Breaking the Wall

Week starting Dec 31, 2006

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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: 25.00 Year: 668.87
Saucony Type A Lifetime Miles: 640.15
Bare Feet Lifetime Miles: 450.37
Nike Double Stroller Lifetime Miles: 124.59
Brown Crocs 4 Lifetime Miles: 1334.06
Amoji 1 Lifetime Miles: 732.60
Amoji 2 Lifetime Miles: 436.69
Amoji 3 Lifetime Miles: 380.67
Lopsie Sports Sandals Lifetime Miles: 818.02
Lopsie Sports Sandals 2 Lifetime Miles: 637.27
Iprome Garden Clogs Lifetime Miles: 346.18
Beslip Garden Clogs Lifetime Miles: 488.26
Joybees 1 Lifetime Miles: 1035.60
Madctoc Clogs Lifetime Miles: 698.29
Blue Crocs Lifetime Miles: 1164.32
Kimisant Black Clogs Lifetime Miles: 720.62
Black Crocs 2023 Lifetime Miles: 1312.70
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
65.409.001.000.0075.40
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
65.409.001.000.0075.40
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
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