Breaking the Wall

Week starting Feb 06, 2011

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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: 0.00 Year: 870.94
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
57.250.250.000.0057.50
Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 57.50
Night Sleep Time: 40.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 40.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Day of rest. I needed it. I caught a cold more or less officially, although fortunately no lasting fever. Just the cough and runny nose. So now only Sarah has not gotten sick so far. So going to church was rather different today. Only Benjamin, Julia, Joseph, and Jacob were healthy enough to go. I went for the first hour (Sunday school).Then Sarah and I traded places and she went to Relief Society. Then we traded places again and I attended the Sacrament/Fast and Testimony meeting. Otherwise I spent most of the day sleeping.

Night Sleep Time: 10.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 10.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.750.250.000.0010.00

A.M. Slept in on purpose, waited for the evening to run.

P.M. Really did not feel like running - considered every possible excuse, but knew well enough that none were good. So I went.  Ran some of it with the kids. Total of 10. Benjamin did 2.45, Jenny 0.5, Julia 1, Joseph 1, and Jacob 0.5. All of the running kids are running, so things are getting half way to normal healthwise. I actually felt better after the run with the nose and the throat thoroughly cleared out. Did a pickup for 0.25 just because in 87. It felt easier than I expected given the sickness.

Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 10.00
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

A.M. Ran 10, some with the kids. Benjamin - 3, Jenny - 1, Julia - 2, Jacob - 0.5, Joseph - 0.5. Sarah is now up to 3 miles, today was her first day of 3. The cold is still there, but looks like it is going away. I have not had a normal dream since we got home, though. I keep dreaming of looping around Barstow, CA going back and forth between I-15 and I-40 all night long, and somehow I intuitively know that the dream is being triggered by nose congestion.

Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 10.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.000.000.000.0011.00

A.M. 8 alone in early AM before going to the temple. Jenny and Julia ran 2. Jacob did 0.5. Benjamin and Joseph waited to run in the evening.

P.M. 3 with Benjamin, Joseph ran 1 with us.

Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 11.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

A.M. Did a total of 12, some alone, some with the kids. Benjamin did 3, Jenny and Julia 2, Joseph 1, and Jacob 0.5.

P.M. I made the mistake of not properly rehydrating after the run, and was punished for it. Normally, I do not have to rehydrate, but I did not realize I was not yet 100% healthy.  So the fever attacked me in the afternoon. It was 102 F. I started drinking orange juice, and that knocked it down enough to where I could work through it and even write some non-trivial code in C++ that compiled, executed, and passed a test case.

Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 12.00
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
4.500.000.000.004.50

A.M. Still recovering from yesterdays fiasco. Did not run.

P.M. Ran with the kids. Started with 0.5 with Jacob, survived it. Next challenge - 1 with Joseph - passed. Then 3 with Benjamin, Jenny and Julia did 2 with us. Benjamin made me work in the last quarter - I survived it, but then was dry coughing for a couple of minutes like a chain-smoker.

Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 4.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.000.000.000.0010.00

A.M. Slept in and rested.

P.M. Felt better than yesterday. Ran a total of 10, most of it was with the kids. 4 with Benjamin, 2 with Jenny, 2 with Julia (Joseph joined us for a mile), 0.5 with Jacob, and 1.5 alone. Wore an HRM - 126 at 8:40 pace, 132 at 8:00, 135 at 7:30. So about 12 bpm too high. Resting HR was 68-70, about 20 bpm too high. Still had the post-run chain smoker's cough. I've had it every single time I got a cold in the last 5 years.

This condition made me think about how much different it is to be sick vs being out of shape. I lean in the direction of treating both without much of a distinction. A revolutionary and possibly outrage and mockery inviting idea, but I think it deserves some merit. A mile run test should be a part of a medical exam. If a young man cannot crack 7:00, treat it as a pathology! So if he has a minor heart problem, we discover it when he fails the test, not when it becomes a severe problem, and he dies in the middle of dinner a few years later.  Many health problems will be diagnosed and treated early before they develop into something worse with this approach.

Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 10.00
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
57.250.250.000.0057.50
Gold Crocs 2 Miles: 57.50
Night Sleep Time: 40.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 40.50
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