Breaking the Wall

Week starting Jan 03, 2010

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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
73.157.753.250.0084.15
Water Clogs Miles: 5.50Airwalk Clogs Miles: 30.60Water Clogs 2 Miles: 48.05
Night Sleep Time: 47.50Nap Time: 2.00Total Sleep Time: 49.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Day of rest. Went to church. This was the first Sunday of the month, so we had a Fast and Testimony meeting. We fast once a month, and then donate at least the amount we saved by not eating or possibly more as a fast offering. That money is used only for helping the poor. Tithing, which is 10% of our income, on the other hand, is used to support and expand church operations such as build and maintain chapels and temples. The clergy does not get paid.

The Elder's Quorum lesson was again on a General Conference talk. This time Elder Scott's from the October conference. He talked about how to hear the voice the Lord, and the blessings we receive when we intently listen and follow. 

Night Sleep Time: 8.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.700.003.250.0012.95

A.M. 10.2 in 1:07:46. It was cold, 14 F, but I felt good and wanted to run fast. So after about 1.4 warm-up, I decided I would run fast until I was tired, hit too much snow/ice, or until I got to 2.5 miles of fast running. I was going to play it by ear on the pace, but I did want to monitor it.

I ended up doing 87-85-85-86(5:43)-84-84-86-85(5:39,11:22)-85-81 (14:08 for 2.5). All quarters 86 and slower were on the areas with more snow/ice. The road otherwise was decent, and I did not feel a whole lot of traction problems. However, when I pushed into the 84 quarter range (5:36 pace) I started feeling that the air I was breathing in was too cold. So I remembered a recent post on the blog about cold air at

http://fryrunner.fastrunningblog.com/blog-01-01-2010.html

That gave me some food for thought. I do not think it would be too inaccurate to say that for a runner to start feeling breathing problems in 14 F he needs to work as hard as I do at 5:40 pace. While that pace is sustainable for me for a while, it is very stressful. It would be a disaster for me to train at that pace all the time.

There is an adjustment that would need to be made in the comparison, though. The misery at 5:40 for me comes from the nervous system overload, and not so much from the aerobic stress. So perhaps a less aerobically developed runner would not overtrain as quickly breathing as hard as I do at that pace on his runs. But he would still overtrain unless he cuts his mileage a lot. And if he does, his aerobic development would not happen.

Jogged about half a mile to recover from the effort,  then gradually picked up the pace, and was running around 6:40 in about 2 miles without having to force it. That was a positive for me, good indication for the nervous system condition. Normally I want to run no faster than 7:30 for at least 4 miles after a similar effort. 

Was feeling energetic with 0.75 to go and decided to run it fast. Did 86-92-86 to finish the segment in 4:26. The reason for 92 was having to navigate around snow drifts on a slippery road. The last quarter also had some ice. 

Jenny ran 2.5 with Sarah. 

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 17:01. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 12:51. A little dog helped us with the pace early on, and then Julia stayed excited and maintained a faster than normal pace for the rest of the run. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:35. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:45.

Water Clogs Miles: 2.75Airwalk Clogs Miles: 10.20
Night Sleep Time: 8.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.200.750.000.0012.95

A.M. 10.2 with Jeff in 1:13:08. We started out slow as usual for this time of day, and dragged through the first 4 miles or so averaging slower than 8:00. Then we realized Jeff would be late for work, and picked up the pace eventually to sub-6:40. A couple of times we picked up to 6:00. First time to buy some time for my VPB, and second time at the end just because.

Jenny ran 2.5 with Sarah. 

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 16:23. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 13:06. We picked it up in the last quarter and ran it in 1:30. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:16. He was on the move today. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:35.

A couple of weeks ago I asked the children a test question. Do fast runners run Stomp-Stomp or Woosh-Woosh? They all independently gave the correct answer without having to think (Woosh-Woosh). Then I tested their non-running cousins to see if maybe the answer was too obvious for anybody, and they struggled to understand what I was talking about.

Water Clogs Miles: 2.75Airwalk Clogs Miles: 10.20
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.200.750.000.0012.95

A.M. 10.2 in 1:13:32. Ran the last 0.75 in 4:25.

P.M. Got my new Water Clogs. My Airwalk Clogs are actually in great shape after 700+ miles, except for slight wear patterns. I have been working on loosening up my right pectineus, and the recommendation in the Myofascial Release Manual was to get new shoes to facilitate the process of reprogramming the gait. So I plan to get a new pair of clogs every month or so for the next year. Fortunately you can get Water Clogs at Target online for $8.99. This time I got a smaller size so they would not fall off at higher speeds. 

 2 with Benjamin and Jenny in 17:28. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 13:15. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:29. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:35. 

Airwalk Clogs Miles: 10.20Water Clogs 2 Miles: 2.75
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.251.250.000.0014.50

A.M. Ran 10.25 in 1:19:49. Met Jeff on the trail. After about 8 miles we did a 0.75 pickup in 4:21 up about 0.5-1% grade along the river from the 500 N bridge to 800 N bridge. There was hardly any snow on the trail.

Jenny ran 2.5 with Sarah. 

P.M. 2 with Benjamin. We took advantage of decent weather and ran a mile time trial. The goal was to try to break 6:00. We went through the quarter in 1:29, then 1:51 at 500. Then Benjamin started to fade. I kept the 6:00 pace to encourage him, and went through 0.5 in 2:59. But he was falling behind, so I stopped and waited. We hit 0.75 in 4:46. I yelled at him not to give up and do a good job in the last quarter. He regrouped some and ran a 1:34 closing quarter to finish in 6:20.

I think the barrier for him is mental. He does not yet fully believe that he can maintain 6:00 pace for the whole mile, so when it start to hurt he starts sandbagging. We discussed ways to try to break it. One idea is to open with an 85 quarter, which will make it hurt so bad that slowing down to 90 will appear like a jog. He liked the idea, so we might try it in a week if the weather permits.

1.5 with Julia in 12:57. We saw the BYU team. I told them they were fast. She asked me if they could run a one minute mile. I explained to her that one minute mile cannot currently be done on foot by a human.

0.5 with Joseph in 4:40. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:52. 

Water Clogs 2 Miles: 14.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.950.000.000.0012.95

A.M. 10.2 with Jeff in 1:13:41. Jenny ran 2.5 with Sarah.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 17:17. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 13:14. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:38. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:25. That was a record for him.

Water Clogs 2 Miles: 12.95
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 2.00Total Sleep Time: 9.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.855.000.000.0017.85

A.M. Long(er) run with Jeff. 15.1 in in 1:48:01. Did a tempo on the Fast Running Blog 5 Miler course. Total time 29:32. Splits - 5:53 - 5:56 - half in 14:49 - 5:58 - 5:56 - 5:49 - second half in 14:43. The original plan was to tempo for 10 miles, but Jeff was still sick. The trail was decent. Some snow/ice patches, but mostly clear. However, it was rather cold - 18 F. I tried taking my hat off once we started going fast, but it did not feel good, so I put it back on.  The pace felt OK, sustainable for 10 without a heroic effort. I think I am starting to get back into shape some.

Immediately afterwards ran with the kids. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:35, 2 with Jenny and Benjamin in 16:59. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 13:02. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:35. 

Water Clogs 2 Miles: 17.85
Night Sleep Time: 8.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
73.157.753.250.0084.15
Water Clogs Miles: 5.50Airwalk Clogs Miles: 30.60Water Clogs 2 Miles: 48.05
Night Sleep Time: 47.50Nap Time: 2.00Total Sleep Time: 49.50
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