our 10.04 miles in 1:17:34. The moral of the story - if the run feels hard, do not call it quits until you get to the 4 mile mark, your body may just be taking its time to get going.

Ran with Julia, then took Benjamin and Jenny to the Team Provo track practice. This gave me some more mileage, most of it pushing them in the stroller.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Thu, May 03, 2007 at 17:05:07

Your correct on the 4 mile scenario. I've experienced this before. If your getting up around 4am to run how much sleep do you get each night? I need to really slow down on my recovery/easy run days even though 7:11 or 7:25 feels good. I think its better to go slower. What's your thoughts on this subject.

From Scott Browning on Thu, May 03, 2007 at 17:54:35

Interesting thoughts on Breanna, what are your thoughts on the possibility of over training syndrome with her. I am not sure of her mental outlook, but some of the physical signs would seem to indicate OTS.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, May 04, 2007 at 13:40:09

Kory - on a recovery run you should go as slow as your body wants to. Scott - I'll post a follow-up in Breanna's blog.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.500.005.000.0014.50

It was raining this morning and it was fairly cold. Did my regular 5 mile tempo. Ted helped me with the pace on the first and on the last mile. First mile - 5:32, then 5:35 on the next. Next quarter in 1:23, but then hit some headwind plus caution before the 180 turn to not trip. The caution was needed, I slid pretty well trying to stop. The quarter was 1:26, so I got 13:56 at the time I started sliding. When I finally transitioned and changed direction, it was 13:58. Tried to pick it up to get back on pace. 16:47 at 3 miles, 5:40 for the mile with all the adventures. However, then I started getting cold apparently. Next quarter in 1:26. Tried to push it, was only able to get back up to 1:25. HR got to 155 and refused to go any higher.

Hit the next mile in 5:41, 22:28 at 4 miles. Now I need 5:32 to get 28:00, but as cold and wet as I am, it does not look like it is going to happen. But Ted knew how to get me going. He started a bit ahead of me. Now my hunting dog reflex kicked in, I think if I were a dog I would make a good hunting dog. Next quarter uphill in 1:25, then 1:24, and 1:23. HR got up to 157. I kept closing on Ted but he would strategically speed up. With a quarter to go I saw that if I ran 1:20 I would get the "impossible" 28:00. I pushed harder. There was one hunting dog reflex inhibitor. I knew that Ted was running only a mile and with some energy to spare, and that I did not have a chance to outrun him in the kick. I think with that knowledge removed I would have pushed harder. But I did manage 1:20, 28:00 for the run, and 5:32 for the last mile.

Jogged down to make the total of 13 miles for the run. Got home soaking wet and cold. My right knee refused to bend for about 10 minutes, something odd with the circulation from the sudden change of temperature. The shower felt good.

In the evening went the Benjamin's track meet at Timpangos High School. Ran with Jenny and Julia. Then watched Benjamin race. He first ran 100 meters in 18.7 taking second place in his age group (8 and under). I think the guy that beat him was about 18.2, and the other two were a couple of seconds behind. Not bad speed for a natural distance runner, I was very happy. I told him he could start running 2 miles a day regularly once he broke 19.0 in 100 meters and 7:00 in the mile. My philosophy - measure the biological age by performance in a short distance and a longer distance, and train at the volume appropriate for the biological age. So I said, 2 miles day after you are 8, and you are not 8 until you've run those times.  So this fulfilled the first requirement.

Then he ran 1600. It was an odd race. A bunch of boys and girls of all ages, not a big group, and all significantly older than Benjamin. All kinds of age divisions. Benjamin was running in the 12 and younger. He started out last, then passed a guy, then another. First lap in 1:40. Next lap in 1:48. Passed another guy, I think. Then on the third lap he caught up to an older boy that would not let him pass. First it was in a good way - he would speed up. I've taught Benjamin what to do in that situation. Pull along side, breathe as hard as you can to make your presence very noticeable, pretend you are passing, get him worked up, then draft behind through his surge. When his surge end, do that again. Repeat until he stops doing surges at a good pace, then pass him for good. It works on kids, but it surprisingly works almost as well on some exceptionally competitive adults. So Benjamin did just that. However half way through the lap, his competitor was over his ability to surge, and started blocking Benjamin's way as he was trying to pass. They went like a couple of drunks for the next 200 meters. Finally, Benjamin managed a good surge and took off for good. Next lap in 1:47. Not bad for all the "drunk" maneuvers. He also started closing in on the leaders. Passed another runner on the kick with 25 meters to go and finished 4th overall with 6:55, last lap in 1:40. Won his age group, though. Only 13 seconds behind the overall winner, who happened to be an older girl. This made him officially 8, a sub-7:00 miler, and earned him his own personal Palm Pilot.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Fri, May 04, 2007 at 17:05:39

Nice run Sasha your determination is very strong. I really wish I could someday train with you guys, but I'm too slow for that to happen.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.001.460.000.0015.46

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Ran out standard 10.04 mile course very relaxed. Then I went for some additional miles. First wanted to do 2 more. Then decided to make it half marathon. Felt good, picked up the pace a bit to sub-6:40. Right before the turnaround saw a runner going in the opposite direction. Turned around, and the same hunting dog instinct kicked in. I started chasing him at about 5:40-5:50 pace. He soon came into view, but then disappeared, probably took another route. However, I was already running at a good pace, and did not feel like slowing down. So I ran at that pace all the way home. Finished the 13.11 miles in 1:35:59.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. This puts me at 15.46 for the day. 10 mile tempo run tomorrow, hopefully with Steve if he can make it.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.0010.000.000.0022.00

Tempo run with Ted in the morning. Cold and windy. 6 years ago I liked it colder than warmer. Now I have been running better in the temperatures on the warm side. Lots of bathroom trips. No upset stomach, really, at least nothing felt wrong other than the need to go. Maybe I have been eating more than I could digest efficiently.

Standard 10 mile tempo on the Provo River Trail. After a short warmup, I let Ted go with a 2 minute head start. Felt sluggish and unmotivated, but at the same time strong inside. First mile in 5:56, then 5:53, 14:47 at 2.5 (2:58). Gusts of headwind are not helping. HR at 145 finally. This is really odd. The breathing is almost like in an easy run, but the muscles do not want to go. I decided I was not going to make them until the second half. Coasted along through the next 2 miles. Started feeling better around 4.5, got HR up to 150, hit the uphill mile in 5:49, 29:31 at 5 miles (14:44). Another 180 turn, more gusts of wind. Was on pace for 14:30 for a while for 2.5, but the headwind brought me back down to barely sub-6:00 pace. Passed Ted right before the turnaround. 44:10 at 7.5, 14:39 for 2.5.

Decided to do whatever it takes to keep HR above 155 on the last 2.5. With the cold and the wind it was not easy, had to dig in and push it mentally quite a bit. Next 0.5 in 2:49, tailwind was helpful in getting going. Then it stopped and became cross/head. Battled through the next mile in 5:46, HR did get up to 155. Pressed harder on the last mile, managed it in 5:37, last 0.5 in 2:45, last 0.25 in 1:21. HR hit 163 on the kick. Total time 58:22.8, last 2.5 in 14:12, last 5 in 28:51.

Turned around, met Ted, finished with him. Jogged back to the house, woke up Benjamin, we ran to his Team Provo practice. Ran around the track there with a guy named Steve whose daughter also trains with Team Provo and won the 1600 meter race that Benjamin was in. Then pushed Benjamin back in the stroller after the practice. Total of 20.15 miles for the run.

Ran with Jenny and Julia in the afternoon. Taper time for Ogden, next week will be a bit lighter, but still probably over 80.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.500.500.000.0013.00

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Ran 10.04 in 1:09:50 - chased down the 7:00 mile guy. Picked it up on the last 0.5, last quarter in 1:28. HR was normal - in the first half hovered between 122 and 126 at 7:00 pace, on the second half hovered around 130 at 6:45 pace. Got up to 148 at 5:50 pace at the end. Ran with the kids in the evening.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.505.000.000.0014.50

Tempo run with Ted in the morning. Short warm up. Good weather, ideal conditions. Little cold maybe, 55 degrees or so, no noticeable wind. Tapering this week. My standard routine is to run short aggressive marathon pace tempo runs at this stage. Ran the standard 5 mile tempo except at a lighter effort. Was lazy out of the blocks, first 200 in 45, first quarter in 1:28. Then started winding it up. 5:42 at the mile, next mile in 5:38. HR hovered around 145 up to 1.5, then gradually made its way to 150 by 2 miles. 14:09 at the turnaround (2:49), next quarter in 1:28, then 1:25, 17:02 at 3 miles (5:42). HR hit 154.Up to this point the pace felt rather relaxed, but now I started feeling some sourness in the legs. In the past this would result in having to apply a greater mental effort to hold the pace, and often even the top mental effort would not be enough - HR would stagnate or even drop, and so would the pace.

So I applied a greater mental effort. Next 0.5 in 2:49, followed by 2:47, 5:36 for the mile. HR gradually progressed to 159. The legs were still feeling sour, but I felt in control. Now I was 2 second ahead of the 5:40 guy, and decided to relax a bit. Not much relaxation on the uphill quarter - 1:26, HR at 160. Next quarter in 1:25, HR dropped to 158, but this was not a forced drop, I just relaxed to make it a more honest marathon pace. This was followed by 1:26. Now the 5:40 guy caught me, time to show him who's the boss. Sped to to 1:23 on the last quarter, HR hit 162. 28:18.6 for the whole run, last mile in 5:38, last 2.5 in 14:09, even split time wise, but really negative 7 seconds in terms of effort.

I was happy that my body responded to the sour legs condition with an increased HR instead of just quitting. I wonder if my cardiovascular training has been lacking somewhat due to the refusal of the nervous system to push harder past the 5:40 barrier. I am going to do a few more of those aggressive marathon pace tempo runs to deal a few more crushing blows to the sour legs syndrome.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Jenny ran a mile time trial. She is 6 years old. At the age of 5 one day (shortly before turning 6) she decided to show off her running ability to her babysitter and run him into the ground. He had to hang on for dear life on that run, and so did Benjamin. She ran a 7:41 mile. Since then she had not broken 8:00 until today.  We've tried several times, but she kept having confidence issues not believing that she could hold the pace. Yet once in a while she would do maneuvers during her runs that clearly indicated that she was not any less fit that she was before. We had a talk about faith and confidence, and taking a step in the dark before the light comes. Then I took her to the Provo River Trail. We did the run on an out and back course, first half about 0.5% grade up, then the same grade down on the way back. Not a fast course. I gave her a goal to break 8:00.  She ran 7:40 breaking her record by 1 second. Her splits were 1:56 - 1:59 - 1:55 - 1:50.

I just realized that Ogden Marathon does not do day of race packet pickup. That means I have to find a place to stay. All I need is some floor space at somebody's house. Ideally for three people - Ted, and possibly Steve Ashbaker in addition to myself. The host gets lots of free running advice, personalized training plan, a Russian lesson, a chance to visit with a real military helicopter pilot, and whatever else  we have to offer.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.000.250.000.2513.50

Easy run with Ted early in the morning. Ran 8 miles at about 7:30 average. It seems that our pace depends on whether we can find a good conversational topic. If we do, it is 7:30, otherwise it is 7:00. We found one today - discussed high school training, the importance of base mileage before doing speed work, how most high schoolers have it backwards, what would happen if fast black kids of West African (as opposed to East African) decent trained for distances, etc. Then we saw a skunk. Stopped to let him disappear. His tail was up and he was ready to strike. Finally the skunk was gone. We discussed the skunk for a little while, after that there was nothing to talk about.

To create a conversation topic we did a half mile pick-up. We ran the first quarter in 1;25, then Ted decided to get me going, and we ran the last quarter in 1:15. Legs felt strong. This gave us something to talk about for the rest of the run.

Ran with the kids in the evening. Took Benjamin to his Team Provo Practice. On the way back stopped at the grocery store (Maceys) to get some food. I figured the last 1.8 miles I was carrying about 150lb of weight in the stroller. Fortunately most of the way home was either flat or 0.5% grade down. Was able to go about 7:10 pace on the way down comfortably. Scared an oversized lady under a bridge - got going, could not stop, and there was not a lot of room to pass her.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Lybi on Thu, May 10, 2007 at 02:01:19

Little (big) old ladies beware! You never know when a Russian athlete will appear out of nowhere and take you out with 150+ lbs. of stroller and offspring. If that doesn't get her motivated to loose weight, I don't know what will . . .

From Ryan Woods on Thu, May 10, 2007 at 12:52:06

1500m race in nashville tn

From christi on Thu, May 10, 2007 at 16:46:36

Hi Sasha- thanks for the feedback regarding diet. I'm going to check out the healthy food ideas you sent me. I know my problem is eating out too much- its become a lifestyle that needs to change!

From ashman on Thu, May 10, 2007 at 22:59:39

I trained with a kid from Ghana at UVSC he was just flat out fast at any distance...

From James on Fri, May 11, 2007 at 00:29:17

Steve,

Was it Marjeed Abudu?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.004.001.000.0010.00

Aggressive marathon pace tempo run again. Trying to attack the sour legs syndrome and also keep up the intensity while tapering. Ted joined me in the warm up and cool down. He was feeling sore from building a tree house yesterday and decided to keep things safe.

Short warmup, then the tempo starts. Standard 5 miles on the Provo River Trail starting at Geneva road. First mile in 5:41, followed by 5:37. HR was 146 at the mile, and 152 at 2 miles. 14:08 at the turnaround (2:50), then 16:57 at 3 miles (2:49, 5:39). HR at 154. Moving along at a steady effort trying to keep the 5:40 guy at bay, and getting ready for the last mile. Next mile in 5:39, 22:36. HR at 158, the effort feels hard but not miserable, like if I had a pack with somebody doing the work up front in the marathon, I'd run in it, at least for the first half. Good news - no sour legs! And the effort feels easier than Tuesday.

Now the last mile, the moment of truth. Was I just tricking myself into thinking the pace was not hard, or am I really more fit. To test, I decided to put myself mentally into threshold gear and see what happens. The first two quarters are 1:22 each. That is very good, as the first one is steady uphill, and the second rolls. HR hit 164, the mind gets a little fuzzy, but that is normal for me when I am in shape. When I run my best halves/10 milers/15 Ks I am able to go into a trance to where it hurts like a 10 K, maybe even a 5 K when I am not ready for a good 5 K, but I can tolerate it for an hour with proper mental focus. Again, no sour legs! The heart just picks up the work and pumps the oxygen like it should instead of quitting like it used to.

Feeling that I've proved my point I eased off a bit and hit the next quarter in 1:24, that's too much, I want to be sub-5:30 on the last mile. Picked it up on the last and finished it in 1:20. HR hit 167, it felt hard but sustainable with proper mental focus. 28:04.8, last mile in 5:28.

Cooled down with Ted, 8.7 for the run. Ran with the kids in the evening, total of 10 for the day. Now this is starting to look like a taper. 


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.000.250.750.0010.00

Ran with Ted in the morning. Tapering, so did only 8. Ran one mile fast. First quarter in 1:26, the rest in 1:22, total time 5:32. Ted was driving, I was following. Felt very good at 1:22 pace, so I could I first thought I had made a mistake in calculating the split.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.  

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Race: Bridal Veil 10 K (6.21 Miles) 00:35:35, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.490.006.210.0015.70

Bridal Veil 10 K. 35:35, first place. This was one of Curt's races. Which means I am in charge of the timing system, so I'd better get to the finish line first. Last night I decided to write some code to automate the timing system setup before a race. Of course, I started too late and was not done by bed time. So I had to get up at 5:10 AM to finish the job. Hopefully the effort will pay for itself later on in other races - now I can do in 5 minutes what used to take me an hour manually.

Took the lead from the start. Had company for the first quarter. Tried to run a threshold effort. The course goes from Timpanogos Park in the Provo Canyon uphill past Nunn's, under the bridge, up the old highway, over the bridge, past Bridal Veil Falls on the trail, then over the bridge back to the old highway further up, then turn around and come back, expect this time just straight, no bridges. Finish a bit further back from the start in the park, a slight uphill.

Splits by the GPS, which worked very well today. First mile was decent, not a lot of headwind - 5:43. On the second mile the headwind picked up and the grade increased. Caught up to some bikers, asked them to speed up and pull me, they did, that helped. Next mile in 5:58.  HR was 162 until the bikers, then with them 166 and we hit a quarter in 1:26. Third mile had more uphill grade, and even more headwind - 6:23. However HR dropped to 158, not surprising. With all the timing system stress the nervous system was not in top shape. Plus not having the competition did not help either.

Checked the lead after the turn around - it was more than I thought - about 2:00. Had a hard time shifting gears - saw HR stuck at 155 for a while, then it eventually progressed to 158. Next mile in 5:30, followed by 5:26. Started getting into the rhythm on the last mile. The pace started feeling easier, HR got up to 162, ran the mile in 5:24 although the grade became less steep. Got to the finish, 1:11 for the last 0.21 uphill, and went straight to the timing system. Won the race by 4:50. Estimate ran an equivalent of about 34:10-34:20 flat 10 K.

Ted paced his son James to a very good time for this course - 46:52, 10th place overall out of 125 people. Benjamin came in shortly thereafter in 50:36 in 24th place. Not bad for a eight year old kid in his first 10 K. I was amazed at how well he had kept the pace, and how strong he finished off only 12 miles a week. And this course was a beast, not quite as bad as the Strider's but not too far away. It does climb 250 feet in the first half. Sarah's training partner Adrianne ran a PR of 51:10. Sarah ran about a PR equivalent (adjusting for the course difficulty) of 55:28.

Curt somehow managed to drop the bib tags, and that lost the finishing order. So we have the finishing times records, but matching them up with runners is going to be a challenge. Oh, well, life is not without adventures.

Ran a long cooldown with Ted while James, his brother Jared, and Benjamin played. I was surprised to see Benjamin running without difficulty when we got back, but still suggested we walk back to the car from the playground. Benjamin wanted to run, so we did. He ran so fast that Jared and James could not keep up. Afterwards at home I checked his muscle condition by having him walk up and down the stairs. He did it with no problems. Wow!

Ran with Jenny and Julia in the afternoon.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Sun, May 13, 2007 at 02:30:20

Next time I will send Carson down to give you some competion! That is about how the 10k went up here in Smithfield, sounds very similar. I will probably come down for one of Curt's races this summer, but I want him to cut me a deal for registration, because Hawk always does for his races!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.990.501.000.0010.49

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Tapering, so only 8 miles. Ran one tempo mile. Ted set the pace. He did not look at the watch, and I did not tell him the splits. I was surprised at how hard he pushed it. Then after we finished I asked him how fast he thought it was. He said it was slow, about 5:38. I enjoyed watching his amazement as I announced that our actual time was 5:17. This is his record since he returned from Iraq. Our quarter splits were 1:19, 1:18.5, 1:19.5, 1:20. I could feel a big difference between 1:19 and 1:20. 1:20 was a lot easier. This is a very good sign. It means my threshold is very close to 5:20. If a certain pace is way faster than your threshold, slowing down by 5 seconds per mile still keeps it in the zone of pain. If it is way slower than your threshold, slowing down by 5 seconds per mile still keeps it the zone of comfort. But when you get right to it, within no more than 5 seconds per mile, that is when slowing down by very little makes a huge difference in perceived effort. HR got up to 160 at the end of the mile. Another good sign - after 0.5 of brisk jogging it went back down to 121. This is another indicator that the effort was to a large extent aerobic. When it is more severely anaerobic, HR hovers at 130 for a few miles unless I slow down to 9:00 pace.

I noticed that we were 30 seconds behind the 7:00 mile guy with 0.5 to go, and initiated the chase. We got him. Clocked the last 0.25 - 1:26. The first one by the GPS was 1:23, but I am not 100% sure it was accurate. I did feel that we eased off a bit on the second one, though, so it could have been right after all. Total time was 55:48.

Ran with the kids in the evening. Benjamin surprised me with a powerful surge on the last quarter. I looked at him and thought that if  his legs were a bit longer I'd be in serious trouble, especially pushing a double stroller. He hit the last quarter in 1:39.

Last Saturday the Fast Running Bloggers had quite a sweep in various road races. Steve Ashbaker, Ruth, Cody, Bill Cobler, Breanna, Dave Holt, and myself won. John Kissane, Cheston, and James Barnes took second. Bill Campbell (the Wild Bull) and Chris Rogers took third. So that is 7 first  places, 3 seconds, and 2 thirds - 12 top three finishes overall in just one day. Add to that Ryan Woods who ran 1500 meters taking 10th in a very competitive meet with the time of 3:47 - something that would have won with a large gap in almost any other race. We are starting to show some muscle. Keep up the good work, guys!

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From ashman on Wed, May 16, 2007 at 20:27:19

Thanks for emailing that video to me. That meant a lot.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.190.002.001.0010.19

Final speed workout before Ogden. 3 mile tempo run from Geneva Road on the way to the Utah Lake, then 180 at 1.5 and back. Slight down the first mile, mildly almost invisibly rolling (I think you'd see it better if it were not for the trees) everywhere, slight up on the last mile. Ted ran the first mile with me, we started out slow - first 600 in 2:06 even paced, but then picked it up to a steady 5:20 pace. Hit the first mile in 5:26, HR at 152. The pace felt comfortable.

Without Ted the second mile felt harder. I could tell I slowed down a bit, but at the same time, it felt harder. Next two quarters 1:21, 1:21, 8:08 at the turnaround. Recovered from 180 turn in 1:24 (43,41), then got back into the groove, next quarter in 1:22, 10:54 at 2 miles, HR at 159. Ted gave himself a bit of a head start, but nothing I could not close quickly with a surge. I saw 100 in 19 seconds, and knew he was going to stir some trouble. So I tucked in behind him and hung on for dear life.

The head started getting a little fuzzy, but the pace still felt sustainable, HR hit 165. Checked the split at the quarter, wow, 1:17 uphill. The bad news was that it hurt. The good news was that it was fast. Ted eased off a bit on the next quarter, 1:20. Next one in 1:21, and then the last one in 1:20. 16:12.2 for the run, 5:18 last mile. Actually it was probably 5:17.6, because Ted got 5:18.7, and he started a bit ahead, and finished a bit behind. Not bad, equivalent of 5:07 perfectly flat. HR got up to 168. The last mile was very painful. Ted said he's never heard me breathe that hard. This is a good sign, it means I am getting into shape. I ran this tempo run alone in 16:22 a couple of weeks before Richmond in 2003. As far as I remember, I went out at 5:20 pace, but then could not hold it in that tempo, and was down to 5:35 on the last mile. In Richmond, I was doing qualify or bust. So I hit the first half in 1:12:09, maintained 5:30 pace to 15, then it was bust, but not too bad - finished in 2:31:45.

Good sign - HR was down to 124 after a mile of jogging, and then stayed there at sub-8:00 pace. This is an indication that although that tempo hurt, it was primarily an aerobic effort.

Ran with the kids in the evening. Let Benjamin take off on the last quarter and watched him from a distance. He was running 7:30 pace, he told me afterwards it felt comfortably hard, but his form looked like he was jogging. This is a very good development, to feel the pain of the hard pace, but still look relaxed.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From bill cobler on Wed, May 16, 2007 at 23:59:49

Thanks Sasha It was the second unnamed comment since I started blogging. It is important to be able to comment freely but I agree anonymously is wrong. I have used BC before just to be fast but found people want to know who you are. I agree the race is going to be one of ogdens quickest. Someone recently told me the problem with American distance runners is they all want to beat each other so bad they don't work together like the Kenyans. A huge advantage to the Kenyans. I hope you guys can work together part of the race to give you all a good finishing time. But It only takes one nervous guy to break away to early that will pull the pack apart. I hope to stick with a group as long as I can Saturday, to many times I've run the whole thing alone. Last year I had Henley, King and Greenwood to work with the first half, do you know if any of them are coming this year.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.201.000.000.006.20

Really tapering today. Ran easy 4.5 with Ted in the morning. Did a tempo mile. Was trying to do a very honest marathon pace. Did 1:25 - 1:24 - 1:23 - 1:22, 5:34 for the first mile of the standard 5 mile tempo. HR maxed out at 146. The pace felt very relaxed, like if I were racing today and was running alone, that is how fast I would have been starting out.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Thu, May 17, 2007 at 01:10:53

Nice work to get ready for the Ogden Marathon. I'll the pieces are coming together for you and your ready to race.

Time for bed to get rest for my tempo run tomorrow

From rdrunner on Thu, May 17, 2007 at 14:13:24

Thanks for your input on my running. I think you are right about building up the mileage and then adding the speed. I will try to bump it up to 60 over the next few week and see how it goes. Do you recommend about a 10% per week increase?

From Darren on Thu, May 17, 2007 at 16:22:37

Thanks for the advice, Sasha. It is good to hear from those who are accomplished.

I think I will try the mileage approach; it is one I have yet to do.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, May 17, 2007 at 18:17:37

10% rule is a rule of thumb. It is a good rule, but it does not have to be followed exactly. Be cautious, pay attention to how you feel, but do not worry about the rule too much.

From Lybi on Fri, May 18, 2007 at 00:39:17

Sasha I am so excited for you. Have a great race on Sat. You definitely deserve it!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.051.000.000.007.05

Same run as yesterday with Ted in the morning. Ran the same tempo mile. A bit more cautious today, did it in 5:40 with the quarters of 1:25, 1:25, 1:24, and 1:26. HR maxed out at 146, but got there a lot faster. The effort felt harder in a way, but that does not worry me. 

Ran with the kids in the evening. Benjamin ran in the Hershey Track Meet. There was a strong headwind that made his 100 m slow - 20.82. Then about a couple of minutes later he demolished his almost year old 400 meter PR running 1:32.44. He also threw a softball 46.8 feet, or about 14 meters. This does not tell me much, though. Can anybody tell me how throwing a softball compares to throwing a tennis ball?

Ted's son James ran 800 in 2:39, and then 400 in 72 winning both events. Danielle Menlove was there, and thoroughly embarrassed the boys in both 800 (2:29) and 1600 (5:23). Interestingly enough, her 1600 meter PR is 4:54, she's run 1500 in 4:34 and won the Nationals in her age division. She is 13 years old. I remember how two years ago she won the Salt Lake Classic 5 K overall passing Michelle Simonaitis on the last mile. We do not need to go to Kenya to find some running talent.
 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Fri, May 18, 2007 at 01:13:31

Throwing softball your grip is going to be better because of the different material and you can actually get a better accurate throw. Where throwing a tennis ball, of course, is much lighter but the grip isn't as good and if you try to throw it hard it's going to go more towards the ground, because of how it forms in your hand. I was an allstar baseball/softball player back in my younger days. I played softball for 15 straight years until last year, I quit to dedicate my time in running.

I'm not sure if I answered your question.

From James on Fri, May 18, 2007 at 01:48:32

Sasha,

Good luck in Ogden - do you have a goal for the marathon there (time, place, etc.)?

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, May 18, 2007 at 14:23:51

Kory - thanks for the softball info. Do you think an 8 year old kid would through a softball further than a tennis ball? I suppose I could just have Benjamin through a tennis ball sometime and find out myself.

James - my goals for a marathon are always fuzzy. I plan only the first half. My plan is to run it between 1:13:30 and 1:14:15 assuming the conditions are good. Place is even more difficult to have a goal for. It depends on who shows up and how well they run that day.

A very popular mistake among runners is to try to plan the last 6 miles anywhere beyond the determination to run your guts out regardless of how slow you may be going by then, how bad you are hurting, and how negative your thoughts may get.

From christi on Fri, May 18, 2007 at 15:19:31

Sasha- Thanks for your input, I always love your tips. I am struggling to find a balance between running and cross training. Good point about weight being a side affect of healthy eating & training. Best wishes for Ogden Marathon tomorrow!

From Scott Browning on Fri, May 18, 2007 at 16:01:22

First and foremost - good luck this weekend!! The softball might be a bit big for his hand which could effect the mechanics of the throw. I would be inclined to believe he might throw the tennis ball a bit further at this age.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.701.000.000.006.70

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Ran a tempo mile in 5:36.7. HR got up to 147. 

Ran with the kids to pick up VanGoGo from Computune. We had to replace the fuel injection system computer and things that go with it. Drove to Ogden with Ted in the evening. We stayed with my friend Nate and his family in Farmington. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Race: Ogden Marathon (26.22 Miles) 02:32:00, Place overall: 6, Place in age division: 6
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.2526.600.000.0029.85

Brief report on the Ogden Marathon, more to follow later. 2:32:00, 6th place. Ahead of me: Paul Petersen (2:26:24), Steve Ashbaker (2:29:31), Joe Wilson (2:29:33), Neal Gassman (2:30:05), and Mike Dudley (2:30:51). What a race, especially considering the hot conditions on the second half! First half 1:14:36, second half 1:17:24. Last 10 K in 37:16, pleased with that considering the weather. Special congratulations to Paul and Steve on running PR's in spite of the course and weather challenges.

Now incremental full report, will do it in parts as I have time. Steve and I had a plan to run together for the first 15 and then make it race from there. It worked out quite well. After the first two warm-up miles in 5:42 and 5:40 we settled into a nice 5:30-5:35 pace and it felt just right. Paul went ahead as we anticipated, while Neal ,Joe, and Mike Dudley hung back. For those who do not know, Mike Dudley is a 2:14 marathoner that is currently somewhat out of shape. I am not sure why he decided to run Ogden, but he was there. At first I did not know who he was, but then the suspect revealed his identity upon questioning around mile 17.

We went through 5 miles in 27:56 (I am giving splits by the official mile markers, they were where they were supposed to me). Maintained good pace through 8, then slowed down on the rolling hills. 10 miles in 56:14. Next mile in 5:59. That was probably too much, but I wanted to make sure the pace felt relaxed. It was probably getting a bit warmer too, so the same effort now was not giving the same results. Mike Dudley caught us, and all three of us started working together. We sped up to 5:48, and then ran the steady uphill mile in 5:58. Hit the half in 1:14:36.

Steve started feeling a bit edgy, like he wanted to make a move. I told him to hold back until we were over the hill. I now started thinking race the second half, forget about the first. The first mile of the second half was 5:44. Missed the second one. We were moving along at about 5:50 pace after the hill. At the dam (17 miles), Steve made a move. Mike responded but fell back. I passed Mike, then he passed me back. I started feeling the effects of heat, and was not feeling energized. From that point I was just trying to keep my head above water (sub-6:00 pace).

Joe and Neal went by at around 19 miles. They were going strong. I got to 20 miles in 1:54:44. From that point I was trying to maintain a positive attitude. I was not unhappy about being on pace for 2:32 realizing that the heat was taking its toll. However, seeing the prize money run past me and not feeling the strength to chase it was discouraging. I decided to plod along and be ready to pick up roadkill if there was going to be any. It did not look like there was going to be, and there was not. I managed to stay sub-6 until mile 25, which is flat, even a bit rolling, and has a lot of tunnels on the trail. I did it in 6:08. When I got out on the home stretch, I decided it was finally safe to just go for it and give it all I had. I started seeing the quarter splits of 1:30. Saw 2:30:45 at 26 miles. Did the math, figured I needed 1:15 for 385 yards to get 2:32:00. Sprinted as hard as I could and pulled it off. This is incidentally a PR for the last 385 yards of a marathon as far as I recall, or at least one of the fastest times.

I promised myself that I would go and find Dan on the course afterwards if I were feeling half-decent. I knew that out of everybody in the blog group Dan would be struggling the most in the last miles. I jogged a bit, the back was stiff. Stopped and talked with Scott Browning (The Siren) and Bob Hintze. Saw Ted finish, then started jogging again. Felt better this time. After a while felt confident in my ability to pace others in the 2:50 - 3:00 and change bracket. Saw Cody, he looked like he could use some help. He was doing better than I thought, he told me to run faster. He made me run a quarter in 1:34, I count that as marathon race pace in the miles. Sent him off to finish the kick, and went back to find Dan. Found him sooner than the worst I was expecting, actually closer to the upper range.  He should have been sub-3 or close based on his training and racing, but it was hot and it kept getting hotter. He ended up doing great for the conditions - 3:05:03, 7 minute PR, and  Boston Qualifier.

Ran with Julia in the afternoon. Benjamin and Jenny ran with Sarah and Adrianne tonight. The recovery is going well so far - legs are not sore, although a bit cramped from the heat. The biggest damage was in the big left toe, same as after 30 K.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Superfly on Sat, May 19, 2007 at 17:30:41

Way to go Sasha. Looking forward to the full report. Hope your recovery is fast.

From wheakory on Sat, May 19, 2007 at 18:01:12

Nice time Sasha. The hotter weather can definitely fatigues your body faster. Your second half was a great time.

From Cheston on Sat, May 19, 2007 at 19:20:49

Sasha,

Nice race, congradulation on a nice finish and place. Your my running hero, you make it sound so ease.

From JohnK on Sat, May 19, 2007 at 20:17:59

Great race! 2:32 in warm conditions is excellent. Congrats.

From Steve Hooper on Sat, May 19, 2007 at 21:49:14

Good job on the race Sasha! It's been great reading all the posts from the race today. Also, congrats on your 385 yard PR!

From Maria on Sun, May 20, 2007 at 06:29:23

Good job, Sasha! Your splits are good, considering the heat and your statement that you can never negative split. You really didn't slow all that much in the second half. Way to finish with a hard sprint. I'm always amazed at your ability to just turn around and go back to pace others in after just finishing an all out marathon!

From Paul Petersen on Sun, May 20, 2007 at 11:14:58

Nice race Sasha. I'm always amazed at your ability to give it your all and then turn around and help other people in. Not only is it a true sign of character, but also conditioning.

From Scott Browning on Sun, May 20, 2007 at 12:36:27

Another impressive performance!!! Your kindness and willingness to go back and encourage other runners is a true statement of the kind of person you are. Well Done!

From ashman on Sun, May 20, 2007 at 16:24:29

Stay positive, you are getting better with each race. I think that by Deseret News you will be in position to take the win.

From Cody on Sun, May 20, 2007 at 19:18:49

Great Race Sasha!

Thanks for coming back and pacing me into the finish. You woke me up from my daze and gave me the swift kick in the butt that I needed. You are an animal!

From James in Sunny AZ on Mon, May 21, 2007 at 10:42:02

Excellent race, Sasha. I really appreciate the advice you have given me. I have always had issues with the heat - there are several incidents I can recall where I suffered from heat exhaustion because I did not know my body's limits well enough. BTW, what happened with your left toe?

From Jed Burton on Mon, May 21, 2007 at 13:43:45

Well done, Sasha. I'm with Paul and Scott--your habit of going back to pick up friends is evidence of a truly impressive character. Not many elite runners think about the masses behind them.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, May 21, 2007 at 16:43:54

Thanks everyone for the encouragement. James - my the toenail on my left toe was black and hurting after the race. It is better today.

From James on Mon, May 21, 2007 at 16:54:25

Sasha,

Nice race as usual! I agree with Steve, you are getting better with each race. I am sure that you will continue to have a better year as it goes along. I am looking forward to WBR again, which is probably my next race. We'll have another good, and fun experience there. Thanks for your positive comments and encouragement.

From ArmyRunner on Mon, May 21, 2007 at 17:02:48

Sasha,

Once again the FastRunningBlog runners did very well. The blog had 8 of the top 16 in the marathon finishing 1,2,6,8,9,12,13, and 16. Good running by all and thanks to the blog we can all help each other continue to improve and dominate the results.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.000.000.000.0013.00

Ran 5 miles with Ted in the morning. We caught the 8:00 mile guy and showed him who's the boss. We also found a live runner, but he stayed with us unlike the imaginary 8:00 mile guy. His name is Dave Bell. He has just run 2:43 in Boston, and owns a running store in American Fork (26.2 miles). He will be running with us tomorrow. For the single ladies (do we have any on the blog?), he is not yet married, hot material.

When Ted was done, I asked him to help me figure out the battery contact problem in Zhu (our other car, Ford Escort Wagon 93). He wiggled the cable around and Zhu was happy, it started. Ted is a good guy to know, always prepared, and a quick thinker, knows how to solve problems.

Ran another 1.84 miles. Then Sarah and Adrianne went for their run before it got too hot. Our kids were still asleep, but Adrianne's baby was awake and in the stroller already. So I took the stroller and circled around the block to make it 10 miles. Felt very good, smooth stride. Caught the 7:30 guy for the whole run.

The hamstrings became sore over the weekend. That is very good. My hamstrings are the primary sore muscles only after my best marathons. The only other times it happened that I recall were Top of Utah 2003 (2:27:46), St. George 2003 (2:24:47), and Ogden 2006 (2:30:03). Nevertheless, they feel fine after jogging a mile. There is a little bit of soreness in the shin muscles that flex the ankle (dorsiflexors), that is also a good spot for me to be sore. I recall being sore there a while ago when I would increase my mileage from 30 miles a week to 60. However, this has not happened in over 15 years as I have never been at 30 during that time.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon and evening, and added a little more. Total of 13 for the day.

My recovery from a marathon makes me wonder if perhaps I got to the point where my cardio and muscular fitness exceeds my neural capabilities. Try as I might, I cannot run myself into the ground. If this is right, then I should focus on neural training. I believe a good portion of it actually happens when you run. But at the same time, a good portion happens when you do not run. Beds make champions! I know some things about it, but there is a lot more to learn.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Tue, May 22, 2007 at 10:06:25

If this is the right guy, then Dave Bell and his running store will be some of our competition at Wasatch Back.

http://www.ragnarrelay.com/wasatchback/runningstorechallenge.php

They are seeded at about the same time as us. Pump him for info tomorrow and see what sort of team he has; they may be overseeded.

From Chad on Tue, May 22, 2007 at 11:53:43

Sasha, if you cannot run yourself "into the ground," then you should run consider a step up to the ultra distances at some point. Run all day, run all night. Great for someone with terrific speed and even better endurance.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.354.600.400.0013.35

Recovery tempo run in the morning. Ted joined me for the warm-up and the cooldown. I suppose the term "recovery tempo" may sound contradictory, but I find this type of run very useful. It gets the blood going through the legs and gives you an overall pleasant feeling. It also measures how well you are recovering. And it helps maintain aerobic fitness through recovery.

I did the standard 5 miles on the Provo River Trail. My initial goal was to keep the 6:00 mile guy at bay. That was fairly easy, I decided at 0.5 to keep the 5:48 guy at bay instead and get sub-29:00. First mile in 5:47. Next mile in 5:42. They say the appetite comes while you are eating. Decided to keep 5:44 guy at bay. 14:21 at the turnaround (2:52), 17:14 at 3 miles (2:53,5:45). Next mile in 5:43. Got to close one more second on him. HR finally reached 155. Ran the next uphill quarter in 1:26 followed by 1:25.5. Saw Ted ahead of me and subconsciously sped up. Ran the next quarter in 1:23.5, followed by 1:20. Got 28:32.8 for the run, last mile in 5:35.

Hamstrings were not as sore as yesterday, but still sore. I could feel it during the tempo, but not much more than when running easy. I could really feel it at Dr. Jex's office during the massage. He also had my X-ray results. Since March my neck curve has improved from 27 degrees to 30 (ideal 35-45), forward head tilt from 5 mm to 2 mm (ideal 0), lower spine curve in sitting position from 5 degrees to 16 (ideal 35-45),  and lateral lower spine deviation from 8 degrees to 6 degrees (again sitting position), ideal 0.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

 


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Logan on Wed, May 23, 2007 at 12:48:59

I am excited to be a part of the blog. I look forward to learning lots from many great runners.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.300.000.000.0013.30

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Dragged my feet along through 10 miles in 1:16:24, felt sleepy, avg. HR 113. We did run really early - 5:00 AM. Ran with the kids in the afternoon plus some more. The hamstrings felt a lot better.

Now some pictures from the Ogden Marathon with comments. First, this one:

Steve Ashbaker is finishing ahead of Joe Wilson. I have known Steve for 8 years. We've had many conversations. Steve has had a lot of struggles. I believe aside from Steve himself there is not anybody there who can truly appreciate better than me the significance of the event that this photo captures. Thus I feel responsible to provide a bit of background to help other appreciate it as Steve is too modest to do it himself.

Steve always wanted badly to be in the Joe-class, doubted that he could, and agonized over his inability to be there for years. Now here it comes! The seemingly impossible happened, and there was even a photographer to capture it. Joe runs the best marathon he's ever run in Utah in my opinion. Not timewise, but quality wise. Ogden course it not fast, and it was hot. I believe the only other time he ran a better race was his 2:21 in Austin in 2003. Joe ran for Weber State and rocked the boat. Steve was as far away from running at college age as one could be. And now as Steve turns 36 thinking a few months ago that he does not have much of a running future we fastforward through a few months of thorough training to see the dream come true: Joe gives it all, runs one of his best races, and yet Steve pulls away from him.

Now another picture that Ted pointed out to me - some food for thought:

You see myself next to Steve Ashbaker and Mike Dudley. The interesting part here is the size of my quads next to two runners that eventually beat me in that race. As Ted said, this definitely explains why I get no soreness in the quads. I cannot complain about that, but the mystery is how in the world they got so big. The obvious answer is this is a peculiarity of my running form. I do not do any weight lifting or special strength work with my legs other than running. I do not even run uphill very much. But I guess that is enough. I do not have to run uphill. I take uphill with me wherever I go. I suppose my form makes me work as if I were running uphill even when it is flat. Can I fix it? Yes I can. I do not quite see the end or exactly how, but I have faith that eventually I will. Faith is to believe in things which are not seen but are true. We have seen some things already that were not seen at first and were very easy to question, but proved to be true. I need to be patient and wait for my time. I've had one breakthrough already a few years ago which happened just like that - through faith. There is another one coming.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Cody on Thu, May 24, 2007 at 00:35:41

I agree Sasha. You are due a breakthru very soon. You are racing better and better as the year progresses.

By the way, nice Quads. Those are impressive!

From sarah on Thu, May 24, 2007 at 00:39:46

I've always like his quads myself but I actually married him for his red hair...and he's given me two red headed children so far...not bad...

From Michelle on Thu, May 24, 2007 at 10:14:12

Thanks for the comments, I am very greatfull for any tips I can get. As for the one regaurding my husband. I will rember that. If he ever were to get serious about runnning, like consistantly 2-3 days a week it would be no contest anyway. But nice to have him along occasionaly for a little motivation!

From Dave Holt on Thu, May 24, 2007 at 12:02:35

Sasha - Thanks for the inside look into those marathon photos. Steve looks SO different than I ever imagined, and your quads... I now worship them! We have all taken very different routes to getting where we are at and where we want to go in running and life, and your story about Steve reminded me (a college walk-on/walk-off - when I couldn't hack it) that through persistence and dedication like your's, Steve's, Paul's, Clyde's and so many others that I admire on the blog, I can get there too.

From James on Thu, May 24, 2007 at 14:12:06

It is funny how we all come in different sizes and shapes and yet can have similar abilities, or vice versa. I am the exact height and weight as Michael Johnson (not as ripped though)but not even close to the same abilities. I guess that being different is what gives us our strengths. I think that your quads are mostly from genetics not necessarily your different running form. I liked the pictures!

From Maria on Thu, May 24, 2007 at 16:24:52

It's very interesting to look at your picture, Sasha! I noticed that your form and mine look similar in that we both seem to "sit in the bucket" at least a little (check out my new picture from Rotterdam). My pic was taken in the last 100m while I tried to kick, so definitely beyond tired, in pain, etc., but I think this is how I run all the time.

Interestingly, both of our backs are messed up, and we both have big quads, although I'm not sure whether, as James noted, it is more genetic or acquired. I used to think I developed big quads from sprint training, but now I'm not sure. Food for thought, but I do believe spinal problems are very detrimental to form.

From wheakory on Thu, May 24, 2007 at 18:34:47

Nice pictures. I never get sore in my quads either after a marathon. Maybe I have hope at getting better at 36. Very nice information you truly are a great friend to a lot of people.

From wheakory on Thu, May 24, 2007 at 19:02:30

I also wanted to mention, putting your faith and abilities in God's hand your going to break out big soon like you want.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, May 26, 2007 at 19:12:57

Maria - yes, I noticed the similarity in our quads as well as the form. In fact, I was going to point it out, but you beat me to it. I hope someday to find a group of experts (or at least one to start) to work with to develop a solid science of what exactly in the spinal structure, limb length, attachment points, etc affects running performance and exactly how.

From Diddy on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 15:35:58

Your quads look bigger for 2 reasons....

You're shorter and you're actually landing on the leg that looks bigger, causing it to flex, whereas the other two men are relaxed.

Your quads may still be bigger, but not by nearly as much as they appear to be in this picture. You need a picture of all of you in the same position

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.004.001.000.0013.00

Another recovery tempo run this morning. Ted did the warm-up and the cool down with me. Ran the standard 5 mile tempo on the Provo River Trail.

Felt tired all day yesterday, so was not expecting much. Just tried to run relaxed. First mile in 5:47, second in 5:42. Passed Karl Jarvis and Nick McCoombs. Tried to talk Nick into running the remaining 5 miles with me. Also found out that he had not yet been paid by the Salt Lake Marathon just like Steve. I imagine Hobbie has not been paid either. I think I'll wait a week and then will lead an aggressive campaign to encourage the Salt Lake Marathon to pay the runners on time. As you may gather, Nick and Karl were going pretty fast if I could have this much of a conversation with them while passing them at 5:45 pace.

Next 0.5 in 2:53, 14:22 at the turnaround. The turnaround was not effective, next 200 in 46 seconds. But I made up by the 3 mile mark - 2:53 for the 0.5, and 5:46 for the mile. Now I am 1 second behind my pace two days ago. Subconsciously picked up the pace, next mile in 5:37. That felt good. Decided to shift gears into threshold pace on the last mile. Next quarter uphill in 1:23, felt strong. Maintained the same effort, next two quarters in 1:22. Saw that I needed to run 1:21 quarter to catch the 5:40 guy. Ran it in 1:18 just to be sure. Last mile in 5:25, last 2.5 in 13:55, the whole tempo in 28:17.7. I was very pleased not only with the pace on the last mile, but also with how aerobic it felt. Unfortunately, no reliable HR data today - my Garmin 305 was giving me some bogus numbers the entire run.

Ran part of the cool down with Karl and Nick, we found them on the trail as we went back.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From ashman on Fri, May 25, 2007 at 09:10:39

The USATF rules from what I understand provide for denial of sanction next year in this case. Maybe Bill Cobler and Demetrio could help enforce payment this way. I have several other ideas also.

From ashman on Fri, May 25, 2007 at 09:13:18

In any case it shows a complete lack of respect by Devine Racing for the running community. I have sent 2 emails so far to Scott Kerr and have got no reply.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, May 25, 2007 at 12:16:05

He and others will be getting e-mails from a lot of people. We also have two lawyers on the blog (Chad and Sam) that know other lawyers I suppose. Lawyers are good at writing letters and making phone calls, that is how I got my visa to come to the United States. Chad's wife Heather works for Salt Lake Tribune. Those are the connections I am immediately aware of. There is probably more. If we go full blast after them, Devine Racing is not going to like it.

From Paul Petersen on Fri, May 25, 2007 at 12:17:45

I could always blast them on The Final Sprint. The site gets over 100,000 hits/month these days...

From Bill on Fri, May 25, 2007 at 13:24:25

Plantar Fasciitis. I have been battling it for about a month now. It has really slowed me down. (Big time.) I have been using the sock at night. I put inserts in my shoes. I have been stretching. I was trying to run with the pain. But the condition did not get better and was getting worse. it is a very frustrating injury!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.400.000.000.0013.40

Easy run with Ted in the morning. Started out asleep as usual, eventually warmed up to 6:50 pace. HR at 6:50 pace towards the end of the run was 129-131, just what it should have been. Did 10.04 in 1:11:24. Felt very good.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Benjamin started out asleep, 10:00 mile pace according to him felt like he had led shoes on. Then he felt better and better, and on the last mile ran 7:58. His comment was that 8:00 pace felt like walking.  

Magna 5 K tomorrow. The tempo on Thursday gave a hint that the spinal correction might be starting to work. However, I can still explain away the results with a mere increase in aerobic endurance from mileage.  My course PR is 15:31 (2005). Last year I ran 15:35 with  a strong headwind for the first  1.8 miles. I will have two adjustment excuses tomorrow - a marathon a week ago, and training through the race with an 80 mile week, already 66 miles on the odometer before the start of the race. However, they are excuses. This was the first marathon of the year and on a non-Desnews course. I've had a whole week to recover from it. In 2003 a week after finishing my fifth marathon with four done in a period of less than 3 months + a few 26.2 mile long runs in between them  with the slowest being 2:52 for additional punishment I could still run a half in a low 1:13 thinking I was running the full and then keep going and run another half in 1:24. So I really have no excuse for a 5 K.

If I go under 15:00, I'd say the spinal correction is working for sure.
 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James in Sunny AZ on Fri, May 25, 2007 at 23:15:49

Good luck tomorrow, Sasha! Question - with the training I have put in so far, do you think I would be ready for the Provo River Trail 10 miler on June 16? Our family will be in Utah that entire week, and will be heading back from Snowbird that Saturday. Obviously, I would be running it more as a training run than a race.

From sarah on Fri, May 25, 2007 at 23:51:32

From sarah on Fri, May 25, 2007 at 23:52:11

whoops....messed up on the one above..don't laugh at me or I won't wish you good luck...good luck sweetie

Race: Magna Classic 5 K (3.107 Miles) 00:15:44, Place overall: 7
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.900.000.003.1015.00

Magna 5 K, 15:44, 7th place. Tough field at the start - Trever Ball, Teren Jameson, Dennis Simonaitis, Nick McCoombs, and Steve Ashbaker looked like trouble at the start. In addition to that, a breakthrough race for Albert Wint. He actually did look like trouble too - I told him I noticed he had lost some weight. Consistent training makes a big difference. He has always been going out with the leaders and then losing it after a mile big time. Today he did not lose it. Good job Albert!

My goal for the race was to see what I could do in a 5 K off a routine post-marathon recovery/start of easing back into high mileage. I knew there was a good chance of running a bit slower, and feeling stale and tired on the last mile, and that chance materialized. Nevertheless, the finish was not too bad.

At the gun Teren and Trever blasted out like sprinters and went to run their own race. They each came thinking they could coast through it in 14:40 for some easy money. Tough luck. They had to race each other, as neither was willing to coast for an easy second. They ended up getting some good times - 14:10 for Teren and 14:13 for Trever.

The course is 1.8 miles of very good downhill that starts out steep then gradually reduces, then about a mile of 0.5-1 % grade up, followed by 100 meters of a sharp drop, then a very slight down, maybe 0.3% to the finish. We did get some headwind in the first 2 miles, although not as much as last year. With the headwind it is hard to tell how much it is affecting you. I've done many interval workouts going on the same stretch back and forth, and there were days with no noticeable wind when one direction was nevertheless being noticeably favored. Other times, there appeared to be a significant headwind that should have been favoring one direction, but there did not seem to be much of a difference. I think what happens is that you could have a steady 5 mph wind that you do not notice, and it will affect you more than occasional 3 second gusts of 15 mph that you will notice.

In any case, for today we were sufficiently lucky to have enough runners that have recently run at sea-level to determine that this course today was probably equivalent to a perfectly flat sea-level 5 K run in ideal conditions. Dennis ran 14:55 in Carlsbad, and 15:12 today. Trever had a recent 10,000 performance on the track at sea level of 28:55, and ran 14:13 today. Giving Dennis 17 second bonus for the lack of crowd support on a Saturday morning in Magna, UT at 8:00 AM, I think it would be fair to say this was like Carlsbad, with the downhill in the end compensating for the altitude and the headwind.

Dennis, Albert, Steve, Nick, and I were together for about 0.5 mile, then Dennis took off. I told Steve to go with him, but he did not. I think he should have, this would have saved him from Nick's furious kick on the last quarter. The rest of us stayed together until 2 miles. First mile in 4:36 ( really steep), second in 4:59 (less steep). After two miles I was done running that pace. Not sure exactly what happened - I felt like if I slowed down I could go forever, but I could not go any faster even for just a mile. The marathon probably pitched in some to this, the lack of taper and medium high mileage this week did too. What perplexes me is why the fatigue manifests itself this way - instead of finding yourself unable to run fast from the gun, you find yourself unable to hold the pace instead. My theory on that - when the nervous system is tired, once you reach a certain lactate level it just shuts down. When it's fresh and snappy you will just push through it.

Steve, Nick, and Albert pulled away. I tried to hang in there and not quit mentally. Running through the last mile I actually felt strong in a way, like I could run that pace forever, but just not any faster. I saw Albert get dropped with around 0.4 to go. I thought maybe I could catch him, but he was too strong, I was just maintaining the distance at best. The third mile was 5:36, the kick in 32 seconds and change. The actual finish time was 15:43.6, but with the USATF rounding rules it becomes officially 15:44. 15:12 for Dennis, 15:15 for Nick, 15:21 for Steve (new course PR for him by 14 seconds, the old was set without running a marathon a week before), 15:31 for Albert.

Chad had a great race with a new PR of 16:16, improvement of 24 seconds over the same course a year ago. McKenzie Snyder, 13 years old, ran 17:56 finishing 4th in the womens in a tough field - the female winner was Devra Vierkant with the time of 16:22, which is a new course record by 28 seconds. Teren's wife Emily set a Utah record, I believe, in the mothers of a 3 months old or younger division with the time of 18:16. Her best time ever is 16:09 on the track. Ted's son James met his goal of breaking 20:00 finishing in 36th place with the time of 19:45.

This race had only 70 people but 37 of them (52%), broke 20 minutes! Prize money went 5 deep for open, and 3 deep for the masters. Think about the significance of this. This shows how much Demetrio Cabanillas, who is the race director of this race, cares about helping athletes improve. He does not have much to give money-wise, but he gives what he can. His award ceremony is particularly inspiring. Nothing fancy, just a group of runners gathered around a tree in a park. For each runner that earned an award he lists their most important accomplishments if he happens to know them and most of the time he does.  He knows what is happening in the local running community very well. I would like to publicly thank him for his contribution to the sport.

Did a long cooldown afterwards. Also ran with the kids when I came home. 81 miles for this week. I think I'll keep it at 80 for another week and then see how I am feeling.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Sat, May 26, 2007 at 17:58:26

Nice work out there Sasha.

From James on Sat, May 26, 2007 at 18:45:18

Nice race, especially a week out from Ogden! I ran that course when I was about 15 or 16 years old, but it used to be in September right before St. George. I always wanted to run Demetrio's 10k but he doesn't have it anymore. I know that they are pretty darn fast courses.

From Maria on Sun, May 27, 2007 at 07:15:17

This is a very good performance after Ogden a week before, probably close to your PR for the course. I'm amazed how you, Steve and I think, Bill Cobler too, can just turn around a week after a marathon and crank out fast 5Ks!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.903.100.000.0013.00

Benjamin and Jenny ran in the Harrington Memorial 5 K today in American Fork on the American Fork 5K course. Ted and his son James came over early in the morning. Ted tried to replace the battery connectors on Zhu (our Ford Escort Wagon), but turned out I got the wrong kind. So the job was postponed until after the race.

We did some easy running before the race. Then Ted paced Benjamin, while James and I paced Jenny. Benjamin ran a new PR of 22:49, an improvement of 29 seconds. His mile splits were 6:59 (down), 8:11 (up), and 7:00 (down). He was second in the 10 and under division losing to his arch-rival Alexander Barry by 26 seconds, who also ran a great race after just running Magna 5 K in 21:57.

Jenny also ran a PR of 26:27. Her first mile was 8:38, followed by 9:24 uphill. That is when she started passing people. On the last mile she unleashed her furious Jenny kick and ran 7:41 passing a good number of people. She almost got Alexander Barry's father but did not quite have the juice on the last 100 meters after essentially having sprinted the entire mile.

Steve joined us for some more miles. We began discussing how much slower this course was than Magna. To provide some data for the debate I decided to run the course at a steady marathon pace effort. Steve joined me. We ran the splits of 5:27 - 6:07 - 5:38 and the final time of 17:51. Steve thought we had eased off much on the last mile, and he may have been right as I was probably getting slightly dehydrated with the temperatures getting into the 80s. But at the same time Ted was jogging up ahead of us, and this may have been triggering his greyhound instinct. One thing for sure is that we have put in at least 5:47 flat effort into the first two miles - we reached the two mile mark in 11:35 which is located above the start. At the end Steve and I agreed the course was comparable to Heart of Holladay.

Stopped by at Checkers on the way back, got the right kind of connector, and Ted finished the job on Zhu. Zhu is now very happy, and so are Sarah and I. We do not have to lift up the hood and wiggle the connection every time we want to start it any more.

Ran with Julia plus a tiny bit more to make it 13 for the day. In the evening had a barbeque at Ted's.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Lybi on Mon, May 28, 2007 at 18:48:34

Sasha, thanks for the feedback on my race...it really keeps me going. Wow! Benjamin and Jenny--what a race. I can't believe your 6 year-old just beat me! The sky is the limit for these young champions!

From Jon on Mon, May 28, 2007 at 19:15:11

Sasha

I just changed the format of my blog (from fast/slow to just total miles) and it deleted all my old workouts. Is there a way to get these back?

From wheakory on Tue, May 29, 2007 at 16:45:00

Nice running Sasha, and your kids too. What a great way to enjoy Memorial day.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.753.002.250.0013.00

Did not get good sleep the night before. New resolution. If I am not in bed by 10:30, I will do a handwritten dictation of one paragraph. I normally do not use a pen, and try to avoid doing it as much as possible. This is a much more unpleasant punishment for me than smelling socks. I grew up with the public bathrooms with non-flushing toilets where people used to smoke. That adjusted my sense of smell. I find the sock smell rather aromatic, almost like flowers compared to a Soviet-era mens bathroom in Moscow.  Sarah, however, is going to smell my socks.

Ran the warm-up with Ted. Still did the standard 5 mile tempo run. Decided to go marathon pace, and then pick it up if I felt good. First mile in 5:49, followed by 5:43. Feeling asleep. Got into a rhythm on the third one hit the turnaround in 14:22 (2:50). Next quarter in 1:26, and feeling strong. Decided to shift gears to threshold on the last 2.25. Next quarter in 1:23 (17:11, 5:39), then 1:22, 1:23, 1:23, 1:24, the mile in 5:32. Now the lack of sleep is starting to show. The legs feel strong, but the neural drive starts disappearing. But still not too bad.

The uphill quarter in 1:26, feels like I am slacking, but it takes super-human mental effort to go any faster. Then 1:25, 1:24, and the last one in 1:20 to beat the 5:40 guy. 28:18.3 for the tempo, last mile in 5:35, last 2.5 in 13:56.

Did a fairly brisk cool down with Ted. He was trying to beat the 7:00 mile guy on the last quarter, so we ran it in 1:29. We missed him by 7 seconds. Had Ted told me what he was trying to do, I would have run it harder.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Jake on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 14:38:01

how do you say queer in russian?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.890.000.250.0013.14

Easy run with Ted at 4:50 AM. Two items of notice - it took me as usual 4 miles to warm up to pace, but I could handle 7:20 pace after the first mile. After that 7:00 pace felt easy. HR was normal - very low as usual, lower than it should be for the pace in the first 4 miles, then normal after that. Also, only one bathroom stop - the average for this early in the morning is 2.5.

Ted picked it up to 6:40 trying to catch the 7:15 guy. With a quarter to go I watched to catch the 35:00 guy for the last 5.02. So we ran the last quarter in 1:23. My legs felt good, like they had some jet energy in case Ted decided to test my kick. We ended up with 1:12:22 for 10.04.

The highlight of the afternoon run with the kids was Julia's first timed mile ever. Her goal was to break 10:00. After seeing Benjamin and Jenny get all the prizes for running fast times, she said to me: "Daddy, can I get whatever toys I want if I break the mile?" I told her she could if she went under 10:00. The main challenge was not the fitness. It is hard for a 4 year old to comprehend how long a mile is and to keep running at a hard pace with no end in sight. Especially for Julia - Jenny was a very mature 4 year old, she was already reading scriptures at 4.5, and comprehending the things of life in general much better. Julia is barely able to read her power words, and still does not quite realize what is going on around her, more like your average 4 year old kid.

Jenny volunteered to help pace Julia. This made a big difference. We did the time trial on the Provo River Trail. First half a slight up, then turn around and come back to the start. The first quarter was perfect - 2:30. The next 300 meters went great, we were right on pace for 10:00. Then Julia started to panic. I told her she could slow down. We got to the half in 5:07.

After the turnaround, Julia realized we were going back, so the finish was close. She started pushing the pace and ran the next quarter in 2:18. Then she saw the four dots and stopped thinking it was the finish. We told her no. She lost a bit of time on that, but fairly quickly got going again. Jenny and I kept giving her encouragement telling her she was still on pace and could get her prize if she did not quit. Jenny kept telling her to believe in herself. With 100 to go we saw our friend Amy with her kids, and that cheered Julia up enough to run the last 100 in 33 seconds "breaking the mile" - 9:57, now 5 people in our family of 7 are sub-10:00 milers!

Julia probably has the ability to run sub-9:30 with her current fitness if only she could understand the distance and how to run it better. That will come with age.

I checked Jenny's blog, and did some math - Jenny broke 10:00 for the first time at the age of 4 years and 295 days. Julia was 4 years and 242 days old today. Jenny had been running 0.5 miles a day consistently for about 3 months prior to breaking 10:00, and this was not the first time she had run the whole mile. Julia started much earlier, but her consistent daily runs have maxed out at 0.35. She had never previously run the whole mile without stopping for a considerable period of time.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 00:25:36

Sasha, question my 11 year old is a very talented runner but she only really once to run when a fun run comes up and will train for it. She's ran races up to 4 miles and can run 8:30 to 9 minute miles. But I would like to have her run every day or every other day at least a mile. This is the same thing with my eight year old daughter too (of course her pace is slower 14 minute miles). What motivation can I use? My oldest is very good at soccer, and I try to tell her that running will really benefit you in soccer. She plays on a competition soccer team, and is going to a college soccer clinc next week for a week.

From Lybi on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 00:30:27

Good job Julia!

From christi on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 12:57:29

Ok Sasha- your feedback is killing me, but I'll let that be in a good way! Its definately made me get out the door and run more the past couple days! Now if I can just be more consistent!

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 14:21:20

Kory:

With all three of my currently running kids (Benjamin, Jenny, and Julia) I had to battle them for a period of 6 months to a year before they began to enjoy running daily. Benjamin on one occasion reflecting on his recent success summarized the process as follows: Mommy, you do not know what it is like to train a whiny child! It is somewhat similar to teaching them to brush their teeth, or clean their room. There is one difference though that makes it easier - it is when they race. After a few good experiences followed up by a proper discussion of cause and effect afterwards they begin to appreciate the value of training, and not only that, but the value of hard work in general. Then they will not go to sleep without having done their run for that day.

Another good thing that happens is that the older sibling begins to teach the younger what they had just learned. On the other hand, if the older sibling starts losing focus, the threat of a younger one beating him quickly awakens him. You take them on a run together, if the younger one is pushing the pace, the older one cannot slack off.

One thing we do that I believe is critical is zero tolerance for negative attitude. I tell my children that "I can't" is a swear word when you are trying to say "I quit". I follow and analyze their progress very closely, so I can always know the difference between a bad day and a bad attitude.

Another important aspect is rewarding them generously for putting in an honest effort. Especially when they are having a mental struggle. I pick a goal that I know they can easily meet if they had the right attitude and think of something they would want bad enough to let go of their mental block. Not only do they drop the mental block for the day, more important is that they learn the skill of overcoming it, and being positive when things are rough becomes a habit. This is not only important for a runner, but also a vital life skill.

I have no bright ideas how to motivate an 11 year old. If I had to do it, I would think of something worthwhile (I will never reward my children with things that do not develop them in some way) that she wanted really bad. Something that is normally way beyond her privilege level, or something that would require you going a few extra miles to get for her. Promise to give it to her if she runs consistently for three months and then races afterwards. After three months she will be very fit, she will have learned how to work without skipping, and she will also know the joy of winning as a reward. After this hopefully she'll be self-motivated.

From Jake on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 14:55:22

Did you really have to battle your kids to convince them to continue running and that eventually they will enjoy it? Thats quite the shadow, Dad.

You analyze them daily so you can tell who is having a bad attitude and just a bad day?

Please keep let us know what you will do if one of your kids decides to find a hobby on their own without your help - GASP.

From Lybi on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 15:31:39

I surmise that this Jake person doesn't have kids. Just because kids need encouragement does not mean that they are being forced to do something terrible. Do you think it is a terrible thing to require your kids to learn to swim? Why not run? The Pachev children are vibrant, healthy, and happy kids with many interests.

Good luck hoping your kids will find their own interest in brushing their teeth, eating vegetables, going to bed at a reasonable hour, taking baths and toilet training.

From Jake on Thu, May 31, 2007 at 16:53:38

My son is 16 months old. But you are right. I better go down my checklist of expectations now and make sure he's on the right track I made for him.

From Diddy on Fri, Jun 01, 2007 at 12:32:12

How can you compare running to swimming?

If your kid accidentally falls into a pool or other body of water and can't swim, he/she will drown.

If they accidentally find themself on a track somewhere I think they'll live through it.

Also, teaching your kids basic hygiene etc...is not a valid comparison either.

It's not like Jake said you shouldn't teach your kid those things...it's not like "Well I like to urinate in the toilet, but I'll leave that decision up to my kids, they can go where they please"

Let's compare apples to apples here folks.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.400.002.752.7515.90

The day of growth today. 5x400 + 3 mile tempo + 5x400 in the Provo Canyon. This workout used to be unpleasant. It did not feel particularly unpleasant today. Having Ted around helped quite a bit.

Warm-up, then the anaerobics. Exact opposite of aerobics. Usual morning headwind out of the canyon. Slower on the way up. 70.0 down - 76.4 up - 70.5 down - 75.9 up - 69.8 down. So far so good. Felt strong but not fast.

Jogged up to Nunn's Park. I decided to call the barrel that we start the tempo from Vladimir Kutz in honor of the Russian runner who won the Olympics in 5000 and 10000 in 1956. Before he started running he was a pudgy kid which earned him a nickname of bochka or barrel in English. He is also known for a special coaching method - drop a group of runners 20 K from the training base in the middle of nowhere, and tell them that lunch starts in an hour, whoever is late does not get to eat.

We gave Ted a 30 second head start to make things interesting. After the first 900 he actually increased it to 31 seconds. I noticed that along with the 3:21 split at 1000 and decided to get down to business. 5:18 at the mile. 10:34 at 2 (5:16). I've closed the gap, but Ted is still 16 seconds ahead. Now I'd better really get down to business. The greyhound instinct is starting to kick in, and Ted sure knows how to exploit it. I cannot believe it - I am now running 5:10 pace, and Ted is edging towards me very slowly, this means big trouble if and when I catch him, he'll give me a run for my money on the kick. With a quarter to go I figured if match or beat his fastest quarter in the interval session, I should be safe. Easier said than done, that would have to be 71. I managed 71.5, last mile 5:04, total time 15:38, passed Ted with 50 meters to go. Ted ran a great time - 16:08, a 30 second PR for the course for him.

The tempo felt hard, but it seemed whenever I needed a boost of speed, I could reach deep down and find it. That is a very good sign. Also, I was not mentally fighting the idea of doing 400s afterwards, another good sign.

Ted's hip was hurting, so he decided to do 200s to make it a bit easier on it. That helped me a lot - he paced me through the first 200 on every one of the intervals. Ran a bit faster overall - 69.0 down -  77.1 up - 69.6 down - 75.1 up - 66.3 down.

Cooled down, got 13.2 for the workout.

Ran with Julia in the afternoon. Benjamin heard about the meet in Payson and wanted to go. So we all went. Ran with Jenny, then watched the meet. Benjamin ran 50 meters in 9.3, long-jumped 7 feet ( new record), and then there was the 1600 meters. They announced that the parents were invited to join. That was very good as there was a fairly strong headwind on the back stretch. I gave Benjamin a goal of running no laps slower than 1:45.

This was a 440 yard track. After the meet I realized  that due to a mistake we had actually run about 1607 meters instead of 1600. Not a big difference, but still nice to know we've run more.

Benjamin ran a PR of 6:48 with the laps of 1:43, 1:43, 1:42, and 1:40. I was very impressed. He said he started hurting at 525 meters, and it kept getting worse with each lap. Unusual mental toughness for a kid so young. He took third place overall.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Diddy on Fri, Jun 01, 2007 at 12:41:19

Ok....so for the running impaired...

What's the difference between

Easy, Marathon Pace, Threshold, and VO2 Max miles?

I get the gist of it (obviously easy and marathon make sense, though I don't know what qualifies as marathon pace) but feel free to expand for those of us who don't run as a hobby, though we are in the minority here.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Jun 02, 2007 at 16:56:05

Easy pace - conversational and relaxing.

Marathon pace - the pace that approaches your marathon race pace. Comfortably hard. For a fit runner it is not conversational - he can comfortably say about one short sentence every 2 minutes or so.

Threshold pace - physiologically, the fastest pace when the lactic acid level can stabilize. A fit runner will be able to sustain it for an hour in a race. For a fit runner it requires a lot of concentration to sustain it.

VO2 Max - physiologically, the pace such that if you go any faster, you are not using any more oxygen. A fit runner can sustain it for 10-15 minutes in a race. This pace sustained for more than 2 minutes hurts a lot regardless of the level of fitness.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.500.500.000.0014.00

Went with Sarah, our kids, Ted, his wife Elizabeth, and their kids to the zoo. Got there via a running detour adventure. Ted and I along with our running kids got dropped off at the East Canyon exit on I-80. Then as each child was done with his run, he would get picked up and continue the journey in the car. Julia ran a half mile in 4:33 downhill singing the entire way. Jenny ran the mile, mostly downhill but the last quarter uphill in 8:51. Benjamin and James continued to the 2 mile mark with the last mile being unending uphill, and finished in 18:27.

As we climbed up the Little Mountain hill we saw a snake hiding in the pavement crack. We went about 8:20 pace on the climb, and maintained somewhere between 6:20-6:40 on the downhill in the Emigration Canyon. Picked up a bit on the last mile, ran it in 5:56. It was nice to study DesNews course at a conversational pace with a brain that is getting a full supply of blood sugar, but with the legs actually feeling the terrain. I had never done this before.

Afterwards we saw lots of interesting animals at the zoo. I liked the big turtle and the crocodile that looked like a log.

Ran 2 easy miles in the evening to pad the mileage to the goal. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.907.502.500.0019.90

Standard 10 mile tempo today. James had a track meet at 8:00 AM, so Ted and I started our run at 8:50. It was warm by then (around 65), and it kept getting warmer (70+). We jogged 1.9 and then I started the tempo.

First 2.5 in 14:26, felt easy. HR at 150. Turned around, came back in 14:30. This one felt harder, possibly due to warmer temperatures. 28:56 at 5 miles. Consciously decided to pick it up a bit on the third 2.5, ran it in 14:21. Felt like I had to work a lot harder, but the heart rate was very reasonable for the conditions - hovering between 153 and 155.

On the last 2.5 shifted gears into the threshold pace. The goal was to go under 14:00. My first quarter after the 180 turn was 1:25. After than, the slower quarter was 1:24.5. Last mile in 5:32, last 600 in 2:01, last 2.5 in 13:55, last 5 in 28:16, and the total time of 57:12, fastest time this year so far.

Interesting experience on the last 2.5. I felt like the pain of the pace was sustaining the neural drive to keep it. That happens to me only when I start getting into really good shape. It is instinctive, you cannot consciously make it happen, you have to train a certain way for this instinct to develop.

Immediately after I finished, Ted took me for a brisk cool down. He announced he was 1:15 ahead of the 7:00 mile guy, and he planned to run another 5.3 miles and stay ahead of him. So we almost immediately started running sub-7:00 pace. Not a relaxing cool down at all, especially with the temperatures approaching 80.

Got home finally, Ted stayed ahead of the 7:00 mile guy, I ended up beating the 6:20 guy for 17.25 miles with the average pace of 6:18. As soon as I walked in, Julia wanted me to take her for a run. I told her I needed to get some water in first. Then took her for her standard 0.5 mile run.

Ran with Benjamin and Jenny in the afternoon.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Superfly on Sun, Jun 03, 2007 at 10:54:41

Good workout Sasha. Seems like your shifting your gears and getting stronger all the time.

From wheakory on Sun, Jun 03, 2007 at 22:04:16

Nice run in the hot weather. At least your getting your body adjusted to running in the heat. Do you carry fluid or hide fluid for these hot day runs?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jun 04, 2007 at 12:10:23

Kory - no water or anything. Part of the reason is I find it hassle to carry a bottle, part is that the run is short enough that I can tough it out.

From Paul Petersen on Mon, Jun 04, 2007 at 12:27:43

I think there's some adaptation to stress when you don't drink water too. During the summer of '00 I interned and trained in Phoenix all summer before my senior year of cross country. All of my runs were during the afternoons and evenings in 105-110 degree heat. The first month was brutal, and I was always running through parks with drinking fountains, but by the end of the summer I wasn't taking any water during the runs and felt fine. When I got back to Michigan for the cross country season, I felt a lot more efficient in the cooler temperatures, and went on to have a really good racing season. Point is, I think heat training makes you tougher and your body more efficient.

From wheakory on Mon, Jun 04, 2007 at 13:15:16

I agree totally on these shorter runs I don't take anything. I will usually start taking a water bottle if the run is longer than 16 miles. It's a hassle and a distraction. I end up usually carrying the water bottle in my hand for the run.

Saturday when I ran I drove up our Pocatello Creek area about 6000ft evelation and ran the back side of the Pocatello Marathon, and I had my fuel belt on because it has a velcro pocket to use to carry my cell phone, because I wasn't feeling very well (101 fever the night before). My fuel belt came in handy here but not for water use. I wanted to take my phone in case I needed to call my wife to come get me, because there's nothing in-site for about 10 miles on this run until you enter the city so taking a cell phone is a good idea when your running alone. It's sort of funny to wear the fuel belt without water, and for another purpose.

From ashman on Mon, Jun 04, 2007 at 15:41:26

Thare is a dark side to it however, you can easily overtrain and not realise it until it is too late.

From ashman on Mon, Jun 04, 2007 at 15:42:30

The body does not recover well when it is dehydrated.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jun 04, 2007 at 16:26:00

Steve - good point. There is a very fine threshold at which running dehydrated is counterproductive.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.170.000.000.0015.17

Easy run with Ted in the morning. 10.04 in 1:09:33. Started out at 7:30 pace, and eventually sped up to 6:20 on the last couple of miles. Then ran with Benjamin and Jenny. A little later with Julia.

Ran to the water park and back in the evening. We played at the water park. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.253.002.5017.75

Ran the warm-up with Ted from my house. Lots of runners on the trail today and yesterday, a lot more than usual. Thanks to the blog I have an idea why - it is the start of the 18 week training program for St. George. It is my hope that we can do enough education and motivation through the blog that there will not be a significant increase in the number of runners at that particular time period in the near future. One's training patterns should not have to drastically change just because a marathon is 18 weeks a way. I find the mentality of cram training particularly annoying. I often get asked which race I am training for when people find out about how I train. I have been perplexed about that question for a while. I think only now am I beginning to realize the significance of the question. It comes from the mentality of not training most of the time and then taking a plan out of a popular running magazine a few weeks before a race and trying to follow it.

This is like creating a farming plan that begins shortly before the harvest time. Weeds is about all you can harvest that way. Can that mentality ever be broken? Rather than training one magic race we should train to be fit, and when we are, find a race to prove it.

After the warm-up 5x400 on the Provo River Trail with 200 very slow recovery alternating directions at the standard location (1 mile marker of the standard tempo run, which starts at Geneva Road and goes towards the Utah Lake). 74.1 - 73.3 - 71.8 - 72.3 - 69.5. Had a hard time getting started, but felt strong on the last one. Actually was not trying to run it in 69. Again, the splits show that the direction towards the Lake is about 0.5 faster.

Jogged a mile back to Geneva road, and ran the 3 mile tempo. I had two conflicting goals - to run faster with every mile, and to keep the last two miles under 5:30. The conflict was that on that road the second mile under 5:30 would make the third one under 5:30 a challenge for me. Splits by quarter - 1:23 - 1:23 - 1:21 - 1:21 (5:28) - 1:21 - 1:20 - 1:21 - 1:22 (5:24) - 1:22 - 1:22 (13:36 at the turnaround) - 1:23 (from a 180 turn) - 1:18 (5:25), total time 16:17.6. Third mile was hard, but I managed to hold on.

Jogged another mile back to the standard location and did the same 5x400 again. 73.3 - 73.8 - 72.0 - 72.7 - 68.4. Pushed hard on the last one.

Then ran the cool down with Ted. It was not much of a cool down. Ted was chasing the 6:30 guy. I decided not to ruin the party. We averaged 6:24 pace for the last 2.36 miles, and finished the quarter in 1:30.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. 


 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From ashman on Tue, Jun 05, 2007 at 23:39:52

Instant gratification is what this country is all about, something for nothing mentality. That whole pursuit of happiness thing you know.

From wheakory on Wed, Jun 06, 2007 at 00:16:17

I agree with the concept about training. If you train to be fit the whole time then you really don't need to follow a program.

You already know what areas to work on because you've stayed fit. I think training programs are good for beginners until they become aware of what they need to do to maintain their fitness.

Once I started to train to be fit and a stronger runner a program is not what I needed. I needed to against my fitness level and understand how to train my body and work on more intensity in my training.

Very good points you make Sasha.

Cramming a marathon in and not staying fit each year makes your fitness level stay at the same place.

From Ethan on Wed, Jun 06, 2007 at 02:03:42

There is also something to be said for someone who sets their mind to accomplish a goal, such as finishing a marathon. Who goes out there and does it. The last person across the finish line is still a Marathoner after all.

They may not be elite, Many may never be elite. But they have still done something that 95% of Americans would never do.

I absolutely agree that following a plan and nothing more for 18 weeks isn't going to make up for your lack of fitness the rest of the year. But who's to say that's their goal?

There several completely different types of runners. Some are elite, really training to get better and better. To compete, to win. And thats awesome!! I hope that I can someday fit into that category.

There are others that just run for fun. Some run for overall fitness. Some run to accomplish a goal they have set for themselves. Either would approach things very differently, and neither is wrong in my opinion.

But then, hey thats just MY opinion!

:D

Keep up the awesome work. I can't wait to see you accomplish all your goals! As always thank you for your comments and advice on my blog.

From James in Sunny AZ on Wed, Jun 06, 2007 at 15:14:25

Sasha,

I am glad that you have helped me get to a point in my training where I do not have to follow an 18-week program to prepare for St. George (or another marathon). I agree that we should be training to be fit and then find the race to show our fitness. BTW, I just registered for the Provo River 10-miler, so we will be there in two weeks. I am planning on taking it out as a training run, but faster than marathon pace (shooting for 7:30/mile) to gauge my fitness. I think this will also give me a good idea of what I should be able to accomplish at St. George. I appreciate your insightful entries - I like to see things from the perspective of an elite runner.

From Michelle on Wed, Jun 06, 2007 at 15:33:53

Thanks for the input, I sometimes think that when I run tired like that it's counterproductive, but glad to know that it is a bennefit. I guess the moral is just keep going. Be it treadmill when it's boring, or your tired ect. hopefully your body will thank you and you continue to see imrpovement and results!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.300.000.000.0015.30

Ran at 4:45 AM with Ted. His foot was hurting bad, he turned around after going about 0.6 with me. I was sleepy as usual, but not record sleepy. The punishment of a handwritten dictation has been helping me get to bed on time. Without Ted's help I managed 7:40 pace in the first 4 miles. It was raining, and the rain was cold. That finally woke me up enough to where I wanted the run to be over more than I wanted the comfort and relaxation of a slow pace. So I started speeding up and hit the turnaround (5.02 miles) in 37:38. I've considered catching the 1:10:00 guy, but that would have meant 6:24 average on the way back, and I did not want to go that fast. Then it started hailing. This made me pick it up a bit. I realized that I was going 6:24 pace anyway and decided to keep it. HR at first hovered around 131, then got up to 134. Towards the end I picked it up a bit more to make sure I got the 1:10:00 guy and hit the headwind, this brought HR up to 139. Finished the run (10.04) in 1:09:50. The pace felt quite easy, it was a nice compromise between a recovery run and getting out of the cold fast.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon and a little bit more on my own to reach the goal of 15 total for the day. Benjamin impressed me on his run. We ran the first mile in 8:20. Then he sped up to a bit sub-8:00. With 0.4 to go he told me the pace felt like a jog. I gave him a challenge to catch the 8:00 mile guy. He had 20 seconds to close. His last two quarters were 1:48 and 1:43 with the last mile in 7:31, and the total time of 15:51.

Ate a lot at dinner - three full plates of buckwheat. It felt like the food was being digested the moment I swallowed it. Last time I remember eating like that was back in 1985 when I was 12 at the Znamenskiye track school summer camp in Vyazniki about 200 miles east of Moscow. It was not uncommon for us to train three times a day, and I would go with Oleg Kuleshov who was 16 at that time on his morning runs. We would go about 7.5 miles, and one time we clocked a kilometer on the highway, it was 3:57. So come breakfast time, I was hungry. The cooks called me "the boy that eats a lot".

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Lybi on Thu, Jun 07, 2007 at 01:48:44

I think you should start putting your eating PRs up their with your running ones. Can you really eat 4 bananas in a Marathon without slowing down? Somebody call Guiness!

From Superfly on Thu, Jun 07, 2007 at 11:40:48

Thanks for the offer Sasha. I thought about comming and running with you guys. But I am planning on leaving Orem first thing tomorrow morning and driving up to Rexburg then doing a short little run once I get up there to help me get use to things up there.

From RunnerGirl on Mon, Jun 11, 2007 at 17:50:13

Hi Sasha,

I just have a question about heart rates. I just can't believe you have such low heart rates. I just started using a heart rate monitor, and an easy pace for me gets my heart rate around 160. When I am pushing it, my heart rate stays around 175 - and goes up to 185 or so when I'm sprinting.

I know heart rates are determined by a number of factors, but anything you can share would help. I am 22, with exercise-induced asthma. Would asthma have anything to do with it?

Anyway, my numbers just seem really high, and sometimes I even feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest. Should I just see a doctor to find out more?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:20:28

RunnerGirl - your heart rate patters sound fairly normal. The easy pace heart rate is a bit high, possibly because the pace is not really as easy at it feels. In fact, your patterns seem to parallel those of Cody, another runner on the Fast Running Blog.

As far as the heart beating out of your chest, it may be some heart problem, but it also may very well be just not quite being in shape, or being dehydrated, or diet related. If you are worried, talking to the doctor won't hurt, aside from the bill from his office.

From Cody on Mon, Jun 11, 2007 at 23:59:06

RunnerGirl,

I agree with Sasha that your heart rate is pretty normal. It is Sasha who has the crazy heart rate. I noticed that when I was just starting out running (20-30 miles a week), my HR was around 165 on easy days and 175-180 on harder days. I think most of that was I was not in as good of shape as I thought. Over time the HR has dropped, but it may still be considered high, compared to the elite guys. I try and keep it around 140-155 for easy days. It is now about 170-172 for my marathon pace (compared to 180 a year ago at a slower pace). When I race shorter races, such as a 5K, my HR generally is about 185-190 the whole time with it spiking up over 190 at the end. It feels like it is working overtime, but that is normal because I truly am pushing my body to its limit. I wouldn't worry about it, and over time the HR will drop as your fitness increases.

From RunnerGirl on Tue, Jun 12, 2007 at 16:10:29

Thanks so much for the help! That makes me feel a lot more at ease. I know I am not as in shape as I could be, but I am getting there. I was just worried I was exercising at unhealthy levels. It does feel better when I am at around 160 - feels really comfortable. It is just frustrating to me sometimes when I feel like my heart can't go as fast as my legs!

I also had a hole in my heart when I was born that healed itself miraculously - so that could have something to do with it. I'm not sure.. maybe it's not quite as efficient as others' hearts.

From RunnerGirl on Tue, Jun 12, 2007 at 16:22:10

Thanks so much for the help! That makes me feel a lot more at ease. I know I am not as in shape as I could be, but I am getting there. I was just worried I was exercising at unhealthy levels. It does feel better when I am at around 160 - feels really comfortable. It is just frustrating to me sometimes when I feel like my heart can't go as fast as my legs!

I also had a hole in my heart when I was born that healed itself miraculously - so that could have something to do with it. I'm not sure.. maybe it's not quite as efficient as others' hearts.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.652.502.500.0015.65

Ted was still taking it easy for his foot injury this morning. So I ran alone. Felt sluggish in the warm-up. Ran the first quarter in 2:10 and it felt just right. After 2.4 warm-up ran the progression tempo on the standard 5 mile tempo course. The goal was to start at marathon pace and keep speeding up every mile.

The first quarter did not go so well - 1:29. I figured the body was asleep and pressed harder. Next one in 1:26. I kept the pressure steady and hit 1:24 and 1:23 on the next two. First mile in 5:42. I must have awoken in the last two quarters, I figured, and now needed to ease off a bit on the pressure to keep the pace correct. Did 1:24 - 1:25 - 1:24 - 1:24 for 5:37 on the second mile. Did another quarter in 1:24, then hit some headwind and also used a bit of caution prior to the 180 turn at 2.5. This gave me a 1:26 quarter with 14:09 at the turnaround.

Pressed harder immediately after 180 turn to get into the rhythm quickly. Next two quarters 1:24 and 1:22, 16:55 at 3 miles, third mile in 5:36, still on target for increasing the speed with every mile, even with the 180 turn. Eased off a bit on the pressure, 1:22 was too fast. Next mile consisted of 1:23 - 1:24 - 1:24 - 1:22, total of 5:33. I think the wind played a factor, hurting on the 1:24s and helping on the 1:22.

Now I felt I had the goal in the bag. 5:33 felt hard, but still easy enough to where I could pull off a faster mile even with the uphill. The uphill quarter in 1:24, followed by a 1:23. With half a mile to go I started pressing. Possibly hit some small headwind, next quarter was only 1:23, and it should have been faster. Either that or I was just warn out from the earlier effort. Seeing that, I pressed even harder on the last quarter, and this time watched the pace carefully every 100 meters to make sure I was not slacking. Hit every 100 in 20 seconds, last quarter in 1:20, last mile in 5:30, got my goal, and as a bonus, broke 28:00 with 27:58, and set a new season record for the 2.5 stretch coming back - 13:49.

Cooled down for the total of 10.15 for the run. Ran 0.5 with Julia in the afternoon. She is getting faster on her aerobic runs, we did 5:28 this time.

Ran with Benjamin and Jenny right before dinner. Benjamin is tapering for Heart of Holladay 5 K, so we went only 1.5 and ran it in 13:51 (Benjamin took off on the last quarter and ran 13:42). Afterwards ran another 3.5 with Jacob in the stroller in 24:45 on the trail to Macey's and back. On the way up was going 7:15, on the way back 6:40 with only a slightly higher effort just from getting into the rhythm as the run progressed. The difference between 0.5% grade up and 0.5% down is greatly increased when pushing the stroller.

Untapering for the Heart of Holladay. This will be the most untapered 5 K I have ever run, but this time I have different goals.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Logan on Fri, Jun 08, 2007 at 21:29:57

My last interval was at 75 probably because of the wind a little bit and plus I was a little tired. It has been a while since I've done some serious interval work on a track. I am glad you helped with the definition of what serrifine is.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.151.000.000.0015.15

Ted is still nursing his foot. So I ran alone today. Ended up going a bit longer than planned in the morning. There was some police investigation on the Provo River Trail, and a portion of it was blocked. So I had to take a detour that added a mile. Maintained a slightly sub-7:00 pace. HR was very good - hovered between 122 and 125, and reached 126-128 on the uphill sections. The pace felt like true recovery, did not have to mentally strain to do it. Ran a mile at the end fast, around 6:00 pace, HR hit 142.

Did a lot of miscellaneous  running during the day which included the kids run. Reached my goal of 15 total. Heart of Holladay tomorrow. The goal is to run the second mile faster than the first, and the third one which has an uphill within 20 seconds of the second.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Race: Heart of Holladay 5 K (3.107 Miles) 00:16:42, Place overall: 7
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.800.003.103.1016.00

Heart of Holladay 5 K, 16:42, 7th place.

By the time I reached the starting line I already had 81 miles on the odometer for the week with no day less than 15 since Monday. I was feeling good, but definitely not tuned to run a fast 5 K. The plan was to make it more of a tempo run than an all-out 5 K. Knowing that I would not be able to make a good workout of just one 5 K, I decided to run the course twice. First time, at about a 10 K effort in the first two miles, followed by a hard last mile if I could squeeze anything out of myself at that point. Second time around at a true threshold.

First time around - in the race. The gun went off, and everybody just blasted out of the blocks like there is no tomorrow. I found myself in about 25th place. It took me a good 200 meters to pass Carre Joyce and Bill Cobler. By the mile I worked my way through the pack into 7th place. Teren Jameson was way ahead of everyone, Dennis was in second, and then there was a pack with Nate Hornok, Matt Harmer, Steve Ashbaker, and Josh Steffen. I considered surging to run with the pack, but figured it would destroy the workout possibly without improving the eventual finishing position in the race. First mile in 5:15. The pack was 5:10.

Tried to pick it up on the second mile but still be in control, the pack opened up another 7 seconds on me, I did the next mile in 5:18. Slower than I hoped, but I felt right. Tried to push hard on the last mile. It has a solid hill for the first half, so it is a slow mile. Did OK, although no miracles - 5:33. Did not catch anybody from the pack, in fact all of them pulled away from me except Josh. Tried to kick, there was not much of a kick - 35 seconds for 0.107.

Teren won with 15:00, then Dennis 15:52, Nate 16:02 (breakthrough race), Matt 16:12 - he wants to hit the Qualifier again this year, Steve 16:24, and Josh 16:29.

Walked through the chute to get my tag torn off, and got out as quickly as I could and ran back to find Benjamin. Found him in the middle of a hot race against Alexander Barry. They were in contention for the win in the 11 and under division. Benjamin ended up 4 seconds behind him with a new PR of 22:29. He ran a very smart race all by himself, and took his own splits with a $6 Walmart watch. First mile in 7:05, then 7:11, the uphill mile in 7:31, and the kick in 41 seconds . Add one more second for the standard USATF round-off. This is the average of 7:15 per mile, and an improvement of 2:42 from the last year.

After the finish, found somebody to keep an eye on Benjamin while I was gone, and headed for the second repetition on the course. Started it 30 minutes from the start of the first 5 K. Felt a bit sluggish and some lactic acid leftovers in the first mile - hit it in 5:40. After that, felt better, second mile in 5:28. At first I set a goal for myself to just not get chicked. I apparently overestimated Carre's winning time - I thought she ran around 17:40, while in fact she ran 17:53. Then I saw Cody cooling down around mile 2, and decided to raise the bar - beat his time instead. Fortunately Cody joined me and I had a chance to ask him what his time was - 17:36 (officially 17:37 with the USATF round-off). Felt very strong on the hill and afterwards. Cody helped me with the pace on the half-mile up the hill. Did the uphill mile in 5:40, only 7 seconds slower than in the race. Kicked in 36 seconds to finish in 17:24.8. I suppose the kick was slightly longer as I veered to the side to avoid going through the finish shoot - some walkers were still finishing.

Did some more distance during the award ceremony. Ran with Jenny and Julia when I got home, and added some more. Total of 16 for the day and 95 for the week.
 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Brent on Sat, Jun 09, 2007 at 17:15:53

Congrads for your son on the PR. I followed him the first mile and 1/2 and he looked very controlled and smooth. I was no competition for him today.

From Cody on Sat, Jun 09, 2007 at 23:47:11

You are an animal! Nice race and way to hit your mileage goals, no matter what.

From James on Sun, Jun 10, 2007 at 01:38:50

Sounds like you are ready for WBR with back to back 5Ks like those. Either that or you didn't run the first one fast enough! Good job like usual, I am always impressed with your recovery time.

From wheakory on Mon, Jun 11, 2007 at 00:22:08

That's an outstanding performance Sasha with all the miles you've put in this week. Also your son's performance with the PR is impressive.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.752.250.250.0015.25

Ted is alive again. Ran with him this morning on our standard 10.04 course. We covered the first half in 34:34 chatting, telling stories, discussing current events. On the way back I felt like doing a short light tempo on the standard 2.5 stretch. Made a pit stop, Ted kept going. Started out a bit sluggish, thought I was perhaps going slower than 6:00, but I was not - first 300 in 1:06 with each 100 in 22. After than I sped up to a fairly steady 5:40 pace on the flat, then pushed harder on the hill (or more accurately the rise) to keep the pace steady, and then on the last quarter there were two things that encouraged me to go faster - I was 2 seconds behind the 5:40 guy, and there was a family out for a bike ride within reach. My greyhound reflex kicked in, and I ran the last quarter in 1:21 to finish in 14:08. HR stayed below 153 on the first 1.5, climbed to 156 on the rise, and reached 158 during the pickup on the last quarter. 5:40 felt very relaxing on the flat. When I passed Ted, who was going around 6:10 pace, he also decided to do a mini-tempo, and seeing how slowly he was coming to me, I invited him to join me in more words than I normally do at 5:40 pace. On the last mile, the pace felt harder, more like a surge during the marathon. The last 0.25 felt like a threshold pace. So the slow pace is starting to feel quite a bit easier, now the trick is to stretch the range of that slow easy pace upwards, and first get 5:30 into it, and then maybe even 5:20.

Ended up doing about 10.1 for the whole run, the extra distance from coming back to Ted after the finish of the tempo. Total time for the run was 1:06:27.

Ran 0.5 with Julia in the morning, and then 2.14 with Benjamin and Jenny ( Jenny rode the last 0.57 in the stroller) + 2.5 in 16:59 to reach the goal of no less than 15 for the day.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From michelle on Tue, Jun 12, 2007 at 12:15:02

Last night when I ran I don't think the temp. was a factor, kinda breezy and not too warm. I ate salad for dinner, lettuce and spinach from our garden with meat cheese, veggies on top? About 1.5 to 2 hours before running. Maybe just one of those days. This morning felt a little better.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jun 12, 2007 at 14:03:25

One reason I stopped eating red meat was that it took me at least three hours before I could run comfortably again after eating it. Cheese would also sit in the stomach for a long time and give me side aches.

From Ruth on Tue, Jun 12, 2007 at 14:57:45

Hey Sasha, thanks for your comments and encouragement. It helps keep motivated and pushing, even when I'm tired out.

Just so you know, Ross Decker isn't on the blog, he's Josh Decker's (who is on the blog) dad and is way faster than Josh. If Ross really wanted to, he could leave me in a cloud of dust, but at WBR practice lately I've been the fastest PV XC runner, so he runs with me. (I've been beating Josh by a long shot at all practices.) I think you were mistaking Ross for Josh in your comment. :)

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jun 12, 2007 at 15:03:34

Ruth - no, I looked up Ross in the race results to get an idea of his fitness level. I figured if 6:40 was anywhere close to easy for him, he would be right there with Clyde and coach Holt, and based on my analysis of the race results, he'd be about 4 minutes behind them in a 10 K. Just try it - up the pace to 6:20 and see what happens.

From Steve Hooper on Tue, Jun 12, 2007 at 15:38:18

Hey Sasha, How's it going? I have a race time estimate for you to do. We're planning on running the Summer Games 10k on Friday and I'm going crazy with trying to estimate what my time might possibly be. The only other recent race data I have to go off of is the Hurricane Half (1:19:30) back the beginning of May. Last year Clyde ran a 1:20:14.

The 10K will be pretty fast and all down hill. Last year Clyde ran a 34:38. Based on my training over the last month and 1/2 what do you think would be a realistic goal for myself?

Last year Clyde ran a 34:38.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jun 12, 2007 at 17:55:30

Steve - probably right around where Clyde was last year - 34:30 - 34:40.

From Cody on Tue, Jun 12, 2007 at 18:35:30

Sasha,

I uploaded the Smithfield Days 5K race. After analyzing it, it has 200ft of gain over the 1.5 miles. I was able to hit splits very similar to what you have predicted. The main difference being the last .1. My garmin measured it at .07 in :20 not .1 in :30. Take a look when you can and let me know how it compares to Heart of Holladay.

I personally liked the Smithfield course better because it has the uphill while you are still fresh.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.750.002.752.7517.25

Warmed up with Ted. His foot is still hurting. Then did my usual Tuesday workout.

First, 5x400 with 200 recovery, very slow jog, alternating directions on the quarter from 1 mile mark o the standard Provo River Trail tempo run to 1.25.  73.0 - 73.3 - 72.8 - 71. 8 - 71.0 - a bit slower than a week ago but felt fresher afterwards.

Then jogged back to the start of the tempo. The goal again was to run each mile faster. This time I watched the pace more carefully, adjusting it with every 200 in the first 1.5 miles. Splits by the quarter: 1:22 - 1:23 - 1:22 - 1:22 (5:29) - 1:22.5 - 1:22.5 - 1:21 - 1:21.5 (5:27.5, 1:56) - 1:21 - 1:22 (eased off before 180, 13:39 at the turnaround) - 1:22 (recovering from 180) - 1:17 - total time 16:18.5, last mile in 5:22 - reached my goal. One second slower than last week, though, but a stronger finish.

Jogged to the start of the final part of the workout, same as the opener, exact same place, 5x400. 72.7 - 73.3 - 71.6 - 73.0 - 67.5. This part was faster than last week, and I felt a lot fresher on the last one. Last week on the last interval the limiting factor seemed to be heavy legs, this time it appeared to be more the lack of ability to turn on explosive power full blast.

Cooled down, total of 14.75 for the workout.

Ran with the kids in the evening, this brought me to 17.25 for the day.

My current pace profile is getting to be rather odd: 5:40 - relaxing, 5:30 - comfortable, 5:20 - very hard, 5:10 - near death experience. High mileage, at least initially seems to make the paces up to 5:30 more relaxing, but does not do much for paces faster than 5:30 to bring them into the comfort zone. I need to figure out a way to bring 5:20 into the comfort zone.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.740.500.360.7015.30

 Update: Today I am officially starting a blog campaign to encourage Devine Racing to pay the prize money due top runners. I have so far found out that Steve Ashbaker (5th in the SLC marathon), and Nick McCoombs (4th in the SLC marathon) have not been paid. I'll try to reach Hobbie Call (2nd place in the SLC marathon today) and see if he got anything. According to Nick, last year he and Hobbie got paid after and with the encouragement from some TV coverage.

Easy run at 4:55 AM, Ted was not there, his foot was still hurting, he took it easy. Started out at 9:00 pace, and it felt brisk. I think I set a record for the low HR in the summer after 0.4 miles of running - it was 99. Nothing compared to Lasse Viren, though, who could hold 84 at 8:00 pace. Gradually kept waking up throughout the run. Hit the first half (5.02) in 37:57. On the way back, eventually worked my way up to sub-6:40. Sped up to about 5:50 pace on the last 0.5, total time 1:11:26.

Why do I always make a big deal about how hard 9:00 pace feels at the start of my run? Because I see many runners go out on a supposedly bad day, not feel good in the first mile or two, and cut their run short. I believe this habit costs them good 10-20 minutes in the marathon or possibly more from all the runs they've cut short, or even worse, not started at all, instead of plodding along through the distance. Today I did not start feeling really good until I've run 8(!) miles. I was not having a bad day, my body was just taking its time to wake up. That is what happens when you start getting in shape - the body learns to sleep while you run, or while you live in general, that is how it becomes stronger.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon, then took Benjamin to the Team Provo practice. Jogged a bit around the track, then ran a calibration/break the boredom 600 in 2:02. Had a hard time getting going, I think 90 degree heat contributed to it. Then did 10x100 strides with 100 meter jog back in between. In the first 7, all were in the range of 16.1-17.3. Then on the 8th I saw some kids doing an interval. I let them build a bit of a lead, and then started my 100 with a goal to catch them. Passed one, saw that the other was faster, sped up to try to catch him before the line, almost made it. The time was 15.2. I did not think it would be that fast, maybe 15.7 at the most. Did the next one in 16.8, and then on the last one decided to test my speed. Felt tense, and all I could do was 15.2. It felt all-out this time. Very odd.

So for an experiment I invited Darren (the coach, decathlete, 11.8 100 m PR) to "race" me. He was wearing street clothes, and he was not going to sprint all the way out, just fast enough to make me think I was racing him. With his help I was able to run 14.5!

So here is the odd stuff. In the winter of 2005 I did an experiment to see how much raw speed I could build. I did 10x60 uphill twice a week close to all out, and 6x400 in 63 each with full rest, or 8x200 in under 30 with full rest for the third speed workout. Kept the mileage at 60-70. After a couple of months of that training I was able to run 13.9 100 with tail wind, competition, and a slight running start. Now I do 90+ miles a week, no sprint work aside from quarters at mile race pace, and I run 14.5 with a standing start - not much speed loss at all, or speed gain from the speed training on the other hand.

Cooled down some more afterwards, reached the goal of 15+ for the day.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Breanna on Thu, Jun 14, 2007 at 16:07:14

Sasha,

I am thinking about doing some intervals on the treadmill tonight. What do you think would be good for me to do, longer or shorter reps?

From rdrunner on Thu, Jun 14, 2007 at 16:26:16

Sasha,

I appreciate your comments on your slow start this morning. If I start out at 9 minutes/mile I think I am a real slacker and try to outdo myself the rest of the run to make the average look better. I agree with your comments that the body just takes its time waking up sometimes....If you keep at it you will eventually find your groove and the body will wake up.

From Maria on Thu, Jun 14, 2007 at 16:30:04

I think there is more to developing your max. raw speed than running short reps all out with full rest. You also need to do a lot of drills, plyometrics, jumping and weight training. And it takes more than 2 months. So I don't think your experiment in 2005 was "clean" enough, you could have improved more if you did all the other stuff.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Jun 14, 2007 at 17:30:20

Maria:

I did plyometrics, jumping, and weight training off 40 miles a week for about 6 months in 1991 (age 17). This gave me a 200 in 27.5 in spikes. The 10-fold jump was much better - 27.50m, I am still perplexed as to how I am able to hit the sub-12.0 100 m peer group on that jump, but struggling to break 14.0 running. In 2005, I was able to run 200 in racing flats in 27.8. I also tried weight training in 2003 and measured my all out 100 before and after. My leg extension increased by 10%, leg curl by 20%, and all out 100 was unchanged. Any thoughts on what is going on?

Also, another question - I have noticed that with competition my all out 100 improves by 0.7-0.8 (not just this time but this has happened in the past) as opposed to running it alone. Is that normal?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Jun 14, 2007 at 18:05:43

Breanna:

I would recommend a 2-3 mile tempo run at about 7:15 pace.

From Chad on Fri, Jun 15, 2007 at 11:51:52

Sasha--for the Devine campaign--one option, if people were willing, is to draft a letter to Devine signed by as many top runners as you can find letting him know that they will not compete in Devine's race next year unless this year's winners are paid ASAP and a written commtment is made to pay future winners within 30 days.

From Maria on Fri, Jun 15, 2007 at 14:30:22

Sasha, I think it is normal to run 0.7-0.8 faster in 100 with competition. I don't remember my HS/college training times for 100, but I remember running 6-8x150m (with full walking rest) in ~22, rarely 21.5, and it felt all out. That only translates to 14.0-14.5 in 100, yet I was consistently running 13.2-13.4 in races.

Regarding the reason why your 10-fold jump is so much ahead of your 100m speed, I have no idea really. They are closely correlated and it's noted in training literature, at least in Russian literature (that's why our coaches always used 10-fold jump and standing long jump as prediction tools). Perhaps, there are some neural mechanisms involved in being able to fire muscles very quickly that are only engaged in running vs. jumping. It would be really helpful if you can be tested in a lab on all possible tests. Then you'd have a better picture and some data to try and explain this mismatch. I'm perplexed myself how I was able once to run < 14 sec. for 100, and now can barely do 19! Even my very first 100m race just 2 months after I started training at 14 years old was 15.3. Maybe the age is to blame, I don't know. It sure is not encouraging though. I'm trying now to get into some track meets and run shorter distances to see if I can improve my speed a little without losing whatever aerobic capacity I have.

From Maria on Thu, Jun 21, 2007 at 14:15:11

Sasha,

I got first experimental data on the subject of all out srpinting in competition. Pretty shocking results for me in 200m race - check my blog. Any thoughts?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.370.500.006.0016.87

Let's start with the blog campaign message for Devine Racing - pay your runners! Any ideas of the most effective way to get the money out of them? I find this feet dragging on the pay check particularly upsetting. It is not just a matter of a few hundred or a thousand dollars to feed the starving runner ( neither Nick, nor Steve, or Hobbie are rolling in dough), it is a matter of respect. We talk about The Zone referring to the last 6 miles of a marathon. Those guys quietly put themselves in The Zone every day to run as well as they do except there is no marching band to cheer them up or volunteers handing out drinks. They come home, they are still in The Zone and they have to do what everybody else does. The pay check for this is very minimal, losing the kick cuts it in half, hitting the wall with a mile to go can mean no paycheck that day after all the work. Sometimes it is 5 really good runners, the money goes 3 deep, and someone will have to go home empty handed. So when it comes, it is a hard earned treasure. I personally value the paycheck a lot more than a trophy. If I want a trophy, all I have to do is find a race that is sufficiently non-competitive. With the paycheck, there is no cheating - you have to be good to get it. And you bring something home, it helps pay the bills. I cannot quite put it in words, but I feel there is something morally wrong in intentionally taking your time to pay the runners while the money earns interest in the bank for you instead of your runners.

As for the training, Ted is alive again, and we able to lure Nick McCoombs into coming to run with us. Ted ran easy, Nick and I did 6x1 mile on the trail alternating directions with 200 meter recovery in between - very slow jog, about 1:40 or so. The target pace was 5:20. I got the inspiration for this from analyzing the training of Chris Rogers. I noticed that while not being fit to do so, he would run at 6:29 pace on a hard course, and call it easy. I wondered why, then realized this is probably how fast he ran in college on on his easy runs, and the memory of that was driving him. In this case, it was doing him harm, but I was inspired by the idea of building a muscle memory to trick the body into thinking 5:20 is threshold.

We did 5:16.7 - 5:17.1 - 5:17.9 - 5:19.2 - 5:21.2 - 5:19.2. The pace kept getting more and more uncomfortable for me, Nick was fine. After 4, I decided to run the 5th one a bit easier. We hit the half in 2:42. I felt so much better. Then I was able to push in on the second half in 2:39. On the last one, I decided to follow the same approach. We hit the first quarter in 1:22, then 1:21, that felt so much more comfortable. Then the final 0.5 hard. Steady pace - 1:18, 1:18. That felt like a near death experience (as opposed to just very hard). Afterwards, I told Nick and Ted the workout  overall was comfortably painful. Nick remarked than only an endurance athlete would know what that  means.

Ran with the kids in the evening + another 1.5 with the double stroller. Benjamin went through all 18 gears of a semi truck starting out at 9:30 pace and finishing at 6:40. His last mile was 7:16, and his last 0.5 was 3:25.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Scott Browning on Fri, Jun 15, 2007 at 00:39:00

The most effective way to get the attention of Devine is start a write-in campaign to local media outlets. This is not the first time they have not paid and they got crucified for it last year. The community needs to know that Devine is not acting in the best interest of the competitors. If the media outlets receive well written statements, they should report on it. I believe Chad has some connection with the media. I agree with you, that it is a matter of respect, but it also a matter of business ethics. I know of no other race that refuses to pay or reward their participants as agreed upon. In my opinion, Scott Kerr needs to go, and some well written letters to Chris Devine may make him rethink his decision to leave incompetence in place. Let me know what you need.

From Scott Browning on Fri, Jun 15, 2007 at 01:10:22

I just read your comment on lateral lumbar correction. I have not done much with lateral adjustment, I understand what you are trying to accomplish and have read up a little on the Pettibon method, but I am not familiar with other methods to correct abnormal curvature. I think there is a lot to be said for identifying potential mechanical limitations to optimal performance, but to what degree they can be corrected I am not sure. My brother has a PhD in Biomechanics, I will pose the question to him and see what he has to say. His area of expertise is in gait and has significant research in sport both as a former pro triathlete and researcher. He may have some interesting insight into what you are looking for. I will let you know what I find out. I want to thank you again for creating the blog, it has been nothing but positive!!!!

From ashman on Fri, Jun 15, 2007 at 08:37:39

I left a message with Bill Gephardt and as of today there is an attorney who is sympathetic and has agreed to do some things for us pro bono.

From ashman on Fri, Jun 15, 2007 at 09:10:27

Next stop, Mayor Andersen's office and the newspapers. The sick thing about it is they probably justify it in their minds by calling it part of their buisness strategy, while in the mean time laughing all the way to the bank as they count their six-figure salaries.

From Mike K on Fri, Jun 15, 2007 at 13:52:38

It doesn't help for this year but no one should run Devine's race next year. When asked about the SLC Marathon by non runners or more recreational runners tell them why you don't run it. Look at this year's winning time. It is obvious that Devine has fallen out of favor with national class runners. Do we local runners have the willpower to walk away from a paycheck to make a point. Ogden pays better for a sub 2:30 than SLCM (not that I have ever won money in SLCM). Ogden gives comps and has a training series. I would rather see Park City replace SLCM in the late spring.

Maybe a good race could replace it but I don't believe Devine can put on a good race.

From Dallen on Fri, Jun 15, 2007 at 16:59:13

I ran the now defunct Chicago big 10K in 2005. Sweatshirts were promised to the age group placers. After waiting through the delayed awards ceremony it was announced that they would be mailed. It never came. I didn't really want it, but there is a principal behind not giving the promised awards.

They still run the 10,000 runner Chicago half marathon every fall. I might find a way to pass the word out here in Chicago

From ashman on Fri, Jun 15, 2007 at 20:38:01

Sounds good Dallen. Anything you can do would help in some way. Thanks!

By the way, I just received my award from Ogden Marathon with a free pair of running shoes. It is nice to know that there are races all over that have integrity and that Devine racing is just a bad apple in the barrel probably.

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Jun 16, 2007 at 00:59:25

Ha ha, I will retain my boycott of Devine events, no problem. After a mere 3 weeks, I too received my paycheck from Ogden. I've run Ogden 3 times now, and I'll gladly run it again.

From James on Sat, Jun 16, 2007 at 09:25:19

I will never run any of Devine's races, they are an absolute joke! I thought that Hobbie would have learned his lesson last year after having to get Gephardt in November to finally get his money. Besides not paying people, the other thing that they do is mess up half of the other races and marathons by changing when they have their race every year. I hope Steve gets his money, but it should be a lesson learned to everyone.

From Michael on Sat, Jun 16, 2007 at 22:02:35

Hope you can make a differance, agree they should pay their runners considering all the money their company and execs get. (Not that I will ever get a prize money yet alone a ribbon)

Keep up all the good running miles. I admire your dedication and effort

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.790.250.000.0015.04

Easy run with Ted and Nick in the morning. 10.04 in 1:11:55. Picked it up on the last quarter to beat the 1:12:00 guy, ran it in 1:26.

Ran with the kids in the evening and added more to make it 5 miles. Provo River 10 miler tomorrow. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Aaron on Sat, Jun 16, 2007 at 15:22:09

Sasha, question about lactate tolerance. When doing an LT workout, does a person get the same effect regardless of whether he's in the upper or lower range of the anaerobic HR zone? I ask because looking back through my logs I find myself hanging out around 168 (~80% MHR)--it's only when I inch up to 179-180 that I remember feeling like I'm "pushing it." Granted the "pushing it" has its own benefit for muscular development. But in terms of building endurance, is 80% more or less as good as 90%?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jun 18, 2007 at 13:46:17

Aaron - I think a good strategy is to start your tempo run slower than threshold, and gradually increase the pace as you go. Many coaches believe that crossing the threshold is a no-no for a tempo run. I do not necessarily agree with it. There is some research that shows there is really no such thing as a hard threshold. They had some Kenyan runners do a tempo, and measured their blood lactate - it kept going up well into the forbidden zones, while they felt comfortable and had no problem sustaining the pace. As for myself, I've noticed I have two thresholds. The first one limits my half-marathon (HR 158) speed until I do some lactic acid tolerance workouts (hard 400s), and then it goes up - I can push my HR higher (to 163), it feels exceptionally miserable, but I can race a half-marathon at that pace. Then the first threshold becomes my marathon pace.

From Aaron on Mon, Jun 18, 2007 at 15:48:47

Sasha, thanks. That helps a lot.

Race: Provo Riverwoods 10 Miler (10 Miles) 00:54:13, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.240.0010.000.0017.24

Ran the Provo Riverwoods 10 miler. 54:13, 1st place. 1:08 slower than last year. I wondered why, since I did not feel any worse - both times running with tired legs, but this year not anymore than last year. Checked the weather reports - this year the last 5 miles were done with the temperatures of 75-77 while last year it was only 60. That probably explains the slowdown. I was 16:46 at 3.23 mark this year, which was about 20 seconds faster than last year, and is only 18 seconds slower than my record for that stretch done with Steve's help. Afterwards, I felt strong, but lazy, probably from the heat as well as from the fatigue of high mileage. Managed to keep my head above water, though - kept most mile splits under 5:30, hit the standard 3 mile tempo stretch from Nunn's to the mouth of the Canyon in 16:27. HR was at 159.

After the finish, fixed the consequences of the power outage with the timing system, and then hurried back to finish with the Fast Running Mommy. She reached her goal of breaking 1:30 with the time of 1:29:45. 

James and Lybi stayed at our house. James ran 1:08:31, this is starting to smell like he can get a BQ in St. George.

Ran with the kids in the evening.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Clay on Sun, Jun 17, 2007 at 01:28:28

Nice race Sasha. It was great to meet you James too, thanks for your help with my training...

From James in Sunny AZ on Sun, Jun 17, 2007 at 20:00:42

Congrats on the win, Sasha. I appreciated the chance to stay with you and your family and the advice you gave me prior to the race. You have helped me to believe in my fitness and realize I am capable of more than I think.

From Adam W on Mon, Jun 18, 2007 at 00:23:46

Great race. Was there less "company" this year than last? Maybe that explains the slowdown. 6.8 sec per mile isn't the worst thing that has ever happened though. 95 mile weeks! When is your next marathon?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jun 18, 2007 at 14:32:41

Adam - compared to last year, I had better company. There was a high school runner that was still maintaining contact around 1.5, maybe 10-15 seconds behind. I do not like that type of contact, I like it when people are right with me so I can draft, or at least sense and draw on their strength while they are drafting. So I hit the gas a bit on a steep downhill section, then there was no more contact after that. I think the slowdown was primarily caused by the heat - I felt just like I did on the last 8 miles of Ogden - not bad, actually strong, but just lazy, and hitting slower splits. One thing that heat does to me is make me lazy.

From Maria on Mon, Jun 18, 2007 at 15:13:44

Good job, Sasha! I'm sure the slowdown compared to last year is due to the heat. According to Tinman's Heat Index Chart (www.therunzone.com/HeatChart.html) tempreature of 75F slows you down ~2.3%. It probably cost you about 7 sec/mile, which would give you 1:10 slowdown - almost exactly 1:08! I know you said it was mostly hot in the last 5 miles, but it could have affected you earlier as well. Considering high mileage, no tapering and the heat, you did really well!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.601.251.000.2516.10

Standard 10.04 + untimed bathroom detour in the morning. Ran a bit faster than 7:00, threw in a tempo on the standard 2.5 stretch coming back. On the tempo felt sluggish, the pace did not feel strenuous, but I did not feel like going faster than 5:45 on the first mile. Then something got into me and I started getting excited, after the first mile in 5:45, I did a quarter in 1:25, followed by a 1:23. Decided to break 5:30 on the last mile figuring I was almost going the right pace already. Next uphill quarter in 1:23, followed by another partially uphill in 1:23. With 0.5 to go saw that I had a remote shot of catching the 14:00 guy. Next quarter in 1:22. Then saw that with a 1:19 quarter I could catch him. The legs responded to the challenge, ran a 1:17, got 13:58, and 5:25 for the last mile. For me this is very significant, I often cannot kick more than a second or two above pace.

I was particularly happy about the last 100 in 18 seconds, I think that is the best tempo run kick time this year so far. I felt I was able to power through the foot-stuck-to-the-ground phase better. I have been struggling with this problem since my teenage years - the foot lingers on the ground probably an extra 0.05 of a second, and it seems like there is nothing I can do about it. This is probably why my sprint falls short of my ten-fold jump by so much.

Finished the run in 1:06:16. Ran with the kids as soon as I got home. Then in the evening for our Monday night Family Home Evening activity we threw a tennis ball. Julia did 4 meters, Jenny 6 meters, Benjamin 14 meters, same as his softball throw, that answered my question about how the two compare for an 8 year old kid, Sarah threw 19 meters, and I did 29. Now here is the odd part:

At the age of 11 I could only throw 20 meters. My male classmates threw 30 on average, and the best of them threw 40. It bothered me that I was so far behind. During the summer I went to our school's stadium and practiced time and again, but with no improvement, stuck at 20 meters. Then something happened a couple of months later. With no practice I was throwing 30. My 60 meter sprint improved from 11.3 to 9.7. My fighting ability improved, which at least at that time in a Soviet school was a very important skill for a boy. And I won the school 500 meter race in 1:45, which gave me the encouragement to sign up at the Znamenskiye track school.

So figuring that now I that I was bigger, I should be able to throw a bit better than what I did at 12, I was expecting it to be 35-40 meters. After a number of tries, and finally getting a reasonably decent technique, which a thrower would probably laugh at, but I doubt was any worse than my 12 year old one, I was right there at my 12 year old result.

Ran about 0.3 chasing Benjamin home, and then went for a very leisurely 3 mile run, about 7:50 pace. Met another runner. His name is Jeff McMclallan. He is planning to join me on Thursday.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.552.502.500.5016.05

Ran Provo River 5 Mile Tempo with Nick McCombs. The plan was to go out at marathon pace, and if we (mostly I) felt good, speed up to my threshold. Splits by 0.5 - 2:52 - 2:47 (5:39) - 2:50 - 2:49 (5:39) - 2:50 (14:08) - 2:42 (5:32) - 2:47 - 2:46 (5:32) - 2:44 (0.5% grade up on the first 0.3) - 2:41 (1:22,1:19) (5:25) - total time 27:47, last 2.5 in 13:39, this is a repeat of the best time of the season, except it was done earlier at threshold effort all the way with the splits of 13:50 - 13:57.

Afterwards, 4x200 with 200 recovery. We picked a bad stretch, the second half of it had a noticeable rise, about 0.3%, maybe even 0.5%. 34.9 - 33.3 - around 33 - missed the mark - 32.6.

Total of 10.7 for the run. 5:39 felt relaxing, 5:32 felt comfortably hard, 5:28 uphill and afterwards felt uncomfortably hard, and 5:16 on the last quarter felt closer to a near death experience but not quite there yet.

Ran with the kids in the evening, and added some more. VanGoGo has been fussy getting started, so I took it to Computune to make sure it does not let the team down at the Wasatch Back Relay.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.800.000.000.0015.80

New training partner this morning. Yes, I managed to talk somebody into running with me at 4:45 AM. His name is Brent Larsen. He is returning to running after a long break. So we took it very easy, 5.03 in 43:36. Then I added another 4.99 and ended up with 10.02 in 1:19:44. Felt glycogen depleted, afterwards was eating honey sandwiches like crazy. No signs of the simple sugar roller coaster with that much honey. I take this as an indicator of very low glycogen levels.

Ran again in the evening. First 0.5 with Julia, then 2 mile with Jenny and Benjamin, Jenny ran the first mile, and then rode back in the stroller. Found Nick McCombs on the trail, he joined us. Benjamin decided to show off his speed, and ran the last mile in 7:07 to catch the 8:00 guy progressively increasing the pace. His last two quarters were 1:45 and 1:40. I counted his turnover at 7:00 pace - only 200! You would think a little kid would have to turn over a lot quicker to run this pace, but his stride is very wide at high speeds.

Then followed Nick almost all the way to BYU, and came back. Tomorrow I am officially starting my one day training program for Wasatch Back Relay! 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Dustin on Thu, Jun 21, 2007 at 13:32:54

Hey Sasha

I will plan on meeting you at the running store at 90th and State at 12:00 pm tomorrow. Where is Brent Larsen from?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Jun 21, 2007 at 13:34:49

Somewhere in the Utah County.

From Cody on Thu, Jun 21, 2007 at 14:02:11

I am curious what your 1-day training program for WBR entails. I guess I will have to wait until tomorrow to read all bout it.

From Paul Petersen on Thu, Jun 21, 2007 at 14:22:00

Hopeful it involves smooth exchanges and not being in the bathroom when your runner arrives. Heh heh.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.840.001.500.0010.34

First day of my special one day program to prepare for the Wasatch Back Relay. For those without sense of humor or understanding of the context. I am trying to poke fun at the popular trend to follow cram-style training plans to prepare for races. Aside from the fact that preparation for a long race cannot happen within a short period of time, the magic plan is not what does the job. If you are currently running 20 miles a week or less, if you can threw those plans a way, and just gradually increased the mileage based on how you feel week after week training as frequently as possible (ideally 6 days a week if the time allows) at a comfortable pace, you would get much better results. However, one-sentence plans are not marketable, therefore they are not given in popular running publications.

Ran with Nick McCombs and Jeff McClellan. We did a very leisurely warm-up, and then 6x400 with 400 recovery on the standard 400 meter stretch going towards the lake, which is a faster direction. Either direction is slower than the track because whichever way you go, there are small rises and drops, probably 1 seconds slower than the track towards the lake, and 1.5 slower the other way.

Splits - 72.4 - 68.9 - 69.1 - 68.9 - 67.4 - 64.0. The first one felt hard. The second felt harder. The third felt more relaxed, the fourth more like the third. The fifth felt just like the fourth even though it was faster. And the last one felt the best. Since Nick and Jeff have more speed, I let them do the work and drafted behind them. Then with 200 to go I wanted to pick it up, but there was not enough room on the trail and I was too lazy to do maneuvers to pass them, so I just told them to speed up. I did not feel like I was pushing the limits of my speed until the last 100, and I did not feel the lactic bear attack at all, rather I felt limited by my ability to turnover period when I did feel the limit.

Something magic happened to me from running with Nick and Jeff. At first, I was feeling slow, having them around almost did not make a difference. But then as the workout progressed I felt like I started to learn how to pull my foot off the ground quicker, and all of a sudden the fast pace started feeling a lot more bearable. I remembered a workout I did back in 2001 with the BYU track team. After a 1600 in 4:51, then 800 in 2:23, and 400 in 66 - all with full rest, I tucked myself into a pack to run the last 400 repetition. To my surprise, I ran a PR of 60 seconds, and it did not feel like a 100% all out 400, it felt more like just another repeat! It seems almost like the faster guys set the rhythm, and under the right conditions (not always by all means, this happens under special conditions) I can respond to it and somehow temporarily override my neurological issues with the foot stuck to the ground. This gives me an idea - if I could just keep those fast guys around me for long enough, and get them to cooperate to do the right type of workouts with me, that may fix the problem altogether.

Total of 7.7 for the workout.

Ran with the kids in the evening, total of 2.64. Wasatch Back Relay tomorrow. Nick and I will be on opposing teams - I am on MarathonGIS, and he is on the BYU team. I am running leg 1, he is on leg 10, gets the privilege of Ragnar. He will be racing Clyde on our team.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Race: Rangar Wasatch Back Relay (177 Miles) 18:29:29, Place overall: 3
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.800.0012.840.0019.64

Day one of Wasatch Back Relay. Ran 5 easy miles with Nick and Brent in the morning.

At the start in Logan it was hot. Our team name was MarathonGIS (Paul's business), and we had a 5:00 pm start with BYU, Weber, Runner's Corner, and 26.2 Running Company. Runner's Corner had Mike Vick, BYU had Derek Taylor, Weber had an 8:38 steeplechaser, and 26.2 Running Company had somebody fast I had no background on. It was hot - 95 degrees. I tried to hang on with them for 0.75, after that they dropped me. They were doing 5:20 pace in spite of the heat and the hills. Some of them were not fit enough to hold it, as it turnout out later. By 2.5, the trailing part of the pack was 53 seconds ahead of me. I was just trying to keep my head above water with a sub-6:00 pace when I was not going uphill. On the uphills I was down to 6:15 pace.

Then everybody expect me took a wrong turn. Mike Vick and the Weber steeplechaser were quick enough to turn around, and by the time we started going uphill from mile 21 of TOU course towards mile 20, they were with me. They were too fast for me to run with, but they were not moving away from me as fast as they were earlier - probably about 20 seconds a mile or so. Derek Taylor (BYU) and the 26.2 guy never caught up, and in fact, according to Cody, I actually increased the gap them on that 1.5 mile stretch. My split for the 5.14 was 30:07, 1:13 slower than the schedule, but adding about 1:40 adjustment for the heat from the Tinman chart,I was actually quite a bit ahead. My stomach felt sick from running hard in the heat, and I raced to the porter potty as soon as I finished, but otherwise I was fine.

On the second leg Jared Rohatinsky (BYU, the brother of Josh, I guess that makes Josh the brother of Jared, some humor for those familiar with the Book of Mormon) passed Dustin, then Dustin passed Joe Bendoski (Runner's Corner, out of shape due to a long break from injuries), then Jared took a wrong turn on a perfectly straight stretch of road, and Dustin being a bit delirious from the heat and the effort just followed him. I've done something like this myself, when you start to hurt the straight road just bugs you, you are looking for any excuse to turn. I did that in TOU 2002. So Dustin ended up running extra 0.9 in the heat which cost us about 6 minutes on this leg, plus some more on his other legs from the extra fatigue. Corbin (Weber) ran great on this leg, and put on a good gap on everybody. Joe Bendoski did not take a wrong turn, so that put him ahead.

Chris Rogers passed the Runner's Corner girl, and the BYU runner who was not feeling well and put on a good 3 minute lead on BYU. We were able to hold BYU off up until leg 8. After that they passed us and were gone.

I discovered that my shorts got ripped up pretty bad, even to the point where I would consider them beyond usability, which has to be very far. I borrowed a spare pair from Dustin. He really saved my rear end, literally!

I got the baton at 11:13 PM at the Snow Basin ski resort near Huntsville. Paul remarked later that when you are starting your night leg your thoughts might be: Why am I running at this late hour, and not in bed with my wife? Those were exactly my thoughts.

I was supposed to average 5:02 pace on this leg. However, this was too aggressive of a prediction. 5:02 on a smooth 4% grade would have been just right. But this leg was full of little break-ups that went uphill for a quarter, and portions that were only 1% followed by steeper parts to make up. You do not go much faster on 7% than you do on 4%. However, you do go much slower on 1% than you do on 4%, and very much slower at 6000+ elevation up a grade even if it is very small. To make things worse, the bread I brought to snack on in between legs had a very hard crust, and I was feeling it. Combined with the dark this made it difficult for me to concentrate and push hard. I ended up doing only 5:24 average on this leg (41:40 for 7.7). I did not feel like I was working very hard, but just could not put it all together and really go. Mike Vick ran this leg a good 4 minutes faster. He should have been no more than 2:30 faster based on the first leg and recent race history. I was only 2 minutes faster than Nate Pollard on it, and this also indicates that I should have run this leg about 1:00-1:30 faster. I noticed I was getting a lot stronger towards the end. I wondered why, then look at the elevation profile - the early miles were at 6500 feet while the later ones were near 5000.

End of Day 1.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Mon, Jun 25, 2007 at 11:52:56

Good running as usual. Having you on our team is always a pleasure. I didn't hardly get to talk to you, especially like I have in the last couple of relays that we have done. Sorry for running you over in the shute a couple of times, we'll have to work on those exchanges!

From wheakory on Mon, Jun 25, 2007 at 12:13:28

Nice running. You did an impressive effort in the 95 degree heat. That's hard to handle especially in racing events. Way to push through it.

From Paul Petersen on Mon, Jun 25, 2007 at 12:25:52

Nice job in the heat Sasha. I think it will be pretty easy to add a few things to the spreadsheet predictor, including temperature, road surface (gravel, paved), and altitude, or at least altitude difference between training/living and the relay leg.

From Jon on Mon, Jun 25, 2007 at 12:50:16

Nice work. Sometimes trailing a bit behind can be good, I guess. Just wondering- where did they all make the wrong turn?

From Paul Petersen on Mon, Jun 25, 2007 at 12:52:54

Jon, they all went straight toward the Providence movie theater rather than turning left toward Millville.

From Jon on Mon, Jun 25, 2007 at 14:08:07

That is the turn I was guessing they missed- any other turn would have been correctible because you would just parallel the course.

Race: Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay (177 Miles) 18:29:29, Place overall: 3
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.300.005.570.0010.87

Day 2 of Wasatch Back. Got the baton on leg 25, from Jordanelle Reservoir to Oakley. I expected the leg to be a challenge, I just did not realize how much. Got the baton from James and went for it mumbling BINGO under my breath to get the legs going. First mile was OK, was going at a good sub-6:00 pace. The lack of sleep must have altered my perception. I could have sworn the first mile was downhill, but the elevation profile shows it was a slight up. I could not understand why I was so hard to run so slow. But I was passing people at a good rate. Then I saw a runner that was coming to me at a rate that was slower than average. When I got closer, I realized it was Ron Greenwood. I was a bit surprised, he should not have been coming to me that fast. Then I realized that there was perhaps something about this leg I did not know. I was supposed to run it at 5:56 pace. I was running at 5:56 pace, but there was a big hill coming up, and even without it, I was working pretty hard already. Later I realized that the WBR calculator is way off when there is an uphill of any kind at over 6000 feet. You can run downhill almost the same at a higher altitude, but uphill slows you down a lot more, especially if you do not live at that altitude.

The grade gradually increased, but I did not notice it at first, except the pace started getting slower. I was second guessing myself. What is happening? Why are my legs not moving? Did I overtrain? Am I hitting the wall? I am not feeling like I am out of gas, and I should not be out of gas. What is going on? And why is Ron not passing me back? The pace gradually digressed to 6:20, then 6:40, then 7:00 and then 7:20. At 7:20 the climb now became very obvious, but still did not look bad enough to be running that slow. What I did not take into account is the elevation gain and being at a higher altitude. We started at a tiny bit over 6000 feet and gradually made our way to 6500. Finally by mile 5 the climb was over, and I was going again - hit a downhill quarter in 1:25, followed by another in 1:20, and I felt a lot better.

Finished the 5.57 in 35:28, 2:14 off schedule. After looking at how other runners did on it, it was actually not that bad. Ron was about 2 minutes slower, while Nate Pollard was 3 minutes slower.

Handed off to Dustin, and we continued chugging a lot trying to not get beat too bad by BYU and Weber. Did some more running pacing Cody at the end of his leg, and then ran Steve Olsen's leg (30)
with Paul for his cool down. 

We ended up third after BYU and Weber. We managed a 6:16 average, which I consider to be very good on this course. Last year's version was faster - you started at the Blacksmith Fork Canyon instead of downtown Logan, and  you ran a much nicer version of the Trapper's Loop. That, and the course being 7 miles longer. Even then, with that pace we would have beaten Weber last year. But they learned their lessons and brought a better team. So did BYU. If only BYU learned how to follow the course and plan for their runners arriving on time, they would have done a lot better, though. I think they lost a good total of 30 minutes to logistics. On the bright side of things, Nate Pollard observed a BYU hand-off when one runner finished his leg and the other was not ready for him. The one who finished yelled: Where are you? Nate commented that he was waiting for him to swear, but he did not. I do not know who that runner was, but I am very glad he practiced what he believed at in this frustrating situation. You have not slept much, you've been running hard, you are trying to catch a competitor, you've given it all you've got to do your part, and now your effort is being just wasted. You stand there and just watch it go. If swearing is a part of your vocabulary at all, this would be the time for it to come out. If it does not, this says a lot about your character. Weber may have gotten to the finish line first, but on that particular exchange BYU won in a special way.

Ran a little bit more with Jenny riding a bike in the evening. Felt OK afterward, just tired from the lack of sleep. Legs feel fine.
 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Lybi on Mon, Jun 25, 2007 at 17:20:04

Great job, Sasha. Tough legs! (The relay too, ha ha.)

I loved how you described the BYU hand off. Any moron can criticize, but I think it takes a lot of character to recognize greatness in a situation like that.

I see that with piano all the time. Someone who can't play a bit will listen to a student, and note with pride the one flubbed note...as if noticing it means he or she would've done better. But someone who has studied, and plays well will notice the immaculate rhythm, or the perfect pedaling. You must have been studying and practicing self mastery for quite some time, I think.

That doesn't mean I forgive you for compulsively bashing my food plan every chance you get! JK

From Dustin on Mon, Jun 25, 2007 at 17:30:01

Sasha, thanks for the great race and letting us ride in VanGoGo (I hope the door is an easy fix!) Also thanks for the encouragement and information you passed along during the race. I liked your assessment of BYU and swearing. I to was a little upset at the end of my first leg and had to control myself. I hope I didn't offended anyone, by saying shootfire! That is just a word I picked up from my father inlaw, we say it anytime we're in a jam. I picked up "Dad Burn" from my high school track coach another favorite word of mine.

From Lybi on Mon, Jun 25, 2007 at 17:33:00

Dustin: you are funny. Great job on your race.

From Paul T on Mon, Jun 25, 2007 at 18:37:41

I found your blog entries for the relay very interesting. I ran the same legs as you, and had very similar (although somewhat slower) experiences. You can read my blog for details, but I was the first runner to Exchange 1 from the 2:00 pm start only because the three runners ahead of me missed the left turn around mile 3. Your insights into the affects of grade and altitude also helped me understand my experiences on Legs 13 and 25. Congratulations on a great individual and team performance.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.501.251.250.0015.00

Easy run in the morning. No training partners. Did the usual 10.04. Threw in a control 2.5 tempo run on the way back to evaluate the recovery from Wasatch Back Relay. Felt OK, although the legs were a bit stale. First mile in 5:43, then 0.5 in 2:49, and the last mile in 5:29. HR got up to 163 on the last mile. Total time 14:01 - barely missed the 14:00 guy. It was a bit warm - 68 degrees. Last week it was 57 when I ran 13:58 for the same run. Using Tinman adjustment, the same effort today would have been 5 seconds per mile slower than last week. Total time for 10.04 - 1:07:55.

Ran to with the kids to the fire station, we had a nice tour. Then I ran back, while Sarah and the kids played and then walked back. Added a bit more to make the total of 15 for the day.

Got an inversion table for my Father's Day present. Have been trying it out. No miracles after two days, but I like the feeling I get when I run so far. I wonder if it is just my imagination or a real change. When  I run 100 meters in under 13.5 or Draper Days 5K in under 15:15, or hit the Trials Qualifier in St. George I'll call it effective.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From D'Net Layton on Tue, Jun 26, 2007 at 00:44:03

Hi, Sasha!

I am a piano teacher friend of Lybi, and she told me about your 1 piano lesson and your AMAZING ability to play Let the Holy Spirit Guide. You ROCK! It usually takes people years to get to the point where they can play hymns, and to do it after a month and a half, with 1 lesson! Keep it up, and you will have the whole hymnbook learned in no time. Woo-woo!

From Mik'L on Tue, Jun 26, 2007 at 11:41:20

Hey Sasha. It was good to meet you in person! You should update your picture since you really don't look anything like that picture anymore! Good job at WBR. Clyde was sad he didn't get to ride with you and hear all your funny stories.

From Logan on Tue, Jun 26, 2007 at 13:30:26

My first leg's time was 29:45 and my second was 40:17. I was happy with my times. I agree with the heat being a killer though. Great job on the legs that you ran. Keep up the great work. The Marathongis.com team did great.

From Mike B on Wed, Jun 27, 2007 at 09:26:57

Hey Sasha, yes the training is going okay. As I stated in my blog last week - my in-laws came into town and we were extremely busy getting our baby nursery ready, moving furniture, etc. We went out to eat MANY times and the bad food made me feel sluggish. It's amazing how your diet can really affect how you feel. Bottom line: last week was a cutback week. I will update blog soon. I am on-call at my work this week, so busy...busy...busy!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.204.001.000.0018.20

Ran the Provo River 5 Mile Tempo with Jeff McLellan this morning. The plan was to go out at 5:45 pace and keep picking up if feeling good. Felt no problems at first - 2:52 half, then 2:49 (5:41), 2:49, 2:48 (5:37,11:18),2:49 (14:07 at the turnaround), then started gradually picking it up after recovering from a 180, recovery quarter in 1:25, then 1:23, the next one in 1:24 and it felt a bit hard. The next one was still 1:24, and it felt harder. And then comes the familiar symptom of neural fatigue, good old friend, or rather bad old foe  - next quarter in 1:29. I could not believe it, I thought I did my math wrong. Thought it was a fluke, tried to push harder, next quarter in 1:27. Jeff took off with a mile to go. I ran the uphill quarter in 1:27 putting in mentally about a good 1:22 effort although not breathing very hard, and then 1:28, and 1:27. Recovered a bit by the last one, was able to pick it up a bit, and it did not feel so bad - 1:24, total time 28:25, last mile in 5:46. Jeff ran the last mile in 5:33 finishing in 28:12.

I expected a measure of neural fatigue from WBR, but not that much. It is a weird feeling - legs are not sore, breathing is fine, HR is normal for the pace, overall you are feeling fine, except you just cannot go any faster. The only way you know that something is wrong is from your splits, your heart rate being too low for the mental effort, and seeing your training partner move away as if you were standing still.

In the past, I treated neural fatigue by cutting mileage. This time I'll try something different - just train normally, and try to find a way to control it without cutting the mileage. Today I tried Powerade, honey on bread and whole wheat animal crackers, and a nap.

Ran to Computune to pick up Zhu in the morning (1.7), then a bit later ran with Julia (0.5), and also ran with the kids in the evening and added some more (5.8). Felt good in the evening.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Steve Olsen on Wed, Jun 27, 2007 at 01:47:06

Thanks for all the help this last weekend. I had a great time and learned a lot. It was a pleasure to run with such a talented team. Thank you again for the opportunity.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.900.600.000.0015.50

Had a good morning run alone at 5:00 AM. Had a rough time getting started as usual, but after two miles was going around 7:10 pace with a natural effort. Got to the turnaround (5.02) in 37:32. On the way back gradually eased into a steady 6:50 pace. HR was good - stayed around 126 at 6:50 during the later part of the run. Felt a rush of energy with 0.6 to go, shifted gears, went 5:40 pace to the end. Got 1:10:59 for 10.04. The legs felt responsive. Unlike last week, there were no low fuel signals.

I am testing the theory that what I call neural fatigue (the state of not being able to go faster than about marathon race pace even for a mile) can be cured by maintaining normal blood sugar level throughout the day. So I've been taking Powerade and/or honey every time I felt like my brain stopped working during the day. So far I've seen good signs on easy runs and the mind has been more alert. However, the true test will come tomorrow - I'll try the same 5 mile tempo and see how responsive the legs will be over the distance.

Dropped VanGoGo off at the body shop and ran 1.5 miles home in 95 degree heat, but felt OK. Ran with the kids in the evening and added some more.

On another subject - I am looking for a PT or chiropractor that would meet the following requirements:

  • Has practice in the Utah County
  • Has his head straight on his shoulders
  • Individual approach - will not rush you through his standard routine 
  • Can think out of the box
  • Likes challenges
  • Familiar with sports medicine and running in particular
  • Does not think that if nothing hurts and there are no injuries the work is done.
  • Does not easily give up - will not be satisfied until success is reached
Any recommendations?

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From bc on Thu, Jun 28, 2007 at 00:30:59

Sasha, I'm not sure if he is still practicing publicly, but a few years ago I was recommended to a guy in UT county and he was worth the drive. I think as I was being treated by him he took a job at BYU as a PT for the Dance department. He was very good and worth the drive. He was very busy as most Bishops are a good guy to talk to. He has worked with a lot of runners. Henley was a regular. Anyway I think his name was Ron Nuttal, not sure of the spelling but see if you can find him I think it would be worth the research. Let me know what you find. He did adjustments also but was a lot of massage and movement type work.

From wheakory on Thu, Jun 28, 2007 at 00:51:42

Sasha, in your runs you seem to do a mini tempo in every run. If I'm wrong please correct me. Have you see a lot of benefits come out of this? Because I've noticed in my runs even recovery runs I always end up running a faster pace, and I believe it's helpsx me. I know that every run we do shouldn't be at the same intensity, but is a little intensity in each run good?

From Randy on Thu, Jun 28, 2007 at 01:25:46

Sasha, The guy I use to go to is Steve Zike. He is in SLC, like 500 E 300 S, or something, but worth the drive.

http://ziketherapy.com/

From James on Thu, Jun 28, 2007 at 13:19:10

Sasha,

I used to go to Dr. Ken Hansen in Orem, I thought that he was very good. He is on 800 South just west across State Street from Runners Corner.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Jun 28, 2007 at 20:59:25

Everybody thanks for the suggestions. Here is the challenge I am working with. Most sports doctors work in the paradigm of curing or preventing an injury. What I discovered is that the moment I tell them I never get injured, and that my legs are never sore, they are rather puzzled and do not know what to do. What is your problem? Your marathon PR is 2:24 and not 2:10? I cannot even break 3:00! That is not a problem, you just need to learn to be happy where you are, that's all.

I need to find somebody who is good for more than working with injuries. This is a very unusual problem. Not in the sense that people do not have it, but in the sense they would not think of treating it, so there is not a lot data on how to do it.It requires a lot of research, fresh thinking, creativity, and commitment to success. I need somebody who will jump at the chance to make a 2:24 marathoner into a 2:10 marathoner, a runner who is trying to qualify for the Trials into a runner who makes the team, I need somebody who understands enough of the significance of that and will have his eyes open to the opportunity enough to give it 100%.

Kory - the reason I like tempo pickups in the middle of easy runs is that it helps me keep them easy - the competitive drive goes into the pickup instead of the whole run.

From Randy on Thu, Jun 28, 2007 at 22:23:13

Sasha, I still say that Steve Zike is the guy to go to. I have been to many massage therapists and Steve is by far the best. This guy knows neuro-muscular therapy. He is a serious back-country snow boarder and use to be a competitive cyclist (at some level). I was never injured while I was working with him and always felt my times improve. I think he would be excited at the prospect of working to help you toward 2:10!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.702.003.000.5018.20

Ran the Provo River 5 Mile Tempo again this morning with Nick. It went much better than on Tuesday. Felt a bit stale, but no major neural fatigue disaster.

Splits by 0.5 - 2:52 - 2:48 (5:40) - 2:48 - 2:50 (11:18, 5:38) - 2:47 (14:05 at the turnaround) - 2:47 (16:52, 5:34) - 2:46 - 2:45 (22:23, 5:31) - then by quarter 1:25 (uphill), 1:24, 1:23, 1:19, last mile in 5:30, total time 27:53, last 2.5 in 13:48. HR hit 161 on the last mile before the kick, did not feel lucid enough to check during, and too lazy to get it out of Garmin history.

Then did 4x200 with 200 recovery on a section that was about 1 second slower that the track - partially uphill - 32.8 - 33.5 - 33.2 - 30.7. I was happy about the last one, even though I died on the last 50 meters.

Ran to the body shop - forgot to give them the VanGoGo key  shortly after the morning run - this added another 3 miles. Ran with Julia little later - 0.5 miles.

In the evening ran with Benjamin and Jenny and added some more to make it 4 miles. Felt good, no high mileage fuzzy head.  Consumed a lot of honey and Powerade today. Seems like my body is just sucking the glucose in like a breath of fresh air. Looks like my constant blood sugar replenishment experiment is working.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Maria on Fri, Jun 29, 2007 at 10:13:42

Sasha,

just wanted to pass this on to you. You might want to consider linking to the site, or advertise it somehow on fastrunningblog, maybe people would like to help. It is a terrible story, and still very typical for CIS countries, especially his treatment by the track federation. The guy is only 24! Unfortunately, the content is only in Russian. I've seen English translation on one of the sites, but can't find it now, and it was pretty bad (but understandable nevertheless). If you decide to link to it, I'm sure we can translate it, it's not long.

http://www.gladkov.org.ua/index.htm

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jul 03, 2007 at 23:39:10

Maria - do you know how people in the US can send him money for the operation with the info they are providing on the site? I've sent them an e-mail asking if they have a PayPal account, but have not yet heard back from them.

From Maria on Wed, Jul 04, 2007 at 04:17:16

Sasha, I'm sure they don't have PayPal account, and I don't know if it makes sense for them to open it, since mechanism of transferring money from PayPal into Ukranian currency is not clear.

What they do have, is the Russian version of PayPal - WebMoney (www.webmoney.ru). There, it is possible to open accounts in different currencies (dollars, euros and rubles). They call them Z-purse, E-purse and R-purse. I looked through their info, including legal, and it appears to be a legitimate business (but then again, in Russia, you never know!). They do charge commission on each transaction, I think. So, it should be possible for US residents or for anyone, really, to open an account and fund it with some money, and then make a payment to Gladkov's account. His WebMoney accounts (in all currencies) are listed on his website. I just never heard of this service before, so I'm a bit weary of using it (plus the commission fee), but maybe I can try it with a small amount and see what happens. Most of my expendable money is in sterling now, but I still have regular checking account in US, so I should be able to use it. I can also ask Victor Zhdanov, who is also trying to help - he is based in Florida now, maybe he knows some other ways. I've been in contact with him for other things (he is the founder of site runners.ru, and interestingly, the husband of elite master runner Firaya Sultanova, who is running Peachtree 10K today).

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.501.000.000.0015.50

Easy 10 miles in the morning with Brett and Jeff. Brett ran the first 5 with us. We moved along at 8:00 pace with no ambitions to go faster. 8:00 felt fast enough for me. Then with 2 miles to go I noticed we were going 7:12. I was curious about the cause of not wanting to run faster than 8:00, so I proposed running the last mile in 5:45 to see how it would feel. Jeff agreed. We were still too chatty on the first quarter and ran it in 1:30. Then we stopped talking and focused. This resulted in a sequence of 1:25 - 1:24 - 1:25 quarters, and 5:44 for the mile.

Later in the morning ran 1.5 to the body shop to pick up VanGoGo. First 0.5 with Julia pushing an empty stroller, then the rest with Julia in the stroller.

Ran with Benjamin and Jenny in the evening and then added a mile to make it 4 for the run. Looks like I am on schedule for a 100+ week. This was not intentional. I felt really good after my new carbo-reloading routine, and my instinct told me I could get away with a few extra miles. Now that Benjamin and Jenny can keep up with me riding a bike, when I need extra miles I can put Jacob and Joseph in the stroller, and have Benjamin and Jenny ride along - that leaves Sarah only with Julia.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James in Sunny AZ on Sat, Jun 30, 2007 at 11:08:38

Although my mileage is less than 1/2 yours right now, I can actually see how the miles can pick up rather quickly. Congrats on the discovery with keeping your blood sugar at a constant level - sounds like this may help you with your neural fatigue.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.6015.000.000.0020.60

Before I forget - Kris Erickson wanted me to tell everybody that there is no day of race registration for Draper Days 5 K. So everybody who would like to run, register in advance. You can register at SportsNuts  or download the registration form. I recommend everyone to run this race. It is a fast course, but not so fast that your PR crosses the boundaries of what I consider legitimate. I estimate it to be about 10 seconds faster than a perfectly flat 5 K in Salt Lake City. You get very good competition, and I have run this race enough times to where I can tell you what is going on with your training and fitness by studying your Draper Days splits.

Jeff and I drove to Vivian Park from my house. We left his car there. Warmed up 3.26 to the start of the Provo River 10 miler at 7:56 pace average up 3% grade. I originally wanted to run a 10 mile tempo, and the rest easy, then on the way up I changed my mind to make it 12, then 13.1, then decided to make it 15. My body was telling me I was fit enough to benefit from a 15 mile tempo at marathon race pace. Another reason for making it 15 is that it would avoid running at threshold for a good portion of the tempo thinking it was marathon pace. The longer tempo would have a humbling effect with a better inclination to face reality. It would also be a better test of marathon fitness - in most of my marathons I have been able to predict my finish time with a minute accuracy from my splits up to 15 and analyzing how I felt.

The tempo had a total drop of 1160 feet starting at 5675 ft, then dropping to 5200 ft in the first 3.23 miles (3%), then a more gradual drop to 4800 in the next 6 miles (1%), then a drop to 4700 in the next 2.5 (about 0.5%), after that a rolling drop to 4535 at the finish (less than 0.5%).

We were a bit sluggish getting started, but then eventually worked into a nice 5:30 rhythm. Hit the 3.23 mark (wheel-measured) in 17:38, then the 5 mile mark on the course, which agreed with the GPS in 27:31. Dropped Jeff off at 6 miles, he ran back to the car. Hit the standard 3 mile tempo stretch from Nunns to the mouth of the canyon in 16:42. 55:45 at around what I thought was the finish of the Provo River 10 miler. The GPS showed 10.10. I was checking it against the trusted marks and it was accurate everywhere expect about a mile stretch on mile 2 of the standard 3 mile tempo. I think the Provo River 10 miler is really 10.05 - when it was certified, there was no bridge detour. Then Curt put in the detour but did not adjust the start or the finish for it. The detour is about 0.05 long. My 10th mile was around 5:40 - it flattened out by then, and the sun started to come out. I did not worry about the pace, and focused on maintaining the same effort with the realization that now it was going to be slower.

11th mile was 5:48 (by the dots). Then I needed to go to the bathroom. So I made a stop at Wills (11.2 into the tempo). Although I was feeling good, I wanted to stay as far away from running on empty as possible. So I bought a quart of Powerade. Ideally I would have gotten a smaller container, but that was the smallest they had. I drank about half of it. Not wanting to waste the substance, I decided to run with the bottle and empty it as I went along. It turned out to be quite a nuisance. I actually ended up not using it until I was done with the tempo. Had a rough start after getting out of Wills, 1:34 quarter, then figured out a good way to carry the bottle and got into a nice rhythm - 5:40-5:45 pace on a slight down, 5:50-5:55 on the up. The trail got back to the river, and now I was going under bridges and making a lot of turns - this slowed me down to a couple of 1:30-1:32 quarters, but then I shifted gears and started handling the disruptions of rhythm better - 1:28-1:29 quarters. Hit the half marathon around 1:13:50 - going by the GPS and adding 0.05 for the error in the Provo Canyon.

Felt strong all the way to 15, finished it in 1:25:00, exactly 5:40 pace average on the dot. It was very tempting to try to run another 11 just as hard to see what I could get for the marathon. However, I was running out of time, and also there a bit of wisdom that I learned from years of running - Just because you can, does not mean you should!

Stopped, and finished the Powerade. Now I was glad I had it with me. Had a nice recovery jog to get to the total of 20 eventually easing into a 7:00 pace, which felt very nice. Total time for 20 miles was 2:02:50.

Afterwards, ate breakfast and went the children's parade. Ran 0.6 with James (Ted's son) there to fetch the van after the parade was over.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Randy on Sat, Jun 30, 2007 at 16:48:50

Sasha, Nice workout! So what are you training for this fall? I assume St. George. The next shot at the trials is 4 years away!

From James on Sat, Jun 30, 2007 at 17:13:32

Holy miles this week Batman! Are you doing the Sandy 10K with Paul on the 4th?

From Logan on Sat, Jun 30, 2007 at 19:35:19

I would love to do some of those races on the 4th or the 21st but I am already signed up to do the Blacksmith Fork 15K in Hyrum on the 4th and the Bryce Canyon Half on the 21st. I am spending the 4th with the in-laws and over the 24th with my family down in St. George. I am surprised to see you think I could do 2:27 in St. George. I feel if I keep moving up the mileage and continue with speed work it might be possible. I also would benefit running with someone. Thanks for the encouragement. I appreciate it. Great week with the mileage.

From wildbull on Sat, Jun 30, 2007 at 20:46:11

103 miles. WOW! Sasha your an amazing runner! Thanks for all your comments.

From Nick on Mon, Jul 02, 2007 at 17:59:02

Hey Sasha,

Alright, I think I have a general plan to go by for a Utah visit. I am planning on running the Draper Days 5k on the 21st of July. I was planning on flying out (I get free standby airline tickets) on the 19th, and staying in Utah until the 24th or 25th. I am still unsure of exact times, but this seems to be where my general plan is headed. Does this work for you? Just tell me what would work out best. Chad invited me to stay with him the night before Draper Days b/c he is close to the start. Maybe I could stay there (if its ok with him of course) and make a switch directly after the race. I don't have any solid itenerary, so what works for you will probably work for me!

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jul 02, 2007 at 18:21:38

Randy:

The plan is to run DesNews, but approach it more as a training run with a strong finish. After than another training run of sorts at the Top of Utah, and then give it all I've got in St. George and try to hit a qualifier.

James:

I am running Sandy Classic.

Logan:

The only thing that would keep you from running 2:27 or faster in St. George is the lack of glycogen in the muscles. Aerobically you are there, you just need to work on your fuel storage, which you are doing already in your training.

Nick:

Anything works for me. Draper Days is actually about half way between Chad's place and ours. However, Chad is closer to the airport. If you stay until the 24th, you'll get to see the Utah Pioneer's Parade along with the 10K and the marathon. If you feel inclined, you can find me at mile 20 and run with me. Talk with Chad, then let us know what you would like to do.

From Michelle on Tue, Jul 03, 2007 at 00:29:02

Well the 5K on Sat. was a little bit of a challenge, but I had fun regardless of the time, so I glad about that! Fun to watch Clyde run, and good to have Mik'L to run with, a running partner was fun if only for the day! I'm planning to run another 5K on Wed. too.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.541.251.000.2515.04

Ran alone this morning. Standard 10.04 course. Eventually eased into sub-7:00 pace. HR stabilized at 125. Hit the first half in 35:35. On the way back ran the standard 2.5 mile tempo. First 1.25 at 5:40 pace, all quarters 1:25 exact. That for some reason felt brisk in a way, I would not have called it relaxing, but at the same time I felt no urges to run slower. HR fairly quickly, quicker than normal made it to 155. Then I shifted gears into threshold gear. First quarter in 1:21. Thought the uphill one would be 1:23, or 1:22 at the very best, but I ended up with 1:21 again, and felt strong. Another one, which still rolls unpleasantly was 1:21. Earlier I thought maybe I was just being too feisty but now I started to gain confidence in the new level of fitness. Next quarter in 1:20, and kicked it a bit on the last one - 1:16, 13:44 for 2.5 and 5:18 on the last mile. Even caught the 5:30 guy at the very end and beat him by 1 second.

This in and of itself is not a super great accomplishment except that I have been doing this run weekly putting in essentially the exact same effort, and getting the exact same results over the last month or so. I did not feel like I mentally put in any more effort than I did before. What is interesting is that my HR shot up from 155 to 164 within about 0.3 from the time I started running threshold effort, and then eventually maxed out at 169. This HR response was accomplished without extreme mental effort. I also felt that I had the ability to make my legs sore. This may sound like a joke to others but it is a big deal for me. I often find myself in a prize money race in a situation where a little bit more in effort results in quite a bit more in money. I try every imaginable method to push myself to the limit, but the body gives no response. After the finish, the legs feel fresh, and I do not feel tired at all.

The feeling in the tempo was somewhat comparable to running in Arizona in the Del Sol Relay on the first leg. I was running 10 seconds per mile faster than I would have on the same terrain in Utah with the same perceived effort, and I was able to push my HR higher. At this point I feel inclined to attribute the change to a better functioning of the nervous system in response to my efforts to keep blood sugar at a decent level throughout the day.

Finished 10.04 in 1:07:22. Ran a mile later in the morning, half with Julia running and Jacob in the stroller, the other half with her in the stroller as well. Ran another 4 in the afternoon, 1.5 with Jenny, 1.5 with Benjamin, and 1 back and forth watching them play in a park.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Tue, Jul 03, 2007 at 18:01:39

Sasha,

Do you have Curt Catmull's email or a way to get in contact with him? He told me that he would give me a comp for Provo River half, and I wanted to hold him to it.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jul 03, 2007 at 18:16:08

James - his number is 372-7867. Go ahead and register at RaceUtah.Com for now so you'll be in the database.

From wheakory on Tue, Jul 03, 2007 at 19:26:21

Sasha, do you always incorporate a mini tempo in each run you do. If so have you noticed benefits? Usually on my easy days I try to run a few at tempo or MP, and I think its really helped my.

As usually very nice running day.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.360.000.001.0015.36

Ran with Jeff McLellan this morning. We warmed up 2.34 very leisurely, then did 4x400 with full rest (very slow 400 meter jog) on the trail on the standard quarter workout stretch going towards the lake (faster direction, but still about 1 second slower than the track). First in 69.1, I was surprised, did not think we'd hit sub-70 on the first one. Then another surprise - 66.2. One more surprise - 63.2. That one felt fast, but at the same time had somebody told me to finish the 800 when I had 30 meters to go, I could have been coaxed into it. Enough surprises. I've got a race tomorrow. I told Jeff I wanted to relax on the last one, although it was tempting to blast it out to try to bring the average under 65. We did it in 69.4.

Then we ran 5.93 for a cooldown. Started out at slower than 8:00 for the first mile. Then gradually picked it up as the lactic acid from the workout began to disappear and worked our way to 6:40 pace at the end.

Ran 1 mile with Benjamin and Jenny in the evening pushing Joseph and Jacob in the stroller in 9:03. Then ran 4 more miles with Jacob and Joseph in the stroller in 30:16. Started out at slower than 8:00 then eventually worked my way to 7:00 pace at the end.

Sandy Classic 10 K tomorrow. The goal is to be in pain for the majority of the race. If I can do that, the time and the place will come. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From bc on Tue, Jul 03, 2007 at 23:55:03

Sasha does that mean the big bad bear will be on your back the whole race. I thought I might try to carry him part of the way. I don't know if I'm brave enough to take him on for the whole race. I would like to start fast and see if I can hold off a few masters though. With a loop course that has a few good hills both up and down it could be a set up to blow up if I try to be in pain from the start.

Race: Sandy Classic 10 K (6.21 Miles) 00:35:15, Place overall: 5
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.690.306.210.0017.20

Sandy Classic 10 K, 35:15, 5th place.

Drove up with Benjamin. He ran the 5 K in 23:20 according to his timing.

At the start we had Paul Petersen, Hobbie Call, Nick McCombs, and Vance Twitchell . Hobbie took off fast enough for Nick, Paul, and Vance to not want to follow, and they in turn took off fast enough for me not to want to follow. So I ran the whole race in no man's land.

My goal for the race was to be in pain. I miserably failed to reach it. No matter how hard I tried, I could not sustain a pace that hurt. Could not get my HR above 161. It felt like a slow half marathon. On the positive was able to pick it up on the last quarter a bit - hit 5:03 pace according to the GPS. I also felt strong during the race and hit fairly even splits.

My Garmin 305 showed the race to be 6.28. I noticed that both times going around the South Town Mall  my quarter splits started getting very slow even on the downhill sections even though I felt I was maintaining good turnover and the heart rate did not drop. Then the splits went back to more believable values on the straight stretches.

The official times have not yet been released, but Hobbie was around 31:30, Nick around 32:15-32:30, Paul timed himself at 33:03, and Vance was around 34:00. 

It puzzled me for a while why the times were so slow on this course last year. The course is hilly, but not as bad as Salt Lake Classic. I even suspected that Bill had made a mistake in the measurement of the course after I did a rough map of the course on the Course Tool. However, after redoing the map with nearly perfect tangents, I figured out what was happening. This course is laid out in such a way that running the tangents perfectly is nearly impossible (having slow 5 K runners only 10 minutes in front does not help either), and the loss from improperly running tangents is very high.

After the race, Benjamin and I rushed home as we were participating in the parade in Provo. After the parade ran 1.1 to get the car. In the evening ran 0.5 with Julia, 1.38 with Jenny, and then 6.3 with Jacob in the stroller averaging 7:00 pace.

 Made some improvements in the Course Tool. For one, fixed the missing elevations in the courses. That shrank some courses,  particularly  Summer Games 10k because now you are not taking a vertical dive to sea level right in the middle of Cedar City.


Need some empirical data. I am fairly certain that grade adjustment is a function of the elevation you are at. Right now the Course Tool uses the data I collected in Provo, so it is for 4500-5000 feet of elevation. What I need is to have as many people as possible that could measure out a course on a grade at various elevations, and run it back and forth at a hard, but reliably repeatable effort several times back and forth on the same day (eg. 10x400 alternating up and down).

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Thu, Jul 05, 2007 at 00:58:48

Nice race Sasha. Sorry that you couldn't push yourself to that pain level to where you know your pushing it real hard. Maybe you were and your fitness is better than you think?

From jtshad on Thu, Jul 05, 2007 at 11:05:32

Impressive time nonetheless. Sometimes things just don't click...this was one of those days for you, I guess. Keep up the strong running.

From michael on Thu, Jul 05, 2007 at 11:05:47

Good race - wish I could run without pain

What do you think of having 2 USATF circuit races the same day - what is the logic of that?

What do you mean by running tangents?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Jul 05, 2007 at 13:33:39

Michael - Bill Cobler could probably explain the details better. My understanding is that if a race is willing to fulfill the requirements to be on the circuit - get the course certified, offer prize money, and pay USATF a fee based on the number of participants, USATF is quite willing to put on on the circuit. So if two races apply, they get on.

From bc on Thu, Jul 05, 2007 at 15:08:34

Michael,

We try to avoid having races on the same day. We want head to head competition. However, as with Des News and SLC marathon they offer other distances as part of their race and want to be in the circuit. We want to bring good quality races that are well run and accurate to the circuit. It also is an LDR circuit of many distances. So we try to get a broad spectrum of distances, not just 5K or Marathons. And in some cases dates move from year to year. Three years ago Sandy 10K was on a different date and they wanted to be in the circuit they were added based on their past record. Some race directors know that being in the circuit makes them a legitimate race in the eyes of elites and brings usually 150 or more runners to their race. We turn down races every year because they are not organized well and we don't want that. One thing many don't know is there is a big difference with a race that is certified vs. a race that is sanctioned. A USATF santctioned race means it only has purchased insurance through USATF. If it is not USATF certified it is not guarnteed to be at least the advertised length. All boston qualifiers are USATF certified. We had a problem last year with Park City Marathon an athlete saw that it was sanctioned and ran it to qualify for Boston. He was not happy when he found out that the course was not certified. We are open to all ideas and comments about the circuit so I will add yours to our next meeting. This year we added a ton of races to the circuit giving a lot of opportunities to runners through out the year. Only your best 8 races count anyway, if you do more we do offer bonus points and it was our intention to give more opportunities to race and acquire prize money to the top runners.

From "D" Ence on Thu, Jul 05, 2007 at 22:01:46

Good job on the race, looks like there was some really good competition there. I think your course tool is off on the Summer Games 10K, you have it measured at 5.1 miles, it might be a little short, but not 1 mile short. Are you sure you have the right starting point? My Garmin measured it about .10 short. I know Dave Holt, Steve Hooper, and Steve Olsen all had Garmin's also, so it might be interesting to see what they had for distance. But I'm fairly sure the course is longer than 5.1 miles, if I'm understanding your course tool right.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Jul 06, 2007 at 12:46:25

Dustin:

Ruth made the course profile. She may have run into a bug with the USGS service not being available. When that happens, the elevation is being marked as zero, so you are taking a very quick descent to the sea level, which would add about the elevation of Cedar City to the length of the course. Ruth probably saw that and cut the course short. After I've run the script to correct the elevations, the course that Ruth plotted out now actually has the correct length for what you see on the map.

To fix the problem, Ruth or somebody else who knows that area very well should re-plot it.

Michael - regarding your question on tangents. For any given course, there is a number of ways you could run it, and get a different length. If you swing out wide on the turns you will run longer than if you run nearly in the gutter. When a course is certified, it is measured along the shortest possible path a runner could take without being disqualified. During a race, a smart runner will try to follow that path as close as possible. This is called running tangents. The path may look a little strange at times, especially on a windy canyon road with the runners moving from one side of the road to the other all the time. To an outside observer it may appear like they are drunk. However, failure to run the tangents properly can increase the length of the actual distance run by as much as 2%, and possibly even more in some extreme cases.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.542.250.000.2517.04

Ran alone this morning on the standard 10.04 course. On the way out got 36:47 at a fairly even pace after a very slow warm-up quarter in 2:10. HR did not get above 124 although it started getting warm. On the way back, felt like a short tempo to make things interesting. Decided to run a relaxed marathon pace effort not worrying too much about pace as long as it was faster than 6:00 for 2.25, and then sprint on the last quarter to see what I'd get. Did the first quarter in 1:29, then eased into a slightly over 5:40 pace. Ran the last quarter in 71, which gave me 14:04 for the run, 2:36 for the last 0.5, and 5:29 for the last mile. HR made its way to 154 prior to the kick.

Total time for 10.04 was 1:09:33.

Ran 0.5 with Julia later in the morning. In the evening ran 3.25 to DI and back. On the way out pushing the double stroller with Julia and Joseph, and accompanied by Benjamin and Jenny. On the way back, pushed the double stroller with Joseph and Jenny, and directed Benjamin as he pushed Jacob in the single stroller. Julia and Sarah ran/walked back behind us. This was quite a procession!

Afterwards added another 3.25 at 7:30 pace.

I am getting really odd results from the high mileage. HR at speeds slower than marathon race pace is down - that is to be expected. Threshold is not moved and sometimes I cannot even sustain it for long, pace, breathing, or HR-wise. However, the top speed is slightly better and easier to reach, and my kick at the end of a tempo run has improved. Has anybody observed anything of the kind, or would have an idea of what is going on?

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.953.751.000.2516.95

Breakthrough workout this morning. Finally it is starting to smell like the Trials. I would not say a Trials Qualifier is in the bag, but using a soccer analogy, before I had to pass a couple of very good defenders and then trick the goalee, while now it is just the goalee.

Ran with Nick and Jeff. Standard 5 mile tempo. Was not expecting much starting the day with 64 miles on the odometer for the week already. Last night I felt sluggish. So the plan was to run all of it at 5:40, slower is OK if 5:40 feels too hard. Then a kick with 400 to go. This would measure how hard the tempo really was and give a very reliable indicator of fitness without actually pushing it over the top.

Felt sluggish in the warmup. Then we started the tempo. First quarter did not look promising - 1:27, did not feel particularly easy. Next quarter in 1:25, felt harder than the first, but sustainable. Again nothing special. Then 1:22, and another in 1:22, 5:37 for the mile. Nick and Jeff were setting the pace, and I was just following them. The pace did not feel hard, but I've had so many days like that where 5:30 pace early on felt easy, and then after 2 miles I could not sustain it. So I was not getting too optimistic.

Next 0.5 in 2:43, and it feels OK, still like a marathon pace. This is encouraging. Nick saw were ahead of the pace and eased off a bit. Next 0.5 in 2:47, 5:30 for the mile, 11:07 at 2. That felt way too comfortable. HR still hovering around 150. 2:49 for the next 0.5, 13:56 at the turnaround. Still feels comfortable, but I am crossing my fingers. Jeff started to struggle and fell back. Oddly enough, we traded places from last week when it was I who struggled exactly the same way - the breathing is fine, but you just cannot go any faster.

Nick picked it up a bit. 2:46 for the next 0.5, 16:43 at 3 miles, 5:36 mile. Still feels like marathon pace, maybe a tiny bit too aggressive, HR  made its way to 157. Steady pace for the next mile, 5:33, 22:16 with a mile to go. The uphill quarter in 1:23, that brought HR up to 163, but it did not feel 163-miserable. Next quarter in 1:24, feels more threshold like, but still not quite there, then 1:23.

Finally the last quarter. The moment of truth. Was I just fooling myself telling myself the pace was easy, was this a mental game, or a real gain in fitness? Ran 69 seconds - this removes all doubt. The fastest I've ever been able to do off anywhere close to that pace before has been 76. This gave us 5:19 for the last mile, 27:35 for the 5 miles, which is a course PR for me, and the last 2.5 in 13:39.

Ran 0.1 during the day to find Joseph who escaped from the house on his toy motorcycle. He did not get very far, but this is our family escape distance record for all ages, not just 2 and under. In the evening ran to Reams to get Jacob some diapers, then a mile with the kids, and then 4.04 with a stroller and Jacob in it. Met Scott Hillman and his wife Esther. Scott is going to join us tomorrow.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
19.549.541.250.0030.33

Long run in the morning. Ran the standard 10.04 course twice. First time around easy with Scott Hillman. We chatted in Russian all the way, very relaxed, got 1:15:37, HR stayed below 120. Then a quick bathroom stop  at the house, drank a quart of Powerade, and then ran the second half hard. Had a rough time getting into a rhythm on the first mile, but then  settled into a nice 5:45-5:50 pace. Hit the 2.5 tempo stretch on the trail in 14:27 on the way out. 29:12 at the turnaround. The tempo stretch on the way back in 14:27. HR hovered in the 150-154 range. 150 felt relaxed, 154 felt like I was working, but still had some gas in the tank.

It warmed up a bit at the end, I felt I had to put in more effort to keep the pace, but I could handle it. Picked it up on the last 0.5. Timed the last quarter - 1:23. Came back in 29:07, total time for 10.04 was 58:19, average of 5:48. Total time for 20.08 was 2:13:56.

Ate breakfast, helped a neighbor move. Made sure not to carry anything too heavy, left this to the guys with bigger muscles. Started feeling better during the move.

Took a nice two-hour nap, felt good afterwards. Ran 2 miles with the kids in the evening, then took Sarah on a date. She rode the bike, and I ran. Started out at 8:00 pace, then gradually eased into 6:30-6:40 pace. HR at first hovered around 127, then as I lost a bit of water it drifted to 130-132 range around mile 5. It is amazing what a man is willing to do to impress a woman, even if he's been married to her for 10 years. Sarah asked me if I was working. I told her, watch, let me show what happens when I am working. So I ran 0.75 in 4:07 with the quarters of 1:24, 1:22, and 1:21. That felt good, like I could hold it for a while, even though I already had about 28 miles on the odometer for the day by that point. I guess the combination of a nap, proper carbo-reloading, and a drive to impress a woman can do wonders. Finished 8 miles in 53:34, out in 27:32, back in 26:02.

Record weekly mileage, somewhat unplanned, but I felt good, so I decided to go for it.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Suraj Subramanian on Sun, Jul 08, 2007 at 04:11:35

Absolutely amazing.I've been reading your blogs for some time and am truly inspired by your dedication and passion for running.

From Maria on Sun, Jul 08, 2007 at 05:24:24

That's some serious training, Sasha! You got 2 weeks in a row over 110 miles, and you're running some intense tempos. I'm sure you'll see results of high mileage in races. Another crucial element for you is to keep training with partners as much as possible. It is easier to push yourself when running with others, compared to running alone. You also have others to set the pace, so you can just follow, rather than worrying about everything yourself. If you can keep finding others to train with, you'll make greater gains, and hopefully can have a breakthrough in time for St.George. And this includes running to impress Sarah - hey, whatever works! I'd love to see you run OT time, because you so deserve it!

From James on Sun, Jul 08, 2007 at 12:31:48

That is some mega miles for the week! I like your idea of "increasing" to get you over this plateau you seem to be stuck on, but I don't think you are playing your cards quite right. We both know that when you hit plateaus that you have to increase something, time, distance, speed, intensity, etc., to get you over that wall. I think that you would see better results in your running from increasing your speed and intensity on your hard days, and increasing your easy recovery miles on easy days.

I have noticed since you bumped up the mega miles that your threshold, marathon, tempo, and recovery paces are all the same. You don't take it easy on your easy days! You have been running 5:40 miles in your tempo, and 5:40 miles on your rest days. As a result you have been running 5:40 miles in your races, from 10K to marathon you run the same pace. I think if you ran faster on your speed days, and alot slower(7-8 minute pace, with zero 5:40 miles) on your recovery days you would see some better results. Your base is amazing, but you get stuck in that 5:40 pace rut everyday, and I think that is a major reason why you raced at 5:40 pace at Sandy, and you couldn't get going any faster. You need faster workouts and you need to make your recovery days very easy so that you can rest, recover, and get stronger. The major principle in "overload" is rest. If you overload and your muscles don't have a chance to completely recover, then you will get stuck in a rut, if not decrease in strength. I think that you can make a good run at the trials this year, and you definitly deserve it, but if you run 5:40s every day like you are you won't run much more than 5:40s in St. George 2:25-2:28. I would love to be stuck in that 5:40 marathon rut myself, but you have more potential than that. These are just my observations as of late. I would love to see you break that wall, but I think you need to break through that 5:40 wall to reach your goals.

From bc on Mon, Jul 09, 2007 at 17:46:45

Sasha when I got the results for Sandy I saw you listed as unknown runner but took care of it in the LDR scoring.

Bill

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.040.000.250.0018.29

Ran alone this morning. Decided to be extra-cautious and skip the 2.5 tempo I normally do Monday mornings. When you start getting into a good shape, you are usually just one wrong step away from an injury. Started out at a slower than 9:00 pace. After about half a mile, eased into 8:00. After 2 miles worked my way up to 7:00. When I got to the cow field stretch, the fly were out in full sway. So I picked it up a bit to get through the mess. By the time I got out of it, I got into a nice sub-6:40 rhythm. I figured as long as my HR stayed below 130 on flat parts, this would be OK. It did, so I maintained it to the end. With a quarter to go decided to pick it up to threshold, ran it in 1:23. Ended up with 1:09:38 for 10.04.

A short while later ran to Computune to pick up VanGoGo. This time it was the fuel pump. Fortunately, it was under warranty. We count our blessings. The run was 2.25, I ran it at 6:40 pace.

In the evening ran with the kids to Kiwani's park dropping them off according to their level of ability on the way as Sarah picked them up. Played tag with them there, then ran back, added a bit to make 6 miles exact.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.800.006.000.0018.80

I think some runners feel they need to match the air temperature highs with their weekly mileage. I've counted 4 runners who cracked 100 mile barrier last week - Clyde, Dave Holt, Bill Cobler, and myself. Back in our old ward a few years ago our Elder's Quorum President was also a state trooper. He told us about the 100 mile club - any time they write a citation for 100+ mph, they put it up on the board and the person joins the club. In that spirit, I am going to start a new club on the blog. Anytime a runner cracks the 100 miles in a week, he will be inaugurated. A word of caution - do not do it just to join the club, but only if your body is ready for it, and you can do it productively. 

Ran with Jeff this morning. 3x2 miles on the Provo River Trail workout with full rest - jog around until the next repetition starts to sound appealing. Warmed up 1.84. The goal was to run 10:50 for each. Did all of them on the standard 2.5 stretch from 0.5 mark to the turnaround alternating directions with the first one going towards the Utah Lake.

Ran the first one in 10:36.1 with the splits (by 0.5) of 2:41 - 2:36.5 - 2:38.5 - 2:40. That one felt a bit hard for me, and very hard for Jeff, although he made his way through it.

Jogged 600 meters. Found Karl Jarvis on the trail. He decided to join us for however long he could make it. On the next one, just to keep things in check, and to keep myself from working too hard as well, I invited Jeff to lead without feeling the pressure to perform, just run whatever pace felt right to him. He started out with a 1:25 quarter. I really enjoyed it, but knew it would not last. Next two quarters in 1:22, then the fourth in 1:19, 5:28 mile. Karl made it to the mile. Now it looks like we can actually hit this one on target in spite of the early relaxation. Jeff started fading a bit and fell back. I continued at a steady  5:20 pace. Finished it in 10:49.6. Jeff ran 10:57.

Jogged 0.75 before the next one. I wanted to make sure I was fresh for the last one. Karl joined us. I set the pace on this one trying not to drop Karl or Jeff for as long as possible without letting up on the pace. Hit the splits of 2:41 - 2:39 - 2:39 - 2:36 (1:18, 1:18) for the total of 10:35.0. Felt good until I started going 1:18 per quarter pace on the last 0.5, but it was not a near death experience like it used to be. I would call it just uncomfortably hard. 1:20 was almost relaxing. Karl made it a bit past 0.5, Jeff fell back early, but then finished strong with the last 0.5 in 2:33 and 10:43 for the whole thing.

Ran back home from the turnaround where we finished. Total of 12.8 for the run.

Did another 6 miles in the evening, which included kids' runs. Each running child got in his own run. It was not a super easy pace - Benjamin hit his 2 mile run in 15:27 with the last mile in 7:13. Jenny ran 9:00 for the mile. Julia ran 5:36 for 0.5.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 00:24:40

Nice workout! That is what I was talking about the other day, extra easy easy days and faster hard days. 5:20 pace is where you want to be for trials training.

Who is Jeff?

From Superfly on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 12:03:16

I guess I get to post 5 notes on the board so far for 2007. I think? I'd have to go back and count for sure but some where around there.

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 13:25:42

Sasha, I think the blog could have a mileage club beyond "in spirit". I always thought a cool idea for the blog would be to have a series of public "Top 10" lists that are updated dynamically. For example, top 10 mileage of bloggers for:

A)the given day

B)the month

C)the year

As people post, the public lists are updated. Also, if you standardized the race reports (ie - have a preset list of distances to be selected through drop-down box), then you could have Top 10 race performance lists for each pre-set race distance - by year and by "all time". I think public summary lists like these would really motivate people at all levels. It may become peoples' goal just to get on a Top 10 list, even for just one day. I imagine this would be a bit of work, but should be doable for a database-driven site like this one. Plus, many other online running logs (your competitors) have features like this.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 13:36:29

Paul - good idea. I'll try to get it done in the next two weeks.

James - Jeff used to run for BYU. His last name is McLellan. He is planning on running St. George this year.

From Cody on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 14:02:52

Great Idea!

Another fun list would be the top ten lame excuses for not running that day. Not practical to implement but entertaining.

From Maria on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 17:02:55

I second Paul's idea for mileage leader board. It will definitely be a motivational tool (well, for me at least). I hope there will be two separate lists though, for men and women, since women are usually running less mileage than men. You can check athleticore.com for one example.

From ashman on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 19:27:19

Word of caution on 100 mile weeks in the middle of summer, Everything works harder for a given pace. Chronic dehydration, electrolyte depletion becomes a hidden snake pushing the body into a state of overreaching and then bam! OVERTRAINING sets in. Very tough to recover from in the dog days of summer. Bill Rodgers never did a high mileage buildup in July, they always took place before Boston in the winter and then in late August before the New York City marathon.

From Mike K on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 23:19:16

Can I join the 100 km club? 100 km club on a treadmill?

Sasha,

Are you planning to go for a OT qualifier at Des News?

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jul 11, 2007 at 23:41:00

Mike - somebody who cannot run St. George in under 2:18 should not attempt to run a Trials Qualifier at DesNews. The DesNews course, in spite of the many efforts to make it faster, is still quite slow. That is where you really get no bang for the foot of elevation drop. My goal for DesNews is to put in a good tempo with a strong finish and not to have sore legs afterwards. On that course this approach gives you a better time anyway.

It also gives me an excuse to take it easy for a week, I probably need it anyway. And if things play well, I might even get some decent cash as a bonus.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.540.000.500.0016.04

Easy run on the 10.04 course in the morning. I came up with a new standard easy run plan. First 2-4 miles just warm up, go whatever pace the body wants. It usually starts out at 9:00 pace and warms up to 7:00 by the end of this stage, which it did today. Then on the second stage, run the fastest pace possible with the heart rate not exceeding 130. This usually results in about 6:35-6:40 pace. Then with 0.5 to go run threshold pace if I feel like it, no HR limit. So that is what I did today. Hit the first half in 36:52, came back in 33:02, 1:09:54 for the run. Timed the last quarter, it was 1:23.

A little bit of motivational bragging about the evening run. Sarah went with Julia to help a friend paint her house, so I was in charge of everybody else, that is Benjamin (8), Jenny (6), Joseph (2), and Jacob (almost 1). No treadmill. How to get in a decent run, get the kids runs done, and keep everyone reasonably happy?

Solution: Put Joseph and Jacob in the double stroller. Benjamin gets on a bike, Jenny runs a mile. She did it in 9:08. Then Benjamin and Jenny trade places. Benjamin runs 1.48 at about 8:20 pace. Then we stop at a park, Benjamin, Jenny, and Joseph play, Jacob watches from a stroller, I go back and forth on a 200 meter stretch nearby for 2.25 miles at about 7:00 average, and catch the 8:00 mile guy for the whole run. Then I tell Benjamin to stay ahead of the 8:00 guy for me on the way back home, and he averages 7:00 on the way home for the remaining 0.52, and almost catches his 8:00 mile guy finishing the run in 16:10. I get 41:06 for 5.25, 54 seconds ahead of the 8:00 pace.

Before that adventure, I ran with Julia, and a little bit more to the church and back. So that gives me 16.04 for the day.

I got started on the top Fast Running Blog performance list - so far just men in the marathon. To make it more meaningful, I adjusted the performances for the course quality and weather conditions on the day of the race when ranking different runners. This, of course, to an extent is a matter of opinion. If somebody has a reason to challenge my adjustments, or if you discover a factual error, feel free to send me a note.

I also got started on  the live top mileage list, but there is nothing to show yet.


 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From bc on Thu, Jul 12, 2007 at 00:32:57

Sasha looks good to me. just a thought and not just because I'm a master. But have you thought of age grading. I Know people like Dennis usually have some of the best times in the country at most distances when you take into account age.

From Jon on Thu, Jul 12, 2007 at 01:02:10

This performance list may get complicated...

From Lybi on Thu, Jul 12, 2007 at 12:05:08

Sasha, I just have to take a minute to say thanks so much for taking such an interest in every single person on this blog! You are a GREAT motivator. I am so happy to see James injury free and running like he wants, and I think a lot of it has to do with your experience and advice. Thank you!

From James on Thu, Jul 12, 2007 at 13:18:02

Sasha,

I was wondering how you were ranking your top runners? Is it a list of alltime best performances or current performances? I noticed Ted is #6 with a 2003 marathon time, and you are at #5 with this years Ogden time. You have ran better times, even at Ogden.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Jul 12, 2007 at 16:30:53

James - check out the Flat Sea Level Ideal Conditions Equivalent column. That is what the performances are ranked by. According to my calculations, my 2:32:00 on the Ogden course with a hot second half when properly adjusted is worth more than my 2:24:47 in St. George in ideal conditions.

From James on Thu, Jul 12, 2007 at 16:39:04

So do you think your 2:32 at Ogden this year was better than last years 2:30 because of heat?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Jul 12, 2007 at 16:52:23

About the same, leaning towards slightly better. Until it started to get warm, 5:30-5:35 pace early on felt very relaxing. The year before I ran the same pace in the early miles, but it was tactically motivated, and I was forcing it knowing that I would have to slow down later. This year around the 10 mile mark all of a sudden I was going 10 seconds per mile slower than the year before, and I was starting to labor. Other runners reported similar experiences.

I believe I personally lost more than 2 minutes on the heat. But a more heat-adjusted runner like Steve or Joe would lose about 2:00.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.430.004.750.2517.43

Ran with Scott Hillman this morning. I figured it was about time to show the 5:30 guy who's the boss over my standard 5 mile tempo. Scott paced me through the first and the last 1.5 of it. It was very helpful.

Splits by 0.5 - 2:43 - 2:38 (5:21) - 2:38 (7:59, alone after that) - 2:44 (5:22, 10:43) - 2:44 (13:27 at the turnaround) - 2:45 (5:29, 16:12) - 2:45 - now Scott joins me again - 2:41 (5:26,21:38) - 2:42 (uphill) - 2:35 (5:17,  26:55.7 for the whole tempo, last quarter in 76).

This is not only my PR for the course by 40 seconds, but it is my loop course 5 mile PR period, including splits from 10 Ks and adjusted 8 Ks. If you add up my first 2.5 K and my last 2.5 K this comes out to about 16:31 5 K, which is the fastest loop course  5 K  I've run this year. Right before Ogden and after a back off week, I ran the out and back  3 mile tempo in 16:11. Today the sum of those 1.5 segments was 15:57.

HR hovered around 159 for a while, then made its way into 163 area around 3.2, then climbed to 168 on the last mile and peaked at 171 on the kick. The best results from high mileage I've seen so far in my running.

Ran a longer cool down - 11.18 for the run.

Ran with the kids in the evening plus some more. Total of 6.25 in the evening. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Cody on Fri, Jul 13, 2007 at 00:48:55

Nice running! Things are looking better for you.

From James in Sunny AZ on Fri, Jul 13, 2007 at 12:12:06

Way to go, Sasha! Looks like your training is paying off. Do you have another marathon coming up prior to St. George to give you an indication of what you can expect?

From Cheston on Fri, Jul 13, 2007 at 20:21:10

Wow, too fast for me. I can't believe all the miles you've been logging. Your an inspiration to us all. Keep up the good work.

From Brent on Fri, Jul 13, 2007 at 21:28:22

Wow, impressive workout, I wish St. George Marathon televised the race. It would be great to have it recorded and see yourself and the other top runners go for an Olypmic Trials Qualifer.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.400.000.640.0015.04

Easy 10.04 with Jeff in the morning. Followed the easy run protocol - warm up, then fastest possible pace with HR 130 or under, then threshold pace at the end. Took a while to warm up. Hit the first quarter in 2:26, and it felt fast. At around 0.4 mark my HR was still hovering between 95 and 98. Then I gradually woke up. After two miles we finally started cracking 7:00 pace. Hit the turnaround (5.02) in 37:16. On the way back settled into a steady 6:40 pace. It was tempting to go faster, but I was very strict on the 130 HR rule and backed off whenever I saw it going overboard. With about 0.64 to go Jeff asked me if it was time to speed up. I was originally planning on doing it at 0.5, but I was getting bored with the pace a bit, and tired of the HR restriction, so we decided to pick it up a bit earlier. Timed a 200 up 0.5% grade on the trail - 42, and also the last quarter (flat) - 1:21. Total time 1:10:13.

Interestingly enough, in 3:40 of running at that effort my HR gained only 20 bpm from 130 to 150. But I still felt like I was working. I think most of the work went into overcoming the inertia. Also, it started to get a bit warmer. When it gets warm, I first start feeling lazy with the HR dropping a bit for a while, and then after a while dehydration sets it which brings back and HR over the limit.

Ran with the kids in the evening. We ran/rode in the stroller/rode a bike taking turns to the swing on a tree and back. Added some more to make the total 5 miles for the run afterwards.

Starting a taper for Deseret News Marathon/Draper Days 5 K. The long run tomorrow will be shorter - 13 miles, and easier - no serious speed scheduled in the middle.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Nick on Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 11:27:49

Hey Sasha,

Quick question - can I have your address to put down on the Draper Days race registration? I want to make sure that my packet/bib is not sent (if they even send out packets) to my appt. after I leave. Thanks a ton.

From Bonnie on Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 12:05:23

Sasha, thanks for the information about Ted. Dean and I were directed to your website by our friend, and colleague, from Nashville - Bryan Shepherd.

Nice site,

Bonnie

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 16:56:10

Nick:

You can use my address if needed - 339 N 1120 W, Provo, UT, 84601. However, I do not think Draper Days will be mailing out packets.

Bonnie:

This is a small world. You happen to know two of my friends who have not met each other (at least to my knowledge). Bryan and I ran lots together in 1997. I always told him that 5:15 was the time we were leaving, not the pace we were going to go.

From Brent on Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 19:16:24

Sasha, thanks for the offer on the 5 mile pacing, maybe in the fall after the marathons. I still feel my best races this year are ahead on me. Best to you at Des News Marathon.

From Logan on Mon, Jul 16, 2007 at 12:29:21

I am glad to say that I hit 100 miles in one week. Thanks for the encouragement and good luck at the Deseret News Marathon.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.662.300.100.1018.16

Ran with Scott Hillman this morning. Very easy pace most of the way, just a bit faster than 8:00. Chatted in Russian, told him some Brezhnev jokes. It is hard to believe that I am old enough to remember Brezhnev speaking on TV. There were 4 channels available in Moscow back in the early 80s, and he would be on 3 of them at the same time. I am not sure if the 4th had him too. One of the jokes goes like this - a man is watching TV in Moscow. First channel - Brezhnev. He tries another - Brezhnev. Third one - same luck. Forth - a KGB man with a fist saying:'"If you keep switching channels, I'll show you where lobsters spend their winter!"

After about 6 miles were were done with the jokes and the Russian instruction, and got down to a bit of business - 2.5 tempo on the standard stretch from Utah Lake to Geneva road, so a slight net uphill. Ran the first 200 in 44, and it felt hard. Then ran the next 200 in 42 and it felt a lot easier. Settled into a nice a little slower than 5:30 pace. First mile in 5:35. After that Scott started struggling, so we backed off to 5:40. Went like that until the last quarter. Then picked it up a bit, and even more on the last 100 - ran in it in 16 seconds. Total time 13:56, last mile in 5:30 thanks to the kick.

Scott was really out of it afterwards for a bit - he laid on the ground and said he was dead. The Russian word for Sunday literally translates as Resurrection. So I told him in Russian that there was a reason for the day  after Saturday to be called the day of the Resurrection. That got him up and we finished the rest of the run. Ended up with a 13.16 total in 1:37:10, incidentally, just a bit over the half marathon.

Middle distance runners (Scott being one of them) are interesting creatures. On Thursday, after a warm-up of 2.84 Scott was able to do 2x1.5 at sub-5:20 pace with hardly any apparent struggle. So I thought 2.5 at 5:35-5:40 pace would be anywhere between relaxing and comfortably hard for him. But this time the warm-up was 6.2 miles! So apparently his slow twitch muscles tired out some, and he had to use more of his faster twitch ones more. Today after running 1.5 in 8:26 (5:38 pace) he felt like throwing up. And yet, he still had a kick of 16 seconds on the last 100 meters! Granted, he has more speed than me, probably 1.5 seconds faster in an all out 100. But still, adjusted for that, if I feel like throwing up with a mile to go, I will not run 17.5 on the last 100 meters, maybe 19 with a super-human effort. The difference is that he has some super-fast twitch fibers that do not work at all in a long race or interval. So no matter how badly he is hurting, they are going to be available for the kick. Whereas my fast-twitch fibers are really mid-grade - if I am pushing it even in a very long race, they are working their tail off. So come the finish, I have no kick, I've been kicking the entire race already. However, give me a slightly easier pace to where my mid-grade fibers do not have to work, and I'll run the last 100 almost as fast as I would if I were fresh.

Ran with the kids in the evening, and added some more - total of 5 for the evening run.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From adam on Mon, Jul 16, 2007 at 15:44:57

I thought it was you guys out on that stretch running. Seeing you all out there made me pick it up a bit- I got paranoid because I figured you were doing a 5 mile tempo and would catch me on the return to Utah lake, and I didn't want to get passed! I had these images of you two running me down the being chased mentality kicked in.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.250.001.250.0012.50

Easy 10.04 according to the protocol. I read on letsrun.com today that you are a real runner if you combine the words "easy" and "10 mile run" in the same phrase. Seriously speaking, I think the key to a successful marathon is making your aerobic/recovery run no less than 10 miles daily. The second run can be shorter, but there should not be a day without at least one continuous (aside from brief bathroom/water stops) 10 mile run. One should of course not try to jump into this without proper preparation.

Went through the first half in 35:47. On the way back, sped up to 6:40 - 6:45 pace. Was religious about keeping HR below 130, perhaps too religious. With 1.25 shifted gears into threshold. Ran the last 1.25 according to the GPS, which I think is a bit short based on the splits, closer to 2000 meters (1.24) in 6:52. This felt good in spite of warmer conditions and a less than terrain - bumpy trail in parts, lots of dips under a bridge and climbing back up, lots of turns, and about a quarter mile of straight uphill at 0.5% grade. Total time for 10.04 was 1:08:18.

For the second run, since I am tapering, just ran with the kids. 0.5 with Julia, then 2 miles with Benjamin and Jenny. First mile was 9:39, then on the second the fire breathing dragon Jenny picked it up - we ran it in 8:04.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Tue, Jul 17, 2007 at 10:53:25

Although I generally agree that longer continuous runs are better, I have had a lot of success doubling with 2 moderate-length runs during recovery days. During marathon training I'll do two Big Workouts a week that are 14-16 miles continuous, plus a weekend long run (18-20 miles). Everything else is anywhere between 4 to 9 miles, and allows good recovery between Big Workouts (where all the real training takes place). I think variability all things - speed, distance, and surface - are healthy for the body. See Tinman's rule of multiples:

http://therunzone.com/trom.html

Also:

http://therunzone.com/TinmanMarathonTrainingPhilosophy.html

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.200.000.001.259.45

Ran with Jeff and Scott in the morning. Did a warm-up, 4x100 17.3 - 17.1 - 16.8 -16.6, then a fast mile. The goal was to run around 5:00 pace and then kick a bit at the end if there was anything to kick with. This was supposed to be a practice run to figure out how fast to run the first mile in Draper Days. Jeff's best 1600 is 4:34 in practice in racing flats in college. Scott's best 1600 is 4:24 in high school. My best high school 1500 (!) is 4:26 - in spikes. The fastest mile I've ever run on a course I would consider comparable to the track is 4:42 - Provo Canyon, from the Timpangos Park to the mouth of the Canyon, 0.5% downhill, but a bit rolling and with a headwind. Before doing that, I trained for two months with a middle distance focus. Jeff is 25, Scott is 23, I am 34. I've been running 90-100 mile weeks for the last two months with the emphasis on the marathon. What would you expect to happen in a fast mile with three of us running it?

This mile was on a course that I would consider at least 2 seconds slower than the track. There is no apparent elevation change, but there are a couple of sharp turns, and  slight barely noticeable rises and drops. We started at the mile mark of the standard 5 mile tempo and finished at the 2 mile mark.

Scott set the pace in the first 200 (more precisely 0.125) - 34. Too fast, and I felt it. Then we eased off closer to the target pace. 70 at the quarter, 2:24 at the half (74),  3:37 at 0.75 (73). Scott started pushing the pace, and I was somewhat happy to go with him. So we got into a bit of a duel and dropped Jeff. Next 200 in 35, followed by the last one in 34. Scott lost some steam with 100 to go, so I pulled away just holding a steady pace. This gave me 69 for the last quarter, and 4:46.6 for the mile. HR maxed out at 173. Scott finished in 4:47, Jeff got 4:48.

While I've run this fast before, I've never felt that good after running this type of effort. When I ran my 4:42 mile, it took a good 3-4 minutes of jogging before my breathing returned to normal. My legs were like led for the rest of the workout. It felt like a good all out mile. My splits were 68 - 70 - 72 - 72, as opposed to 70 - 74 - 73 - 69, which also is a sign of a lesser exertion in the latter run.

Ran a cool-down - total of 8.2 for the run. Then in the afternoon ran 0.25 to find Joseph - he escaped again. The kids were sick today with a stomach flu, all except Jenny. So she and I ran a mile in the evening.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Maria on Wed, Jul 18, 2007 at 02:26:48

Great time in the mile, Sasha! It is impressive, but hardly surprising, despite you being in marathon training. It just shows you have gone on to another level. High mileage is known to produce qualitative shifts across the board, starting from 800m and up. Speedwork can sharpen you and bring that time down more, but now your body "plumbing" is able to sustain faster pace with the same effort as before. You should feel it in your next race.

From James on Wed, Jul 18, 2007 at 11:44:59

Nice mile! I used to be a pretty decent miler a few years ago, but I don't know if I could run a sub 4:50 right now. Where did you do your speed mile?

I did get that course tool to work finally. I was using the newest version of Internet Explorer and all I would get was a blank gray box. When I used Mozilla is worked fine. Paul gave me the idea this morning on our run together.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jul 18, 2007 at 11:59:48

James - it was on the Provo River Trail goings towards the Utah Lake from the 1 mile mark of Provo River 5 Mile Tempo. Hawk, or somebody under his supervision, wheeled that stretch and marked every 1/16th of a mile with the standard Hawk triangles. I have re-wheeled it to verify the accuracy of the marks.

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Jul 18, 2007 at 12:01:19

Nice work. It looks like you are sharpening up nicely and will run well at Draper.

From James on Wed, Jul 18, 2007 at 12:04:25

Hawk walks that trail every Spring and re-paints all the markings. It makes is nice for speedwork, especially if don't have a Garmin like me.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jul 18, 2007 at 12:06:16

Garmin is useless for speed work anyway, at least for me.

From James on Wed, Jul 18, 2007 at 13:59:33

How do you get the elevation to come up on the course tool? Everyone else seems to show their elevation and mine just says 0.00.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Jul 18, 2007 at 14:10:33

James:

Looks like you are running into one of the intermittent failures of USGS server, which I use to get the elevations. Just save the course, and load it up again - on save my code will re-try zero elevation lookups and will succeed if USGS server cooperates. If that does not work, just try again 5 minutes later.

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Jul 18, 2007 at 14:16:54

I'm having the same issue. The USGS server is notorious unstable. Not only is their elevation web service reliable, but it's often difficult to retrieve raw GIS data as well. Tax dollars at work...

From Adam W on Wed, Jul 18, 2007 at 16:19:51

Exciting recap of your workout, like watching a movie. Good effort and good time.

From James in Sunny AZ on Wed, Jul 18, 2007 at 22:04:23

Impressive workout, Sasha. Your entries over the last couple of weeks have been encouraging. Sounds like the higher mileage is paying dividends for you. What was your 5K PR again? Based on your mile effort, what pace do you feel is sustainable at Draper Days?

From James on Thu, Jul 19, 2007 at 11:22:09

Sasha,

I just talked to Curt today and he is giving me a comp for Provo Canyon. I guess he was serious afterall, so I'll be down for that. I am kind of excited since I haven't done it in several years. That is where my half marathon PR is.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Jul 19, 2007 at 11:57:03

James - I consider 15:37 in Draper Days 2004 my true 5 K PR. I've run it faster on courses with extreme downhill. Draper Days is 0.4% net downhill with some uphill involved. I consider it 10 seconds faster than a perfectly flat course at the same elevation. I would probably equate my 15:37 performance to about 15:20 at an ideal sea-level course in ideal conditions.

Based on my recent workouts, I have a very good shot at setting a PR in Draper Days this year.

From Clay Simmons on Thu, Jul 19, 2007 at 12:38:28

You guy's are a bunch of animals. Good luck this weekend, run like the wind. I wish I was 15 years younger and I might have a chance against you kids, then again probably not.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.002.500.000.0010.50

Easy 8 miles in the morning with a short tempo in the middle. Originally wanted to do just a mile. Then I thought I'd be too far away from home when I ended the tempo, and this would tempt me to race the 7:00 mile guy for the entire cooldown. So I decided to make it 2.5 - this would put me ahead of the 7:00 mile guy, and would cut my cooldown to 1.34, on which I would not have to break 7:00 mile pace to beat the 7:00 mile guy. Also, even though it takes more effort, sometimes I feel more at peace with the ground moving at 5:40 pace, and today was the day.

So after running a bit over 4 miles, I started the tempo. Was a bit sluggish at first, first quarter in 1:29. Then settled into a nice 5:40 pace, and coasted. Felt tempted to beat the 5:40 guy, but decided to focus on maintaining a very honest marathon pace, and keeping HR in check. It maxed out at 156. Total time for the run was 14:12.

Finished 8 miles in 55:51 still showing the 7:00 mile guy who's the boss.

Ran with the kids in the evening. Total of 2.5 for the evening run.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.900.001.400.109.40

Ran with Scott and Jeff this morning. Easy run with a 1.5 mile tempo. Ran 1.5 in 8:12. The intention was go the marathon pace, and some of it felt like marathon pace, but some was too aggressive for that category, more of a surge during a marathon. Kicked with 100 to go with Scott's help in 17, that brought the average under 5:30 pace. With about 200 to go Jeff almost got bitten by a dog on a leash that was longer than the dog's power of self-control, so he swerved to avoid it, I in turn swerved to avoid him with a maneuver that was more appropriate for basketball than distance running, but we all recovered graciously. I find that with three guys running a fast pace on that trail things sometimes get interesting. I can just imagine the BYU cross country team running a tempo. Finished 8 miles in 54:59.

Ran 0.5 with Julia in the afternoon. Everybody else was sick. Discovered the lack of zip lock bags during clean-up after dinner. Put Jacob and Joseph in the stroller, and ran to Reams and back, this was 0.9. 

Was supposed to pick up Nick at the airport today, but he was not able to get on a flight. He'll try again tomorrow. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Nick on Thu, Jul 19, 2007 at 23:24:22

Ahhh! I'm so sorry for today and all of the confusion. It has been a total catastrophe. I will see what happens tommorrow, but once again, almost all of the flights look full. On top of that, my bags are still in SLC. I thought that they checked if the person was on the plane before they loaded their baggage, but apparently I am sorely mistaken. I will get to the bottom of this whole endeavor tonight, hopefully to give it another try tommorrow. I can't really think of much more that could have acted against me. In all actuality, I would have been much better off just staying at home with my luggage. Anyways, I will try my best to work things out and make it out to Draper Days (which I have already registered for). I am sorry for the confusion.

From Lybi on Fri, Jul 20, 2007 at 13:41:17

Addictive Behavior?!?! Were it not for the fact that I know you are a super nice guy I might bristle a little at that. Although deep down I know you are right... Grrrr. Darn you! :)

PS You've been running so well lately! Great job. I can't wait to see how your Draper Days thingy goes. Do you attribute your recent success more to the higher mileage, or the good sleep? Maybe it is both--you are able to run higher mileage bc of the great sleep? Anyway good luck tomorrow.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Jul 20, 2007 at 14:20:50

Both sleep and mileage are important. I compare mileage to going to work, while sleep is like depositing your paycheck. Without mileage, sleep is like hanging out at the bank begging the teller to up the balance on your account without anything to show for it. Without sleep, mileage is like working hard but putting your paycheck on a shelf and letting it expire time and again.

From Maria on Fri, Jul 20, 2007 at 14:56:49

This is a very good analogy, Sasha! I'm not too bad in the sleep depatment, but I certainly could do much better with mileage.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.750.000.258.00

Final taper day before Draper Days 5 K. I am also running the Deseret News Marathon, and am tapering for that as well for several reasons:

  • I need an excuse to back off the mileage
  • If the standard three Kenyans all run 2:27 this year, 1 minute could be worth $2000. Of course, if all the Kenyans that finish run 2:22 or faster, and there are no dark horses running under 2:35, the taper is a waste of training. But I would rather err on the safe side.
  • Having fresh legs would not hurt the recovery - this one is debatable. One could argue that you can push the fresh legs much harder, and make it much harder to recover. But I think if you avoid the temptation, fresh legs recover faster from the same stress than the tired ones.
  • It gives me a chance to run a good 5 K right before it without wasting a week of training on the taper.

So today I ran alone. Jogged 3.5 miles out, then turned around and ran a 1 mile pick-up. First 0.75 at marathon pace, then the last 0.25 at 5 K pace. Ended up doing 1:25, 1:23, 1:23, 1:14. On the last quarter, had a hard time catching that 5 K pain feeling, so I thought I was going slower, about 1:17-1:18 maybe. So I was very pleased with 1:14. This gave me 5:25 for the mile. Finished 7 miles in 48:39.

Ran with Julia in the afternoon (0.5), then took Benjamin out for a health test - he said he was feeling more normal. He failed it - 0.25 in 2:44 and it felt hard, lack of energy, etc. Brought the stroller along just in case I would need it, and ended up using it to bring him back. So he is still too sick to race and will not be running Draper Days tomorrow. It is a miracle that I have not yet gotten sick - everyone else in our family has already. I count my blessings and pray that they will continue.

Added the Mileage Board. Feedback is welcome, and very much encouraged.

Latest web traffic news - we are now getting about 75,000 page impressions a month with about 9,500 unique visitors. 95% of our visits come from the US, 3% from the UK. Of the US visits, 58% are from Utah (down from 75% a few months ago),  10% from a location Google Analytics could not identify,  5% from Arizona, 4% from Idaho, 3% from Colorado, and 3% from California.

Does anybody have any experience/understanding of the online coaching market? There is a lot of informal coaching happening on our site. However, I have been thinking about adding some kind of a formal arrangement as well. Some questions need to be answered. What should be the qualifications for someone to be a coach? What programs do you offer? How much do you charge?

My goal is to create an environment that allows the sub-elite runners (for male marathoners,  the 2:20-2:30 range) to really focus on running and move up to the next level while helping runners with less talent and experience achieve their full potential. One idea is to have a setup that allows them to work as online coaches. The question is - is the market for formal coaching deep enough for us to tap  into it?


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Scott Browning on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 00:03:15

The online coaching market is still pretty much emerging with most coaches charging a weekly or monthly fee for updated training. The most advanced coaching program I have come across is from Chris Carmicheal - Lance Armstrong's coach. He has a series of coaches working for him. Qualifications of coaching seem to vary quite a bit, USA track and field offers some certs, but that may not qualify someone as a good coach. There currently are no set standards that regulate the coaching industry so pretty much anyone can say they are a coach. My view of online coaching would consist of an interactive web application which allows for multiple types of communication between athlete and coach. Tracking software to not unlike what you are using for the blog and a way collect fees online. In my opinion the online coaching has not been done well yet and has the potential for growth, the obstacles that remain are how to determine if someone is truly qualified to help runners achieve their goals. I could go on forever on the topic and I have done a fair amount of research on the topic, if want to chat about it, call me and we can talk more in depth. I look forward to seeing you at Draper in the morning.

From Scott Browning on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 00:05:41

By the way, I like the mileage chart, it puts things into perspective - cool stuff.

From ashman on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 02:40:15

Sasha, The hay is in the barn as Bill Bowerman would say, taper as much as you can while maintaining quality. You will lose nothing and gain very little training heavily. To back off would be I think a good decision. YOU ARE SUPREMELY FIT! JUST DO IT!

From wheakory on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 04:22:56

www.trainingpeaks.com is a very popular place for coaching

From Scott Zincone on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 05:46:23

Just reading the different blogs has changed my attitude and knowledge towards training. I beleive I would be interested in online coaching. Not many runners where I live. And as slow as I am I usually place in the top 5 in local races running around 7 min. per mile in 5 and 10 k's. The chance to get the most out my running is my main goal. I feel at 37 I may have missed my best years but I am going to give it a shot. And would take all the help and advice I could get. Especially from someone who would be able to analyze my workouts and push me to do more. Even if it is an online coach and someone I may never meet in person.

I do feel silly though seeing my cross training miles in a top mileage running chart since I have not run a step in the last 3 months.

From Maria on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 09:40:58

I've been working with an online coach since mid '05 and, in combination with this site, I believe it was highly beneficial for me. I'm somewhat familiar with the world of online coaching, and I can confirm Scott B. assessment: it's not a regulated industry. You can have no qualifications whatsoever, but if you manage somehow to get clients, there's no one to stop you from coaching. Most coaches do have USATF certifications, at least level II, but it's not a requirement. There are several online businesses that are known nationwide (US), but a lot exist more locally, centered around running stores and clubs. I'm not aware of any online coaching in UK, but I'm sure they exist. Charges vary, but I'd say most are now ~100/month or ~300/quarter. Some charge monthly, others quarterly, saying that you can only see results in a few months. Levels of service vary too - some have bronze, silver, gold type of packages with increasing levels of interaction and increasing prices, others have just one offering with 24x7 access by phone, email and/or IM. Carmichael's is indeed one of the better known businesses, although I've read that quality of coaches can vary wildly. If you're a high-performing athlete and pick a premium package, you get top coaches, otherwise, you may get an entry level coach.

I think your idea is good, and I support it, although I have some reservations. First, being a sub-elite athlete does NOT mean a person would be a good coach. He would probably be more experienced with his own running, but I think it's more important that the coach has solid understanding of physiology and training methods, and some coaching experience already, regardless of their own achievements. Second, if you think that it is possible to make a living solely by means of online coaching, you may be too optimistic. It is possible for a well established coach with many clients (and possibly other coaches working for him), but initially athletes should plan to supplement their income by other means. It doesn't mean this shouldn't be pursued, just that people need to be realistic.

If you want to take a look at some sites, let me know, and I'll dig out my list.

From Maria on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 10:29:14

Sasha, on another note, I checked again, and Alexander Gladkov's site has now English version, and international currency account information. With 9,500 unique visitors a month and so many hits, it may make a difference!

http://www.gladkov.org.ua/index_en.htm

From James in Sunny AZ on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 10:58:28

Sasha,

Love the new mileage chart! I am amazed to see where my weekly mileage stacks up in comparison to others. I had also mentioned in my blog I thought it would be neat if there were a way to reset the mileage counter on trainers and racers to account for new shoes that you buy. Some may have more than 2 pairs they rotate, who knows - but it seems like this would be a good way to be able to see how many miles you have gotten out of your trainer. Also, I though there used to be a year view in a chart format - don't see this any more, unless I was just seeing things in the first place . . .

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 16:20:40

Sasha, the mileage chart is great, just what I had in mind. I think it will serve to both motivate people and help track progress. For instance, I can already see that I have ran several hundred more miles than last year! Also, I'm neck-and-neck with Dave Holt for miles this year, which is kind of fun.

Regarding coaching, I've seen online coaching for as low as $60/month, but most qualified coaches go for well over $100/month. I think someone with zero coaching background and whose only qualifications are being "fast" would have to charge less than that until they built up a worthy "portfolio". People with lots of formal coaching experience may be able to charge more.

From James on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 16:26:36

Sasha,

How do you hyperlink the course tool to your entry, for those of us who aren't to computer savvy.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 18:10:09

James - look at the top of the Edit Entry screen - it has an example. Also, you can use the same syntax in the comments.

From James on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 18:16:38

I like the mileage chart too. It is interesting to see and compare weekly, monthly, and yearly mileage.

From Adam W on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 21:22:11

Sasha,

The mileage chart is a good idea. I think runners like all different levels of competition. One comment, when I plan out my weeks I plan them Mon-Sun, I know a few other people on the blog do this as well. Not that it makes a huge difference but is it possible to have the choice of seeing the "weekly" mileage broken down with different start days. I have no experience with programing so I do not know how much of a challenge this would be. Thanks!

From Bc on Mon, Jul 23, 2007 at 11:16:57

i would also like to start my weeks on Monday. For the seventh day was Sunday a day of rest. I think I heard that some where. Sunday is not the first day for me.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jul 23, 2007 at 14:04:55

Everybody thanks for the feedback. Maria - I have created a News/Special Announcements section and put a link to Alexander Gladkov's site there. This would hopefully give them some traffic, and maybe generate some donations. It would really help if they had a PayPal account, though. A lot of people would be happy to send a few bucks, but not many will take hours to do it.

Bill, Adam - to change the system to start the week on Monday will take 2-3 hours of work. The code that controls the start of the week was written a long time ago, and the logic is scattered all over the place. I will take care of it once I collect enough reasons for a full rewrite of that code, but for now there are some other priorities in the development.

Race: Draper Days 5 K (3.107 Miles) 00:16:04, Place overall: 6
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.400.000.003.309.70

Draper Days 5 K, 16:04, 6th place.

Caught a bit of a bug that my kids had, but not too bad. Felt a bit dehydrated during the night, got up a few times to drink, eyes a bit tender and throat a bit scratchy. Was concerned about how that was going to affect the race, but I do not think it was a major factor.

Warmed up with Paul, Cody, and Scott Browning the Siren. Noticed HR was high, probably had to do with 75-80 degrees at the start. Felt sluggish, again probably for the same reason.

Was concerned about the stomach, it felt a bit funny, but probably more from the heat than from the infection. Nevertheless, decided to stick with the plan - follow Paul until I can't, then survive. Figured if this plan produced some vomit, well, this will be the first time I've ever vomited during a race in over 22 years of running. At least I would go away knowing that I've done my best.

The heat was affecting not just me, so we all started slow. After about a quarter, Nick McCombs, Seth Wold (wearing Nick Miller's bib for some odd reason), and Paul started to pull away. This was not a good situation - Paul being dragged ahead by Nick and Seth, this means he'll keep the pressure on trying to catch them or at least keep them within reach. I considered staying back with Neil Gassmann, but figured if I were to have a shot against him, I need to have a safety buffer. If I stay with him, it will amount to signing a verdict of defeat right away. So I went with Paul.

Nick and Seth gapped us by a bit. I made it to the mile - we hit it in 4:40. This is slow for that mile, it is 2% downhill, so at that point I knew this was not going to be a fast race for anybody. After that, I did not have the juice to run with Paul anymore, and backed off. Tried to make the pack not want to catch me, it kind of worked for a while. Josh Steffen pulled up. I hoped he would pass me so I'd tuck in behind him, but he did not, I think he was just happy to draft himself. 2 miles in 10:07 (5:27), second mile is uphill.

Neal Gassmann caught me around 2.25. I tried to latch on, failed, did not have the juice, but had enough juice to separate myself from Josh while trying. At about 2.75 Gray Augustus went by me, again tried to latch on, no luck. However with about 200 to go, I found another gear. Where did it come from? Maybe I was finally rested after 2 miles of 5:27 pace? Caught Gray, tried to pass, but he found another gear. Ended up 1 second behind him, and again, just like last year, 1 second out of money. Only $20, but still. 16:02 on my watch, 16:04 officially.

Nick McCombs won with 15:16, Seth Wold 15:16, Paul 15:23, Neal 15:54, Gray 16:03. Ken Richardson was 7th with 16:10, and Josh Steffen 8th with 16:12. The gaps were correct, pretty much what I expected to see, however, the times were about 20-30 seconds slower than what I anticipated, probably because of the heat. On the positive side, I got beat by 41 seconds by Paul instead of 1:06 (half of what he beat me by in Sandy 10 K), and by 48 seconds by Nick instead of 1:22 - half of the Sandy gap.

Turned around, found Alexander Barry, he made me work with his kick - he got 22:08. Then went back again and found his dad, and paced him to the finish. Ran back to the car.

Afterwards, drove up to downtown to pick up the DesNews packet. Found out I'll be racing Jon Ndambuki, Paul Rugut, Peter Vail, Peter Vail's training partner, and Jared Nyariki.

Ran with the kids in the evening. They are starting to feel better.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Superfly on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 19:17:28

Good job Sasha.

I'll be up there Sunday night so I could meet you for an easy run Monday morning before you run Des News. I was thinking of maybe meeting you at the half or with 10 miles in and runnning in with you...Let me know if you want to run on Monday and we can talk then about Tuesday.

From James on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 19:39:23

How did Seth get Nick Miller's bib, and why did he pull up and let the other Nick win?

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 19:42:11

Is Seth still running for USU or is he graduated? If he still has eligibility, it makes sense for him to pull up, since he can't accept money and Nick can.

From James on Sat, Jul 21, 2007 at 19:57:32

Paul,

That is a good point, I bet he couldn't accept the money. But didn't they give money more than one deep? Seth is on the BYU running plan, I think he has red-shirted in track and cross country on different years. He will either be a junior in cross country and a senior in track, or a senior in cross country and is done with track. Either way I think he is running this fall. The reason he was wearing one of Dave Bell's store singlets is because he is from down there somewhere close to American Fork.

From Michael on Sun, Jul 22, 2007 at 14:29:47

Good Luck in the Deseret Martahon, hope you do well against the Kenyans and other top runners! Thanks for encouraging Alexander and me. Sorry Benjamin was ill as he ran that race good last year

From bc on Sun, Jul 22, 2007 at 22:19:52

Sasha, Kurt Black told me there was a group coming from Colorado are any of these from there. Usually 1 or 2 drop when they see they are not in the top money. How high do you think you can place? Top Utah I would expect? Looks like the temps will be down some so it could be a faster race than last year. The construction in the canyon will goof up running a few tangents. Wish you the best, you have been running well. Check out the last verse of Come, Come, Ye Saints -- We sang it in church today and it made me think of the end of a marathon and making through to the parade. "And should we die before our journey's through, Happy day! All is well! We then are free from toil and sorrow, too; With the just we shall dwell! But if our lives are spared again To see the Saints their rest obtain, Oh, how we'll make this chorus swell-- All is well! All is well! Kim is running the full to hopefully the heat holds off for her. It is going to be her second marathon and 5 hours on this course will be tough.

From Bc on Mon, Jul 23, 2007 at 11:21:32

Sasha, saw that Peter Vail is from Colo. so that is probably who he was talking about. I don't know of others coming and I still think only a couple of them will finish. So you have a better shot for good $ Tuesday. Good Luck.

From Lybi on Mon, Jul 23, 2007 at 11:49:03

Awww man! Sorry you got a little sick. You still did an amazing job, though. Even more amazing that you feel "rested" after running 5:30 pace.

From Bc on Mon, Jul 23, 2007 at 13:40:06

Sasha, You love to crunch numbers so I did a little while I'm resting today. We have done several of the same races and both hit high miles in most weeks. So I compared our times in the races to see how we stacked up pace wise against each other assuming our efforts were the same in each race and here is what I found. You generally run an average of 33 seconds per mile faster than me. And we both should use Ogden Marathon as a guide to what our time in Des will be. If the heat doesn't effect us in the negative you should hit 2:28 - 2:30 and I should hit 2:42 - 2:45. Your perdictor is usually pretty accurate, but I think H of H 5K needs to be updated to the new course. It makes everyones comps slow. Do you think my perdiction on our times is close or do you think you will be able to run faster. I would be happy with my time if I can hit in that time range.

Bill

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jul 23, 2007 at 14:41:31

Bill - I think your calculations are fairly accurate. I also agree with your estimation of Heart of Holladay. I had not changed the predictor since the course was changed. However, the empirical data defies all logic. The change eliminated 1.5% up and down + 180 turn and replaced it with no more than 0.5% grade up, probably only 0.3%, and actually a part of that is being run in the down direction. And yet people have been running the new course about 5-10 seconds slower! Is it possible that the earlier certification was not properly done?

I have always wondered how I managed to run a course like Heart of Holladay so fast.

From Mike K on Mon, Jul 23, 2007 at 19:45:35

Good luck tomorrow! It is raining right now so hopefully you will have a cooler than expected start.

I hope Benjamin is better and back training.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.500.001.000.007.50

Ran 6 miles with Clyde in the morning. We did a mile in 5:26, felt good. Later started feeling the symptoms of a sinus infection. Attacked it with Dr. Christopher's Sinus Formula, it was effective. However, it reduced my appetite, which is a big minus when tapering. Nevertheless, I did not try to force the food intake beyond the natural levels dictated by hunger figuring it would go to waste anyway.

Was concerned about running the marathon with a sinus infection. Then I sat down for my daily mini-piano practice (I try to do 10-15 minutes a day), and learned the right hand of Come Come Ye Saints. As I played it several times and contemplated the words, and the context in which they were written and often sung, as well as the final stage of the route of the Pioneers, which is the course of the marathon tomorrow, I realized that the early Saints had to deal with much more than a sinus infection, and many of them made it to the finish. I also felt thankful for those pioneers, and the pioneers in general. Most the good things we have in life and often take for granted would not be available had it not been for the sacrifice of some pioneer. With that perspective, my sinus infection was not a matter of concern any more. Maybe I will run a bit slower, but I can still run a decent race even with a bit of a challenge to overcome. In fact, having a bit of a health challenge on top of a tough course makes it a more realistic experience in the context of the celebration.

Ran with the kids in the evening, this added 1.5 miles. Then headed over to Chad's house to stay with him overnight.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Race: Deseret News Marathon (26.22 Miles) 02:32:54, Place overall: 3
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.5026.220.000.0026.72

Deseret News Marathon, 2:32:54, 3rd overall ($500), 1st from Utah ($500), total of $1000, finally a race with some good financial luck. I have not had very much of it this year. In Ogden, I ran a race that deserved $500-$1000 pay off, but the field was crowded, somebody had to miss the money, and being a bit less fit than the competition gave me that lot. Similar stories in shorter races - crowded field, this is a qualifying year, and the Fast Running Blog has been helping crowd the field as well. Nevertheless, I would much rather see/help create a strong field, and wait for/encourage the race directors/sponsors to make the purse match it than rake in all the money racing against a weak field.

Stayed with Chad the night before. Got to see his wife Heather and his little son Jack. Had a nice visit with Paul and James there. Had a runny stomach during the night, got up a few times. On the way to the race was concerned about that. Why? A marathon is a long way to go. Little things tend to escalate. Malfunctioning stomach means the carbo-replenishment will not go in as well. This often leads to an early bonk. Nevertheless, figured if I run conservatively, I could offset the stomach glitch, as well as the effects of the sinus infection the day before, and still run a decent race.

Weather conditions were good. Cloudy skies, no extreme temperatures.

Got to the start, usual routine, then the gun went off. Bill Cobler went into the lead. I stayed with Steve Olsen, Walter Brown, Jon Ndambuki, and Paul Rugut. We coasted at around 5:20 pace on the steep sections. Then Ndambuki and Rugut decided to take a potty break. I picked up the effort (not the pace, as the drop grade decreased), and ended up running alone. Ndambuki and Rugut wasted no time bridging the gap and caught me pretty quick. At around the same time (near mile 4) we went past Bill Cobler. I saw that the Kenyans were slowing a bit, and caught up to them. We ran together until mile 6. 6 miles in 32:43. HR was very reasonable on that section. Down 7% it hovered around 140, then it was around 155 as it flattened out.

Then they started pressing up the Little Mountain. I decided to keep my heart rate around 160 on the climb, and if I could keep up with them at that effort, go, otherwise, just let them take off. They were going significantly faster than what I could manage comfortably with the effort appropriate for the marathon. I ran the 7th mile in 6:25, and they put about a 20-30 second lead on me, this is up a 3-4% grade. On the 8th mile my runny stomach gave me some problems, and I had to make a quick bathroom stop. No big deal, lost no more than a few seconds on it. Got over the Little Mountain, 45:18 at 8 miles. Just trying to run relaxed.

Hit the little uphill subdivision loop. The Kenyans now had about a 2:00 lead. Saw somebody who I at first mistook for an early started, should have paid better attention to his form, it was Peter Vail (I think). He was maybe 40 seconds behind. He was surprised to see me, and made a comment to the effect of, what? you're third? I did not understand the meaning of the comment at first.

10 miles in 56:40, 13 miles in 1:13:16 (this gives me about 1:13:52 half), 15 in 1:24:12. Then to my surprise I heard steps behind me. Peter Vail was gaining on me. I did not like that, but I did not know what to do either. Then I noticed he was not gaining as quickly on the downhill sections as he was on the flat ones. I also remembered that he struggled quite a bit with the downhill in 2004. So I started surging on the downhills.

Clyde joined me soon after 15 miles. I kept doing my downhill surges, and it worked. First I increased the gap to a minute, and then there was no sight of Peter (or whoever that was). Felt strong 15 through 20, and thought that for sure I would run no slower than 2:30 with some seconds, and maybe even a bit under 2:30. Hit 20 miles in 1:53:42, and it is all downhill from there, and with a cloud cover to make things easier. However, my downhill surges combined with not being in the best health combined with a less than normal taper (only one week of 60 vs 80-51 the year before) started to take its toll. I slowed down to 6:20-6:30 pace and did not feel like I could go any faster. The legs felt beat up, and I felt a little weak (although not terribly). Not feeling a threat from behind, and knowing that the Kenyans had a mile lead and not slowing down was also a factor. So I coasted to the finish at that pace. The last 2 miles seemed to take forever, but not too bad.

For some reason there were several timing mats at the end separated by quite a bit of distance. I assume one set was for the 10 K, while the other set for the marathon. Not sure which one was which. So I made sure to keep running until I've crossed all of them, and timed myself on the last one. Based on that, my finish time was 2:32:54 with the last 10 K in 39:12.

Ndambuki won with 2:22:24, Rugut was second about a minute behind. Steve Olsen was 4th with a low 2:44, Bill Cobler 5th with a low 2:48, and Walter Brown struggled big time on the last 2 miles, but still managed a 2:51 finish. Carol Cabanillas won the womens with 2:53. She hoped for a trials qualifier, so she is probably disappointed. However, I am sure she does not mind a $2507 paycheck. 

Legs were sore afterwards, but I think not as sore as last year, which would be good. We'll see tonight and tomorrow.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From rdrunner on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 14:58:28

Nice run Sasha! Congratulations on the financial rewards! Great job on the mid-race adjustments to surge down the hills to maintain/increase your lead. Contratulations!!

From Mike K on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 15:09:39

Good race Sasha! I cheered for you at 21 from the car. I should have turned around to tell you how big the gap was. Glad to hear you're feeling better. I hope you recover quickly so you can push on with your training.

From Paul Petersen on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 15:11:49

Way to go! That is a great effort, both physical and mental.

From Brent on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 15:21:17

Congradulations, how did you drop the other runner with you at mile 18? I did take a picture of you two as you went by. Let me know if you want it and I will email it. Great job on the cash. By the way, many runners behind the front runners really looked like their quads were gone.

From James on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 15:28:51

Nice job Sasha! We tried to run up to see you after the 10K, but we missed you. I am glad that you posted your race because I wanted to know how you did. $1,000 is a chunk of change, don't spend it all on poweraid and honey!

From Scott Browning on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 15:51:46

Nice Job Sasha!! I talked to Peter Vail, he was walking when I saw him, he tore his hamstring on the way down and bailed at about 16 or so. You looked great when I saw you, good to see you get some money too!

From Clay Simmons on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 15:57:25

Nice job Sasha, with all the hard training you do this was well deserved!! You are inspiring I am truly amazed by your fitness, it makes me want to work harder...

From "D" Ence on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 16:02:43

Nice work Sasha! Hopefully you can use the money for something fun and not something like paying for the door to get fixed on VanGoo!

From Kerry on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 16:29:10

Great job, Sasha! You've shown all of us the link between preparation and performance. Thanks for your example of hard work and determination.

From Chad on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 17:03:43

Sasha--it's too bad we weren't able to see you on the course after the 10k. Would have been great to give some encouragement. Nice job and nice payday. Go buy the Fast Running Mommy something nice (!)

From Maria on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 17:46:49

Congratulations on a great effort and a nice payday, finally! You really deserve to be making more money from racing as you work so incredibly hard.

From wheakory on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 17:58:59

Nice run Sasha and way to grab some cash. Your time is impressive considering you pushed yourself this week with no taper.

From Michael on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 18:26:10

Wow, terrific race Sasha. 3rd place is something to be proud of, being the best from Utah is fantastic and only loosing to 2 fast Kenyans is not bad at all. Your strong training definately paid off. Congrats on getting some well deserved award money

From Superfly on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 19:04:32

Good job Sasha. I had a great time running in with you. I hope your recover fast.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 19:46:54

Everybody - thanks for the comments and encouragement. Brent - the other runner with me was Clyde, he was just pacing/encouraging/getting some marathon pace miles in. Later on, we were in the easy miles mode for him.

When I get extra money, I always put it either towards the savings or towards the mortgage. I believe in living with minimum debt, and being prepared for emergencies. With 5 kids, and possibly more coming in the future, you cannot or at least should not spend your money on fun things left and right until your debt is zero, and there is a bit of safety net in the savings, and we are not there yet.

From James in Sunny AZ on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 21:03:54

Congratulations, Sasha! Glad you were able to do well in spite of the recent health issues that certainly played a factor in your time.

From Cody on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 21:40:38

Nice Job Sasha!

Way to show why you are one of the top marathoners in the state. Well deserved.

From JohnK on Tue, Jul 24, 2007 at 22:36:33

Congrats on the excellent performance. I think we all get motivation and encouragement from your dedication and hard work. Glad to see you got the nice payday.

From Lybi on Wed, Jul 25, 2007 at 01:31:16

YEA! Way to go get 'em, Sasha. You are an animal! If you're having a hard time figuring out what to do with your cash (ha ha) you could always put it toward a piano. :)

From Lybi on Wed, Jul 25, 2007 at 01:33:00

Oh--I just saw your comment about debt. Too true, too true.

From jtshad on Wed, Jul 25, 2007 at 12:45:23

Congratulations on the great race! What a time and a strong 3rd place finish is fantastic. You are an inspirational runner, keep it up.

From Nick on Wed, Jul 25, 2007 at 22:00:12

Nice Sasha! That is way cool that you got 3rd place, especially since it has financial payoff! Too bad I couldn't have been there to run the last bit with you.

From Michelle on Sat, Jul 28, 2007 at 13:43:46

Wow Sasha! Congratulations on your excellent race. You are an inspiration!

From Tom on Sat, Jul 28, 2007 at 14:02:50

Super race Sasha! Glad to see you get rewarded in more ways than one for all your efforts both on the roads and with this website. One of these days I need to actually meet you face-to-face so I can shake your hand and give you a big THANK YOU!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
6.000.000.000.006.00

Legs, mainly quads were to sore to run productively this morning, although I could have forced it, and a year ago actually did when they hurt worse. This time I decided to wait until the evening. In the evening, they were slightly better. I ran a mile in 9:17 with Jenny and pushing Jacob in the stroller. The pain was bearable, but I still felt running more would not have been productive, so I decided to do some biking instead. So I rode my standard 10.04 course. 28:07 on the way out, but I made a few stops and did not stop the watch, 22:33 on the way back. My bike has some issues with gears, the frame is too short for me, and it is a 30lb mountain bike. It also took me about 8.5 miles to figure out that if you stand up and pedal really hard for a bit, then you can sit down and just coast, and you end up going a lot faster with the same effort. So I was going about 4:20-4:30 pace most of the way. At the end, once I figured out the trick, I hit the last quarter that had 2 90 degree turns in 62. So I figure two miles of biking is about a mile of running, so I'll count this ride as 5 miles.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Thu, Jul 26, 2007 at 01:27:28

I've got a 30lb mountain bike and the effort is definitely difficult compared to a standard road bike. God has blessed you with your running skills and there's better PR's to come for you. Good Job in the Marathon.

From Wildbull on Thu, Jul 26, 2007 at 15:55:09

I hope so shasa, because i feel so slow now! I think i am still recovering from the half.

From Mike K on Thu, Jul 26, 2007 at 16:25:23

You were smart to bike today. I think there are two parts to soreness: soreness from running hard and soreness from impacting the ground. You won't loose any fitness in two or three days but you can beat your body up pretty good if you push it too early.

What is your next race?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Jul 26, 2007 at 16:38:46

Mike - my next race is Provo River Half. My next tapered race is Top of Utah. I think most of the soreness is from the pounding. Based on the HR readings prior to the time when my HRM quit (mile 16), energy utilization wise most of the race was a jog. I had my HR around 156-158 during the 2 flatter East Canyon miles with the Kenyans, 158-160 going up the Little Mountain, and around 155 trying to discourage Peter Vail from pursuing me. Other than that, HR never cracked 152. For a comparison, when I ran St. George last year, it was fairly consistent around 157, and I felt the difference in the breathing as well. I thought that putting in a lesser cardiovascular effort would help reduce the impact, but it did not. Compared to last year, my legs gave out just the same in the last 6 miles, I am almost as sore, just a little better, but still DesNews style of soreness for me.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.007.00

Legs still sore this morning, so I biked my 10.04 course. For a change, took off the Jones counter and wore tights instead of my regular street pants the night before. This made quite a bit of a difference. I rode the course in 39:05. First half in 19:12, second in 19:53. That includes a number of slow downs due to sharp turns, getting through a construction zone, and going around pedestrians on the trail. When there were no obstacles, I was going 3:30 mile pace (around 17mph) fairly comfortably. This is on a 30lb mountain bike that is not in great condition - the main problem is that the frame is too short and the saddle does not get up high enough. The chain is also rubbing some against the gear shifting lever and on top of that you cannot go into the highest gears, but on that trail I did not feel the need - the position of the seat relative to the pedals would not allow me to put forth enough power for a higher gear anyway. However, when I got up, I finally started feeling right, except there was no seat underneath me. And, of course, no clips.

Would anybody familiar with biking venture to predict how fast I might be able to go on a nice road bike with everything in proper condition? And what rank this would earn me in a bike race. Ted suggested at one point that my quads might be better suited for biking than running, and in theory that could be a reasonable idea - in running you are pretty much stuck with your biomechanics, while in biking there are a lot of things you can change - the size of the bike, gears, etc, so if you have raw power, it should be easier to find a way to use it. But theory is very different from practice.

 Ran 0.5 with Julia in the afternoon, and then 1.5 with Benjamin and Jenny in the evening. The leg pain is gradually going away, but is still making me run funny. But at least I feel like screaming only half the regular volume. You can see why the prize money at DesNews attracts so little competition relative to other marathons. My legs are not even sore after any other marathon, and this one brings me to this!

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Scott Zincone on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 00:01:30

Sasha -

I am not qualified enough to answer your cycling questions. But I can say it is fun to ride every so often just for a change of pace. And you can still get in a good workout in the process. And screaming down a big hill is always good for a big dose of adrenaline.

From "D" Ence on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 00:09:50

Sasha, glad to hear the legs are recovering some from the marathon. Regarding your biking questions Steve Olsen does quite a bit of biking and could probably answer some of your questions. Like Ted suggested your quad muscles are very strong, so it would be interesting to see how well you could compete in an endurance bike race using a decent road bike.

From Maria on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 08:45:42

Sasha - another update from Alexander Gladkov's friends: they have finally set up a Paypal account! How do you get that Paypal Logo button that says "Paypal Donate" and takes people directly to your payment page? I assume you have to configure your custom payment page, but where is that HTML snippet that would give you the logo to put on your site? They just listed the email address of the recipient - it works, but you have to login to Paypal first and then go to Send Money. It would be nice if they can put a visual aid on their site that would take people to Paypal directly.

There was also an article about Galdkov's situation in Ukranian newspaper 2 days ago, and apparently, his condition is getting worse and worse: http://www.facts.com.ua/2007/07/25/10.htm#1

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 12:57:20

Maria - they sure try to make it difficult. I just tried to send a payment, and got the error message from PayPal about recipients with accounts in Russia not being able to receive funds.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 13:04:58

I just read the article. It is in Russian. Here is one thing that impressed me - they asked him if he would not have gone into the sport had he known about his condition, and he says, no way, I cannot imagine my life without the sport. He is also getting married on September 1.

From Maria on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 13:07:32

Thanks for trying, Sasha! I was just linking my other account to Paypal so I can send a payment too. Arrgghh...I guess they need to find a person in US who can collect the funds and then make one lump sum bank transfer to them. Very cumbersome, but that just shows how CIS countries are not integrated into the "global" world yet! I'll let them know...

From Steve Olsen on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 13:54:43

Great race this week. My quads are not too bad, but I have some horrible blisters that have slowed me down some. As far as the bike question, there are many variables when it comes to calculating your speed. Based on the information you provided, I would say you could pick up 5 to 7 miles per hour in speed on a flat road with an average road bike. Any speed above 20 miles per hour riding alone on a flat road is pretty good. It's a great way to cross train, but it can pull your focus from running if your not careful. At least it does for me. I was going to ask you what your Garmin recorded for distance at the Marathon. I have asked a few people and everyone is reporting about 26.41 or so.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 14:09:48

Steve - thanks for the info. My Garmin lost signal at around 16. However, for a while it was right on with the race mile markers. You can easily pick up as much as half a mile extra distance on the DesNews course if you are sloppy on the tangents.

From adam on Fri, Jul 27, 2007 at 23:29:54

sasha- hopefully you get this before tomorrow. I have been sick all day since getting back from the run. I will have to see how I'm feeling tomorrow, so I won't meet up.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.250.250.000.0012.50

Easy run with Jeff and Adam - 10.04 course. Legs still sore, although a lot less. Could not break 8:00 pace for a while. Got to the turnaround in 41:01. On the way back started edging up on the 8:00 guy. Finally around 7.5 accidentally accelerated to 7:00 pace, and then the legs were too sore to slow down. Picked it up on the last quarter, ran it in 1:28. 1:17:51 for the run.

Ran with the kids in the evening, total 2.5 miles.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Sat, Jul 28, 2007 at 14:17:11

You've got to love the post marathon legs! Glad you are recovering well.

Hey, I shot you an email, so check it out.

From Mike K on Sat, Jul 28, 2007 at 14:47:38

Glad to see that the legs are coming back.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.505.000.000.0017.50

And should we die before our journey's through, happy day all is well. We then our free from toil and sorrow too, with the just we shall dwell...

My legs were still sore today, but not as sore as yesterday. I could walk down the stairs without the urge to scream. My intuition told me they will not get any worse from running 15 miles with a 5 mile tempo in the middle. I thought it would give me a nice "big workout" (term borrowed from Tinman). I think he is on to something with that. Best marathoners train in a number of different ways. But one thing in common is that they frequently run for 90+ minutes at once. It could be Zatopek's 40x400, or it could be Viren's 50 mile jog around a big lake, or it could be something more conventional - 20 miles with 10 hard at the end. There is a common theme around my good marathons - frequent and properly balanced runs of 90 minutes or more.

So I ran with Jeff to the end of my 10.04 course, then back to the start of the 5 mile tempo. It started to get warm. My legs were feeling the pain. Jeff noticed that my stride was shorter than his. Normally it is longer. I did not have my normal quad power, so I had to compensate with higher turnover. Nevertheless, we managed about 7:00 average for the first 8.7 miles of our run. I had second thoughts about the tempo, but figured I could slow down to whatever I needed to be able to finish it, and whatever I got would be a benchmark of my current level of recovery.

Splits by the mile - 5:51 - 5:47 (11:38) - turnaround 14:33 (2:55) - 3 miles 17:25 (2:52, 5:47) - 5:47 (23:12) - 5:46 (28:58). Jeff was running strong around 3, and I thought he might drop me, but then he ran out of gas and fell back a bit on the last mile. The run fell tough. I think there were several things that made it so:

  • pain in the quads - every step hurt, not much, like a mosquito bite maybe, but this makes it hard to concentrate
  • loss of power in the quads - this a big deal for me. I have thought about this issue for a while. My opinion is that one's ability to balance the quad and the hamstring well is a function of the condition of the lower back. A more biomechanically talented runner (minority of the runners) will have the lower back in proper balance and will use quads and hamstrings in a more effective proportion. A less  biomechanically talented runner (majority of the runners) will have issues in the lower back that will force him to rely on the quads more. Thus he will  never negative or even -split a marathon without  running below his potential because even though he may have the fuel reserves left in the second half, his quads are partially disabled due to the cumulative pounding impact in the first half, quads being the primary shock absorber, and he cannot do much without them. Whereas the other type of runner does not suffer as much from the loss of quad power because his hamstrings are better utilized, and they are not a major shock absorber, so if they have the fuel in the second half, they can go.
  • heat
  • having run 8.7 miles earlier
  • lack of glycogen from the marathon 4 days ago

So I was pleased with the run. Finished the rest barely fast enough to keep the 6:40 guy off our backs - 1:39:41 for 15.04.

Ran with the kids in the evening - total of 2.5.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Clay on Sat, Jul 28, 2007 at 23:44:59

Way to hang in there Sasha, you are amazing...

From wheakory on Sun, Jul 29, 2007 at 01:34:07

Very nice run to finish the week, especially four days from your last marathon, very impressive.

I think the quad theory you talked about is true, because you will see in races where runners will run the downhill well (example Des. News, Pocatello Marathon) then when the flat part of the course comes some runners have relied so much on the quads alone, and maybe not the proper conditioning that they have nothing left when the flat or rolling hills come in the second half of the course. Then there are runner's that just adjust from the downhill to the flat. I think that involves proper conditioning and your lower back theory.

From Brent on Sun, Jul 29, 2007 at 11:20:30

Sasha, you must be an eagle scout, excellent survival skills. Adaptation to the situation at hand. I certainly agree with Wheakory, it is a real challange after the downhill to adjust to the flat.

From James on Sun, Jul 29, 2007 at 17:58:44

Nice run. Wow! You really got beat up from that marathon! Your not one to mention being super sore too often. I am like that after St. George for the better part of a week. I heard that this new Des News course beats you up worse than the old one.

I noticed that you, Bill, and Steve all ran similar times at Des News and Ogden this year, what is your take on that?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jul 30, 2007 at 13:45:47

James - my take on that is that courses are equivalently slow. The elevation drop in DesNews happens in a very performance-destructive way. You drop 3200 feet net, and then on top of that you climb the Little Mountain, then of course you have to drop down, then you have a whole bunch of little climbs that you have to drop down more to compensate. I think it is really hard on the quads if you work them climbing, they tighten up, and then while still tight, you start using them as a shock absorber going down.

I also think that I was mistaken earlier thinking that most damage to the quads happens in the first 4 miles of this race on the 7% down. I took the first 4 very easy compared to last year (5:20 pace vs. 4:45), then ran the rest of the race a only little bit faster and ended up pretty much with the same level of soreness in the end. I think the two most destructive punches are Emmigration Canyon 10 - 15 (Little Mountain and the subdivision detour prime you for this), and the rolling hills of the Wasatch Drive and Foothill (16 - 20). If I were to do it over again, I would run the first 4 miles at about 4:50-5:00 pace, and really ease off on the Little Mountain, the subdivision detour, and all other uphills. Also, make sure the quads are relaxed before starting to push the downhills.

From wheakory on Mon, Jul 30, 2007 at 14:16:18

Last year when I ran the Des News my calves were sore after the race, and my quads were fine. Like you I took the first four miles a bit slower, and pushed really hard in the end. My calves are really the only part that get sore after a

marathon, so I think I need more strength training in that area of the body. I'm not sure why my quads don't get sore, but I do a lot of downhill running in Pocatello, or maybe I just don't push my legs hard enough.

I would say your absolutely right on the areas of the course that are a punishment on your legs.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Jul 30, 2007 at 14:35:42

Kory - I think the reason your quads do not get sore is that you do not use them as much due to your form. This is not necessarily bad. Can you have somebody video-tape you and post the video on YouTube?

From wheakory on Mon, Jul 30, 2007 at 14:47:54

Sure I can have that done. I'd like to do anything to get the maximum ability out of my running to become better/fast.

What about my calves do you think strength training would help in that area? It's not real bad after a marathon. Their maybe sore for a couple hours and then I'm fine. For instance, I ran the Teton Marathon in June and afterwards they were sore, but by two hours they felt fine. I could even walk up and down the stairs without a problem and mowed my lawn that same day after the race.

Thanks for looking into this Sasha.

From wheakory on Mon, Jul 30, 2007 at 16:50:47

Sure I can have that done. I'd like to do anything to get the maximum ability out of my running to become better/fast.

What about my calves do you think strength training would help in that area? It's not real bad after a marathon. Their maybe sore for a couple hours and then I'm fine. For instance, I ran the Teton Marathon in June and afterwards they were sore, but by two hours they felt fine. I could even walk up and down the stairs without a problem and mowed my lawn that same day after the race.

Thanks for looking into this Sasha.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.502.500.000.0015.00

Legs felt a lot better today, although still not 100%. The quads are still weaker, and fatigue easily. The plan was for an easy 10 in the morning, and then go another 2 in loops around the block if that felt right. Had to be back by 7:30 for Sarah to leave on her run, and I left at 6:21, so I had to hustle. After one leisurely quarter fairly quickly got up to 7:10 pace. Then saw Lance Barker, and ran with him. He originally was going to run up to the Y, but I was able to persuade him to run a 5 mile tempo. I did not have any desire to run through town to get to the Y trail, nor to climb the Y, nor did I have the time to do it. And I did not want to run alone. I am glad Lance was so easy to persuade.

Our original plan was to run 6:20 pace. Lance did not think he could sustain 6:00 or even 6:10. We ended up running 30:39 (avg 6:08) with the splits of 6:10 - 6:09 - 6:17 (going around a fallen tree twice and with a 180 turn) - 6:05 - 5:58. Lance outdid his expectations by quite a bit. My legs felt more tired from this run than they should have been. So I decided to do only 10. Total time for 10 miles was 1:09:31.

Ran with the kids in the evening. 0.5 with Julia, then to the swing and back with Benjamin and Jenny trading places on the bike, and pushing Jacob and Joseph (another 3.5). Afterwards added a mile in 6:57. It felt very good form-wise. I attribute this to the effects of increased time on the inversion table - I went from 2 times a day of 5 minutes to 2 times a day of 10 minutes. But again, I've seen so many random fluctuations while trying new things, so I am not that excited yet.

Running puts my mind into a higher thinking plane. I am able to think more positively, solve problems, and look at things with a better perspective. Tonight somehow the meaning of the phrase "faith of a child" caught my attention. Having run without prolonged breaks since childhood has done something interesting to my memory. I believe because there is a connecting theme since I started running, I remember that portion of my life very vividly, like it was yesterday. Anything before that I remember no better than the average adult. So in a moment of contemplation the time came into my view when I was about 14 years old. Many of my friends had quit running at that time and were asking me why I still kept going. I did not have a reason to give them. I felt stupid not being able to give them a reason, but I did not even have a reason to give myself. But something very deep down in me that I did not understand, but I could not deny or ignore was telling me that something precious would die if I went along with my friends and quit just like them.

Of course, now I see the wisdom of that decision. I am better off than them or where I would have ended up otherwise because of that choice in many ways. I was able to stay away from alcohol and tobacco, learn how to work, learn how to overcome challenges, and eventually ended up finding the LDS Church, developing faith in Christ,  and being able to have my family thanks to that decision to keep going early on. But how did I know? And how did I find the strength to not only feel the right way, but also follow it when nobody did. At that time, everybody who I would have considered a possible role model had disappointed me in some serious way. There was nobody to follow. I believe God gave me a gift, and did so for a purpose. I am thankful for that gift. I hope that same gift I could use a child will be available to me for the rest of my life.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From BC on Tue, Jul 31, 2007 at 00:49:05

Sasha,

Looks like your legs are coming back just fine. Good work out. yes I agree with some of your statements today, like running, the gospel, can fill different needs for different people at different times in our lives. It is not always in the same way for everyone and some don't realize how each of them can control our lives both for the good and bad in some circumstances.

On a lighter note, In the news and special announcement box would it be appropriate to list Our 1st Annual East High School XC Alumni BBQ and Fun Run. It will be from 6-10 pm, Sugar House Park West Hill terrace. The new team will do a time trail on the state course about a 4K, following will be a 3K fun run for alumni, family, friends, siblings and any other who wants to come run. After we will have a BBQ and some picnic type relays. It should be a good dinner. The race is free but the dinner will be $7 adults, $5 12 and under. This is just to cover the catering costs. Anyway as a new coach it is hard to find past runners and maybe someone on the blog might know of someone or would like to attend themselves.

From bc on Tue, Jul 31, 2007 at 00:51:23

Sasha, Sorry forgot to put the date. It is this friday, August 3, 2007.

Thanks Bill

From Lybi on Tue, Jul 31, 2007 at 01:26:25

Sweet! I love how you pour your soul into your running, Sasha. Now you are a role model for a lot of people yourself. No pressure.

From Paul Thomas on Tue, Jul 31, 2007 at 09:52:09

Thanks, Sasha, for sharing your thoughts on how running has impacted your life. They really resonated with me. Like you, running has had a tremendous positive impact on my life. At age 12 I was labeled a "wimp" by a school coach, at age 14 another coach said I ran "like a girl" (which he intended as an insult but which I would now accept as a compliment). These are just two examples of many experiences that led me to have very low confidence in my physical abilities. After knee surgery for a football injury in 9th grade, I started running. Long story short, I ended up being successful in track and cross country in high school and ran a 2:52 marathon in 1982 (I was 22). Even though I only ran sporadically for the next 20+ years, the self-confidence, work ethic, and endurance I learned from running contributed so much to my life. Now that I'm running again (since 2002), I draw so much positive energy from the experiences and relationships that have come from running. Running is not just something I do, I feel like it's part of who I am. I'm grateful to be a runner. Thanks again, Sasha, for this blog site and for sharing yourself with the rest of us.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.541.000.500.0015.04

Sasha House 10 miler in the morning. Legs are not sore any more, but feeling still weaker. Got bored, threw in a 1.5 mile tempo to wake up/get going in 8:30. First mile in 5:46, the remaining 0.5 in 2:44. Total time for 10.04 was 1:09:41.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Julia has been having some motivational problems lately, not uncommon for a 4 year old. We addressed them by reading the Little Engine That Could. So she yelled I think I can pretty much her entire run. That made it quite a bit faster. Instead of her standard 5:30 - 5:50 for 0.5 she ran 5:07. Then ran with Benjamin and Jenny for 2 miles (pushed Jenny after the mile in the stroller) in 18:13. Then ran 2.5 on my own in 17:28.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From rdrunner on Wed, Aug 01, 2007 at 17:40:39

Did I read on one of your entries that you use and inversion table? I have been considering getting one for my ailing back. Had a herniated disk repair surgery 15 years ago and am now feeling some of the same symptoms as before (tight muscles in the leg and back, numbness and weakness in the left leg). Let me know if you use one and what your experience has been. Thank you.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Aug 01, 2007 at 23:51:16

rdrunner - I just started using an inversion table about a month ago. I have not seen any huge miracles with it, but I do like the way I feel when I get off. I think to a great extent for me it is a matter of figuring the right amount of time, the correct angle, and proper relaxation. I do not believe I have any serious issues in the back for somebody who want to run a 2:40 marathon, but I think that even a couple of compressed discs in some critical areas can very well keep you from going under 2:20.

Your bad back does explain to a great extent why you have such a hard time at 6:00 pace. Your heart and legs should be able to do it comfortably by now with a healthy back. So I think as far as your running performance is concerned, anything you can do to restore your spinal health is just as important as building your strength and endurance.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.640.001.900.0015.54

Sasha House 10 miler this morning at 5:20 AM. Because of the early hour felt sleepy and sluggish. Did a couple of tempo pickups to freshen up. Ran a mile in 5:33 ( the last one of the standard 5 mile tempo), and then ran the last 0.65 at about 5:40 pace. Total time for the run was 1:11:00. The form did not feel good even though I did 5 minutes of hanging upside down on the inversion table before the run. I think that position was not effective because I tense up while trying to maintain it.

Tried a different position in the afternoon, not quite a 90 degree angle between my body and the horizontal plane, maybe only 80 degrees, but I could maintain that position relaxed - 10 minutes. The form felt much better in the evening run. Ran 0.5 with Julia, then 0.4 while the kids played, then Sarah came back from her run, and I took Benjamin and Jenny. Jenny ran her mile in 8:56. She picked it up to 8:00 pace at the end to catch the 9:00 girl, and Benjamin started complaining. I told him his little sister was going to beat him if he kept complaining, that woke him up. On the way back he maintained the 8:00 pace, then saw two dogs, shifted gears, and started going 7:12 pace. With Jenny now in the stroller this gave me a good workout. His last quarter was 1:46, and total time for 2 miles was 16:30. His health is returning, he is starting to act normal.

Dropped Benjamin and Jenny off at the park with Sarah, and continued the run. Saw a potential running partner, ran with him. His name is Roman. Then after about a mile it was time for me to turn around. There was another guy going in the opposite direction. I jogged a bit at around 7:00 pace, he was not coming to me very fast, then figured I wanted to run with a partner for any considerable amount of time, I needed to pick it up. So I sped up to 5:20, and it is amazing how much faster somebody running 7:30 is coming to you at 5:20 vs 7:00 - took me only about 0.2 miles to catch him. Chatted with him a bit, his name was John, then it was time for me to go home. Ended up with a total of 5.5 for the evening run.

Afterwards, picked up a hula hoop and after  a couple of tries was able to spin it for about 15-20 seconds. I have never been able to do that before.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.800.005.000.0015.80

Tempo 5 miles with Nick McCombs on the Provo River 5 Mile Tempo.  This was going to be a test of recovery. A year ago I ran it in 28:26 with a positive split, dying off as I went. 

Splits by 0.5 - 2:49 - 2:47 (5:36) - 2:47 - 2:49 (11:12, 5:36) - 2:48 (14:00) - 2:47 (16:47, 5:35) - 2:49 - 2:48 (22:24, 5:37) - 2:48 (uphill) - 2:42 (quarters of 1:23 and 1:19) - last mile in 5:30, last 2.5 in 13:54 - 6 second negative split - total time 27:54.0.

The pace did not feel super-easy at first, but it just did not get any harder. I kept waiting for a crash to happen, but it never did. This is very encouraging - being able to run 32 seconds faster that last year around the same time away from the marathon with a negative split, which means I had more juice left. 

Nick was being nice to me, did not push the pace, and kept asking me if I was doing OK sympathetic to the post-marathon recovery syndrome.

Total of 10.8 for the run with the warm-up and cool down.

Ran easy 5 miles in the evening, including 2.5 with the kids. Got soaked in the rain.

Went to a church meeting in the evening. In a group of about 10 people there were several Spanish speakers and one Russian. This is actually typical for Provo, even though we are in a small town in the Western United States.

 

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Comments
From James in Sunny AZ on Fri, Aug 03, 2007 at 01:03:21

Wow, I agree that this sounds encouraging for you. Have you been putting in more miles this year than last year?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.740.300.000.0015.04

Sasha House 10 Miler in the morning with Jeff and Nick. Started out really slow, first quarter in 2:25 - that is 9:40 pace! Jeff told us about being caught in a flash flood while hiking at Zion's Park this week. After about 4 miles we finally started breaking 7:00. Then gradually increased the pace to around 6:30. Finished the last 0.3 at 5:40. Total time for 10.04 was 1:10:59. It was very humid.

In the evening ran with Julia (0.5), then with Benjamin and Jenny to the swing - they brought a bike and took turns (3.5), and then added a mile in 6:58.

Abs started hurting a bit. They are naturally weak probably because I do not use them much while running. I always hope it is because the form is changing for the better when they start to hurt.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.6012.500.000.0025.10

Felt since I was still not 100% recovered from the marathon, I needed to do something mild today. Decided to try Tinman 1 mile easy/1 mile marathon pace long run. I absolutely cannot stand a 20 mile run at an easy pace. It takes forever, and I feel more tired afterwards than if I run at least half of it at marathon pace. And I have not had good results with those slow runs in the past.

Started with Ted and Jeff from the finish of the Provo River 10 miler (Riverwoods), and ran up to the start and back. Forgot The Toy, so decided to do the mile pickups by the Hawk's marks when they were there, otherwise just go roughly by time. Started out with a jog, took about half a mile before we started breaking 8:00. Ran the first tempo mile up 0.5% grade into a headwind in 5:58. Before the start of the second, Jeff and I had to make a pit stop. Ted went ahead at an easy pace. It took us a bit too long, and we fell further behind than could be covered with one tempo mile. We did the first tempo mile into a headwind and up about 1.5% grade in 6:06.

After that, there was still no sight of Ted, so we kept going at the same effort further up. After about another mile, we still could not even see Ted. So we eased off thinking that perhaps we might have missed him somehow. Then a couple of minutes later we passed some runners and asked them if Ted had passed them. They told us he was about 200 yards ahead, so we picked up again. It took us about 0.8 at about 6:00 pace to finally catch him. Ran with him until his turnaround - 7 miles, and then started the tempo. By that time we were going up South Fork. Jeff had to be to work early, so he turned around at 7.5. I figured a tempo effort up that grade would be about 7:00 mile, so I decide to go for 7 minutes. However, after the 7 minutes were up I did not feel like losing the momentum, and decided to go another 2 minutes to make the total tempo mileage on the odometer around 5 before the turnaround.

Hit the turnaround in 1:09:17 - not bad for 800 feet of climb with only half done at a tempo effort. On the way back, decided to make my tempos a bit longer to get the whole run over with quicker. Figured I'd do the stretch from the start to Vivian Park (3.23) and the standard 3 mile tempo from Nuns to the mouth of the canyon. Felt sluggish starting out, but after two miles got into a good rhythm. Finished the 3.23 stretch in 18:16, which is around 5:40 average.

Jogged from Vivian Park to Nuns at around 6:40 pace. Then started the second tempo. First two miles were sluggish again - both in 5:44. I felt a bit low on fuel. However, when I reached a little deeper, I was able to find more. The third mile was 5:37, giving me 17:05 for the 3 mile stretch. Then I could not bear the thought of dragging along for another mile at 6:40 pace. It would have felt like hitting a construction zone at the end of a 15 hour drive. So I decided to keep the tempo effort to the end. It was actually a bit more than a mile, but I timed a mile stretch on the trail in 5:34. Total time for the whole thing was 2:09:11, ran the Provo River 10 miler coming back in 59:54.

Ran 2.5 in the afternoon by myself in 18:14, then 2 miles with Benjamin in 17:07 (Jenny ran the first in 9:11, then rode in the stroller along with Jacob). Another 0.5 with Julia in 5:42.

 

Felt good, on the second run could not really tell I had done the first.

Benjamin looked great on the last 0.5. At 7:30 pace he looked like he was out for a stroll - very relaxed stride.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From sarah on Sat, Aug 04, 2007 at 23:45:48

Myskhke privet ya tebya loobloo!!!!

From bc on Mon, Aug 06, 2007 at 01:06:18

Sasha, I was just showing Demetrio the blog pages and the mileage board. He said he use to keep track of weekly average miles, can we add this ? It would be helpful to see what we are averaging weekly for the whole year. When we go up and down based on our races it shows highs and lows but keeping track of an average for the year would be helpful.

Bill

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Aug 06, 2007 at 11:30:53

Bill - good idea, I'll add that in the next couple of weeks. I also need to fix the updating bug - for the first week of the month, it shows last month values in this month column for the people who have not updated the blog since last month.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.040.000.000.0017.04

Ran with Ted in the morning. His son James joined us for the first 3 miles. Had a very sluggish start, and I was the initiator of it - I was actually dragging behind Ted and James on the first quarter which we did in 2:25. Took us a while before we started breaking 8:00. Got to the turnaround (5.02) in 39:13. Eventually sped up to 7:15, and then 6:40 at the end. Finished 10.04 in 1:14:47. Dropped Ted off, then added another 2 miles, first in 6:42, second in 6:32. Total time for 12.04 was 1:28:01.

Ran 2.5 by myself in the evening in 17:59. Then ran with the kids. 2 miles with Benjamin, Jenny, and Jacob in the stroller. Put Jenny in the stroller at 1.5. Finished 2 miles in 16:28. Ran 0.5 with Julia in 5:25. Total of 5 miles. 

 During our Family Home Evening we read a funny scripture in Acts 19:13-16:

 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the LORD Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.

 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

 On a day like this I noticed I consume about 300 grams of honey in addition to regular meals.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Lybi on Mon, Aug 06, 2007 at 23:59:45

Huh? I find that whenever I read scriptures about possessed people, I tend to crave honey too...

From Shauna on Tue, Aug 07, 2007 at 00:31:58

Sasha,

Is this the right place to respond to your feedback of my race? I'll try it.

Thanks for your feedback. I think my 10K time ended up being just over 59 minutes, a 9:35 pace. With the 10% slowdown, I would have run about 8:30-ish pace in Phoenix. The last time I ran this race, I finished in 54:00. I had trained with a 50:00 goal but didn't make it, probably due to the hills and altitude. I went on to run a 3:54 marathon (my PR) that season, which was 14 minutes shy of my goal to qualify for Boston. My goal again is to qualify for Boston at the PF Chang's marathon in January. I'm concerned because I'm slower now than I was before I started my training last time, but I need to run the marathon even faster!

From Aaron on Tue, Aug 07, 2007 at 01:48:17

This *is* a funny passage. I think it's actually making fun of a specific sect, the Cynics. The Greek word translated as "vagabond," perierchomenos, means 'someone who goes around,' and was used by Epictetus in the late first century A.D. to describe his ideal of the wandering philosopher or hero.

I met some of those exorcists at the University of California. But back then they were into vegetarianism and crystal healing.

From wheakory on Tue, Aug 07, 2007 at 12:17:33

Good scripture. It shows you need faith in Jesus and his direction to overcome and have the authority to use his name for that situation.

From Maria on Tue, Aug 07, 2007 at 14:51:11

Sasha, I'm looking to buy couple of running books from Amazon, and I checked the Fastrunningblog store. Both of the books are not available. Would it be possible to add them? They are "Running with the Buffaloes" by Chris Lear and "Paula: My story So Far", by Paula Radcliffe. Thanks!

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Aug 07, 2007 at 15:22:18

Maria - I've added them on the second page. Thanks for your support.

From Dave Holt on Tue, Aug 07, 2007 at 17:52:31

Sasha, thanks for your math update for me. I've said it before, and I will say it again... It is a good thing I don't teach math! Truthfully, I was wondering why I was so far off on my times for that workout... there it is.

I was also wondering if you have a little time, maybe you could give me a little more detailed description of the Provo River 1/2's course, so I could be a little ready for it mentally. Thanks.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Aug 07, 2007 at 18:06:09

Dave - to start, read my report from last year, the splits should tell you a lot. In summary, you get 800 feet of drop, a good portion of it in the first 3 miles (2-3% grade). There is a mile long uphill from about 5.5 on which you get a strong headwind more often than not. Otherwise it is mostly 1% down. Last mile is essentially flat. Prior to 2006 the course was short by about 0.1, and my predictor right now is tuned for that version. The current version could be slightly long, maybe by about 0.05.

From Maria on Tue, Aug 07, 2007 at 18:41:11

Thanks Sasha, I hoped it worked. I started from Fastrunningblog store, but then was taken to a regular Amazon page for a checkout.

On another note, check out this interesting blog from South African exercise physiologists (one of them works directly under Tim Noakes, so I tend to listen to his opinion): www.scienceofsport.blogspot.com. Interesting entry today (as well as on Aug. 4) stating that developing speed in shorter distances is crucial before moving up to the marathon, for all levels of runners. That resonates with advice I read from Leonid Shvetsov, and lead me to believe that I shouldn't be so keen on marathon until I can bring my 5-10K times down. I think you also expressed similar ideas regarding your own ability to run OT standard relative to your 5K time.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Aug 07, 2007 at 19:05:59

Maria - thanks for the link. I posted a brief comment in that blog. I do agree that if your 5 K speed is slow, you need to figure out why. But in many cases a partial cure is a marathon-focused training.

From Cody on Tue, Aug 07, 2007 at 20:47:08

I like the new article "Top 10 excuses for missing a run". I would be interested to data mine the blog to see what is the one used most often. Although many people perfer to not fill in an excuse, they tend to leave the day blank. Still very interesting.

From adam on Tue, Aug 07, 2007 at 22:46:29

here's an intresting scripture that's a bit running oriented:

1 Kings 18:41-46; Elijah is the fastest ultrarunner in the scriptures, beating a royal chariot, on foot, a distance of about 50 kilometers-in the rain.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.540.007.400.1020.04

The Big Workout in the morning. Ran with Ted, Jeff, and Ted's son James. Started slow as usual, then gradually warmed up. James turned around at 3 miles. We gradually picked it up to about 7:00 pace. Hit the turnaround point (5.02) in 38:32. Started the tempo run at the 2.5 turnaround of the standard 5 mile tempo (about 6.2 into the run, 46:38 time wise). The plan was to go 7.5 and hold 5:40 pace, faster if possible, slower if not feeling good.

Splits: 5:38 - 5:37 (11:15) - turnaround (2.5) in 14:05 (2:50) - 5:42 (16:57, 2:52) - 5:33 (22:30, dropped Jeff off at 4) - 5:37 (28:07, 2.5 in 14:02) - 5:37 ( 33:44, Jeff rejoined for the last 2 miles) - 5:36 (39:20) - last 0.5 in 2:42, total time 42:02, last 2.5 in 13:55, last 5 in 27:57, last 2 miles in 11:03, last mile in 5:30, last quarter in 1:18, and last 200 in 37. Incidentally, the last 10 K was 34:49 (from calculations, there was no mark), which is the fastest non-downhill 10 K I've run this year so far anywhere, in training or a race.

The pace felt easy at first, and then become a bit harder later on, after about 1.5. Then it did not become any harder. Having Jeff around certainly helped. I particularly enjoyed his company on the last 200 meters, if one can use the term enjoyable in reference to running anaerobically at the end of a 7.5 mile tempo and with over 13.5 miles on the odometer already. But it felt so good to just finally be able to tuck behind him and kind of coast. Before that, we ran mostly side by side.

Finished the 15.04 with the total time of 1:39:48.

Overall, the workout shows that I am recovering from the marathon through/in spite of the high mileage. On Thursday I did the 5 mile tempo only 3 seconds faster than the last 5 miles of this run, and that was with only a 2.5 warm up. On this run I was also alone for 1.5 miles, and even when running with Jeff, because the pace is hard on him as well, I cannot tuck in behind him for too long when I need a break. With Nick I get more drafting.

In the evening, started with 1.25 in 9:50 pushing a stroller with Jacob, Joseph, and some misc items for playing at the park, and Benjamin and Jenny alongside on their bikes. Got to the park, a little bit of badminton with Sarah, then took Julia for 0.5 in 5:22. Then took Benjamin and Jenny. We ran the first mile in 8:33, dropped Jenny off, then Benjamin went for a chase of the 8:00 guy. He got him - 7:22 last mile, 15:55 for two miles. On the way back, ran 1.25 with the stroller loaded the same way, and Benjamin and Jenny alongside on their bikes. Total of 5 miles with Benjamin's help averaging sub-8:00.

Afterwards, was very hungry, eating everything in sight for a while.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From bc on Wed, Aug 08, 2007 at 00:59:46

sasha Could we add an am and Pm box for the template.

Bill

From ArmyRunner on Wed, Aug 08, 2007 at 09:22:14

Good idea.

From ArmyRunner on Wed, Aug 08, 2007 at 09:29:00

Also it would only seem fair to add a Top Female Runners and a Female Mileage data bar as well. I like these additions but it does not seem that it includes the top female runners on the blog. If you really wanted to be all inclusive I guess since there are more and more younger runners on the blog you could add under 18 years old data tabs as well. I know James would like that.

From Lybi on Wed, Aug 08, 2007 at 15:01:22

Thanks for the advice to James about pacing me, Sasha. You have many good ideas! I shouldn't like to miss out on a benefit prescribed by cockroaches. : )

Out of curiosity, are you still practicing piano every day?

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Aug 08, 2007 at 16:03:28

Bill - will put this on the TODO list. Ted - right now I do not think we even have 10 female runners that have run a marathon. I will make a list when have at least 10 women that are regular bloggers and have run a marathon. With younger runners, it is hard to compare them due to the difference in age. But I will make a list once we have enough runners for each age group. Same for masters, etc.

Lybi - I am still practicing the piano, not a lot at once, 5-10 minutes, but have not missed a day for the last couple of months. I am currently working on Come, Come, Ye Saints. I did have a dream last night about cockroaches, lots of them.

From Maria on Wed, Aug 08, 2007 at 17:05:22

Sasha, was your dream in any way connected to your Moscow apartment? That's my usual association when cockroaches are mentioned :).

From Lybi on Wed, Aug 08, 2007 at 17:35:20

Bravo Sasha! I'm proud.

As for the cockroach dream, anyone with an imagination can see that it is symbolic of all these runners getting the teamwork advantage from you and all your hard work.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.080.000.000.0017.08

Early morning run with Ted at 5:00 am - 10.04 in 1:14:33. James joined us for the first three miles. We got him through his 2 mile tempo at sub-7:00 pace using the locomotive sandwich method - Ted was the pace setter locomotive, and I ran behind creating the threat of a trailing locomotive that will run you over if you slow down. Few 12 year old boys will get up that early to run period, and even fewer would be able to run sub-7:00 for two miles. We also barely missed a skunk.

In the evening first ran 1.52 with Jenny running, Benjamin on a bike, and Jacob and Joseph in the stroller to the swing in 13:40. Then met Sarah and Julia at the swing, left Benjamin and Jenny with them, and ran 3.5 in 25:00 with Jacob and Joseph in the stroller. Then ran 2.02 in 16:19 with Benjamin running, and Jacob and Julia in the stroller. Julia ran 0.5 with Sarah earlier, then rode in the stroller the rest of the way to the swing. Total of 7.04 in 54:59, with more than half done with the kids, and all of it with the double stroller.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Christi on Thu, Aug 09, 2007 at 10:22:50

I'm glad I was able to supply you with some good material for your article "Top Ten Excuses for Missing a Run" ! Seriously though, great ideas on avoiding these pitfalls. Thanks again for all your work setting up and maintaining this blog- its been an amazing help to me.

From David on Fri, Aug 10, 2007 at 11:28:14

Sasha --

This is a blog question rather than a comment on your workout. I'm unable to load Paul's blog this week. All the others I read are no problem, Paul's ('Welcome to Aneorbia') crashes my browser (Mozilla Firefox on a Mac) every time. Any idea what's wrong? Just wanted to bring that to your attention.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Aug 10, 2007 at 12:52:45

David:

The problem is probably in the Javascript that Paul added to his blog. The users can now put fancy stuff on the side, and I guess his turned out to be too fancy for your browser. One thing you can do is upgrade to the latest version of Firefox or try Safari instead.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.040.005.900.1020.04

Another Big Workout. I wonder now if 20x400 can be effective because time-wise it is a Big Workout, with the warm-up and cool-down it lasts forever. That is not what I did this morning, though.

A big group today - Ted, Nick, Jeff, James, and Breanna. Ran the first quarter in 2:08, and I knew that I was going to have a good workout. Now this may sound rather humorous. Most runners in my bracket, and even as far as a minute per mile slower at threshold, would not think so from such a measurement. But this week I have been hitting 2:25 on the first quarter without fail, and it felt hard. Now 2:08 felt easy. Of course, this has nothing to do with the aerobic fitness - my HRM has not been working, but I am fairly certain my HR was at 100 or below. It is all about the neural drive, and for some reason my body has been chosing to inhibit it to the extreme during the warm-up stage. So I was excited to see the change.

We quickly progressed into about 7:10 pace. I was very happy to see that Breanna was still conversational. Just in June she was racing Heart of Holladay 5 K at that pace. Looks like she is getting over whatever it was that inhibited her endurance. Breanna and James turned around at 3 miles. We ran to the turnaround (5.02), hit it in 37:08, and then got back to the start of the tempo workout (2.5 mark/turnaround of the Provo River 5 Mile Tempo , about 6.2 into the run) in 45:14.

The workout was 3 - 2 -1 with 0.5 brisk jog in between to make it more of a fartlek that repetitions. Ted paced us through the first quarter of the 3 in 1:20, and continued to run easy after that. We took turns every quarter, and the pace was all over - the fastest quarter in the middle was 1:18 while the slowest was 1:25, and I believe we hit everything in between at least once. This made it lean away from the steady tempo towards a fartlek within a fartlek. First mile was 5:26, then 5:23, and the last was 5:27 for the total time of 16:16. There was a 180 turn at 2.5 which cost us probably around 3 seconds total.

Nick was running out of time, so he ran to his car after the end of the 3. Jeff and I jogged the next 0.5 in 3:57 (first 100 in 35), and then started the 2 mile tempo. Jeff took the lead on the first quarter and did it in 1:22, then I took then next 0.5 a little faster, then it was Jeff's turn, but he was struggling, so I moved up again after 200. Hit the mile in 5:27. At the point my face started developing a grimace, but I could still hold the pace even being up front. Jeff fell back maybe a second, but then pulled up with 0.5 to go, and helped with the pace quite a bit. We had a 180 turn at 1.5 mark. Finished the repetition in 10:51, last mile in 5:24.

Jogged the next 0.5 in 4:00 (first 100 in 36). I had to make a pit stop in the middle, so this made the recovery a bit longer than 4 minutes. Then went for the mile. Did it in 5:15 with the quarters of 79 - 80 - 80 - 76. Last 200 was 36. The third quarter was uphill (0.5%), the last one rolling. Jeff did well on this one, although he was hurting quite a bit after the first quarter. I think he is starting to get into really good shape for the marathon if he can be so lively with 12 miles on the odometer, 5 of them being a fairly brutal tempo.

Ran to the house, 1:39:12 for 15.04.

In the evening it was hot - 90 degrees. Had to run earlier to make it to some Church meetings/activities during the nicer part of the evening. Ran 0.5 with Julia in 5:36, then 2.5 in 19:47. Found a friend on the trail - his name is Ken Montgomery. He ran with me after 1.25. Then ran with Benjamin and Jenny. First mile in 8:40, then put Jenny in the stroller, Benjamin ran the next mile in 7:38, total for 2 was 16:18.

Noticed an increase in the neural drive. Feeling more energetic, more interested in pushing the pace, the legs feel snappier. 




Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Fri, Aug 10, 2007 at 14:41:45

IMO total time is what qualifies a Big Workout. Anything over 90 minutes of continuous running meets the bill, so it doesn't matter if you do 20x400 or a fartlek or a tempo (or all three). I generally think of it as 15-20 miles with over half that distance being hard running.

From Mike K on Fri, Aug 10, 2007 at 15:16:29

Are you running the Provo 1/2 tomorrow?

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Aug 10, 2007 at 15:51:12

Mike - yes, I am running the Provo River Half.

From Mike K on Fri, Aug 10, 2007 at 15:56:09

Good Luck Saturday. The way you have been running I expect you to do very well.

From James in Sunny AZ on Fri, Aug 10, 2007 at 23:35:23

Sasha - good luck at the 1/2 tomorrow. Can you pinpoint anything that may have resulted in the increase in your neural drive, other than perhaps total recovery from the marathon?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.040.000.000.0017.04

Ran with Ted, James, and Breanna in the morning on Sasha House 10 Miler. Breanna and James turned around at 3.5. Our pace gradually progressed to 7:10 in the middle, and then 6:40 towards the end to catch the 1:15 guy. Finished 10.04 in 1:14:50.  Checked on the state of affairs at home to see Sarah needed me to take anybody for the remaining 2 mile, she did not, so I ran 2 more miles by myself, the first in 6:29, the second in 6:11. Felt very good, at 6:11 pace the stride felt sprinty, but the effort was still very much in the easy range. I knew that it meant something, just was not quite sure what. Definitely an improvement in the neural drive, the race the next day would show if it also meant an actual increase in fitness.

It was hot in the evening, probably around 85-90 (St. George runners would call this nice and cool). Felt properly motivated for the conditions, but otherwise I would call this lazy. Ran 2.5 in 18:26 by myself, then took Benjamin, Jenny, and the stroller, a mile with both in 9:00, then put Jenny in the stroller, and did the last mile with Benjamin in 8:08 (17:08 for 2 miles). Then ran 0.5 with Julia in 5:09.  Total of 5 miles for the run.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Race: Provo River Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:09:38, Place overall: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.190.0013.100.0025.29

Provo River Half Marathon - 1:09:38, 2nd place.

This race race was supposed to be just a glorified tempo run. I had run 91 miles in the 5 days prior with no day less than 17 miles total, and two Big Workouts. However, I ended up with a non-Hobblecreek trusted length half-marathon PR, as well as the course PR, even faster than any time I've run it from 2003-2005 when it was about 40 seconds to 1 minute shorter. I did run the Provo River Half in 2002 in 1:09:45 on a course that somehow lost about 0.5 mile and did not have the uphill section on the old highway, and I was still able to beat that time today. So in short, I've never run a half marathon faster than my time today on any course I would consider being of the accurate length except Hobblecreek, which is an entirely different animal.

At the start I found Dave Holt and asked him if he would trade leads with me every quarter. I figured he was in shape to run about 1:12 on a good day, and 1:13 on a not so good day, but he has been starting out a bit faster in his races and he would not mind doing it today especially if he gets to draft half the time, so hopefully if we bring him alive to the old highway hill, then I would not be alone on that tough section. After that, if he cannot go, then I could just press really hard and maybe catch the 1:11 guy by the finish.

But, as it often happens, things do not quite turn out as you expected in a race. Early on, I noticed that I was feeling better than I expected and was going faster, which would have been bad news for the old Dave, but we had a different Dave today. He was doing the pace I wanted to go during his lead shifts of his own free will. To make things more interesting, Mike Dudley happened to be in the race, and caught up to us around 2 miles. I asked him if he wanted to participate in sharing the lead, and he agreed. So we went like that taking turns every quarter for most of the race from that point.

We hit the 3.23 mark at Vivian in 16:23, 5:04 average . This is actually my PR for that section by 5 seconds, with the earlier being set in a workout where Steve Ashbaker and I did it trading leads and 3.23 was all we were doing, not a half marathon.

From Vivian to the bridge at Nuns (around 5.5) we were a bit slower than 5:20 on the flat section, and then around 5:10-5:15 on the downhill. Then on the uphill on the old highway we ran a bit under 6:00 (going by the GPS), and then around 5:10 pace on the way down.

Hit the official 10 mile mark of the race around 52:30, which I believe was accurate. This is very good - I raced the Provo River 10 miler in June in 54:13 which is identical to this 10 miler with the exception that you have and out and back on the old highway (with about a mile uphill into a headwind, and then back down) in the half marathon instead of a nice gradual 0.5% down 2 mile stretch in the 10 miler, and the 10 miler has an additional 15 second stretch across the bridge. So probably this 10 mile split is about 30 seconds slower than the 10 miler race.

We were going about 5:20 pace down my standard stretch from Nuns to the mouth of the canyon early on. At about 10.5 Mike cranked up the gears, Dave fell back, I tried to hang in there with Mike. He dropped me shortly before 11. I hit 15:55 for my standard 3 mile tempo.

Held 5:20 pace for a bit longer, up to the press building ( 11.7), then we turned, instead of a gentle 0.5% down we now started hitting minor rises and no elevation drop, so slowed down to around 5:30-5:35 going off my GPS. Mike won with 1:09:03, I got 1:09:38, Dave got 1:10:06 - 39 seconds faster than his Bryce Canyon time!

Then ran back with Dave to find the Fast Running Mommy. Dave turned around after a couple of miles. I found Sarah at around 9.8 mark, and then ran back with her. She finished in 2:08:21, but she took a couple of long bathroom stops (I told her I'd teach her how to make them fast, but she said no thanks) which she estimates cost her about 6 minutes. With the warm-up, total of 20.25 for the whole run.

In the evening ran 0.5 with Julia in 5:15, then the run to the swing with Benjamin and Jenny trading places on the bike, and Jacob and Joseph in the double stroller - Jenny 1.52 in 13:53, then Benjamin 2.02 in 15:48. Afterwards, a mile in 7:08 without the stroller or kids. I am happy to have the need to specify that mile was without the kids. Benjamin could have kept up with me for sure, and Jenny possibly could too with some extra motivation.

Life time record for the mileage in a week. Previous high was 111.92 earlier this year. I do not think of 116 as high any more. With my recovery routine this feels like routine training, like I am not running the mileage just to prove a point. Based on the feedback from my body I feel this is the optimum healthy training volume for where I am at. I do not feel tired, in fact without the memory and the record of everything I did this week I would not be able to tell. Legs are not sore at all, and I am not feeling any unusual fatigue, in fact, rather energized compared to normal.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Logan on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 17:13:43

Great race today and it was nice that you were able to run with Dave today. Another awesome week of training.

From Maria on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 18:01:27

Great time, Sasha! How does your running now feel compared to 2003, when you ran 2:24 at St. George? If your race times are faster now, it may point towards possible 2:22. It would be nice to be in 2:20 shape to give yourself some cushion in case of bad weather or some other thing can go wrong. One thing is clear - high mileage does work for you very well. I remember you said somewhere that you tried 100+ mpw before and it only made you feel tired, but this time your level have clearly increased. How do you explain this?

From dave holt on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 18:22:14

Sasha, thanks again for the help and confidence booster today. That was a great race!

From JohnK on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 18:28:14

Great race & very inspiring to hackers like me. An especially strong performance given the tough week you've had. You are on a roll!

From steve hooper on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 18:28:16

Sasha - you guys did a great job in the race today. I'm impressed with how well you felt after so many miles this week. Keep it up!

From Brent on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 19:00:18

Sasha, what is there to say, except your awesome. Great race.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 19:10:48

Everybody - thanks for the comments. Maria - in 2003 I ran a shorter course (by about 40 seconds to a minute) that was identical to the current up to about 12.3 mark in 1:10:05 in a competitive situation with only 64.5 miles in the five days prior to the race, 3.2 of them at marathon pace, and 11.7 at threshold. This year I had 91.2 miles in the five days prior to the race with 13.3 at threshold and 0.2 at VO2 Max. I would say this is the first race I've run, this year or ever that points to the reality of being able to qualify for the Trials in St. George, where it is not "I hope for some invisible luck or miraculous breakthrough to carry me through the race". It is rather ironic that it happened at the end of a record mileage week.

Regarding the reason that made high mileage effective this time. I believe in the past I just hoped that the magic number 100 would give me a miracle, and when it did not, I'd assume that it would not ever work and would go back to 80 and occasionally 90 mile weeks. This time I planned it a lot better. Three key principles - beds make champions, do doubles, and stay lucid. Beds make champions - in bed by 10:30pm or a Russian dictation for me, and smelling the socks for Sarah (credit goes to Lybi for coming up with the idea, and to James for stinking up his socks bad enough), plus a nap after the morning workout if the body requests it - blessings of working at home; do doubles - always split the mileage into two runs, no less than 5 for the shorter; stay lucid - the blood sugar must not go down , a doze of Powerade and honey sandwiches after every workout, good nutrition overall, and always a snack with honey when the mind refuses to concentrate during the day.

From James on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 19:12:43

Sasha,

Awesome race today! I think you had one of, if not your best 1/2 performances ever! You have to be pleased with cutting 4 1/2 minutes off of last years time. You are running strong right now, and if you keep it up you could be very close to a trials qualifier at St. George. That was the same course as last year, right?

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 19:19:30

Sasha - nice job. Your three key principles are very similar to what I am doing. I've managed to take 7 naps in the last 8 days, totaling about 9 hours of extra sleep -- tacked on to the 7.5-8 hours of sleep I get at night as it is. Although I am not self-employed, I may as well be, as far my work hours go. The extra sleep, along with splitting easy runs into doubles, has helped me do high mileage and actually feel good (ie - quality workouts), which has eluded me during previous high-mileage attempts. I think I am eating about 4000 calories/day as well. Pretty much if something is in my viewshed, I will eat it. Just ask Chad.

It all surely adds up.

From Clay on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 19:33:01

Nice job Sasha, it was good to see you guys again at the start... It was good to meet Ted as well...

From Lybi on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 19:54:11

Yea! I'm so excited for you Sasha! What a good year to be having PR's in the longer distances! I'm sooo glad you are benefitting from more sleep. Thank you for crediting me for the consequence idea, but I have to say that all the credit has to go to you for consistently following through. I am learning about consistency from this blog.

From Mike k on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 21:06:20

Good job Sasha! You are ready for an A attempt.

From Tom on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 21:28:53

Congrats Sasha! you deserve this.

From Michael on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 22:37:46

Fantastic effort Sasha - I admire your dedication and effort

From Chris Rogers on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 23:00:07

Sasha,

Outstanding race today. It definitely shows how great your training has been over the last few weeks, and gives a glimpse of some great fall marathons to come!

From Cody on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 23:03:15

Great race! I have to agree with everyone that this is a great sign of a realistic shot at OTQ. Best of luck in your continued success and in your training. We are all rooting for you!

From James in Sunny AZ on Sat, Aug 11, 2007 at 23:40:58

Sasha, congrats on a great race (especially considering you were just planning on it being a glorified tempo run). I agree with the others, all indicators are pointing to an OTQ race at St. George. Thanks for the example of consistency and dedication.

From Holly on Mon, Aug 13, 2007 at 10:52:14

:O

From jtshad on Mon, Aug 13, 2007 at 11:54:55

Nice race Sasha, man your mileage and times are impressive and inspirational!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.040.000.000.0017.04

course {Sasha House 10 Miler} with Ted in the morning. James joined us for the first 3, then ran back.  I made a bathroom stop, and then caught up, so my time was faster than Ted's - 1:12:32. Then added another 2 miles in 13:00, making the total time 1:25:32.

Ran at 8 pm in the evening. First 2.5 in 17:11, then 0.5 with Julia in 5:23, then 1.5 with Jenny and Benjamin running, and Jacob in the double stroller in 13:19. Jenny almost spoiled somebody's date. There was a young couple in front of us, he was running and she was riding a bike. Jenny was gradually pulling up to them, he apparently heard us and made a surge, but it did not last. The fire breathing dragon Jenny started to close again, and almost passed them, but ran out of road - her run was over. Then put Jenny in the stroller, and ran the remaining 0.5 with Benjamin in 3:56 which gave us 17:15 total for the 2 miles.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.341.835.000.0020.17

A.M: Big Workout. Warmed up with Ted and James (James turned around at 3). 38:57 at 5.02, 47:29 at the standard start of the Big Workout (2.5 turnaround of Provo River 5 Mile Tempo). After a good race at the Provo River Half I did some calculations and realized my chance of winning prize money at Great Salt Lake is sufficiently greater than 0 to merit a mini-taper. Plus a faster time could act as a confidence booster going into St. George, and a back-off week is a nice pre-caution against overtraining. So the plan was to do something mild of the Big Workout, skip one altogether on Thursday replacing it with an easy 10 in the morning, and then easy 10 Friday + only 2.5 with the kids in the evening.

I thought 8x1000 at 5:20 pace with 400 recovery at 8:00 pace + a short tempo to the house at the end would do the job, so that is what I did. 1000s were actually 5/8 of a mile, which is about 5 meters longer, and 400s were actually quarters, which is about 2 meters longer. The workout is outlined in the chart below:

Interval time
Recovery time after (first 100)
Recovery time after (quarter)
Notes
3:54
29
1:52
Missed 1000 mark, and went to 0.75
3:16
28
1:50

3:18
34
1:58
Had 180 turn right after the intverval, lost 3 seconds.
3:13
30
1:55

3:16
28
1:50

2:36
31
1:52
Ran 0.5 to use the credit from 0.75 first interval since I would have had to do 180 in the middle of the interval otherwise. First 100 was slow in the recovery because I had to do a 180 immediately after the interval.
3:58
29
1:52
Ran 0.75 because there was no mark at 1000.
2:38
28
1:50
Ran 0.5 to use the credit from 0.75 earlier. Launched into the final tempo immediately after the standard recovery.


Then ran 1.83 tempo home in 10:56 which is 5:58 pace average. I was actually going steady 5:52 on the good sections of the trail, but I had to cross Geneva Road, go under a couple of bridges, run uphill (0.5%) for a quarter mile, and deal with a few standard minor annoyances. This gave me 44:07 en route for 7.5 (5:53 average), which I consider a decent time for a fartlek, and a total time of 1:39:36 for 15.04.

A little bit of bragging - I have filled out the chart above entirely by memory. I actually never use the split function of Garmin, only look at it, then calculate and remember the split. I can do it because a running time to me is more than just a number. It has a life, maybe even some color, feelings to go with it, maybe I remember somebody who ran that time on some distance, etc.

P.M. 95 degrees. Ran to Benjamin's soccer practice. First mile, Benjamin and Jenny running, Julia in the double stroller, 9:18. Then ran with Jenny and Julia in the stroller and Benjamin on foot to Grandview, this gave him a total of 2.07 in 19:15. Then ran with Julia, 0.5 in 6:09 on grass, watched the rest of Benjamin's practice, Sarah came for the kids, and I ran 2.56 on the way home in 19:02.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Ruth on Tue, Aug 14, 2007 at 16:08:36

The course tool still isn't working correctly. I am quite completely confused.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Aug 14, 2007 at 16:12:14

Try hitting the Reload button on your browser while holding Shift. If that does not help, clear the cache (remove temporary files). If that does not help, describe the problem in detail.

From Lybi on Tue, Aug 14, 2007 at 16:33:12

Great run Sasha! Geez, I knew your brain was part running computer--like having perfect pitch, except with numbers. Amazing. You know that people who are good at math also tend to be good at music, right?

From Scott Browning on Tue, Aug 14, 2007 at 19:22:25

Thanks for the comments, it would be hard for me to disagree with your observations, my mileage has been pretty weak, it is a goal that I am working on. I am hoping over the next couple months to be much more consistent. I appreciate your feedback, nice job this weekend, it good to see all your hard work paying such huge dividends.

From Chad on Tue, Aug 14, 2007 at 19:37:28

Here's an interesting link about another person who sees numbers as colors, etc.,

http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1409903,00.html

From Superfly on Wed, Aug 15, 2007 at 11:41:47

Oh man Sasha. That little touch at the end is too funny.

From Jon on Thu, Aug 16, 2007 at 10:29:27

My running numbers are all green... maybe because of my shorts.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.740.000.300.0017.04

Sasha House 10 Miler at 5:00 AM with Ted in 1:18:52. Ted was tired, so we took it very easy.

P.M. 1.25 in 9:38 to the park with a stroller, Jacob and Joseph in it, and Benjamin and Jenny on their bikes. A little bit of badminton with Sarah. Then 2 miles on my own in 13:39. Then 0.5 with Julia in 4:57. Then a mile with Benjamin and Jenny in 8:41, dropped Jenny off, one more mile with Benjamin in 7:38 (16:19 for two miles). Then 1.25 back home with Jacob in the double stroller, and Benjamin and Jenny on their bikes in 8:14, last quarter in 1:24 to catch Jenny who was leaving me in the dust while I was running easy. There was no hope of catching Benjamin, at least not with the double stroller and Jacob in it.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Mike K on Wed, Aug 15, 2007 at 21:19:48

Based on last week's performance, what do you think you can run this weekend at GSL 1/2?

From Ryan on Thu, Aug 16, 2007 at 10:40:40

Thank you for the welcome to the Blog and for posting the 1/2 Marathon results.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Aug 16, 2007 at 22:04:21

Mike - the Sasha science predicts a low 1:11 if the race starts and finishes at the certified locations, which is a big if. It always did up until 2005. Let's hope Bill and/or Demetrio can get to the start and check it before it is too late Saturday morning.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.210.000.000.0015.21

Sasha House 10 Miler with Ted in the morning. James joined us for the first 3. Started out slow as usual, but fairly quickly eased into 7:20-7:30 pace. At 4 miles I asked Ted if he wanted to chase down the 7:00 mile guy, and about a mile later he tacitly consented as I picked up the pace. We hit the turnaround in 37:02. On the way back, I felt some turbo engine power in my legs, but to keep it on the easy side for the race on Saturday, and to keep Ted alive I tried to not exceed 6:25.  Running your training partners into the ground should be done only in moderation. We ended up with 1:09:34, 32:32 for the last 5.02.

In the afternoon, ran with Benjamin and Julia in the single stroller to Benjamin's soccer practice (2.07 in 17:45), then helped the coach there, on the way back ran 1.5 with Jenny in 13:07, then put her in the stroller, and we beat Benjamin's time for that stretch , which The Toy measured now at 2.10, quite possible as I did not start from the same place - the time was 17:36. Then added another mile in 7:30.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James in Sunny AZ on Fri, Aug 17, 2007 at 00:01:18

Sounds like you are ready for the great Salt Lake 1/2. Turbo power your legs sounds encouraging . . . good luck on Saturday. Are you doing TOU this year as well?

From Wildbull on Fri, Aug 17, 2007 at 13:44:53

Good luck saturday. I am use to having my training group run me into the ground! They keep me humble!

From Andy on Fri, Aug 17, 2007 at 22:54:41

Sasha,

I need to add the email address that the comments come from to my whitelist so they can get through my ISP's spam filter. Is it still blackhole or did it change? I am no longer getting email notifications and thought this might be the reason.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Aug 17, 2007 at 22:56:11

It is blackhole@fastrunningblog.com

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.170.000.370.0012.54

Sasha House 10 Miler with Ted in the morning in 1:15:34. James joined us for the first 3. I made two pitstops, caught up at around 6:40-7:00 pace the first time, and ran a 600 to catch up the second time in 1:57 with the splits of 41,38,38 (by 200). The good news is that the 38s (5:04 pace) felt like threshold. We'll see what that means tomorrow in the Great Salt Lake half.

In the evening, just ran with the kids. 0.5 with Julia in 5:10, a mile with Benjamin and Jenny running, and Jacob in the double stroller in 9:08, and then one more with Jenny and Jacob in the stroller and Benjamin running in 7:58, this gave Benjamin 17:06 for 2 miles. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Race: Great Salt Lake Half Marathon (13.11 Miles) 01:14:10, Place overall: 6
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.770.0013.110.0030.88

Great Salt Lake Half Marathon, 1:14:10, 6th place.

The race was very competitive - Teren Jameson, Patrick Smyth, Paul Petersen, Joe Wilson, Dennis Simonaitis, and Nate Hornok were the big trouble makers. Teren and Patrick took off from the start at sub-5:00 pace, and Paul followed them. I ran with Joe and Dennis. We had Bob Hintze with us for the first mile and a quarter. Joe asked if we thought there would be any road kill. After identifying Pat, I told him extremely unlikely, near impossible.

We went out at a steady, a tiny bit slower than 5:20 pace. The mile markers were the most reliable this year that this race has ever had, and it even started where it was supposed to. This is a big improvement over the last two years. Hit the official 5 mile mark in 27:01, the GPS showed 26:51. I drafted behind Dennis and Joe, that helped a lot. I managed another mile with them. After 6, the pace started to feel a lot harder. It is possible that Dennis picked up the effort trying to hold the pace as we started to get the cross wind. After another quarter mile, I could not hold it, and backed off.

I slowed down to 5:40 pace at first, felt pretty good, like I could rest a couple of quarters, then pick it up to 5:30, but then something strange started happening. I felt I was running strong, but the pace kept getting slower and slower. I started seeing 1:27 quarters, then 1:28, then 1:29. Joe and Dennis opened up a 43 second gap in 2 miles.

Then I began to realize what was happening. We were getting a gradually increasing cross/head wind. It did not feel too bad, but I guess it was having more effect than I thought it would. I slowed down to a 6:01 mile, then 6:06. Then I noticed that Joe and Dennis were not moving away any more. Odd. Then I noticed that Dennis dropped Joe, but I actually started gaining on them a bit. For a while, I started to hope that if I ran strong I might catch up, but they were not that weak, and too far away.

Just like Paul, I now looked forward to going up the hill, an odd feeling in that race. Better uphill than into the wind. Felt really good on the first hill. The second hill was bad, as it was into the wind again - slowed down to a 1:44 quarter. Finished in 1:14:08 (official time) . Joe outleaned Dennis at the end, 1:13:23 for Joe, 1:13:24 for Dennis. Teren was in 1:07:41, Pat was second in 1:08:51, Paul finished third in 1:10:22, and Nate Hornok was 7th with 1:16:59.

Not sure what to think of the results. Being able to run low 5:20s for six flat miles and feel in control is good. Only 45 seconds behind Joe and Dennis is good unless both of them underperformed today. 3:46 behind Paul is bad, unless he over-performed. Based on Draper Days he should have been 3:11 ahead. 6:27 behind Teren is bad unless he did something really amazing, worth a 1:02 on a good sea-level course. Paul should have been 2:55 behind Teren based on Deseret News instead of actual 2:41, so he is actually within range. Dennis, on the other hand, should have been only 51 seconds behind Paul (based on DesNews 10 K) instead of 3:02, and only 3:46 behind Teren instead of actual 5:43. 77% humidity + the wind may have become a separating factor. Some people handled it better than others.

Around 1:23 into the race started a cool-down with Bill Cobler and Paul. At first we were going slower than 8:00. Then Paul turned around. Bill suggested the idea of running all the way back to the start. That would give us a marathon + a quarter or so to the car from the start of the race. I was a bit low on blood sugar, and was not thinking straight, and also feeling adventurous, so I said, yes, let's do it. We sped up to around 7:20-7:30 pace and coasted. Quite a bit of cross-wind. With 4 miles to go, Bill said he'd better back off. I was getting excited about a few things - wanted to qualify for Boston in this odd manner with a 9 minute break after the first half (and including it in the time), wanted to break the time of my first marathon (3:05:51), and just wanted to have the run over with. So I continued alone at about the same pace. Hit the marathon mark in 3:04:07 from the gun of the half marathon (BQ by 6 minutes!), which gives me around 2:55 of actual running time, then continued on to the car.

Interesting observation - at 7:20 pace, it seemed like I was not dipping into blood sugar. The level of lucidness remained the same as the miles progressed, and I did not feel a typical sense of weakness associated with hitting the wall. But I knew I would if I tried to go much faster. And was getting progressively hungrier for food.

Ran with the kids in the evening - 1.5 with Benjamin and Jenny in 13:22, then another 0.5 with Benjamin and pushing Jenny in the stroller in 3:47, this gave Benjamin 17:09 for 2 miles, and then 0.5 with Julia in 5:14.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Sat, Aug 18, 2007 at 20:48:47

Sasha - good job today. Just out of curiosity, what was your Garmin distance for the race?

From Lybi on Sat, Aug 18, 2007 at 21:04:47

Good job Sasha! I can't believe you turned around and ran it again after a hard race effort like that... How old were you when you when you ran your first marathon?

From Jon on Sat, Aug 18, 2007 at 23:18:04

Good job Sasha, nice time on a hard and windy course. I wonder- do you think the fact you had enough energy to run all the way back to the car is an indicator that your 1/2 marathon was not as fast as it could have been? I know I would not be able to do 13 more if I ran a good race.

From Brent on Sun, Aug 19, 2007 at 10:56:17

Sasha, you certainly have the distance and speed stamina. Very impressive, that course is dreadful, it might as well be death valley. It seems if the race was a Marathon, a few of the runners would have came back to you. Your races seem to be extremely strong this year.

From Paul Petersen on Sun, Aug 19, 2007 at 11:10:21

Jon - I've noticed that the higher and more consistent my training volume gets, the better my post-race recovery gets, including the cool-down. Although I only did 4 miles afterward yesterday, I threw in some tempo at the very end, and it actually felt pretty good. I could not have done that a few years ago. It is not surprising to see mileage-mongrels like Sasha and Bill be able to do a second half marathon after an all-out effort.

From Superfly on Sun, Aug 19, 2007 at 22:46:59

Good job in the race, and also on hitting a Boston Qualifier... Your a crazy man. If you don't have anything planned this Saturday you could meet me @ mile 7 or so and pace me in at Hobble? It could be a little tempo run for you. Or are you doing TOU half?

From Katie on Mon, Aug 20, 2007 at 06:47:14

Sasha, would you please explain how this fits into a post-run recovery routines?

I am a mileage hog myself(at times peaking at 140/wk) but this seems like risky behavior.

*What was the purpose of the run?

*Have you yet qualified for the trials?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Aug 20, 2007 at 14:43:02

Paul: it took me 43 seconds to run from the Garmin 13 to the finish, so probably 13.15, I imagine. It was showing 13.23 when we started the cool down after some walking around to get food.

Jon: I definitely think the lack of neural drive was the limiting factor. When Dennis and Joe dropped me, I was not breathing very hard, and overall not feeling too bad, but for some odd reason just could not go. Getting up at 3:30 AM the morning of the race did not help either, nor being in the middle of running high mileage, but I think overall I experience a pattern where my aerobic fitness improves much quicker than my neural drive. Eventually the neural drive catches up, I just need to be patient.

Clyde - I am running Park City Half that day.

Katie - the "recovery routine" was one of those things runners do sometimes. I was in the middle of a cool down running towards my car at the start, had somebody to run with, the wind was blowing mostly in my tail and picking up, I was not looking forward to turning around and facing it, I had no business at the awards ceremony (I wish they had an option Exclude From Age Division Awards for races where age division prize is a ribbon or a medal then somebody who does not have enough of those yet could get it instead of slapping somebody who was racing for cash and did not make it with "you're good enough for a ribbon!"), and I was not sure how long it was going to take before they start busing people back. And I did not want to do an evening run on top of it. So I figured, I'll just run back to the car to get it over with.

I have not yet qualified for the Trials, but hope to pull it off in St. George.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
21.050.000.000.2521.30

A.M. Easy run with Ted in the morning. Had a new running partner - his name is Ken. He joined us for the first three. I stopped to go to the bathroom, then did 4x100 strides, two in 18, and two in 17 to catch up. Felt good, speedy, the form felt good, slowed down to 7:12 pace in between for recovery. Saw Sarah (the Fast Running Mommy) on the way back. Got to the house, and ran back with Ted to meet Sarah, but she went another way. So we ended up doing 13.05, I got 1:37:08, Ted was about a minute slower due to my bathroom break.

No ill effects felt from the Saturday adventure. Lydiard said you could run a marathon once a week if you did it slow enough. I suppose he was right after all. Not that it is necessary to do it to train for a marathon, but if a crazy urge strikes you one week, and you slow down sufficiently, it can work.

P.M. Paul was driving through town, so I went for run with him. It was hot, but not as hot as it used to be - only 90. We started at Jiffy Lube where he was getting his oil changed. Ran on the Provo River Trail, crossed Geneva Road, then turned around and came back to my house. This was 5.75 in 42:37. Took Benjamin and Jenny with us, hit the next mile in 8:47, then Paul went on to Jiffy Lube, while we turned around and ran back. Jenny ran the next half mile in 3:49, which gave her 12:36 for 1.5. Put her in the stroller, Benjamin hit the next 0.5 in 3:23, which gave him 15:59 for the 2 miles. Then ran 0.5 with Julia. She hit the first quarter in 2:22, on pace for a PR, so I told her she would get a special prize if she would keep the pace. She picked it up, and hit 2:07 on the next quarter, which gave her 4:29 for 0.5. Afterwards we went to Reams and got her a toy pony, a chess set, and some balloons. She was very happy. Interestingly enough, she did it wearing Crocs - she actually rans better in Crocs than in regular running shoes.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Lulu on Mon, Aug 20, 2007 at 22:02:47

Sasha,

I've had a question I've wanted to run by you for a while. In your articles on this site and in your posts I read that you stress mileage as being extremely important for marathon performance. Because of this, I am considering doing two-a-days for my next marathon training. Currently, I am running a maximum of ~40 miles a week which is high for me. My longest weeks will be about 44-46 miles. I've done many other marathons on less mileage. I am still trying to get in shape after the baby - not to lose weight but rebuild lost muscle etc. However, in considering increasing my mileage for the next marathon (possibly in January), I am concerned about whether my body will "hold up" to that kind of mileage. I wear two pairs of shoes (alternating) and replace them often. My somatotype is mesomorph (muscular), while most marathoners are ectomorphs (thin). I am by no means thin, but am not fat. I look like I spend more time lifting weights than running, and I do not! So I am wondering how your advice translates to someone who is probably "heavier" than most marathoners. Will my joints, bones, and muscles take more mileage? In the past, I have felt like I am riding the line of overtraining and ironically now I do not feel like that.

Sorry this is so long. I was hoping with this information you would give me your opinion.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Aug 20, 2007 at 23:44:51

Lulu - appropriate daily mileage is critical to improvement in longer distances, and especially the marathon. Running twice a day is a good idea, if you can find the time. Increasing the length of the runs is a good idea if your body can handle it. What you should do is increase the mileage a tiny bit at a time, and then wait a few weeks to see how you adapt to it. It may take years to get used to the kind of mileage that will allow you to reach your potential in the marathon. You are focused on Chicago right now, perhaps even too focused. What I recommend to all runners regardless of their current level is to never train for a race, but rather for long-term fitness. There will always be a race to prove it once that is achieved. This view allows you to train more consistently throughout the whole year, and overtime reach the point where you are not getting injured while training at much higher volume and intensity than you could not even think of in the past.

From Paul Ivory on Tue, Aug 21, 2007 at 09:12:42

Sasha, I love the advice you have given in your above comment. I'm going to copy/paste it to my running gems. I just completed the Pikes Peak Marathon this past Sunday. If you get a chance to read my report I would like your recommendation regarding my comments about blood test iron levels and testosterone levels.

From Jon on Tue, Aug 21, 2007 at 17:05:36

Lulu

I gave my opinion on your blog for 2-a-days, as well.

Jon

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.1610.020.000.0021.18

A.M. Big Workout. Ran a warm-up of 5.02 with Ted in 37:19. Legs felt snappy. Wondered if this was just the nervous system being a bit wired, or really a sign of fitness. Made the pessimistic assumption. After the warm-up started the 10.02 tempo back to the house with the Provo River 5 Mile Tempo detour. Going off the pessimistic assumption did not have any goals, just run comfortably hard, starting out at a conservative marathon pace, then picking it if feeling good and coasting otherwise.

Got to the tempo turnaround gate in 6:44, this was around 5:45 pace. Ran the next 2.5 in 14:22, then 180 turn, next 2.5 in 14:00, then another 180 turn, next 2.5 in 13:58. This gave me 42:20 for 7.5 en route, with the last 5 of it in 27:58. Kept going past the end of the standard tempo start at Geneva Road to the house. Ran 7:38 for the last 1.33, with the last quarter in 1:22. Total time for 10.02 was 56:42, a slightly under 5:40 average. I was very pleased with the results - I usually run this tempo in a different flavor (faster and shorter course, only 10.00, not 10.02, no running under the bridges, and not net uphill), and my PR on that course is 56:42. This was done with a furious drive on the last 2.5 in 13:32, and with a shorter warm-up. Today I was just coasting, no shift to threshold at the end except maybe on the last 100 meters when I saw a garbage truck and realized I had not put my garbage out.

Total time for 15.04 was 1:34:01.

Interesting events during the run: around 6.75 into the tempo a dog tried to attack me. It was too big to kick (I think it was a shepherd) so I stopped and invited it for a boxing match. It backed off, I advanced, it backed off again, but the moment I would turn and try to run, it would back to its old tricks. So I just waited for the owner to get it. And, I passed a guy on a bike that looked like a farmer. He had a dog on a leash. I wonder if the dog's name is BINGO. The dog did show some interest in me, so I had to swing out wide enough to avoid trouble. We actually see him out almost every day. That dog really likes Nick, always tries to get him.

A little later ran 0.5 with Julia. She liked the stuff she got for her record yesterday and wanted to set another record today. So she ran 4:16 with the splits of 2:09 and 2:07. This is the family record in the 4 and under division. Her run yesterday was the family record as well, but prior to that Jenny held it (4:31).

P.M. Ran 1.53 to the car shop to pick up VanGoGo with Jenny in 13:07, then 2.05 with Benjamin to the soccer game in 16:33, then back (2.06) in 14:00. Benjamin's team won 7:1.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Brent on Tue, Aug 21, 2007 at 20:49:15

I gave up kicking dogs, carry pepper spray now. Your blog is interesting to read, the workouts are amazing after 31 miles last saturday. Mortals can only read your blog and imagine such fitness. Best to you at St.George.

From Michelle on Thu, Aug 23, 2007 at 10:32:48

Thanks for the Bingo reference! Thanks to your humor I spewed oatmeal into my new keyboard through an involuntary guffah!

I do enjoy reading your blog though I don't comment much. It's hard to comment on the "coach"es training.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.930.000.150.0017.08

A.M. Easy run with Ted on Sasha House 10 Miler at 5:00 AM. The run was pretty much an extension of my sleep, especially the first 3 miles on which we averaged 8:20 with the record slow first quarter in 2:27. Then we woke up a bit on the second half, but not much - 7:30 pace. Total time was 1:18:29. I told Ted I could tell my legs were feeling snappy yesterday when I hit the first quarter in 2:05.

P.M Ran with Julia in the early afternoon. She wanted to set another record. I told her she needed a recovery day after two records in a row. She ran 0.5 in 4:50. Later in the evening ran with Benjamin and Jenny. First mile in 8:34 with Jacob in the double stroller. On the way back, put Jenny in the stroller (took 7 seconds) and went after Benjamin. I usually catch him pretty quickly, but this time it was different - it took me a whole quarter of decent effort. No wonder, he ran it in 1:51, so that made mine 1:44 which is not slow with a loaded double stroller and having to go under the bridge and up by 800 North in Provo. I timed a couple of his 100s, and gave him a challenge to break 7:00 on the last mile. He hit the next quarter in 1:41, followed by 1:39, and another 1:39. His last mile was 6:50, only 2 seconds off his PR set on a track in a race, and this gave him 15:24 for 2 miles. Incidentally, this became my fastest mile of the day up to that point. Afterwards, went for another 4.54, Benjamin went with me on a bike. His bike riding skills have improved greatly, he was very conversational at 6:40 pace. Total time for 4.57 was 30:14. Benjamin pulled away from me on the last quarter. At first I hesitated and coasted, but then with 0.15 to go decided to pick it up. Tried to keep it at no faster than threshold effort. This gave me 1:23 for the last quarter.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.360.004.002.0020.36

A.M. Big Workout. Ran the warm-up with Ted, Adam, and Jeff. Stopped at 3.5 to visit a bush, Ted and Adam went on, as Ted was on a tight schedule and they were not doing the workout anyway. Jeff and I did our standard 6.2 warm-up, and started the workout at the end of the official Provo River Trail gate as we usually do. The workout was Ted's idea. I asked him yesterday if he had any suggestions on something that would not run Jeff into the ground. He came up with something that had the potential of running me into the ground as well - 2 miles in 10:40, 3x1 in 5:10, then 2 miles faster than the first time around. I modified it a bit - made it only 2x1 instead, and made a bit of a leeway on pace. Also, if 5:20 pace did not feel right on the 2 mile interval, back off to 5:25 or even slower.

Jeff had had only 3 hours of sleep, so to make things easier for him, we made the 0.5/0.25 lead trade off on the first 2 miler. Ran it with a slight net uphill, mostly from 1.5 to 1.75 (0.5% grade). Nearly perfect pacing - never more than 1 second ahead or behind at any of the checkpoints. This is with me cheating and checking the split every 200 meters (0.125 to be more exact). Got 10:40.0.

Jogged 0.5 untimed, very slow, then ran the mile. The target was 5:15. Jeff took the first and the last quarter, I handled the 0.5 in the middle. Started out right on target, 1:19 for the quarter, then I pushed it a bit during my turn, and Jeff kept the pace during his - we ended up with 5:09.4. This section had a 0.5% down grade from 0.75 to 1, but it also has places that slightly roll, which would make it still slower than perfectly flat.

Jogged 0.25, slow, untimed. Another mile the same way. This time we ran more even and a bit slower, got 5:12.2.

Jogged 0.25, slow, untimed. Jeff was getting tired, so I suggested he should run just the first mile instead and pull me through it. He did a good job, we hit it in 5:18, and I thoroughly enjoyed drafting behind him, it was almost relaxing, as much one could possibly relax that late in the workout and at that effort. Then he was done, and I was left alone. Being alone made the pace a lot harder. I hit the next 0.5 in 2:41. Now try not to lose ground on the uphill quarter. Managed 1:21, now the 5:20 guy caught up to me. To hold him off, I picked up the effort, and ran the last quarter in 1:19. This gave me 10:39.2 for 2 miles.

Cooled down to make the total 15.04.

Interesting events: passed our favorite farmer with the dog named BINGO again, twice. Some background for those not familiar with this inside joke. My kids used to listen to a tape with BINGO on it, so the song got firmly ingrained in my head (being raised in Russia, I did not grow up with it). One time during a tempo run it came into my head, and that seemed to do a nice job keeping the neural drive going and helped me sustain the pace. Then this year during the Del Sol relay my teammates asked me if I wanted them to do anything for me during the night leg. I asked them to sing BINGO around mile 2. So around 2 AM somewhere on a country road near Scottsdale, AZ Paul, Jon, Clyde, Dan, and Dave Nelson got out of VanGoGo and did the gig. Since then, the song kept popping up in various contexts. Paul told me during the 30 K in Ogden he had BINGO in his head. I knew I was in trouble. Now every time I do my Big Workout, often trying to get my brain to fire with BINGO, I pass that farmer-looking guy riding a bike with his dog.

Then on the last 0.5 of the workout I saw the Fast Running Mommy again. She looked like a blur by that point, but I nevertheless recognized her and waved. She ran 5 miles in 48:10.

P.M. Ran with Julia in the early afternoon. She was supposed to do an easy 0.5 run, but after a quarter in 2:40 she said she wanted to do a mile. So she hit the next quarter in 2:13, followed by 2:10, and 2:12. This gave her the time of 9:15 for the mile, a 42 second PR, and the family record in the 4 and under age division. The previous record of 9:32 was being held by Jenny. I was very pleased with Julia's initiative on going the distance, picking up the pace, and exhibiting a degree of mental toughness above her age. She was breathing pretty hard the entire time once she picked up the pace after the first quarter, but was maintaining a good rhythm nevertheless like a mature elite runner.

I dream about being 90 years old, looking at the IAAF top rankings in the distance races and seeing the name Pachev all over. Today when runners see the last name of Rono, Ndereba, or Bekele on the start list, they become seriously concerned even when they are not recognizing the first name. When I am 90, I want them to feel the same way when they see my last name. Not so much that I want the glory, but I want to demonstrate the power of one, how much can be accomplished by being consistently productive, challenging the false dogmas without questioning God-given laws, and reaching out with faith for the seemingly impossible. Today we got one step closer.

Ran with Benjamin in the afternoon to the soccer practice (2.12 in 17:53 for him, I was about 40 seconds faster due to a bathroom stop in the middle), then back with Jenny, she got 12:37 for 1.5 then rode in the stroller the rest of the way, I got 17:06 for 2.08, then I was running late to a church meeting, and ran 0.12, actually made it before the meeting started. It is amazing how much difference relaxed running makes over relaxed walking for me even over such a short distance.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Thu, Aug 23, 2007 at 18:17:51

Sasha I'll I can say is your amazing... nice workout. This song came to my mind last week on my Tempo run (Bingo song), "after reading your blog about the motivation it gave you", and it helped me out. I grew up with this song as a kid. Maybe this is what I need to sing when I'm doing speed work. To not allow the brain to shutdown the legs.

From Jon on Thu, Aug 23, 2007 at 19:00:22

Hey Sasha, do you have my first aid kit (from Clyde)? And who ended up with our WBR award batons?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Aug 23, 2007 at 19:06:33

Jon - I do not think I have it, but I'll ask the Fast Running Mommy just in case. I think Clyde has our batons.

From Mik'L on Thu, Aug 23, 2007 at 19:43:02

Actually, we gave the Fast Running Mommy the first aid kit and all the batons at Deseret News. So Sasha has everything.

From Jon on Thu, Aug 23, 2007 at 21:09:26

Sasha, if you are going to see James this weekend (Hobblecreek?), could you give him that stuff? Then he can get it back up to Cache Valley.

Thanks

From Paul Petersen on Thu, Aug 23, 2007 at 21:57:27

I've got batons too.

From Jon on Thu, Aug 23, 2007 at 23:35:48

You guys need to share the wealth

From Jon on Thu, Aug 23, 2007 at 23:40:22

Is anyone from Logan going to Provo this weekend?

From Katie on Fri, Aug 24, 2007 at 07:17:09

Sasha,

Is 5:20 your marathon pace?

Is this a marathon paced run or a tempo run?

What was the purpose of the workout?

Just curious. I like the sound of this one and might like to try it.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Aug 24, 2007 at 12:18:01

Jon - the Fast Running Mommy said we have both the batons and the first aid kit. I am not running Hobblecreek, but my house is on the way. Whoever wants to pick it up should call us at 801-788-4608 to make the arrangements.

Katie - the two mile tempos were done at threshold (aggressive), the miles were probably around a tactical 5 K/aggressive 10 K pace. I am doing those at 4500 ft on a slight rolling course, so everything is going to be quite a bit slower than the speeds on the St. George course, which starts at 5200 ft, and finishes at 2600 ft with a mostly gradual drop. I would say on average, the same effort on the St. George course would result in running about 15 seconds per mile faster, or possibly more.

This workout was focused on threshold development in the middle of a medium-long run (The Big Workout). I feel I have good speed in a marathon on the first half, but then around 15-17 I go into a coast mode. I do not really hit the wall, the speed is just not there once the glycogen is gone from the muscle. I do have good fuel absorption capability (one time I ate 4 bananas during a marathon at full speed and experienced no side effects), and can run fairly well on just fats, so I can still hang in there and finish decent, but I am afraid this would not be good enough to hit the qualifier. What I am hoping to do with those Big Workouts is to increase glycogen storage, and improve its utilization well enough to avoid this bonk at 15-17. And improve the threshold as well as a side effect.

From Katie on Fri, Aug 24, 2007 at 14:45:10

Interesting.

I'm so tempted by St. George's promises of a fast time!

I may still try to beg my way in depending on how my races go this weekend and on Sept. 9th.

About the fuel, have you tried VAAM? It's a Japanese sports drink of Amino Acids. It supposedly helps your body utilize fats more efficiently. It is the ONLY supplement that I have had good results with. It seems to allow me to work much longer at a fat burning pace. I do add a small amount of Gatorade to it to keep blood sugars up. I assume any similar product would work, but VAAM is the only one that I have found to work for me without fail.

How do you swallow bananas at a 5:30 pace? I bet that gets ugly!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.070.000.000.0017.07

A.M. Sasha House 10 Miler with Ted and Jeff in 1:14:10. Hit the first half in 38:41, then woke up a bit. 2 more miles after that alone, first in 6:45, second in 6:25, this gave me 1:27:20 for 12.04. Started asleep as usual, felt progressively better as I went. Interesting events: saw a skunk, he did not spray us, then discussed skunks for a while. I learned that dogs gets sprayed a lot by skunks. Also, saw a pit bull, no owner, no leash. Ted yelled at him to go home while I pointed the way. That seemed to work. He kept running ahead and looking back, checking his lead I suppose. Finally he got off the trail, and headed into the trailer court.

P.M. Flooding in Michigan apparently affected the Fast Running Blog. Our ISP Sectorlink was apparently struggling with the power outage, so we were down for a few hours. Fortunately it lasted less than the worse possible case that I anticipated, and we are back in business. Ran 0.5 with Julia in 4:42, then a mile with Benjamin and Jenny in 8:39 (Benjamin was a bit a head with 8:38), and then 3.54 in 27:21 by myself. Park City Half tomorrow.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From steve hooper on Fri, Aug 24, 2007 at 23:56:03

I just got up online at the hotel here and it looks like we're back up to normal. Thanks for the call earlier. Good luck in your race tomorrow! Steve

From Lybi on Sat, Aug 25, 2007 at 00:29:05

Goooooooooooooooooooo Sasha! Have a great race!

Race: Park City Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:14:18, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.340.0012.900.2023.44

Park City Half Marathon, 1:14:18, first place. Today was Jenny's 7th birthday. Winning the race has a historical significance. I won Hobblecreek in 2000 about 10 hours after she was born. I do not always get to celebrate her birthday by winning a race, but I try.

Drove up with Ted and Jeff. Warmed up 2.3 miles.

Saw Bob Thompson. Bob is recovering from a calf injury, but knowing his previous fitness level, it was a possibility that he could cause some trouble, and definitely be able to run with us at least for a while. So I invited Bob and Jeff to share the lead every quarter. We went like that for two miles at about 5:45-5:50 pace. The course is a beast - starts at 6400 feet (Kimball Junction), climbs to 6900 at the half-mark (somewhere in the middle of Park City residential area), then back down the same way. About half of the way on gravel/dirt. Lots of 90 degree turns, and the narrowness of the trail makes them a true 90 - no room to swing out. To make things worse, the climb is uneven - some places flat, some near flat, some even slightly down, and some steeper, reaching perhaps a 3-4% grade, which really hurts at altitude anywhere, and on this course those parts are towards the end of the climb - a higher elevation for the steep parts, double trouble. So on that climb anything sub-6:00 is really good.

That pace was too much for Bob after two miles. I suppose he would have done relatively better at a lower elevation - the gaps in the aerobic conditioning from a forced break would have had less effect. Jeff and I went on trading quarters. Jeff was very strong and was making me suffer. By around 3.5 I knew that the only thing that would save me would be the distance to soften him up, and I hoped 13.1 would be long enough. Nevertheless, I was taking my turns every other quarter according to the plan. Our slowest quarter (off Garmin) during the entire climb was 1:34. At first I rarely saw anything slower than 1:30, but as the grade became steeper, I started seeing 1:31s and 1:32s more often. We would occasionally hit a 1:27-1:28 when it flattened out for a brief moment, or when Jeff would really turn up the heat on me.

We reached the turnaround in 38:56, and my Garmin 305 showed a reasonable distance, good sign. Most of the mile markers agreed with Garmin as well, another good sign. On the way down both of us press hard on our turns. I started seeing sub-1:20 quarters quite frequently. Saw Chris Rogers in third, he passed Bob, then Bob not too far behind, then a while later a group of runners and Ted. By around 8 we were in the thick of things - lots of runners going the other way.

I kept waiting for the distance to soften Jeff up, but it was not happening. I began to realize that I was dealing with a different Jeff. That is good news for his upcoming marathon in St. George. Today with no taper he could have definitely made it to 16 in one piece if not further, then it is only 10 to go. Additionally, St. George is a much more fuel efficient course. I've felt pretty bad on it around 13-15 and was still able to finish decent, without a forced premature cool-down. If I am feeling that bad at the same point in Ogden or Top of Utah, things do not look good, the cool-down is bound to happen.

With a mile to go, it was apparent that the race would be decided with a kick. We were still trading leads on quarters, but now it was more tactical and ferocious. Jeff is not a kicker, so he was trying to drop me with a fast pace. I am not a kicker in a 5 K, and I will not kick well off a faster pace, but in a threshold race (15 K to half-marathon) it is a different story. If the pace softens up to as little as 5 seconds per mile slower than my threshold, I will have a good kick. At 12.75 it was my turn to lead, but I figured waiting another 200 meters to take my lead would be fair game that late in the race. Jeff had soften up just a tad, and it was enough for me to have a kick. So I waited until I thought we had 300 meters to go, and then went for it. Jeff did not expect me to start the kick that early, so I was able to open up a small gap. I eased off a bit, then once we hit the grass, I realized I was in trouble - Jeff was closing, and he has done a lot more cross-country running than me. So I pushed as hard as I could, and ended up beating him by a second. The time on my watch said 1:14:20, the official time was 1:14:18. Jeff had 1:14:19. Chris was third with 1:16:59, and Bob fourth with 1:17:37 (I think). Ted was 6th with 1:23:37 (I think).

After the finish the announcer did not have us on his list, so he asked me my name. That 300 meter anaerobic interval at the end put me on the edge of losing my breakfast had I eaten one in the morning, but fortunately I did not, so there was nothing to lose, but I was still not able to talk. So I waved to him, and he said he would get to the business later.

One great thing about this race was the food. I think this race had the best food selection I've ever seen in a race. Lots of natural, organic stuff. I ate a lot.

Ran a 3 mile cool-down with Ted and Jeff. Then stayed for long enough for the awards ceremony, and watch the finish of the marathon. Dave Spence made a come back and won with a high 2:49. Steve Olsen was second with 2:53, Bill Cobler third with 2:57.

P.M. Ran 0.5 with Julia running and Joseph in the single stroller in 4:49, then 1.5 with Benjamin and Jenny, plus Joseph in the single stroller in 13:27, then 3.04 in 21:30 with Benjamin riding along on a bike. Hit a bit over 120 miles this week, highest ever.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Adam RW on Sat, Aug 25, 2007 at 14:52:37

Sasha, Great win. Was your race report cut-off half way I was just getting into it when it was over? I'm eager to hear the rest. Also, do you know how Bill Cobler did in the full?

From Jon on Sat, Aug 25, 2007 at 15:01:10

Nice race- can't beat a win!

Do you think it would be possible for you to add the TOU 1/2 marathon to your race predictor, too? It is growing in number and would be nice to have on their.

From Jon on Sat, Aug 25, 2007 at 15:01:22

**there**

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Aug 25, 2007 at 15:23:27

Exciting finish! Way to kick.

From Christi on Sat, Aug 25, 2007 at 15:33:43

Awesome win! Way to push at the end!

From Lybi on Sat, Aug 25, 2007 at 15:53:09

What an exciting race! This seems like a fabulous time on such a difficult course and at super high elevation. Great job!

From James in Sunny AZ on Sat, Aug 25, 2007 at 16:39:10

Way to go, Sasha. We had firsthand experience last night how gravel slows you down. The bloggers are taking over!

From Chris Rogers on Sat, Aug 25, 2007 at 16:51:18

Good job today Sasha. I liked the course and I think that even though the uphill was a challenge, it was a great workout in prep for SGM. Strength building uphill and speedy downhills all in one!

From ashman on Sat, Aug 25, 2007 at 19:04:25

Sounds like a gut buster! Good job!

From Michael on Sat, Aug 25, 2007 at 23:21:30

Way to continue that winning and great race performance streak Sasha. Sounds like a tough course

From Tom on Sun, Aug 26, 2007 at 07:44:31

Great race report, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Sounds like quite the exciting finish to a well fought race, congrats on coming out ahead.

From Paul Ivory on Sun, Aug 26, 2007 at 23:53:03

Sasha, awesome race!! You make us feel like we were there with you. Congrats and all the best for you in St. George.

From Clay on Mon, Aug 27, 2007 at 15:29:44

Great race Sasha. you and Paul and Clyde are the Men, so to speak... Inspiring. Keep up the hard fought workouts and weekly mileage, your awesome!

From Logan on Mon, Aug 27, 2007 at 17:24:57

After running the TOU/half and running a little bit with Paul I feel like I am going to give it my best shot for a 2:22 at St. George. A lot of it is mental for me but I feel pretty good about it now.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.000.000.000.0018.00

A.M. Ran Sasha House 10 Miler with Ted, Jeff, and Adam. Saw the Fast Running Mommy, came then came back to her with Ted after we were done. She was going pretty fast, ended up doing 44:43 for 5 miles. I did not even recognize her form from a distance. Then Ted wanted to run a bit more for a round number, so we did. Ended up with 13 miles in 1:38:12.

P.M. 0.5 with Julia in 4:45, then 1.5 with Jenny and Benjamin running, and Jacob in the double stroller in 13:26, then put Jenny in the stroller as well, and ran 3:25 (actually a bit faster, but Benjamin did run that time) for the last 0.5. This gave Benjamin 16:51 for 2 miles. Then ran 2.5 by myself and without the stroller in 16:31. Legs felt snappy and energetic. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From adam on Tue, Aug 28, 2007 at 00:14:51

sasha- 6 or 6:15 tomorrow?

From JohnK on Tue, Aug 28, 2007 at 09:33:29

Sasha,

You are running great and I look forward to seeing how you do at St. George. Would you mind taking a quick look at my training the past 4-6 weeks and make a very few suggestions for between now and Chicago Marathon on 10/7? (My goal is sub-3:00. I was thinking 2:55 a few months ago but I've had several marathon blow-ups over the past four years and feel I should go out more conservatively. I ran Chicago in '04, taking it out in high 6:30s and was ~1:27.30 at the half then bombed to a 3:05. Thanks!)

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Aug 28, 2007 at 17:01:53

John:

Your training looks very solid. Lots of long runs with MP/threshold mixed in, and good overall mileage. Sasha science says you should not blow up regardless of how you start, at least if you do it would not be because of bad training. I'd say just keep it up for as long as you can until it is time to taper, then do a short taper and you are good to go. I would not be surprised if you run a low-2:50, or even faster.

Adam - we are meeting at 5:00 AM tomorrow (Wednesday) if you can make it. If not, then Thursday 6:15 AM.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.980.255.750.2521.23

A.M. The Big Workout (threshold version). Warmed up with Ted and Adam. Had a bush stop, then caught up. Hit a 1:27 quarter, and that felt like more like brisk easy rather than marathon pace. The warm-up was the standard 6.2, and the time was 46:38.

The workout consisted of 2.5 - 2 and 1.5 tempo intervals with full recovery (slow 0.5 jog). Two reasons for odd distances - to try something new, and to avoid 180 turns. The plan was to try to manage 5:20 pace on all of them, or as close as possible.

Ran the first 2.5 from the lake to Geneva road in 13:21.4. Fairly even splits, hit a couple of 1:21 quarters on the uphill section, and one more 1:21 after that, I think that one is still slightly uphill, because it is always slow. Kicked at the finish a bit to make up, did 1:19. Otherwise a fairly steady set of 1:20 quarters. The last mile of it was tough, but no surprise. I ran it in 5:22, and effort-wise this is about 5:15 flat.

The 2 miler was from the 0.5 mark of the Provo River 5 Mile Tempo to the turnaround.
The slight steady downhill on the second quarter got me into a nice rhythm and I was able to run relaxed all the way through. Got 10:37.6. Fairly even splits, a little faster on the first mile (5:18) because of the nice downhill quarter. When I say relaxed, it was not a jog, but I was able to relax while running hard, so that made the pace sustainable. This reminds me of the class on how to handle labor that Sarah and I attended before Benjamin was born (after that, she did not need a class). Turns out, the same principle applies during labor as when running hard - learn to relax while in pain. I think it applies to any form of pain.

The 1.5 interval was from the 2/3 mile mark of the tempo course to 0.5/4.5. The first mile of it was essentially flat, and the last 0.5 was a slight uphill, steady in the first quarter, and rolling in the second. That same nice downhill that helped me relax would now be a nice uphill at the end of the last interval. Nice! Hit the first mile in 5:20, again with the focus on relaxing while running hard. Then slipped up a bit on the next quarter even though I increase the effort in advance in hopes of avoiding it - 1:21. Saw The Fast Running Mommy. I knew she wanted a kiss, but all I could manage was the Brezhnev-style hand-wave. Picked it up on the next quarter to catch the 5:20 guy. Ran the last quarter in 1:16, this gave me 7:57.1 for the interval.

Ran back to the Fast Running Mommy, gave her a full-blown kiss, and finished the run with her. Total of 16 miles.

P.M Ran 2.05 in 16:55 with Benjamin to his soccer game. Pushed Jacob and Joseph in the stroller. Added 0.5 in 3:59 during the game. Benjamin's team won 3-0. Ran 1.5 back with Jenny pushing Julia in the double stroller in 12:48, and then finished the remainder of the distance with both of them in the stroller. Got 17:58 for 2.18. Then ran 0.5 with Julia in 5:12.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Logan on Tue, Aug 28, 2007 at 17:13:54

According to my mile 13 I was at 1:08:17. Life goes on though!

From Breanna on Tue, Aug 28, 2007 at 23:56:20

Sasha,

I like the new updates to the blog. What is the save entry button for?

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 09:57:57

Sasha - there seems to be something wrong with the blog. The http://fastrunningblog.com/show_blogs.php page yields absolutely no content.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Aug 30, 2007 at 18:38:06

Breanna - Save Entry saves what you typed without making it public, and then takes you back to the edit page so you can continue editing. This is to help avoid session timeout problems. You should hit it every few minutes when typing up long entries.

Paul - I fixed this bug yesterday.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.080.000.000.0017.08

A.M. Ran with Ted on Sasha House 10 Miler at 5:00 AM. 10.04 in 1:15:54. Felt fresh and energetic for the 5:00 AM run, but Ted could not be tricked into going faster. I felt I had horses neighing in my head, but I figured I'd let them neigh tomorrow. Looks like I am headed for over 500 miles this month, a life time high, but I am starting to feel undertrained. Better than overtrained, plus, it would be difficult to find the time for more miles without undermining the recovery routine, which, I learned from experience, is something you absolutely do not mess with once you are over 90/week so I'll stay at 120/week for now.

P.M. Ran 0.5 with Julia in 5:09. Then did a relay game of sorts with Benjamin and Jenny. First Jenny ran 1.52 in 13:21 while Benjamin rode a bike, and I pushed  an empty single stroller. Then Jenny rode the  bike, while Benjamin  and I ran, again with me pushing the empty stroller.  Our goal was to beat the 8:00 mile guy, and I guess Benjamin was determined to  do it in such a way that I would not have to go sub-8:00 on my leg. He hit the first mile in 7:14, and the next quarter in 1:43. I figured he was on pace to break his mile PR of 6:48 on the last mile and it was well with his capability, so I challenged him to do it. He hit the next two quarters in 1:42, then made a 180 turn and kicked in 1:36. This gave him a new mile PR of 6:43 at the end of a 2 mile run which was also a new PR - 13:57. Then we put Jenny in the stroller, and Benjamin on a bike and ran 3.02 miles home. The total time was 49:29 and we left the 8:00 guy in the dust.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Superfly on Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 16:13:51

I can't see the blog.

Also I'm going to start the 3- 15 mile a week runs with 6 miles at marathon pace next week and see how it feels. Sounds like a lot of work but, also sounds very effective. My garmin was a little short on Hobble but others had it right on. I ran every tangent I could. It was the very same coures as last year.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 16:21:45

Clyde - please explain. Whose blog? Which page? What exactly do you mean by "cannot see"?

From Mik'L on Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 16:30:55

Sasha- I am at work and cannot see it either. If you try to go to "Other Blogs" it goes to an empty page. It has been that way all day. So the only blogs I can go to are the most recent and the comments.

From Lybi on Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 16:32:28

I am having the same problem, Sasha. If I go to fastrunningblog.com I see the 1st page, but if I click on "blogs" the window goes blank. If I click on "race reports" it is normal, though.

Can't wait to see what you put those poor horses through tomorrow. Holy cow, a lifetime record in mileage! You seem to be handling it really well, still perky and, dare I say it, eager to engage in heated debate. : ) Must be all those honey sandwiches.

From James on Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 16:33:54

I am in that same boat.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 16:43:44

Guys - thanks for the bug reports. I have now fixed it.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 16:50:47

Also, as you may have noticed, each page now has a monthly unique visitor count. Lets have a race on who can get most uniques. Mine does not count because it has hard links from the main site. I think Paul is in the lead right now with 262 projected uniques for the month. To win the race, you can tell your friends and family, etc to visit your blog, put your blog name in your e-mail signature, when you get interviewed by a paper, tell them about your blog, and make sure they get the URL right.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 16:58:49

No, I was wrong. maaron is actually higher than Paul, at 280 projected uniques. I suppose another way to up count is to stir up some hot discussions that will produce a lot of debate. Randy and I will take credit for that one, though.

A clarification on the meaning of unique visitor for the non-computer savvy. It is an attempt to count how many different computers the blog was accessed from, which hopefully will closely approximate the number of actual people who saw it. There are several techniques to figure that out, none of them perfectly reliable, but I think QuantCast has an upper hand in this with their advanced statistical analysis of Internet traffic + me putting their code on the page. Very interesting stuff - if you want to see a whole lot of data about the visitors of a particular blog, just click on the counter button at the top.

From Mik'L on Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 16:59:19

I get interviewed by the paper all the time.

Can I make a small suggestion? Can you italicize "If you are wishing to reply, please do so at the page where the reply was posted. This makes it easier for others to follow blog discussion. Do not reply to this via e-mail, your e-mail reply will bounce." so it doesn't look like part of the comment on email?

From James on Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 17:11:54

Thanks for fixing that. I have another problem, I haven't been able to get into my blog options for the past couple of days, I can get into user options though.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Aug 29, 2007 at 17:24:20

James - I've fixed that one too. Mik'l - you cannot italicize unless you send out an HTML-email, which is considered bad manners in a generic e-mail for a number of reasons. However, I did find a solution to the issue - just use the dash marks to mark the start and the end of the actual comment, hope that works.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.0312.210.000.0022.24

A.M. The Big Workout. I had planned it just for Jeff figuring if I make the whole run and the tempo long enough, do some intimidation talk about how miserable the last few miles of a marathon feel, and then invite him to set the pace, he'll make it slow enough for me to relax and enjoy it and I'll have an excuse to run a bit slower. Additionally, for some reason I did not feel like taking a nap yesterday, and also developed a bit of a respiratory irritation that frequently happens to me. It starts from the right eye (the only one I see well out of) getting overworked, then somehow translates into some irritation in the throat, and sometimes I get a full-blown cold out of it. So I wanted to take it easy. However, it turned out that Jeff had to work this morning.

So I ran the warm-up with Ted and Adam. To the 2.5 tempo course turnaround, and then back a mile to the 1.5 mark - 4.83 in 39:14. Turned around again and started the 12.21 tempo run. Felt lazy and conservative on the first mile - 5:56. Then from there 6:53 to the Sasha House 10 Miler turnaround (1.19). Back in 6:53. Next 2.5 in 14:19. Still feeling conservative, but the horses are starting to neigh. Turned around, 2.5 in 14:03, another turnaround, next 2.5 in 14:07. Beat the 5:40 guy for the 7.5 stretch by 1 second. Saw the Fast Running Mommy three times with all the turnarounds, did my best job of waving. I think I do it better at 5:40 pace than at 5:20. Then ran the remaining 1.33 in 7:48, lost steam a bit on the rolling hills and the turns, then picked it back up once I hit the flat part. This gave me the total for the 12.21 tempo of 1:09:59, 57:10 for the last 10.02, and 1:49:13 for 17.04. This comes out to 5:44 average for the tempo, and 6:25 average for the whole run.

Took a long nap afterwards to recover.

P.M. Ran 0.5 with Julia in 4:56, then 2.05 with Benjamin to soccer practice and Jenny in the single stroller in 17:55, then 1.5 with Jenny in 12:24 and added some more to make the total 2.65 in 20:52. Jenny is in really good shape right now, I think if she puts her   mind to it she can crack 25:00 in the Onion Days 5 K. Benjamin should be able to do a low 21:00 and make Alexander Berry work. We are still short of one pacer for them, will try to recruit Jeff or Adam tomorrow.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Thu, Aug 30, 2007 at 18:02:35

Nice training Sasha... a good power nap will get you ready for tomorrows training.

The course you run is it in the city, canyon, trail area? It sounds like it has a lot of turns. Unfortunately I do a lot of my running in the city area, especially now with the taper.

From James on Fri, Aug 31, 2007 at 01:13:50

I just saw your questions about Provo 1/2, see my race entry. Michael Lewis did turn around early, probably close to a 10th of a mile. I didn't see anyone else do it accept for Steve, who was running bandit. I was catching him (Michael or whoever he was) the whole time and was getting close to hime until we hit the first parking lot and I went the wrong way. I was about 15 seconds behind him until he turned left and I turned right at the finish. I would have caught him without my screw ups. His time should have been right around 1:13:20-25, with his cut at the turn around. But it doesn't really matter to me, results are posted and I know what time was on my watch. I would tell you my splits but they were in my watch that I fried a couple weeks ago. Sorry I didn't see that comment until tonight.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Aug 31, 2007 at 10:50:41

Kory - I did this run on the Provo River Trail. The reason for lots of 180s was that the good sections were not long enough, and I wanted to run them more than once.

James - thanks for the update.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.800.200.200.0019.20

A.M. Easy run with Ted and Jeff in the morning. We ran the Sasha House 10 Miler with a small variation - on the way back we went through the new tunnel at Geneva, which added 0.04 or so. I made three bathroom stops and then caught up. No sickness, just a lot of traffic. Jeff and Ted were going a bit faster than 8:00, so I did not even bother to shift gears into a tempo pace to catch up and just coasted at 6:40 pace the first two times. The third time I had to pick it up to 6:20 as they were going a bit faster. Then we dropped Ted off at my house, and added another 3.12. So that gave me 1:36:27 for 13.2.

P.M. Steve Ashbaker came down for a run. We first ran 0.5 with Julia in 4:42. Then 1.5 with Jenny running, Benjamin on a bike and Jacob and Joseph in the stroller in 13:03. Then 2 with Benjamin running this time and Jenny on a bike in 16:30. Steve took the stroller with 0.75 to get a feel for it, and Benjamin picked it up to 7:00 pace with 0.5 to go. So Steve experienced the joy of running 7:00 pace with a loaded double stroller with 4 90 degree turns. Then Steve and I went for another 2 miles. Our total time was 14:32, and we did a mini-tempo pickup in the middle running 600 in 2:07 up about 0.5% grade.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Brent on Fri, Aug 31, 2007 at 14:35:19

Sasha, I read your comment to James concerning a long run. Me and Sylvia have ran three hard half marathons recently, Bryce,Provo and Hobble. We are considering a 22 mile easy run in the morning, two weeks before TOU. Do you think the 22 mile run would help at this point? We are doing St.George also.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Aug 31, 2007 at 16:36:53

Brent - see the fourth training error in the Top Ten Training Mistakes. Based on your training, the ideal length of a long run for you is probably 16-17 miles. However, I would recommend going a bit faster in the middle - 10 miles at 7:45-8:00 flat effort.

From Michael on Fri, Aug 31, 2007 at 17:01:29

Good to see you today Sasha on the Provo River trail. I was running the old folks Provo Senior Race, did Ok but my left hip bothered me alot. All those underpasses to get out of the road pysched me out some, even though they are short enough for me to go through, being tall they always seemed to make me slow down and duck

From Ryan on Fri, Aug 31, 2007 at 18:19:15

Sasha - i just plugged in my DNews time into the predictor and compared it with the predicted times. The predicted time waswithin 30 seconds of my actual Provo River Half time - amazing! Provo should have been faster if it wasn't for a 4 min bathroom break. Oh well - those are the breaks. I'm really interested in seeing if the SGM prediction is accurate. I have a goal time of 4 hours and your predictor has me pegged at 4 hours 4 minutes. So my question is should I go out with the 4 hour pace team and stick with them the whole race or should I start out faster and see what happens?

Race: Salt Lake Half Marathon (12.96 Miles) 01:10:53, Place overall: 1
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.160.0012.960.0024.12

A.M. Salt Lake Half Marathon, 1:10:53 (likely short course, not certified, 12.96 on my and Ted's Garmins), 1st place.

Warmed up 2.53 with Ted, Mike Kirk joined us for a bit, really slow, slower than 8:00 average. Saw Neal Gassmann, invited him to participate in our taking leads every quarter plan. Took the first quarter, then called out for Neal to take the second, but he was too far behind, so Mike took it. Then Darrell (or maybe it was Brad, I still get them confused, they look so much alike), who was running the relay, volunteered to take the third. Then I took the fourth, fifth, sixth, and so on up to 52nd.

Course mile markers were somewhat believable, always ahead of the GPS somewhat randomly, but not painted on the road - bad sign, and positioned randomly enough to where based on effort and leg turnover, I was more likely to believe the GPS than the course mile markers. That is bad, I do not put a lot of faith in the GPS. So I'll give my splits by the GPS.

The course starts at the Little Dell Bridge (around 5500 feet) near the East Canyon exit on I-80, goes towards the East/Emigration Canyon junction, a little bit past it, then 180 turn, back to the junction, then up the Little Mountain (about 6300 feet), then down the Emigration Canyon, past the Hogle Zoo and finishes slightly uphill (about 1%grade) near University Marriott (around 5000 feet). So you get a net elevation drop of about 500 feet, but you climb 800 feet in 4 miles first.

First mile was 6:06, followed by 6:33 (steepest uphill), then 6:08 (flatter), 6:14 (up Little Mountain). After that the slowest complete mile was 5:15, the fastest was 4:54, and the rest were spread fairly even in between. No quarters slower than 1:20 until the final uphill, where I saw a 1:26 quarter.

Was not surprised to have finished a bit earlier than 13.11, was actually expecting it. I've seen the times on that course from other runners in the past, did the math as to what kind of shape they were in, then did the math on what time I was going to finish 13.11 in, evaluated the profile of the course, evaluated the gap on the competition in this race (I had a good idea after the turnaround), and figured that if the course were not short we were running a different course then.

Neal Gassmann finished second with 1:12:44. Being a master he was tired from the 100 mile week and the speed workout on Tuesday. Mike Kirk was third with 1:13:47. Ted did a training run in 1:19.

It felt good to run with police escort and nobody else most of the race and through the finish line. This has great psychological benefits. It's been a while since I've done this, I think last time was Top of Utah 2003.

P.M. Ran 0.5 with Julia in 5:10, then 1.5 with Benjamin and Jenny. Jenny and I finished together in 13:58, while Benjamin picked it up a bit on the last quarter and ran 13:50. Pushed Jacob and Joseph in the stroller. Then ran to meet the Fast Running Mommy while pushing the stroller with Jacob and Joseph, 2.05 in 14:51. Ran back with Sarah, we stopped at the swing for a bit, rode it, let Joseph ride it, finished with a warm kiss, and continued. I ended up with 36:51 for 4.1. New life time mileage record this week - 121.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Chad on Sat, Sep 01, 2007 at 17:51:49

You looked really strong out there, Sasha. Great race. I can tell that, in addition to your physical fitness, your mental preparation has been going very well. I look forward to seeing what you can accomplish with the momentum you have accumulated as you prepare for the marathon.

From Michael on Sat, Sep 01, 2007 at 18:28:11

Way to go Sasha - another win and great effort - keep it up, your goals are happening

From Bonnie on Sat, Sep 01, 2007 at 19:37:17

Congratulations Sasha!

Bonnie

From Randy on Sat, Sep 01, 2007 at 19:40:07

Sasha - Nice work, man. I don't know that course... I thought the Salt Lake Half went out to Antelope Island(?) Must be different than the "Great Salt Lake Half". Anyway, if you can put almost 2 min on Neal in 13 miles, that's a tough effort. Well done.

From Mark on Sat, Sep 01, 2007 at 20:42:53

Sasha,

You never cease to amaze me. You are an inspiration!

From Christi on Sat, Sep 01, 2007 at 20:53:33

Sasha- Your commitment and self discipline are amazing. You earned this - CONGRATS!!!!!

From James in Sunny AZ on Sat, Sep 01, 2007 at 22:23:19

Congrats on the win, Sasha. I always look forward to reading your posts, and always appreciate your comments.

From Lybi on Sat, Sep 01, 2007 at 22:38:49

You are pure speed and commitment, Sasha! Great job! You better be careful or that police escort is gonna start handing you speeding tickets. Bravo bravo bravo.

From wheakory on Sun, Sep 02, 2007 at 01:22:57

Nice performance. I bet everything felt like it was clicking today. Another win and many more to come for you.

From Brent on Sun, Sep 02, 2007 at 19:57:35

Sasha, smoking them, great time on the course with the uphill portion. Congrads. Hey, this time you did not have to be the siren.

From ashman on Sun, Sep 02, 2007 at 20:07:45

Sasha, Good run buddy, I am really praying that you do get that OLY qualifying time.

From James on Sun, Sep 02, 2007 at 21:50:23

It is kind fun running with just you and the police escort. Nice job on your win. I am going to start calling you "1/2 marathon man", I think that is one 4-5 weeks in a row now.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.000.000.000.0020.00

A.M. Ran a warm-up with Benjamin and Jenny (0.36), then paced Jenny in the Payson Onion Days 5 K. She ran 25:04, a PR by 1:23, winning her age division (1-9), and finishing 11th woman overall out of 157 women. She beat the second place in her age division by 4:50. I checked the results, it looked like she would have made top 3 in any age division except 14-16 and 25-29. She ran pretty much exactly what I thought she would.

Benjamin ran without a pacer, and I think he was having an off day on top of it. He did PR by a bit, 22:26, but that does not reflect his potential that I saw in his training. I've seen this with him before, though. When he reaches a new level, at first he is not consistent at it, then he gets used to running at faster speeds. Nevertheless, nothing to complain about - he won the 1-9 age division by 5:08, 29th among men, and his chick score was 2, one of them being Breanna who ran a great race and destroyed the field with 19:54, the other only 11 seconds ahead, not bad for an 8 year old boy.

Added some more miles while waiting for the awards/raffle. Benjamin and Jenny got medals for their effort, and Benjamin got a nice cooler in the raffle. While I think in the end it is fair that he got the cooler, I do think that wrong values are being taught when the value of the raffle prize greatly exceeds the value of the prize for performance. I understand very well the business reasoning of the race director - most people do not win anything, and a raffle with good prizes increases the number of participants. However, if we are going to ask ourselves what it would take for Americans to start beating the Kenyans (short of facilitating the immigration process), part of the answer is to convince the race directors to move the best prizes from the raffle into overall and age division awards. Luck should never be rewarded greater than performance - we need to teach the right values at every level.

Then we went on the drive of the Nebo Loop. I was still not done with the miles, and added a few more at Maple Dell. Total of 10 additional miles in 1:13:37. Then ran 0.5 with Julia in 5:08.

P.M. We were out of honey and bread. So for my evening run I had to run to the store. To be able to carry stuff I had to bring a stroller. If I am bring a stroller, I may just as well put a kid in it. So I ran 6.1 in 45:42 with Jacob in the stroller, and some honey and bread I got at Macey's after 1.75 into the run.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Dustin on Tue, Sep 04, 2007 at 12:06:06

Sasha,

I appreciated the comments last week on my blog and the encouragement regarding training and mileage.

I agree with you that low mileage=under achievement and high mileage=exceeding your dreams. I feel my running is still going in the right direction. Of course some weeks have been better than others, but as I look at the overall picture I have ran much faster times this year, than last year and I feel that I'm more fit. I hope to continue to improve and increase the mileage and intensity of my training step by step. I still think I have many good years ahead of me, and I'm getting things more and more in place to have more time to train and devote to running.

As you mentioned I ran the Bryce Canyon Half Marathon quite a bit slower than Dave Holt. Like you said I should have only been 4 minutes behind, but was closer to 7:30, reason being a few weeks of poor training before that race, I also developed a blister that seemed to slow me down half way through that race. I was pretty disappointed with that race, really the only race this year I haven't been satisfied with.

This last Saturday the time difference was a lot closer 3:09, which I think I can attribute to better training the last few weeks. I think both Dave, myself, and Clyde all struggled on Saturday some with the heat. Also the race/workout was pretty spread out and it was basically everyone out there working on there own, it didn't even feel like a race.

I know you asked about the course profile, but I'm not that proficient yet with using the course tool. It had some good uphill and some decent downhill also.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Sep 04, 2007 at 15:09:58

Dustin - my comment regarding low mileage resulting in under performance in longer distances actually referred to Ryan. But I am glad it spread the heat in your direction.

From Dallen on Tue, Sep 04, 2007 at 21:45:52

Benjamin beat my in the chick scoring. I got a 4 on Monday. However, they were all Kenyans.

From Michelle on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 20:31:35

You guys and your chick scores. I never heard of such a thing until I read this blog. I hope to add a chick point to a guy or two at St. George (though likely none of you hot shots). I am glad I don't have a dude score. It would depress me.

Sasha, I agree with you completely on the rewarding luck commentary. Unfortunately, when you are in charge of a road race, you are competing with other races, and even well meaning directors end up doing as the other races do, even given that excellence isn't rewarded as much as showing up is.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.423.004.900.1022.42

A.M. The Big Workout. Ran with Jeff. I got tired of wondering how fast I would have run 5 miles had I extended a shorter interval all the way to 5, so today I proposed to Jeff to just run 5 holding 5:20 pace trading leads, until we cannot do 1:20 quarters any more. Then try to do 1:21 until we cannot, then try 1:22 until we cannot, and so on and so forth. He agreed. He is such a nice guy, agrees to just about any form of a cruel and unusual punishment. That is why he has improved so much, I believe.

We warmed up 2.38 really slow, slower than 8:00 average, and then started the tempo at Geneva Road on Provo River 5 Mile Tempo. 5:20 pace still scares me. It should not, but it does. After the first quarter, my body reminded me I was in better shape, and my fear started to leave. We hit the first two miles in 5:18 each. Then 13:17 at the turnaround - the 180 turn messed us up on approach and we hit a 1:22 quarter. After the 180, we did not do that great either time wise trying to regain the lost rhythm - 1:23 quarter. However, Jeff surged pretty hard on the next one, and we hit a 1:19. 15:59 for 3 miles (5:23), and still ahead of the 5:20 by a second with 2 miles to go. Not bad.

However, both of us were pretty tired, and were giving ourselves some slack not pushing too hard taking our leads. Next mile in 5:25. Too bad we did not have Nick McCombs with us, he would have kept us on the straight and narrow 5:20, and the best thing about it would have been drafting! But still 21:24 at 4 miles was a decent time.

The last mile is tough - has a decent amount of uphill, and you've already run 4 and are tired. We hit three quarters in 1:22 each. Last quarter was Jeff's, but I passed him with about 300 to go so we would not get beat by the 5:20 guy too bad. With 200 to go, I shifted gears, and it was too much for Jeff. I ended up with 26:48.3, last quarter in 1:18, last 200 in 38, last mile in 5:24, decent for the uphill. This time is a course PR for me by 7 seconds. Jeff got a huge course PR with 26:51 - he had never broken 28:00 on that course before.

And just like the Cat in the Hat says, that is not all, oh that is not all! We jogged 1.62, and then ran a mild 3 mile tempo to my house. There were two purposes to this run. To get Jeff to his class on time, and to get some more tempo miles in. We ran it in 17:39.8, fairly steady pace, not bad for the net uphill, rolling under the bridges, and turns.

Dropped Jeff off, and ran another 4 miles in 27:13. Total of 16 for the workout.

P.M. 2.13 to Benjamin's soccer game in 17:51. It was hot, 95 degrees. Ran 0.55 in 4:14 around the field before the game, then decided I'd rather do the extra mileage on the Provo River Trail in the shade. Benjamin's team won 5-1. Then back home via a scenic route with Jenny, Julia, and the double stroller. 3.74 in 35:42, including 1.5 in 14:22 with Jenny, and 0.5 in 5:36 with Julia. It must be noted that the slow average pace was not just the work of Jenny and Julia, I contributed my fair share to it while they were in the stroller. Of course, they weigh about 90 lb together, so with them and one tire being under-inflated the pace is about 40 seconds per mile slower.

I think my form has changed for the better. Check the recent Salt Lake Half pictures vs Ogden pictures. If indeed so, I have two suspects to credit for it - high mileage, and the inversion table, which I have been doing every day twice for 10 minutes each session for the last two months.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From adam on Tue, Sep 04, 2007 at 13:38:27

what time tomorrow (wednesday) morning are you running?

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Sep 04, 2007 at 15:11:10

We are running at 5:00 AM. Not sure if Ted will be back in town by then, so it may be just me.

From Dave Holt on Tue, Sep 04, 2007 at 16:00:40

Sasha, I put in the River 1/2 - that us southerners ran on Saturday - on to the course tool. But it (the course tool) has had some issues lately with spitting out strange mileage and elevations.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Sep 04, 2007 at 17:19:23

Dave:

I've fixed it. If this happens again, all you have to do is wait a few minutes and re-save it. USGS server sometimes flakes out, but my code fixes things up every time you save.

Is there really a quarter at 11% grade right after mile 10 on it? Sometimes when profiling a trail course, due to how elevations are reported, if you happen to run next to a steep mountain, or a sharp drop off a cliff, you can get really odd elevations (average of where you actually are and a few meters around you, and the mountain pushes the average up a lot). If that happens, use eliminate crazy grade feature.

I need to fix the course tool to allow the course owner to save the maximum reasonable grade for the course, so that the crazy grade will be eliminated automatically for everyone.

From Cody on Tue, Sep 04, 2007 at 23:31:50

Nice workout! I am always amazed at your full recovery so soon after running a great race. Your photos do show quite a dramatic improvement in form. Mileage is doing wonders for you. Keep it up!

From Lybi on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 00:05:43

Great job, Sasha! Yea, in the Salt Lake Half pictures you look totally forward--driving. In the Ogden pictures you look a little like you are leaning back or something. You seem a lot more focused in the Salt Lake Half pictures too--eye of the tiger. Cool! I hope running 120 miles a week is not the only way to improve running form, though. (He he.)

From Lybi on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 00:51:43

And in the second SL picture, you seem to be singing "Bingo".

From Maria on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 05:04:58

Your last picture from SLC especially shows great form. You also look leaner in SLC pictures. Have you lost weight with all this high mileage? In any case, the improvement is obvious. Great job!

From Katie on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 07:33:08

Hello, Sasha.

I checked out those pictures, first thing that comes to mind is the decreased torque in your core(something I have unsuccessfully been trying to do for years!)Do you think the inversion table was key? Have you added any new core exercises between the two pictures? How much time between photos?

How different was fatigue between the two shots?

I hate to say it, Lybi, but I think a couple phases(several months at a time over several years) of super high mileage are key to fixing weak links in form and fitness!

From Dave Holt on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 09:56:28

Thanks Sasha, and great workout by the way. As far as that hill - it is probably just about right. The hill pulling up out of the river to the top of the plateau is a nasty little fellow.

From Dave Holt on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 11:17:30

Sasha, the blog won't let me go back and edit Tuesday's entry. As I click on Tuesday "edit" it just brings up Wednesday.

From James in Sunny AZ on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 11:53:25

Sasha, I agree with the others, your form looks better in SLC. Way to tell that 5:20 guy you are not afraid of him. Are you doing TOU this weekend? BTW, I think we should also have some sort of SGM get-together/pasta-fest the evening before the race. Not that I didn't love the pasta dinner when I was there, but hanging out with fellow bloggers would be much better, IMO.

From Dave Holt on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 13:06:21

James, talk with Clyde. I am sure he would LOVE to organize something!

From Superfly on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 13:56:30

Actually my wife is already on top of the party. I sent the stuff to Sasha and as soon as he gets around to it he will post the details. We will be having a get-together with all the other stuff too.

Sasha we need to get that posted! ASAP. I emailed it to both of your emais. Hopefully it worked.

From Dave Holt on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 14:06:52

I new you would Clyde. In fact, Al and I were talking about it last night and I said that I thought you guys might take the lead.

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 14:11:53

Pre-race parties are good and all, but a post-race "PR-party" would be even better. I can make brurgers for everyone.

From Superfly on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 14:17:29

Yeah Paul we'll be having a post race bash as well. We will just tell everyone about it at the "pre" race thing. Then we can see what everyone wants to do and eat. Burgers, Fatboys, Dr.Pepper, Chocolate Easter bunny, or whatever floats your boat.

From Jon on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 14:19:03

Paul, I don't think Clyde knows what a brurger is.

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 14:23:04

From Superfly on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 14:31:15

Paul your Br-burger looks just a little too grease loaded for me. However the night after the race I may talk myself into anything. O.K. maybe not meatloaf.

From jtshad on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 15:14:10

Count me in for the pre/post race bash. I know a few other good runners from IF and Boise who are coming down who would be good additions to the festivities as well. Looking forward to hearing about the details. Of course, a beer or two will be required at the post party!

From josse on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 15:17:16

Wow! what an improvement in your form. I have seen you running over the years and always thought how much faster you would get if you cleaned up your form.

Running form is a hard thing to conquer but it looks like you are doing just that. Great job.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 15:47:54

Everybody - thanks for the feedback. Maria - no lost weight at all, if anything, a slight gain, definitely increased fluctuation in weight. Katie - Ogden was in May this year, Salt Lake just last week. Ogden pictures are from mile 22, I believe, Salt Lake half are at about 3.7 into the race (the climbing ones), but I had just climbed about 600 feet over that stretch. Some more pictures from Ogden from mile 15 (last three) for comparison. No significant core strength work between Ogden and now, other than push-ups and reverse sit-ups (for lack of a better name) - a partner holding the legs while the body from pelvis up hangs off the couch with the head down, bend down and up, but I have not been doing those reverse sit-ups for a month now. However, did inversion table religiously twice a day for 10 minutes. Prior to the inversion table I did nearly a year of Pettibon therapy with absolutely no results that could be measured in running. Finally my chiropractor said I needed decompression, and wanted to charge me another $1000 for it. I told him I did not have another $1000 to throw at the problem given the dismal results we've had so far, and got myself an entry level inversion table for $129 including shipping instead. It would be interesting to see what happens with other runners with form issues trying a combination of high mileage and inversion table. We might be on to something. The reason that convinced me to try Pettibon therapy to begin with was the results that Trever Ball got from it. He did do decompression as part of it.

From josse on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 19:10:56

Why are you useing the inversion table?

I have had on going problems with my back for years now sometime it is better than others, but alot of times I feel so compressed through my whole back. Alot of my probem comes from a tear in my middle rectus abdominis muscle and lifting my 11 year old daughter (75lbs.) who is in a wheelchair. I wounder if this would help my back problems. I have also been going to physical therapy and he is teaching me how to streaghten my inner core muscles which are weak and tone down my middle oblique muscle which is over developed.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 19:33:46

I have known for a while that I had some biomechanical issue that was holding me back. I never got injured, but I've felt awkward. I've gone to a couple of PT and chiropractors, but they could not get to the root of the problem. I've tried drills, strengthening different muscles groups, all kinds of stretching with absolutely no improvement in running on any distance. Last year I learned about the Pettibon system, and decided to give it a shot, even though it was quite pricy. I figured I earned some money from winning on the roads, and this was like re-investing it. If it works, I'll get it back, if not, hopefully I'll gain some wisdom I can use later. Pettibon system focuses on spinal correction. This did make sense - there seems to be a pattern among very good runners, and especially the young bucks that can run sub-15:00 5 K off 50 or less miles a week. They have the back of a pouncy cat. Pettibon did not give me much though, except directing the focus to the spine.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.300.000.000.0017.30

A.M. Sasha House 10 Miler with Ted. 10.1 due to the new bridge route. Easy pace - 1:18:50. It was dark, rained a bit, flashes of lightning, tree branches on the trail. Ted as a precaution removed his HRM to not attract lightning with electric signals.

Saw in a newspaper report that Chuck Engle, the notorious marathon junkie who specializes in running local marathons all over the country trying to see how many he can win in a year, claimed Salt Lake City as his place of residence. He e-mailed me back with the following:

Unfortunately the job that I had moved to Salt Lake
City fell through. I would love to live in or near the city and run and
work...but without income it would not be a very wise move on my part. I
had accommodations lined up and I was working on packing for the end of the
month...but the company that I was to work for has abandoned their expansion
plans. Thank you for the invitation and if you know of anyone who is
looking to hire an HR rep, sales or someone with knowledge in running please
let me know. I have a Masters in biology and chemistry and multiple years
experience in coaching, sales, advertising as well as human resource work

I would love to have Chuck in Utah. He and Bill Cobler would get along great. If anybody is in a position to give him a reason to come, contact him at marathonjunkie at chuckengle.com.

P.M. Ran 0.5 with Julia in 5:15, then took the double stroller with Jacob and Joseph, 1.5 with Jenny in 13:30 (Benjamin on a bike), found Jeff on the trail, and he joined us, 2 with Benjamin (Jenny on a bike) in 15:53, then 0.2 trying to find Sarah, then left the stroller at home and ran 3 in 20;52. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From callzee on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 19:05:50

i did my quarters in a moderate effort, it was 90 degrees out.

From Christi on Wed, Sep 05, 2007 at 21:49:45

That is good to know about Chuck- I'll keep my ears open. Thanks for the raspeberry tea tip. I did a little research and it looks like it has lots of great benefits. I'm going to try to get my hands on some ASAP!

From jtshad on Thu, Sep 06, 2007 at 09:43:59

I had noticed this fact in the articles as well and asked Bill Cobler if he had seen any sign of Chuck and thoughts of inviting him to the blog.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.9812.230.000.0022.21

A.M. Had a most peculiar dream, very entertaining, enjoyed watching it. I dreamed that I turned 104 and died. My body was still in good condition, like it is now, but I was needed on the other side. To facilitate the transition, though, I was allowed to come back occasionally and run. Running felt good, and I thought I could set a record in the zombie division. So I found Iain Hunter (who was still alive and looked young), apparently in the dream he was the nation's expert on running zombies, and told him I wanted to set a record. I ran for him, he timed me, and said I was the fastest zombie runner he's ever seen.

Now back to real life. Ran the warm-up with Ted, Adam, and Jeff. 4.87 in 38:26. Then 12.23 tempo with Jeff, starting at 1.5 mark of Provo River 5 Mile Tempo, to the turnaround of Sasha House 10 Miler, back to the start of the Provo River 5 Mile Tempo, 180 turn, then Provo River 5 Mile Tempo, and back to the house. Let Jeff set the pace and tried not to influence it. We went at a fairly even pace, started out in 5:56, then eventually worked our way up to 5:46, then Jeff started feeling his training this week (he ran 10.5 the night before, and then slept only 4 hours), and was struggling with the pace, but still managed to maintain around 5:55 all the way home. We finished the run in 1:11:58, 5:53 average. At first I felt the pace was brisk, but then warmed into it, and it became relaxing. Felt refreshed after the run, but still took a nice nap, and really enjoyed it.

Ran with 0.5 with Julia in 4:21

P.M. Ran with Benjamin and Jenny to Benjamin's soccer practice. Jenny ran 1.5 in 13:48, then rode in the stroller the rest of the way. Benjamin and I ran 2.04 in 18:58. Ran a couple of loops around the soccer field, and then headed back home, 2.57 in 17:56. Starting to feel tired from the mileage, but not too bad. 

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Tom on Thu, Sep 06, 2007 at 17:10:15

Nice dream Sasha. I think somebody needs to follow up and organize a race that includes a 'zombie' division.

I always thought that maybe if I could make it to 104 and still run I may have a chance to finally dominate my division but perhaps I'll have to rethink a bit.

From Aaron on Thu, Sep 06, 2007 at 19:27:58

After three 5:30 AM runs in a row this week, I'm definitely a candidate for the zombie division, assuming there's no minimum qualifying time.

From adam on Thu, Sep 06, 2007 at 20:42:39

Sasha,

I found a job opening in the Parks and Rec dept here in Provo that might work for your friend.

Its a full-time Recreation Program Coordinator Position. Pay is decent and with benefits. Here's the posting: http://www.provo.org/hr.ft001.html

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.810.250.000.0018.06

A.M. Easy 12.06 alone in 1:23:55. Started out at slower than 9:00, took me 8 miles to start cracking 6:40, then I went after the 1:24:00 guy, but had to run the last quarter in 1:28 to get him. Felt fresher than the night before.

P.M. 0.5 with Julia in 5:24, then 1.5 with Benjamin and Jenny in 13:43, then another 0.5 with Jenny in the stroller and Benjamin running, this gave Benjamin 17:21 for 2 miles, then 3.5 by myself in 24:25. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Fri, Sep 07, 2007 at 13:01:40

Nice mileage your putting in, and 12 mile tempo yesterday. Your ready to rock TOU.

I hope you reach your goal whatever you've set for yourself. I look forward to meeting you in TOU.

Race: Alta Peruvian Logde 8 K (4.97 Miles) 00:22:21, Place overall: 2
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.110.000.004.9720.08

A.M. 2 miles with Benjamin in 16:21, then 2 miles by myself in 13:39. Watched Benjamin's soccer game, they won again 7-0. Afterwards, 1.53 with Jenny in 14:10, and 0.57 with Julia in 5:20.

P.M. Peruvian Lodge 8 K, 22:21, 2nd place after Paul (21:46), details to follow.

Ran 2.5 warm-up with Cody. Paul and Bob were a bit too feisty for me in their warm-up. Convinced Paul and Bob to try to trade quarters. Paul's reason to consent - "if I do not go with it, you'll just sit on me".

Known troublemakers at the start: Paul, Bob, Nate Hornok, Albert Wint. Nate agreed to trade quarters as well. Turns out there was another I did not know - Danny Oliva originally from California, now living in Herriman. Bob was supposed to take the first quarter, but Danny ran with him side by side. I tried to take the second quarter, but Danny took it for me, I said thanks in my mind, and then took the third quarter instead. Then Paul took the fourth. First mile in 4:31 according to my GPS, 4:19 at the official mile marker. Which one of them is right? Normally I'd be able to tell by feel, but with a 7% drop starting at 8700 feet I am confused. Garmin proved right eventually.

I tried to take the next quarter, and did it, sort of, Paul ran just side by side forcing a fast pace instead of tucking in behind me and letting me control the quarter. Smart move on his side, he's watched me run this race enough, he knows if he brings me with him to the last mile, which is 9% grade down, and I am feeling good, this is bad news. He took the next quarter, around 1.5 he dropped me and Bob. Bob and I worked together for the next 0.5. Next mile (by GPS) 4:31 again, 8:32 at 2 miles.

Bob dropped back after two. From that point I just tried to coast at a good pace knowing that if I just maintained, even if somebody came up on me I could just draft a bit, and then do the Sasha lethal dash on the 9% grade on the last mile. I did have hopes of catching Paul, but they were very slim, especially without anybody to pull me or at least to threaten me from behind - he was moving away from me at a steady rate of 10 seconds per mile.

The downhill flattened out a bit to slow me down to 4:35 on the next mile, followed by 4:32 which was flatter at first, but then the 9% drop started. I saw the official mile markers showing consistent splits of 4:20, and began to hope that maybe they were right rather than the GPS. But, as it is with things that are too good to be true, they were not. On the last mile, I could see the wisdom of Paul's early move. Without any hope of catching Paul at that point, and no audible or mathematical threat from behind, I hit the next three quarters in 65.9, 63.3, 63.2, and 57.2 for the last 0.23, which is equivalent to a 61.5 quarter. 22:20 on my Garmin with the distance showing 4.98 (0.01 off), officially 22:21. This is my second fastest time on that course. The only time I've run it faster was 2003 (21:58), and it was a much different race. I came the race a lot fresher (only 68 miles that week vs 120), already started my taper for TOU. Sat in a pack for the first 2 miles. Then Joe made a move, Corbin went after him a bit later, I was surprised nobody else did, was feeling good and went with Corbin. When we got to the 9% grade, I unleashed my lethal weapon, passed Corbin and I was running super-scared. I had 4 guys behind me that have been beating me by anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute in 5 Ks. I felt like I had stepped into a lion's den, grabbed a piece of meat, and now was running for dear life. Additionally, Joe was close enough where it looked realistic to catch him. So compared to that race, I think this one was shows at least equivalent fitness.

Danny was third with 23:00. Nate Hornok I think got 23:19, then Bob, I think 23:39. Wasatch Running Center got 1-2-4-5 finish. 

Very good recovery after the finish. No significant pain anywhere. As soon as they took off my tag, I said to Paul, let's go up. Paul said he needed a minute. A minute later he needed another minute. On the way back ran with Paul and everybody at first, then Danny pulled ahead, and I went with him. We started out at 11:30 pace, then sped up to 10:30. Danny stopped at 1.25, his girlfriend picked him up. I had more miles to do, so I ran all the way back. Eventually eased into a sub-9:00 pace. Got to the lodge, still had some distance to do, hit the flat parking lot, looped around it with Cody. Caught the 9:00 guy, ended up with 57:51 for 6.51, 8:53 average, not bad for climbing from 6800 feet to 8700.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Jon on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 15:12:58

What exactly does the "Sasha letal dash" consist of?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 15:19:42

Most people will not speed up as much going from 7% to 9% down after having run 4 miles down 7%. So two things happen - I do not break on a 9% grade as much as others, in fact, that is when I start running with proper form, and my quads can survive 4 miles of 7 % with relatively very little damage.

From Lybi on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 15:42:16

What an exciting race! I've been impatiently awaiting these "details". Great description of running scared.

Amazing race! Can't believe you felt well enough to go back up again. I remember running in that area (Snowbird) in June and it is SO brutal--either way, up or down.

From Michelle on Thu, Sep 13, 2007 at 11:01:12

I would think that this race would be very risky, that the potential for injury would outweigh any benefits -- dashing down a severe decline for almost 5 miles. Why do you and the others do it? It doesn't sound like the race banged you up at all either (perhaps the lower back nerve problem is related?)?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Sep 13, 2007 at 11:28:48

I've done this race for years with no adverse effects. It is on the circuit, and has good prize money. I do very well on the downhill, and most of the people who can beat me do not come for the fear of being injured. I am happy to pick up their money.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.150.000.000.0017.15

A.M. Start of the ease-off week before TOU. It is funny how you start to think of a week that ends with an all-out marathon as an easy week. The mini-taper before the marathon more than compensates for the actual effort of the marathon itself.

Ran on the Provo River Trail with Ted. He came to my house warmed up, and dragged me through the first quarter in 2:01. This was a bad idea, that made me warm-up sooner, and I started initiating sub-7:00 pace earlier than he wanted. At first I thought no noticeable effects from Alta Peruvian, but then I noticed the quads feeling a bit tender when going under the bridges. However, last year it hurt a lot worse. Ran 12.15 in 1:25:59.

The purpose of TOU - test how much my recent Big Workouts and mileage have done for my fuel storage. Go out hard, if Hobbie and anybody else (rumor has it Ezekiel Ruto is running it) runs slower than my threshold on the first half, go with them. As soon as it becomes unsustainable, back off, and try to maintain sub-6:00 or whatever feels good. Run myself out of glycogen, and then see how fast I can run on fats. This will accomplish two things - a Really Big Bonk Workout that my body hopefully will respond to by refueling aggressively, get an idea for proper pacing in St George as well as proper disaster management plan, and ... who knows, if a miracle happens, maybe there will be no bonk, and I'll get an accidental Trials qualifier. Sounds crazy, but I am not afraid to do it after my post-Great Salt Lake cool down adventure. I know I can comfortably maintain 7:10-7:20 on a flat course with a cross-wind in 70 degree weather with no fueling or water for at least 13 miles after racing an all-out half at the end of a 112 mile week. In TOU I will be fresher (I hope), there will be no cross wind on the last half (I hope), it will be cooler (I hope), I will run the first half a bit slower than all out (I hope), the last half is still a slight downhill, and there will be fuel and water.

Just discovered a great post in Paul's blog. He thinks only three people have read it. Let's prove him wrong.

P.M. 0.5 with Benjamin, Jenny, and Julia all running, 4:51. Dropped Julia off, 13:21 split at 1.5, dropped Jenny off, 16:45 split at 2 (Benjamin hit 3:24 for the last 0.5). Then played badminton with Benjamin and my mom for a bit at the park, got eaten by mosquitoes, then continued the run. Benjamin admonished me to catch the 8:00 guy. I was happy to exceed his expectations finishing the  5 mile run in 37:07.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 14:28:30

You mentioned depleting your glycogen and running on fats, will you not take any gels during the race? I've read where it is a good idea to teach your body to run on fats when your glycogen is depleted. This is what most of the elite marathoners do.

From what I've read it's an advantage if you can each your body to run on the interfat muscle and not rely on the glycogen.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 14:46:16

Kory - I will take Powerade, as much as I can possibly process. I do not want to teach my body to run on fats during the race, it could cost me anywhere from $250 to $1000 depending on the competition. I am just curious to see how well it can do on fats, but at the same time I have a secret hope to never find out in spite of running a really fast first half.

From ashman on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 14:55:57

There is no conclusive evidence that you can "teach" your body to run on fats. It's all dependent on how high your aerobic maximum pace is. This determines the proportion of fat and glycogen that is used. There are some other minor factors also which I did not mention but really from what science and experience has shown me aerobic power is mainly the key.

From wheakory on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 14:57:10

It's really a good strategy to try, because on a good day where everything is clicking you may have one of those days where your at a peak performance, and feel you could run forever. You just never know. I generally take gels on miles 11 and 18 and drink water during a marathon, and some marathon's that's enough, and some I've felt like the last couple miles I'm running on fat.

I really hope you can nail this marathon and qualify... you've earned it.

From Jon on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 15:09:48

What is your threshold pace for the first half?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 15:14:28

Probably 5:15 - 5:20 depending on which way the wind is blowing.

From Superfly on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 22:43:54

Sasha-

I've read you race report from last year at STGM. But do you have you mile splits handy for any of the last three or four years? I would really like to check them out and put together a race plan for myself.

From adam on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 23:12:59

sasha, check out the news story today about the 11 year old kid who bit the intruder trying to attack him. His quote is would be good to remember for your strategy. I will be out early tomorrow, around 5:30ish. What time are you all heading out?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 23:27:32

Steve - I think you are on to something. I've had no luck trying to improve my last 6 miles of a marathon by simulating a bonk. However, I noticed that the pace I slow down when I completely bonk is the brisk pace of my easy run, which I believe metabolically would be the fat threshold (glycogen utilization next to nothing), and is a function of aerobic conditioning.

Adam - Jeff and I are meeting at 6:00 AM at my house, we will warm up about 3 miles, then run 5 in about 28:00. I think you should try to run with us for as long as you can on the way out (see if you can make it to the mile), and then the same on the way back.

Clyde - I do not have the pacing mile by mile, but I would not worry about it. Go out with the standard B pack. This will be a mind-breakthrough experience you really really need that will later if not that very day lead to actual performance breakthroughs. I've had a couple of those, and I can tell you now that without them I would have never achieved my current level.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.024.500.250.2515.02

A.M. Provo River 5 Mile Tempo with Jeff. Slept in this morning, barely jumped out of bed just when Jeff showed up. Ran a slow warm-up, 3.62 at slower than 8:00 average, with a record-slow first quarter in 2:31. Did a longer warm-up on purpose, waiting for the sun to rise, and for the body to recover from sleeping in.

The plan was to run 28:00 or a bit under. Jeff had been doing some hard workouts, so I suggested he should just draft today. The start was rough, first 200 in 44, first quarter in 1:26. Then I pushed a bit, it woke me up, and I settled into pace. First mile 5:34, second 5:31, then 0.5 in 2:47, 13:52 at the turnaround, recovered from 180 in 2:49, third mile in 5:36. Felt good, did not want to positive split, picked it up a bit to get back into the rhythm again, next mile in 5:31. Then the next 0.5 uphill in 2:47. I was running relaxed thinking about how slow I could go and still even split when Jeff took the lead and started pushing the pace. I justed tucked in behind him and coasted, but we were now outside of the marathon pace zone. Next quarter in 1:19, and then with 200 to go I pulled alongside Jeff, and we finished the last quarter in 1:15. Total time was 27:33.7, nearly caught the 5:30 guy, last 0.5 in 2:34, last mile in 5:21, and last 2.5 in 13:41, definitely a negative split.

Cooled down 1.38 to the house.

5:36 pace felt like a jog, 5:30 felt like I could make it at least to 15 in a pack. Good sign, because this is flat/slightly rolling, and I had not yet tapered at all. TOU is high quality downhill the first 14, then a slight downhill for the next 4, then a mild up for the next 2, good down for 1, then rolling to the end. I feel good about being on pace for the Trials Qualifier at 15, which, if you can do at TOU, you will qualify in St. George.

One more thing - Kory still has not found a place to stay in St. George. Does anybody have offers for him?

P.M. 0.5 with Julia in 5:10, 2.1 with Benjamin to his soccer game in 17:23, then 0.4 in 2:55 on grass before the game started. Benjamin's team won again 6-2. The other team had bigger kids, but Benjamin's team dealt with the problem by never letting them have the ball. Back home with Jenny, 1.58 in 14:00, then added some more to make the total 2.02 in 17:10. Felt a nerve irritation in the lower back after waking up from a nap, maybe laid in a funny position. Have had this before, a couple of times it made my runs very very miserable in the past, so I am concerned. However, the pain was manageable to begin with, and was reduced by the end of the day.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Logan on Tue, Sep 11, 2007 at 13:58:12

Keep up the great training. It will be nice to meet this weekend at TOU. My parents might have room at there house for Kory. Is it just him or is his family coming down as well. Let me check on it and get back with you.

From ashman on Tue, Sep 11, 2007 at 20:52:37

I am in the same boat. I may just have to pitch a tent. Seriously!

From ArmyRunner on Tue, Sep 11, 2007 at 21:03:20

Still looking as well. I have a place through Thursday night for my work trip but need a place for Friday night. However, the good news is I am officially in St. George as they called and confirmed my information today.

From Jon on Tue, Sep 11, 2007 at 23:28:11

If anyone needs a place to stay this Friday before TOU, I have an extra bed.

Also, Sasha, can you make sure you bring my first aid kit on Friday? I need some stuff out of it for the race this weekend.

From Lybi on Wed, Sep 12, 2007 at 00:41:29

Hey, sorry to hear about your nerve pain. Annoying! Losing fat quickly can lead to nerve pain. Have your exceedingly high miles been affecting your body composition? (Or maybe forcing your body to use fat stores?) Fat insulates the nerve axons. If your body is in a pinch for fuel, it will strip the axons, which leads to referred pain.

From Lybi on Wed, Sep 12, 2007 at 00:53:30

Hmmmm. I just looked it up and it seems to not be that simple. Probably just a bad nap. He he.

From jtshad on Wed, Sep 12, 2007 at 09:45:34

Here is the name and number of a place with condos for reservation. They may have at least one condo available as a guy up here just cancelled his 3 bedroom condo about 2 weeks ago ($300 a night, Friday and Saturday) because two of his buddies backed out. Resorts Reservations of St. George: 435-673-1392. Hope they still have some left. Maybe Steve, Kory and Ted can hook up and get one. Full kitchen, hot tub/pool access, etc. Could be pretty nice.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Sep 12, 2007 at 19:44:31

Jon:

I'll try to remember. For a safe bet, leave a comment in the Fast Running Mommy's blog, she will not let me forget.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.280.250.000.0010.53

A.M. Easy 8.03 with Ted and Jeff at 5:00 AM in 1:00:57. The nerve irritation is gone.

P.M. 0.5 with Julia in 5:28, then 1.5 with Benjamin, Jenny, and an empty single stroller in 13:56. Bathroom stop, then put Jenny in the stroller, and, since Benjamin was complaining about Jenny's slow pace, and itching to run fast, I challenged him to break his rather stale 0.5 mile record of 3:18 which he repeated at the end of a 2 mile run earlier. He fussed about how there was no way he could run two quarters in under 1:39 each. I told him to hit the first one in 1:40 or faster, and then decide if he wanted to go for the record, or just jog in. He hit the first one in 1:36, that made it essentially impossible for him to decide to back out. He eased off a bit, but then with 0.14 to go I told him he really needed to hustle  to get the record, and he sure did. Last quarter in 1:32 with the total time of  3:08! Benjamin's total time for 2 miles was 17:04.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Curtis on Wed, Sep 12, 2007 at 22:28:12

Nice workout today Sasha. How long does it take to recover from a pulled hamstring ? Thanks, the Runing Turtle.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Sep 12, 2007 at 22:31:33

Curtis - Chris Rogers would be a better person to ask, he's had one recently. You can also see in his blog what he did to recover.

From James on Wed, Sep 12, 2007 at 23:53:26

Sasha,

Dr. Heath the head of the ex. phys. department sent me this email. It sounds like they can hook you up with a max test at USU on Friday. He will get back to me tomorrow.

"We can do a max test on Sasha — typically we would have the test as a demo for the lab part of my ex phys class — either Monday night or Tuesday or Thursday morning. I will copy this to the lab instructors to see if that is a possibility."

Thanks,

Ed Heath

From wheakory on Thu, Sep 13, 2007 at 00:07:43

Nice easy run today. Your harding training will pay off Saturday. I'll see you on Friday.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.003.000.000.0010.00

A.M. Ran with Ted and Jeff. Ted originally wanted to do 6x800 at threshold. I figured there is no way he'd be able to do them at threshold, so I convinced him to do 2x1.5 miles instead. We did the first one in 8:48.9, and the second in 8:29.1. Both felt very relaxing, the horses were neighing, but I told them the time to neigh would be on Saturday. Total of 8 miles.

Ted, Steve, and Kory still need to find a place to stay in St. George. Would anybody in our St. George group, or their friends, have some floor space for them?

P.M. Steve, Ted and Kory found accommodations in St. George through our generous friends. Steve and Ted are staying at Mik'l's parents' house, while Kory will be staying with Logan's parents. We have one more homeless runner, though. Katie  got into St. George at the last moment. For those who have not been following the blogs closely, she is our fastest female marathoner on the blog (2:59), and she did it after having given birth to four children. Leave a comment in her blog if you would like to have her over. She does not mind floor space, that beats camping out or paying for a hotel.

Ran 2 miles with the kids tonight. First 0.5 with all three in 4:54. Then put Julia in the stroller, hit 1.5 in 13:40, then put Jenny in the stroller as well. Finished the last 0.5 with Benjamin in 3:39, which gave us 17:19 for the whole run. Benjamin seems to have made a breakthrough in his top speed. He really made me work on the last 60 meters today. Of course, I was pushing a double stroller with considerable weight by that time, but he actually managed to drop me at first, and I had to go full throttle to catch up.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Logan on Thu, Sep 13, 2007 at 11:31:32

My parents might have one extra bed in the house. They do have a lot of extra room for all three of them to stay if they want. Let me know so I can give my parents a heads up. We could get some air mattresses and they would be fine.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Sep 13, 2007 at 11:38:49

Ted, Steve, Kory - please contact Logan and let him know if what his parents have to offer will work for you.

From jtshad on Thu, Sep 13, 2007 at 11:42:36

Here is the name and number of a place with condos for reservation. They may have at least one condo available as a guy up here just cancelled his 3 bedroom condo about 2 weeks ago ($300 a night, Friday and Saturday) because two of his buddies backed out. Resorts Reservations of St. George: 435-673-1392. Hope they still have some left. Maybe Steve, Kory and Ted can hook up and get one. Full kitchen, hot tub/pool access, etc. Could be pretty nice.

From James on Thu, Sep 13, 2007 at 14:45:17

Sasha,

Kevin Ball (Trever's older brother)is going to do a max test with tomorrow. You need get in contact with him by email and set up a time. Let me know how it goes, I won't be there because of school and cross country, so have fun. kevin.b@aggiemail.usu.edu

From Superfly on Thu, Sep 13, 2007 at 20:53:20

Sasha Ted and Steve can stay with Mik'L's mom's where you guys are staying. Let them know and then if they want to tell them to let me know.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Sep 13, 2007 at 21:13:07

James - thanks for setting this up. I've gotten in touch with Kevin, and we are going to do it at 3 PM tomorrow.

Clyde - that would be great. We will have a merry company.

From James on Fri, Sep 14, 2007 at 00:00:31

Glad to hear it, let me know how it goes.

From James on Fri, Sep 14, 2007 at 00:34:53

Sasha,

I have been trying to change my picture on my blog for quite a while now and I can't seem to do it. Everything else works fine in blog options. I have tried it several times with mozilla and internet explorer, and still no luck.

From Katie on Fri, Sep 14, 2007 at 06:34:14

I'm holding off until Sunday to make flight arrangements. My leg is improving by the hour, but I want to be sure(if ever we can be!)

I would love some floor space, Logan, if your parents could spare some. I'll contact you as soon as I have more definite plans.

Jtshad, the condo sounds nice but a little out of my range.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Sep 14, 2007 at 10:56:52

James - your picture did upload fine, at least I am seeing a new picture on your blog. Your browser must be caching the old one. Hold Shift and hit the Reload icon on your browser.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.500.207.70

A.M. 2 miles with Ted and Benjamin in 15:49. Then 2 more with Ted in 14:54. Then 1.5 with Ted and Jenny, and Julia joining us for the first 0.5 then riding in the stroller the rest of the way. 0.5 in 4:54, then finished the 1.5 in 13:08.

P.M. Drive to Logan. Did a VO2 Max test, got 68.8 after 40 seconds of 11 mph at 4% grade at the end of the test, stopped it early to not be too tired for the marathon. Full details of the V02 Max test:

 

Utah State University












Exercise Physiology Lab












*** Metabolic Text Report *** 2007 / 9 / 14 15 : 41


















Patient Information












Name PACHEV, SASHA File number 91309 Doctor x







Age 34 yrs Sex M








Height 70.5 in 179.07 cm Weight 146.98 lb 66.81 kg



Tech Kevin Ball

























Test Protocol












Exercise Device Treadmill











Test degree Submaximal

























Test Environment












Insp. temp. 21 deg C Baro. pressure 641 mmHg







Exp. flow temp. Mean of room temp. and 37.0 deg C











Insp. O2 20.93 % Insp. CO2 0.03 %







STPD to BTPS 1.45

























Base Values for Sampling












Base O2 20.93 % Base CO2 0.03 %





















==========













. .
. .







TIME VO2 VO2/kg METS VCO2 VE RER RR VT FEO2 FECO2 HR REE AcKcal

STPD STPD
STPD STPD

BTPS




min L/min ml/kg/m
L/min L/min
BPM L % % bpm Kcal/m Kcal
----------












0.35 0.3 4.53 1.29 0.32 9.29 1.06 17.01 0.79 17.63 3.49 66.06 1.55 0.55
0.69 0.37 5.58 1.6 0.35 9.12 0.94 18.04 0.73 16.89 3.87 69.45 1.86 1.16
1.05 0.42 6.34 1.81 0.4 10.74 0.93 19.06 0.82 17.04 3.71 71.47 2.11 1.94
1.36 1.12 16.79 4.8 1.06 26.49 0.94 19.69 1.95 16.75 4.02 88.82 5.59 3.64
1.69 1.5 22.52 6.43 1.47 33.51 0.97 33.27 1.46 16.47 4.4 122.76 7.55 6.14
2.02 2.36 35.27 10.08 2.07 46.26 0.88 30.27 2.22 15.97 4.5 129.94 11.58 9.96
2.37 2.81 42.01 12 2.38 51.41 0.85 28.83 2.59 15.64 4.66 127.58 13.7 14.71
2.68 2.91 43.51 12.43 2.55 56.14 0.88 32.24 2.53 15.89 4.57 129.48 14.28 19.14
3.03 2.77 41.45 11.84 2.47 54.37 0.89 30.84 2.56 15.95 4.57 127.9 13.65 24.01
3.35 2.85 42.64 12.18 2.52 55.19 0.89 31.15 2.57 15.89 4.6 128.01 14.02 28.51
3.67 2.95 44.14 12.61 2.6 57.35 0.88 34.74 2.4 15.92 4.56 130.35 14.5 33.1
4.02 2.9 43.43 12.41 2.54 56.45 0.87 34.72 2.36 15.92 4.53 129.67 14.25 38.03
4.35 3 44.96 12.85 2.58 56.21 0.86 33.07 2.47 15.75 4.62 130.72 14.69 42.92
4.69 3.21 48.09 13.74 2.8 61.81 0.87 37.94 2.37 15.87 4.56 135.61 15.77 48.32
5 3.14 46.99 13.43 2.71 58.24 0.86 35.41 2.39 15.69 4.68 134.6 15.38 53.09
5.35 3.33 49.8 14.23 2.94 63.7 0.88 34.77 2.66 15.84 4.64 137.86 16.37 58.74
5.68 3.38 50.61 14.46 3.02 65.23 0.89 36.16 2.62 15.86 4.66 142 16.67 64.28
6 3.4 50.84 14.53 3.06 65.24 0.9 34.14 2.78 15.83 4.72 142.21 16.78 69.68
6.34 3.62 54.12 15.46 3.34 71.89 0.92 38.05 2.75 15.98 4.67 144.59 17.95 75.81
6.69 3.58 53.56 15.3 3.35 72.77 0.94 37.41 2.83 16.08 4.63 146.69 17.81 82
7.03 3.69 55.18 15.77 3.44 74.48 0.93 38.58 2.81 16.05 4.65 148.8 18.34 88.19
7.34 3.79 56.74 16.21 3.56 76.72 0.94 38.67 2.88 16.05 4.67 148.83 18.88 94.04
7.69 3.9 58.34 16.67 3.69 79.53 0.95 39.59 2.92 16.08 4.67 153.03 19.45 100.92
8.01 4.03 60.32 17.24 3.84 83.5 0.95 41.31 2.94 16.15 4.63 155.01 20.14 107.26
8.34 3.98 59.63 17.04 3.85 84.21 0.97 41.32 2.96 16.23 4.6 156 19.96 114.03
8.68 4.2 62.87 17.96 4.06 87.6 0.97 42.13 3.02 16.17 4.67 158.38 21.05 121.02
9.01 4.21 62.94 17.98 4.1 87.83 0.98 42.08 3.03 16.17 4.7 160.46 21.12 128.05
9.34 4.29 64.25 18.36 4.24 90.64 0.99 42.4 3.11 16.21 4.71 161.5 21.61 135.18
9.68 4.34 65 18.57 4.37 93.76 1.01 41.67 3.27 16.29 4.69 162 21.95 142.56
10.01 4.49 67.21 19.2 4.58 99.49 1.02 44.36 3.26 16.4 4.63 162.82 22.77 150.26
10.34 4.58 68.61 19.6 4.74 105.05 1.04 46.15 3.31 16.53 4.55 143.12 23.32 157.84
10.69 4.43 66.31 18.95 4.59 101.98 1.04 45.98 3.22 16.55 4.53 93.13 22.54 165.68
11.01 4.5 67.3 19.23 4.65 102.99 1.03 46.25 3.24 16.53 4.55 165.93 22.87 173.1
11.34 4.57 68.38 19.54 4.79 105.53 1.05 46.25 3.32 16.56 4.57 167.93 23.31 180.66
11.68 4.6 68.79 19.65 4.84 105.28 1.05 46.29 3.3 16.52 4.63 169 23.48 188.78
11.93 4.21 63.07 18.02 4.49 96.79 1.06 47.34 2.97 16.52 4.67 169 21.58 194.25




























Max VO2 4.6 L/min 68.79 ml/kg/min 19.65 METS


































Summary












Notes: After about a minute standing, started at 8 mph, grade 1%, ran 3 minutes. Then increments of 0.5 mph every minute up to 11 mph. 2 minutes at 11 mph. Then a minute at the same speed with 2.5% grade, and another 40 seconds at the same speed 4% grade.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From superfly on Fri, Sep 14, 2007 at 18:53:50

Good luck.

From Lybi on Fri, Sep 14, 2007 at 19:20:10

Yea Sasha! Have a great race.

Race: Top of Utah Marathon (26.2 Miles) 02:28:42, Place overall: 4
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.8026.200.000.0034.00

A.M Ran Top of Utah marathon in 2:28:42, first half in 1:10:57, 4th place, got beat by Hobbie and two Kenyans, details to follow later.

OK, now finally found a moment for details. They will be getting posted incrementally.

Woke up in the morning, and felt like boxing. Good feeling. Kory was happy he did not sleep in the same room with me. Started the morning with a scripture study as usual. Read in Alma 14 about how Alma and Amulek burst the bands they were tied with and made the prison collapse through their faith. Something to learn from them. Then read in Ezekiel 34 about the shepherds who feed themselves but not their flock. Both scripture chapters applied to the race in a way. I was going to work on bursting the bands my unbelief, and I was going to race a guy named Ezekiel, first time I actually met anybody by that name. I have a special respect for the nation that goes that deep in the Bible to find the names for their children. God had to bless them with something for that, and He did with running speed and endurance.

Jogged about 0.8 from Hotel de Petersen (aka Paul's house) with Paul and Kory to the bus loading area. Made up a geek joke that only a runner with some Unix sysadmin/programming background could understand, fortunately Kory was in that group so there was somebody to share that joke with - what do you call missing a bus? Answer - Bus Error. Quick explanation of why a geek would laugh - you get a Bus Error when a program royally crashes, it is like when somebody loads a tray loaded with something you really do not want on the floor, and at the most inconvenient moment it all comes crashing down.

Having created and shared the joke, I nearly got the Bus Error myself. I realized my chip was back at Paul's house. So ran there, got it, and barely made the last bus. This gave me a good warm up, though.

Ran another 0.5 to visit a VPB (virtual private bathroom), then I was ready to race.

Trouble at the start: Hobie Call, two Kenyan - Ezekiel Ruto (PR of 2:14) and Joseph Sitienei (PR of 2:11), and the dark horse Steve Ashbaker.

Talked to Hobie, admonished him to start out on pace. He assured me it was his plan. Last year he missed the qualifier because of goofing around for the first 6 miles. He told me he was going to hit the half in "something crazy like 1:07". I told him it was not crazy at all and that he had the fitness to run the first half in 1:07 and live.

Talked to Joseph, he said he wanted this to be a training run before Twin Cities, keep it at 2:35. I wondered why he had to come all the way here to run 2:35 for a training run. There was going to be no money except may age division prize for running this slow. I figured he would soon realize he'd have to do his training run a lot faster to come home with cash.

As I already stated earlier, my plan for this race was "and should we die before our journey's through, happy day all is well. We then are free from toil and sorrow too, with the just we shall well. But if our lives are spared again, we'll see the saints their rest obtain. Oh how we'll make this chorus swell, all is well, all is well". I wanted to go out hard, put myself into a state of struggle and learn to power through it. I also wanted to test my suspicion that the reason I slow down on the second half is not so much fuel as it is plain neural fatigue. My hypothesis is that if make the first half hurt, the nervous system is tuned for driving the second half, but otherwise, it just goes to sleep even when there is plenty of fuel.

I debated whether I should go out with Hobie at his fast pace. But his watch died, and I figured I could be there for him at least in the first mile to give him his split. He took out fast. My GPS reported the first quarter as 1:11 (it was a bit short, as it turned out, but I think we did get at least 1:13). I told him, do you realize we are going around 4:40 pace? He had a response full of faith - that's OK, the Trials will be fast, we'd better get used to it now. Fortunately for me, we did ease off a bit, and hit the first mile in 5:02. That did not hurt too bad. I figured I could give him another split at 2, and maybe if he eased off to 5:15, even make it to 3 or 4. The second mile was 5:08. I gave Hobie the split, and backed off to 5:23 on the next mile.

Joseph came up on me shortly after 3, I decided to go with him to 4, then felt good enough to make it to 5. 5 miles in 26:08, keeping my head above water, staying ahead of the 5:20 guy while the downhill lasts. No significant tail wind, but now headwind either, which is very nice. Backed off after 5, but Joseph is still not too far ahead. Saw Hobie cross the 6 mile mark from afar, his split was faster than 30:51. Then I knew that barring a very serious disaster he would be sub-2:20, more likely 2:18.

With the downhill becoming more gradual we slowed down to around 5:30 - 5:35 pace. Joseph was running ahead of me, but not putting any distance. At the downhill around 7 mile marker I just let it go with the Sasha downhill maneuver and caught up to him. Drafted a bit, then he invited me up front. I suggested we share quarters. He agreed. The alliance did not last very long, though. He asked me, how fast is that guy up ahead. I told him I was fairly certain he would run to 2:18. The moment I said it, he just took off, and was gone. I think that move cost him the second place, though.

10 miles in 53:36, 5 mile split of 27:28, not bad for the reduced downhill and no wing-endowing tailwind. Still ahead of the Trails Qualifier guy. Around 12, Ezekiel went by. He was in a hurry, I could not even think about latching on, and moved away from me fast.

Tail wind picked up a bit, I hit a 5:32 mile from 12 to 13, got to the half in 1:10:57. Then the wind just carried me from 13 to 14, I felt like I had wings, 5:22, and one more mile on the Hollow Road in 5:32. Hit 15 miles in 1:21:15, right on pace to the second for the Trials Qualifier, which was exactly my plan - make it to 15 on pace, the rest does not matter.

From that point on, coasted with the idea that anything sub-6:00 was good. The downhill was pretty much over, there was no tailwind, and we had some unpleasant rolling hills up ahead. Had to make a VPB stop shortly before 17. Got to 18 in 1:38:48. The next two uphill miles in 6:04 and 5:58, 1:50:50 at 20. Pushed it hard on the downhill mile (0.5% grade) from 20 to 21, got 5:46. I decided to use a different mental approach on the second half. Instead of thinking, you have X miles left, hold back, I was thinking, push hard the next mile, then if you die, just jog in, but push hard that one mile. It worked very well, I kept feeling strong in spite of pushing it. I suspected from my training that I should have been able to run slightly over 6:00 on a flat/slightly rolling terrain at 4500 feet with no glycogen in the muscles, and I wanted to prove it to myself. Mentally, it was very hard and scary. I knew what I had done in the first half. However, around mile 14 as the tail wind picked up and was carrying me, a song came into my mind, based around Proverbs 3:5 - I'll trust in the Lord with all my heart, and will not lean upon my own understanding. In all my ways I'll acknowledge him, and he will direct all my paths.

This tune stayed in my head for the rest of the race. It gave me the courage to keep pushing for one more mile without the fear of the consequences.

Over the next 4 miles I hit a string of 6:12 over the rolling hills and frequent turns. Again, taking it one mile at a time. Then as I was climbing the hill on Main street on approach to mile 25, I was able to remember how I felt there a year ago. I thought, there is no way I could qualify in St. George with a tendency to be this weak this late in the race and running this slow. The thought of even trying scared me. This time it was different. I felt no fear. I confidently charged up the hill feeling more strength on it than I ever have. I visualized mile 25 of St. George, being on pace for a Trials Qualifier, and being confident that if I gave it all I've on the last mile, I'd get it. This vision did not scare me, it did not look impossible anymore. I was not afraid of the pain of that effort anymore. At this point I knew that I had accomplished the purpose for which I had entered this race. I had broken the wall of doubt and fear.

Mile 26 started uphill, but then flattened out, and had a quick sharp drop. I felt strong, but had a hard time shifting gears, got 6:10. Then my favorite trooper appeared out of nowhere on a motorcycle. Yes, I have a favorite trooper. He was there with me when I won in 2003 and 2004. He was also there when it was not my turn to win, and still cheered for me in other races. Somehow he intuitively knew exactly what I needed. He turned on the flashing lights and the siren. I forgot everything, and went into the kick mode. The response I get from the flashing lights and the siren would make you think I have a history of juvenile delinquency or something like that. I managed 1:12 on the last 385 yards, uphill, that is around 5:30 pace. I felt like I could have held it longer, but not faster. I wonder what would have happened if he showed up at 23. 2:28:42 at the finish, first time under 2:30 since 2003 and second in my life on a non-St. George course of correct length (I ran 2:25:30 in DesNews 2004, but the course turned out to be short).

Hobie won with 2:16:39, then Ezekiel Ruto with 2:24:27, Joseph Sitienei 2:25:42. Steve was 5th with 2:36:43. The bloggers controlled the top 15, taking places from 4th to 12th. Congratulations to Kory, Cody, Adam, and Jon on setting PRs.

P.M. 0.5 with Julia in 4:22, 1.5 with Jenny in 14:23, then 3 with Sarah in 29:23. Pushed the double stroller with Joseph and Jacob. No noticeable side effects from the race aside from a small tenderness in the lower back (gone after 10 minutes of inversion table), and a small staleness in the legs.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Jon on Sat, Sep 15, 2007 at 19:53:31

Great job today, though I am looking forward for the details. Don't wait too long to post them.

From James on Sat, Sep 15, 2007 at 20:12:12

I knew you would run good when I saw where you were at around the 1/2. Good job!

From Cody on Sat, Sep 15, 2007 at 20:34:43

Good running Sasha! Way to scare the Kenyans.

From James in Sunny AZ on Sat, Sep 15, 2007 at 22:10:08

Good job, Sasha. I am guessing you may have hit the wall a bit with your half marathon time. But then, that was kind of your original plan, wasn't it? Looking forward to reading more, and also to seeing you at SGM (will you be at the pasta party?)

From Jon on Sat, Sep 15, 2007 at 22:48:11

Sasha

Do you have any idea why milliseconds.com won't load for me? It brings up some random website.

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Sep 15, 2007 at 23:00:46

Be sure to mention you probably ruined one of the Kenyans'race for Twin Cities by forcing him to run too hard today. Heh heh.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Sep 15, 2007 at 23:05:23

Jon - try http://www.milliseconds.com/. Send an e-mail to Mac so he'll fix his virtual hosts configuration. He needs Alias milliseconds.com in the virtual host definition in his httpd.conf.

From Katie on Sun, Sep 16, 2007 at 07:15:46

What are the chances of having a headwind at SGM?

From JohnK on Sun, Sep 16, 2007 at 11:17:04

Super effort. I know you'll be ready to run way faster at St. George in three weeks.

From Kelli on Sun, Sep 16, 2007 at 14:09:17

You are awesome!! I have been following your blog since the Provo half, and you are very inspirational---especially to us slow pokes!

From Lybi on Sun, Sep 16, 2007 at 14:58:55

Yea Sasha! So glad you caught the bus. I was thinking of you on my little run yesterday, praying for a tailwind for you. As Kelli said, you are such an inspiration!

From Superfly on Sun, Sep 16, 2007 at 17:48:37

Good job Sasha. Now hopefully your ready to go out like that and hold it in STG.

Katie- I live here in STG and you can have a headwind down the course any day of the week. However most of the time it is not really not bad at all. If it blows on Oct 6 like it did this Saturday then we are all done for. I fought it for the middle 20 miles of the course and it just killed me.

Let's hope it was like last year and there was little to no wind.

From Michael on Sun, Sep 16, 2007 at 20:50:41

Way to go Sasha, great effort, youll get those Kenyans next time. Hope you do the best ever at St George

From Katie on Mon, Sep 17, 2007 at 07:19:53

"it is not really not bad at all."

Isn't that a double negative? What does this really mean?

From jtshad on Mon, Sep 17, 2007 at 10:52:33

Great race, Sasha! Way to push it and get that fast time. Look out St. George!

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Sep 17, 2007 at 11:00:43

Everybody - thanks for the comments and encouragement.

Katie - I've run St. George 6 times, and the headwind was never an issue. The worst we've had was 1998, it lasted only the first 5 miles, and you could not feel it when drafting.

From Jon on Mon, Sep 17, 2007 at 11:03:31

Quick, knock on some wood, Sasha.

From Tom on Mon, Sep 17, 2007 at 11:05:06

Great job Sasha! Wow! thanks for the detailed report. It is very interesting and inspiring to get a glimpse into what thoughts were going on in your head as you fought through this race. It's given me a whole new perspective on how I should approach racing and what a role the mental side plays. Gets me all fired up to race again going out much more aggresive than I have in the past. Thanks again.

From lulu on Mon, Sep 17, 2007 at 15:13:18

Congratulations! Your report is very motivating - even for a mid-packer. Thanks for sharing your mental strategies. Good luck at St. George. May the wind be at your back!

From Shauna on Mon, Sep 17, 2007 at 16:16:42

Congrats Sasha! Like the other said, hearing the details of your race was so inspirational, especially the mental aspect.

Good luck at St. George!!!

From Michelle on Mon, Sep 17, 2007 at 20:55:41

Congratulations Sasha!

My thoughts were with you and the other bloggers that whole morning and I am glad you had a mental breakthrough and broke 2:30.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.000.000.000.0017.00

A.M. Woke up around 3 AM to go to the bathroom. Then laid in bed, but my mind started playing BINGO, I was still wired from the race, but yesterday I did not know and finally rested enough to where the wiredness started interfering with my sleep. So I got up, read the scriptures, then finished my race report, and checked a few others. By the time I was done it was time to run. Ted and I ran easy 12 starting out the first .25 with James at around 7:45 average, then we gradually progressed to sub-7:00 at the end, total time was 1:27:42. Felt very strong, could not tell I had run a marathon, looked for signs, the only things I could discover is soreness upon touch in the shin muscles (good sign, I like to be sore there, this happens when I start getting in shape), and a tingly feeling for about a mile or two in the gluts after a VPB stop.

I told Ted I was looking forward to this week because it was going to be a break. Only 100 miles planned, all speed work at his pace, the long run of only 17 with half easy, and no race on Saturday. I never thought I'd ever think of a 100 mile week as a break.

P.M. 0.5 with Julia in 5:02 pushing Jacob in the double stroller, then 1.5 with Benjamin, and Jenny running, and Jacob in the double stroller in 14:16, then put Jenny in the stroller as well, and finished 2 miles with Benjamin - our time was 17:58. Then added 2.5 in 18:50.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From adam on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 00:09:08

sasha-

its funny that you think of soreness on the shin muscles as a good sign. When I get that, I think an injury is near. Are you heading out at 5am on wednesday?

From Brent on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 09:57:37

Sasha, godfather of the running blog, your comments are always appreciated and help me focus on what is needed to improve. Same comments on Adam about the shins, soreness in that area always scares me that a stress fracture or shin splints could be coming if I don't quickly get rid of the soreness, no downhill for a few days.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 12:59:12

Adam:

We are meeting at 5:00 AM Wednesday at my house. Easy run.

Brent - minor soreness in the shins for me has always correlated with an upcoming improvement in performance. No injuries.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.030.003.000.0017.03

A.M. Speed workout with Ted at 4:30 AM on the trail. He had an early meeting, I had to take my mother to the airport. It was dark. We warmed up 4 miles. Drafted behind Ted, occasionally would get wired a bit and pull alongside. We did 6x0.5 with 0.25 jogging recovery. 2:35.7 - 2:37.1 - 2:37.1 - 2:39.1 - 2:35.7. They felt at around the level of aggressive threshold, maybe approaching 10 K race pace. On the last one Ted said he might want to pick it up on the last quarter. So with a quarter to go I pulled alongside and picked it up to see if Ted would respond. But he did not want to be unduly uncomfortable, and dropped back a bit. I just coasted waiting for him to catch up, but he did not.

My mother lost 11 pounds in the month she was here, from 192 down to 181. She cannot run because of her leg injury, so she rode the stationary bike 6 days a week for 10 minutes, and ate our diet. At the airport she told me she noticed it was a lot easier for her to walk.

Some food for thought - an article on Hobie Call. A little old, but still an interesting read, perhaps even more interesting due to its age. For those who missed the big news. He ran 2:16:39 on Saturday in the Top of Utah Marathon. For those who do not know - Top of Utah course is not slow, but it is no St. George, and even no Chicago/London/Berlin, probably comparable to Boston. For those who know the course - his first half was 1:06:40, and he came back with 1:09:59. The second half has a couple hundred feet of net elevation drop, but it rolls more than enough to negate it. So in other words, had he had to run the Great Salt Lake Half out and back, he would still have finished under 2:20. So we've got a guy that can go under 2:20 on a flat course at 4500 feet.

He will still be a dark horse at the Trials, especially with the misleading letter "a" right next to his time for "aided course". If he runs an equivalent quality performance there, though, it would cause a lot of wide-open mouths. Chances are he will - I've never seen him crash in a marathon.

P.M. 2.13 to Benjamin's soccer game with him in 17:20. Another 0.75 around the field by myself in 5:46. Benjamin's team won 5-1. Back 1.6 in 14:23 with Jenny, then added to get 2.03 in 17:30.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Tom on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 13:36:28

Sasha after I got back from my 3 week trip to India last month, having been a bad eater and gaining 3-5 lbs on the trip I decided to give your diet (or at least I think something similar) a try. My breakfasts and lunchs actually seem pretty humongous with a lighter dinner but the rule is that I stick with whole grains, fruits, veggies..basically the good stuff and not really even worry about how much I eat. I'm happy to say that doing this I was able to shed the India pounds and then some. I've been able to lose before but I felt hungry all the time. On this diet I rarely feel hungry, sometimes maybe a little before going to bed but that's it. Also the cravings for stuff that seems to have been my downfall in the past (ice cream, chocolate) don't seem to have been so bad this time around. However I must confess that I have indulged a bit on Sundays and haven't yet sworn off ice-cream and chocolate completely.

From Shanti on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 14:27:25

Hi Sasha! After reading this post, I am dying to know what your diet consists of!! Could you please post like a sample of what your daily diet is.... Breakfast,lunch, dinner, snacks!! Or if you don't post your daily diet, I might have to come and stay at your house for a month....Hey a new idea for you....you can turn your home into a weight loss resort for all of us clydesdales! LOL!!! I would love to lose 11 pounds in a month!! WOW!! Thanks for this great, inspiring, magnificent blog!!

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 15:49:49

Shanti:

Here is a sample daily menu:

Breakfast: rolled oats (raw) mixed with nuts, dried dates, some fruit, and soy milk

Lunch: buckwheat, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, or mashed potatoes sometimes with some light meat (about every other day) - fish, chicken, or turkey; vegetable salad with no dressing

Dinner: Same as breakfast, except no soy milk and no oats

Snacks - honey on whole wheat bread, fruit

Cooking always happens with vegetable oil.

Banned list: anything caffeinated, alcohol, red meat, white flower, unnaturally sweetened products, soda pop, and just about anything Americans normally eat in front of TV or during a football game.

I have considered setting up a fitness clinic (I do not like the word "weight loss" because it does not always mean increased fitness), I do have the knowledge of how to help the people, but what is holding me back is the lack of knowledge/experience on the logistics. If somebody wants to work with me on this, I am open to ideas.

From Lybi on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 15:59:21

I lost a couple pounds in just the weekend you guys were here at my house...no joke.

From Paul Petersen on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 16:39:45

That's an interesting article. Written at a 4th-grade level, but interesting. At the time, I was very impressed with his 2:25 at TOU, but looking back at his times earlier that year (particularly GSL and SLC Classic), that is a severe underperformance.

It seems that Hobie has had this 2:16 coming for over four years.

From Dave Holt on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 16:57:04

Paul you must understand where that article comes from - The Hurricane Valley Journal is written for 4th graders... I mean the town of Hurricane! Just kidding - no one write me back and yell at me. I mean, I taught there for 2 years and contributed to the distinguished level of education that fines town holds.

That final sentence you wrote really interests me. I think we all have to have a goal like this (whatever level of running you personally have) that just keeps driving us. For many of us it is a similar goal to Hobie's. Three years ago a 2:20 was a crazy pipedream for me, now it is something that IS going to happen in the next few years.

From Tom on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 17:35:30

After reading the Hobie article perhaps we need to throw in some wheat grass into our oatmeal.

From ashman on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 20:20:30

No, just 120 mile weeks for several years, good genetics ie talent, excellent diet and perfect diet.

From ashman on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 20:21:50

Oops I meant perfect recovery like the Kenyans.

From crumpyb1 on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 21:13:44

Sasha,

Shauna said that you said a single jogging stroller adds two minutes on to your mile time? I ran a 8:07 (with the wind and mostly downhill) followed by a 8:28 (against the wind and mostly uphill) today. I was running so hard, I didn't talk to Will.

I have a hard time thinking I could run a 6:30 mile. Of course I haven't tried lately. I am thinking I will try on Saturday. (By picking up my pace on the quarter mile or half a mile prior to my fast miles has helped me be more consistent with the first few quarter.)

Here are my quarters from today.

2:03

2:02

2:08

1:54

2:08

2:06

2:13

2:01

Should I believe that I can run a 6:30 mile? And what should I shoot for in a ten mile race (Indian Summer Distance Classic--the flier said it was not a fast course)? Please let me know what you think when you have a spare moment. Thanks--Adrianne

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 22:43:50

Adrianne - the stroller impact greatly varies with the weight of the stroller itself, the weight of the kids in it, the tire inflation, wheel size, whether you are going uphill or downhill, the quality of the surface you are on, etc. It also varies with the weight and the absolute strength of the runner pushing it. I would guess Will right now in your stroller would slow you down by at least 30 seconds per mile on a perfectly flat stretch. Headwind and even moderate uphill can slow you down by as much as 2 minutes a mile.

You should be able to run close to 6:30 mile right now assuming you are in a similar shape to where you were in May. Based on your 10 K performance against Benjamin, I would estimate that at that time you would have been about equal in the mile. Although one would think that a kid that runs only 2 miles a day would start losing ground against adults running more miles in longer distances, I have noticed he actually gains ground on adults running as much as 40 miles a week as the distances get longer, and beats them coming from behind as well.

He raced the mile on the track in May in 6:48. That was at 4500 feet of altitude. He probably could have done it 10 seconds faster at sea level, which would make it 6:38.

For the 10 mile race, I would recommend going out at 8:00/mile and see how long you can hold it. Slow down to 8:10 when and if 8:00 ever becomes unbearable, and so on down the road.

From Michelle on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 23:09:46

So for dinner, taking away the soy milk, and the oats that just mixed nuts, dates and fruit?

Soy milk? Why do you drink that over regular milk?

From Dallen on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 23:10:59

Having run the TOU and Chicago I have a somewhat different opinion. If someone is not prepared for the downhill they will run TOU a few minutes (or more)slower than a "fair" marathon. However, with proper downhill training, TOU is probably 2-4 minutes faster than a flat sea level course.

I would rather be proven wrong, but I don't know of any instances of a Sub-2:30 Utah runner putting in a comparable performance on a flat course.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Sep 18, 2007 at 23:49:32

Michelle:

Yes, you are correct for the dinner. The reason for soy milk - I do not handle regular milk well.

Dallen:

In 2003, I ran TOU in 2:27:46, St. George two weeks later in 2:24:47, followed by a marathon training run once a week immediately with the times of 2:52, 2:46, and 2:49 on an out and back course from my house by Slate Canyon to a little bit past Vivian Park and back. I did speed workouts in the middle. So by the middle of November I was worn out, but I still managed 2:31:44 in Richmond going through the first half in 1:12:09 - my plan was qualify or die, and I died - 39 minutes for the last 10 K. Phil Olsen ran 2:21 in St. George, then 2:25 in the Trials in less than ideal conditions. Corbin Talley ran 2:21:33 in St. George, then 2:26:08 in the Trials hitting the first half in 1:08:59.

From Superfly on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 08:50:11

I haven't run TOU...But many of you guys have and it is ruled as a downhill course. I have ran Boston 2 times and I'm going to say that TOU has to be faster than Boston. In fact there is no way there even close.

We talked to some runners down here that are not on the blog and they said that TOU was faster than STGM (for them). I don't know about that but they would have never said that about Boston. In fact I would be suprised to see Hobie run under 2:20 at Boston maybe high 2:19, but that is just my opinion.

From Superfly on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 08:57:18

One factor that is overlooked is the tailwind that everyone talks about at TOU. At Boston if the wind is blowing-it's in your face 9 times out of 10. It's the wind coming off the ocen and that's the direction it blows.

From Jon on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 09:16:07

How much do you guys think the tail wind really helps at TOU? It is only for about 2-3 miles, so I don't think it takes more than 20-30 seconds off of times, max.

From Cody on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 10:14:54

Jon- Its hard to tell, but to be generous, I would say 1 min of gain due to the tail-wind. Average of 20 seconds a mile for 3 miles - max. I think that is very generous.

I imagine that people that dont train for downhill could do TOU faster since the downhill is so mild and doesn't beat you up. They would be in the minority though I imagine. I am not an authority on this as I have yet to run STGM. There are many faster courses at sea level than Boston. I agree with Clyde though that Boston is one of the harder courses around much harder than TOU. But London or Chicago may be faster due to the terrain and altitude.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 14:31:56

Clyde - you forgot to include into your analysis that TOU is never below 4400 feet. That automatically brings your threshold down by 10 seconds a mile.

The only reason TOU could be faster than STGM is coming to STGM in significantly worse condition. Here are some stats for me:

Year Ogden TOU St. George

2003 2:27:46 2:24:47

2004 2:32:51 2:25:20

2005 2:36:05 2:39:12 2:27:21

2006 2:30:03 2:33:12 2:25:32

In 2003, there was significant tailwind in TOU, and on top of that I came to it peaked and fresh. St. George was an afterthought, I figured I had a shot for a qualifier. In 2005 there was significant headwind in TOU, and I had a bad race on top of it. In 2006 the conditions in TOU were not bad, but it was too cold at the start, and there were occasional gusts of headwind.

Bill Cobler:

Year Ogden Boston TOU St. George

2005 N/A N/A 2:50:17 2:40:22

2006 2:51:09 2:48:53 2:45:55 2:38:34

Bill is our most reliable data point for Boston. I think he was a bit tired from Boston in Ogden in 2006, which is why I beat him by 21 minutes. However, by TOU/St. George he cut the gap down to 12-13 minutes, so we really should not be comparing his TOU/St. George against his Ogden/Boston for the purpose of establishing a correlation between the course.

I also beat Bill by 19 minutes in DesNews 2006, which is probably the standard gap between me and him in that shape. With that in mind, I would conclude had I raced him in Boston being in my Ogden shape in 2006, I would have run just slightly under 2:30. It has been a while since we had 2003 quality tail wind in TOU, even this year I do not think we did. I am not exactly sure how my Ogden 2006 compares to TOU 2003, but I would put them fairly close together, within a minute.

My analysis that TOU is like Boston assumes tailwind 2003 quality in TOU, and no wind to mild tailwind in Boston. I give Boston a bit of an adjustment from the data produced by Utah runners because Boston is far away, they fly in the night before, and the mindset is often more to see sights, run the honor lap so you can tell others you've done it rather than to race. Also, there are very few runners that properly train during the winter, which makes the estimate even more difficult.

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 14:44:36

Boston has a marathon?

From Jon on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 16:20:27

It's just a little, local one, Paul.

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 17:15:15

I've never left Utah for a marathon. I assumed other states weren't into them.

From Superfly on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 17:21:42

I don't think that you can compare courses by how far you bet someone who ran that course...The only fair and accurat way to do it is for me to come run TOU in coming years (plannin on doing it anyways)- and for you to go run Boston (you'll never do).

Here is my anayses-

I ran a 2:37 at Boston this year under the worst conditions you could ever dream up. On a normal year at Boston with no wind or mild headwind this would have been with th same effort a 2:34-2:35. If I take that same effort and heart to run TOU this year I'm guessing I run a 2:31-2:32.

The elevation thing isn't that big because your running downhill at TOU and you use less air anyways.

I do a 15 mile run that is mostly downhill up in Torrey that starts on the mountain above the town at around 9500ft and drops off at 6,900ft. I never feel like I can't breath because it's all downhill. For that matter there is less air to create less resistance.

I know TOU isn't faster than STGM. I also know TOU isn't as hard as Boston.

From Superfly on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 17:22:45

I didn't spell check. Oops.

From Superfly on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 17:34:20

One more thought.

Hobie live and trains around 3,000 ft give or take. He went up to TOU and ran a 2:16. I'm still going to say that if he went down to Boston he'd only run a 2:19-2:20 with the same effort of Saturday's TOU.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 18:12:24

Clyde:

Bill Cobler and I run enough races together and we are equally consistent that there is a pattern of how much I am going to beat him by in any particular two month window. This applies to all distances - 5 K through the marathon.

Some more numbers for you - Boston is no more than 2 minutes slower than Chicago when both have ideal conditions - reasoning: Boston course record is 2:07:12, Chicago is 2:05:42. Boston is usually won in 2:09, Chicago in 2:07. The field is typically of equal strength.

Chicago vs St. George - most reliable data point is James Lander, he's run both several times:

St. George 2002 - 2:22:24, Chicago 2003 - 2:22:42, Chicago 2005 - 2:21:06, St. George 2006 - 2:18:25. In Chicago 2005 his job was to pace Deena Kastor, so he probably lost a minute from not being able to draft or run his own pace. He pulled away from her fairly easily on the last mile when he noticed she was being chased by Dita to avoid being a factor in the women's race.

Salt Lake vs TOU - Ezekiel Ruto ran 2:26 in Salt Lake this year, vs 2:24 in TOU, which is right on with what my predictor says should be the difference. This puts Hobie's effort in perspective - Hobie beat him by only 3 minutes in Salt Lake, vs good 8(!) minutes in TOU. You must also take into consideration the fact that Hobie's second half doubled would have given him sub-2:20! That is running at 4500 feet and with only about 200 feet of rolling (as in there is 2 miles of steady uphill from 18 to 20) net elevation drop.

You may not feel out of breath at an elevation, but you will run slower. Downhill reduces the relative slowdown, uphill increases it.

The fastest Dennis ever ran in TOU is 2:25:51 in 2001 (good tailwind). That is with competition - he had Mark Lawson and Joe Wilson with him until 20. His thoughts were that TOU is not as fast as it looks.

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 18:54:22

I think it's hard to use empirical data like this, since people's fitness varies so much from year to year. Not to mention weather. There are just too many variables.

For example, one could say that St. George is only 1 minute faster than Boston, because Clyde Behunin ran 2:36 at St. George and 2:37 at Boston within less than 1 year. Or that Park City is faster than TOU because Paul Petersen ran 2:43 at PC in '05 and 2:45 at TOU in '04. Or that a tailwind at TOU takes away 30 minutes, since Cody Draper ran 3:12 in '05 and 2:46 as a workout in '07. We're all completely shooting at the hip here. If you want to get truly scientific, give me something statistically defensible, with t-tests and mannings u's and stuff like that. I think you could do some pretty good stats with long-term pack analysis, top 10 analysis, etc. But just is spouting off names and times is pure arm-waving.

From Superfly on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 19:39:14

True story.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 20:27:10

Paul:

Now we are entering the realm of philosophy. I agree that neither my arguments above, nor the numbers that come out of my predictor would be considered scientific in the sense of being the science taught and practiced in labs and universities. That is why I call it Sasha science. Nevertheless, Sasha science has predicted somebody's finishing time in a race within 0.1% margin of error on numerous occasions. Regular science would have said the prediction cannot be done with the amount of data present.

Which goes to show that science in the traditional meaning of the word is by far not a comprehensive method of exploring reality and finding truth. It serves as a good common denominator for proving truths to those who lack refined intuition, but it usually not very helpful for discovering them.

From Jon on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 20:40:42

Man, the tail wind at TOU is worth 30 minutes!!! Awesome- someone should come break the world record here.

As for Sasha science- predicting a few finishes within .1% does not count for much, since you only remember the ones where you were accurate. You would have to look at the entire body of work, not just at the "winners" who followed your premise. Still, I think the results calculator is pretty good.

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 20:56:25

Again, you would have to prove that the Sasha science is correct in a statistically significant fashion in order to validate it. Intuition is great and all, but won't hold up under peer-review. I could plug numbers into the Runworks.com calculator (based mostly off of Daniels) and get several finish times within 0.1% as well.

By the way, I'm not trying to be negative here, but am rather trying to promote good discussion. Speaking of which, when will the message board be activated?

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 20:58:48

Ha ha. Never mind about the message board, I see that it is up. Looks great! Now we have a true home for these long, convoluted threads!

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 21:15:08

Paul:

You've challenged my pride, as Dallen used to say when he tried to test my kick in the workouts. Let's have a race, Runworks.com vs my predictor. Do not strike below the belt - radical changes in fitness, severe heat/headwind - use reasonably comparable running performances for benchmarking. Let's have 20 comparisons to see which one does better.

From Dustin on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 21:39:54

Sasha

I like the new discussion board option, and I really enjoy reading some of these posts. I've used your predictor to help give me a ballpark idea of where I might expect to be time wise for different races and I've found it to be fairly accurate. Of course as Paul mentioned there are so many different variables that can go into a race, that can make predicting difficult.

Anyway, I really don't an option or much to share on the topic.

What I am wondering Sasha is if there is a way to create a location to post race pictures and things of this nature on our individual blog pages. I know how to change and add different pictures to the profile page, but I was wondering about the future possibility of having some type of photo album. I have a few friends and family members that read the blog, but mainly they want to see how much pain I'm in, while I'm out there running!

From Paul Petersen on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 21:55:18

Heh heh. Sounds fun, Sasha. How about this: we pick 20 people after the St. George marathon, and then try to predict the time of their next race based on their St. George performance. I think it's okay if the courses are very different. That is part of the challenge.

BTW - Runworks.com is an online Daniels calculator, so in reality this competition is Sasha Pachev vs. Jack Daniels.

From Superfly on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 22:21:48

Don't keep us waiting. Pick 10-20 bloggers and others who are running STGM and based of the training and races prior to STGM give us your predictions for this year.

First off Sasha what is your own Sasha Science prediction for you at STGM on normal weather and other conditions?

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 22:55:52

Depends on how much the taper gives me. Assuming no unusual influences, and based on the recent workouts and racing, 2:21:30 - 2:22:30. I sure hope to hit the upper part of that range.

Paul - I am quite sure I can beat Jack Daniels on the Utah courses most of which I've run multiple times.

Dustin - I'll put your request on the TODO list.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 22:58:34

Paul - for the prediction benchmark you do not have to wait for a race to happen. Just assume it did not, and see what times the previous races predict. E.g you can take St. George 2006 as the target race, and some circuit races earlier as the data races.

From Jon on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 23:43:24

Is this a record for most comments on one post?

I want to hear the 20 people Sasha is predicting for, and what their times will be. Within 1 minute.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.050.000.000.0015.05

A.M. Easy 10 from my house in 1:14:48 with different parts run with Jeff, Ted, and Adam at 5:05 AM. Felt strong. Last mile was 6:27 still in the dark, this is a big deal for me, I am usually not motivated to run that fast at any point this early and will not do it unless really trying. The form felt very smooth once we got into 6:40s, there seems to be a struggle, the feet still feel stuck on the ground as if there was glue on my shoes as always, but at the same time there appeared a new force that is fighting that glue. In the past there was no struggle, I just had to bite it and use pure muscle power to deal with the consequences of the glue.

P.M. Sick kids today. Ran with Julia, 0.3 in 3:10, she is recovering from a fever yesterday. Then 0.5 with Benjamin in 4:55, really sick, and 1 mile with Jenny in 10:08, on the sick side. Pushed Julia and Joseph in the double stroller for those. Then put Joseph in the single stroller and ran 3.25 in 24:23. felt good.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From crumpyb1 on Wed, Sep 19, 2007 at 20:29:06

Thanks Sasha for answering my questions. I am going to take the rest of the week easy--5 miles tomorrow and 4 on Friday. Then on Saturday I will time my mile. Until then I will believe I can get at least 1:34 quarters. It should be fun.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.003.002.000.0019.00

Update: For those who did not notice - the long awaited discussion forum is active, click on the link above.

A.M. Paced Ted through the Provo River 5 Mile Tempo along with Jeff. His plan was to go out at 5:50 and then pick it up. I asked him if he wanted us to just pull him, or if he wanted to trade quarters, he wanted to trade quarters. We warmed up 3.88 to the 2.5 mark (the gate by the Utah Lake), and started the run there. Went through the first mile fairly even in 5:46. Ted took the first uphill quarter strong, got 1:26, then I had to speed up to pass him to take mine, and I did not slow down, so our next quarter was 1:23. This gave us 5:41 mile. We hit 14:20 at 2.5, did a 180 and headed back. Next mile in 5:43. I announced we were 10 seconds behind the 5:40 guy and proposed to chase him down. Ted was reluctant, but he is a pretty easy going guy, can be talked into running faster even when he does not feel good. To make things more interesting he took his quarter and hit it in 1:22. I took the clue and did mine in 1:22. Jeff took his, and now really put some hot pepper on Ted's plate - 1:20, but Ted was still there with 1.25 to go, which was a good sign. I asked Ted if he wanted us to pull him, or if he wanted to take his quarter. He was smart - he knew if he could take his quarter he would break the rhythm and would not have to run the last mile in 5:23. But the momentum carried him through a 1:24 quarter, which gave us a 5:28 mile. I tried to be nice but not as nice as Ted wanted me to be on the next one - he wanted 1:25, I said he could do better than that, and ran 1:23, Ted survived. Jeff being a much nicer guy, took it easy on the next one - 1:24. Ted started smelling the barn and did his in 1:23. On the last one, I wanted to break 5:30, so I picked it up to 5:20 pace right away. Ted hesitated, but after some aggressive encouragement got going. I ended up getting 28:08.4 on my watch which I stopped a bit too late, Ted was a bit ahead and got 28:07.7 on his watch. This gave us 5:30 for the last mile, 1:20 for the last quarter, 10:58 for the last 2 miles, and 13:48 for the second half, actual negative split of 32 seconds, and effective negative split (adjusting for the uphill/downhill mile) of 25 seconds.

Ted set a bunch of records today, fastest 5 miles on that course, and fastest 2.5 as well. This run shows his threshold is good enough for at least 2:30 in St. George, and very possibly a life-time PR period. And based on his training, he should be able to use his threshold very well in the marathon.
This also goes to show that threshold improves a great deal just off plain aerobic conditioning. Ted's speed work has been very spotty, virtually non-existent in the last two months, but he's been running high mileage.

I was happy to be sufficiently conversational at 5:30 pace on a flat surface to announce splits and other news items every quarter, and do some aggressive verbal encouragement. This is a good sign for St. George.

P.M. Ran 0.5 with Julia in 5:25, she is feeling better. Then 0.5 with Benjamin in 4:28. He is feeling better too, but still not 100%. Then 4 miles in 27:34. Ran the last 2.5 without looking at my watch in  17:19, which tells me my true recovery pace is just a bit under 7:00. Then 1 mile with Jenny in 9:43. She is almost 100%, but not quite there yet.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.100.000.000.0013.10

A.M. Easy run with Ted and Adam. Adam went with us to the gate then turned around. 1:14:14 for 10.1.

P.M. Just ran with the kids. 0.5 with Julia in 5:22, then 1.5 with Jenny in 14:08, and 1 with Benjamin in 8:13. All are now healthy.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Jon on Wed, Sep 26, 2007 at 09:01:03

This blog must be a record- the shortest Sasha blog ever...

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.936.002.000.0019.93

A.M. 16 mile run with Ted, Jeff, and Jeff's roommate Brad. Started at Borders at Riverwoods, and went out to the middle of nowhere in South Fork and back on. First 8 easy, chatted a lot, the horses were neighing. I said it is a bad sign for the training partners when your horses are neighing. Jeff said, what about if the training partner is feeling good. His horses were neighing as well. On the way back the plan was 6 at marathon pace, and then the last 2 at threshold to learn how to push at the end of a marathon. We got to the turnaround by Ted's GPS in 1:02:08, and then Jeff and I took off. We eventually worked our way to 5:20 pace and just held it there. The distance was approximate until we got to the Vivian Park (about 1.5 from the turnaround), after that we were on the magic triangles. Our first mile was 5:33 on the triangles, then 5:24, after that we starting gradually closing on the 5:20 guy for the last 6.5 starting at the first mark after Vivian Park. The pace felt relaxing, almost conversational. The little uphills felt like they were not even there, good sign because I remember how much they used to hurt at tempo pace, we never ran slower than 1:21 quarter even when it flattened out or on sections with uphill. Very good for only 1% grade drop. With 2 miles to go, the 5:20 guy had 12 seconds on us. I told Jeff it was time to start working, so we started trading quarters instead of just running side by side. We ran the last two miles in 5:14 each, good effort considering that it is only about 0.5% grade down with a bit of rolling, and I felt I still had some gas in the tank. I got exactly 5:20 average for the last 6.5 - 34:40 total, 42:53 on the way back, total time 1:45:01. Jeff struggled a bit on the last quarter as I tried to eat the 5:20 guy, and dropped back a second or two but he was still there, which is a good sign for him. I would not be surprised to see him qualify. His main issue would be fuel, but I think his threshold speed and mental toughness along with the downhill of St. George on the last 6 miles could save him. Jeff is very tough, he hangs in there to the last drop of blood.

Speaking of blood, a popular Russian song from the 90s popped into my head while we were running and stayed for the entire last 8 miles. It has a typical Russian stark reality flavor to it, which can be good to taste for aspiring to run a good marathon. The words go like this, the translation and the lack of life experience context loses quite a bit of that flavor - Your blood type is written on your sleeve, and your ID number is written on your sleeve, wish me luck in the battle, wish me luck. Oh how I do not want to be left in this grass, oh how I do not want to be left in this grass, wish me luck in the battle, wish me luck.

Our last 10 K would have been around 33:08. The elevation drop over the last 10 K is around 400 feet, less than DesNews, but I think overall better quality, so we can say I ran the equivalent of a 33:08 DesNews 10 K at the end of a 16 mile run with the first 4 miles of it fairly comfortable. This runs tells me that standard "A" would not be out the realm of possibility, although definitely not a given, marathon is a long way to go. But it is a good confidence builder.

Afterwards, went to pace Benjamin in the BYU Homecoming 5 K. We debated which race to run, the kids 1/2 mile, or the 5 K, Benjamin decided that beating adults is more satisfying that beating kids. I was a bit concerned how he would run after being sick last week, but the run showed that he recovered for the most part. The course was comparable to Heart of Holladay, maybe even a bit slower. The length was correct, it has been wheeled according to the race director, and it also showed to be 3.16 on my GPS. Benjamin ran 22:14.1, PR by 12 seconds, 59th pace, and 3rd in 1-12 age division. Afterwards talked to Michelle Lowry. I knew she was running the race, but I was afraid I might not recognize her because I've seen her only once in person, and she had dropped a lot of weight. My concerns were valid, she did look different from what I remembered, but still withing my ability to recognize after the adjusting the weight expectations in my mind. She ran 19:36, very good time, a mother of three running at the level of a college walk-on, and getting there from 21:10 on a similar course in a period of two months. I think she has a shot of a sub-3:00 marathon.

The warm-up with Benjamin was 0.32, also ran 0.5 with Jenny and Julia in 5:20.

P.M. Ran 1 more mile with Jenny in 9:11.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Maria on Sat, Sep 22, 2007 at 18:08:02

Sasha, this song that popped into your head, reminded me to dig out some other songs by Victor Tsoi. I like his songs very much, despite their dark and depressing tone. For anyone who wants to learn a bit about Tsoi and "Kino", one of the most famous Soviet rock groups of the 80s, a good place to start is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Tsoi

I have read some reviews from Americans who found the songs powerful despite not knowing Russian (although I have to say that lyrics carry these songs more than music).

From MichelleL on Sat, Sep 22, 2007 at 18:10:32

It was nice to see you today. Thank you for all of your encouragement. I couldn't be where I am without the blog!

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Sep 22, 2007 at 19:00:51

Maria - perhaps "dark and depressing" is not an accurate way to describe the tone. I would call it "resolute and determined to get out of darkness and depression", which is perhaps why it appealed so much to our generation because that is what we were trying to do.

From Ruth on Sat, Sep 22, 2007 at 20:01:07

I've got a friend wants to run SGM, but doesn't have a number (he used to but gave it away - but still has been training for it). If anyone knows of a person dropping out of SGM who has a number available, contact me. Thanks.

From Lybi on Sun, Sep 23, 2007 at 00:51:55

Great job today, Sasha! Hey you've got to check out "emruns" last race. She is a seriously fast chica!

From ashman on Sun, Sep 23, 2007 at 12:05:10

Feel up to a workout on Monday or Tuesday?

From Sasha Pachev on Sun, Sep 23, 2007 at 23:01:52

Steve:

I tried to reach you by phone, but it seems like your cell phone is turned off. We are running easy on Monday at 6:30 AM, and some faster and short tempo stuff, probably 2x2 miles at 5:15 pace on Tuesday, Ted will probably go 5:30-5:35 pace, starting at 6:30 AM, both from my house.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.580.000.000.5016.08

A.M. Easy run with Ted and Brad (Jeff's roommate), 10.1 in 1:14:44. Did 8x100 strides towards the end of the run averaging around 18 seconds on each. With only 101 miles last week (as opposed to regular 120) I was feeling full of energy. The horses were neighing again, the strides helped calm them down a bit.

A little later took Julia for 0.5, we ran 4:46.

P.M. We were out of toilet paper. So this was a creative shopping run. I learned about a store in Provo that finally decided to stop selling alcohol and tobacco after the owner's 9 year old daughter asked him why in the world he was selling this stuff. He had the guts to go through with his convictions, something that almost every single grocery store owner even in the Utah County seems to lack. At least, this is the only regular grocery store in the Utah County I am aware of with the exception of the  BYU Creamery on 9th East that does not sell alcohol and tobacco. I wanted to support the store owner on this decision, so we ran there to shop. The store is called Reams Family Foods, not to be confused with the more commonly known Reams chain, and is located at 2250 N University Pkwy in Provo over by Shopko, which happens to be a very nice run from our house, almost entirely on the trail, 2.74 miles out .  We took the double stroller, put Jacob in it, then Benjamin rode a bike, and Jenny ran for the first 1.5 miles, which we did in 13:36. Then they traded places. We ran another 1.24 and stopped at the store. Managed to load the stroller with a case of raspberries, 12 rolls of toilet paper, two loaves of bread, and two pounds of grapes. We even got a toy soccer ball for Julia. After another 0.76, Benjamin was done with his run. His time for 2 miles was 15:25. Then we put Benjamin on the bike, and Jenny sat in the stroller holding the rolls of toilet paper and another bag with grapes. Benjamin admonished me to catch the 8:00 mile guy for the whole run. I had a bit less than 2 miles to go and about a minute to close, no problem. With the help of 0.5% grade downhill,  fairly quickly got up to 6:20 pace, slowing down to around 7:00 in the tunnels. This must have been quite a scene to watch - a grocery loaded stroller with two kids in it, and one holding rolls of toilet paper going at a brisk pace. Slowed down to 6:40 with the same effort once it flattened out, what a difference  a 0.5% grade makes for a loaded stroller! Total time for 5.48 was 41:58.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From rdrunner on Tue, Sep 25, 2007 at 11:44:26

LOL!! What a scene...kids, stroller, TP and all. When you gotta go, you gotta go!

From Lulu on Tue, Sep 25, 2007 at 13:57:28

Nice post. Hysterical! Moments with the kids to remember forever. When they run x-country in high school and college, they are going to have some stories to tell about their dad taking them running!

From Michael on Wed, Sep 26, 2007 at 13:27:14

Alexander wanted me to tell you he got to experience the police escort and siren/lights like you often do when he won his first 5K run - he said like you that it made him speed up

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.500.003.000.0012.50

A.M. Control 3 mile tempo run with Jeff this morning at 6:00 AM. Ted had to go a bit earlier. The rough plan was - 1:19 quarters - good, 1:18 - better, 1:17 too good in the first mile, really good otherwise, 1:20 acceptable in the first mile, too slow otherwise. The significance of this run is that a 3 mile tempo has accurately predicted my marathon times in the past, and I had the data for this particular course for Ogden 2007 and Richmond 2003.

Warmed up 3.38 very easy. Started at the start of the Provo River 5 Mile Tempo by Geneva Road. Jeff and I alternated quarters, I took the first. 1:17 - 1:20 - 1:16 (0.5% down) - 1:17 (0.5% down), first mile in 5:10 - 1:18 - 1:20 (slowed down to not miss the turnaround, it was still dark) - 1:21 (recovering from 180 turn) - 1:20 (Jeff started losing it, I passed him 50 meters early and went for it), 5:19 on the second mile, 10:29 at 2 - Jeff fell back, now I was running alone - 1:19 (up 0.5%) - 1:19 (up 0.5 %, had to break because a dog jumped right under my feet, bad place too, right in the middle of the uphill) - 1:20 (got complacent) - 1:17 (felt good, but could not put together a kick). Last mile in 5:15, total time 15:44.3. Jeff was suffering from our Saturday run combined with the lack of sleep, so he was reduced to coasting through the last mile in 5:42 and finished in 16:12.

This predicts 2:28 in Ogden 2007 (including the heat), and 2:26 in Richmond 2003 assuming a crazy start. Reasoning - ran this in 16:12 before Ogden this year, 2:32:00 in Ogden, and 16:22 before Richmond 2003, 2:31:45 with the approach "qualify or die", first half in 1:12:12, second in 1:19:33, and those halves would be within a minute of each other run at the same effort.

Sasha science analysis for St. George - in the 3 mile run prior to Ogden I did enough VO2 Max workouts to have the ability to cheat in the 3 mile tempo. Ted paced me on the last mile, I hurt a lot, and ran it in 5:18. It was a true VO2 Max mile. Today I ran 5:15 on the last mile for two reasons - did not have anybody around to stir the pot, and could not get to a VO2 Max pace due to the lack of training at those speeds. That is OK, it is good to have a governor that would not let me go that hard in St. George, especially on Veyo. Prior to St. George 2006 I ran the standard downhill 3 mile tempo from Nunns to the mouth of the Provo Canyon in 15:35. This one tends to be about 35 seconds slower than that one. That would give me 15:10 on the Provo Canyon tempo, projecting it over the marathon, 3:38 faster than my finish time in St. George 2006, so 2:21:54. I have a trump card to pull out - higher mileage and a lot more Big Workouts this year, so I should be able to hold the threshold better through the marathon. That could come handy for getting the standard A, or in case something goes wrong, a bit of a cushion to still get standard B.

P.M. 0.5 with Julia in 5:05, then 1.5 with Benjamin, Jenny, and an empty single stroller in 13:49, then put Jenny in the stroller, last 0.5 with Benjamin in 3:32 (you can tell his horses were neighing the whole way through Jenny's run), that gave us 17:21 for 2 miles. Benjamin's soccer team lost  for the first time this season 0-2. Benjamin's explanation of why - 75% of the opposing team were Hispanic, the rest were giants.

Taper time - I feel like I am driving through a construction zone, fines double,  with a trooper following me.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Tue, Sep 25, 2007 at 12:54:37

Good workout.

From wheakory on Tue, Sep 25, 2007 at 13:01:30

Nice Workout and good data analysis to indicate your projected time. Sasha, you have the determination and faith to get your goal this year. I'm excited for you.

From adam on Tue, Sep 25, 2007 at 13:48:39

sasha-

I will talk to Aaerd Sampson about getting you a VO2 max test over here at BYU. Is there a particular time you would want to have it (before/after St. George)?

Also, if you are ever completely bored and want to be a subject in our biomech crutch study, let me know. We are always looking for more subjects. You'd get ten whole dollars for about an hour of "work"...mighty tempting, I know.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Sep 25, 2007 at 23:25:50

Adam:

Thanks for your help. I'd like to do it before St. George. Any time this week, or early next week will work. While I am there, I may just as well do the crutch stuff. I love measurements, and draw inspiration from them.

We are running at 5:00 AM tomorrow from my house, easy 10 if you want to join us.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.250.000.000.0011.25

A.M. Easy 10, first 6 with a big gang at 5:00 AM - Ted, Jeff, and Adam, the remaining 4 just with Jeff. My watch got messed up during a VPB stop, but I figure my total time was around 1:11:50. Felt strong, could not tell much of a difference in effort between 7:30 and 6:20. The horses were neighing but I was able to hold them back for the most part. Ted said he had just one horse neighing.

P.M. Sick kids today again. Ate garlic and washed my hands after every suspicious contact as a pre-caution. They say a clove of garlic a day keeps the doctor away. Jenny had a fever, so she did not run. Jacob had a fever earlier today, and was breathing funny, Sarah took him to the doctor, but turned out he was just breathing funny, he was actually getting enough oxygen, and then he started breathing normally towards the end of the day. Benjamin struggled through 0.5 in 4:51, I call that sick for him. Julia ran 5:25 for her 0.5, she and Joseph were the only kids without symptoms today.  Ran to the church and back, that gave me another 0.25. Slacking a bit to keep the trooper from giving me excessive taper mileage ticket. I think the trooper's name is Ted.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Tom on Wed, Sep 26, 2007 at 15:39:15

I don't think I've ever had any horses neighing yet, but I have had 1 or 2 pretty feisty mules on occasion.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.572.800.700.0014.07

A.M. Ran with the BYU ROTC Army Ranger Challenge cadets. Could not find shoes/shorts, had a late start, took a shortcut to BYU, 1.85 miles, 12:47 6:54.5 avg (used the new calculator feature I coded up yesterday to compute that) fairly brisk for 5:15 AM, but being late gave me the extra adrenaline. The cadets were doing 1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1 minute fartlek with equal rest. During the warm-up I discovered that at least two cadets spoke Russian, and it sounded good to me. With the temperature being 39 degrees, I spoke to them in a burly Russian man mumble rather than like a newscaster, making no allowance for it being the second language for them, and noticed no trouble on their part. I was actually expecting to find some Russian speakers since we had a group of about 30 and mentioned it to them. They suggested I should try Spanish. I did. Nearly half the group started chattering away simultaneously in Spanish telling their mission stories and jokes. Mind you, this is a group of white guys most of whom grew up in Utah in a family where English was the only language spoken.

Back in Moscow in the 90s as Russia opened up to all variety of missionaries I had a chance to meet with a number of representatives of different religions. None of the ones I met had more Russian fluency that a couple of phrase book sentences except for the young LDS missionaries who ranged anywhere from accented functional to virtually native fluency. Even some of the older missionaries, including the mission president and his wife were fluent. Some of them were really good. I remember talking to Elder Jamie Codee, who incidentally happens to be Kendra Hooper's brother, and Steve Hooper's brother in law, small world. We spoke for half an hour, with him doing a lot of talking, and I had not caught anything that did not sound even the tiniest bit wrong in spite of staying on alert the entire time waiting like a vulture to correct him.

That meant a great deal to me. The ability to communicate was not an issue. I was already fluent in English, and in fact, I preferred to have religious discussions in English. Religious terms in Russian just did not quite mean their dictionary translations to me, and when put together produced awkward and confusing sentences. 70 years of state-sponsored atheism had subtly corrupted the language. Those same sentences in English flowed naturally and carried a lot of meaning. I was able to get away from my background and think with a different perspective.

What did matter to me, though, is the thorough wide-scale effort to learn the Russian language, which is not the easiest for an English speaker. It represented preparation, solid work ethic, determination, and commitment. I figured a church that had the ability to instill what it takes to learn Russian in their English-speaking youth was up to something worthwhile.

The Spanish chatter ended with Ted announcing it was time to start the speed portion of the workout. That is when the group split, and we eventually ended up with 2.5 cadets. Ted ran the repetitions somewhere in the 5:30-6:00 range. 2.5 cadets were able to hang on until the 3 minute one. Ted wanted to run at least his marathon pace effort, so we would drop our precious 2.5, and then come back to them during recovery. 10 seconds before the first 4 minute one I had to make a VPB stop. Ran a 3:17 1000 (off Hawks marks) up 0.5% grade (the stretch of the Provo River Trail from Wills to Riverwoods), that felt like threshold-comfortable, caught up to/passed everybody, Ted was the hardest to catch, and I think he picked it up when he heard me coming because all of a sudden he started coming to me a lot slower while I was running a steady pace, then ran about 50 more meters with him, and the repetition was over.

Got back to Smith's Fieldhouse at BYU, then ran home without the shortcut. Total of 12.07 in 1:25:42. Sarah had a mile left when I got back, so we ran 1.05 together around the block in 10:00.

P.M. 0.5 with Jenny and Julia in 5:30, Jenny is still sick, but can run a bit, so her little sister Julia decided to be a nice sister and keep the pace moderate. Jenny did struggle, though, but that is better than yesterday when she could not run at all. Benjamin is feeling good today, is planning on running the cross country 3 K at Kiwani's Park tonight.

Benjamin thought he was feeling good, but really the sickness was still there. He suffered his way through 16:31. I think from now on we will have a rule that if 8:00 pace the day before feels hard or impossible, we do not race. Ran some errands to the church and back afterwards, total of 0.5. 


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Dustin on Thu, Sep 27, 2007 at 18:38:05

I've heard Russian is a hard language to learn, my brother in-law served there and my sister took some classes recently at BYU.

Sasha, Steve Hooper and I were talking and wondering if 1:18 is too fast for us to go out for the first half. I know last year Clyde, Logan, and Dave all hit right around 1:20 for the half and then Logan ran the second half about a 1:30 slower than the first half, Dave was 2 minutes slower, and Clyde was about 4 minutes faster.

I don't really feel any of the half marathons I've done lately are reflective of the shape I'm in. I did ran a pretty strong 5K the other day and finished about 26 second behind Dave.

I feel like the last few 20 mile training runs I've done on the course have been good 6:36 average.

I would just like some Sasha Science on if you think I'm good to go with the 1:16-1:18 pace group or should I and any others be looking to hit 1:20, then take it from there?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Sep 27, 2007 at 19:36:00

Dustin - Sasha Science says 2:45 with the possibility of a bad crash and running much worse. Strictly from the predictor, assuming the 5 K you ran to be equivalent to perfectly flat in SLC and 50 miles a week sustained average, you do get 2:45, and after looking at your mileage in July, August, and September last year, and this year, as well as other race performances, I would have to say it would be unlikely to be able to run faster than 2:45. If 1:21 feels good in the first half, do it, but I would be hesitant to go out faster than 1:21.

Another thing you can try is serve as a pacer for Katie Danner - she needs to go under 2:47 to qualify for the Trials. Assuming she does not have a major breakthrough and make you run yourself into the ground to keep up, you will have a fast recovery and will be able to start training right away to be ready to PR in Ogden. You should probably take her through the half around 1:23 - 1:24.

From adam on Thu, Sep 27, 2007 at 23:34:34

sasha-

I've been unable to reach my friend by phone to schedule you for a VO2 max test. I'll find somebody who can do it. It may have to wait until early next week though.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.860.000.000.2510.11

A.M. Easy 7.1 with Ted with some strides in the middle.

P.M. VanGoGo has been having bad luck with door handles. So I had to take it to the body shop again. Ran 1.51 back in 10:20. Ran a mile with Julia and Benjamin in the evening in 9:30, and then 0.5 with Jenny in 5:46. She is still sick, Benjamin is a bit better.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Fri, Sep 28, 2007 at 23:41:55

Sasha,

I have never seen you taper like that before! I noticed your goal next week is 2:21:30-2:22:30. Better scratch that second part, missing trials by 30 seconds would be hard to live with! Good luck in you training/taper this next week.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.000.000.000.002.00

A.M. Woke up at 2 AM, head fuzzy, feeling chills. Thought it would go away, it did not. Decided not to run at all this morning. Maybe will do the kids runs if they are feeling good tonight, or maybe just a couple of miles of jogging otherwise. It is the same virus that my kids have gotten. No mucus, no cough, no major fever, but the chest gets very tight so it is painful to breathe. It feels like some nerves are getting irritated. Drinking lots of fluids, staying mostly in bed. Our bishop came and gave me a blessing.

P.M. After spending most of the day in bed decided to go for a brief shake-out. It went better than expected. At first my chest was hurting like crazy and I could not breathe. Started out at slower than 9:00 and for a while it felt like this was the limit. Then I learned how to manage the pain, and sped up to bit slower than 8:00. Hit the first mile in 8:26, then headed back. Learned to manage the pain even better, and noticed that my legs were actually just as strong as they were before I got sick, I just was not getting enough oxygen because breathing was so painful. My body told me it would be OK to push through the pain a little bit. I eventually progressed to 7:12 pace for the last 0.75, and finished 2 miles in 15:50. Never thought I'd be so excited about running 2 miles at sub-8:00 pace. I am learning to count my blessings.

It also helped me realize how tough my kids are being able to run through this breathing pain. Being an adult, and having experienced a lot in 23 years of running, I still had to reach into the depths of my mental toughness to be able to go.

Benjamin and Julia ran 1.05 with Sarah today. Jenny took a break, she is still suffering from the same chest problem. 


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Sat, Sep 29, 2007 at 14:29:02

Hit the garlic!! Emergen-C! Get better!

From Scott Browning on Sat, Sep 29, 2007 at 14:30:04

Have some Garlic and get healthy soon!!

From James on Sat, Sep 29, 2007 at 14:44:31

It is a bugger to be sick! I have been trying to get better for four weeks now. Hope it is only a one day thing.

From Lybi on Sat, Sep 29, 2007 at 15:03:55

Oh Sasha! I've never seen you so sick that you don't run. Good good good decision. Your body is not going to know what to do with all this extra energy, so I AM CONFIDENT you will recover super fast. In fact, this is going to give you a great taper. Someone, I think it was Clyde, said he often runs his very best just coming out of a sickness. Probably because the legs are so fresh.

Eucalyptus oil is supposed to help breathing complaints. Good luck, feel better soon!

From josse on Sat, Sep 29, 2007 at 16:38:01

I have heard that too, that you run great after you have been sick, I think it was Hawk. His idea is that your white bloode cells are higher so you run better, mmmmm. I don't know if that is true but it could be and if you think it is so it may as well be. Mind power, use it to get better and run the best marathon of you life.

From adam on Sat, Sep 29, 2007 at 20:09:17

sasha-

When I was training down south I used to run daily with a Baptist minister. He would race most weekends, and clocked a 2:48 marathon at close to 46 years old. When I asked him how he kept going so well for so many years, he would always respond, "You got to trust in the Lord". Get better, and go after your best time ever.

From MichelleL on Sat, Sep 29, 2007 at 22:19:08

I swear by Zicam, but it is most effective the earlier you take it. I'll put you in my prayers!

From Katie on Sun, Sep 30, 2007 at 11:03:54

I thought you needed a little more rest anyway.

How are you feeling today?

From JohnK on Sun, Sep 30, 2007 at 13:40:04

Get well, soon!

From Dave Holt on Mon, Oct 01, 2007 at 09:47:39

Get feeling better.

From The Entire Blog on Mon, Oct 01, 2007 at 11:50:07

Get Well Soon Sasha!!!

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Oct 01, 2007 at 12:18:55

Thanks everybody! I am feeling much better today, see the details in today's entry.

From Bonnie on Mon, Oct 01, 2007 at 12:45:39

Sasha,

I am so sorry to hear about your illness. I have always had very good results using "sudafed non-drying sinus" (blue pills). It does not have psuedonephrine hcl (stuff that makes you hyper), and clears up congestion (chest, head, and nose) really well.

Take it easy and I hope you feel better soon!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.280.000.000.3710.65

A.M. Felt a lot better yesterday morning, the chest constriction was gone. However, still did not feel 100%, but good enough to go to church and stay there for all meetings. Came home, then remembered that I had forgotten to make an announcement in the Spanish branch Sunday school, so ran back (about 200 meters) to make it there before they would start. Turned out I really did not need to hurry, because being Latinos they really took their time getting out of the Sacrament meeting. However, during the brief run I got pain feedback from a paired organ right under the the lungs, I am not that good with the 3-D human anatomy, but I think the most likely organ would be the kidneys. That would make sense, because I was doing transmission fluid flush (repeated drink-leak cycle every 30 minutes) pretty much non-stop since Saturday morning. Otherwise, felt a lot stronger than the day before, but still not 100% there. I was not too worried about it because with it being Sunday I did not need to run anyway, and I made a very rapid improvement in 24 hours.

This morning things were a lot better. The resting heart rate in the sitting position dropped down to 50 from 63 yesterday. 50 is about normal for me. Ran with Ted at 6:30 AM. Well, we planned to leave at 6:30, but then I could not find my shorts. So we ended up leaving around 6:45, and Adam missed us thinking we had already left. I had a dream the night before that Ted and I ran the first quarter of our run in 1:58. The reality turned out better than the dream - 1:51. My legs were really rested from not doing much in the last two days. I was getting feedback from the kidneys (I think) at first, and then that I went away and turned into a pain from mostly likely a nerve in the middle of the chest. However, aside from a minor annoyance, this did not inhibit me, and did not get worse as the pace increased. We eventually progressed to a 7:02 pace, which felt like a nice easy conversational pace, then turned around at 4 miles (28:46), and headed back. Caught up to a stray runner, his named turned out to be Justin, he agreed to join us, we backed off a bit. Then we started on the strides. Did 6 100 meter strides with 200 meter jog. The strides for me started at 19 then gradually progressed all the way to 16 on the last. Felt very strong in the strides. I actually started feeling less chest pain with each stride, which is a good sign.

Finished 8 miles in 59:47. Two things worth mentioning. The bishop said in the blessing: "all of the symptoms of the illness will be gone within 2-3 days according to your faith". Interestingly enough, it had been 43 hours since the blessing at the time of the run, and the symptoms were pretty much on their way out. Also, Friday night I took Julia on a birthday present shopping trip (it was her birthday). As I was walking through a parking lot, there was a party going on, a band playing, and it was dark. It naturally reminded me of the start of the St. George Marathon. My legs were giving me very very positive feedback, and I know very well from many experience in the past that if they are talking to me like that I am going to run great. They do not have to, I've been able to run very well on occasion without that feeling, but I've never run below my expectations with that kind of leg feedback. This time is was perhaps the strongest ever signal in my entire life. I started feeling confident, like I had the Trial's Qualifier in the bag. I tried to caution myself, and remind myself to remain humble. That night in my prayer I thanked the Lord for blessing me with the fitness and the confidence in my fitness, and then asked Him to help me be humble. The moment I said it, I realized what I had just done. That was quite a slip of the spiritual tongue, it was done in faith, I knew I had done it in faith, I knew the Lord's way of humbling people, and I also knew that of all the prayers the Lord answers this kind the quickest. He is quick to give us what we really need especially when we ask for it. Well, my prayer was answered in 4 hours - Saturday morning at 2 AM I woke up feeling sick.

P.M. Ran 1.65 with Benjamin and Jenny to the body shop to pick up VanGoGo in 15:51. Also ran 1 mile with Julia in 10:28. Felt almost 100%, little pain in the nerves around the chest migrating from place to place, only a very very minor annoyance. However, had an odd incident tonight. I had been playing chess on the floor looking at a very small board with Benjamin and Jenny for around 40 minutes in a rather odd position. Then I needed to go the bathroom, and when I do it is usually urgent fairly quick. So I got up really fast, did my business, and then started feeling like I was going to pass out. I breathed in deeply a few times, then laid down for a couple of minute, then everything was normal, HR at 54.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From MichelleL on Mon, Oct 01, 2007 at 13:15:05

I am glad you are feeling better.

From Lybi on Mon, Oct 01, 2007 at 16:06:22

You threw me for a loop there. I thought you meant you were feeling sick again. But no, you're better, right? Fabulous! I hope you still take it extra super easy all week, though. It'll be great to see you and your family again! Happy taper week.

From Maria on Mon, Oct 01, 2007 at 18:33:26

Lybi, I got thrown for a loop as well! I thought Sasha was sick AGAIN after feeling better initially, but when I read more carefully, he referred to Friday night, so it must have been the one and only time he woke up sick.

Sasha, I really hope you feel 100% very soon, and it doesn't affect your race this weekend. I'll be thinking about you, sending you positive thoughts (that's about as close as I can come to prayer).

From Amanda on Mon, Oct 01, 2007 at 20:12:34

Thanks for your comment! I am excited to get my motivation back and to really take my training to a new level. I was recently given a heart rate monitor and may even take it out of the box and try to figure it out. I am typically one of those people that cannot stand anything on them while running...only recently have I been able to tolerate a hat and sunglasses are only in emergencies (I am ok with them on a long bike ride, though). So I am slightly concerned with a band around my chest.

Your entries are inspiring. Do you have any resources that you recommend that may help me out with my nutrition?

Hope you feel better!

From Craig on Tue, Oct 02, 2007 at 21:19:00

Sasha- good luck this weekend at St George. I'll be rooting for you to get that qualifying time. Indeed- trials of our faith make us stronger.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Oct 04, 2007 at 17:13:01

Everybody, thanks for the comments. Maria, I think you can upgrade the positive thought to at least a desire to believe if not more. See if Alma 32 makes sense to you. I can tell you from my own experience that faith in God is much more than a mental state, there is a real power behind it. Amanda - regarding nutrition, my first recommendation is to reach the level where if you know it is bad you have the discipline not to eat it. Are you there yet?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.002.000.000.009.00

A.M. Big group this morning again at 5:15. Ted, Jeff, and Adam joined me. We did a fairly brisk warm-up putting more than a minute lead on the 8:00 mile guy in 3.62 miles. Then it was time for the 2 mile tempo at marathon pace. I was still feeling mild chest pain when breathing deep, so this would be a good almost non-invasive test of true health (the one on Saturday will be rather invasive). It was dark, this made it difficult to feel the pace, or check the splits. I managed to get some, though. First mile was 5:29, second 5:30 (with the uphill), total time 10:59.

The chest pain interfered with the sense of rhythm and perception of effort. I could not tell if this was my true marathon pace or not. I did feel the heart rate rise a bit too high towards the end, like as if it got hotter. This may have had something to do with being slightly overdressed, or may still be the lingering effects of the illness. Legs felt a little flaky, not necessarily weak, but when I tell them to run marathon pace, they are talking to me saying, what is marathon pace, and how long exactly is the marathon?

Cooled down to make the total 7 for the run.

P.M. 2 miles with the kids. First with Benjamin, Jenny, and Julia running, and the empty double stroller in 10:54. Then put Julia in the stroller. 15:15 at 1.5, put Jenny in the stroller, chased Benjamin down, was not easy, he was going 6:40 pace. Last 0.5 in 3:20 for Benjamin, probably around 3:15 for me, total time 18:35.

Attacked the remnants of the chest pain with cheyenne pepper, horseradish, and garlic. Sucked garlic all day long like candy. Preliminary results appear good.

Benjamin played his final soccer game. His team won again 4-0. 


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Michael on Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 11:03:32

Good luck to you Sasha at Saint George. Hope you get the best run ever and Olympic qualifying time. Hope youre feeling better and if any lingering illness, you can relax and block it out. You can do it!

From adam on Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 12:00:20

Sorry I miss you this morning. It probably doesn't matter much now, but I still haven't found anyone to that can do a VO2 max test for you. I asked all around, but no one had their act together.

Good luck though on the run. I'm looking forward to the picture of you on the start line in November and/or the one of you running with a broken Meb in the background.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.380.000.620.008.00

A.M. Easy run with Ted at 5:00 AM. Picked it up on the last 1000 - ran 3:22 with the first quarter in 42 (up 0.5%), then the last 0.5 in 2:40, which had 5 90 degree turns. Total time for 6 miles was 43:46.

The run felt good at both slow and fast paces. The chest pain was still noticeable when running, but reduced a lot and did not mess with the sense of pace and rhythm as much if at all. It was completely gone just on breathing deep or jumping up and down. The BINGO song was on. The killer instinct started coming back.

P.M. Ran 2 miles with the kids. Had the double stroller with Jacob and Joseph the entire time.  First a mile with Benjamin, Jenny, and Julia in 10:32. Then 0.5 with Benjamin and Jenny in 4:18, this put us at 14:50 at 1.5. Finished the last 0.5 with Benjamin in 3:25, total time 18:15. The chest pain has been reduced to a feeling like there might be a dust particle in my respiratory tract. Legs are feeling good, the form feels efficient, the killer instinct is increased. Still sucking on garlic as a precaution. It has a soothing influence as a positive side effect, making me get more out of my sleep.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Lybi on Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 20:25:40

How cool that you fixed the duplicate comment thing! And I'm so glad you continue to get better!

From Lybi on Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 20:26:06

How cool that you fixed the duplicate comment thing! And I'm so glad you continue to get better!

From Lybi on Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 20:26:55

I did that on purpose. ;)

From Lulu on Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 21:19:07

Good luck at St. George. Many wishes for a OTQ. You seemed to have healed up and are ready to go. I can't wait to read the race report.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 23:13:24

Testing duplicate comment.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 23:14:18

My duplicate comment got trapped, how did you get yours in, extra space?

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 23:20:52

Yes, you put an extra space before And in the first one, it just does not show in HTML. So it is not really duplicate.

From Cody on Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 23:27:15

I guess that counts then. You are off the hook then Sasha.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.380.000.000.626.00

A.M. Ran with Jeff at 6:00 AM. I asked my body what it thought about the crazy Australian carbo-load technique when you run all out for 3 minutes a day or two before the race. It said it would at least not be harmful. I also had a positive experience at TOU running anaerobically for a portion of my VO2 max test 16 hours before the race, and then carbo-loading right away. So I decided to give it a shot. Jeff decided to go along with me.

We warmed up 2 miles, and then went for it on a slight rolling up section of the trail from 0.625 mark of the Provo River 5 Mile Tempo to the start (probably a second longer than a true 1000). The plan was to run somewhere around 3:00, a little faster OK, a little slower OK too as long as it hurt enough, a lot faster OK as well if the speed was there, but that would have been an unexpected bonus for me - my focus has been the marathon, and it has been a while since I ran a sub-1:15 quarter on something flat, much less rolling.

It was dark, so we did not get all of our splits. First quarter was 1:10, and I felt it. I backed off a bit, Jeff kept the pace to the end. I was 1:46 at 600 (really 0.375), and finished in 3:02.8. Jeff got 2:55. It did not hurt as bad as an all out 1000 should, but I just could not go any faster. Once the anaerobic bear attacked me, I had no anaerobic defense. My body said, let's go slower and longer. That is good, I'll need to go slower and longer on Saturday.

Cooled down to my house, started carbo-loading right away.

P.M. Ran 2 miles with the kids. First one with all three running in 11:43, then put Julia in the double stroller, 15:56 at 1.5, put Jenny in the stroller, caught up to Benjamin, we finished 2 miles in 19:39. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Kt on Thu, Oct 04, 2007 at 17:16:11

I have not figured this whole replie thing out yet.

So to answer your question in case I did it wrong the first time. I cross train alot because I have not done anything for about two months and so I am easing into working out again. I get shin splints really easy but if I take my time cross training first I don't get them as much.

My other issue is I have 7 kids. I know people are saying get them out there with me. Well they are 8 mths, 2 3yrs olds, 2 4 yr olds, a 7 yr old and a 10 yr old who is more like a 5 yr old. She has had 23 brain surgeries and is not all there. Last time I took her on a walk with me she had a sezuire hit her face on the side walk put her teeth through her lip and some stranger had to drive us home.

I have a vip pass at golds and so I get an hour and a half of free day care everyday for all my kids.

When I am in better shape I alternate running on the treadmill and if I get a chance I will go out and run my dog.

My blog name is not meant to be negative. It is very hard for me to fit any workout in at all with all these kids. Three are foster kids that I am addopting at this point but they have regular dentist appointment doctor app, parental visits and therapy.

So this is the one thing I do for myself and alot of days it feels very selfish.

O I am also pre diabetic and right now my sugars are to high my toes go numb and I get dizzy so I am watching my carbs until that goes away. I do have medication that I can use to control it but the medication makes me feel so sick I would not be doing anything active.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Oct 04, 2007 at 17:51:27

Kt:

Regarding the proper way to reply - the reply to a comment should be posted in the same place where the original comment was. This allows others to follow the discussion and participate in it. When you get a comment, just click on the link in the e-mail notification, it will take you straight to the place where it was posted, and that is the right place to reply. Everybody participating in the discussion will get a reply notification in the e-mail if they have properly identified themselves when posting their comments (at least once).

Cross-training is a good idea if you have a history of shin splints. Elliptical is the best for it. Try to mix in very little running on a daily basis, though, maybe a mile, and make sure keep the pace very easy. Injuries are much more often caused by the intensity than the just the volume.

Regarding the diet - try to keep it healthy and balanced. Just staying away from junk and a eating a good balance of natural unprocessed foods will take you a long way. After that, some individual adaptations could do even more.

Regarding the idea of feeling selfish when you train. It is quite the opposite. You set an example of discipline, hard work, and following through on a drive to accomplish for your children. When you feed them, you give them fish. When they see you work, they learn how to fish.

Just some interesting statistics for your curiosity. Most of the readers of Marathon and Beyond are marathon runners themselves, many are serious. From their demographic data, about 40% of them are making $100K/year or more. Why? Through running they have developed the work ethic, the discipline, the mental fortitude, the habit to keep pressing when things are hard, and they are able to pursue professions that require such traits. Many of such professions pay very well due to the law of supply and demand - there are relatively few individuals out there who have those qualities, and thus, few who could prepare themselves for that job.

The best way to teach your children to be something is to be that around them. Those values are some of the best things you can give your children. Thus running is not a selfish act at all, it is a great way to teach.

From kt on Thu, Oct 04, 2007 at 18:06:45

So is this where I reply?

Maybe I should have my husband take up running, and reading Marathon and beyond. So he can make more money?

(He could use some motivation) He is a hard worker tho.

I can see my 7 year old learning from me trying to be fit and healthy but my other kids do not understand yet. To them it is time away from them and they don't like it. They like the day care at the gym but when I leave my house alone to go run they all cry.

From Clay on Thu, Oct 04, 2007 at 23:11:34

Good luck on Saturday Sasha, you are in my thought and prayers.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.880.000.620.004.50

A.M. Took VanGoGo for an oil change, ran back 2.25 with 1000 in 3:20, then took the kids, we ran back to get VanGoGo, first mile with all three in 10:47, then Julia in the stroller, 14:56 at 1.5, Jenny in the stroller, finished 2.25 in 20:06 with Benjamin reeling in the 9:00 mile guy with a long burst of speed. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Race: St. George Marathon (26.22 Miles) 02:23:57, Place overall: 11
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.8026.200.000.0027.00

This report is work in progress - the note will be removed when it is complete.

St. George Marathon - 2:23:57, 11th place, PR, qualified for a bummer. Explanation - 2:22:00 or faster, you qualify for the Trials, 2:24:00 or slower, just a PR. But once you are within 2:00 of the qualifier, it is a bummer if you do not get it. So today I qualified for a bummer, it is an accomplishment, not exactly the kind I hoped for, but it breaks a 4 year drought of marathon PRs.

Ran my best race, gave it all. Felt like I was sprinting from the start to 23. Red-lining near the anaerobic threshold the entire time with complete oblivion of how dangerous this can be in a marathon. First 22 miles went by very fast. At 22, I said to myself, was that 20? Wait a minute, that was 22. That was the first time in my life that I ever wished it was only 20 when I was at 22. I did not care about pain or discomfort, or even a PR, I only cared about hitting the qualifier. But today was not the day for reasons not fully known to me, yet one thing is clear - there are more lessons I need to learn before God will give me the blessing of meeting the standard. After that, raise the bar, and try again. Indeed, as our motto says, Run, Blog, Improve, Repeat.

First half 1:12:12 at the official clock, I think it was positioned 2 seconds too far based on where the 13 mile mark was, which is more reliable, I think. Second half 1:11:45, again, based on the official position of the first half.

Some words in defense of the term bummer. The popular culture teaches positive mental attitude (PMA) and attempts to sell it as a substitute for true faith. True faith cannot happen without the ability and willingness to face the grim reality, appreciate it, feel its depth in full measure, and only then defy it with a real as opposed to a merely imagined power. Additionally, perhaps from being soaked in the PMA environment, we are at times too quick to give ourselves and others a pat on the back that is so hard that it makes it hurt for a less than a spectacular effort. While positive encouragement is not only helpful but necessary, one needs a chance to feel in depth that he shot for the stars, missed it, and be on his way to figure out what he is going to do next to reach the stars in the future. This thought process would not be sufficiently acute to produce desired results if the post-race attitude is the one of celebration. There needs to be some form of pain to prevent one from becoming complacent. Thus, while I am very happy with the fact that I broke a 4 year old PR at the age of 34 in my probably 45th (I lost count) marathon (I wonder what Tim Noakes would have to say about that), I am also happy that I have the nerve to say that I qualified for a bummer. 9 years ago I ran the same course in 2:39:48 after putting in a lot of training. I was happy that I had broken 2:40, yet the Trial's Qualifier looked so impossible, and at the same time it was calling me to reach into the depths of my soul and find a way to run faster. Had I been content to merely celebrate my sub-2:40 then, I would have never gotten anywhere close to what I did today.

From the start we formed a nice pack. The pace varied depending on the terrain. We let the A guys pull ahead, but then Steve Ashbaker led us in a surge to catch up, which was OK with me. So we were all together for a while. Hit 5 miles in 26:52. Steve pressed a bit, that made the pack go a bit faster, we hit the next two miles at somewhere around 5:05 pace, but it was a decent downhill.

At mile 7 the aid station handed me the bottle of Chris Rogers. I gave it back to them and told them what to do with it. In the mean time, I ended up getting nothing in the confusion, and lost contact with the pack. I caught up, then we started the climb. The A guys had more speed and power, and pulled away. Mike Kirk fell back a bit, then caught up. From then on we worked together more or less. Hit 10 miles in 54:32. Nick McCombs caught up, I tried to run with him, but 5:30 pace up Dameron was too fast for me, I felt 5:40-5:45 was what I needed.

Hit the half in 1:12:12. For a negative splitter, this would have been just perfect. For me this looked promising but dangerous, even though I was feeling good. I had plenty of opportunities to latch on to somebody and run faster. Yet, my body was telling me this was the fastest I could hit the first half without having negative consequences on my overall finish time. This was not a good feedback, nevertheless I promised to myself that I would rather die trying to qualify than be merely content to run a PR. So from then on, I erred on the aggressive side and did my best to override the system feedback.

Hit 15 in 1:22:12. That is 57 seconds behind the 5:25 guy. There is still hope, we are closing. A little mishap at 15, do not think it cost me the qualifier, maybe 20-30 seconds max. My bottle with Hornet Juice was not there. I was counting on it. I stopped and tried to find it. After about 5 seconds I realized it was hopeless, and just kept going. I ended up getting nothing at all 15. Lesson learned - I will not do bottles any more unless I am running in a race that makes you do it. I get plenty of fuel just from the regular drinks, and the bottles only add extra stress and confusion. The confusion cost me broken rhythm and loss of contact with Mike Kirk, Mike Vick, and Steve Macintire. However, I do not think it cost me as much as 1:57.

The "Heart-Break" hill felt like a minor rise. Good sign, except it broke the rhythm again, and set me back in the chase of the 5:25 guy. Logan Fielding went by. He moved so fast I could not latch on. I thought barring a severe disaster he was going to get the qualifier. I felt like saying to him, Logan, go get it for the Blog for me, if I cannot today. Hit 20 miles in 1:49:09. The OTQ guy is now only 49 seconds ahead. There is one problem though - he does not slow down on flat or uphill, and he does not slow down after 24, while I do. It was very clear from the split, and how I felt, that barring a disaster, I had a PR in the bag, and barring a serious but still remotely doable miracle, the OTQ was out of range. Nevertheless, I told myself that it is better to risk missing a PR while trying to get the qualifier, than just give up. I floored it on the next downhill mile hoping to gain momentum, ran 5:03, this gave me hope, next one 5:38 with less downhill and more uphill, still a glimmer of hope remaining, then 5:22 instead of 5:00 on a downhill mile, followed by a 5:48, then it became painfully clear that the trials qualifier guy had hopelessly run away.

Iain Hunter came by. I was a relative zombie by then, could not latch on. Ran another mile in 5:48. Heard steps behind me. I said to myself, if this is Clyde, I am going to strangle him. Not for beating me, but for being in shape to qualify, and not trying by starting on pace. It was Kelly Mortenson. He was not as lively as Iain, so I was able to latch on for a bit. But then I could not go. Mental note for trying to run in The Zone next time - one minute on one minute off. I think the limit can very well be at least partially neurological, and the nervous system actually might be able to deal with the surges better than even pace at that stage.

2:16:48 at 25. The clock at supposedly 25.2 was in the wrong place, too far away from the finish. Why put up a clock at a random location in the race to confuse the already confused runners? Stumbled my way through the next mile in 5:57, then saw I could beat the 2:24:00 guy, kicked, managed 1:12 for the last 385 yards thus qualifying for a bummer (within 2:00 of the standard)!

The bloggers did great. To start with, Paul got standard A with 2:18:08, and Logan standard B with 2:21:45. I have particularly fond feelings about Logan getting it. I feel he got it for the Blog for me. He mentioned in his blog that he feels he does not deserve it. Nevertheless, there is a reason, and whatever it might be, I am very happy we will have two people from the Blog at the Trials.

There were three more bloggers who cracked 2:30 setting PRs - Steve Ashbaker (2:25:18), Clyde (2:25:50) - after reading his report I do not feel like strangling him, he really ran his best, and Dave Holt - 2:26:54. We captured 10 spots in the top 25 in the race. We had numerous "impossible" PRs. Over the course of the next week I will visit each blog individually and leave my thoughts.

It boggles my mind what we have accomplished. Consider Paul - he ran for Calvin, a division III college. His best 5 K was 14:47. He could not even crack 30:30 in a 10 K. He was a good college runner, but by far not a stand-out, just one of many point scoring workhorses. After college is he is falling through the cracks. Not much is happening in his career. He is getting beat in local 5 Ks and 10 Ks, tries marathons, gets beat up and left in the dust in any race of significance. Finally he gets injured, and cannot even run for a year. Looks like a typical case of a post-collegiate failure, he is headed for the runners junk yard or meat factory, depending on which metaphor you like better. Wrong! He joins the blog, finds a support network, recovers from his injuries, discovers better ways to train, and in a year goes from the butcher's knife candidate to qualifying for the Trials with standard A with room to spare!

Look at Logan. We have a guy that ran 2:41 in St. George last year, followed by 2:55 crash-and-burn in Ogden this year. He never ran for anybody, in fact he started running at all only 3 years ago. He is not "cool", he has not been through the ranks of high school and collegiate running at all. But he does not care. He joins the blog. He sees guys training twice a day running 100+ miles a week. He says, I want to give it a shot, is this a good idea? We tell him, yes, go ahead, give it a shot. In 6 months, he runs a Trial's Qualifier.

Look at Clyde, Dave Holt, and Steve Ashbaker. They have similar stories. I cannot help but think of a scripture in Luke 3:8. The arrogant Jews approached Christ saying that they were "cool", because they were the children of Abraham. Christ responded with this:

Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

How can God raise children unto Abraham out of the stones? He gives us blessings based upon our faith and how that faith is manifested through our works, not just based upon the gifts we've been given, or our past accomplishments that may have had to do more with our talent than our diligence.

Applying this to running - nobody needs to feel that because they are not "cool" (high-school star, All-American in college, etc), they cannot accomplish something noteworthy. You may feel like a stone, but out of that stone through faith and hard work on your part God can raise a great runner.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Ethan on Sat, Oct 06, 2007 at 23:25:18

Well congrats on your bummer qualifier! It is a bummer for sure. But you did amazing none the less. And hey at least it was a PR. So if you keep that trend up you should qualify next time!

From Tom on Sat, Oct 06, 2007 at 23:43:24

"Ran the best race I could have possibly run today, gave it all."

Anytime a runner can make that statement it sounds like a successful race to me. Don't know if I can honestly say I've done that on any of my marathons YET.

Even with a "bummer qualifier" you still inspire.

From James in Sunny AZ on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 00:06:38

Congratulation, Sasha! Giving it your all is the only thing that you can ask of yourself. You deserve to feel happy with your performance, even if you did not hit the qualifier. I agree with Tom, you are an inspiration to all of us.

From Shauna on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 00:48:46

Sasha, I agree with all of the above. Congrats on the PR, and I am confident you will meet your 2:22 goal, AND you are quite the inspiration!

From Paul Thomas on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 03:01:50

Awesome run, Sasha! I figure I owe you at least 8 minutes today. I was going to try for 3:15. At the party you convinced me to go for 3:10, and not to be afraid of going out too fast. I ended up with 3:07 and a 20 minute improvement in my PR. You've had that sort of effect on many of us bloggers. If I could, I'd willingly give you a couple of my PR minutes for your OTQ. You deserve them...but you don't need them. You're "bummer qualifier" is just a stepping stone to your OTQ.

From Christi on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 10:28:58

Sasha- I'm sorry you didn't meet your #1 goal. But I'm glad you are looking at the positive and hopefully you will bask in the glory of your PR. I think you ran an awe inspiring race!!!!!!! It was great to meet you & Sarah and your family Fri. night. Thanks again for putting this blog together and sharing your knowlege and experiences with us all!

From Jed Burton on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 10:50:48

You may not have met your goal, but look at the success of everyone on the blog yesterday. A lot of their achievements have a great deal to do with the blog and the advice they get from you. It always hurts when you come up short of your goal, but you should take some comfort in knowing how many people you've helped along the way, including me.

From Paul Ivory on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 10:57:43

Sasha, you are an awesome runner and as noted above you are an inspiration to lots of runners. In particular, your blog has inspired Ethan to do a PR at St. George, thanks for that.

From Steve Hooper on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 11:55:58

Sash, Congrats on "breaking a 4 year drought of marathon PRs"! You ran an amazing race. What a great year. You've been able to help establish friendships, inspire, motivate so many of us to become better runners. Keep up the good work!

From Clay on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 12:22:38

Great job Sasha... You are an inspiration to me, and I think I echo evryone on the blog when I say thanks for all you do for us...

From Maria on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 15:35:40

Sasha, I'm sorry you didn't hit the OTQ. I kept looking at results, and when I saw Logan's name at 2:21:45 as the last qualifier I knew you didn't make it. That's a bummer, for sure. I can't help but think back to your illness last weekend (not that you could do anything about it!) You'll have to wait 3 more years, but you can still do it. The Blog did awesome, and as everyone said, your role in that is huge.

From Superfly on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 16:40:16

Sasha you ran you heart out. I wanted you to qualify just as bad as you wanted to qualify yourself. You've worked very hard. The good news is you ran a PR and are moving in the right direction.

I know you don't read Runners World but this month there was an article about some guys who have qualified for the trials this year. Just average Joe's like you and I. One of them is 40 years old this year, and I'm guessing he's pretty glad he didn't give up on his goal to try and hit a OTQ- just keep making progress. For now though I think you should rest up for a few months and take it easy.

From Mik'L on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 17:38:59

I'm still saying you did amazing! Way to PR and run a great race. If you can't be crazy excited about your own PR, take a look at the many many PRs of the bloggers and you have to smile. I would venture to say that many of these PRs wouldn't have happened if not for this blog. We had over 60 people at the blog party on Friday night. It is amazing that this blog has brought together so many people that would have never known each other. It was great to cheer everyone on and the people next to us kept saying..."You guys know EVERYONE!"

From Paul Petersen on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 18:14:59

Sasha, great job. Missing trials after seeking it so hard is a bummer in a sense, but being able to hold your head high from giving it your all is not. Your persistence and training will overcome in the end. And in the meantime, you continue to touch the lives of many people on this blog and elsewhere, and we are all thankful to you.

From Brent on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 18:44:51

Sasha, you are the best and gave it your best, thats all that can be asked. All the bloggers owe you for your running wisdom and help. Congrads on the PR. I am sure your will turn this bummer lemon into lemonade.

Thanks again. Brent and Sylvia

From Lybi on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 18:53:10

Sasha, you were very majestic coming in. Congratulations on the PR and sorry about the OTQ! Your success out there is not reflected in the numbers on the clock as much as by the number of people who owe you BIG TIME for all the inspiration and encouragement you've provided. You're still getting faster, and that's not going to change any time soon, if I know you.

From Chris Rogers on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 20:13:21

Sasha,

Great run! I know you really wanted the qualifier, but shaving time off your PR at the level you're running is very difficult--to PR by almost a minute is a great accomplishment!

From MichelleL on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 20:28:18

Sasha, setting such a high goal and giving your all is all you can do. We all know you have sacrificed so much and couldn't have done more than give your all. Congratulations on a PR and for breaking your several year marathon PR slump.

Also, thank you so much for all of your help on the blog. You're the closest thing I have to a coach and I appreciate it!

From Michelle on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 20:34:27

I have to agree with everyone else, you ran a great race and can be proud of the PR and the great success that you helped everyone else achieve! It was so great to meet and visit with you, your wife and family. Thanks for all you do for all of us wether it is on a elite or much more sub-elite level. Just watching you and all the other blog runners was such a treat and great inspiring experience and we owe that all to you!

From laura on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 22:59:07

Congratulations, Sasha!! Not only on your PR but for the magnificent effect you have on everyone around you. I had tears just from reading the comments of everyone so far. All of us admire, appreciate, and look up to you; and we all improve just because of your willingness to "give your all" in everything you do. Thanks for how you've helped and motivated even me - a beginner.

From Cheryl Keith on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 23:10:54

I have to echo what's been said, Sasha. I set a PR at St. George and I owe it to what I've read on this blog. You have been a great inspiration to so many runners. Thanks!!

From Jon on Sun, Oct 07, 2007 at 23:56:18

No bummer about it- you set a PR, ran super fast, and gave it your all. Great race.

From James on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 01:29:02

You ran your best race ever, and you will never hear me say it is a bummer. I know you have worked hard but you still have other chances for trials. Don't let your dreams be dashed by a one race that you fell a little short, keep after it. Any day you PR is a good day!

From Dave Holt on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 09:33:41

Sasha, I know that this was a difficult pill for you to swallow. But you said it yourself I "Ran the best race I could have possibly run today". You gave it your all and even hit a new PR for yourself. Be proud, you did very well. Be even more proud, your blog has helped hundreds achieve more than they thought they ever could!

From Randy on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 11:10:24

It will come, brother. I just got spanked by a 48-year-old in an XC race this weekend. You are young... and you have the right approach for continuous improvement.

From zac on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 11:13:13

For a guy like you, disappointment will just make you work harder and do better. So close.

From Dave Holt on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 12:39:38

Randy, maybe you shouldn't admit that! j/k.

From Cheston on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 12:51:09

Sasha,

Congrats on the PR, I know your not satisfied, your still amazing.

From Dustin on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 13:13:00

Sasha

Like you said I know this was a bummer for you, but you still have many great years ahead of you. You gave it your all and things didn't workout just the way you had hoped, but I know with your faith and determination you will be able to gain a lot from this experience. Hopefully this race will help you to continue to grow and gain confidence in your training and racing. I know how much you enjoy reading the scriptures, so at times like this I like to just go back to the beginning of the Book of Mormon and read about all of Nephi's trials and how at times he had to go back and work to overcome adversity.

I think what you have done to help this running blog/community has been truly awesome. So many people have benefited from being able to be a part of this forum.

I know personally I spend way too many hours blogging and reading blogs. But I just find a lot of the information so interesting and useful.

Good luck in the next few weeks with your training and recovery. I might be coming up to Provo in a few weeks, so I'll try to look you and Ted up and go for a run with you guys.

From ashman on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 14:29:29

It aint over till the fat lady sings! You know Carlos Lopes set a record at the age of 37 and your still three years away from that. You just started training at high mileage and and you got a PR. What else can I say?

From Logan on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 14:34:32

I finally have some time to sit down and comment on your blog Sasha. I know I would not be where I am today without the support of you and the blog. It really has pushed me and made me want to be better. I appreciate all your wisdom and knowledge that you have so graciously bestowed upon me. If I could, I would switch and let you run the Olympic Trials instead of me. I feel you deserve it more than me. Thanks for everything and you are an inspiration to a ton of people out there. I know you will get the OTQ someday!

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 14:43:02

Thanks everybody for the encouragement. Steve - I am going to tell the fat lady to join the Fast Running Blog so she won't be fat when she feels inclined to sing.

From Superfly on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 14:49:58

I'm glad you don't want to strangle me. It was a fun race and now I'm ready for the next steping stone.

From Kristina on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 15:39:36

Holy Longness! Both the post and the comments! I kept scrolling and scrolling and there was no end in sight. But very worthwhile longness. I appreciate most your bummer defense. Great way to be optimistic without being complacent. But congrats on the PR. You work hard and your hard work is paying off. I'm sure it will continue to do so and as it does your goals can get higher and higher.

From Mike on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 16:16:39

You ran with courage and tenacity, and I applaud you for it. I'm glad for your PR, and while it might be bittersweet given it's proximity to the Olympic standard, it's still something to be very proud of.

From Jackie Farnsworth on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 17:49:26

Dear Sasha,

I am not a member of the blog but I have 2 daughters (Lybi and Laura), a daughter-in-law (Kristina) and a son-in-law (James W)who are so I am on the blog a lot. I am touched beyond measure by the comraderie and family feeling among the bloggers. I read the comments in tears. This is obviously an attitude which they pick up from you. You have made a loving support group out of a bunch of people and have made them all try to be better than they have ever been. What a nice blog site. Jackie

From Lulu on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 17:55:02

Sasha, Congrats on the PR. So sorry about the OTQ! I was so sad when I looked at the race results Saturday night, but happy to see such phenomenal results of the Bloggers. You did great and you should have no regrets. Push forward. You motivate me. Thanks.

From Andy on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 22:01:04

Congrats on the PR. I hope you know how much this blog has meant to everybody and that you deserve some credit for the outstanding performances that everybody turned in. Just looking through the results, it is amazing how many bloggers finished within one place of another blogger. That really says a lot. Thanks again for all that you put into the running community.

From Michael on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 23:34:37

I feel for you missing the OTQ so close, but I believe you can still do it in the next Olympics with your dedication and energy. I also feel pride for you doing your best and setting that PR. Thanks for what you have done for the blog and the inspiration and energy you give everyone else

From KT on Tue, Oct 09, 2007 at 16:34:27

Sasha, I just read your blog I was wondering how the marathon went for you. I am sorry you did not reach the goal you had hoped for, I think you and everyone else did awsome.

I read alot of this with tears in my eyes. I don't think most if any of these runners relize how many people sit back in awe at what you can do with your bodies.

I have only been on here for a week and I already feel that I can be better than I ever thought I could.

I would fall down crying if I could finish a marathon before everyone else went home.

From someone who is new to this running stuff. I am in awe of all of you.

From Mike K on Tue, Oct 09, 2007 at 18:40:18

Sasha, you put yourself into position to qualify. You looked good especially when you passed me at 20 something. You are still young enough to qualify next time. Nothing is as motivating as failure. I almost signed up for the Richmond Marathon yesterday. This race will spur you to train harder.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.550.000.000.0014.55

A.M. Easy 10, first 8 with Ted, in 1:18:48. Started out at slower than 10:00, then eased into 7:00 at the end with Ted, and then around 6:40 when running by myself. Legs felt a bit sore, but nothing exceptionally painful. Otherwise felt strong.

P.M. Ran with the kids, total of 4.55 miles. First 2 with Benjamin in 16:29. Then 1.5 with Jenny in 14:22. Then 1.05 with Julia in 10:40. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Mon, Oct 08, 2007 at 22:23:51

Nice run Sasha way to be strong after the marathon. What's your mileage plan for the week?

From Nick on Tue, Oct 09, 2007 at 01:07:32

Nice work in the marathon Sasha! That is great that you broke a four year marathon "dry spell". Your miles are taking you where you want to be!

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Oct 09, 2007 at 15:15:16

Kory - I will do about 10 a day on my own, plus whatever I can get with the kids, which ideally would turn out to be 4.5. My approach this week is not to force the extra miles, but if there is a chance to run more, and feeling good, take it.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.550.000.000.0014.55

A.M. 6.05 with Adam and Ted in 52:25 at 5:20 AM, Ted was really hurting and so was Adam. Ted had two reasons to hurt, the marathon and the accident, and he decided to share with Adam, I guess, so Adam somehow ended up in pain as well. Picked it up to around 6:50 pace after dropping them off, ran another 4 in 27:18, total time for 10.05 was 1:19:43. Then ran 1.05 with Julia in 10:47.

Odd how I feel very little pain, and yet I felt could not run any faster in the race even though I had every reason to. Kory and I are in the same boat this way, except he has a hard time in the first half, while I do in the second. However, one ray of hope for me - after running high mileage, and running hard after running easy for a long time on numerous occasions I held my own on the second half better than ever, and was able to negative split for the first time in my life. Of course, true negative split in St. George is when your second half is at least 3 minutes faster than your first. But in the past I could not even do as little as negative split it period even with the second half being naturally much faster than the first. So perhaps I am just a slow learner - many people can negative split in an optimal race off as little as 70 miles a week, while I may need to sustain 120+ for a while with lots of marathon bonk simulation runs before this starts happening for me.

P.M. 1.5 with Jenny in 14:33, then 2 miles with Benjamin in 16:48. Still some residual soreness all over the legs, evenly spread, but not too bad, can start out at 7:00 pace without problems, can walk down the stairs, can run 10 miles at once and not feel like I've run at all. The virtual particle of dust that was there in my chest a week ago I guess never left, I think I just subconsciously ignored it to keep it from affecting the mental aspect of my race. I could feel it today and yesterday. Gave it some garlic treatment just in case. At 7:00 pace it is no more than an annoyance, at 5:20 pace I cannot feel it because there are a lot of other feelings that overshadow it, but it probably does make things harder by inhibiting the force of the air intake. Kind of like running at a higher elevation - you do not necessarily feel anything right away, but it is harder to run at the same pace. I would say 4.46 seconds per mile that the qualifier guy got me by could be exactly the size of that particle. Talk about Paul and his thorn in the flesh (see 2 Cor. 12:7).

I guess all I need to do in three years is show up in St. George in no worse shape than this but without the virtual particle. Better yet, just come in better shape, so I can still run the qualifier even if I am not 100%.
 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From brent on Tue, Oct 09, 2007 at 21:55:37

I have read all the St.George blog entries with great interest. I really want to break 3:10 next year. When you have the time over the next couple of weeks, you are aware of my fitness level, what changes would you recommend? I would like to start a training plan in the next few weeks with the long term goal of St. George. If it means building a base of miles or whatever it takes. Reading all the blogs has really got me motivated. I read your things you did to break 2:30.

*Your personal dedication is contagious. Take care, Brent

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Oct 10, 2007 at 14:30:06

Brent:

I would keep your running mileage the same - around 50 a week, but add as much elliptical or bike on top of it as you can possibly handle without running yourself into the ground. Reason - because of your tendency to injuries you cannot develop aerobically to your full potential just by running. Also, make sure to keep your combined mileage high through the winter.

From Logan Fan on Wed, Oct 10, 2007 at 14:57:08

The "Top Runners" needs to be updated. Logan and a few other guys just put themselves up. Remember to be fair.

From josse on Wed, Oct 10, 2007 at 18:04:04

hey thanks for adding the women section to the top runners. It means alot

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.550.000.000.0014.55

A.M. Easy run, total of 10. First 6 with Jeff and Adam in 47:55. Dropped them off, another 4 in 27:02. Total of 1:14:57 for 10 miles.

P.M. 2 miles with Benjamin in 16:27, 1.05 with Julia in 10:58, and 1.5 with Jenny in 13:42. Considering jumping into St. Jude Marathon in Memphis, TN on December 1 - this would be a nice get-away trip for Sarah and I. Figured if we are going to do one, we may just as well try to get as much of it paid for by somebody. Wrote an e-mail to the race director to see what kind of perks they can give a 2:23 US guy.  

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Wed, Oct 10, 2007 at 23:23:09

I hope you get some love from the race director. Keep us posted.

From adam on Wed, Oct 10, 2007 at 23:49:26

Huntsville Rocket City Marathon might be one to look into as well. Dennis Simonaitis ran a 2:22 down there in 2003. The last few years the winner has floated around in that area, so they may be looking for someone. It's not as pretty as Memphis though.

From ashman on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 at 09:06:14

Forget Rocket City, the cutoff was Nov 6, 2006.

From Brent on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 at 11:51:28

Sasha, the cross training is a good idea. I think that I have the cause of my injury, hamstring solved with some good excercise ball routine. I think that I can work up to 60 to 65 miles a week with maybe the 3rd week dropping back to 50 for a break then back up. Good luck on your next marathon, it seems that you are already hot on the trail.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 at 12:00:25

Huntsville, AL is a pain to get to. They are too small to cover travel costs for anybody, the airfare to Huntsville is outrageous, and otherwise it is a 3.5 hour drive from Atlanta which makes it not a fun trip. But it is a great marathon if you live within a driving distance from it.

From Jon on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 at 12:42:36

I visit Huntsville all the time for work- the drive is only 2 hours from Nashville.

From Mike B on Thu, Oct 11, 2007 at 13:28:45

Sasha, for St. Jude, they consider 2:30 Elite and will probably comp the entry fee. If it doesn't work out that you stay with me, I think they also have some other limited complimentary lodging.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.550.500.000.0013.05

A.M. Ran 8 miles with Ted, James, Jeff, and Adam in 1:00:03. Their time was about 35 seconds slower because of my VPB stop. Ran 1:24 quarter to catch up, felt good. James pushed the pace today. I told him, now stick out your hand and tell your dad to give you five. James ran the last mile in 6:38 with the last quarter in 1:30. Afterwards, ran 2 more miles alone in 13:16, total time for 10 was 1:13:19.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 10:56, then 2 miles with Benjamin and Jenny, Jenny ran 1.5 in 13:47, then Benjamin and I finished 2 miles in 17:53.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 01:23:58

Hey, I have to disagree with your top 12 runners. No offence to Steve, but Logan should be in front of him. Although you have all of your technical calculations, Logan qualified for trials and that is better than a 2:29 whatever at Ogden. I think Logan needs a little more credit. Just my opinion.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 12:12:13

James - I have wondered if I overrated the effects of the heat in Ogden this year. I gave everybody 2:00 for the heat. That may be too much, especially for Steve who is a very good heat runner, but in making the adjustment I cannot give one runner more than another just because one is a heat runner and the other is not. I also wonder if I might be a bit too generous in estimating the slow-down in Ogden on the rolling hills by Eden. To say anything conclusive, though, I need more data. Until then, I'll go with what the predictor is giving.

The fact that somebody qualified for the Trials is mostly of an emotional nature. It does have important significance in the way of publicity and emotional feedback, but the fact that one person qualified and another did not in and of itself does not signify that the one who did necessarily achieved a higher quality mark. For somebody who cannot qualify hands-down on any course in any conditions (I think you could easily find a course and the conditions that will make it impossible even for Ryan Hall to qualify), the matter of qualifying is not only in getting into your top shape, but also in getting into your top shape at the right time, and running the right course at that time. This is an important skill, but I am not giving points for it on the top list. I am only comparing the qualify of performances achieved at any time.

From Mik'L on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 12:24:06

My opinion is the Top Runners is too technical. I think it should be by time only, regardless of the course and conditions. Keep it simple. If you are going by Sasha Science and using the "Flat Sea-Level Ideal Conditions Equvalent" it's not in order anyway.

From Paul Petersen on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 12:30:10

Personally, I feel, rather, KNOW my performance at St. George was better than my Ogden performance.

*Much better training: better base, better workouts, more volume before St. George

*All of my benchmark workouts preceding St. George were about 10 seconds per mile faster than those preceding Ogden

*I was working with and chasing people at St. George vs. running by myself at Ogden. Therefore, I pushed myself harder and closer to my limits (my sore muscles will attest to that)

I don't think the heat affected me much at Ogden, as my splits didn't really slow down much. I also think Ogden is a faster course than you give it credit for, and should rate about the same as TOU. Therefore, I think my Ogden time was worth about a 2:23-2:24 at flat sea level, and my St. George time was worth about a 2:21-2:22 at flat sea level.

Just my thoughts.

It would be cool to have a "sort" feature on the performance list, similar to the mileage board. Then be could sort on "Sasha" times vs. "clock" times. Personally, "clock" times mean more to me, probably because I am a track guy.

From Paul Petersen on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 12:39:32

Going on what Mik'l just posted, and my post on the message board, I would still love the see a performance list governed completely by an underlying database. I know you like to calibrate times, but I think most people think a time is a time, and would like something more objective. I for one, don't really care if a time slips in there because of a short course or aided course or user error. In the long run (months and years from now), a database-driven list should also be far less work for YOU (since it is automated), and should be more inclusive (ie - be longer and let more people participate in it, rather than the top tier of bloggers). If the blog expands to 100x its current size, you will not want to manually enter and do Sasha Science on the hundreds of runners that may be competing every weekend. Or maybe you do, I don't know.

I think many people would be motivated and inspired to improve by seeing their names in objective performance lists, even if they are a ways down the list, or have to play a few sorting or query tricks to get themselves to appear.

Again, just a few thoughts. Regardless, we all appreciate the thoughtfulness and time you put into the existing performance list and other blog features.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 12:46:18

Mik'l:

Thanks for spotting the error, I have now fixed it.

Paul:

Some circumstances to adjust the quality of your St. George performance vs Ogden. You were sick before St. George, that took away some from your fitness, maybe a minute. You closed way too fast in St. George, which means you were probably a minute too slow through the first half. In Ogden you ran a slightly positive split, which would be a slight negative adjusting for the heat. In the last miles of Ogden you had a PR in sight, but not secure. You also did not know how far behind the chasers were and what condition they were in, and letting someone slip by was worth $550, so there was a bit of running scared as well. In the last miles of St. George you had standard A in the bag, and you knew who was behind you, what kind of condition he was in, plus it was not worth serious money anyway.

From Jon on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 13:27:11

I agree with Mik'L and Paul that it should just be changed to straight time rather than adjusted. Especially giving 2 minutes for the heat seems a bit much.

And if Paul says his St. George was a better performance than Ogden, than it was a better performance. I know he had much, much more/better training (no real long runs before Ogden), plus read his description of the last few miles- he wasn't letting up.

From James on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 14:08:39

If you are comparing performances than time would win over adjusted for sure. If Paul would have run St. George the same day as Ogden he probably wouldn't have quite hit the B standard, and if Logan would have run Ogden last Saturday he would have been around Paul's record if not faster. This is totally my opinion.

I know that Paul gained some very good fitness in that five months, and that his Ogden performance, as good as it was, doesn't come close to his race last week. I think Ogden is faster than we give it credit too. TOU is mostly faster because it is in the fall and people can just plain get in better shape over the summer than over the winter around here. I also think, whether you agree or not, last week was your best marathon performance.

If you ask Hobie Call he will tell you that TOU is faster than St.George for him. Time is time, and some people run better under certain conditions than others do. Although I do like to see the comparisons to norms and standards at times. When I ran my fastest 1500, it was at elevation, converted to sea level it is about 4 seconds or so faster. But I didn't run that fast and who is to say if I would have been at sea level for that race that I would have even come close to that time. If I converted all of my PRs they would be totally different because none of them were at sea level. Some were on more difficult courses and others were on faster courses. A PR is a PR unless it is Altla Peruvian, and it is still a PR in a way. Once again this is all the opinion of James Barnes.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 14:19:20

I do not put a lot of weight on "my workouts have been faster" when the workouts are not done very hard. Extreme example is that some days I may be running 8:00 in the warm-up and it feels hard, but then find myself capable of 5:20 in the tempo. Other days, I may be running 6:40 in the warm-up and it feels easy, but then I am struggling to run 5:40 in the tempo. The problem is that the perception of hard/easy in the warm-up is influenced by the agitation of the nervous system more than by the actual fitness level. At sub-maximal intensities, e.g 5:40 pace on a flat surface for Paul, the perception of effort may still not correlate with actual fitness because he has the ability to run the same distance at 5:10 pace.

I will put some weight on the workouts when there is a consistent history of correlation between a particular workout and race performance. I call them the workouts where you cannot cheat. It is different for different people. For me, interestingly enough, it is a 3 mile tempo close to all out except the first mile has to be done at 10 K effort. This will fairly accurately predict my marathon. However, the same workout does not do it for others. E.g. Steve Ashbaker has been able to do that workout with me on numerous occasions feeling about the same way I did, but his marathons have fluctuated big time even though his 3 mile tempo time was fairly steady.

From Jon on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 14:23:22

One other argument for changing to straight times- the top runners board right now makes it seem like Paul is slower than Sean based on times alone, since his Ogden time is 8 minutes slower than Sean's St. George, not reflecting that Paul also had a faster St. George time. I imagine Paul would rather have his fastest time on the board, even if Sasha Science says another race had a faster equivalent time. I imagine you (Sasha) would prefer your 2:23 marathon showing rather than a 2:32. I'm with James- just go off raw time. I don't try to look at my 8k cross country races and normalize the times- I just remember my fastest time and quote that as the PR.

And to think that St. George is 9 minutes slower than Ogden this year seems extreme- that is equivalent of over 1.5 miles!

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 14:26:55

St. George is about 6:40 faster than Ogden when both have good conditions. Ogden was hot this year, the times were slower. I really felt it after 10 miles.

From Jon on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 14:32:12

Interesting thing I just noticed- if you rank only by personal best (did you just add that, Sasha???), then there are only 2 changes in order- Steve moves from 4 to 8, and Ted moves from 9 to 11. All the other runners stay in the same order.

From Jon on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 14:48:52

Am I crazy, or did you just add that personal best, Sasha? I think the top runners page is a lot better with that column now- that way people can see what their PR was. Thanks for adding that.

From Mik'L on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 14:49:36

Jon- you are crazy, that has always been on there.

From Cody on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 14:54:17

I find this funny.

Sasha - On that page you spelled Equivalent wrong, twice. There, I added something constructive to this argument.

From Jon on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 14:57:15

Everywon nose runers cant' spel.

It's official, I am crazy. Don't tell my wife.

From Ryan on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 14:58:47

Sasha,

What does the "V" stand for in VPB? I'm assuming PB stand for potty break, pee break.. or something close to that.

From Paul Petersen on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 15:52:11

Kind of depressing to "know" I haven't progressed at all since May, and that my evaluation of my own workouts aren't valid. Thanks for setting me straight. ;-)

Oh well, you're a skeptic, but I believe in myself!

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 15:55:50

Cody - thanks for reporting the error. I have now fixed it. For those who cannot, spell, download and install Firefox with Google tool bar from the link on the right side of this page, your blog posts will be automatically spell-checked, if you spell something wrong it is highlighted in red, and as a bonus, the Fast Running Blog will receive $1 for every new installation on Windows. Yes, Google really wants to make some inroads on Microsoft in the browser market, and is willing to pay the webmasters who are helping it. I am happy to do it even if I am not paid, though.

Ryan - VPB is a spoof off VPN (virtual private network) and stands for Virtual Private Bathroom, or in other words, a bush.

Jon, James - here is how I calibrated the predictor between Ogden and St. George. I took 2005, there were three reasonably reliable runners that ran both that year - Joe, Paul, and I. Joe ran 2:29:01/2:22:23 (diff. 6:38), Paul did 2:35:24/2:26:35 (diff. 8:51), myself 2:36:04/2:27:21 (diff. 8:43). Both St. George and Ogden were run under ideal conditions. After analyzing how both races went, as well as others leading up to it, I figured Joe was the best runner to calibrate the predictor by, while Paul and I had a bit of an off race in Ogden for various reasons.

Regarding the argument that people run slower in Ogden because they have not been training as well during winter. I do not use those people for calibrating the predictor. Pretty much you have to make top 5 in TOU, top 10 in St. George, or top 3 in Ogden making the standard in at least two of those marathons in the same year to be a calibration candidate. Reason - faster runners train properly through the winter, are much less likely to have an off race, and have already gathered the low hanging fruit off the tree of their potential, so it is extremely unlikely for several to make the exact same amount of breakthrough in the same race.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 16:02:52

Paul:

You'll have a chance to settle that issue in the Trials and in Ogden next year. I am also going to run St. Jude marathon, and hopefully this will give us some more meaningful data to munch on. As I already mentioned, there has been only one runner that has met the Sasha Science standard to establish a correlation between Ogden and St. George. We need more data. It is possible that I may adjust the Ogden course a bit in the future.

From ashman on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 16:07:46

Holy Cow! I only have time on my lunch to just look at this.

From Jon on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 16:31:31

Are there math programs involved in Sasha Science, or is it just your gut feel?

From Superfly on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 16:33:54

Even though a good runner may train through the winter and run a good race at Ogden in May. That same runner is going to race and train hard all summer and be faster in October. Paul would have ran Ogden on Saturday in way faster than his time in May with or without heat.

The race predictor only had me running a 2:30 at STG off of my Hobble Creek time of 1:09. But in those 5 weeks or so I started doing better tempo runs and feel I got better in 5 week. What could someone do in 5 months?

From Jon on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 16:42:57

I'm enjoying this thread. It's fun to see how everyone views different races at different times.

From Superfly on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 16:46:44

Sasha science acutally only had me running a 2:31:26 based on my 1:09:40 at Hobble Creek.

From Ryan on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 16:49:44

Superfly - I am not at peak fitness levels yet or anywhere close so maybe I can shed a little light to "What could someone do in 5 months?" I ran the DMN 10K and Provo River Half marathon earlier this year. Based on my DMN time the predictor was within 1 min of my actual finish time in the Provo Half. However, the predictor was almost a half hour off on my actual SGM finish time. So, by training better, eating healthier, running consistently, etc etc I was able to shatter the predictor's prediction. Until a person reaches a real high level of fitness, past performance won't always be a good predictor of future results. For someone like myself - overweight and still building a mileage base - 5 months time can lead to drastic improvements. I know the question was somewhat rhetorical but there you go!

From James on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 17:00:17

Hey if we don't have enough data to covert times accurately then we just need to go with time. My vote is with fastest time, and make another category for conversion.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 17:06:15

Clyde - Hobble Creek started late and was hot this year, so the times were about a minute off to begin with. On top of that your Hobblecreek was a bummer race, as evidenced by your position relative to Mike Vick and Matt Harmer in St. George. You went into Hobblecreek not fully recovered from an illness and an injury. Also, Hobblecreek course was slightly changed, possibly to the slower side, since the tuning of the predictor.

There is a difference between face value output of the predictor and Sasha Science. The predictor does not know about the conditions, nor does it have any idea if this was an off race or not. Sasha Science actually told you to go out with the standard B group just in case you were having a particularly good day and make a qualify or bust attempt in the first 7 miles, then back off if the bust felt imminent. This would have been exceptionally unwise if we were to believe the face value estimation of 2:31 on the predictor.

Jon - Sasha Science is a mix of the predictor (math program), race/training analysis, and then the gut feel on top of it.

From Superfly on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 17:15:53

I hope you don't feel we are trying to bash you Sasha. You know we love you man.

From Paul Petersen on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 17:20:21

Maybe I will just make my own web application that sorts by time, gender, and age group. I am learning Visual Studio, ASP.NET, and SQL Server right now, and this would be a good little project for me to tinker with. I'll let everyone know when I have it online.

From Paul Petersen on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 17:24:23

No, forget about it, I'm too lazy! I'll just keep pestering Sashing and asking him to do more work. :-) :-)

Okay, but just out of curiosity, why do you have Joe Wilson's flat, sea level equiv slower than his real time? Was Austin short that year, or downhill? Or below sea level? Just wondering...

From Mik'L on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 17:29:17

Look what you've started James!

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 17:37:42

Paul - Austin had 300 feet elevation drop when Joe ran it. Also, if you have Ogden KML file, e-mail it to me, I'll use it to fix KML import, then import Ogden to test it, and we can see what the Course Tool has to say about it.

Regarding the future of Top Runners page. That version will always be manual edit - I do not mind keeping an eye on every sub-2:30 marathoner. However, at some point I will create a self-reporting unverified top list database as well. This is a lot more work than keeping an eye on a few fast runners and applying Sasha Science to them every time they run a good race.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 17:43:14

The Course tool does have one problem, though - it is not elevation-sensitive when judging the uphill slow-down. However, for Ogden vs St. George it would not be that big of a deal because you are going uphill at reasonably comparable elevations in both, and the uphill slowdown was tuned at 4700-4800 feet, which in the range, I think a little higher than St. George, and a little lower than Ogden uphill. I imagine it would be rather off on the side of overrating performances on rolling hills courses at sea level.

From Paul Petersen on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 18:35:47

Sasha, I can generate an Ogden KML and send it to you.

From James on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 19:58:54

I figured this was going open up a can of worms, but sometimes things need to get thrown around. I still love Sasha too, but we definitely don't see this one the same way, and thats okay. I am not even one of the top runners anyways so I should probably mind my Ps and Qs, but if we are going to state who the top runners are it should make sense. I think Paul is the best judge of all this since he has the two fastest time either way. My vote is still for the fastest time. Also I was trying to kill this one like we did Steve's VO2 max blog a couple months ago.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 21:40:24

James - a runner should be able to express his opinion regardless of how fast he is. If you are slower, that does not make your opinion any less valuable.

On another subject, I've been thinking about your training and results last night, and have come to the conclusion that you have standard A qualifier in St. George within your reach once the next window opens. Some things need to change, of course, otherwise you would have gotten it already. The first step would be (once you recover from St. George), 70 miles a week needs to become a staple survival mileage as soon as possible. Fairly soon it needs to become 80. No skipping days or cutting your run short because of not feeling good, be determined to get in your run on a daily basis, skipping a day is like trying to fix your hair while driving 80 miles an hour on a windy road. The diet needs to be improved as well, "pretty good" might carry you barely past 2:30, but for you to run under 2:20 it would need to become exceptionally good, not just "pretty good". Otherwise you'll find yourself too sick to run the appropriate mileage.

From Lybi on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 22:30:42

I think we should hold a poll/fundraiser. 1$ donated to the blog equals one vote for raw times instead of "course adjusted". You can vote $5, $10 or whatever you want. Polls close by midnight tomorrow. Sasha, if you get at least $100, would that be enough to change it?

From James on Fri, Oct 12, 2007 at 22:51:47

Thanks Sasha. I still think you have a couple of good shots too, and I would love to see us both make it one day. I think you still need to make your easy days easier as well as your taper (Paul is a good example of reaping those benefits). I think you need a few more days of recovery after a big race too.

I had a lady that coaches at Ogden, and didn't quite make the trials qualifier last week, get on my blog today. She has been telling me that I should have Paul Pilkington coach me so I can make trials. I say who needs Pilkington when I have friends like you, Paul, Logan, and other great bloggers. Between everyone's theories and examples I should be able to figure something out in the next few years that work for me.

From Dallen on Sat, Oct 13, 2007 at 15:48:49

I wasn't there, but my guess is that the Ogden adjustment is overrated just based on the fact that you have 4 adjusted PR's set that day.

I am very interested to see how things go for the Utah runners at the trials and you in Memphis as a comparison of of the speed of high elevation/downhill races vs relatively flat sea level races.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.552.000.000.0014.55

A.M. 7 miles with James, Adam, and Ted in 54:12. Had a VPB stop, caught up with a 1:24 quarter. Also, we kicked a bit at the end, got 1:28 for the last quarter. Then ran 1.5 in 10:35, turned around and ran a mini-tempo back, 1.5 in 8:39. This was coming back from Geneva Road to the house, it is a slight net uphill, and a lot of going under bridges and back up, and a lot of turns as well. Nevertheless, the effort was too much for the pace, the legs felt flat. Probably the consequence of running a marathon on Saturday and getting a minor stomach flu yesterday - I did not eat dinner, was not hungry for it, and I do not think my lunch digested very well. Could also be the consequence of a two week taper + sickness. However, 1:24 quarter earlier felt good, I did not want to stop. On the 1.5 run, first quarter in 1:28 did not feel that good, another indicator of carbo-depletion, lower blood sugar towards the end of the run, so the brain is refusing to let the muscles go. Will do a control tempo 5 miler at marathon pace effort tomorrow to figure out how to train next week.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 10:50. HR afterwards was 108. Yesterday we hiked to the Timpanogos Cave. I was carrying Joseph in a kid carrying backpack, and at the very end of the climb HR was 96. This goes to show the difference between walking and running for aerobic development. Even with the extra 35lb on my back, and walking up a 12% grade I could not get anywhere close to the effort of running a mile at 10:18 pace. Also ran 1.5 with Jenny in 14:21, and then took Benjamin and Jared (Ted's son) for a run. I told Jared if Benjamin dropped him without breaking 8:00, Jared would have to run 2 miles instead of 1. The drop was defined as the failure to give Benjamin a five in 10 seconds from the invitation. Jared did a great job on the fives closing significant gaps almost immediately. I think he has a decent amount of fast-twitch fibers. Either that, or he really did not want to run 2 miles. They ran one mile together in 8:47. Afterwards, I put Jared in the stroller, and Benjamin let his horses loose closing with the last mile in 7:12, the last quarter in 1:37, and nailing the 8:00 mile guy at the very end with 15:59 for 2 miles.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From josse on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 20:40:14

I hope I didn't offend you by saying that running is an addiction. Mine and your opinion about addictions are differant. I don't believe all addictions are bad. I also grew up with a father that cared about nothing more than himself and used running to get away from his home life. To me this was destructive. I don't think the act of running is destructive just how the person uses it. I am sorry if this upset you. My family often tells me that I am addicted to running and compares me to my father, this upsets me because I really try hard to balance out my life and don't run for the same reasons my father did.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 23:45:36

Josse - my favorite quote about being offended is the one from Brigham Young: "He who gets offended when the offense was not intended is a fool, but he who gets offended when the offense was intended is a fool twice"

From josse on Fri, Oct 26, 2007 at 00:18:34

thanks, I admire your sprituality. I love reading your quotes. I believe the world would run smoother if we all lived life without taking offense because most of the time is not intended and the person doesn't even know they have offened.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.952.752.000.2513.95

A.M. Steve Ashbaker (the Dark Horse) joined me this morning. For some reason I woke up at around 3 AM, and just felt too excited about life to sleep. So I read the scriptures, then still could not fall asleep, so I worked some. Then I was able to fall asleep. Got up at 8, Steve was running a bit late, which was nice because I had slept in. During our warm-up we literally ran into the Domestic Violence Awareness 5 K - the crowd at the start of the race was blocking our path. They told us it was going to start in 2 minutes, Tom Lee was there, we decided to pace him. We went out at around 6:10 pace. After the first mile, the leaders looked temptingly close although they must have had about 40 seconds on us. The temptation was more than Steve could bear. He went after them like a young stallion released from a corral and running through a wide field. I figured I could finish pacing Tom, this would give him a faster time, and leave me more energy for our planned tempo run later. Tom did OK until around 3 K mark, then he started running out of steam. Probably a neurological issue, I've experienced the symptoms myself many times. He hung on to finish in a respectable 19:40 for this course which had a significant amount of turns and uphill, and no elevation drop. This gave him first place in the masters. Steve almost got the winner, but ran out of road finishing in 17:42, 12 seconds behind. He also ended up running some extra distance because of missing a 180 turn over by DI.

Then we jogged to the start of the Provo River 5 Mile Tempo. The plan was to go at whatever pace, based on how we felt, somewhere in the area of marathon pace. For me, this would be a test of recovery from the marathon, and general fitness and health. If I could run sub-28:00 without busting my gut or a bit slower feeling like it is a jog, that would be good, I can start training more or less normally next week with 3 tempo days. If breaking 28:00 required a heroic effort, or I could not do it at all, then something is seriously wrong and I need to take it easy another week, get more sleep, eat more carbs, and more garlic.

We went through the first mile in 5:38 trading quarters. Steve was feeling the effects of his stallion run in the 5 K earlier, on top of the fatigue of the marathon. He wanted to back off. I said, let's at least try to keep the 5:40 guy in check. We did the next mile in 5:40. Steve started to drop back a bit. Got 14:06 at 2.5, the pace felt very comfortable, good sign. Watching the 28:00/5:36 guy from behind like a vulture getting ready to strike. Steve stopped at 2.5, not feeling too good, but then he decided he did not want to run the remaining 2.5 slow as it started raining harder, so he just coasted through it at a milder tempo pace. Next quarter after the 180 turn was 1:26, oops, my lunch (the 28:00 guy) is running away, got to get him. Kicked into gear, decided to do the remainder of the run at threshold pace. Next quarter in 1:21, 5:35 mile. Next mile was 5:30, but the quarters gradually digressed to 1:22, and then down to 1:23. Not sure if this was fatigue from the marathon, the left over from the mini stomach flu on Thursday, or just the shoes getting heavier, the legs getting colder, and the puddles getting deeper from the rain. Now one second ahead of my lunch, but I do not get to eat it if he passes me back. Next uphill quarter in 1:25. Not good, the lunch has caught up. Next two quarters in 1:24, just trying to keep my lunch at bay, staying right with him. Picked it up on the last one, ran 1:20, 4 seconds ahead of lunch, total time 27:56, last mile 5:33. I think I passed the health/fitness test, OK to train with tempos next week.

Ran 2 miles with Benjamin in 16:45. Jared ran the first one with us in 9:14. Then 1.05 with Julia in 10:01. Jenny ran with Sarah.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.100.250.000.0018.35

A.M. Lots of training partners this morning. Ran with Ted and James the first 7 miles in 54:17. Then 3 more just with Ted in 21:01. Joined James in his kick, and caught Ted after a VPB stop, that gave me some marathon pace running. Ran some more afterwards. Was originally planning on adding 3.11 so I would be at half-marathon distance for my morning run, but then I saw my old friend and training partner Matt Anderson, and added a bit with him. Matt and I have run a lot of miles together. He has been out and about getting a lot of education, and now is back, teaching math at BYU, 400 and 500 level classes. He is 31, and still single. He has been running the entire time, though, and looks like a teenager. I teased him that if he showed up at a high school dance, he could have some success as the girls would have no idea about his age. Maybe that's the problem - the girls that are old enough to marry think that he is too young to date them.

When I told Matt that I ran 2:23 in St. George, he responded correctly to it right away without being prompted - bummer! I guess reaching any goal is similar to writing a program. At first it does not compile with a lot of error message. Then you fix some and try again. Get even more error messages. Then you finally fix them all, it compiles. You are ready to celebrate, but you know better if you are a programmer with experience. You try to run it, it dumps core on a trivial test. You fix that. Then it produces terribly incorrect output on a trivial test case. Fix that. Then incorrect output on a less trivial test case. Then it finally works correctly on all of your test cases. Then you give it to the users. They start reporting bugs. Finally you think you've fixed them all. Then a month later you get an ugly bug report. So on and so forth. It is incremental progress with frequent failures, but you are becoming better and better one step at a time.

We ran to my house, finished 13.3 in 1:38:20. Then Matt gave Benjamin some math problems, Benjamin solved all of them except this one - what is the limit of sin(1/x) as x approaches 0? This one challenged me as well, although it should not have, but I was too lazy to think and asked Matt the answer. This turned out to be a trick question - the limit does not exist, the sine function diverges as the argument approaches infinity. I also asked Matt about the equation on my shirt. I understand the front part, which says, "and God said", then Maxwell's electromagnetic equations, then "and there was light". The back part says, What part of - some ugly looking partial differential equation - do you not understand? Turned out to be something from the quantum mechanics, which is what I thought it was. The discussion, however, stirred up Benjamin's interest in math, which is very good.

I'll keep bugging Matt about Fast Running Blog until he joins.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 10:33 in the early afternoon. Later, 2 miles with Benjamin, Jenny ran the first 1.5, then rode in the stroller. Jenny's time was 14:14. Benjamin finished 2 miles in 17:47. He put some hot pepper on my plate with the last quarter in 1:38. With Jenny in the stroller I had to move my legs to keep up, this was almost marathon race pace effort. Ran 2 miles afterwards with Jacob and Joseph in the stroller in 14:38.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From adam on Mon, Oct 15, 2007 at 15:56:11

What's your plan for tomorrow morning?

From adam on Mon, Oct 15, 2007 at 15:57:26

nm. I guess I should have checked my blog first. I should be able to make it if I can get a good night of sleep.

From Mike K on Mon, Oct 15, 2007 at 16:02:33

Series expansion! Everytime I see a limit problem with a trig function I think "series expansion". Then I think how long it has been since I've done a serious math problem.

My dog is named Maxwell. I think he understands EM but not Schrodinger's Eqn.

Now I know what to think about on my run this afternoon.

From Becky on Wed, Mar 26, 2008 at 17:37:10

Hi - I was actually doing a search for the equation shirt you mention in your blog, and I ended up on your page. I am trying to get one of those shirts for my not-LDS boyfriend who saw one at BYU last week and wants one.

Any ideas on where I can find one? If so, please email me at beccalynnprince@yahoo.com

Thanks!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.388.500.000.0020.88

A.M. Big Workout. Ran with Ted and Jeff at 5:00 AM. Warmed up a bit over 6 miles. Made two VPB stops, catching up gave me a mile of marathon pace running. Good warm up for the tempo.

Then ran 7.5 tempo. Did not have a time goal, just went by feel. Did not check my splits as often as I normally do, at times going for as long as 1.5 without checking a split, that is not normal for me. I get bored when I cannot check my splits often, and lose concentration. I think for some people it is a good idea to run watchless and splitless. For me it is not, my mind starts to wonder and I lose concentration. Even with the splits every quarter I still cannot push myself hard enough in a marathon to make me sore afterwards, which I take as a sign that the muscles have more to give, but the nervous system quits early. Without the splits I go into a complete slack off mode, especially in the dark. First 2.5 (slight net up) was 14:23. On the second one, which is a slight net down, I fell asleep, and ran 14:30, 28:53 at 5 miles. Woke up a bit on the last 2.5 and ran it in 14:21. Total time for 7.5 was 43:14, average of 5:45.87.

Cooled down to the house, total time for 15.1 was 1:39:40, 6:36.03 average (computed precisely using the new feature in the calculator on the Add Entry page).

Does anybody have ideas on what to do when the nervous system lags behind the rest of the body? I found that sleep, lack of stress, and frequent carbo-rich meals are helpful. Any other ideas?

Sarah did a 2 mile tempo run in 15:51. This is a good time for her. However Benjamin was quick to give a very humble response - this is still far away from my 13:57!

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 9:14. This converts to an 8:48 mile en-route, new mile PR for her. Benjamin and Jenny could not crack 9:00 until they were almost 5.5. Julia is not even a month over 5, and mentally she is much younger than Benjamin and Jenny were at her age - both were reading by that age, Julia is still probably at least couple of months from being able to read. Which means, from what I have observed in my kids, that she would have a harder time getting what her true fitness would give her. She has shown the most talent out of our running kids so far.

Then ran 0.99 to pick up Jenny from her tumbling class in 7:45. Took a scenic route with Jenny, 1.74 in 14:57, 8:34 average pace. Then it was Benjamin's turn. I told him he had to beat Mommy's tempo run time of 15:51 for 2 miles to validate his bragging rights. He warmed up the first 0.5 in 4:13, then cranked it up a bit and hit the mile in 8:05 vs 7:55 Mommy split. However, he passed Mommy on the next quarter hitting it in 1:50. This was followed by 1:47, and 1:50. Now his bragging rights were secure, except I told him he could not close slower than Mommy (1:52). So he ran the last quarter in 1:46, finishing 2 miles in 15:19 with the last mile in 7:14.

Pushed Jacob in the single stroller throughout the entire evening run adventure. Total of 5.78 miles.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Scott Zincone on Tue, Oct 16, 2007 at 15:36:09

On my workout calendar the calculator looked the same as usual. Is that correct, or was it a software upgrade. I enjoy having it "right there" to calculate splits and such. Especially when I was swimming more and took splits every 100 yards.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Oct 16, 2007 at 15:55:07

Scott:

Try entering something like 49:30/6.8, this will give you the mile pace if you run 6.8 miles in 49:30. You can also do hours, e.g 3:00:00/26.22 will give you mile pace for a 3 hour marathon.

From Scott Zincone on Tue, Oct 16, 2007 at 16:03:51

Great! The free time calculator I downloaded a few years ago can not do this. This will come in handy. Any other tricks or tips to the calculator? Maybe you could post in the forum for all to see. Of course most everyone reads your blog anyway I suspect so you could just do it here as well.

From Shauna on Tue, Oct 16, 2007 at 23:17:47

Regarding the nervous system lagging behind the body, I've seen a new book called "Brain Training for Runners," or something like that. I read the first chapter. Is that what you're talking about: training the brain to make the body go faster?

I think it's so cool that you and your children run together.

From Paul Petersen on Tue, Oct 16, 2007 at 23:21:52

I saw that book as well, but didn't have time to leaf through it.

Have you been able to find anything about the nervous system and peak performance in the running and exercise physiology literature? That might be a good place to start - the BYU research library will surely access to all the good journal databases.

From Mike B on Wed, Oct 17, 2007 at 21:26:05

Sasha, I haven't forgotten about you. We are still trying to finalize plans for the holidays. I am more than sure it will work out though. I will keep you posted or feel free to e-mail me. I also intend to post/blog my mileage here, but it gets soooo disappointing putting in such meager mileage following the injuries.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Oct 17, 2007 at 23:16:41

Mike - thanks for your help. Do not worry about meager mileage. Our blogger Paul Petersen struggled through 2006 with injuries, and his training on many days consisted of 3 miles on the elliptical or less. Nevertheless, he kept posting what he did regardless of how small or insignificant it was rejoicing in small progress and success. The perseverance bore fruit eventually. This year he improved his marathon PR from his pre-blog and pre-injury life by over 8 minutes on the same course and qualified for the Olympic Trials with Standard A.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.850.100.100.1017.15

A.M. Early morning run with Ted (5 AM). Started slow as usual, then gradually eased into 7:10 - 7:20 pace. With about 0.3 to go Ted's horses began to neigh and he let them loose. So we ended up going through all the gears of the semi, and finished at my 5 K race pace, or maybe even faster. Last quarter was 1:19, total time for 10.1 was 1:12:50, average of 7:12.67.

P.M. 1.5 with Jenny in 14:20, 2 with Benjamin in 16:10, 1.05 with Julia in 10:24, then 2.5 in 17:23 by myself. No stroller. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.050.004.750.2518.05

A.M. Moderate workout. 6:30 AM by myself. Temperature around freezing. Warmed up 4.12 in 29:43 to the trail gate by the Utah Lake. Then ran Provo River 5 Mile Tempo except started at the other end of the stretch. Figured it would work better for teaching me to negative split since that makes the first half a slight up, and the second slight down. It worked quite well. I hit the first mile in 5:40. It was still dark. The pace felt just right. I adjusted for the cold, leaves on the road, post-marathon residual fatigue, and a recent increase in mileage. So although it was slow, I was expecting to hit slower splits with more effort. Started to get into a good rhythm on the next 0.5, ran it in 2:47. Then hit the uphill section, and it took the wind out of my sails. Dragged myself through the next mile in 5:40 with 14:07 at 2.5. My legs felt like they were stuck in a low gear. The way things were going, it looked I was headed for about 28:05. I began to wonder if the marathon, and the sickness before it perhaps took more out of me than I thought, or maybe I was just underestimating the effect of the cold weather and the leaves on the road creating slippage. Next quarter was 1:27 recovering from 180 turn, followed by 1:24, a bit of an encouragement. This gave me 16:58 at 3 miles.

Then the sun came up, it started getting warmer, and I hit the downhill section. This kicked me into gear. Next mile in 5:28, and the last one in 5:26 with the last quarter in 1:19. Total time 27:52, last 2.5 in 13:45. While the time was not particularly fast, nor were any of the splits in the middle, I was happy with being able to find myself not feeling that great half way through, yet still be able to run a 22 second actual negative split, which translates into a 15 second effective negative split adjusting for the profile of the course.

Then ran 3.88 in 26:51 back to the house. This gave me 1:24:26 for 13 miles, 6:29.69 average.

P.M. 2 miles with Benjamin in 16:11. Tested his sense of pace - did not give him any splits until we were done, and had him estimate every quarter. He was fairly consistently off by 5-10 seconds guessing a slower pace that he was actually running. Then 1.05 with Jenny and Julia in 10:29, and another 0.5 with Jenny in 4:32. Then 1.5 by myself in 10:24. No stroller today.

The good news is that while in the late morning and early afternoon I was feeling like I had done something, by tonight I started to feel like a slacker. Not bad at all after 74 miles in 4 days.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Christi on Thu, Oct 18, 2007 at 20:50:19

Hi Sasha! Thanks for the motivating tips on my blog. I've decided to not break my neck to get to the gym early in the morning. I'm just going to run

'cause that's what I like! I'm still figuring out if I'm a marathon runner or 5k runner- big difference I know! I just get so much satisfaction out of seeing my time improve in shorter distance races. This is weird- a couple of your recent comments have come to my email, but they don't show up on my blog? Just curious why they don't show on the blog?

From MichelleL on Fri, Oct 19, 2007 at 10:51:30

Sasha, I had similar sluggishness on uphill on Thursday, though not in the middle of a tempo run. Perhaps uphill running is the last piece of our training to bounce back from a marathon?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 12:22:30

Christi:

Your browser is probably caching when it should not be - sounds like a typical Internet Explorer issue. You can hold Shift and click on the Reload button at the same time to refresh the page. Or, better, just download and install Firefox from the button on the right of this comment.

Regarding your distance - there is not a whole lot of difference in the way a top 5K/10K runner would train compared to a marathoner. In fact, it is not uncommon to find a 5 K runner that runs higher mileage than a marathoner. At this point in your training you should not worry about which distance you are going to specialize in, but instead focus on building a solid aerobic base which is critical for all distances 5 K and up.

Michelle:

I think you have a point. I have a pretty good idea how strong I am going to close a marathon by how well I am taking uphill segments around mile 18. I also know that if a competitor is hanging on but appears unusually weak on uphills after 15 miles, he presents no threat, he's got only 3-4 miles before he starts a premature cooldown. With that in mind, it is reasonable to expect that there will be some residual uphill weakness after a marathon even though you might be feeling normal otherwise.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.610.000.000.5018.11

A.M. Easy 13.11 with Ted at 6:30 AM. Ran from my house to the Sasha House 10 Miler turnaround, then back, added extra miles on the trail. Did 8x100 strides, all around 18-19 seconds. Felt good. Total time for 13.11 was 1:35:31. Pace varied from slower than 8:00 in the early miles to 6:40-6:50 towards the end.

The morning it just hit me that I remember way too much for feeling like a teenager, and have way too many kids for feeling that way for sure. Just to think that when Jeff was born, I had already run 3000 in 10:08, and a 10 K on the roads in 37:38, and now Jeff is running with me, and he does not look any different than me. Yet I am almost old enough to be his dad. That is odd for sure. But have no complaints about faster times on all distances, and faster recoveries than back in the teenage years.

P.M. Started with a double stroller and two kids in it - Jacob, and Leland, our bishop's little daughter. We were babysitting for him and his wife tonight. 1.5 with Jenny in 14:32, then 2 with Benjamin in 16:59. Then changed to a single stroller and a bigger kid in it - Ashton, and ran 0.5 in 3:48. Then another mile without a stroller in 7:01.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From laura on Sat, Oct 20, 2007 at 20:27:42

Thanks, Sasha, for all your advice, example and work in putting this blog together. The fact that I'm more motivated to run than ever before is in large part due to the support and examples on this blog. I've made a donation through Paypal and I wanted to clarify that it is for your blog. (I already mailed a check to Logan.)

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.9010.000.000.0024.90

A.M. Long run. Started at 6:10 AM. Ran with Matt Anderson and Jeff McClellan. Matt is a king of nerds. If I am a nerd, then he is nerd2 or even better, enerd - check out his web page. It is very interesting to discuss math or physics with him, he speaks Spanish, and he can ran a 1:13 half on top of it. What a guy!

We started at my house and ran on the trail towards the Provo Canyon and on to Bridal Veil Falls. The plan was 10 out easy, 10 back hard. Jeff was going to go just 7 out/7 back - he still has a post-marathon cold, and on top of that he got hit on the head yesterday playing flag football.

The course starts at the elevation of 4545 feet, rolls up 240 feet in the first 5 miles, then steadily climbs another 310 feet to the turnaround, and then the same thing backwards - steady down drop of 310 feet for 5 miles, then a rolling drop of 240 feet in the last 5.

It was dark. We warmed up/plodded along through the first 5 miles in 37:06. Then I announced a chase of the 7:00 mile guy with a goal to be within a minute of him by 10 miles. Sub 6:40 pace felt way too easy up the canyon, and there was no headwind, so I suspected we must have had some tailwind. We ran the next 5 miles in 33:13 hitting 10 in 1:10:19. Jeff turned around at 7. Matt said he did not want to run fast downhill on the way back. So after the turnaround I was alone.

My plan was to go by feel and experience the closing miles of a marathon as closely as possible. Interestingly enough, at least for me, at the end of a high mileage week, and after running 10 at an easy pace, when I try to run fast I feel like I am somewhere between 15 and 20 in a marathon race. So this was just perfect - start the tempo at that point in a marathon without having to run hard to get there.

When I turned around, I realized that I was right about the direction of the wind. I could definitely feel some headwind, although it was not a killer. I started out with a few quarters around 6:00 pace, and then finally warmed up into a 5:40-5:45 rhythm. Coming out of the canyon I slowed down to a few 1:28 quarters, and began to wonder if I was about to hit the wall in a few miles. But I was able to refocus and get back into 5:40-5:45 zone. Hit the next 5 miles in 28:49.

Now the hardest 5 miles of the whole run. It is at the end, less elevation drop, and it is a rolling drop with lots of turns and going under bridges and through dark narrow tunnels on the trail. Lots of rhythm breakers. Decided to focus on challenging the energy into moving forward rather than making the standard Sasha-in-pain face. Hobie looks like he is smiling even when he is running at his limit. I wondered how he manages that and if there is anything I could learn from it. I think I did today.

Held a fairly steady pace, managed 28:51 for the last 5 miles, closed with a 5:40 mile. This gave me 2:07:59 for 20 miles, and 57:40 for the last 10. Relived the last 2 miles of St. George in a positive way. Visualized Kelly Mortenson passing me with 1.5 miles to go. In the race I tried to go with him, but then I just could not. It was odd - I felt no pain, but my mind was just too tired to go. On the last mile I practiced overcoming this mental "I am too tired to go". It is hard to describe exactly what I did, but the closest I can get is saying that I worked on fully believing that my limit was neurological, that the body had more to give even though I was feeling a bit fuzzy, and then channeling all of my mental energy into going forward, going faster, and believing that I could hold it to the finish at the same time.

P.M. Ran with the kids around the block. 1.05 with Julia in 11:05, 1.75 with Jenny in 16:53, and then 2.1 with Benjamin in 15:54.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From crumpyb1 on Sat, Oct 20, 2007 at 22:34:23

I enjoy your visualization and how you make your training into a race.

Sasha, I wonder how much faster I could have been today, if I had warmed up properly. I think jogging a mile would have helped. (I feel like I have a lot to learn still when it comes to races and running.) Or maybe it wouldn't have. I was up with Will for about a half an hour last night and hadn't gotten very much sleep the night before. And I did try to fit in quite a few miles this week. (Well, quite a few for me.)

You know how your race is the marathon? Do you think I have a race? Or do you think one can pick what race he or she wants to be the best at? Because he or she learns how to run that particular race well. To me, even the 5k and 10k races seem very different to me.

Anyway, I love reading your kids times. Benjamin just gets faster and faster. Well, they all do, but I can relate and appreciate his times the most.

From crumpyb1 on Sat, Oct 20, 2007 at 22:39:51

Do you ever train by running the race route or some of the route while visualizing other runners like Kelly passing you?

From Logan on Sun, Oct 21, 2007 at 20:39:30

Good run today. I will try and make my slow runs actually slow runs. The Achilles is feeling better though.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 12:06:08

Adrianne:

Proper warm-up is important for a good 5 K. Also, 5 Ks are difficult to run when it is cold. I do not know how much faster you would have run under better conditions, I think you would just have to wait for another race and find out. Also, was the course certified, or was there any guarantee that the length of it was correct?

In order to run a good 5 K you need to learn to start out at a very uncomfortable pace and hold it to the end. 5 Ks are very painful when run properly. The last mile of a properly run 5 K hurts more than the last 6 of a properly run marathon. I would rather race a marathon any day.

Regarding which race is your. You will not know until you've properly trained for all of them. When you are running less than 40 miles a week, you will perform relatively better in shorter races. With higher mileage you see your potential realized in longer races, which allows you to see if your talent is there or not.

I hardly ever train on the courses of key races just because they are too far away from me. But I try to find a route that is similar as much as I can.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.860.000.000.5518.41

A.M. Ran alone at 6:10 AM. Easy 13.11 on the trail in 1:31:16, 6:57.7 average. Did 8 strides in the middle that were supposed to be 100 meters, but a few of them ended up being longer as I missed the mark. Started out at 8:00 pace, then eventually warmed into 6:50. Temperatures were around freezing. Ran fully clothed - tights, jacket, gloves, ready-to-rob-the-bank hood. Took off the hood and the gloves after 2 miles. Felt good, although no neighing horses.

Also, had a dream about going for a run with Sarah (the Fast Running Mommy), Logan, and some guy he was coaching. We were doing a tempo run for the guy he was coaching, and ran 3 miles at 5:50 pace. It felt just like 5:50 pace in real life - brisk, but very sustainable. I thought Sarah would be OK because she'd be riding a bike. At the end of the run I realized that there was no bike after all and she managed to stay with us on foot, and did not seem to be particularly worn out from the effort. I was so excited about her breakthrough, but then I woke up and realized it was just a dream.

P.M. 1.75 with Jenny in 15:32, then 2 with Benjamin in 17:09, then 1.05 with Julia in 10:48, then 0.5 by myself in 3:42.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 12:50:27

What a dream... I had a similar dream about my wife. That she out paced me in a 5k. Maybe it's prophetic and their going to receive their breakthrough. I would be excited if it happened.

Anyway nice run, and it's starting to get cold.

From crumpyb1 on Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 23:00:28

What was Sarah's reaction to your dream?

Is a ten mile race considered a shorter race?

From sarah on Mon, Oct 22, 2007 at 23:16:02

Sasha says I get to answer about my reaction...I thought it was cute but then when he had this look on his face like he was planning out a way to make it really happen I'm thinking, "No WAY are we doing that to my body...I've got cookies to make, murals to paint, quilts to create..back off..back off" I'm sure you can just imagine it all and get a really good laugh over it.

From Aaron on Tue, Oct 23, 2007 at 00:32:14

That, my friends, is not a dream about running. That's a dream about marriage. Quite a nice one, too.

From Logan on Tue, Oct 23, 2007 at 12:28:01

Happy to have made your dream!

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Oct 23, 2007 at 22:21:00

Adrianne:

10 miles is what I consider a medium length race. In my book, less than 10 K is short, 10 K two half marathon is medium, over half marathon is long.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.697.500.000.0020.19

A.M. Big workout. It was fairly cold, probably below freezing. Cold enough for me to wear a long sleeved shirt, a jacket, and tights. Ran at 6:10 AM with Jeff. He is still not 100% so he went only 10 easy. Started at 9:00 pace, fairly quickly progressed to around 7:00. Went to the end of Sasha House 10 Miler, then came back to the Provo River Trail gate by the lake (6.22 in 45:25, 7:18.1 avg).

Then started the 7.5 tempo. Felt unmotivated - it was dark and cold, I had a lot of clothes on, and there were leaves on the ground. Decided to be a slacker and run 5:50-6:00 pace. Hit the first mile in 5:46, 14:25 at 2.5. Turned around, the sun came up, I started to pick up the pace. Noticed that my face began to develop its usual grimace. Focused on redirecting the grimace energy into the legs. It worked very well. Ran the next 2.5 (slight down) in 14:07, and closed with 2.5 in 14:09 (slight up), last mile in 5:36, hard but without excessive strain. Total time for 7.5 was 42:41, 5:41.47 avg.

Cooled down to the house, 1.38 in 10:06, 7:19.13 avg. Total time for 15.1 was 1:38:12, 6:30.2 avg.

P.M. Busy afternoon. Got my run in, though. Drove Zhu to Jiffy Lube to get the oil changed. Ran from there 0.8 in 5:20 (6:40 pace) to Jenny's tumbling recital. Afterwards ran 1.74 to the house with Jenny in 15:32. Then took a single stroller, Julia and Benjamin to retrieve Zhu. Julia ran just the first mile in 10:14. Benjamin ran all the way. He said after the first quarter that he had one horse neighing. Then in the next quarter mile his number of neighing horses gradually increased from 1 to 7. I told him to hold his horses until Julia was in the stroller. Once she was done, Benjamin let his horses loose gradually increasing the pace from 8:00 to around 6:40 at the end. Total time for 2.25 was 19:24.

Afterwards we drove to Murdock Travel where I tried in vain to redeem my gift certificates from St. George. I was not particularly impressed with the agents ability to find the best price on a flight. After I had told him I was interested in the best price, he found a flight for $485 SLC to Memphis and back. I had already done my homework, and knew this was not the best price even adding the travel agency overhead into the sum, and I also knew which airline did. I gave him some tips. He was able to find a flight for $385. However, they could not redeem the certificates right away because they were too old, so they were going to wait to call St. George City to see if they would still pay for them. This is something I do not understand. Murdock Travel is a sponsor of the race. Why should St. George City be paying for the certificates? Do they mean to say that they get the publicity without paying a buck, and then attempt to make a profit off the top finishers on top of it?

Added another 0.3 running errands between the church and home. 


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Runtough on Wed, Oct 24, 2007 at 12:12:11

Sasha,

I've just joined the blog and wondered it you assist me with getting started. You can read some of my personals and hopefully make a determination. I'm ready to start now!!!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.250.250.000.0018.50

A.M. Easy 10.1 at 5:10 AM alone. Dark the whole run. Started out at 9:00 pace. Quickly progressed to a bit sub-7:00. With 1 K to go decided to catch the 1:10:00 guy. Let one horse out of the barn, that got me up to 6:25 pace. With a quarter to go let another horse out, that got me going at 5:50 pace. Total time was 1:09:53.

Battled with Murdock Travel about the certificates. The root of the problem is that I am trying to defeat their scheme to profit off top runners. They gave me $50 certificate in 2004, $100 in 2005, and $100 in 2006. I lost the one from 2003, now I do not miss it as much, and I got booted out of top 10 this year just barely, so nothing from this year. They give you those token certificates that are in essence worth nothing if used one at a time. You can beat their price by more than the value of any one certificate by shopping on the Internet. I am fairly certain they did not intend those certificates to be used this way. So they are saying that normally those certificates are valid for only a year. But mine did not have an expiration date, so I was piling them up until I could use them all at once.

You think getting a reward for running fast is just a matter of running fast. No way! You have to call people and bug them. Almost like the Salt Lake Marathon.

Yes, and if I ever win St. George, instead of a trip to Japan I'll ask for a trip to Springfield, Missouri or Huntsville, Alabama.

It really bothers me when I place in a race, open the award package, and find a discount coupon, or some other deal that requires you to spend money. It is not so much that I want that product for free, a lot of times I do not want that product at all, even if they paid me to use it. Here is what bothers me - you've worked hard, you've trained, you've pushed yourself in that race, you've sacrificed to reach a certain level of performance only to find out that the best that business could do to recongize your work is to try to make a little bit less profit off you that they would off their regular customer.  

P.M. 1.75 with Jenny in 17:11. Then 2 with Benjamin in 16:47. Then 1.05 with Julia and Jacob in the single stroller in 10:30. Then 3.6 without running kids, but with Jacob in the stroller in 28:22 (7:53 avg). The pace varied depending on who I was running with. First I caught up to a guy named Brian. He was going about 9:00 pace, but I did not mind, figured I'd run with him for a bit and chat. Turns out he likes the trail so much he comes down all the way from Alpine to run here. Then I turned around at Geneva Road, and headed back. Ran about 0.05 and saw Daniel Allen, our new blogger. Turned around and figured I'd add a little bit with him. We were going around 7:20-7:30 pace. Then with 0.5 to go I turned to go home, and he continued on the trail. Total of 8.4 for the run.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From steve on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 08:43:32

Thats buisness marketing for you I'm afraid.

From Brent on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 09:30:16

Winning something free, it is never free. Just give cash.

Sasha, help? Sylvia is trying to setup a blog and I am trying to update mine. We are having trouble entering or changing information on the profile, Running Accom, ST Run Goals, LT Runnin, Personal. I have trying my two home computers and my work computer and cannot seem to figure out how to add on Sylvia's or modify mine. Ideas? Help? We get a template, shaded in gray, looks like a word thing. Thanks

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 11:51:31

Brent - what browser are you using? It does work fine with Firefox. You can get it from the button on the right side of this comment.

From Brent on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 22:25:50

Thanks, loaded firefox.

From Michael on Sun, Oct 28, 2007 at 21:23:26

Sasha - I dont know if it's true, but Ive been told if something doesnt have an expiration date, that it is state law and they have to honor it. I know Ive said that to vendors at times having coupons with no expiration date and they then accepted them

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.191.903.500.5019.09

A.M. Ran with Jeff at 6:40 AM. Medium workout. Warmed up 4.12 in 30:40 (7:27 pace). Then 5 mile tempo. The goals were to work on the threshold, not grimacing when the pace feels hard, and the ability to negative split. I believe the last two are related.

The weather was warmer. Still close to freezing, but a bit warmer, maybe 40-45 degrees. The leaves were mostly gone from the ground, and there was more light as we ran a bit later. I warmed up in shorts, long-sleeved shirt, and a jacket. Then it was warm enough to take off the jacket for the tempo run.

Jeff is still recovering from injuries, and just ran easy today.

Started at the Utah Lake gate so the first half would be uphill. Ran the first mile cautiously in 5:37. Not much meaningful feedback from the body, felt like just about anything could happen. Felt stronger on the second mile, did not slow down on the uphill section, got 5:35. At that point I knew I'd be able to run at least a few seconds faster than last week. However, I did not particularly care about the time, I was more focused on the negative split practice and teaching myself not to grimace.

Next 0.5 in 2:49 - this is a rough section, I think it is disguised uphill, it is always slow. Made a 180 turn, 14:01 for the first 2.5. Next quarter was 1:26 (recovering from 180), followed by 1:23. This gave me 5:38 for the next mile, and 16:50 for 3. Then with the help of small downhill for about a quarter mile got going. Next mile in 5:25, followed by 5:19 with the last two quarters in 1:19, and 1:18. Total time was 27:34, last 0.5 in 13:33, actual negative split of 28 seconds, profile adjusted negative split of 21 seconds. Avg pace was 5:30.8.

Cooled down with Jeff - 3.88 in 27:16, 7:01.65 avg. Total time for 13 miles was 1:25:30, avg. pace of 6:34.62

P.M. Good news - Murdock Travel called me and said they would accept the certificates. So I got a ticket to Memphis and back for $139 after applying $250 worth of certificates. I did learn my lesson though, and had the right flight picked out. The moral of the story - if you are ever given fixed value certificate that you have to use via a travel agent, go on the Internet, find the best flight, then go to the agent and tell him you want to use that flight.

Ted stopped by my house in the middle of his run to tell me about James' 5:31 mile - new course record for his age. Then we took Benjamin on foot and Jenny in the stroller and ran on the trail to Ted's car. 2.52 in 19:43, 7:49.44 average. Then back with Jenny running 1.5 of it, and Benjamin in the stroller all the time. Jenny's time was 13:24. Some guy passed us on Jenny's last quarter. She was going a bit sub-8:00, and that guy moved away from us pretty quick. I thought I could possibly catch him once Jenny was in the stroller. She took too long to get in, but I tried nevertheless. So I hit a quarter in 1:31 with a double stroller and Benjamin and Jenny in it (over 100 lb kid weight total) down 1% grade. I was entertained by how the kids discussed the pace from the stroller:

Jenny: I think we are going 7:00.

Benjamin: No, if it was 7:00 I'd be able to keep this for a while. This looks like I might be able to hang in for a quarter, but no more than that.

I was able to close a bit, but ran out of road - the guy must have been going around 6:40. It was time to turn. Once it flattened out, I slowed down to a 1:36 quarter. This felt like marathon race pace, maybe like 1:24 - 1:25 quarter without the stroller. Total time for 2.52 on the way back was 19:47, 7:51.03 avg.

Then ran 1.05 with Julia around the block in 10:58, 10:26.67 avg.



Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 14:57:19

Have you found out if you are doing a marathon this fall/winter?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 15:03:01

Yes, I am running St. Jude in Memphis. And Murdock Travel just called me with good news - they are going to honor all of my certificates, so I get to fly to Memphis and back for $139. If I make top 10, the trip will be cash-positive.

From Paul Petersen on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 15:33:40

This is great news. I can't wait to see how you do. When is the race?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 18:07:29

The race is December 1.

From Paul Petersen on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 18:16:49

I was just looking at the race website. I would think that Top 5 ($1000) would be quite doable. I looks like a fast, but honest course.

I had never heard of this marathon, but it looks like a good one, plus it's a rare Saturday race. Maybe I will put it on my list for next year instead of CIM.

And perhaps next year we can organize things so that several bloggers travel to some of these out-of-state races. Traveling together will reduce expenses ever more.

From Maria on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 18:48:03

Paul, if you don't have "hard" religious objections against Sunday's races, CIM is really hard to beat. I'm pretty sure it's faster than St.Jude's. The weather is always cool, the course is gentle, subtle downhill that's not hard on your quads. I loved it, it was my best marathon experience. Doesn't pay much prize money, but awesome for PRs. It's aided, for sure, but less so than St. George.

From Paul Petersen on Thu, Oct 25, 2007 at 19:01:07

Maria - I don't have huge religious objections to Sunday races, but it kind of irks me in principle that just about every major marathon is on a Sunday. I prefer to to spend my Sundays laying around watching football so that I can face Monday properly.

I figure I've already got my downhill hill PR, now my goal is to match and beat it on a sea level course with little or no net elevation change. Plus, St. Jude actually looks winnable, with potential cherry-pick money. Of course, I have over a year to think about it and see what else there is!

From Lybi on Fri, Oct 26, 2007 at 11:58:20

Hey Sasha! Last night I had a dream that you became a concert pianist. No pressure, but I was a very proud piano teacher. :)

That's exciting about St. Jude--they aren't going to know what hit them!

From Brent on Fri, Oct 26, 2007 at 21:52:21

Sasha, no doubt, your the man, right back after it at the races. What a quick rebound. You will do great.

From Lulu on Fri, Oct 26, 2007 at 22:48:09

St. Jude is a good race. I have run the half every year they have had it until last year when I was three weeks from having Bubbles. It is mostly small rolling hills. There is one long stretch (miles 5-11?) of incline, but it is no big deal (and I am truly a flatlander saying this). The back half of the course is rolling hills. There is not a lot of spectators, but you pass the hospital early in the race and that is inspirational. Usually there are kids out front. The back half is in neighborhoods. The last part is down hill, and you run into the baseball park and run half way around the outside of the turf to the finish line near home plate. A couple of years ago, they got wise and split the finishes for the half and the full. I do believe they finally stopped sending the marathoners DOWN THE STAIRS into the locker room (very hot with all those bodies in there) right after they finished. Be forewarned though (unless something has changed) that you do have to climb stairs to get out of the park.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Oct 26, 2007 at 23:03:03

Lulu - thanks for the description of the course. It will be very helpful. No problem with the stairs unless it is the Desert News marathon (cumulative 4000 feet of elevation loss, net 3200). I have been able to walk stairs and even hop up and down on one foot after a non-DesNews marathon since September 2003. After DesNews, I am just like everybody else even in comparison with the people who run the same course. I think this goes to show that once you tear, you tear no matter how strong you are, but if you do not reach that threshold, you are in a completely different zone.

From sarah on Fri, Oct 26, 2007 at 23:44:11

Lybi-....I was so delighted and tickled about the dream about Sasha that I jumped out of my seat when I read it...kind of involuntarily...really really funny...and yes it does make me feel better about the crazy dream he had about me.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.510.000.000.8019.31

A.M. Ran with Ted at around 6:20 AM. We did an easy half (13.11) in 1:36:58, avg. 7:23.78. 8 100 meter strides in the middle, all around 18 seconds. With 0.3 decided to measure Ted's HR at faster speeds. Ran the last quarter in 1:18. Ted's HR got up to 176. This felt odd. On one hand I felt like I was working, but on the other hand I felt relaxed. Hard to tell in a third of a mile what kind of effort it was.

P.M. Adventure run of sorts. First, our entire family headed out. Benjamin on a bike, Jacob and Joseph in the stroller, everybody else on foot. 300 meters out stopped at our neighbor's house and dropped Jenny and Julia off to play with their friend. Continued on to 1.5 mark which we reached in 15:17. This was the end of Sarah's warm-up. Then I hid the bike in the bushes, and he and I paced Sarah through her 2 mile tempo run in 15:46, 7:49 out on a slight down, and then 7:57 back up. Afterwards, retrieved the bike from the bushes and we continued - Sarah running, Benjamin on a bike. After about 200 meters Sarah remembered that were supposed to get Jenny and Julia at 6:00 pm, and it was already past that. So Benjamin and I picked up the pace. Got Jenny and Julia, and ran with them. Julia finished 1.07 in 10:50 (10:07.48 pace). Jenny added another 0.5 in 4:29, which gave her a total of 1.57 in 15:19.

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Comments
From Mike B on Fri, Oct 26, 2007 at 14:18:17

Sasha, I posted this in my blog as well. The in-laws are coming to our house for Thanksgiving a week after the "official" Thanksgiving. I have contacted the President of the Memphis Runners Track Club to help you with accomodations for that weekend. Are you still coming? We should be able to find you something. I can pick you up at the airport, take you back, etc. and provide a tour of the city/course and do my best as a tour guide while you are here. Let me know what you think.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.059.001.000.0025.05

A.M. 20 mile run from my house up to Bridal Veil and back on the trail. Same as last week. Ran with Ted and Jeff. Jeff went only 16 turning around at 8. We started out with a leisurely warm up, then moved into the area of brisk (sub-7:00 and occasionally sub-6:40) after about 3 miles. There was a headwind in the canyon. Nevertheless, 6:40 uphill and into the wind felt relaxing once I warmed into it. I think the wind was gusty. Gusty winds feel bad, but do not slow you down much. Our first 10 miles was 1:10:12.

On the way back we picked it up. I wanted to slack off and go barely sub-6:00. But Ted would not let me. He did one of his quarters in 1:24. Then I was wound up, and did not want to go any slower. So I was doing my quarters in 1:22-1:24 as well. I offered Ted to sit on me, but he was smarter than that knowing that he would not see a quarter slower than 1:24 for a while in that case. So we traded quarters. Next 5 miles in 27:55. Ted started getting tired, and we did the next mile in 5:42. Then on the next mile we ran a slow quarter uphill in 1:30. I started getting concerned that the 5:40 guy might catch us, and picked it up a bit, but Ted did not respond. I was feeling good, and wound up enough to not want to run slower. So I figured I'd just run the last 3 miles alone. Next mile was 5:45, after that, 5:37, 5:35, and 5:30. Last 5 in 28:12, last 10 in 56:07,  5:36.7 average, total time 2:06:19, 6:18.95 avg. No quarters slower than 1:26. I was very happy with that since the last 5 miles have a lot of turns and going down under the bridges and through dark tunnels. Ted held on very well and finished about a minute behind me. In my estimate this shows if he were to start his taper today, he would run St. George somewhere between 2:25 and 2:27.

Felt very strong at the end, much better than a week ago. Afterwards, the legs felt fresh, and there was no serious fatigue. If I did not have the memory of running 20, you could have tricked me into thinking I've just run easy 10. I should be very thankful for this. It has not always been this way. I remember coming home from a 20 miler many times and feeling completely dead. But eventually God has blessed me with the ability and knowledge of what I need to do to recover fast. I've had nothing to complain about in this respect in the last couple of years, but I feel things have progressed beyond that in the last couple of weeks, and especially today. I still do not quite know exactly what I did to make it happen. I am suspecting my latest garlic adventures might have had something to do with it. I have been concerned about the possibility of getting sick, so I have been religiously sucking on garlic like candy a couple times a day in an attempt to kill any hiding germs. I am so glad that Sarah has gotten used to the smell of garlic over 10 years of our marriage.

Went to Benjamin's cross-country meet at Kiwani's park afterwards. He ran 3 K in 14:02 winning pre-Bantums, only 1 second off his PR for that course. Not bad for cold weather and not being tapered. James ran 11:17, a new PR for him.

P.M. Ran 1.05 with Jenny and Julia in 11:05, Julia had a side ache and was struggling. I need to make sure she gets to drink enough during the day. Then 0.5 with Jenny in 4:27. Pushed the double stroller with Jacob. Then 3.5 by myself with Jacob in the single stroller in 26:54 (7:41:14 pace) . Caught up to 3 guys during the last stage of the run on the trail and ran with them for about a mile. As usual (for Provo), discovered a high degree of foreign language fluency. One was fluent in Spanish, another in Portuguese, and the other in Thai - all from serving LDS missions. Speaking of which, we have a lot of language fluency here on the blog, native as well as acquired. I am aware of the following: Russian, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, and German. Any others?


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Comments
From Daniel Allen on Sun, Oct 28, 2007 at 01:11:46

I speak French from serving in Switzerland and France.

From Ryan on Sun, Oct 28, 2007 at 16:38:18

Amazing how 20 miles is like a stroll in the park for you. Yo sevi la mision en Peru y de acuerdo hablo Espanol.

From Dustin on Sun, Oct 28, 2007 at 18:31:18

Learned Portuguese served two years in Sao Paulo Brazil!

From Paul Petersen on Sun, Oct 28, 2007 at 18:34:27

Latin, from high school and college. Useless, utterly useless. I also know a little bit of Visual Basic and Python.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.660.000.000.5018.16

A.M. The Uneventful Half-Marathon. I think that is what I am going to call this run. It is supposed to be as uneventful as possible to avoid overtraining. Ted joined me. Lots of leaves on the ground. Ran a fairly steady pace from the start. Did 8x100 strides in the middle. Total time was 1:34:41, 7:13:33 avg.

P.M. Ran with the kids. Adam joined me as well. 1.05 with Julia in 10:17, 1.5 with Jenny in 13:52, 2 with Benjamin in 15:49, and then another 0.5 without a running kid in 3:55. Pushed Jacob in the single stroller the entire time.

I just had a thought. Maybe I should invite more people to participate in the Uneventful Half-Marathon. I do it every Monday and Friday at 6:30 AM. 339 N 1120 W, Provo, UT. RSVP so we won't start it without you. Anybody who feels like running a half somewhere in the 1:30-1:37 range is welcome to join. Good chance for a flat honest Sasha-certified course PR. Free entry. Pacers provided. If you bribe the Fast Running Mommy, maybe even a special breakfast will be served at the end. 

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Comments
From adam on Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 17:27:33

when are you heading out tonight/tomorrow morning? I may be out on the trial this afternoon around 5:30 and I'm getting a little bored on these "uneventful" solo runs.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 17:39:43

I'm about to head out with my kids in the next hour or so. Give me a call at 801-788-4608 to coordinate.

From Clay on Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 18:31:50

Your uneventful half was a PR for me this year, I would like to have your problems... Good work.

From brent on Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 20:24:05

Sasha, a day to just enjoy the run, relaxed mental training is also good. Fall leaves tell a story of change.

From Christi on Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 21:50:51

What race are you currently training for?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 22:10:08

Christi:

I do have a race planned (St. Jude Marathon on Dec 1), but I never train for a race. It is against my religion, if you will, same as studying for an exam. I believe in studying to learn and training to be fit. When there is a race in sight, I just taper.

From Christi on Mon, Oct 29, 2007 at 22:22:51

Interesting philosophy- I quite like it!

From Nick on Tue, Oct 30, 2007 at 00:07:59

Why don't you do train for a specific race Sasha? From my experiences, I have found that I run much better if I time workouts to correspond with a race. I think that some easy time gives you mental hunger to hit workouts harder than if you were to consistenly train. By methodically organizing rest time, base building time and workout time according to a race timeframe, I think you can hit a higher level of fitness at a particular time than you can by consistently training, thus leading to better performances. Thats just my take...

From Paul Petersen on Tue, Oct 30, 2007 at 09:22:45

I agree with the general premise of Sasha's training philosophy. Stay in shape ALL the time, and you will be ready for any race that gets in your way. HOWEVER, I also believe in training cycles (including planned rest) and the idea of "specificity of training". For instance, I did "general" training this year from June-July, and then launched into "marathon-specific" training at the beginning of August. Because I was already in excellent shape, I did not have to do anything silly like a 24-week marathon program. Rather, I just focused on longer and harder workouts that simulate marathon conditions for a couple months. The same can be done with a 5K/10K training cycle, and so on.

But I think to race well at a goal distance, you need to train for some length of time for that distance. You will not run your best 5K off of marathon training. You can run a very good 5K off of marathon training, mind you, but definitely not up to your potential.

From MichelleL on Tue, Oct 30, 2007 at 09:49:42

I think the uneventful half could be a great long tempo run for me. I can't do it Mondays, but perhaps Friday the 9th of Nov. I will join. I will let you know for sure.

Thanks for the invite!

From Cal on Tue, Oct 30, 2007 at 11:57:40

I wish there was a UHM scheduled on Saturdays...

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.656.501.000.0021.15

A.M. Eventful Big Workout. Big Workouts are always eventful. Ran at 5:05 AM with Ted. Warmed up 6.22 in 45:12, 7:16.01 avg. Lots of leaves on the ground between the 1.5 and 2.5 marks of the Provo River 5 Mile Tempo. Dark the entire way, but warm, around 50 degrees. Wore shorts and a long-sleeved shirt.

Then ran 7.5 tempo. Traded quarters with Ted for the first 2.5. This made it go by fast. The split was 14:18. Afterwards Ted had some hip and general fatigue issues and backed off to a brisk jog. On the way back first took my time to get going after the turnaround (5:46 mile) , then did OK on the 0.5 without the leaves (5:36 pace), then slowed down on the leaves (5:42). This gave me 14:16 for the next 2.5.

Another 180, and back at the leaves. Hard to get going on them and in the dark. Next mile in 5:46. Then the leaves were gone, and I was able to pick it up. 5:38 pace for the next 0.5, and then ran the last uphill mile in 5:29 with the last quarter in 1:20. This gave me 14:04 for the last 2.5, and 42:38 for 7.5, 5:41.07 avg.

Cooled down 1.38 in 10:40, 7:43.77 avg. Total time for 15.1 was 1:38:30, 6:31.39 avg.

Have been reading the transcripts of the General Conference in the last few days. There were a couple of talks that had some great messages for runners:

Raising the Bar

One evening as I returned home from work, I found Lee practicing his jumping. I asked, “How high is the bar?”

He said, “Five feet, eight inches.”

“Why that height?”

He answered, “You must clear that height to qualify for the state track meet.”

“How are you doing?” I asked.

“I can clear it every time. I haven’t missed.”

My reply: “Let’s raise the bar and see how well you do then.”

He replied, “Then I might miss.”

I queried, “If you don’t raise the bar, how will you ever know your potential?”

I heard that talk right after getting back from St. George. It really spoke to me particularly at that time. I missed the bar, but was comforted with the thought that raising the bar high enough to find out your potential means you might do your best and still miss it.

Do It Now

Many of us want the simple way—the process that will not require serious work and sacrifice. Well, I once thought I found it. Driving in the back of a verdant valley above the city of Honolulu, I looked up, and there it was—Easy Street! As I was dreaming of the life-changing benefits of my discovery, I took out my camera to record the blissful moment. As I looked through the viewfinder, however, my focus literally and figuratively became clear. A large yellow sign returned me to reality—Easy Street was a dead end!

P.M. Easy 6.05. First 1.05 with Julia in 10:11. Then 1.5 with Jenny in 14:04. Then 0.5 with Benjamin in 5:07. His feet were hurting, so we cut the run short. Sounds scary, like the symptoms of PF, but I think he has actually had this before when his feet were growing and outgrew his shoes. Then added another 3 miles in 20:27. 


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Comments
From Dallen on Tue, Oct 30, 2007 at 18:33:06

I seem to remember that back when I ran with you you wouldn't ever wear a long sleeved shirt unless the temperature was somewhere close to zero. Glad to see that you have wisened up a little.

From Lybi on Tue, Oct 30, 2007 at 20:54:23

Love the quotes, Sasha!

Good job on those slippery leaves. Trees everywhere should fear you. :)

From Paul Petersen on Tue, Oct 30, 2007 at 22:05:53

It is very very very rare for a child to get PF.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.100.000.000.0018.10

A.M. Easy 10.1 with Ted and Jeff at 5:00 AM. Started out slow, and it felt right. Then I woke up at 2.5 and one horse neighed. Ted and Jeff were still asleep, so the horse went to the barn. Then at at 4.2 two horses neighed. Went back to the barn. Then three horses at 8, back to the barn again. Total time 1:15:43, 7:29.8 avg. This felt too slow for that long, I can handle as slow as 12:00 for a mile or two, but once the distance increases my slow pace tolerance starts to decrease. Slow is OK, though - high mileage, better err on the slow side that on the fast, and we had a good conversation. Discussed cross country races, airplane guidance systems, airline pilot work schedule and pay structure, career choices and then cross country races again.

P.M. A mile with Benjamin in 8:33. We found a new bigger size pair of shoes for him that was hiding somewhere in the house, and his feet felt better. Then 1.05 with Julia in 9:07. That is a new record for her, and converts to 8:41 mile. She also did it with a progressively negative split with the 0.35 laps around the block in 3:12, 3:04, and 2:55. This indicates that she could be in contention for the win in the Thanksgiving race 800 meters in the 5-6 age division. She has her work cut out being barely 5 and racing girls who could potentially be almost 7. Last year Jenny won with 3:51, and Rachael Blackburn was second with 4:21. Rachael, however, was only 5. Julia on a good day could possibly go sub-4, which might be enough to win. She does know very well that she needs to run focused, or the turkey will run away.

Ran another 1.5 with Jenny in 13:51. Then another 4.5 by myself in 31:19, 6:57.56 avg. Pushed Jacob in the single stroller on all the segments of the evening run except the one with Benjamin.


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Comments
From Cal on Thu, Nov 01, 2007 at 12:01:36

Your total for the day isn't updated?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.182.502.250.2521.18

A.M. Big workout with Ted. Ran at 6:10 AM. Colder, 35 degrees. Wore a jacket over long-sleeved, and shorts. Lots of leaves on the ground. Warmed up the first 6.22 in 46:31, 7:28.71 avg. Still dark, but the sun was about to rise. Started the tempo at the trail gate by the Utah Lake. Traded leads every quarter. First mile in 5:39. Battled the dark, the cold, and the leaves on the ground, so I was not expecting much. Felt good. Next 0.5 in 2:47, almost no leaves. Ted dropped back after 1.5. Next mile was a slight up, and more leaves. Got 5:39, 14:05 at the turnaround.

Had a hard time kicking into gear after the turnaround. Too cold, too many leaves. On top of that, saw our "farmer" on a bike with "Bingo". There is a guy on the trail that is always there, he always rides a bike, looks like a farmer, and has a mutt-like dog with him. We asked him the dog's name once. It was Leah. But I call it Bingo anyway. Anyway the farmer and Bingo appeared out of nowhere, and did not have enough time to react to get out of the way. To make things worse, Bingo is interested in runners. So I had to swerve into a ditch to get around them. The mile split was 5:33, slight down on the last .

After the Bingo swerve, I gradually recovered and started kicking into gear. Next 0.5 in 2:45. Was not looking forward to the last mile, it was full of leaves, although not as bad as on Tuesday, and the sun had already come out which made it easier to run fast. Managed to finally kick into gear and hit the last mile in 5:20 with the splits of 2:42 and 2:38. Total time was 27:43 with the last 2.5 in 13:38, total avg of 5:32.6.

Waited for Ted at the end, then we cooled down for 3.88 in 28:44, 7:24.33 pace. Total time for 15.1 in 1:42:58, 6:49.14 avg.

Found an interesting study on garlic and testosterone. The reason I checked was that I noticed some positive signs of increased testosterone level - quicker recovery after hard workouts is the one I am willing to publicly mention. The only thing I did different that I can recollect is suck on a piece of garlic two-three times a day for 10 minutes or more as an attempt to reduce the chances of getting sick. Sure enough, turns out some Japanese scientists have researched the subject on rats.

P.M. Sarah's tempo run. Dropped Julia off at a neighbor's house. Ran a warmup of  1.5 with Benjamin on a bike, Jenny on foot, and Jacob and Joseph in the stroller. Afterwards, Benjamin and Jenny traded places. Missed the turnaround point as it was covered with leaves, and ended up running  extra .03, so  ran 2.03 in 16:11. Than converts to 15:56 for 2 miles. Sarah was doing fine until it got dark enough for the leaves to start to confuse her. Then put Benjamin on a bike, Jenny ran home with Sarah, and we went the Daddy pace, ran 1.5 in 11:07. Got Julia, we ran 1.05 in 11:20 in the dark.


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Comments
From Tom on Thu, Nov 01, 2007 at 13:05:41

Wow I notice both of us have mentioned testosterone and Japan on the blogs today. You've also got the garlic and rats thing going while I've got fish oils and "fishy burps". Kinda strange but interesting topics. But I gotta hand it to those Japanese, when I was there I swear everyone seemed fit and I couldn't tell the difference between the 20 and 40 (50?) yr olds. I better get me some of that fish oil and garlic and read the article. Don't know if Kim will like me much on that diet, even with some of those positive aspects you weren't willing to publicly mention.

From ArmyRunner on Thu, Nov 01, 2007 at 17:19:29

See more from BYU Library at below link. It looks like Lard and Garlic work even better but I'm not sure I want to be eating a lot of lard.

http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/131/8/2150/F4

From more on Thu, Nov 01, 2007 at 17:22:52

Garlic: The Anabolic Agent (Raising Testosterone levels)

It has been shown to raise test levels. also it has been shown to lower cortisol levels.

A catabolic hormone, cortisol is an adversary of testosterone, as the two comete for the same growth-stimulating sites within muscle cells. Cortisol causes the breakdown of muscle protein. Since garlic stimulates testosterone and inhibits cortisol, it has great potential as an anabolic agent.

Try taking a daily garlic supplement that supplies four milligrams of allicin (the active ingredient in garlic) in 2 divided doses of 2mg each. Consume one of those doses about one hour before a workout. This should help you maximize the anabolic effects of garlic.

From steve ash on Thu, Nov 01, 2007 at 19:27:53

What would be a quality supplement to take that is safe and pure?

From adam on Thu, Nov 01, 2007 at 19:34:51

My grandpa would "eat a clove a day raw" to not get sick. at least that's what I've been told is the reason...

From Barry Ames on Sat, Nov 03, 2007 at 21:29:07

Did you get my questions from Thursday?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.561.000.000.6018.16

A.M. The Uneventful Half-Marathon with Ted at 6:30 AM. Ran the first quarter at 8:40 pace, then fairly quickly progressed to slightly sub-7:00. Did 8 strides that were supposed to be 100 each, but a few ended up being a bit longer because we kept running past the mark. Went faster on the last 2, around 15.5 - 16.0. Around 11 miles finally caught the 7:00 guy. Practiced whole body relaxation during the run. With about 2 miles to go Ted started to push the pace, we got into 6:10-6:20 range. It felt hard for a quarter, then it felt easy, and I was wound up, so I started pushing it a bit myself. We ran the last mile in 5:58, first half at 6:04 pace, and second at 5:52. It felt easy enough to where I was not sure if I should call it easy or marathon pace. I decided finally to call it marathon pace - better err on the conservative side. Our total time was 1:30:13, 6:52.89 avg.

P.M. A mile with Benjamin in 8:44, then 1.05 with Julia in 11:19, 1.5 with Jenny in 14:56, and 1.5 by myself in 10:20. 

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Comments
From kt on Fri, Nov 02, 2007 at 12:20:40

I have no idea how you do this!

It is like you are half bionic or something.

From MichelleL on Sat, Nov 03, 2007 at 10:20:32

I plan on joining you next Friday. Is it 6:30 sharp or should I come at 6:20 (I've seen you do both)? However, I'll get smoked if you hit a 1:30 again next week and I won't be chasing down the 6:00 guy (gal). If you have any more 1:35ish folks you can round up, I'd love to have company if you are feeling spry like yesterday. I've been trying to recruit my running buddies to come up but there's been no takers yet. Obviously this will be long tempo/mock race for me. I look forward to it!

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Nov 03, 2007 at 14:49:19

Michelle:

We will go at the pace that the slowest runner in the group is willing and able to maintain. Just about any pace is fine as along as I am back by 8:20. The plan is to start at 6:30 sharp, no earlier.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.1010.000.000.0025.10

A.M. Ironically, or maybe symbolically, ended up doing my run pretty much exactly as the Trial's were progressing. As much fun as Paul, Sean, and Logan were having at the Trials, I just realized that I was perfectly happy to experience it vicariously by reading their blogs, and run my sea-level record eligible course race in Memphis later with more time for recovery and preparation, less expensive trip, and a realistic chance to recover the costs. The knowledge that although I did not make it, the blog was still well represented at the Trials gave me a sense of peace, satisfaction, and accomplished purpose.

Had a big day in front of me, so I figured since I was not going to get much recovery, should take it easy. Decided to do a mile easy/mile at marathon pace fartlek for 20 miles on my standard course from my house to Bridal Veil and back. Yes, I know calling a 20 mile fartlek with half of it at marathon pace easy may sound funny, but doing a fartlek like this is a lot easier than straight 10 with the last 5 brisk, and then the last 10 hard with no breaks in between.

Most of the run was done in the dark. The easy miles varied between 7:10 and 7:35. The fast miles were: 6:00 (rolling up, two tunnels), 5:48 (a quarter down, the rest slight up), 5:54 (slight up, slippery bridge, VPB stop, could not find anything else, so used fir tree needles for TP), 5:56 (now into the canyon, more uphill, headwind), 6:20 (even more uphill and stiff headwind), 5:38 (down, tail wind), 5:35 (down), 5:36 (less down), 5:45 (rolling down, six turns, two tunnels, icy bridge), 5:35 (rolling, slight down, one tunnel, five turns). Total time was 2:11:57, 6:35.85 avg.

Came home and jumped on the web to find out what happened at the Trials. Thanks to Adam, found the best coverage on the Fast Running Blog message forum. The results need to be pondered. Great performances marred by a tragedy. Was surprised to see the report of Ryan Shay's death. Have some thoughts on what happened that I will share on the forum later.

Then went to the State Youth Cross-Country meet. Benjamin lost his shoe during the race at around 1200 meters, but still finished in one shoe in 9th place, top scorer for Team Provo, with the time of 14:37.5. No surprises in his race, Eli won with 11:56, Alexander Berry second about 40 seconds behind. Ted's son James won the Midgets with 11:26 holding off second place by 3 seconds.

P.M. Ran 1.05 with Jenny and Julia in 11:14, then another 0.5 with Jenny in 4:29, then 3.55 by myself. Pushed Jacob in the stroller the entire run.



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Comments
From JamesL on Sat, Nov 03, 2007 at 16:46:10

Umm I thought I beat second by 7. Stop making me look bad. LOL JK

From Michelle on Sat, Nov 03, 2007 at 18:02:30

Sasha,

I finally figured out the other day where the time calculator was. The reason that it was so hard to find is because it hasn't been there for me. So today I decided to use it and it's gone again. Any ideas?

From James on Sun, Nov 04, 2007 at 21:22:04

Sasha,

I think someone is playing tricks on my blog. Check out my Oct. 11 entry. A lady that I don't really even know keeps leaving comments on my blog and then says they are not from her. They have to be from her because no one else I know would know that info. My blog is not the easiest to find and I have never told anyone outside the blog my address, so I don't know how she found it, unless she just got lucky. Do you have a way of seeing where the comments came from?

From James on Sun, Nov 04, 2007 at 21:28:54

Email me and let me know. The blog is not safe!

From josse on Sun, Nov 04, 2007 at 21:36:54

I have had similar things happen. People leaving comment and using my name.

From James on Sun, Nov 04, 2007 at 22:00:39

People could accidentally punch in your name, but these are from people that are not on the blog with no forwarding info. I have left comments for people before and punched in their name, and then it looks like they left themself a comment. Jon leaves me comments from Marci all of the time because her name might already be on there from previous comments. Josse, in you case people might just be "being stupid".

Maybe an option to delete comments that we don't know who they from or that we do not want on our blog would be a good solution.

What do you think Sasha? Or should I just not worry about it. It kind of weirds me out though!

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Nov 05, 2007 at 08:40:28

James - all I can do about this is track down her IP address, and then geo-track it to a location with about 50 mile radius accuracy. With a court subpoena it would be possible to go to the ISP and have them identify the house from that info. Anybody can post a comment under any identification, so it is definitely possible for somebody to misrepresent himself and play a trick. So poster identities should always be taken with a grain of salt when there is a reason to doubt them. Amazingly, with this amount of freedom to do wrong, we've had very few cases of inappropriate comments, so I have not bothered to add a feature to allow the blog owner to remove unwanted comments. However, with the growth of the blog it will eventually become necessary, so I'll add it in the next couple of months.

Any blog can be discovered via a search engine or an external link. So it is not surprising to have people you know nothing about leave comments in any blog.

Regarding the comment you are talking about. I suggest you contact Alydia and find out what happened. Looks like she is saying the same thing in both comments. She may have just forgotten that she posted on your blog earlier.

From James on Mon, Nov 05, 2007 at 13:55:19

Thanks Sasha! I will just not worry about it.

From James on Mon, Nov 05, 2007 at 14:00:36

I can't contact this Alydia Barton because I don't even really know who she is or how she found my blog. I met her once but never knew her name, and I don't really care that much anyways. I don't know why it was bugging me so bad yesterday. Thanks again.

Nice week of running, you are looking good for your marathon next month.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.280.500.000.5019.28

A.M. My good old friend and training partner Ben Crozier was in town. He joined me this morning. This helped quite a bit, as Ted was out of town, and my Uneventful Half-Marathon would have been very uneventful otherwise. Ben is still not married, so Sarah and I gave him a lot of teasing about it, as well as practical advice. Even my son Benjamin joined, and offered some of his.

Benjamin joined us for the first 2 miles. The first one was rather uneventful even for Benjamin - 8:08. On the second he decided to show class and gradually wound it up hitting a 7:24 split, total time 15:32.

Then we ran another 8 at a slightly faster pace. I gave Ben a long lecture on the importance of sleep, and taking it easy on easy runs. He argued with me that he needed to do more speed work, then he'd be faster. I just has a hard time believing that a former 15:45 5 K runner that is not currently overweight would have those issues, and suggested a test. We ran a bit at what he thought was his 5 K race pace. He ran about 0.1 at 5:20 pace, which was about what I expected to see. Then after some rest, and further into the run, I did another demonstration setting a 6:00 pace and asking him to hold it for as long as he could. He made it through 500 meters, which was also about what I expected to see. This showed that the reason he recently raced a half marathon at 6:43 pace was more in not being able to hold the pace, than in the lack of speed. The main reasons for such a failure are lack of aerobic conditioning, lack of sleep, and lack of proper carbo-replenishment. So he is going to work on all three.

Dropped Ben off 10 miles total into the run (1:13:22), then added another 3.11 with 8 strides in the middle, total time for the half was 1:34:58, 7:14.63 avg.

P.M. 1.5 with Jenny in 14:49, 1.05 with Julia in 10:36, then put Jacob in the stroller and ran 3.62 in 27:08.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From josse on Mon, Nov 05, 2007 at 15:50:25

I was wondering if you think it is better to get your daily milage up to

8-10 a day before you start adding distance to your saturday long run. Or work on both or what? I'm to that point where I what to start building my endurance but would like some input.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Nov 05, 2007 at 16:04:15

When in doubt, I would up the daily mileage first, and if that goes well, up the long run mileage. With doubles, daily mileage can be productively pushed much further than the long run mileage. Being able to eat and take a nap in between runs makes a big difference.

From josse on Mon, Nov 05, 2007 at 16:08:29

Thanks will do.

From adam on Mon, Nov 05, 2007 at 19:17:49

Sasha,

What time are you going out tomorrow morning? I'll give you some company. The earlier the better for me.

From Dallen on Mon, Nov 05, 2007 at 20:22:55

I am jealous of the run with Ben. It has been a long time.

I will be in town in mid December. Maybe we can get together for a couple runs. Too bad Ben won't be around, otherwise we could pull in Matt and have the whole gang together.

From Aaron on Tue, Nov 06, 2007 at 12:17:41

Sasha, question about the taper. I've been training at 45-50 mpw. The race is on the 25th. My plan was to stay at around 50 this week then to go down to 36 (with 12 miles easy on Sun) and 25 or so the week before the race. Does that sound reasonable to you?

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Nov 06, 2007 at 13:22:44

Adam:

I am running Wednesday at 5:00 AM, Thursday at 7:00 AM, and Friday at 6:30 AM. Take your pick. Wednesday - easy 10, Thursday - big workout - 6.22 warm up, 5 mile tempo, 3.88 cool down, Friday - the Uneventful Half-Marathon. You can also join me for the evening runs - I'll be doing those some time around 4-5 pm, the time is usually flexible.

Aaron - your taper plan sounds reasonable. The challenge of the taper is to find a balance between giving yourself enough of a break to properly refuel and rebuild torn-up tissues, and still running enough to not lose the fitness. I personally lean towards shorter tapers. My philosophy is that even if I am a bit low on glycogen in one particular race, I'll get my fitness back quicker after the marathon because I did not lose very much training in the taper. So in the next one I'll be fit enough to perform at a higher level, and eventually this will be much higher than what I could have done being fully glycogen-loaded in that one race.

From Aaron on Tue, Nov 06, 2007 at 21:34:30

These are very helpful comments. Thanks.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.505.502.000.0021.00

A.M. The Big Workout. An interesting day. I would say a different day for a number of reasons. On the light side of the matter, Ben Crozier joined me again, as well as Karl Jarvis. Ben adds to the light side. If there were jobs for running comedians he would be one of the leaders in this profession. He provides constant live running entertainment. Benjamin ran the first two miles with us in 16:32, then we dropped him off and continued for another 4.12 hitting the 6.12 mark in 46:09. Then it was time for my 7.5 tempo run.

This was the more serious side. Not so much because of having to run hard, that is a given in the Big Workout. The thoughts of Ryan Shay, his life and his death were on my mind. I knew the 5.5 mile mark would be special. I feel connected to every runner. I feel particularly connected to a competitive marathoner. I feel even more connected to a runner that does not have the most talent but makes up for it with work. I feel particularly connected to a front runner that is not satisfied to sit in a slow moving pack in a tactical race. Additionally, I found out that Stephen Shay who runs now for BYU is Ryan Shay's brother. So even though I had never met Ryan, his death hit close to home. But at the same time I had a feeling of perfect peace. I know that this life is only a temporary period of probation. We have already proven our ability to make good choices when we can see God. Now is the time to develop our ability to make good choices while we cannot see God, thus developing our faith. It is through faith only that most people are able to know that there is life after death, and thus we mourn those who depart because we do not scientifically know where they went, yet we can know through faith. I felt I knew through faith, and it was good enough. My mind was at peace.

The tempo run started at a leisurely pace. 5:43 for the first mile. It started getting warmer, the sun was out, there were much fewer leaves on the ground. I picked it up a bit and hit the 2.5 mark in 14:11. Not bad for uphill. On the way back, all I wanted to do is stay with the 5:40 guy. But I ended up getting into good rhythm, and started seeing 1:22 quarters quite often pretty soon. Decided no reason to back off if I could sustain it with a reasonable degree of comfort. Ran the next 2.5 in 13:47. On the way back I maintained a steady effort after recovering from a 180 turn, holding 5:36 pace, then winding it up to 5:32, and then 5:30 on the last mile which has a slight uphill. This gave me 13:54 for the last 2.5, 27:41 for the last 5, and 41:52 for 7.5, avg. 5:34.93.

Overall had a very hard time distinguishing between threshold and marathon pace. Something has changed. Faster pace that should be threshold felt easier and sustainable, and I was able to sustain it for long enough, and accelerate from it well enough to put it under marathon pace category. So I am going to say 2 miles of the tempo were at threshold.

This is the fastest time I've ever run on this tempo. The previous fastest time was 42:02, most of it was done trading quarters with Jeff vs. running alone, the last two miles were intentionally threshold, there were no leaves on the ground, it was productively warmer, and I felt I had worked harder. So it appears I am starting to get into better than pre-St. George shape. Now it is a matter of not blowing it before St. Jude and caching out on the fitness.

Ran 1.38 home in 10:17, total of 1:38:19 for 15 miles, avg. 6:33.27.

P.M. Jenny and Julia wanted to run by themselves around the block. So we let them. They ran 1.05 in 10:25 first together, then Jenny added another 0.7 to get 17:00 for 1.75. Benjamin joined her for the last 0.7, but was too impatient and took off finishing the segment in 6:10. Later I ran 6 miles with Jenny following me on a bike and Jacob in the stroller in 42:59.

Starting to think of 120/week as standard training mileage rather than high mileage.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Tue, Nov 06, 2007 at 21:49:27

I met Stephan Shay a couple weeks ago, and I had no idea that there was a relation to Ryan until the paper brought it up on Sunday. I am not sure how he ended up at BYU but he is a good addition to their team.

From Paul Ivory on Wed, Nov 07, 2007 at 21:43:41

Sasha, every time I read your blog I am amazed at your dedication and your intense workouts. I really enjoyed your discussion about the death of Ryan Shay and the faith that we all live by. Your St. Jude Memphis Marathon is less than 4 weeks away and it sure sounds like you are conditioned for a great race. Stay healthy and enjoy your success. My Boston qualifier is this coming weekend in San Antonio. I have raced the past two weekends of my "taper" 3-week period and enjoyed it a bunch, taking 1st place in my age group this past weekend in a 5K in Austin, TX. Later, Paul

From Nick on Wed, Nov 07, 2007 at 22:07:06

Sasha,

Quick question - I didn't write a comment on Logan Fieldings blog (Oly Trials), but it said I did and it is linked to my blog. I don't know what is going on there.

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Nov 07, 2007 at 22:19:30

Nick - there is another Nick on the blog that trains with Logan. So if he misidentifies himself as the Nick of the blog (which would be you), the comment might get linked to yours.

From jhorn on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 18:45:08

"We have already proven our ability to make good choices when we can see God."

Sasha, I admire you greatly for your running and your character, but I just wanted to interact with this statement. You seem to be speaking of assurance, faith and hope in this life leading to the next. But where is the assurance in this statement? When we get to heaven to see God, if we make it to the celestial kingdom, then we will know that we have made good choices. Truly, I can never know now if I've been good enough, if in this probationary period I've passed the test. There is no assurance in this, there's a hope, but no real assurance. I've never encountered a meaningful answer to this question. If any part of my assurance rests on myself, then there's the potential that it's no assurance at all.

My perspective is that my hope rests sole and wholly on Christ, and on His finished life and death and resurrection. Peace to you, my friend.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.250.000.000.0018.25

A.M. A really uneventful easy 10.1 at 5:10 AM alone this morning, most of it in the dark in 1:13:46, avg. 7:18.22. I suppose watching the sunrise was the most interesting event, that, and wondering if perhaps the rustling of the leaves was coming from the wind or from some wild animal in the bushes.

P.M. 1.5 with Jenny in 14:20, 1.05 with Julia in 10:57, 2 with Benjamin in 17:44, 3.6 first by myself, then found a couple of UVSC runners on the trail and joined them for about a mile - 27:13 for the stretch. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Benn on Wed, Nov 07, 2007 at 18:30:43

Hey Sasha! Thanks for the comments and constructive criticism. I just got your message after getting out of the shower, and not to be caught on only having logged 5 miles today, I decided to at least get in another 2 which I did, for 7 for total for today. Wish I had of known ahead of time, because I certainly would have stayed on it, rather than almost "cheating" and having to log another 2 miles separately.

From Scott Zincone on Wed, Nov 07, 2007 at 20:04:38

Me and you both when it comes from the sound of dry leaves blowing across a road in the dark. I always wonder if it is a dog sneaking up on me. That scratching sound and running alone in the dark can really crank up a wild imagination.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Nov 08, 2007 at 12:38:41

Benn - breaking up a run is not cheating. In fact, is is a good way to train. If you have the time to train twice a day, at some point you should. Different coaches have different opinions on that. Daniels says start doing doubles once you get over 50 miles a week. Lydiard says get to 100 miles a week in singles. In my opinion, it depends. I think even if your morning run is as low as 3 miles, it would be beneficial to add another mile or two in the evening. After 8 hours on your rear end or standing and walking it is good to go for an easy shake-out run regardless of how far you've run in the morning.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.452.502.000.5020.45

A.M. The Big Workout. Alone at 6:40 AM. Wore shorts, long sleeved, a jacket, and gloves in the warm-up. Ran 6.22 in 42:45. Then figured the weather was warm enough to take off the gloves and the jacket for the tempo. More leaves on the ground than Tuesday, but not the highest I've seen.

Tempo run was 5 miles. Started at the Utah Lake trail gate as usual. First mile was leisurely - 5:37. Felt good, but not looking forward to picking it up. It was still quite cold. Gave myself a bit of a kick in the pants, and that kicked me into gear. Next mile in 5:34 with some uphill in it. Ahead of the 5:36 guy, that's good. Next half in 2:47, 13:58 at the turnaround.

Good recovery from the turnaround. First quarter in 1:23, then got into a good rhythm, no quarters slower than 1:21 all the way to the end. 16:42 at 3 miles (5:31), then 5:21, and 5:19. On the last mile hit the leaves in the first half and slowed down to 2:42, but then made up with a 2:37 closing half. 27:22.8 for the whole run, avg. 5:28.56, last half in 13:24, avg. 5:21.6, actual negative split of 34 seconds, profile-adjusted negative split of 27 seconds. I am starting to wonder if the difference between directions for the 2.5 stretch is 10 seconds rather than 7. I am fairly certain about 7 seconds for the first mile starting from Geneva road - I've done mile repeats on it and consistently hit splits that were 7 seconds faster going towards the lake than the other way. But I am starting to suspect that the remaining 1.5 stretch favors the direction towards the lake by a couple of seconds. It looks flat, but I know that one quarter of it favors the direction towards the lake by 0.5. I also noticed that I hit slightly faster splits with the same effort when going towards the lake regardless of which direction I go first.

I was happy to have run the last 4 miles in 21:45. Last year I raced the Thanksgiving 4 miler in 21:50. Around the same time, I did a similar tempo run with a positive split in 28:18, hitting the same 4 mile stretch in 22:33.

Ran 3.88 cool down in 26:34. Total time for 15.1 was 1:36:50, avg. 6:24.77.

P.M. Ran with the kids and some on my own. Total of 5.25. Kids times - Julia 1.05 in 11:38, Jenny 1.75 in 16:24, Benjamin 2.1 in 17:22.

Benjamin wrote a song "Twelve Days of Running With Ben" about our friend Ben Crozier. It should appear in his blog shortly. Well, it all started with Ben writing "Twelve Days of Running With Sasha" back in 1999 when we were running together in Provo. Ben noticed that I had a standard set of phrases that I used repeatedly during a run, so he expressed his observation in a song. As I said earlier, he provides great running entertainment. It goes like this, if I recall it right - Dallen might be able to fill in the gaps:

On the first day of running with Sasha Sasha said to me - Ben, you are running too slow.

Then it continues in the format of the "Twelve Days of Christmas". The other things I say are:

  • I need to water a tree.
  • Let's do an acceleration.
  • I'll pick you up at seven.
  • Five mile repeats.
  • Ben, why aren't you married? (He still is not, single women interested in a 30 year old guy in good condition, take notice).
  • No apostate running! (He used to go off on unmeasured courses, run for 1:10 at 8:00 pace thinking he was running 7:00, and call it 10 miles instead of 8.75. I called it apostate running)
  • Wooh! (A noise meaning the horses are neighing or I am ready for the run to be over, so let's pick it up)
  • Let's run a five mile tempo!
I am missing three days - have to ask Ben and Dallen to see if they still remember.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Thu, Nov 08, 2007 at 12:20:33

Sounds like you are getting ready to go. Any time goals for St. Jude?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Nov 08, 2007 at 12:28:41

Not really. Just run by feel, finish strong if things go well, take no risks, try to place as high as possible.

From James W on Thu, Nov 08, 2007 at 13:01:59

Looking pretty good, Sasha. When is St. Jude again? Any idea what your potential competition will be?

From James on Thu, Nov 08, 2007 at 14:45:48

Nice workout, looking strong!

From adam on Thu, Nov 08, 2007 at 14:47:14

Go get your turkey Sasha!

From Lybi on Thu, Nov 08, 2007 at 15:38:41

Lookin' Good Sasha!

Hey, I have been meaning to ask you about something. My ward's "theme" for next year is physical, spiritual, and emotional health. Our bishop is really big on doing promotions, campaigns etc. Anyway, they were asking about people who might be able to come talk to the ward members, like in a fireside or something. I thought of you because you do such a great job of tying the physical and the spiritual together when it comes to running, and because you are very motivating. Is this something you are willing to consider? I thought that if you came to AZ for the Relay del Sol this year maybe you could do something that Sunday, if you are open to it. Think about it and let me know!

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Nov 08, 2007 at 16:43:00

James W - St. Jude is on Dec 1. The competition is probably a bunch of Kenyans plus a couple of locals. Maybe even one Russian (Alexey Khokhlov) - he was there last year. Two things I've heard from him of entertaining value:

Description of the wall: "You are running well, thinking the race is going great. Then a burly man (muzhik) comes from behind with a scythe - whack!"

"A guy comes home drunk. His wife asks him, why did you get drunk, is today a celebration of some kind? He says, well , when two guys get together, that's a celebration!"

Lybi - this would be fine with me assuming we are in town at the right time. I am still not 100% sure on Del Sol.

From Michael B on Fri, Nov 09, 2007 at 07:35:37

Sasha, locally, I haven't heard that any of the "Big Guns" were running St. Jude. Actually, we don't have that many that are capable of sub 2:30 anymore. One moved away (Chicago) and the other is an aging masters runner. He qualified for the OT in 2004. The top local guy last year ran 2:34 high and from his local tune up races, I don't think he is near top shape. In reviewing the results from the past few years, I can't understand why in 2006, the winning time was 2:21:23, while in 2005 it was 2:16:48. They didn't change the prize money structure, the weather was the same, and the course was the same??? I know you won't change your race plan by who is entered but I will try to have more information by race date. It looks like your training is strong.

From Adam RW on Fri, Nov 09, 2007 at 08:47:03

Sasha,

I wanted to point out my friend from St. Louis and former college roommate/teammate just joined the blog. I think he will be a great addition to blog. He has been training some higher mileage lately and I believe is geared to run a sub-2:30 this April.

-Adam

From Paul Petersen on Fri, Nov 09, 2007 at 11:02:15

Sasha - regarding Del Sol, I am not going to run it, but I do have a free entry that you are welcome to (worth $1000). It will go to waste otherwise. The only catch is that you have to name the team "MarathonGIS.com".

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.360.300.000.5019.16

A.M. The Inaugural Uneventful Half-Marathon with participants other than me and Ted. Jamie and Michelle joined us. They even warmed up. Also Adam joined us for the first three miles. I think men retain their show-off in front of ladies instinct even after they've been married for a while. We hit our first quarter in 1:59 instead of the usual 2:10. Then the ladies started to push the pace, so we had to pick it up. First mile in 7:34, followed by 7:07. I did not expect we would be going that fast, but that was just fine. Then soon the pace settled into a steady 7:00 groove. I had to take a VPB stop around 2.5 while the pack continued. It took 32 seconds. At first, I thought I could quickly catch them cruising at 6:30 pace. Then I realized they were going 7:00, so I figured I would have to do it with the siren and the flashing lights. Sped up to 5:36 pace, and caught the pack soon enough to give them their 3 mile split.

After the catch-up move, 7:00 pace started feeling a lot slower, and I was going to swear the pack has slowed down, but they did not - 7:00 pace right on. And the ladies were still very conversational. It was very clear that they've gotten into much better shape since St. George. 36:03 at 5.05, and 44:06 at 6.22.

Then it was time for the strides. Ted and I did the strides, while the ladies kept us honest on our recoveries with a fire-breathing chicking threat from behind. Did 8x100 averaging around 17-18 seconds. The form is starting to feel good, I was enjoying the strides for the first time since I started doing them, and the pace did not feel as sprinty as it used to.

Then around 8.75 Michelle's BYU team killer instinct began to break through. She picked it up to 6:40. After about a mile, Jamie decided to back off. Unfortunately, the course directions I gave her were not adequate, and she ended up getting lost. We'll do better next time.

Michelle continued to push the pace maintaining a solid sub-7:00 up a 1% grade. Then once we turned around, she used the downhill to pick it up to 6:40. On the last mile she started chasing the imaginary 1:31 girl. After some thought I upgraded the girl to a guy, if you can say that, well a guy is harder to get than a girl, and brings more credit to the chaser, so I guess we can call than an upgrade. Then I decided the guy should have a name, so I called him Tom. She ran the last mile in 6:20 finishing the half in 1:30:52. This is her record-eligible course PR, which I imagine is worth about 1:27 on the TOU half course. Her last 10 K, according to Ted's calculations was 42:30, which is almost as fast as what she did in the Payson Onion Days 10 K. Clearly some serious progress in the last two months in spite of running a marathon in the middle.

P.M. 2 miles with Benjamin, Jenny, and Jared in 17:46. Pushed the double stroller. Joseph rode in it. He enjoys the ride, but not the process of being captured and strapped into the stroller. Jenny ran 1.5 in 13:29. Jared ran all the way. Benjamin picked it up with 60 meters to go, and finished in 17:41.

Then 1.05 with Julia in 10:57. Then 3 miles by myself in the dark in 22:26.

Tomorrow I am running 20 starting at my house (339 N 1120 W in Provo) at 6:00 AM. Ted will not be able to make it. Start easy, then brisk easy, then after the turnaround at 10, consciously hard. Call 801-788-4608 before 10 PM tonight if you want to join me for part of it, or all.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Fri, Nov 09, 2007 at 16:11:03

Sounds like an eventful run. Does that make it a failure?

From Tom on Fri, Nov 09, 2007 at 16:11:29

Interesting name selection for your 'imaginary' guy. I suppose Tom is as good a name as any. Not quite as common as "John" or "Joe", but Tom is a name that seems to be endure a fair amount of abuse (i.e. "peeping-Tom", "Tom-boy", etc.)

From Holt on Fri, Nov 09, 2007 at 16:32:38

Tom - Do I sense a small amount of angst here?

From MichelleL on Fri, Nov 09, 2007 at 18:01:41

Thank you Sasha for letting us join and for encouraging me. As you can now see first hand, just a little jabbing at mile 9 goes a long way when you are talking about my pride. Too bad I don't have some serious money to hire you as a coach and running mate. Great though that you are willing to do so much because of your generosity and love for the sport.

BTW apt name for the 1:31 guy. Tom may be more like a 1:28 guy, though.

From Craig on Fri, Nov 09, 2007 at 23:01:03

Sasha-

I can't meet up tomorrow, but I would definitely be interested in meeting up with you and others down there in the near future for a long(ish) run. If I wanted to come down during the week, do you have any sort of set schedule you keep?

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Nov 09, 2007 at 23:05:50

Yes. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday - 6:30 AM. Wednesday - 5:00 AM. Occasionally earlier on the 6:30 days when Ted has something going on. Tuesday and Thursday are Big Workout days - a warm up of 6.22 followed by a tempo run. Others are easy. Strides Monday and Friday in the middle of the run.

From Jamie on Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 09:25:00

Sasha, I really enjoyed the run and hope to give it a try again soon. No worries with the course mix-up; I'll have to pay closer attention next time.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.0011.000.000.0027.00

A.M. Standard 20 miler from my house to Bridal Veil and back. Ran the first half on the border line of true easy and brisk easy in 1:08:56. Once warmed up and out of the tunnel maze, was going 6:40 when the headwind was mild to none, 6:50-6:55 with moderately hard headwind, and on the last mile slowed down to 7:10 with the headwind becoming stronger and the uphill steeper.

On the way back kicked into gear right away, hit the first mile in 5:38, then 5:32, 5:35, 5:31, 5:36. This gave me 27:52 for the first 5 of the tempo portion - 310 feet steady elevation drop. Then I let the horses loose with the intention to negative split the 10 mile stretch. This would be tough - only 240 feet of net drop, and it is rolling with 2 miles of tunnel maze. Next two miles were 5:29, and 5:30. The 5:30 one had the uphill near the cross-country club, I hit that uphill quarter in 1:25. Another half in 2:45, and then I was stuck in the tunnel maze with the leaves on the ground to make things worse. I think the biggest problem, though, was the broken rhythm, and I realized how much I rely on rhythm when fatigued. Next half in 2:53, 5:38 for the mile. Another half in 2:52, and now one more tunnel to go. Was able to shift gears and get going again. Next half in 2:44, 5:36 mile. The last mile had a tunnel and leaves afterwards. So the tunnel broke my rhythm, and then the leaves made it hard to find it again, but I eventually did. Managed 5:33 on the last mile. 55:38 for the last 10 (avg. 5:33.8), 27:46 for the last 5 (negative split, avg. 5:33.2), 2:04:34 for 20, avg. 6:13.7.

Then we went to Sarah's 5 K race. It was a stake 5 K supposedly organized by Amanda's stake. At least it was on the program. But nobody, including the person in charge who was unknown, showed up except Sarah, Amanda, Amanda's husband Derek, Benjamin, and another guy in their ward who we actually happen to know - his name is Todd. Fortunately enough, we were right next to the Provo River Trail, and I know all the marks on it well enough to create on the spur of the moment an out and back 5 K course that would pass USATF certification. So that is what we did. Todd went ahead and walked it on his own. Derek, Amanda, Sarah, and Benjamin ran a race starting together, and timing themselves with Derek being the back-up timer as well. I watched the rest of the kids.

Derek won with 20:01. Benjamin was second in 24:03. He originally was supposed to pace Sarah and Amanda, but after the first mile decided the pace was too slow for him, and took off. He hit the turnaround in 11:30. On the way back he managed to take a wrong turn and run on the alternative part of the trail, which is supposedly 0.1 longer. On top of that, when he exited the detour, he made a turn in the wrong direction and ran until he met Amanda. She told him to turn around, which he did. In about 0.5 he managed to move away from her by almost a minute although she finished in 25:02 and was probably running around 8:10-8:20 pace on that stretch. Sarah had a cold, and started extra conservative, but then started feeling better and sped up to 8:10 pace finishing in 26:17 with the splits of 13:40 for the first half and 12:39 on the way back.

Did a little bit of random running - some with Derek for his warm up, then from their house to the church to get the van - total of about 0.6. 

P.M. Ted and James came to run with me. Pushed Jacob in the single stroller the entire time. Ran 1.05 with Julia in 10:43, while Jenny, Ted, and James ran ahead. Then added another 0.35 untimed. Jenny ran 1.55 in 12:48 with the last 0.5 in 3:48. Ted said her form was good, she looked like a miniature female elite runner, and she was not breathing very hard.

Then joined Ted and James for a portion of James' speed workout. He was doing 2x1 mile in the middle of 9.5 run. I just ran 2.5 out and back. This section included the first mile repeat. Ted gave me a funny look and a comment about running a sub-6:00 mile with a stroller after having done a hard 20 miler earlier this morning. However, a single stroller with a 16 month old child slows you down only by 15 seconds per mile, so no big deal. But it sure created some motivational element of James. Ted and I kept rubbing in the fact that if I could do my 24th mile for the day with a stroller at a given pace, James had no excuse. At one point Ted said - James, say hi to the baby. I got the clue, and made sure saying hi to the baby would not be too easy. I can only imagine what is going to happen when James has a kid of his own and pushes him in the stroller while running with Ted - Dad, say hi to the baby. Come on, this is your grandson, say hi to him!

We ran the mile in 5:50. It felt very good. Then I turned around and jogged back at a slightly sub-8:00 pace. My total time for the 5 miles was 36:51.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 00:18:23

I haven't noticed that you do many long runs so that caught my attention. I ran that same 20 miler myself when I was single and living in Provo.

Way to pull out a 5k course and save a fun run messed up by slackers!

From Dennis on Sun, Nov 11, 2007 at 01:11:00

Thanks for the welcome!

I ran my 2:32 at Chicago in 2006. Was fairly pleased with the race because I had been a bit bothered by injuries in the build-up. I'm very ready for sub-2:30 at St. Louis this spring.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.160.500.000.5019.16

A.M. The Uneventful Half-Marathon with Ted in 1:31:55, 8x100 strides, picked it up on the last mile, ran it in 6:00. Felt strong.

P.M. 0.5 with Benjamin in 4:22, then 1.5 with Benjamin and Jenny - pushed Jacob in the single stroller for that part. Benjamin took off at the end, his 2 mile time was 18:07, Jenny ran her 1.5 in 14:05. Then 1.05 with Julia in 10:53, and 3 by myself, no stroller, in 20:59. Some interesting stomach issues. Burps, lots of gas, could not run longer than 1.5 without a serious bathroom break. However, all solid, and felt strong while running. Sarah and Jenny got some stomach issues as well.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From adam on Mon, Nov 12, 2007 at 19:05:15

Sasha,

You all still heading out at 6:30 tomorrow? I think I may have a mule to let out of the barn...

From ArmyRunner on Mon, Nov 12, 2007 at 20:25:25

Adam we are actually meeting at 5:00am on Tuesday but you are welcome to let the mule out of the barn with us if you want. Wednesday 5:00am again and then Thursday 6:00am and Friday at 6:30am. At least that is our normal routine.

From adam on Mon, Nov 12, 2007 at 21:03:58

I'm there. Sorry I ask about times too much. I have a hard time even keeping track of what day it is sometimes with how busy things get.

From Paul Petersen on Mon, Nov 12, 2007 at 23:38:17

Sasha, your mileage is goofy today. Better check your half marathon distance.

From annie on Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 11:57:39

Thanks Sasha, I take an attaboy from you very seriously! Oh! I happened upon a "calculator" that I thought you'd like... and paul too probably. I'm not vouching for it's accuracy, I just thought you'd like it. That is if you haven't played with it already!

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/rununiv/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm

From Paul Petersen on Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 12:01:25

I've used it. It's a pretty good calculator. I like the Runworks.com one even better, because I can play with altitude, gradient, and heat.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 12:04:37

Annie - that is a very good calculator, very reliable. I use it sometimes.

From annie on Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 12:14:07

yes *double arm pump* I knew you'd like it. I don't have to worry about much other than heat because I live in a boring flat land.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.606.501.000.0021.10

A.M. Ran the Big Workout at 5:00 AM with Ted. Adam joined us for the first 4 miles. Warm up 6.22 in 45:49. Decided since it was early, I had stomach issues the day before and might possibly be a bit dehydrated or carbo-depleted, it was dark, plus I was just feeling plain lazy to hammer out 7.5 all by myself - so I decided to take it easy and run with Ted at whatever pace he wanted as long as it was sub-6:00. This could potentially be a hard workout as Ted sometimes has really good days and gives me a run for my money.

We went through the first 2.5 in 14:50 trading quarters. Sped up a bit on the way back - 14:34. The pace felt odd - no man's land. Too fast too be easy and relaxing, too slow to make me focus. So I kind of mentally drifted and suspended myself. Then Ted had a very serious VPB stop, some serious stomach problems. I told him I wanted to catch the 44:00 guy. With the stomach issues, he was not sure he'd be able to. So once we got going, he overcorrected and really put the hammer down hitting a 1:24 quarter. I was taken by surprise, but was able to refocus and come to grips that we were now in a different pace zone. So we hit the mile in 5:38. Then it was Ted's turn to lead. He thought I was not letting him lead, I thought he was too tired to lead and would not pass me. So I hit a quarter in 1:23, eased off a bit on the next one to 1:24 hoping that Ted would be able to draft, but he was falling behind, and I was already in gear. So I just kept going. Ran the last slight uphill mile in 5:29, 13:54 for the last 2.5, 43:18 for 7.5. Ted finished in 43:38, leaving the 44:00 guy in the dust as well.

Cooled down the last 1.38 in 10:45, 1:39:52 for 15.1.

P.M. Started with 0.05 to get Julia from her friend's house, then 1.05 with her in 11:15, then 1.75 with Jenny in 16:17, then 2.1 with Benjamin in 17:27, and 1.05 by myself in 7:35. Pushed Jacob in the double stroller the entire time. Felt strong.

Quotes from our kids at different ages:

Benjamin at the age of 3 after another kid took a toy away from him in church: "Sam, you must not do this, you must repent!"

Jenny at the age of 3: "When I grow up, I want to be a Lamanite so I can kill sheep!"

Julia at the age of 5: "...and the most expensive kind of love is marriage!"


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From marciej on Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 15:30:42

Thanks for the welcome and the advice! I never really thought as being tired at the start as a good thing but it makes sense. Thanks (when i respond to a blog do I post on your page or mine?)

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 15:48:24

Marcie - when replying you should respond at the same place where the original comment was posted. This allows others to follow a discussion.

From crumpyb1 on Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 21:42:20

Sasha, I want to see if I understand the couple running terms you were explaining to me yesterday.

Fartlek--a run were you increase your pace for a certain amount of time. Example: Run 10k pace for three minutes, run normal for two minutes.

Tempo Run--where you run a certain course as fast as you can with a mile or more for a warm up and a cool down

Strides--sprinting for a hundred meters during your run (how often do you repeat the stride--I noticed you wanted Sarah to do six today).

So how close am I? Let me know when you have a moment. Thanks.

From Clay on Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 22:43:33

Nice Quotes from your kids Sasha, they say the funniest things. Nice job on the workout, you and Ted are nuts, but you guys inspire me every day, keep it up...

From Dustin on Tue, Nov 13, 2007 at 23:39:57

Sasha I like the new feature with the Lost Sheep and the Lone Faithfuls. It seems the blog has really taken off in the last few months, and I haven't been able to keep up with all the new people signing in. I also like the feature you added which now allows us to have our favorite blogs on our individual blog pages, this has made things much easier for me.

From James on Wed, Nov 14, 2007 at 14:51:31

Good new features. I was going to mention we should do something like that, but you are on top of it already.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 12:41:55

Adrianne: Basically right, with some clarifications. On a tempo run you do not go all out. Rather you run about the race pace for twice the distance or more. For example, you can run a 3-5 mile tempo at half-marathon race pace, or 10-12 miles at marathon race pace. Tempo runs should ideally end no slower than they start, you should be well in control of the pace.

Strides should be done somewhere between 5 K and 1 mile race pace, they are quick but not all out sprints. The length of a stride should be such that you are enjoying the speed but your legs do not get heavy at the end. Somewhere around 10-20 seconds. Somewhere between 4 and 8 during a run. The idea is to teach your body to run fast with the minimum stress impact.

From Kim on Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 12:57:28

I just have to add this quote my friend's son told her the other day. It kind of fits on a fitness blog like this.

She scowled at him for something he was doing and he said, "Mom! You have a 'six pack' on your forehead!" (She told me she is glad she at least has one somewhere on her body!)

Moral of the story, let's try to have the six packs on the abs and not the forehead!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.400.000.750.0019.15

A.M. Easy 10.1 with Ted in 1:14:30. Started at slower than 9:00, sped up to 7:00 on the second half, eventually worked our way up to 6:20 pace at the end. Felt great, neighing horses.

P.M. Ate something bad, possibly fish, or maybe just too much. After lunch was sitting down in front of a computer and started feeling chills and a bit dizzy. Got up, walked around, tried again. Noticed the chills were there when trying to read the computer screen, but would go away otherwise. Went for a run with Julia to test the waters. We ran 1.05 in 11:12. Felt better. Then Ted came with James and Jared. Ran 1.5 with Ted, James, Jared, and Benjamin in 12:43, then another 0.5 after dropping Jenny and Jared off in 3:28, 16:11 for 2 miles. Then 3 miles with Ted and James in 22:30 with 6x200 around 40s. Then 3 miles with Ted in 21:51. Found a friend on the road - his name is Lorenzo. Felt progressively better throughout the run.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Christi on Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 00:54:32

Hi Sasha- I really like the updates you've made to the blog- like sorting the newbies to the blog and the lost & lone sheep, etc. I also think the private message option is cool. You sure are talented at this computer stuff (not to mention RUNNING!) Hope you're feeling better from that yucky spell you had today. (food poisoning?)

From Mike B on Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 06:03:43

Yes, Sasha, I am trying to be patient. It has been difficult. I do not want to do too much, but I also don't want to be too conservative. I do better with a set schedule as well. Simply running easy days has me sometimes saying, "Ah, it would have been just an easy 4 miler." Adapting to our 3 month old also has been trying, at times. 2008 is a new year with lots of falling PRs. Thanks and see you in a few weeks. I see the training is going well. By the way, I used your "horses neighing" in my blog; however, mine were not horses, but rather small ponies just wanting to be ridden at a child's birthday party.

From Jamie on Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 10:35:44

Sasha, to answer your question about the Thanksgiving Day 4 miler...yes, I am planning on running it. Don't know what time to shoot for. This morning I did a 4 mile tempo run in 25:44 (6:26 averaged pace). Labored breathing but not really race mode. Hope race day goes well. I got the impression last Friday that you'd be there?!

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 23:00:01

Jamie - yes, I am running the 4 miler. You could probably run sub-25:00, that would be a good goal, and will most likely give you a turkey.

From Jamie on Fri, Nov 16, 2007 at 09:31:49

Sasha, a sub-25:00 would be a good time.

I need to learn what feels right in race mode. Don't want to push it so hard that I can't keep my pace...but more often than not, I am too conservative.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.602.002.500.5021.60

A.M. Big Workout with Ted at 6:00 AM. Woke up, was still feeling a bit funny. So I was not sure if this would affect my running or not. Yesterday at slower speeds it did not, but a 5 mile tempo has a tendency to explore and reveal hidden problems.

Ted came wearing shorts and announced his car reported the temperature of 20 F. That was the last thing I wanted to hear because if it was true, I would have to wear pants in addition to gloves and jacket. So I went downstairs to my computer to check the temperature. It was 29.2 F at the airport. This was right on the edge of the shorts/pants threshold for me, but I was so happy that I could wear shorts.

The warm up was slow, took us 2.5 to catch the 8:00 guy, but I heard the horses neighing. Hit 6.22 in 47:24, and started the tempo. Ted took the first quarter, a bit too hard, at first I thought I was just not warmed up, but then I saw 40 for the first 200 and told him we were going 5:20. So he backed off. We went through the first mile in 5:31 showing about equal degree of pace initiative during our quarter stints. Then Ted's ankle started to give out, and he started to lose steam. He did a 1:25 quarter, I did not want them to be slower than 1:24, so I picked it up on my turn and overcorrected to 1:21. Then Ted took his in 1:25 (uphill), which was fine with me, and I did mine in 1:24 which is still a bit uphill and rolling. This gave us 5:35 for the next mile. Then Ted did 1:26, it was a bit slow, but I did not feel like correcting it too hard with Ted being obviously not 100% already, the pending 180 turn and the goal of running 5:20 pace average on the way back. So I did mine in 1:24 again, 13:56 at 2.5, avg. 5:34.4.

On the way back, I was able to kick into gear right away. The first quarter was 1:21, then a steady stream of 1:20s with one downhill one in 1:19 up to the 4 mile mark. 3rd mile was 5:31, 4th in 5:19. The first quarter of the last mile had some leaves. I also lost concentration going through the gates, and wondering if I should try to hit the stop button on my watch with the gloves on, or if I should just not worry about it and simply look when I cross the line. Then I started to get worried about the overall time being messed up. I caught myself quickly enough, but this slowed me down to a 1:21 quarter. I learned that when running 5:20s little things begin to matter - your mind must be void of vain worries or you lose the momentum.

Repented on the next quarter and ran it in 1:20 again. Picked it up with 0.5 to go, ran it in 2:35. Last mile in 5:16, last 2.5 in 13:16 (avg. 5:18.4), incidentally a PR for that stretch, total time 27:12, avg. 5:26.4, only 24 seconds slower than all-time PR which was done in 60 degrees, only 3 mile warm-up, trading quarters with Jeff, the intention to run fast all the way, and a mildly positive split. I suppose this means I am mostly over the mini-illness of yesterday, but sure did give me some serious concern at first.

Talked to the farmer with the dog while waiting for Ted. His named turned out to be Harold, and the dog's name is Eeah (or however you spell it). Told him he was our farmer with the dog, and the dog's name for us is really Bingo.

Cooled down the last 3.88 in 28:18, avg. 7:17.63, total time for 15.1 1:42:54, avg. 6:48.84.

P.M. The Lost Sheep Stu decided to call me today. I told him he was officially a Lost Sheep. He said he wanted to go for a run. We ran 4 miles in 31:53. He committed to changing his Lost Sheep status. Encourage him through the new Private Message feature if he does not re-appear on the blog tomorrow. Then ran 1.05 with Julia in 11:16, and 1.5 with Benjamin and Jenny in 13:56. Benjamin drifted off at the end and finished in 13:51. Benjamin is tapering for Regions.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From sarah on Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 19:21:02

I don't know if I've ever even posted on your blog honey. That's so cool that you found out the farmer's name....did he laugh?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Nov 15, 2007 at 22:29:35

Yes, he did!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.810.000.000.5019.31

A.M. The Uneventful Half Marathon. It was more eventful than normal today. Ted and I started together. Soon a friendly lost dog joined us. It ran with us 2 miles, then found a lady with two dogs, and decided that was a more interesting company. In the mean time, Adam appeared out of nowhere, and caught up to us. So now it was Ted, me, and Adam. Adam ran with us to about 9 miles. I did 8x100 strides. Ted skipped those with his knee bothering him. Total time for the run was 1:34:49.

P.M. 4 miles with Lost Sheep Stu in 32:46 pushing Jacob. Then 1.5 with Benjamin and Jenny in 13:58. Benjamin surged ahead at the end and finished in 13:49. Then 0.7 by myself, no stroller in 4:58.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Brent on Sat, Nov 17, 2007 at 14:09:33

Sasha, I have never quite understood the value of the stiders, it may have hit me today. It really does make a differece to get the legs energized, espoecially after a tough run the day before. It would be helpful, I am sure for many of us that have read your comments about striders, to have you fully explain the value. Thanks

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.0015.000.000.0025.00

A.M. Long run at 5:00 AM. Had to get it done early to make it to Benjamin's Regionals race. Ted joined me for the first 5 miles. His knee was still bothering him, so he went only 12. Decided to run 15 hard instead of 10 for a change. In all honesty I just wanted to have an excuse for running the tempo part slower. But it ended up being decent anyway.

First 5 in 35:15, 240 feet of rolling gain, mild occasional headwind. Then picked it up. Next 5 in 31:12, 310 feet of steady gain, steady mild headwind. Turned around. Next 5 in 28:50, 310 feet of steady drop, steady mild tailwind. The sun finally came up and I could see. Last 5 in 28:19, 240 feet of rolling drop, not sure about the wind, probably mild tail for the first 2 miles, then none. Held 5:40 along University, then slowed down to 5:48 in the tunnel maze. Gave myself a kick in the pants after DI bridge, got back into 5:40 rhythm, but just did not have the juice to go faster. Then on the last mile starting singing Bingo in my head, got excited, and kicked into 5:30 gear. Ran 5:30 on the last mile, felt like I could have held it for another mile or two in a pack. Total time 2:03:36, 6:10.8 avg, last 10 in 57:09, 5:42.9 avg, last 15 including the Provo Canyon climb in the dark in 1:28:21, 5:53.4 avg.

Benjamin ran 3 K 13:31.2 in the Regionals taking 25th in Bantams, 1st from Team Provo again. This is a new cross-country PR for the distance for him.

P.M. Got a nice nap. Then was short on time, so had to make it quick. Fairly quickly got into the rhythm, and found myself running sub-6:20 before I knew it. Decided I could still finish the run in time at a slower pace, but by then I was already rolling. So I slowed down to around 6:25. 5 miles in 32:29, avg. 6:29.8. Odd feeling at the end of the day. I feel like I had not trained at all. Jenny and Julia ran their usual distances with Sarah.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Jamie on Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 09:58:52

Sasha, I'm thinking about running the 1/2 tomorrow (Monday) with you and Ted...if you don't mind me joining you again. What's the chance that you guys would be willing to do it a bit earlier? I believe Tom is thinking about coming up for it as well; I'm not sure about Michelle.

From Clay on Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 11:46:48

Sasha, you are an animal. I can only imagine the shape some of you guys are in, I wish I could actually be in that kind of shape, it inspires me to work harder...

From Sasha Pachev on Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 13:55:47

Jamie - we can go earlier. How early do you need it to be?

From Jamie on Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 19:14:58

I am willing to go earlier, but anything later than 6am and I probably can't make it up to Provo for the run.

From Sasha Pachev on Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 20:21:18

6:00 AM works fine for me and Ted.

From MichelleL on Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 20:30:05

I will also be there at 6am.

From Sasha Pachev on Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 22:02:01

Ok, we'll be expecting everybody at 6:00 AM then for our Monday Uneventful Half.

From Jamie on Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 22:29:40

Thanks so much, see you tomorrow morning!

From Benn on Sun, Nov 18, 2007 at 22:32:47

Man I really need to try to get some running buddies up here in rural New York. It stinks running by oneself day in and day out. In the last 2 months I've done no more than 5 runs with more than just me, and 2 of those were races, the others with just my brother. I mean I guess I can't complain, because you get used to the silence, but sometimes I feel like I need the competition to push harder.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.860.800.000.5019.16

A.M. The Uneventful Half. Record number of participants today. In addition to Ted, and myself, we had Michelle, Tom, and Jamie for the full distance. Additionally Daniel joined us for the first 1.5, then turned around and ran back home - recovering from his ankle injury.

Two VPB stops, caught up at around 5:30-5:35 pace both times, total of about 0.8. Did 8x100 strides as well. We stayed together as a pack most of the way, Jamie fell back 5 seconds on the last quarter. Total time for the lead pack was 1:34:25. I was probably a minute faster due to the post VPB stop accelerations, but I did not stop my watch. Interestingly enough, Jamie got a PR for the half marathon today.

Interesting dream this morning. I dreamed about running a 1500 in 3:49 and being disappointed because I did not make it to the Trials (3:42 standard). Then I said, wait a minute, I am a marathoner! If I can run 3:49 in the 1500 I should be stoked instead - this means I've got a 2:12 marathon in me! Not only will this get me to the Trials with standard A, this gives me a shot for the team. Then I woke up, and it was time to train to make it true.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 17:32, 1.05 with Julia in 10:27, 1.5 with Jenny pushing Jacob in the stroller in 14:06, and then 1.5 still with Jacob in the stroller, but otherwise alone in 10:43.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Benn on Mon, Nov 19, 2007 at 17:15:57

I'm 6'1" just shy of 6'2" and 165 pounds, have been 166 or so for the last 3-4 months.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Nov 19, 2007 at 17:20:38

Your weight is fine, maybe a bit high for a runner, but nothing major to worry about. Just eat healthy and train, and if it needs to be a little lower it will get there. If it stays where it's at, I would not worry about it either.

From Jamie on Mon, Nov 19, 2007 at 18:29:54

Sasha, thanks for your help today. I'll continue working hard, so as to not hold everyone else up. See you Thursday at the 4 miler!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.855.751.750.0021.35

A.M. Big Workout at 5:00 AM. Ted did not make it, I suppose due to his knee pain. Part of it was with Clyde and Adam for portions of it. Adam turned around at 3.88. Clyde joined me for the first 2 miles of the tempo - his legs were still sore. First 6.22 in 47:03. Noticed some wind, did not like it.

Then started the tempo. I was lazy. Clyde had his horses neighing at first. So I took the first quarter in 1:28, Clyde responded with 1:20 on his. Odd, felt fast but not 5:20 pace fast. Then I took mine in 1:27, Clyde responded with a 1:25, 5:40 mile. I did mine in 1:28, Clyde did his in 1:23. Around that time I started liking Clyde's quarters, but still lacked the initiative on mine. Then I took no splits for a while - it was dark, and I kept missing the marks. Clyde all of a sudden lost steam and bailed out at 2 - I guess his legs started to complain a lot. I continued on in my laziness. Hit a 5:53 mile (slight up) before the turnaround with the last quarter of 1:29. Talk about a lazy bum. 14:24 at the turnaround.

On the way back tried to wake up. Hit the next mile in 5:44. Then things started to come together a bit, next mile in 5:38. Starting to gain on the 5:40 finally, but there seems to be some odd wind out there, and it is still dark. I am still not feeling extra motivated. Just as I about settled into a nice 5:38 rhythm, there was a gust head wind that slowed me down to a 1:29 quarter. 14:16 for the second 2.5, 28:40 for 5 miles.

On the way back, the tail wind helped me get into a nice 5:36 rhythm after hitting the first quarter in 1:26 recovering from a 180 turn. Prior to hitting the headwind earlier I had hopes to catch the 5:40 guy, but now my goal was to just break 14:00 on the last 2.5. So I was just cruising along at 5:36 pace knowing that I could eat away the 2 second deficit on the last mile barring the headwind or something crazy like that. Next mile in 5:38. Then with 1.5 to go the sun started to rise, and I began to see some light. I may also have gotten a brief gust of tailwind as well. That gave me extra momentum and with about the same effort I hit a 1:22 quarter. From then on, I did all of the quarters in 1:22 up until the last, and with a little bit of concentration but not really kicking hit the last one in 1:20. So that gave me 8:10 for the last 1.5, 5:26 for the last mile (slight up), 13:48 for the last 2.5, and 42:28 for the entire 7.5 tempo, 2 seconds ahead of the 5:40 guy, and a PR for the 5:00 AM version of that run.

Ran the cool down (1.38) in 10:34, total time for 15.1 was 1:40:05, 6:37.68 avg.

Observed an interesting phenomenon that I've seen many times before. When I hit the headwind I had a certain negative feeling in the quads. That feeling comes usually when it is cold and I am trying to either run hard or not super hard but I am not yet warmed up, e.g I can get it going as slow as 7:00 pace in the first mile on a cold morning. I can also get it on a warmer day running hard uphill or into a headwind, and on a cold day that feeling is more pronounced when the quads are in high power mode (uphill, headwind). It can happen at slower than marathon pace effort heart rate, so it is not lactic acid build-up, that feeling is distinctly different from anaerobic running, but it is similar in that it seems to signal to the brain to back off. I can even get it by just walking up the stairs. I am thinking that feeling comes from the blood vessels being too constricted to handle the blood flow in required quantities.

So the question for those with exercise physiology background - when running uphill or into ahead wind, would the increased contraction of the muscle squeeze the blood vessels to restrict blood flow to some perceivable degree?

P.M.  2 miles with Benjamin and Lost Sheep Stu in 17:23. Pushed Joseph in the single stroller. Then put Joseph and Benjamin in the double stroller and ran 2 more miles with Lost Sheep Stu in 14:49. Then 1.05 with Jenny and Julia in 10:55, 0.5 more with Jenny in 4:39, and 0.7 by myself in 5:03, no stroller.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From adam on Tue, Nov 20, 2007 at 15:26:47

I think the problem would come more from the cooling affect of the headwind/cold morning than the muscle squeezing the blood vessel. I think for that to occur you would need an outside mechanism (like torniquet)

An more active muscle requires a higher quantity of blood delivery, which the body is able to normally give by shunting the blood away from tissues unecessary to the activity (digestive system, for instance) and increasing cardiac output (raising the speed and volume of blood being delivered).

However, it is possible that in colder weather the body diverts less than normal away from those organs to maintain core warmth, which would mean not enough blood is being delivered to the active muscles- and it could be that it remains this way until you have raised your core temperature through warmup.

It is also possible that the cooling affect of a head wind/colder temps on the skin could initially cause a slight amount of vasoconstriction on working muscles(much like icing would do), also decreasing the amount of blood that can be delivered. This seems to me to be the most likely scenario. It may be one reason you feel it in your legs, which are exposed.

The constriction on the vessesls to the working muscles could then signal to your brain to slow down, as their isn't enough room for the increased blood amount to be delivered as fast as needed. The pressure of a large volume of blood trying to go through a smaller vessel may the cause of that negative feeling.

It would be interesting to see if you expierence this at all while wearing those undershorts or running tights that would prevent direct exposure to the cold.

From MichelleL on Wed, Nov 21, 2007 at 09:12:28

Aren't you supposed to be tapering, Sasha? Just a little bit? Forty miles in two days seems a little on the high side. How about a double digit week, like say 99 miles?

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Nov 21, 2007 at 12:20:04

Adam:

Thanks for the explanation. I get that feeling with the pants on as well, although perhaps it is a bit less pronounced. Also, I get it only in the quad, and judging by my muscle proportions, my quads are the hardest workers when I run, not just relative to other muscles, but relative to those proportions in other runners. When I reach a limit, it is always the quads that signal no, we cannot do it. I never get that feeling in any other leg muscle group. I did suspect what I was feeling was the blood vessels complaining about too much pressure on them, and when it is cold and they constrict, they would naturally complain more.

Michelle - thanks for the reminder. I got so relaxed about the race that I almost forgot I was supposed to taper.

From adam on Wed, Nov 21, 2007 at 14:39:51

I know what you mean about the big quads being the hard workers. If you think we're big, you should meet my brother...a college football kicker, lifetime soccer player, and weightlifter. I once took him on a 4.5 mile run at 6:30ish pace (he had never being out strictly running before) and though he was dying on the upper half, his legs were keeping him up. like giant pistons of glory.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.100.000.000.0014.10

A.M. Very easy run with Ted at 5:00 AM this morning. 10.1 in 1:16:58.

Took a look at how the Hanson guys are training at Athleticore. Examined Chad Johnson, Nick Arciniaga, and Brian Sell. They train pretty much like I do. Brian Sell does a bit more mileage - 150 -160. Their speed work is 20-30 seconds per mile faster altitude adjusted, but the workouts are very similar - hardly any VO2 Max work, mostly tempos and aerobic intervals. However, the recovery rate is much different. I hardly ever have a bad day or any pains anywhere. They complain about aches and pains half the time. I need to solve the problem of being 20-30 seconds per mile slower on every distance. This is a beast, but I am determined to get to the root of it.

The challenge of the beast is that this is not a well-researched subject. Nobody really cares to develop a science of making a 31 minute 10 K runner into a 29 minute one. They just say the 31 minute 10 K should be happy that he is not a 35 minute 10 K runner or worse. I do not like that. I do not like web pages that take more than a second to load, I've always been able to make them load faster than that when I tried hard enough. I think we can do better than "be happy you can run 31:00" if we try. I feel driven to understand what exactly makes the trained 31 minute 10 K runner that way, why is he stuck there?

P.M. Easy run with Lost Sheep Stu - 4 miles at a bit slower than 8:00. He is procrastinating getting out of the lost sheep category, give him a personal message in his blog.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Thu, Nov 22, 2007 at 00:29:43

I agree with the points that you make. We don't want to be satisfied with a certain time. I know I'm no where near my full potential and I plan to get there.

If we have the right mindset we can overcome any obstacles.

If we have faith and believe it can be given to us like the below scripture says:

Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

Race: Orem International Thangsiving 4 Miler (4 Miles) 00:21:06, Place overall: 3
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.600.000.004.0015.60

A.M. Ran in the Orem Thanksgiving 4 Miler. 21:06.4, 3rd place.

It was cold - 24 degrees, and windy as well. The wind was coming out of the Provo Canyon and making its way to central Orem. So good friendly cross-wind the first quarter, mild unfriendly cross-wind the next quarter, then more unfriendly cross-wind the next 0.5, mild friendly cross-wind the next 0.5, very friendly cross-wind the next 0.5, mild unfriendly next 0.5, very unfriendly the next 0.5, mild friendly the next 0.5, very friendly the next quarter, and mild unfriendly on the last quarter. I discovered this in the warm-up, and adjusted my expectations accordingly. The plan was to start slower than normal, draft as much as possible on the unfriendly cross-winds, and move from pack to pack on the friendly ones. Unfortunately for the goal of running a fast time, or perhaps fortunately for the goal of winning a turkey (top 5 overall or 1st in the age division), there were not many packs around, and I spent all of the race except the first mile alone.

As usual, there was a pack of high schoolers going out way too fast. They probably would be able to hold that pace all the way if they trained right. We are sure wasting a lot of talents in high schools. I worked my way through the pack trying to use them as wind breakers. It worked to a certain extent. I would tuck in behind a guy and start breathing noisily to make him feel like if he picked it up he would drop me. Unfortunately, those guys did not last, but each one would always pull me up to the next close enough to where I could advance to the next drafting target with a mild surge. Passed Ed Eyestone - he is back into running, although not nearly as fast as he used to me. Worked my way up to Danny Moody. Danny pulled me up to Seth Wold, Stephen Clark, and another runner I did not recognize.

I happily sat behind them. Then they slowed down into the wind, and I was itching to go, but not bad enough to break the wind for them. First mile in 5:18. Then Seth and Stephen just took off. I tried to go with them, but they were way too fast. But this helped me lose Danny and the other guy, which was helpful for the turkey cause. Next mile in 5:08 with friendly cross winds. Felt good. Now unfriendly cross winds. Third mile in 5:20 according to the official mark, but I am pretty sure it was about 5 seconds off. I could tell I was slower than 5:20. Made the turn and started recovering from fighting unfriendly cross winds alone for a mile. Started kicking into gear. With a quarter to go heard Danny Moody coming up on me. That was trouble, he can run a quarter in low 50s. So I ran like an antelope chased by a cheetah - its only hope is to have enough gap to start with and run the cheetah out of juice. It worked, I managed to hold him off, he finished 5 seconds behind. Last mile officially in 5:20, but more likely around 5:13-5:15. Got my turkey.

Felt good after the finish, jogging felt comfortable right away, which is a sign that although I did not run very fast, and did not feel like I could have gone faster, it was very aerobic, probably the most aerobic I've ever been in a 4 mile race. When sub-5:20 on a windy day in 24 degrees feels aerobic, it is a good sign for the marathon.

Ran back to meet Sarah. She got a PR of 31:57, and finished 161st out 547 men and women.

Then it was time for kids races. First the diaper division - 0-2 100 meters. We had two in that race - Jacob, and Joseph. Jacob got a DNS - refused to start the race. That's OK, he is only 16 months old, we'll work on having a better attitude next year. Plus he got a turkey in the raffle. Joseph did great. No complaining, no crying, ran the whole way. 46.2. 3rd boy, Pachev family record for the diaper division! Good race, even though the competition was stronger - the winner ran 34 seconds. Very good attitude for his age and the conditions.

We did not have anybody in the 3-4 400 meter race. In the 800 meter race they had everybody run together, which included two age divisions - 5-6, and 7-8, both boys and girls. That took me by surprise as I hoped the races would be in separate heat so I could pace all of the remaining children individually. With Julia being the youngest, I decided to pace her, and let Benjamin and Jenny run on their own.

Benjamin did great - 3:00.6, new PR, won the boys 7-8 by 27 seconds. I told him to hang back but keep an eye on the leaders up until 300 meter mark, then pull up to them, and around 400  put on a decisive winning move. He did exactly what I told him. His move was absolutely devastating to the competition. When I saw him after the turnaround, he was hauling, and giving the rabbit a run for her money. He tells me he ended up dropping the rabbit. Turkey for Benjamin.

Jenny was racing Sophia Thompson who is 8, so this was going to be tough. Sophia beat her with 3:14. Jenny got 3:34, a new PR,  2nd in the age division, but chicked all the boys except Benjamin and the 2nd place finisher in the 7-8 division.

Julia  also had  a tough race being only 5, and a young 5 as well, and racing in the 5-6  division, with Rachael Blackburn in the race. She was having a decent race up until 200 to go. Then she kind of gave up. But she still managed a decent time of 4:24, and a second place in her age division after Rachael, who ran 3:59. Interestingly enough, last year it was Jenny who took the turkey away from Rachael using the advantage of being 1 year older. But this year it was the Blackburn's turn for the turkey in women 5-6.

Ran a cool down with Benjamin (1.1), then another mile with Ted and James, then Jenny lost her special bunny. When you see her race like a furious dragon it is easy to forget that she is only 7. The lost bunny was a reminder. We looked and looked, and could not find it. Then Benjamin, Jenny and I even ran along the race course (total of 0.8), and still no bunny. Then we came back and Sarah had found it in the van. Jenny's sorrow turned immediately into joy.

P.M. Got home around 5:30 PM from Salt Lake, went for an easy 5 on the trail alone. Absolutely not a soul in any form. Felt a bit weak in the first 3 miles, then felt strong, and chased down the 7:00 guy - 34:57 for the run.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Brent on Fri, Nov 23, 2007 at 09:11:59

Sasah, always enjoy reading your tactical account of the race, awesome as always. Congrads on the turkey.

From MichelleL on Fri, Nov 23, 2007 at 10:54:54

Hey Sasha, Congrats on holding off Danny Money and securing the turkey, which is sounds like you might even allow yourself to eat!

From Craig on Fri, Nov 23, 2007 at 19:25:26

Sasha- great account of the race, as always. I would be interested to hear more of your thoughts on bad training and wasted talent in high school.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Nov 24, 2007 at 22:22:25

Craig:

Most high schoolers train sporadically, do not do much base conditioning, and cram-train for speed. With proper base conditioning, more consistent training, and increased focus on aerobic development in regular runs as well as in speed work most if not all the guys I see ahead of me after the first quarter in a 5 K would still be ahead of me at the finish.

From Lybi on Sat, Nov 24, 2007 at 22:24:19

I wondered how many turkeys you guys were getting this Thanksgiving! How fun that they have those little races for the kids. Sounds like they all did a great job!

I laughed when I read that you were hanging out right behind those guys and purposely breathing hard to try to get them to go faster. Ought to be ashamed of yourself--taking advantage of less experienced runners like that! ;)

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.500.000.000.5012.00

A.M. Easy 10 with Ted in 1:14:30, did 8x100 strides. James joined us for the first 6, we also caught up to Adam around 2.5 miles, and he ran with us most of the way.

P.M. Ran 2 miles with the kids over by Ted's house. First 1 mile with James, Benjamin, Jenny, Jared, and Julia in 9:40. Then dropped Julia off, another 0.5 in 4:34 (14:14 at 1.5), dropped Jared and Jenny off, challenged Benjamin to catch the 9:00 guy, he cranked it up, took the hills as if they were not there, ran the last 0.5 in 3:27, total time for 2 miles was 17:41. Noticed that Benjamin is starting to develop an Ethiopian knee-lift - you look at him an wonder how a guy so short could take strides so long.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.5513.100.000.0018.65

A.M. Decided to be a bum today, since I am tapering. It was cold, so I waited until 11:00 AM for it to warm up. It did not warm up much - 30 degrees, and some odd winds, but that was as good as it was going to get.

15.1 progression run. Did not have any goals, decided to play by ear and set them as I went. Start out easy, then brisk easy, then marathon pace once it felt right. First quarter was 1:49, then started going 6:40, then 6:20, by 2 miles I was up to 6:00. Hit 2 miles in 12:51. After some hesitation decided not to give the 6:00 guy any more ground. Passed Adam around 3.3, invited him to join, but 6:00 pace was faster than he wanted to go. Hit the 5.05 turnaround in 31:01, then 38:01 at 6.22.

Cruised along edging up on the 6:00 guy like a predator. Next 2.5 in 14:45, turned around came back in 14:43. Now that catching the 6:00 guy was pretty much a done deal, decided to set a new goal - break 44:00 for the standard 7.5 stretch, and catch the 1:30:00 guy for the 15.1. That would mean putting a 36 second gap on the 6:00 guy. For that one I had to get my horses moving, and they fussed. They were enjoying the 5:55 pace just fine. It took a good 0.7 of negotiation before I could convince them to go 5:45 pace. Hit the next 2.5 in 14:29, 43:57 for 7.5.

Still had 1.38 to go, it was a rough maze. Three tunnels, lots of 90 degree turns, net uphill of 40 feet. Lost concentration, lost ground to 6:00 guy in a few spots. With 0.625 to go saw I needed to run 3:29 to make it. Wow, I really have got to move my horses for that, so I did. 42 for the uphill 200, then 1:25 for the quarter with 2 turns, and trying to get around a slowly moving SUV to cross 500 N, OK, now it is really time to stop messing around or the 1:30:00 guy will slip away, last quarter in 1:22, got 1:30:00 on the dot. Talk about a lazy bum, waited for the last moment and would not even budge to be 1 second ahead. Average of 5:57.62. Last 13.1 in 1:17:09, avg. 5:53.36.

P.M. The difficulty of negotiating with the horses in contrast with the aerobically conversational ease of 6:00 pace suggested a nervous system failure. This did make sense, as we had a couple of rough nights with sick kids, then I raced faster than my normal tempos, but did not take naps in the last two days. So although I was not feeling sleepy I decided to lay down and let my body take a nap. At first not much was happening, but pretty soon I zonked out and ended up sleeping for 2.5 hours. Then ran with the kids. 2 miles with Benjamin in 17:29, then 1.05 with Jenny and Julia in 10:52, then another 0.5 with Jenny, total of 15:27 for 1.55.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From MichelleL on Sun, Nov 25, 2007 at 11:28:32

Couldn't resist breaking that 100 mile mark, could we? ;)

From ArmyRunner on Sun, Nov 25, 2007 at 22:18:24

My 2 cents for a taper this week for you:

MON - AM = 8 miles easy with strides

PM = 6 miles easy includes kids

TUE - AM = 10 miles with 3x2min

PM = 3 miles easy with kids

WED - AM = 6 miles easy with strides

PM = 4 miles easy with kids

THU - AM = 5 miles easy

PM = 3 miles easy with kids

FRI - AM = 3 miles easy before flight

PM = 2 miles easy after flight

From James on Sun, Nov 25, 2007 at 22:46:57

The Barnes 2 cents for a taper this week for you:

MON - AM = 7 miles with 2x1600 meter workout

PM = 3 miles easy includes kids

TUE - AM = No run

PM = 3 miles easy with kids

WED - AM = 6 miles easy with strides

PM = 2 miles with kids

THU - AM = 5 miles easy (no 5:30-5:40 stuff)

PM = No run with kids

FRI - AM = 3 miles easy before flight

PM = 2 miles easy after flight

That is more than what our top runner ran before his last two marathons for taper week.

I would like to see if you could come close to either one of these suggestions, plus I would like to see what a truly rested Sasha could do!

From Katie on Mon, Nov 26, 2007 at 07:51:09

Sahsa, What race are you tapering for? I would also be interested to see what a well rested Sasha could do. Have you the self control for that though? I suspect it might require ropes and some sort of sedation.

From Paul Petersen on Mon, Nov 26, 2007 at 09:14:53

Yeah, the less you do, the better, IMO. You won't lose one iota of fitness. I realize it might drive you insane, but it could be worth it for a PR and some prize money. ;-)

From Paul Petersen on Mon, Nov 26, 2007 at 09:15:31

Either way, I'm really looking forward to see how you do. Good luck. Will the new singlet be ready in time for the race?

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Nov 26, 2007 at 10:39:41

Katie: I am tapering for the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis, TN.

Paul, James, Katie - my past experience suggests I do better with a very minimal taper. Too much tapering makes me very sluggish. I suppose the reason is that Sasha is quite well rested already off regular training. So if I do what others consider taper, it does little for my muscle freshness and glycogen storage and gives me lost muscle tone instead.

From Katie on Mon, Nov 26, 2007 at 16:55:19

Hogwash.

From adam on Mon, Nov 26, 2007 at 17:20:35

I didn't think you could call a four day taper "too much" tapering, especially after another 100mile week, and right before a goal marathon. Do what you know is best for you though, and don't think too much about it. Personally, I think Ted is on the right track, but I think some strides Thursday/Friday morning instead of wednesday might help you feel more "bingo ready" for Saturday.

From ArmyRunner on Mon, Nov 26, 2007 at 17:22:43

The taper I suggested for Sasha was higher than any other taper I would suggest for others based on how Sasha trains and recovers. I also know Sasha would not go for anything too low so I tried to design something that would or could be acceptable to him. I also really want to see what a truly rested and properly tapered Sasha can do. I think what I suggested above falls into a minimal taper category so hopefully something along these lines works for Sasha. If he does about 50 miles in the 5 days before the marathon this is about 50% of his normal mileage in 5 days. If one looks at other high mileage types like Brian Sell this is about what he did leading up to the trials and he is like Sasha in that he does not prefer a major taper. In fact he did the following for the trials in his final 5 weeks:

5 weeks out – 160 miles (high mile week of year)

4 weeks out – 154 miles (4% reduction from peak)

3 weeks out – 139 miles (13% reduction from peak)

2 weeks out – 115 miles (28% reduction from peak)

5 days prior – 66 miles (44% reduction from 5 day peak)

So I agree Sasha needs to learn to plan his taper better but something similar to what Sell does may be his best bet. I also noticed that Sell training is pretty straight forward and simple. 1 hard day followed by 2 easy days and repeat. He rotates the hard days between longer tempo, longer repeats, and a long run where he finishes the last 3 miles at MP. His last long runs before the trials were 22 miles 33 days out, 22 miles 27 days out, 22 miles 19 days out, and 20 miles 10 days out. I really like his approach to training and it confirms what I also have thought works best for a marathon runner.

Anyway, just my 4 cents now I guess.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.150.000.000.5012.65

A.M. Taper week. There were a couple of posts on the blog earlier suggesting different types of tapering. In addition to my personal experiences I drew some ideas from the following. First, a quote from Tinman:

Your muscle fiber types also determines how long you must taper. People who are naturally endurance oriented and not speedy will need short tapering phases. I have observed that slow twitch runners tend to lose aerobic endurance quickly upon cessation of mileage and suffer greatly in races when they taper too soon and too much. At the other end of the continuum, runners who are speedy tend to retain aerobic endurance more easily, so they can afford to taper longer. Most runners are somewhere in between these two extremes. However, no matter what you do, remember, if you are not tired, sore, and beat up, you don,t need to taper much.

If he is right, I do have two things going for me to explain why I do better with a short taper. One, being naturally very much endurance oriented. My favorite distance at the age of 12 was a 10 K, I really like that you did not have to be 3000-anaerobic to race really well. I looked forward to 10 Ks and dreaded track races because they were so short. And two, I am definitely not tired, sore or beat up from my training. Quite the opposite - I can barely tell I've trained. And, looking at the effect and trying to discern the cause, I have suffered many times in the past from tapering too soon too much, and on the other hand have run PRs and near PRs completely untapered.

I also looked at the Hanson guys at Athleticore, and decided to follow more or less what Chad Johnson and Brian Sell did before the Trials. I generally loathe the idea of copying somebody's training just because they are faster - first, it may not be their training that makes them faster to begin with, their training could very well be sub-optimal, but they are still faster due to natural abilities, and also, even if it does make them faster, they may very well be different enough that the same thing will not work for you. But I did notice that they were training already almost exactly the same way I did, so I figured looking at their taper with a bit of a grain of salt would not be a bad idea.

The end result was to do pretty much what Ted suggested. This morning ran 10.1 easy with Ted in 1:13:48. Did 8x100 strides, first 5 in 18, the rest in 17.

P.M Run with the kids, total of 2.55. 1.5 with Benjamin and Jenny in 14:28. Then 1.05 with Julia in 11:08. Benjamin was coming down with some sickness. I've got a little bit of respiratory irritation as well, but it has not yet been showing in reduced energy levels or running performance. I hope it stays that way. It is a miracle I have not gotten sick with 125 mile weeks and 5 potentially sick little kids around. Sucking on garlic like crazy, this is my only chance. Better off than before St. George so far, knock on wood although I am not superstitious, but I still have a flight ahead of me with plenty of chance to catch something this time of year. But it is just as bad for the competition, so the secret to getting money in a December marathon is showing up healthy at the starting line.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Paul Petersen on Mon, Nov 26, 2007 at 18:21:09

Very good tapering apologetics.

From James on Mon, Nov 26, 2007 at 18:35:35

Amen!

From ryan on Mon, Nov 26, 2007 at 18:43:17

Sasha,

I noticed Nathan Hornock is on the blog and I was wondering if you recruited him??? I went to grade school, junior high, and high school with him so I know first hand what a terrific runner he is. He might be able to recruit Teren Jameson to the blog. I noticed that Teren's wife had joined the blog earlier in the year but didn't keep it up. At any rate they all can make great contributions to the blog.

Ryan

From adam on Mon, Nov 26, 2007 at 23:48:08

Good luck this week Sasha. For your sake I'm not going to run with you all this week, so you don't risk catching anything lingering off me either.

From Adam RW on Tue, Nov 27, 2007 at 16:01:35

Sasha, Sometimes I'm oblivious. What race is the taper for?

From Brent on Tue, Nov 27, 2007 at 20:11:20

Sasha, good luck at the marathon. Hey, I agree with your taper comments, everyone is different, I do not do well with the "traditional" taper, better with a mini taper.

From Clay on Tue, Nov 27, 2007 at 22:08:37

Sasha, I'm oblivious too, which race are you running? A Good luck is in order as well...

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Nov 27, 2007 at 23:08:24

St. Jude Marathon, Memphis, TN, this Saturday.

From Adam RW on Tue, Nov 27, 2007 at 23:11:17

Good luck, run hard, and have fun!

From steve ashbaker on Tue, Nov 27, 2007 at 23:34:38

Arturo Barrios once said " I train for good luck" Well, then in your case you have plenty so just go and tear that course up.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.050.001.500.0010.55

Jacob woke us up at 1:00 AM. Sarah nursed him three times. He was still not happy. I took him downstairs and worked for a while, he fell asleep. But I did not get good sleep last night at all. However, was able to nap for an hour in the late morning right before my run.

Just one run today. Started with 1.05 with Julia in 11:08. Then 1.5 with Benjamin and Jenny in 13:15. Benjamin was getting anxious to chase down the 9:00 guy, so I let him, then made sure Jenny was OK, and caught up to Benjamin. Jenny finished in 13:47.

Then ran 8 easy miles on the Provo River Trail with 2x0.75 pick-ups. First pick-up was into unfriendly cross-winds, ran 3:57. On the second one, ran the same stretch backwards in 3:51.5 with what felt the exact same effort. Most of the cross winds were friendly this time. Total time was 50:55, 6:21.88 avg. The pace felt unusually easy. I did not try to force it at all. When I saw it was fast, I checked and double checked that I was not into the "impress the public" gear - when you think you are running easy, but you really are not. I was rather ru So I decided to just enjoy it while I could instead of artificially slowing it down.

Looks like the respiratory irritation is still well contained - it did not seem to affect the running performance at all. I would be very satisfied if I can keep it this way until Saturday.

For everybody who missed the news - I am tapering for the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis, TN this Saturday.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From JohnK on Wed, Nov 28, 2007 at 09:07:27

Sasha, Good luck to you Saturday. Looking at recent Memphis results (as I'm sure you've done!) I feel you'll be right in there for a top 5 finish and very possibly top 3. I know you can compete with anyone likely to show up! I'll be interested in your general comments on the race and course, as I'm thinking of it for myself for next year.

From ArmyRunner on Wed, Nov 28, 2007 at 20:23:39

Well, Sasha's taper is really starting to kick in because he was so full of energy this morning when I showed up at his house he was doing the Elf Dance. See below link as I could not believe my eyes.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9629899486

I couldn't resist! Best wishes this weekend Sasha. :-) Sarah, I hope you and the kids get a good laugh out of this as well.

From ArmyRunner on Wed, Nov 28, 2007 at 20:35:37

Ok I don't think the link was right for some reason I will resend.

From ArmyRunner on Wed, Nov 28, 2007 at 20:51:40

No idea who the first two were but here is Sasha lettting it all go!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9630018985

Success.

From marciej on Wed, Nov 28, 2007 at 23:14:11

Good Luck this weekend Sasha,even though Im sure you dont need it. I am excited to read your race report!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.050.000.000.0011.05

A.M. Easy run with Ted, 6 miles in 44:12.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 11:21, then 1.5 with Benjamin, Jenny, and Stu in 14:13, then 2.5 with Stu in 21:54. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Lybi on Wed, Nov 28, 2007 at 22:50:36

Good luck in Memphis, Sasha!

From Benn on Wed, Nov 28, 2007 at 23:26:17

What race are you tapering for?

From jtshad on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 10:52:14

Good luck in Memphis, go tear 'em up!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

A.M. Easy 6 with Ted in 44:27.

Our 11th wedding anniversary today. The plan is to go up to Salt Lake, drop off the kids at Sarah's sister's house, then go on a date to the Jordan River Temple. Then a flight to Memphis, TN tomorrow. Sarah told our story in her blog entry for today. To add to that, the LDS missionary handbook says "When you are transferred to a new area, find your new companion without delay". I came to BYU in 1993, then went on a two year LDS mission. Usually somebody residing in Provo gets called to some far away place like Japan, Russia, or Latin America. I was called to serve in the Salt Lake City Mission, only 50 miles north. Missionaries get transferred every couple of months or so from one area to another. So when I was finished in 1996, and came to Provo, it felt like another transfer. Having prayed to know the will of the Lord first, I decided it was not good for man to be alone, and proceeded to find my new companion without delay. The good news was that this time the companion could be a woman, and I already knew which woman it was going to be. So I called Sarah's grandma, and eventually tracked her down.

We went for a walk by the Provo Temple. This was a good place to go for a walk. Latter-Day Saints get not only married but also sealed for time and eternity in our temples. Marriage to us is a matter of an eternal covenant. To us, just seeing a temple makes us think of marriage and invites a special spirit into our thoughts. So while we were there I felt a gentle nudge of the Spirit to lay out the matter straight and ask Sarah to marry me. I did not have a ring, nor did I have money to buy one, but I did not worry about it too much. The right woman would marry me without a ring, she'd be able to see past that, and if she cannot, she is not the right woman. Sarah said she had to think. Two weeks later she gave me a test - I had to change her niece's diaper. This was the first diaper I've ever changed, I was clumsy (still am), but I passed based on the sincerity of the effort. So she said yes, and we were married two months later.

P.M. Kids run. We are staying at the Sarah's sister's house for the night. Her kids wanted to run as well. To keep things simple, we just went to the Benion Jr. High track and ran around it. I ran 2 miles with Benjamin in 15:58. He kept speeding up gradually with every lap during the run. Was impressed with his last quarter in 1:41 even though this was a dirt track partially covered with snow.
Girls ran on their own and slacked off a bit on pace, but were disciplined in covering the distance with no direct supervision except for Julia stopping occasionally to pick up some snow. Julia ran a mile in 11:08, including those odd stops. Jenny ran 1.5 in 15:50.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Michelle on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 11:07:03

Happy anninversary to you both, and good luck on the race! It will be a nice little get a way to celebrate the anniversary!!!

From Dustin on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 11:09:50

Congrats Sasha and Sarah and good luck with the marathon.

From Bonnie on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 11:15:01

I can see sincerity of effort in all that you do Sasha - but the first diaper picture will be in my mind for a long time.

Have a wonderful day! Happy Anniversary to the whole family!

Bonnie

From Tom on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 11:21:58

Happy anniversary Sasha and Sarah! I loved hearing a bit about your beginnings together and "diaper test" thing was hilarious.

From superfly on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 11:26:37

Congrats on a happy marriage! Have a good, safe trip out to the race and good luck. Go do it for the blog!

From Mik'L on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 11:33:49

Happy Anniversary and good luck this weekend! Enjoyed both versions of the story!

From wheakory on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 11:36:42

Happy anniversary that's a great story, and your commitment to the Lord is even better.

Nice seeing you take your runs easy leading up to the Marathon this weekend.

From andee on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 11:37:09

Happy Anniversary! Good luck on your race.

From Kim on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 11:48:02

Congratulations! One of the things I love about this blog is that the guys on here aren't afraid to share their feelings about love, life, religion, ect. It is very uplifting in many areas, not just running!

From Ian on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 12:20:20

Happy Anniversary to you both and good luck for Memphis.

From Shauna on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 12:24:04

I loved hearing the engagement/wedding story! Congratulations to you both, and good luck in your race!

From Jamie on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 12:28:53

Wonderful story...Happy Anniversary! You and Sasha are such a great example.

Hope things go better than expected. You have a heart of gold; thanks for opening your "head" up to the rest of us and sharing your experiences and thoughts.

"Show 'em what you can do! The sight of your beautiful fam-i-ly brings out the TIGER in you! GRRRRRRRRRRRR...your an animal! (Is that some great cheese, or what?) Good luck, we'll be thinking about you.

(You didn't think I had a sense of humor, but that's because I've been panting like a dog whenever running with you and talk has been minimal.)

From josse on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 13:46:21

Happy Anniversary! as I told Sarah I think it is so wonderful to see two people so dedicated to each other these days. Go get them at the marathon, you will be in our thought and prayers. Thanks for the on going support.

From Jody on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 16:17:06

Happy Anniversary!! Good luck this weekend!!

From Cam on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 16:45:44

Good luck Sasha! Happy anniversary...I am writing patent on training for specific races using a treadmill...and decided to check in on you.

From will on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 20:13:39

Sasha - great "how did you meet" story, your strong faith is an inspiration. May the running muse look kindly upon your efforts this Saturday!

From Cody on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 21:48:14

Happy Anniversary! Make us proud on saturday!

From James on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 22:43:18

I hope your anniversary was good and that you did something nice with your wife besides run. Good luck on Saturday!

From Clay on Thu, Nov 29, 2007 at 23:34:26

Happy anniversary Sasha & Sarah, my Mom and Dad just celebrated thier 50th wedding anniversary this year so you guys are well on your way to that milestone... My Mom and Dad said it flies by after your 10th anniversary, so enjoy every second!!!

Good luck this weekend too Sasha.

From Logan on Fri, Nov 30, 2007 at 00:37:07

Congrats on the wedding anniversary and tear it up this weekend!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
5.650.500.000.006.15

A.M. Flight to Memphis, TN. It was full of adventure. Security told me I could not bring soy milk and water on the flight, so I had to check it in. But I forgot to check in the honey, or rather did not realize it was banned as well. So my bag ran the alarms, and they confiscated my honey. I did not have the time to mess with trying to check it in as well.

A race volunteer by the name of David picked me and Wilson Chepkwani, a 2:14 Kenyan marathoner, 3rd this year at Hartford, at the airport. Simon Sawe was going to run, but bailed out at the last minute. Saw a list of 26 - 2 bailed out elites, both men and women. Joseph Sitinei who I raced at TOU is running as well.

P.M. Around 4.1 easy miles meandering in the downtown Memphis with MickeyB. Irritated throat is giving me concerns. I know I could race a good half with it, but marathon is a long way to go. Trying to hold off problems using my favorite Zmei Gorynovich (legendary Russian-fairly tale tri-headed fire-breathing serpent) method - lots of garlic.

P.M - 2. Legs felt a bit flabby, and I felt I would have a hard time falling asleep, so I decided to go for a brief shakeout. Ran around the hotel block 8 times. Course Tool showed it was 0.28, but being so short of a loop I think I ran into some small geo-coding error and mapped it out wrong. So I am going to call the distance 2.05, ran it in 13:14 with a pickup on the last 0.5 to a mild marathon pace. Felt better and more confident afterwards knowing that the systems were ready for a decent race even though perhaps not the very best.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Dale on Fri, Nov 30, 2007 at 20:54:24

Best of luck tomorrow. Go get 'em!

From aroundthebend on Fri, Nov 30, 2007 at 21:39:30

Welcome to Memphis! Good luck in the marathon in the morning. I'll be running the half and hope to get to the finish in time to see the elites finish the marathon.

From Paul Petersen on Fri, Nov 30, 2007 at 22:09:15

Best of luck. Since you are now on Eastern time, I expect a full race report by the time I finish my run tomorrow morning.

From Jon on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 14:26:09

Watch out for those TSA checkers- if you try to take too much honey, you might get a strip search!

Race: St. Jude Memphis Marathon (26.2 Miles) 02:30:32, Place overall: 10
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
2.0026.200.000.0028.20

Quick report - got to hurry to get on the plane. 2:30:32, 10th place, $250 (elite athlete coordinator told me at first I was 9th, but I checked the results and they say 10th). Head wind made it slower between 14 and 19. I got left alone there. There was headwind earlier, but I was working with two guys (US), so it was much better. First half in 1:12:43, then they dropped me, one came back on the last mile. Field loaded with Kenyans and Ethiopians, but they kept dropping out like flies. I was in 16th place at the half. The highlight of the day was running an FRB commercial on the last mile passing two guys, one of them Joseph Sitinei (they could see the back of my shirt with the FRB logo), moved into the money.

More detailed version. Writing this at the airport waiting to board, so this will be incremental. Warmed up a mile from Comfort Inn on Front Street (will put a plug for it, they provided free elite runner lodging, and I was pleased that the room did not smell like smoke at all even though this was one of the most smoking states in the US). Did the ritual, saw MickeyB, handed him my stuff, it was now time to race.

The elite area was full of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners, and all in the marathon, since the half was offering no prize money. A few US guys as well. They did a wave start with the elites starting 1 minute ahead of the first wave, which would have contained the half-marathoners I could have possibly used to draft off. This is a bad idea, I will write the race director discouraging that practice. Wave start is a good idea, but declared elites should not be separated from the guys who think they can or actually can run the elite pace.

The throat irritation was still an issue. I felt I could run a half losing no more than 30 seconds, but I was not sure about the full marathon. Even minor respiratory infections can cause serious dehydration in the second half, as well as fuel issues with the body redirecting the energy you would normally use for running into fighting the infection. I did my best to sedate it with garlic, and it did keep it from developing into a full-blown cold, but it was still not good enough for a top marathon performance.

I tried to run as close to the back of the pack as possible. First mile was 5:39, followed by a 5:18 slight downhill mile. I hooked up with Dewayne Miner from Birmingham, AL and Brendon Moody from Van Wert, OH. We were going around 5:30 pace. It felt a tiny bit fast, but with the headwind from mile 5 to mile 8 I did not want to run alone. I did not bring Garmin on purpose. I realized that I spend a lot of mental energy guessing if they splits I get from Garmin are accurate. So we traded leads once a minute.

5 miles in 27:05, 34:16 at 10 K, 51:34 at 15 K (17:18 5 K), 55:21 at 10 miles. Still working together, picking up a fallen Kenyan here and there. Got passed by a half-marathoner, and another guy that I think was a half-marathoner as well. Around 11 miles I knew that I needed to back off and run my own pace, even if that means battling the headwind between 14 and 19 miles alone. The pain signal was coming from vastus medialis - the inner quad muscle - on both legs. That muscle was fatiguing fast. The rest of the quad was fine. Probably from the rollers. The course has no monster hills, but there were hardly any stretches that were flat. Most of the time you were running either up or down about 1% grade. My legs were not trained for that, next time need to make sure to train on rollers if I come back.

20 K in 1:08:57 (17:23 5 K). Brendon and Dewayne are gradually pulling away. Half in 1:12:43. Around 14 MickeyB reported I was in 16th place. Only one struggling Kenyan in view, Brendon and Dewayne are almost out of sight. Well, a hungry lion will eat a small sick antelope for lunch when that is all he can get his paws on. Reeled him in, as soon as I got close enough for him to hear me, he dropped out. 15th place now, 5 more to go to the money.

I noticed that the Powerade at the aid stations was very diluted, and they were filling up the cups only about a quarter full. So after about 10 I was doing Powerade religiously, and making sure I've got it all in me. I knew that I was under high risk of dehydration, electrolyte loss, and glycogen depletion already from the throat infection and travelling.

Hit the 15th mile in 6:03. It was a slight uphill and into a head wind, about 6 mph. The wind would not have been a big factor in a pack, but being alone made a difference. Probably 10 seconds a mile. 1:23:54 at 15 miles, last 5 in 28:33. Not bad, but that 6:03 mile gave me some serious concerns. Nevertheless, I was able to regroup and keep it slightly under 6:00 from then on. 1:27:07 at 25K, last 5 K in 18:10. No victims for the next 5 miles, keeping a steady sub-6:00. Not great, but with the wind it could be good enough to make my way into top 10, and with the throat infection it could be a lot worse, so I should be thankful I am still going.

1:45:38 at 30 K, last 5 K in 18:31. That ended up being my slowest 5 K in the race. 1:53:34 at 20 miles, last 5 in 29:40. Still gapping the 6:00 guy, that's good. Saw a victim at 20 miles - a white guy, DNF, on the side of the road talking to the volunteers. That puts me in 14th place. 4 more to go.

Still sub-6:00 consistently. Now a slight down, and a tailwind. Saw a jogging Ethiopian - Titus Mitunda. Passed him, now 13th. Another jogging/walking Kenyan at around 23. Now 12th. 2 more to go.

Nobody for a while. Trial of faith. Around 24 saw two victims, one black and one white. At first they looked too far away, like they were unreachable. But I have run enough marathons to know that the looks at that point are very deceptive. If you did not see somebody, and now you see them all of a sudden, that is a very bad sign for them, and a very good sign for you. As they approached, I saw it was Dewayne Miner and Joseph Sitinei.

2:22:29 at 40 K, last 10 K in 36:51, 2:23:23 at 25 miles, last 5 miles in 29:49. Pulling out Abraham's knife getting ready to sacrifice the rams in caught the thicket of the marathon wall. Some history behind this metaphor. Abraham and Isaac in the Old Testament went to the land of Moriah. Abraham thought he was going to sacrifice Isaac, his faith being tested, when in fact they were only going to sacrifice a ram. At one point, Isaac said: "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?", to which Abraham replied, "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering". Abraham passed the test of faith, and indeed a sacrificial animal was provided - a ram caught in the thicket. For some odd reason I find a parallel between that experience, and what happens when you are in the last 10 K of a marathon, you are out of money position, and for a long time there is nobody ahead of you in sight. Then all of a sudden you see somebody to pass and move into the money. The poor fellow is like that ram in the thicket. There is nothing he can do to stay in the money. And just like with Abraham, your faith has been rewarded, you kept going, you did not give up the chase even though you could not see who you were chasing, and now you are going to get some cash for it. I call it "the ram in the thicket experience".

In the history of the bloggers I can recall several "ram in the thicket" experiences. TOU 2001 - me chasing Joe Wilson, 2002 TOU - me chasing Paul Petersen, 2004 - Steve Ashbaker chasing Demetrio Cabanillas Jr (money upgrade), 2005 Ogden - Paul Petersen chasing me, 2007 SLC  - Steve Ashbaker chasing Dave Danley, and now one more in this  race for me, this  time a double , moving from 12th to 10th in a mile. I've never sacrificed two rams before.

Sprinted to the finish to discourage the rams from thoughts of resurrection. 2:30:32,  5:54 pace on the last mile. This completed a year of 5 marathons all under 2:33. I've never done this before, my previous record was last year with all 5 under 2:36, but one of those (Moab) was non-competitive, I did it as a training run in 2:35:20 (the highlight of the day on that one was getting lost on the last quarter and then crawling under a barbed wire to get to the finish line, very fitting for April Fool's Day).

After the finish there was a lot of soreness in vastus medialis, to the point where I could not squat. I stretched, and it was gone. I was able to run back to the hotel, about 0.75.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Lybi on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 13:52:48

Yea Sasha! Congratulations on your stellar last mile, and the most well-deserved $400 ever. GOOOO COACH!

From Jamie on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 13:56:10

Sasha, congrats are in order. Man, I wish I were fast enough to be pulling in moolah for my races. Great job!

From Tom on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 14:04:57

Congrats Sasha! I think we'll be seeing alot of FRB commercials in the coming year.

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 14:12:07

Way to get things started for the team. Not a bad time with the headwind. I thought you would be 2:29:00 in good conditions. Maybe next year we take put 5 in the top 10 here.

From andee on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 15:28:26

Congratulations! Passing all those runners is great advertising for the blog!!!! Good job.

From Brent on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 15:44:14

Great day at the races, if others were dropping like flies, does not that say good things about your conditioning? Tough as nails.

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 15:55:07

Speaking of advertising for the Blog, what's the deal with your blog photo? Sojourners?? I expect to see a new photo up with you in the new singlet asap. ;-)

From wheakory on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 15:59:02

Nice job Sasha and way to make your way into the money after the half way point.

From will on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 16:11:15

Great race - very inspiring! Looking forward to seeing you make the Olympic trials....

From Daniel on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 16:34:44

Good job!

From Mike B on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 17:00:16

Sasha, I had you in 17th at 13.1 and 14 miles; however, I saw a Kenyan jogging back toward the start shortly thereafter. At that point, there was a lead pack of about 7-8 bunched together. As I told you before, I had never really spectated at a marathon and was very surprised how bad some of the leaders looked, even at 14 miles. You looked strong and all alone. Those miles from 14-17 are tough mentally and the wind did not help. Way to hang tough and get some money. I guess you netted $260.00 for the trip - not bad. Sorry, I didn't get much of a chance to hang out with you afterwards. Family obligations were calling. Perhaps, you will be back next year? It was a pleasure meeting you and thanks for the shirt. I hope to represent Fast Running Blog well!

From Chad on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 17:19:52

Way to run hard, Sasha! Nice performance overall, particulary given the factors you have mentioned.

From Jim on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 17:49:30

Great job Sasha it tough conditions! Way to finish strong.

From steve ashbaker on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 17:54:31

Good job staying in there till the end. I hope you and Sarah had a good time there. Got to get back to work. I'll e-mail you later.

From josse on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 18:27:34

You still amaze me, what a performance being sick and all.

From marciej on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 20:03:50

Nice job today! I love how you can remember all the little details to share with us! We all learn so much from you!

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 21:29:26

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/dec/01/st-jude-memphis-marathon-results/

Interestingly, they show you as 10th.

From Mike B on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 21:51:17

"Official" results here...

http://www.besttimescct.com/results/STJUDE_MAR07.TXT

From JohnK on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 22:09:19

You should feel good about your race. Certainly you weren't at 100% but you still turned in a very strong performance. Really inspiring to hackers like myself!

From James on Sat, Dec 01, 2007 at 22:58:13

Good race, and some winnings to boot!

From saamijeff on Sun, Dec 02, 2007 at 06:09:31

Nice description of the race. A good finish. Happy runnning!

From Ian on Sun, Dec 02, 2007 at 07:56:38

Congratulations Sasha, you've ran a good race despite the throat irritation.

From aroundthebend on Sun, Dec 02, 2007 at 08:24:22

Congratulations on a strong race Sasha! Way to go!

From Clay on Sun, Dec 02, 2007 at 11:12:14

Great job Sasha, way to bring in the dough!!! Way to hand in there with the throat problems and way to give it your all, the head wind sounds like it was really tough...

From Dale on Sun, Dec 02, 2007 at 17:32:16

Congrats on a strong performance!

From Superfly on Sun, Dec 02, 2007 at 19:11:22

Way to end the 2007 race team with a strong performance. Hope the cold goes away soon.

From jtshad on Mon, Dec 03, 2007 at 09:54:49

Congratulations on a well run race...way to finish strong.

From Jeff on Mon, Dec 03, 2007 at 11:00:23

Great run Sasha!! I feel your pain running into the wind...Las Vegas has it's share of the breezy stuff too. Great end to a great season.

From jhorn on Mon, Dec 03, 2007 at 16:21:04

Sasha, nice metaphor of ram in thicket. Guess it's nice to have something to think of while racing. There's no doubt in my mind that you're a sub 2:20 marathoner if you only focus on one or two marathons a year. With your drive and mileage aggression, you certainly could focus and get it. Your drive is towards a lot of races now, and it does you credit.

From steve ashbaker on Mon, Dec 03, 2007 at 20:42:33

The other sacrificial ram was for the humanitarian fund.

Sorry, just a little LDS humor there.

From MichelleL on Mon, Dec 03, 2007 at 23:27:38

Finally the full report! Congratulations on a great race, on staying tough, beating that 6 minute guy and for a strong year of marathons. As always your race report was so fun to read.

From Maria on Tue, Dec 04, 2007 at 09:12:10

I was waiting for the full report as well! Sasha, good job as always, and way to keep your focus at the end and moving into the money. You might have gotten better time by running in a pack and without the throat bug, but you can't control these things. Congrats on finishing a great year of racing and thanks again for all the work you do for the blog!!

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Dec 04, 2007 at 10:45:03

Everybody, thanks for the comments!

From Jon on Tue, Dec 04, 2007 at 10:57:14

Nice run- would you recommend this race to others?

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Dec 04, 2007 at 12:29:16

Jon - yes, I would recommend it. Very well organized, honest course, mile markers in the right place. Good cause, but not your typical charity fund raiser with running being a side activity to drive the revenue. No big hype. It has proper focus on the competitive aspect of running. Prize money and elites are there not just to be cool.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.950.000.000.0014.95

A.M. Easy 10.1 with Ted this morning in 1:14:29. Trail covered with snow and ice for the most part. Hamstrings felt stale in the first mile, and it took me a while to figure out why they would be. Then I remembered I'd run a marathon two days earlier. Towards the end the hamstring staleness was gone, and I felt completely normal.

Funny story from yesterday. Sarah left my only pair of dress shoes (I own only one specifically for the purpose of going to church) in SLC, and we discovered that about 20 minutes before our church meetings. Sarah suggested I should wear a pair of my dark blue racing flats since they looked the closest to church-appropriate shoes in my wardrobe. So I figured better go to church in racing flats than not at all.

Also, I have finally finished my race report from Saturday. Added some history of rams in the thicket for those interested.

P.M. 2 miles with Benjamin in 15:44. Then 1.05 with Julia in 11:38, and 1.5 with Jenny in 14:29. Another 0.3 to pick up church keys.

As I watched Benjamin lope along at 7:30 pace in the second half of his run, and contemplated the implications of the recent change in the OTQ marathon standard, I began to appreciate the value of pushing yourself really really hard to see what your true best is in the sport. It really does not matter that much where you actually end up as long as you really dug deep and did not quit by calling your best something that really was not. I can teach Benjamin what I learned from what I've tried. I can also teach him to work hard by working hard myself. He has more of what we call natural talent. His form is smooth, he has good natural speed. Many top runners of today are there because they saw their dad run. Their dad may have been only a 2:40 marathoner. But that was good enough to get them going, and they were able to do better. As I pointed out earlier on several occasions, if we want to see US dominate in the marathon, we need to nourish those 2:40 guys. We need to have thousands of them, and we need to give them a reason and an opportunity to try to fully develop their talent, even if it is limited, even if they are never going to get much faster than 2:40.   Then their children, other relatives, neighbors, friends, etc will be inspired to run to the best of their ability, and some of those will have the talent to dominate in the world scene.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From cgbooth23 on Mon, Dec 03, 2007 at 17:37:21

Sasha, i read your airport story... with trying to get your food thru... curious if you could outline a basic SASHA day of eating, I try to eat as good as possible and want to see if I am doing pretty good? Congrats on the marathon result!

From marciej on Tue, Dec 04, 2007 at 10:59:48

Good job on your run today! Thats great that you felt back to normal by the end of your run.I was wanting to ask you the same thing, an example of a typical day of eating. Also what about adding a section for those who wanted to log and keep track of what they eat??

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Dec 04, 2007 at 11:08:15

Marcie, cjbooth123 - thanks for your comments. Regarding my typical daily menu, check out the post at

http://fastrunningblog.com/forum/index.php/topic,104.15.html

From Scott Zincone on Tue, Dec 04, 2007 at 11:42:41

My dad started running a mile a day back in 1978 0r 1979. And he used to "drag" me along with him. But now I am grateful for this experience. I would most likely have never become a runner without his example. I agree with you, the more people out there running will make it easier for others to start.

From cgbooth23 on Tue, Dec 04, 2007 at 13:10:22

Sasha, thanks for the link info that was good stuff, wow, talk about discipline...but i guess thats what it takes to be ELITE!

From Maria on Tue, Dec 04, 2007 at 14:45:58

Sasha, I agree with much of your argument for nurturing ultimate development for 2:40 guys. But there has to be a very important and necessary ingredient present in these athletes - the desire to keep pushing themselves when it is 95% clear they will not reach elite level. Not many people have that drive, faced with multiple other areas of life, which they may want to develop but have to sacrifice due to the training required. I see this happening now in UK in my daughter's swim team - kids are quitting the sport at 16-17, when they hit a plateu and more and more training is required to improve yet they are not close enough to national standards to justify it. There is no well developed college sport scene here as in US, so there is little motivation to train 10 times a week. I see a lot of really good swimmers quitting, unable to cope with hard training and school work at the same time, and lacking the reasons and the inner drive to keep pushing themselves. I spend a lot of time working on my daughter's mental attitude, and I hope this won't happen to her, as she wants to study in US and swim at collegiate level, so this should provide enough motivation, but I'm not 100% sure. Part of it can be learned, but another part is unique personality makeup - you must want to get the absolute best out of yourself without any reward or guarantee except the knowledge you gave it your best. The price of such a pursuit is great, and it is not worth it for everyone. So we may want to instill these traits in our children, and we try, but it will be ultimately up to them to make that choice.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.401.000.500.2517.15

A.M. Easy 10.1 with Ted and Adam. Slippery in place, but the trail was a lot better than yesterday. With a mile to go I suggested we should chase the 1:15:00 guy. It took us a while to get up to speed through the tunnels and slipping, so once we got out into the clear we really had to book it. Ran the last three quarters in 1:32, 1:25, and 1:17. Total time was 1:14:29, same as yesterday to the second! Ted decided to test my kick with 60 meters to go, it passed the test.

P.M. Was originally planning on just running with the kids and Stu. Stu could not come, but Ted, James, and Jared came instead. I had an excuse to run a bit longer, and I used it. 1.5 with Benjamin, Jenny, Ted, James, and Jared, plus Jacob and Joseph in the double stroller in 13:29. Jenny was lagging behind a bit, she has those moods sometimes, so I stayed with her. Everybody else ran 13:13. Then 0.5 with Benjamin, Ted, and James in 3:26, still pushing the double stroller.  Then left the stroller at home, and ran a 4 mile fartlek with James and Ted in 27:34. Then 1.05 with Julia in 11:30. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.650.000.000.0014.65

A.M. Easy 10.1 with Ted in 1:14:53. Spent most of the run discussing the new OTQ marathon standards.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 11:13, 1.5 with Jenny in 13:56, 2 with Benjamin in 17:37. Pushed the double stroller with Jacob in it. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Wed, Dec 05, 2007 at 19:55:28

I think the new OLY Trial time is good because it will make our American runners work harder and we should be able to have an elite field in upcoming years.

From Mike B on Wed, Dec 05, 2007 at 21:10:35

Sasha, I saw your comment on my blog. Yea, I recently introduced 1000's into my weekly regime. Even prior to me following Tinman's coaching, I often times did 4x2000m, etc. at CV pace. I find them a real strength builder, but your thinking is that I should hold off on them for a while? Perhaps, my build up following the injury is too conservative (40 mpw by end of Dec.)? My goal race is March 18th (half-marathon) and I really want to PR. Any thoughts? 8 miles per day, 6 days a week for Dec. and Jan. and then add CV workouts and tempos slowly?

From Sasha Pachev on Wed, Dec 05, 2007 at 22:16:31

Mike - yes. Until you have a decent aerobic base, speed workouts are not very helpful.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.350.000.000.5014.85

A.M. Easy 10.1 with Ted in 1:12:23. 8x100 strides in the middle. Talked about the FRB Del Sol Team. Looks like we've got some muscle. If things pan out with a couple of undecided big guns, the slowest guy on the team will be a 2:33 marathoner. The goal is to humble Google, and to demonstrate to them that if they want to be competitive in those relays, they need to start giving their runners time to train. Hopefully that will start the thought process in the direction of sponsoring a real running team Japan-style.

P.M. 2 miles with Benjamin in 17:22, 1.5 with Jenny in 13:31,  1.05 with Julia in 11:10, and 0.2 errand. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From josse on Thu, Dec 06, 2007 at 13:29:13

I posted this in the discussion forum as well. When I was working out today, this came to mind. All of our Vastus muscles except the intermedus should be free moving, in other words not vaccum packed to the bone. When we do alot of running sometimes this happens and can cause pain in the quad or knee. To treat this I would use some deep cross fiber friction on the muscle or muscles that are doing this. Take that quad muscle with your nuckles and with quick motion move the muscle ack and forth, medially to laterally. If this doesn't make scence I would be willing to show you. Just let me know, I fully believe in self care.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.800.000.003.8514.65

A.M. Ted is in Kansas, so ran alone. The weather was warm, 38 degrees, but it was raining. I wanted to do something entertainment-fast, so to keep the entertaining value of the workout I needed a good knee lift. Sarah took the only pair of tights that would have had a good knee lift in the rain. She cannot wear the others, they are too big on her. The others don't, even when it is not raining. I decided it was warm enough for shorts.

After a 10 minute warmup, decided to do a fartlek of 1 minute on 1 minute off, the on minute around 5:20 pace, the off minute around 7:30 until I was tired. Figured it would happen after 16 on minutes. The on minutes gradually progressed from 5:20 to 5:10 pace. I did not track the off pace very thoroughly, but the average pace in the fartlek motion was around 6:00.  Tracked the pace by the dots on the trail. The breathing was elevated but there was no significant muscular fatigue. That made the workout very enjoyable. I was done with 16 on minutes before I knew it. With the clothes being fully soaked the rain started to feel colder, and I wanted to get home fast. So I figured I'd do a few more. Did 4 more on minutes. The pace progressed to 5:00.

Ran a brisk cool down. Total time for 10.1 was 1:02:41, avg. 6:12.38. The  form felt very good - good knee lift, good feeling at the end of the hip extension and push-off phase. I even experienced minor fatigue in the abdominal muscles, which I probably do not use very much normally - they never get tired from running, they are weak unless I work them out with sit-ups and other non-running exercises, and I do not run any better when I make them strong.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 10:57, 1.5 with Jenny and Jared running, Benjamin in the double stroller, in 13:09. Jared fell back a bit and finished in 13:25. Then put Jenny and Jared in the stroller, and let Benjamin loose. Another 2 miles in 16:14.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Tom on Fri, Dec 07, 2007 at 21:15:04

Sasha - we're still wanting to come up in the morning at 6:30 for the 10.1 mile run. However if the traffic conditions are bad then we'll probably keep it closer to home. At any rate if we're not there by 6:30 when you're ready to go then don't wait around for us. Thanks.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.110.000.000.0020.11

A.M. Started with 2.1 around the block with Sarah in 21:09. Pushed Jacob in the single stroller. It was snowing. Then ran the Uneventful Half alone in 1:29:36, 6:50.07 avg. Parts of the trail were good, but the last 3 miles were covered with slick snow. Will run with the kids later in the afternoon, hope to catch a snow-less window.

I am thinking to survive the winter using the slacker mode (90 miles a week, strides, fartleks) when the weather is bad, and normal mode (120 a week with Big Workouts) otherwise. This would hopefully provide protection against overtraining and let the immune system stay strong to fight off traveling bugs. Last week I was in the slacker mode, and now am feeling rejuvenated.

P.M. Lots of snow. So the kid's training paces were slow, but not the effort. 1.05 with Julia in 13:29, 1.75 with Jenny in 18:36, and 2 with Benjamin in 19:02. Took advantage of the snow on the ground to check out my stride. Ran on the snow at a steady pace for a little bit, then measured the distance between the footprints with a measuring tape. Discovered that when I push off my right foot my stride is consistently 2 inches shorter than when I push off with my left ( the right foot push off produced 60 inch strides, while the left push off produced 62 inch strides, 3% difference). This is in spite of the fact that I would kick a soccer ball, or push off taking a hurdle or in a long jump with my right leg. I do feel weird when I land on my right foot - I would describe it as awkward and underpowered.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Brent on Sat, Dec 08, 2007 at 14:47:39

Wow, slacker mode 90 miles a week? I agree, winter can be tough to get the miles in and also the tough workouts. By the way, took your advice, about 6 weeks in a row now with mileage over 60.

From Lybi on Sat, Dec 08, 2007 at 22:35:02

Good job, Brent! Ya, Sasha, that is a pretty impressive slacker who would do that.

Really interesting about the stride length difference. The awkward feeling you describe on impact reminds me of what happens to my legs when my back is badly out, and some of the nerves are being slightly pinched. It's like the full electrical pulse doesn't reach the muscle--only a part of it. Have you ever noticed this stride length difference before? It could just be a fluke thing with your back.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Dec 08, 2007 at 22:50:33

I've had that feeling since the age of 15. I've suspected I was getting different stride lengths, just never had a chance to measure it. X-rays do show a pelvic/lower spine tilt which is more pronounced when sitting down that when standing up. My friend who teaches PT at the University of Nevada suggested that a hip bone asymmetry could be involved. I am thinking about doing a hip bone X-ray to check this out. If you have any recommendations on a good place to do it in the Utah County or close, I'd be interested.

From Jon on Sun, Dec 09, 2007 at 22:38:41

90 mile slacker is difficult for my beginner brain to wrap itself around. I will celebrate when I can do 30 mile weeks without hurting myself.

Anyway, thanks for the advice earlier this week. I decided to move most of my work outs outside. There are not many days in St. George that I will have to run on snow.

By the way I love the blog. It is a fun way to stay motivated and to track progress toward my goals.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.660.000.000.0017.66

A.M. A very Uneventful Half-Marathon with Ted. Daniel joined us for the first 2.5, then turned around. The most likely events would have been slipping and falling on ice, so we tried to keep it as uneventful as possible. Managed to catch the 8:00 guy and even put some distance on him nevertheless. Total time was 1:42:44.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 16:56, 1.5 with Jenny in 14:49, 1.05 with Julia in 11:26, 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Mon, Dec 10, 2007 at 16:04:48

I will have to send some of these Willard animals down to Provo so that your uneventful runs won't be so uneventful!

From Jon on Mon, Dec 10, 2007 at 21:46:43

How do you dress your kids in the jogging stroller when it is under 32 degrees? We have a one piece snow suit that has worked well for our kid, but she has about outgrown it and we need something new. I'm wondering if you have anything that works well to keep them warm.

From Sasha Pachev on Mon, Dec 10, 2007 at 23:05:54

I just use a snow suit or several layers.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
16.104.300.000.0020.40

A.M. Ran with Ted at 5:10 AM. It was 21 degrees, dark, and slippery, although not as bad as yesterday. Not in the mood to do a tempo, but ran brisk to get Ted to work on time. Stopped around 9.6 for VPB, told Ted to go ahead. Thought I'd catch him easily going 5:30. Well, I thought I could go 5:30, but with the cold, dark, and ice patches all I could manage was 6:00. And Ted being in a hurry to get to work went 6:20. So it took me a good 2.6 to catch him. Dropped him off at 14.1, then added another 1.05 around the block in 6:17 - 90 degree turns are not good with ice on the ground. 1:41:33 for 15.15, 6:42.18 avg.

P.M. 1.5 with Jenny in 14:33, 2 with Benjamin in 17:18, 1.05 with Julia in 11:11, then a short tempo pick-up - two laps around the block by myself (0.7) in 3:57, 5:38.5 avg, first lap in 2:00 (5:42.86 pace), second in 1:57 (5:34.29). On the first lap had to dodge two cars, this moved me into the snowy/icy part twice. On the second lap there was only one car, it was polite and moved out of the way. Had to ease off on the turns, they were icy/snowy. Felt strong and relaxed.

Later in the evening we learned a sad news. Our good friend and neighbor who acted like an adopted grandpa for our kids, and especially for Julia, passed away from a heart attack. Julia always sat on his lap during the Sacrament meeting at church. He even made a bird house for our girls, and was in the process of making a doll house in spite of not feeling that great - that was his way to show love. His physical heart was weak and did fail, but his spiritual heart did much better. So I feel sad that he is not with us any more, but I feel happy for him that he truly endured to the end, and moved on to better things when his time came.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From wheakory on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 17:06:19

You not in the mood for speed that's a first. But your right turns are real difficult. This time of year is good for aerobic base. Do you ever run on a treadmill?

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 17:34:32

Absolutely never. I would exhaust all of the possible options, including shoveling off a 100 meter stretch and running back and forth on it for two hours before I would consider a treadmill even if I owned one.

From ArmyRunner on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 19:28:53

Wow! I think Sasha hates the treadmill more than anyone I know because that statement pretty much says it all. A friend and I have actually shoveled snow off of lane 1 of a 400m track before in order to get a workout in. That was a painful undertaking but we were able to get a good workout in.

From Mike Warren on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 22:38:58

Sasha, you are one dedicated guy!! I thinks it's pretty cool you take the time to run with the kids. None of my kids run, but i spend alot of time on the Golf course with one. The Basketball court with another. And watching my daughters dance performances. Trust me they grow up fast, my youngest is 11 now! Keep up the good work.

From Lybi on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 22:48:31

Why do you hate treadmills so much, Sasha? Is it because you think it ruins form or anything, or it is just the boredom factor? I kind of like running on the treadmill. Always a good temp and I have my portable DVD player right there on the book rest. It makes the time go by faster. But what a great opportunity for cross training! Shoveling 100 yds. is A LOT.

From Sasha Pachev on Tue, Dec 11, 2007 at 23:24:06

Lybi - two reasons. First, indoor air is not that healthy to pump through your lungs at running intensity. Second, treadmill running is in subtle ways biomechanically different from real running. You are getting trained for running on a treadmill, not for road running. I do not care about the boredom aspect. I will run for two hours staring at a wall day after day if I believe doing that will make me a better runner.

From Clay on Wed, Dec 12, 2007 at 16:43:54

I agree with Sasha, when I run on a treadmill my form always seems off or unsmooth and I always seem like I am going faster than what the pace says on the treadmill. But it is a good way to keep you fit this time of year, I don't like the cold, so the cut off for me is single digit tempatures, if its below 10 I am running on the treadmill!!!

Merry Christmas.

From wheakory on Wed, Dec 12, 2007 at 17:21:04

I agree with Sasha about running on a treadmill is different biomechanically. When I run on the Treadmill my lower back will hurt a bit for the first mile, it doesn't happen all the time but most the time and I never feel this when I run outside.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
14.153.700.300.0018.15

A.M. Ran at 5:00 AM alone. It was fairly cold, somewhere in the 20-25 range. Started out slow, stayed slow through the first 1.5 because of the snow/ice. At 1.5 was 38 seconds behind the 8:00 guy. Then got out on drier ground with more traction and picked it up. Decided to run marathon pace on dry spots, and jog on the snowy/icy ones. Ended up with 1:06:40 for 10.1, and about 4 miles of tempo running. Last quarter was 1:21 trying to catch the 1:06:40 - this was quite an experience in the dark and with 3 90 degree turns.

P.M. 1.5 with Ted, James, Jared, Jenny, and Benjamin in 13:22. Benjamin was 2 seconds ahead, and Jared 2 seconds behind. Then another 0.5 after dropping Jenny and Jared off in 3:35. Then 1.05 with Julia in 11:12.  Then 5 miles with Ted in 38:36. Would have been uneventful were it not for two dogs that jumped out of nowhere and ran after us. Then we shared war stories about animal encounters. Ted's running partner once got bitten in the buttocks by a little dog with a very good vertical jump. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From jhorn on Thu, Dec 13, 2007 at 12:23:32

I'm assuming these are invisible people--the 1:06:40 guy. Is this something you do in your head, you seem to refer to it often. Running can be lonely, is this a coping mechanism:-?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Dec 13, 2007 at 12:31:03

Yes, that is an invisible imaginary training partner. He is mean - he runs 6:36 pace uphill on ice. But I have no mercy on him when we get on a flat road with good traction. Not sure if this is a coping mechanism. I do it when I am with other runners as well, perhaps even more as this makes for a good conversation topic when we have already discussed everything that we could have thought of.

From jhorn on Thu, Dec 13, 2007 at 15:57:59

I was being a bit sarcastic in saying is this a coping mechanism. It's an interesting idea because I am sometimes thinking--who's out there going faster, or would I be running faster if I were with someone. Not unlike being on a basketball court thinking, if I move this way could I get around the defender.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
21.100.500.000.0021.60

A.M. Ran 6:30 AM with Ted. 15 degrees. Trail conditions were decent for the most part, a couple of icy spots. The plan was to run 15.1 uneventfully. However, without much tempo volume lately I had a couple of horses neigh once in a while and tried to create events. Ted is smart, he knows what to do. So he engaged me into a conversation about the VO2 Max study that Sean posted on the forum. I gave him a piece of my mind on why exercise physiology has contributed so little to the improvements in running. Then the conversation drifted into how you should really do a study - get 1000 people at the age of 10, and give them enough of an incentive to keep training for at least 15 years. The we talked about what this would produce, and I mentioned that they did have something similar in East Germany. From there the conversation drifted into the subject of how much illegal performance enhancing drugs really help you get faster. Ted argued that they do a lot, I argued that you can get the same and better results with honest training and healthy life style overtime, and that if you drugged a guy who has already done his homework, it would not make him run any better. Right in the heat of that discussion around the 8.6 mark we saw a guy going the other direction. It was time for us to turn around to add 5 miles to our standard 10.1 course anyway, so we did, and I said, let's get him. Ted was reluctant. I figured I'd just chase the guy down quickly, engage him in a conversation, then Ted will catch up. So I went through my gears, got up to 5:45 pace, held it for about 0.5, and caught our new friend. His name is Tyler. Hopefully he will join the blog soon. We ran the rest of the distance with him. Total time for 15.1 was 1:51:32, 7:23.18 avg.

Runner's joke. "You mean you can run 26 miles without stopping?" "Yes, on a good day, depends on what I ate for lunch the day before, and if I do a good warm-up first."

P.M. Went sledding with the kids to South Fork of the Provo Canyon right near the start of the Provo River Half.  On the way a car right in front of us went sledding on Hwy 189 between Bridal Veil and Vivian Park, span around, and end up on the side of the road, but no damage. Fortunately we were far behind enough to have room to slow down and avoid it hitting us. Did the kids run over there. The course was rough - you were going either up or down, and 0.5 of each kid's run involved running down on ice for 0.25, and then back up on the way back. Ran 1.5 with Jenny in 15:05, then 1 with Julia in 12:00, then 2 with Benjamin in 18:20. Added another 2 when I got home in 14:59.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From ryan on Thu, Dec 13, 2007 at 14:19:42

Sasha,

the FRB links on SG Running Center are broken.

From ryan on Thu, Dec 13, 2007 at 14:20:55

i just double checked and the first 3 links are ok but the others are not working

From Jamie on Thu, Dec 13, 2007 at 21:07:11

Out of curiosity, what book(s) have you written?

From James on Fri, Dec 14, 2007 at 17:28:22

You must have a good amount of snow down there?

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Dec 14, 2007 at 21:05:21

Ryan - the links have now been fixed. Jamie - I've written two geek books, see http://asksasha.com for details. James - we have quite a bit of snow, but I've seen it much worse.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.350.000.000.0020.35

A.M. Ran with Ted at 6:30 AM. Uneventful 15.1. Very slippery roads, record for this year so far. We had a great debate going on a variety of topics. Ted knows he needs to hit controversial issues to keep the pace slow on uneventful days, such as stating that I have as much slow twitch fiber ratio as Alberto Salazar. When we convert 10% of the US population to competitive running, perhaps we can start a Ted and Sasha Uneventful 15.1 Talk Show. Total time was 1:53:21, 7:30.4 avg.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 11:09, 1.5 with Jenny and Jared - they whooped the 9:00 guy coming from behind - Jenny got 13:17, Jared 13:21. I think we should have named Jenny Catherine after Catherine Ndereba - she runs just like her on a good day. A bit slow to start, then getting progressively faster, and closing furiously. Then 2 miles with Benjamin. He started at a bit faster than 9:00, then fairly quickly progressed to 8:00. I told him that the 8:00 guy was getting concerned. He said he was not chasing him. I told him the 8:00 guy was concerned anyway. He eventually eased into 7:20 pace, and thoroughly whooped the 8:00 with 15:49 for the whole run. Added another 0.7 in 5:00 afterwards.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From MIke B on Sat, Dec 15, 2007 at 07:18:33

Sasha, it appears that you are recovering well from St. Jude. You're a machine! I do have a question, I see in your blog that there have been VPB taken. What is a VPB?

Also, you mentioned that you put over 3k on your shoes before retiring them, which I find incredible. You have been injury free. Do you run on soft surfaces, etc. Thanks!

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Dec 15, 2007 at 15:38:33

Mike - VPB stands for Virtual Private Bathroom (in comparison with Virtual Private Network). I do put 3,000 miles on a pair of shoes running mostly on asphalt. No injuries ever that put me out for more than a day to the point of not being able to run, and no mileage missed due to injury of any kind since 2005. The cause of that one was sprinting uphill on a skewed surface, then running 20 miles with a 12 mile tempo two days later, then helping a friend move that same day without taking a nap first. Problem - pinched nerve in the lower back. Prior to that, last mileage missed injury was in 1996, the cause was running repeats on an indoor track in spikes immediately after running in 25 degrees outside. Problem - knee pain. I have never been injured from running on level surface straight in 23 years of running.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
24.850.000.250.0025.10

A.M. Exceptionally uneventful 20.1 First 15.5 with Ted. Total time 2:26:59. Did not like the snow or the layers of clothes. The only event was measuring our strides in moderately deep snow in the park. Both of us have a discrepancy of 3 inches, but Ted has a very funny way of landing on one of his feet, but not the other - it hovers right near the ground for a while before it lands.

Went to our adopted granpa's funeral afterwards. There they sang Be Still My Soul. This is a special song for me. It brought some memories. In the beginning of 2003 I was having a hard time. I was not happy with my job, or my running. I felt I had reached a plateau, and felt condemned to stay at it. I had exhausted the limits of Sasha Science of the day to make me any faster. The only thing that was left to keep me trying was Sasha Faith, and humans by nature have ups and downs in their faith. One winter day that year with lots of snow on the ground I found myself alone 8 miles into a 15 mile run, and 7 miles away from home in a fairly deep snow. Every step was a struggle. My faith was wavering. Is it even worth it to keep trying so hard? I felt like I wanted to lie down in the snow and just stay there. Then in my mind I heard the words and the tune of Be Still My Soul. This revived my spirit, and I continued the run, still struggling through the snow, but with a much different perspective.

Eventually Sasha Faith produced an advance in Sasha Science, which led to a breakthrough. It happened in the Top of Utah Marathon that same year. I ran that race with a lot of power. But that power, manifested on the day of the race, had its roots in that run on that dull winter day with God lifting up my soul and telling it to be still, reviving my faith at its down. That is one reason TOU 2003 is a very special race for me, and that is why I still keep the picture from that race on the blog. It will be there until something equally special takes place.

P.M. 5 miles by myself (kids ran earlier with Sarah) in 36:25. Still slippery. Picked it up on the last 0.25, ran it in 1:25.


Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From MichelleL on Sat, Dec 15, 2007 at 18:30:25

Thank you for the story Sasha. Be Still My Soul is also one of my favorite hymns. It has seen me through many hard times.

From Brent on Sat, Dec 15, 2007 at 18:45:38

Thanks for sharing, puts perspective on many things.

From Lybi on Sat, Dec 15, 2007 at 19:22:53

Sasha, that is so moving. I think your faith makes you the kind of person other people want to follow.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
17.503.000.000.0020.50

A.M. 15.1 with Ted at 6:30 AM with minor events. The road had more dry patches, so we took advantage of them. Ted's shin was hurting, so we did not get as much tempo running in as the dry road would have permitted, but that was OK - Monday is not a tempo day anyway, plus I am happy to just build base for the next few weeks. Total time 1:41:46, 6:44.37 avg, last 13.1 in 1:26:03, 6:34.12 avg. Tempo running was done around 5:40-6:00 pace.

I posted my Digital X-Ray Image Dilemma on the forum. Any thoughts are appreciated.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 11:26, 1.5 with Jenny in 14:38, 2 with Benjamin in 15:47 ( he showed the 8:00 who's the boss with a 7:12 closing mile), then 0.7 by myself in 4:38. For our Family Home Evening activity we went around the neighborhood to pass around presents and to Christmas carol. When we were done, Benjamin and Julia wanted to run home, so we ran 0.15.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From cgbooth23 on Tue, Dec 18, 2007 at 16:54:26

SAsha,

Hey I didn't get into the moab 1/2 and looking to get a spring time 1/2 in have you done the Red Rock Canyon Marathon and 1/2 Marathon? looks like a good one and it is March 1st!

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Dec 20, 2007 at 22:52:53

I've never run that one. I did take a look at the website, though, and picked up a couple of clues. Does not look like a super-well organized race. It was canceled with no reason provided in 2005. The website does not even list a date for this year. The registration form link appears to be not functional.

You do have a half around that time of year that finishes in your home town, though - Striders. I would strongly recommend that one. I've run it. It is very well organized. The course is USATF certified, so you can be really sure you've run 13.11. You can run the Ogden Half as well, which starts in Eden. Again, very strong recommendation for that one.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.855.252.000.2520.35

A.M. The morning started with a dream about being stuck in some Russian town on the Black Sea, an hour until the flight back to America, and driving our Ford Escort 93 Wagon to the airport. All of a sudden, the engine light goes on, the temperature indicator goes way into the hot range, and the car refused to go more than 20 mph. I began to calculate how much the airline was going to charge me as a consequence of missing the flight. Then I started trying to figure out how I was going to get to the airport period. Then I found a very simple short cut to my home in Provo - wake up. I have very many blessings in my life. Not that I am plagued by nightmares, in fact, things are never particularly bad in my dreams, but I always feel happy when I wake up - reality is beating the dreams quite often.

Ted came this morning and reported 29 degrees outside. I figured the roads would be clear enough for a tempo. Then I looked for my fast pants, and could not find them. I did not want to run in the slow ones, they are too heavy. Spent about 30 minutes looking for them. Finally said, forget it, and put on two pairs of shorts, three long-sleeved shirts, a pair of racing flats, a pair of gloves, and a bank robber hood. What a combination! The idea was to keep the upper body warm, and transfer some of that to the exposed legs. It worked! I was warm the entire time.

Ran the warm-up 6.22 in 45:18. With the freedom of shorts, racing flats, and decent traction, the horses were neighing, and the legs were singing BINGO and were interested in a Swahili lesson. Ted was not feeling as feisty with his hip tightness and decided to take it easy, so I ran alone. Warmed up the first 2.5 in 14:21, 180 turn on ice was interesting, but otherwise the road was very decent except for occasional patches of snow and ice. Picked up the pace on the second 2.5 - 13:57, 28:18 at 5 miles. Decided to try to not be slower on the last 2.5, and was moving along at a steady 5:34 pace building a bit of a cushion for the 0.5-1% rise at the start of the last mile and the snow and ice on the last 100 meters. Ted, in the meantime, timed his turnaround so that I would be catching him on the last mile. With a quarter to go, I entered the greyhound-rabbit gravity zone, and there was nothing I could do. Some magic force started pulling me towards him against my will. This would be fine, except that force was coming from my legs, and he started running 5:20 pace to make me work. Last quarter was 1:17 in spite the snow and ice on the last 100, which made the last mile 5:25, and the last 2.5 13:48, last 5 27:45, and total time of 42:06, 5:36.8 avg, unintentionally and unexpectedly only 14 seconds slower than course PR in spite of the colder temperatures and slippage.

Felt that relaxing the quad, pulling up the foot with the hamstring, and using hip adductors to bring hips closer together helped with the form, and allowed me to run faster.

Ran 1.38 cool down, total time for 15.1 was 1:38:29, 6:31.32 avg.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 15:54 0.7 by myself in 4:51, 1.05 with Julia in 10:48, 1.5 with Jenny in 14:25. Time to put another plug for the Training Review Requests Board. I used to be able to follow everybody's training almost daily when the blog was small, but now as big as it is I cannot keep up any more. Plus, we now have a lot of others who are knowledgeable and willing to review your training. One of the expectations we have of the racing team members is that they will regularly help other runners with training advice. If you post on the board, you will get their attention.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From MichelleL on Tue, Dec 18, 2007 at 19:47:49

Great job on the tempo! Nice to negative split and do so well, especially with all the ice patches on the river trail.

From James W on Tue, Dec 18, 2007 at 23:46:11

I liked your comment about your form. Good job on the tempo, especially considering the conditions.

From Maria on Wed, Dec 19, 2007 at 04:44:53

Sasha, I was thinking again about hip mobility issue you mentioned in your breast stroke post. Have you ever tried hurdling drills? They are an excellent tool in developing hip mobility and flexibility! If you have access to a track with some hurdles, there are drills you can do, and if you do them regularly, you will most definitely see the difference. The simplest thing probably is to take one hurdle and put it couple of feet away and parallel to the wall or some barrier. Hold on to the wall/barrier, stand on the side of the hurdle, and bring the leg closest to the hurdle up and over the hurdle. Keep doing this motion for 10-15 reps. I hope my description makes sense, but if not, look up some hurdling drills with pictures on the net. I used to do tons of them when I was training in Russia, and while I was never very flexible, these drills helped a lot!

From Jon on Wed, Dec 19, 2007 at 14:42:47

Ted must be a great training partner if he waits 30 minutes for you to find some pants...

From MichelleL on Wed, Dec 19, 2007 at 14:54:52

No kidding Jon, I was thinking that too.

From cody on Wed, Dec 19, 2007 at 15:36:29

I agree too. Plus once you got going, he ended up running alone. Go Ted.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.200.000.000.0018.20

A.M. Almost uneventful 10.1 in 1:16:31. The events were that we ran at 5:00 AM, it was warmer (36 degrees), and it rained the entire time. We discussed why Ryan Hall beats me at the rate of about 45 seconds a mile on every distance from 400 m to the marathon. The fact that the gap does not change shows that we have equal propensity to distance running. We are about the same height and weight - I am 5'10 and weigh 145. His height and weight have been reported as both 5'10 and 140lb, and 6'0 and 142 lb. We train about the same, aside from the fact that he might be putting in another 20-30 miles a week, and would run everything 45 seconds a mile faster. The differences in training, if there are any of significance should not account for more than 5 seconds a mile difference.

My guess as the most probable cause - the difference is in some very difficult to change anatomical structure. I do feel like I stumble every time I land on my right foot, and never really feel or look like I am running smooth. He looks like a rolling wheel.

I do have the guts to propose that it is normal for a light boned male with a good heart, a propensity to distance running (slow-twitch dominance), no structural flaws, no health disorders, and proper training to run 2:12 marathon or faster. We think 2:12 is a big deal, but as a percentage of the world record, this is only like 10.37 in 100 meters. OTQ standard "B" is 10.28, which is equivalent to 2:10:56 marathon as a percentage of the world record. The standard is designed to gather a field of 32 participants. The reason we do not have 32 people sub-2:11 in the US is that while it is common to find light boned slow-twitch people with a good heart, it is more difficult to find such people that would also be free from running-impairing structural flaws. And out of those, we need to find those who are willing to consistently run 120 miles a week for several years. Thus sub-2:11 becomes a very big deal.

So the marathon, due to its demands on the training discipline, reduces the level of competition, and thus allows people with structural flaws to gain some status. Somebody who would have been stuck at 11.35 100 meters had he been a sprinter of equivalent "natural ability" (again using world record percentage for comparison), can run 2:25:00 ideal record-eligible marathon equivalent and make a local newspaper a couple of times a year, and even win some cash. I know that, it is great, or at least better than nothing, but I do not want to stop there. My interest is now in correcting the structural flaws. What structural flaws create an impairment in running? Which ones of them can be corrected, and how?

Why am I so interested in it? Marathon is one of the most honest sports - compared to others, your success is greatly a function of how hard you are willing to work. But not greatly enough. I want to make it more honest, make it so that work means more. If we can find a way to correct at least some of the currently "incurable" structural flaws that make you a slow runner, we would make it harder for the guys with talent but less than optimal work ethics to win. We will see better role models in the winners. It will be very good for us.

P.M. Jenny and Julia ran with Sarah. I ran 1.05 with Joseph in the stroller in 8:21, then 2 with Benjamin in 16:27 pushing Joseph, then 4 by myself in 27:57. At 9:00 PM  Benjamin started doing entering his data in the blog, and Jared, who came for a sleepover,  remembered that he had not yet run. So I took him out for 1.05 in 9:41.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From cody on Wed, Dec 19, 2007 at 15:33:59

I agree. Running Economy is everything. If, in your case structural problems cause poor economy then that is what is needed to be resolved in order to run 2:11. However, it seems that most people have some form of physical impairment. Those few who don't are considered "talented". As with the same amount of effort, they are able to crush those with impairments.

From Jon on Thu, Dec 20, 2007 at 00:16:34

I agree with some, but I have to respectfully disagree that it is normal to run a 2:12 marathon. It takes the right combination of work ethic, health, genetics, and coaching to run that fast- i.e. the elite. The elite, by definition, have all of them, or else they would not be faster than everyone. Hard work can take you a long ways in the marathon, but, like Cody says, most people would never be capable of being world class.

As for structural flaws- to a large degree, each body adapts to its quirks (flaws) and compensates for them. Trying to change them in adulthood to what is viewed as "ideal" will often result in losing the strengths your body has developed. I would be hesitant to say someone is flawed in such a way that it needs to be fixed by anything other than some stretching and strength training. Just my opinion.

From Jon on Thu, Dec 20, 2007 at 09:42:04

Another way to put this- I think a fair portion of running ability is determined by muscular and cardiovascular limitations rather than structural limitations. Bodies seem to adapt well to and compensate for structural "deficiencies", so I would be hesitant to make drastic changes. Muscular and cardiovascular can be improved through working out, obviously, to a point. But to be a world-class type (i.e. Olympic champion), you have to naturally have all of them, plus hard work.

From jhorn on Thu, Dec 20, 2007 at 17:22:50

I agree that physiological inefficiencies are minimized in longer distances. You have poured in so many miles that your body has adapted. That being said, you shouldn't feel as if you're weak in one foot. You should do weight-training, core-strengthening, rest, etc enough that you do not feel weak in one area of your body. As for the comparison to Ryan Hall, I think you need to be realistic about two things. Hall has been an elite runner in every single stage of his career--the cream rises to the top. I'm not in any way saying you can't break the wall and run a world-class marathon, but Hall is naturally gifted, as even he would acknowledge. Secondly, what are your actual miles that benefit you? Obviously your training sessions, but all the other miles you put in don't benefit you, in fact they wear you down. You have an incredible capacity for mileage, but you're limited by your family and work, etc. That's understandable. I don't believe that with your aerobic capacity, any mileage above 7:30 benefits you, especially if it's piecemeal. You don't have a system of recovery runs and you definitely don't have a system of rest. You also are not training specifically for one or two major marathons a year. A professional takes 4 months to build up a marathon, you run one every other month. Now I'm not trying to discourage you, but I think you should be realistic about your life, you blog like you don't understand why you can't bust out a 2:12, and that's ridiculous--you aren't really preparing yourself for that, you just aren't.

From Paul Petersen on Thu, Dec 20, 2007 at 17:27:32

Food for thought: why are Abdi and Hall roughly the same speed? Adbi has that weird-looking gait, whereas Hall looks absolutely beautiful when he runs. I'm not going anywhere with this, but was pondering it, so I thought I'd throw it out there to chew on.

From Superfly on Thu, Dec 20, 2007 at 18:31:55

I know I've said this before but the rest or time off could be a big issue. If guys like Hall and Sell take at least a week or two off of running during a so called off season then why in the world would any of us ever think we can go without. You can argue it all you want but those guys have professionals helping them make the right choices and it is obviously working. If you've been running like you said you have for all these years- you'd never know if time off would help because you've never tried it.

You can have one of the two goals: Break the wall and do everything in your power to do it.

Or keep doing what you've been doing (which there is nothing wrong with) and be the guy who never takes a break, runs marathons weeks apart, and most other races in Norther Utah and enjoy doing what you've been doing but not expecting much else.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Dec 20, 2007 at 23:39:18

Ok, time to clear up misconceptions and false beliefs.

First, and foremost. Many of us get too caught up in bowing down to the world-class runners. We assume that if they DO something we do not, it must be that we would be much better off by doing what they do. To illustrate the folly involved in this reasoning - Rob de Castella was one once seen on TV wiping off with a sponge in a particular way. Pretty soon just about every Australian runner started doing that thinking there was some advantage to the method. It turned out later that de Castella was just wiping off the consequences of relieving himself on the go.

Rest is important, but it does not have to be time off. Different runners need different form of rest. Failure to take time off in and of itself will not preclude one from reaching world class times. As an example, the infamous Ron Hill that went so far as to never miss a day of running even if it meant hopping a mile on crutches was a 2:09 marathoner in his glory days and at one point held the world record. He did it without pacers too, so his 2:09 was probably worth today's 2:07.

Junk miles - myth. I'll let Ted expound on the details. However, it should suffice to say that every successful coach I know of preaches running the majority of your mileage at aerobic intensities, and does not put a limit on how slow you can go aside from 60% of max HR, which for me would be between 10:00 and 12:00 pace.

Muscle strength and weight training - I am yet to see a study, or even hear some believable testimonial, that will demonstrate that a distance runner can improve his running speed on any distance by increasing the strength of his muscles via non-running activities after the muscles have been strengthened to their optimal levels through running. It looks like Lydiard made a similar observation as well. At one point I was completely shocked to discover that while the strength of every muscle group on my leg was increased by at least 10% through weight training, my 100 meter sprint remained unchanged.

Time to go to bed - comment to be continued.

From Jon on Thu, Dec 20, 2007 at 23:59:03

Some good comments here- I agree with jhorn about rest being good, plus distinct cycles of base, peak, taper, and race, can result in 2-3 good marathons per year.

I agree with Clyde, too. For you, Sasha, trying some real rest days and a little time off would be bold and may really help you.

Weight training- I believe weight training helps towards the end of a marathon when your muscles are tired and you can recruit other muscles to help. It would not show up much in 100 meter times. Plus, I think trying to extrapolate anything from 100 meter times to marathon times is guesswork, at best.

Sasha, you asked the question. You wanted everyone's advice. Why do you seem to fight against what they say and defend yourself rather than listening, and maybe trying some of it.

From James on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 00:47:28

This is a good one, sorry I've missed out!

From Superfly on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 01:10:04

Taking time of isn't a fade like using a sponge. You might find 1 in 1000 or 10,000 runners that can do what Ron Hill did.

The bottom line Sasha is you've never tried just giving yourself a week off and letting your body fully recover. So there really isn't a debate here. You've tried a lot of things but not that. If your shooting from the hip trying to find ways to improve I'd look at taking some time off. The fact that Hall and Sell and most other elite's take time off isn't because it's cool. It's because scientifically there are more Pro's to it than Con's.

From James W on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 01:57:09

OK, I am going to jump in here with a few comments:

1. Rest can be defined in different ways. It does NOT have to mean not running at all. Everyone is different, what works for one person will not work for another. That being said, it certainly would be interesting to try it, but we might see Sasha go insane from the effort . . . "must . . . grunt . . . not . . . run . . . AAAHHHHH!"

2. I have to disagree with the weight training. The body will naturally recruit the muscles that are necessary for running. Building up additional muscle groups is only going to serve to take glycogen away from those muscles that need it, IMHO. My only caveat to this is core strengthening exercises, which I believe do serve a very important purpose in helping with running form and posture.

3. The original point I believe Sasha was trying to make was regarding correcting biomechanical deficiencies in a 2:25 marathoner to help him achieve his maximum potential. I think this absolutely has merit. Just because a runner's body has adapted to the deficiencies he/she has doesn't mean it can't adapt again if/when those deficiencies are corrected. I was going to post a comment on this earlier, but if you compare Sasha's upper legs (especially quads) to someone like Ryan Hall's, there is a huge difference, suggesting muscular compensation for a biomechanical deficiency. As a result, Sasha has a great deal more mass in his legs, which not only serves as a less efficient lever (takes more energy to rotate the greater mass around the fulcrum), but also uses up more glycogen due to greater muscular mass. Biomechanical issues can be either anatomic (problems with bones, etc.) or muscular-related (tendons, ligaments, etc.). One point that has not been made is that of stretching, which certainly could cause issues. If a particular muscle group is tight and remains tight all the time, it will cause bones to shift or rotate to compensate, thus placing a greater emphasis on a particular muscle group. Although I do not stretch before runs, I do stretch afterwards to ensure that none of my muscles get too tight, because I know they will alter my form. Sorry for the huge post, just my thoughts on this.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 14:34:35

OK, let's try this one more time. I do not think my message regarding looking up to elites quite got through.

I have studied what makes a 2:10 guy run 2:10 vs. another guy running 2:30 off the same training for a long time. I did quite a bit more than read a running book or publication or a web site, and say, yes, this is it! I have also done a fair share of reading to be able to tell the difference between somebody speaking from experience, and somebody who did not go far beyond the reading, so please do not be offended when I call your bluff :-)

So, regarding the elite training. I took a fairly thorough look at how Brian Sell and other Hanson runners training (see athleticore.com, you need to set up an account there to get access to their logs). And one thing became very apparent. Not that I did not suspect it before, but it now came out in very plain view. They train pretty much exactly like I do (with the exception of the speed), but I handle it a lot better! I practically do not have blah days ever - maybe if I did not get enough sleep or if I am sick being the only exception. They write about feeling blah about one day out of three. They are beating me on speed, but not on health!

Thus I am not particularly interested in advice from world-class marathoners regarding training health. They do not have much to offer of what I do not have already. If you find somebody who deals with mileage and hard workouts better than I do, I am all ears for the advice from him, regardless of how fast he actually is.

Nor am I particularly interested in the advice from world-class guys in the way of developing endurance. If you find somebody who consistently for years ran at least 40 miles a week in high school, still could not break 9:36 in 3000 then, but in spite of that has been able to beat my marathon times, I am all ears again - he has something to offer that I do not have.

Overtime, it became clear to me that the world-class marathoners do not beat me in their training methods, or recovery routine. They do not have more slow-twitch fibers. They do not have stronger muscles, at least not as a group. My height and weight are within standard elite range.

What is missing is what some will call speed, but I prefer to use a different term to avoid confusion. When we say someone lacks speed, the impulsive prescription for the cure is to do speed work. This quality is not developed with speed work. Some will call it natural talent. To me this is an immediate concession of defeat. There is an implication that we cannot develop it at all and are not willing to try. For lack of a better term, I am going to call it Quality X.

Here is what I know about Quality X. It is not in the muscle power, you cannot get in in a weight room. Nor do you lose it if you never touch weights. It is not in the endurance training. You can optimize your endurance, but the Quality X will not come. I have encountered many examples of people losing their Quality X, but have only one testimonial of somebody gaining it (Trever Ball). Quality X can be permanently lost when you gain weight. You drop the weight, and it still may never fully come back. Quality X can be lost through an injury, particularly back injury.

I think James W is getting somewhere with this. Quality X has a very strong structural component, and in order for me to improve significantly I need to carefully research and understand this area. There is no way I will go sub-2:23 on an honest course unless I obtain more Quality X. I have suspected this for a while, and did quite a bit of research. What I find to be the biggest obstacle is that there is no solid science of how the anatomy and muscle/ligament/tendon flexibility and balance affect running speed. Sure, we can detect imbalances, and in some cases we even know how to correct it, but you could easily spend a year correcting something that has little or no relevance to your running speed (speaking very much from experience :-) ). Quality X to an extent correlates with running visually straight and smooth. But as Paul points out with Abdi's example, you can deviate from straight without losing much of the Quality X. There is more than meets the eye.

I suspect that there are not many people out there that are willing to pioneer that type of science. However, for many of our bloggers, including myself, if we want to be in the Trials 2012, we need to make our contribution to jump start it. Paul, Sean, Nick Miller, Nick McCombs, and possibly Logan have enough Quality X to dip under 2:19 on an honest course, the rest of us do not yet. Even for them, they could use more of it. The rest of us need to either grow it from scratch (hard), or restore the lost amount (easier).

Nobody will do it for us. As I said before, the 31:00 10 K runner is not somebody that a lot of people with the exception of their friends and family care about. It is more profitable to find people who already have a lot of Quality X than to try to help those who do not develop it. We need to work together to make it happen.

From Jon on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 15:01:05

I'm all for more Quality X. And I'm guessing it won't be a medical discovery you can take in pill form.

From James on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 15:31:12

This discussion is a beaut! Sasha and I have hashed this stuff over many times, so I won't say much. Rest can be different for everyone to some degree. Easy days can recover the body, but not fully. Anyone who thinks that their muscles can recovery properly from doing light work instead of no work is kidding themself. If people do not take time off and let their bodies heal, they will never recover fully. Our muscles will adapt and heal, but our cells will heal themselves with scar tissue and calcuim deposits. I am sure that a good part of us have a lot muscles in our bodies that are in these stages, because we do take time off and get real rest. Time off is rest, and easy run is only partial recovery, for everyone, that is how the body is made!

As for weight lifting, it will only help any of of us, and in a lot more ways than have been mentioned.

The funny thing about this post is a bunch of stubborn guys are telling everyone that they are right, and defending their addictions. The best thing is, I know I am right!:-)

Sasha- a week off might do you wonders, but it might not because you haven't ever taken one, and your muscles probably have so much scar tissue that they will never fully recover. As for making changes, rest and strength training would help, but nothing drastic. Although that might be drastic for you.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 16:28:52

James:

If you think you are right, do you have a reasonable explanation of the following facts:

* Ability to race multiple marathons back to back at the speed that nobody I know in my 5 K speed range except Mike Kirk was able to match (which would indicate that I am actually racing close to my potential) and not feel sore.

* Never feeling sore after a workout.

* Virtually no injuries in 23 years of continuous running.

* In the last 17 years, no loss of all-out speed since it maxed out at the age of 17.

You have taken a fair share of breaks, and you will score a big minus on the above four points. Your theory, if right, would suggest it should be the other way around. All of the scars and calcium deposits overtime would have put a more and more constraining limit on the range of motion, and it would have at least killed my all out speed. On the other hand, you would not have trained enough to have those limiting factors, and at least your all-out speed should be fine.

From James on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 17:13:18

I said nothing about flexibility (range of motion). No one has been able to prove that flexibility helps in athletics, not even with injury prevention. I am talking about your ability to maxmize muscular potential. Whatever your genetic disposition, you can still maximize your muscular potential.

Your above 4 points are valid for you. Your body adapted to your routine years ago. However, if you would have rested more over the years I would bet you would be faster. But that is hindsight, we are talking about now. You do run very consistently in back to back races, but you having been running essentially the same times since I met you in 1994 or whenever that was. I think you could be near your potential, but we might never know if that is false because you train the same year after year. The only thing that I have seen you really change is the amount of miles you put in. And it has paid off with dropping some time off your marathons, but not that much time.

Your success with running back to back so well, not getting injured, and not losing speed is from never getting out of shape. That is where I get the "minus".

When I have gotten injured it is from being out of shape and coming back too fast. I have always admired your consistency in your running and your values. I do think your zealous running, and doing the exact same training, with zero rest (other than Sundays), for so long, has held you back some over the years. I think you can maintain your speed at this level for a while, but the question is can you get faster. I say you can, but not by doing exactly what you having been doing for 23 years. Your improvement will continue to be minimal, if you see any at all. You might be at that point in your running where you need to mix things up a bit. I could be wrong, but I may be right!

From Paul Petersen on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 17:14:49

As long as everyone is shooting from the hip, I'll take aim myself.

Sasha - perhaps your leg muscles have simply adapted to your biomechanical imperfections. That may explain why your leg muscles are so big in proportion to your upper body, and in comparison to most other marathoners.

A few examples of your body adapting to stresses: you never buy new shoes, yet you never get injured. Why? Because your muscles have adapted and are stronger from lack of shoe support. I imagine if you did buy news shoes all the time, you might get injured more! I also imagine you would adapt to barefoot running or wearing minimalist shoes quite readily. This is a good thing, so kudos.

In the same way, since your training has been so consistent, your muscles have adapted to your gait. They have had to work harder than someone with a more economical stride. As a result, they are stronger, and perhaps (shooting from the hip here) bigger. This is both good and bad. The good is that you will never get injured, because your muscles are very strong and keep everything locked in place (patellar tracking issues? Forget it!) The bad is that your muscles are very strong and keep everything locked in place. Huh? In other words, I think the same adaptation that keeps you injury-free, helps you recover faster, and helps consistent performance, also may lock your body and mechanics to its present form. It also adds about 10 lbs of bulk to your frame, which gives a "double whammy" to your economy.

Not to say biomechanical adjustment can't be done, but it might take many many years. For example, I had "chronic" SI issues for a couple years. After about two years of chiropractic, massage, and PT treatment, my imperfection has been adjusted enough so that it stays in place when corrected. I no longer have any SI pain, and haven't had any for about 6 months. But it took a couple years for my muscles to "unlearn" their old habits and "relearn" good habits that help keep my hips (and biomechanics) in line, rather than constantly torquing everything back off.

My point? Change is possible, but may take a long long time, probably in proportion to the amount of time your muscles adapted the "wrong" way and became strong and "locked". Your strength may be your weakness.

How to change it? I don't know. I'm just a geographer with a running habit. The only thing I'm an expert in is my own opinion.

Regarding the separate issue of time off, I think a few days here and there is good to separate training cycles. Longer, if recovering from illness or injury. But runners start losing aerobic fitness at 5 days and blood volume at 3 days. And you lose running economy every day you don't run. Anyone who has followed my training can see that I take time off when I need it, but my running didn't start blossoming until I quit taking long, pointless hiatuses (ie - longer than two weeks). Just a few years ago I could barely break 1:17 in the half marathon...off of 4 days a week training. I thought I was being cute and smart by taking so many breaks and running a short schedule, but in reality the only way to get good at running is to run a lot. Like 10-14 times/week. 7 days/week. "Days off" for me are now 6-mile runs at 7:30 pace, assuming I'm healthy.

From Paul Petersen on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 17:23:25

Oh, and regarding the idea, er, myth of "junk miles" -- no such thing.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 18:57:21

Paul is making some sense, and he has some solid experience to back up his words.

James - I improved my 10 K by 2 minutes since we met in 1994. At the time I was running about 50 miles a week. My marathon improved by almost 16 minutes on the exact same course since 1998. I've tried numerous training methods and techniques overtime, and observed an unmistakable pattern. When I increased the mileage I ran faster on all distances 5 K and up given an adequate recovery routine (good sleep, healthy diet, proper calorie replenishment). When I reduced the mileage, I ran slower on all distances 5 K and up, no matter what else I did to make up for the reduction in mileage.

However, you are right that I am reaching the limits of what can be done with mileage alone. Something different needs to be done, but it is not an arbitrary time off. If you do not have a thorough plan of how you are going to come back with a bigger plus, time off is a plain waste, as we have seen in the past experiences of Paul, James, Jon, and Clyde.

I am not sure if I made it quite clear. What I am looking for is Quality X. When I get it, it will manifest itself with significant proportionate improvements in ALL distances 1 mile and up. If you are going to propose something, I would appreciate if you had an example of somebody who was in my situation, did what you are proposing, and improved on every distance 1 mile to the marathon at the rate of at least 10 seconds a mile.

P.S. Correction - Ron Hill never held WR in the marathon, but he did in 10 miles, 15 miles, and 25 K. He was the second man to break 2:10 after Derek Clayton. Interestingly enough, his "streak" had been going for 6 years prior to that.

From James on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 23:34:33

If someone did have an example and a plan would you use it?

I don't think anyone was suggesting you take a month off of running. I think if you took 4 days off after a marathon that would be enough for you, and I think that is what is being suggested. I personally wish I was as dedicated as you are to running, but I'm not.

I know you did improve 2 minutes, but that is still not much comparing a 50 mile week to 120 miles week. I think most people could improve that much with a 70 mile a week jump.

Anyways, you are a very committed talented runner, a good friend, and a smart man, but you take the cake for being more stubborn than me, Jon, Paul, or Clyde, and that is a pretty tall order!

The beauty of the blog and hashing things like this over, is that we often have a hard time taking a step back and analyzing ourselves, and we have people to do that for us. The problem is we don't always want to hear what they tell us or do anything about it. It is like the girlfiend or boyfriend that we like and don't see that they are pulling us down and don't like it when friends and family tell us about it. When we finally take a step back and get out of that situation we can see what others were talking about.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
18.550.600.600.6020.35

A.M. A very eventful morning. Ted came in at 6:20 and announced the arrival of a heat wave - 38 degrees! We ran in shorts. Did our usual 15.1 course with a 10 x 1 minute on/1 minute off fartlek. The on pace varied, started slow then progressed to around 5:28, then eventually progressed into 5:12, and on the last one we actually ran 5:04 pace - I mistakingly told Ted 5:12, though. The recoveries were around 7:10 pace. The main discussion topic was whether Salazar was really as slow in shorter distances as the legend has it (57 quarter), and whether he reached his true potential in the marathon (2:08). The consensus was that the legend probably stems from his inability to run the last 400 of the 12 under 57, and that he would have run 2:05 in Berlin with pacers. Total time was 1:45:26, 6:58.94 avg.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 11:16, 1.5 with Jenny in 13:25, 2 with Benjamin in 15:14, 0.7 on my own in 4:38. Pushed Jacob for Julia's and Jenny's runs. Benjamin impressed me with his zeal today. I told him run easy, no splits, just go by effort. He said, no I want the splits so I'll know which guy to chase. About 0.5 into the run he decided he wanted to chase the 8:00 guy. He hit the first mile in 8:05, then his subsequent quarters were 1:54, 1:48, 1:45, and 1:42. Got some hailstorm on the last quarter, then I got it in full measure on the remaining 0.7 by myself. I asked Benjamin what kind of effort he was putting in on the last half mile. He said about 5 K race pace. It is quite a sight to watch an 8-year-old cruise (not sprint!) at sub-7:00 pace, never ceases to amaze me even though I get to see it almost daily. We run side by side, he turns over at around 190, I turn over at around 180, so even though he is only 4-3 in height his stride is almost as long as mine, and at 7:00 pace my stride is not short by any means.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 16:10:34

Ted mentioned that you took a fall today, I hope you are okay!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.350.000.000.0020.35

A.M. Eventful 15.1 with Ted. Was supposed to be uneventful. The events were the end of the heat wave, lots of ice on the ground, and me taking a spectacular spill on black ice under the bridge around 14.3 into the run. Almost made it to the finish without events, almost. This is the best I've had in years. I felt like a figure skater - a lot of interesting movements in the process. It happened so fast, and there was so much movement involved that I do not remember all the details. Got away with a bloody lip and nose. Got up right away. The quarter with the fall was 1:52, and I did not stop my watch in the middle. We were otherwise going 6:40 pace at that point, which perhaps was not a safe running speed on that part of the trail. Total time was 1:49:22.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 11:11, 1.5 with Jenny in 13:22, she closed the last quarter in 1:49, 2 with Benjamin in 17:51. I told him to guess his splits every quarter, but I was not going to give him any feedback. He guess all of them within 3 seconds except the ones where there was an ice patch that reduced us to a walk. On that one, he was off by 7 seconds. Added another 0.7 in 4:46.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From josse on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 17:18:49

Careful it's icy outside.

From James on Fri, Dec 21, 2007 at 23:39:07

Was it the bridge on 800 North? I have ate it pretty good under that one before.

From Mike warren on Sat, Dec 22, 2007 at 00:06:25

No harm, No foul! Those runs build character and toughen you up! Great job on the miles, you are really ramping it up!!

From Jon on Sat, Dec 22, 2007 at 12:37:02

Hope you are ok from the fall.

From Sasha Pachev on Sat, Dec 22, 2007 at 13:31:12

James - it was under the railroad bridge. The 800 North bridge underpass is a lot of fun as well.

From James on Sat, Dec 22, 2007 at 14:00:50

The rail road bridge is a duzy. You are talking about the one that is about a mile west of where you live, right? It is funny because I know most of the areas where you run quite well, because I once lived in those areas too. I lived just up from the park on 650 North and 1200 west before I was married. If you went out my back gate and you were on the trail. And after I was married I lived by Slate Canyon.

Hey, there is a possibility that I might stay down in Utah County on Sunday night. If I do I would love to hook up for a run on Monday morning. Give me your phone number again incase I do and I will give you a call on Sunday evening.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.7510.651.000.0025.40

A.M. A fairly eventful long run with a tempo. Ran alone - Ted is out of town. 18 degrees outside, got snowed on in the last 8 miles. Total of 20.25 in 2:13:15, avg. 6:34.81. My original plan was to run my regular 10.1 and add 2 times Provo River 5 Mile Tempo once I got there to make it 20.1. I was also under a time constaint to finish the run in about 2:15 or so for logistical rather than training reasons. I decided to run fast when I could, and do what I can on icy parts. It turned out that most of the trail was icy, and it was bad enough that I hit a couple of 8:15 miles. It became apparent that the run on my original course would take too long. After some thought, and 8:15 pace gave me plenty of oxigen for thinking, I decided the only way I'd be able to finish the run in time is to go back to the house and then run the 0.35 loop around the block 29 times at 6:00 pace or so. That was the only place I could count on being clear for long enough to go that fast short of going to the indoor track, which is about the last thing I would do next to running on a treadmill.

I did manage about a mile of about 5:30-5:35 pace in between icy spots on the trail, which got me to 9.6 mark in 1:11:51, 7:29.06 avg. Then finally I was in the clear, and I ran 0.5 in 3:03 to warm up the engine. Then I was ready to shift into a tempo gear, and once I did I started hitting the 0.35 loops in 2:00 with very little deviations - this is about 5:43 pace. I kept looping around like this as the snow was falling down. At first, traction was decent, but it kept getting progressively worse. Towards the end, there was enough snow to where I slowed down to 2:03 loops, this is about 5:51 pace, but still much better than 8:15 on the trail. Odd feeling - when I tried to pick it up, the effort did not feel any harder, and the pace was not any faster. Finished the 29 loops (10.15) in 58:21, 5:44.93 avg.

Those loops were tedious, but there was one good thing about them. The course was absolutely pancake flat, world record quality, aside from the turns, a couple of gutters, and the snow falling on the ground. Nevertheless it was still good enough that I experienced the power of rhythm. Even though I was at the end of 20 miles, it felt just like a regular 10 mile tempo, holding the pace with much greater ease that I would on rollers. I can now understand better why Haile says there is no course better than Berlin.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 10:02, 2 with Benjamin in 17:27, 1.75 with Jenny in 15:27, and 0.35 in 2:30 by myself.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From James on Sat, Dec 22, 2007 at 14:35:34

29 time around the block would be very tedious! That is almost like running around the track 40 times. Good run though!

From Jon on Sat, Dec 22, 2007 at 15:13:27

I go crazy if I have to run the same loop (i.e. track) more than 2-4 times. I think I would literally kill myself if I had to do anything 29 times. You have lots of determination.

From Paul Petersen on Sat, Dec 22, 2007 at 16:21:53

Nice job. 29 laps around the block is no worse than running an indoor 5K.

From James W on Sun, Dec 23, 2007 at 00:04:34

Holy Cow! And I thought running 13 miles on the treadmill was tedious - I don't know if I could have handled 29 laps around the block. Way to go, Sasha!

From jtshad on Sun, Dec 23, 2007 at 09:47:22

Wow, what a way to get in 20 miles! I am with Jon, I would go nuts.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
21.250.000.000.0021.25

A.M. Ran 3.85 around the block with Sarah, actually one lap of it to catch up at 6:40 pace, and also accelerated a couple of times for misc. errands, 34:30, avg. 8:57.66. Then finished the rest of the 15.2 by myself. Eventually eased into sub-6:40 pace and maintained it. The roads were much better than Saturday, although there was still plenty of snow and ice. Total time was 1:50:40, avg. 7:16.84. While running on my own, the average pace was 6:42.64.

A.M -2 : 3 miles cross-country skiing in the Hobblecreek Canyon. Decent trail. Amazing how not being conditioned for a different sport can wear you out from so little effort.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 11:09, 1.5 with Benjamin and Jenny in 13:21, then another 0.5 with Benjamin, total of 17:21 for 2 miles. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Mik'L on Mon, Dec 24, 2007 at 12:49:44

Merry Christmas Sasha! Thanks for keeping the blog up so we can enjoy running and new friends! We appreciate all you do. I hope you and Sarah have a great Christmas and a prosperous, happy New Year!

From Lybi on Mon, Dec 24, 2007 at 14:12:05

Ditto Sasha, Sarah and Co. Have the Merriest Christmas of all time!

From Tom on Mon, Dec 24, 2007 at 17:35:02

Same here...hope you and Sarah have a great Christmas and new year. Thanks for all the help this past year!

From James on Mon, Dec 24, 2007 at 18:00:48

Sorry I never got back to you, I was at Temple Square when you called, so I had my phone off. I didn't end up staying down there, but next time I do we should hook up. Have a wonderful Christmas!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.100.000.250.0020.35

A.M. Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh, what fun it is to run through the snow some miles today! Ran 15.1 alone in 1:44:22, 6:54.7 avg. There was about an inch or two of snow on the ground everywhere. Fortunately, the temperature was 10 degrees at the start, which made the snow crunchy for most of the run and gave me good traction. Towards the end, it warmed up to 18 degrees, and the snow became slippery. I was going around 6:45-6:50 pace, but then slowed down to 7:12 on the last two miles.

Merry Christmas to all!

P.M. Got a Dual Resistance Harness as a Christmas present from Sarah's mom. Tried it out, the kids had a blast, especially in the sled mode, although not without a couple of falls in the running mode when I pulled too quick and too hard. Total of about 0.25 of threshold effort. Tried it on Sarah as well. We were at Sarah's parents house in West Valley. Her neighbors across the street got outside to see the show. The man explained with lots of profanity  that he needed one of those to get his wife in shape. 

The harness was getting a lot of attention and comments from the neighbors. I think it is a great way to break the ice, start a conversation, and introduce the idea of aerobic exercise to the masses. 

Then ran with Benjamin when we got home (Jenny and Julia ran with Sarah earlier). We tried the harness on better parts of the trail. Benjamin liked being able to go fast without much effort, although he did fall once on black ice. Our total time for 2 miles was 15:37. 

Then added another 3 in 19:43. Lots of slippage on the trail where I ran, much worse than the direction I ran with Benjamin. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Lybi's Mom on Tue, Dec 25, 2007 at 23:12:10

Having a hard time visualizing what a dual resistance harness is. Do you think you could temporarily post a picture of you using it?

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.300.000.000.0020.30

A.M. Started the run with 5.15 around the block with Sarah in 45:00. Towed her with a harness. This way, I worked at about 7:00-7:30 effort to get 8:00 - 9:00 pace depending on what Sarah was doing on her end. This was the first time we used it, and the roads were slippery, so I was being very cautious. I imagine we could do a tempo run at about 6:20 pace in good conditions especially once Sarah gets used to relaxing more when being pulled at higher speeds.

The harness is a pretty simple gadget. A strong belt with loops on each end that go around your waist. No buckling provided or needed. When you start pulling, the tension of the belt prevents it from sliding on either end. A great device for couples where the husband is much faster than the wife. Allows them to train together with both getting an honest workout at the same time. Power training for the husband, overspeed training for the wife. A good object lesson on the concept of eternal family as well. Would be better, of course, if you could harness the kids at the same time.

Then ran another 10.1 on the trail. Started out at 7:40 pace, thought that was slow, then the snow started getting wetter as it got warmer, and I gradually digressed to 8:00, and then even 9:00 pace, this time not towing anybody. Fortunately, there were occasional dry patches where I could go 6:40. So I ended up averaging slightly sub-8:00 for 10.1 with the total time of 2:03:56 for 15.25.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 16:51, 0.15 to get Jenny and Julia from a friend's house, 0.35 with Julia in 4:15,  her knee was hurting, 1.5 with Jenny in 14:26, and 1.05 alone in 7:59.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.450.000.000.0020.45

A.M. Towed Sarah for 0.35 in 2:58, then her legs were sore from being towed yesterday, so she went slow untowed, and I went to the trail. Ran a total of 16.1 in 2:02:41, 7:37.2 avg. Much better than yesterday, the 13 degree cold make the snow crunchier. Had a partner for a couple of miles. His name is Kirk. He is 47 years old, and teaches Arabic at BYU. I see him on the trail quite a bit.

P.M. Took Julia sledding in the Hobblecreek Canyon. She was sledding. I was cross-country skiing. We used the infamous harness to connect us.

Dashing through the snow
On a one-horse open sleigh,
Over the fields we go,
Laughing all the way;

Did 2 miles in 22:15, first one uphill in 12:20, then downhill in 9:55. Was faster than I expected I'd be able to do on the rough snow, pulling a sled, and not being conditioned for the sport - this was my second cross-country skiing experience this year, and third time since coming to the US.

My cross-country skiing does lag behind my running. I was number one cross-country skier in my school thanks to the running endurance, but I got beat badly by the real cross-country skiers. My best 3 K at the age of 11.7 was around 16 minutes, which I did in the Moscow championship. The fastest kids my age did it around 13 minutes on the same course. At the same time, I could have run the same distance in around 11:30. What I find odd is the size of the gaps in cross-country skiing vs running. Although they did not have a 3000 meter race for 11 year olds in Moscow, I would estimate that if I lost a 3000 meter race to anybody my age at that time, it would not have been by more than 30 seconds. During a PE class I would gap my classmates running by about the same margin as I would cross-country skiing. Yet cross-country skiing against a real cross-country skier I'd get gapped by as much as I would gap my untrained classmates.

Another thing I found interesting is that I've never seen a cross-country skier that could not just jump in a running race and be competitive. On the other hand, it is not quite the same with runners trying to cross-country ski. I also noticed that it seemed like my running went better when I supplemented it with cross-country skiing a couple of times a week. Which is why I am trying this now.

Got home, ran 0.5 with Benjamin in 4:12, then Jenny joined us for the last 1.5 in 13:05, Benjamin got 17:17 for 2 miles. Ran 0.35 with Julia in 4:05, her knee is better, but still hurting.


Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Comments
From MichelleL on Thu, Dec 27, 2007 at 14:01:09

Can I, and possibly some of my female posse, join you and Ted for your uneventful 1/2 on Monday? If so, can we move up the meeting time to 6am? I would love to do a consistent tempo but perhaps a fartlek where there is dry ground would be more appropriate.

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Dec 27, 2007 at 14:09:41

Sure. The only problem is that we've got quite a bit of ice, and from what I see in the forecast, it does not appear that it would melt any time soon. If it is tempo-unfriendly, we could run to the indoor track and do another puke run, see if you can make it to 3 miles.

From Jon on Thu, Dec 27, 2007 at 15:45:32

What is a puke run?

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Dec 27, 2007 at 15:48:33

Run at a target pace until you can't, see how far you can make it.

From MichelleL on Thu, Dec 27, 2007 at 18:57:38

I would love to have your help on a puke workout, but I think the track workout brought on my groin issue, and it is still tender so I don't think it's wise to return to the track. Also, running on ice and snow is probably not good for it. I would like to do a long tempo run ideally. Since you mentioned a change of venue, what would be the chances of convincing you to hit the roads? The roads clear faster because of the plowing/sand/salt/traffic.

From Paul Ivory on Thu, Dec 27, 2007 at 19:30:54

Sasha,

A running coach friend of mine, Bill, told me about a web page that is an awesome resource for running information and guidance. http://www.letsrun.com/

A wealth of the training advice reinforces what you suggest as the keys to a life of successful running and achieving your running potential.

This web site has a wealth of running information. If you scroll about 2/3 of the way down the web site you will get to the section titled: Training Advice:

A few of the articles that I have looked at are noted below:

- Top 10 Training Tips

- No Shortcuts

- Wejo Speaks: Why I Sucked in College (an awesome article)

And looking at the titles of many other articles suggests there is a wealth of great reading here.

Enjoy, Paul

From Sasha Pachev on Thu, Dec 27, 2007 at 20:23:28

Paul: Thanks for the info.

Michelle: Yes, I wondered if the groin pain came from running on the track in the first place. With that in mind, though, it is probably a good idea to skip all tempos until it is completely better. Winter has a way of doing tricks to your mind. When you've been running on ice day after day you start thinking you are losing speed. The pace feels painfully slow, and it just drives you nuts. In truth, you are not losing that much if anything at all. My current loop course 5 K PR was set at the end of January 2002 after running 441 miles in December with only 17.75 at marathon pace, 5.75 at threshold and nothing at VO2 Max, followed by 409 miles in January, 3.5 at marathon pace, 11.5 at threshold, and 5.5 at VO2 Max, 3.1 of which was the race itself.

If you are really anxious to do a tempo, we can run N times around the block. The loop is 0.35 miles, world-record quality flat, not many cars, I know most of the drivers, and it is usually the clearest piece of less trafficked road around.

From S browning on Fri, Dec 28, 2007 at 20:29:47

Hi Sasha,

I have a triathlete interested in joining the blog, can the templates be set up to include swim yardage, bike miles and running miles. He is an outstanding triathlete and would make a good addition to the blog.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Dec 28, 2007 at 20:45:53

Yes, I'll get that set up shortly.

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Dec 28, 2007 at 22:31:13

Scott:

I have set up a template for triathletes.

From S Browning on Sat, Dec 29, 2007 at 13:19:16

Thanks Sasha!!!!

From MichelleL on Sat, Dec 29, 2007 at 13:20:24

Hey Sasha - is there a non-icy road loop that is wider than .35? .35 is not much wider of a loop than a track. I would lean toward the river trail if there are dry spots where we could pick it up, or a wider road loop if we can come up with one. I think Jamie and I will be coming if we can start at 6am. Let me know what you think will be best so we can mentally prepare for the workout ahead. Thanks so much!

From Sasha Pachev on Sun, Dec 30, 2007 at 09:11:48

Michelle:

I do not know of any good loops other than the 0.35 one. Other roads have too much traffic for my taste. The trail will be pretty icy unless it gets warmer than expected today. We might luck out and be able to find a mile stretch that is dry. We could do a long warm-up on the trail, then 10 times around the block for 3.5 miles, then a long cool down. Ted and I will be expecting you and whoever else comes at 6:00 AM Monday morning.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
20.350.000.000.0020.35

A.M. Uneventful 15.1 alone in 1:42:58, 6:49.14 avg. The roads were a lot better, although still slippery. But the colder temperatures made the snow crunchier. Ted should be in town tomorrow, looking forward to running with somebody.

P.M. 1.05 with Julia in 11:44, 1.5 with Jenny in 13:13, 2 with Benjamin in 15:33, 0.7 by myself in 4:50.

Night Sleep Time: 8.33Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.33
Comments
From Mike Warren on Fri, Dec 28, 2007 at 21:41:16

Sasha, you run so many miles, don't you ever feel burned out? I've got to hand it to you, thats some impressive dedication. Are you running Ogden this year? If so, what kind of time are you shooting for?

From Sasha Pachev on Fri, Dec 28, 2007 at 22:17:30

Mike - not really. I never force the mileage. I just listen to the feedback from my body and give it what it can handle. Right now it says it can handle 120 a week. Good sleep and diet increase what you can handle.

I also adjust the pace on the daily basis to keep a fine line between not being bored and not overtraining.

I never worry too much about time in Ogden, although I would say that anything under 2:30 on that course is a high quality time that would make me happy. It is a slow course, and it is point to point and net downhill. So you will have the letter A (for aided) right next to your time. That letter at this point receives the same treatment everywhere regardless of its size. So if I am going to have to put that letter next to my time, I'll run that time in St. George, it will be 6-7 minutes faster.

From Kim on Sat, Dec 29, 2007 at 21:35:01

Sasha, Thanks for your input on my training! I really appreciate it!

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
25.000.000.000.0025.00

A.M. Uneventful 20 in 2:27:54. Actually a couple of events. Deposited a check via a run-through method (for lack of a better word when the lobby is closed, the drive through is open, and you run through it because you did not drive to the bank). And was fairly thoroughly slipping on snow pretty much the entire way.

P.M. 2 miles with Benjamin in 16:45. Jenny joined for the first 1.5 in 13:04. Julia ran 1 mile with Sarah. Went cross-country skiing in the Hobblecreek Canyon as well. 1.5 out uphill up about 2-3% grade in 14:11, then 1.5 back downhill in  11:43. Avg. 8:38 pace. The snow was falling pretty hard, and the road was fairly rough. Was pleased with the time, and the way I felt. The arms are starting to remember how to ski, and I felt more power in the push-off with the poles. I also felt better balance. 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Eric on Sun, Dec 30, 2007 at 22:40:43

I signed up this weekend. Thanks for putting together this blog site. I'm excited to use it. It sure beats the excel spreadsheet I've been using for the past 5 years.

I heard about it from the FinalSprint.com interview of Paul Petersen.

Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
21.150.000.000.0021.15

A.M. Uneventful 15.1, first 10.1 with Ted in 1:14:22, I suppose having Ted around was the event. Then the last 5 in 33:09, total time was 1:47:31. The trail was covered with snow almost entirely, but the cold temperatures (18 degrees) created decent traction.

P.M. Cross-country skiing in the Hobblecreek Canyon. Up 1.5 in 13:28, then 11:55 down on the way back, 25:23 for 3 miles. The road was rough as usual. Then later 1.05 with Julia in 11:13, and 2 with Benjamin in 16:42. Jenny joined for the first 1.5 in 13:10. I have been telling Jenny to make sure she catches the 9:00  mile girl by the end. So with a quarter to go, she was finally ahead, and moving strong. She turned around, looked back, and said out loud: "Bye-bye the 9:00 mile girl!" Then she ran the last quarter at 8:00 pace and put another 15 seconds on her imaginary rival.

Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3772.97624.01368.8395.414861.22
Night Sleep Time: 23.83Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 23.83
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