Breaking the Wall

Week starting Feb 21, 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
73.1713.700.002.1589.02
Water Clogs 3 Miles: 89.02
Night Sleep Time: 53.50Nap Time: 5.50Total Sleep Time: 59.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Day of rest. Went to church. It was a busy day. Sarah and I spoke in the Sacrament meeting on receiving and following council. Then I taught a lesson in Sunday school on prayer.

We discovered that Iain Hunter's wife's grandmother is in our ward. She told me she liked my talk because she could hear it. I have a loud voice and wake up sleeping babies. 

Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 1.50Total Sleep Time: 9.50
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.571.250.001.7514.57

A.M. 12 with Jeff in 1:30:06. We did a 3 mile fartlek to give me a relatively light push in the 5:20 pace department alternating 80 and 90 quarters except for the penultimate when we did 80 instead of 90, and then on the last one Jeff kicked to get a workout.

My splits: 88 - 79 - 91 - 80 (5:37) - 91 - 80 - 89 - 79 (5:39) - 89 - 79 - 80 - 82. Total time 16:47.9.  Jeff kicked in 69.

I was happy with how the workout went except for the last quarter in 82. My legs were not moving. Part of the problem was losing contact after a strenuous effort. Part of it, I suppose, was fatigue from Saturday. Part of it was 21 F temperature. And I suppose a big part, bigger than any of the above, was just plain lack of fitness. 

During the warm-up we ran past an idling school bus. We could smell it very well as it prepared to take students to school to learn about global warming.

P.M.  2 with Benjamin in 16:34. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 12:54. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:30. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:46. Jenny ran 2.5 with Sarah.

Water Clogs 3 Miles: 14.57
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.550.000.000.3012.85

A.M. 10.1 in 1:18:12. Met Jeff and Brian on the trail. Did a post-VPB 500 up a small grade in 1:41.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 16:48. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 12:53.  0.5 with Joseph in 4:29. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:40.

Water Clogs 3 Miles: 12.85
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.550.250.000.0012.80

A.M. 10.05 in 1:17:59. Met Jeff on the trail. In the last mile played a silly game. I saw that I needed to run it in 6:15 to finish in 1:18. Yes, we were dragging as usual, so I was at only slightly sub-8:00 average. So I said, no I do not feel like running 6:15, I am too lazy. But then I ran the next quarter in 1:37.  Then I said, OK, I'll run as slow as it takes to make it. I dragged it out to the last quarter, which I had to run in 91. I ran it in 90, so that gave me 0.25 of marathon pace.

That is indeed a silly game, like a cat playing with a mouse until it decides to kill it. But I suppose years of running create a feline personality. That is perhaps necessary to avoid overtraining and maximize recovery while still eliciting an adequate training stimulus. 

P.M. 2 with Benjamin and Jenny in 15:59. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 12:03. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:29. He keeps hitting the same time. I give him updates through the run which time he is headed for, and he keeps adjusting his speed. A good way to learn pacing, I suppose. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:50. 

Water Clogs 3 Miles: 12.80
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.850.200.000.0013.05

A.M. Jeff had a Lehi's dream this morning, so I ran alone. 10.3 in 1:16:48. I dragged along at around 7:50 pace when it was dark, and then it gradually became 7:10. Then I saw tracks on the snow. Yesterday I was a feline. Today I decided to be a canine. Changing animals. I look at the stride length and pattern, as well as the direction, and made a guess the tracks belonged to Kirk, a BYU Arabic professor that runs around that time of day. I figured he could be close enough for me to be able to catch him, and picked up the pace to something around 6:20 for a mile or so. I wished I were a dog. Then I'd be able to tell how far away he was by the smell, and also I'd be running faster.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 16:51. He decided to catch the 17:00 guy with 300 to go, so I got about 0.2 of marathon pace. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 13:08. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:29, third time in a row, and 0.25 with Jacob in 2:47. 

Water Clogs 3 Miles: 13.05
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 2.00Total Sleep Time: 9.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.750.000.000.1012.85

A.M. 10.1 in 1:18:20. Found Jeff, and then Brian on the trail. After dropping them off ran back to the house a little quicker. I passed Sarah, Jenny and Sarah's running partner Mary (Jenny ran 2.5 with them) going towards me. I asked Sarah afterwards how fast she thought I was going. She guessed about 7:30 because I looked completely lazy. I was actually going 6:30, so that is somewhat encouraging. 

P.M. 2 in 16:00, most of it with Benjamin. He ran 16:08. I decided to return him the favor he did me yesterday by saying that 16:00 guy was catchable with a quarter to go. Except yesterday it was the 17:00 guy and we had to run only 7:00 pace to catch him. Today we had to run 5:50 pace. Benjamin said he was not interested.  With about 0.1 to go I said I was, and ran about 4:40 pace to the finish. Thus I ended up 8 seconds ahead. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 12:48. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:35. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:52.

Water Clogs 3 Miles: 12.85
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.9012.000.000.0022.90

A.M. Ran with Jeff. 20.4 in 2:04:59, 6:07.6 avg. Had some serious digestive system issues - nausea, bloated stomach, diarrhea with lots of liquid stool . I had originally planned to do a brisk 20 with the last 5 hard, but was not sure how much of it was going to happen with those problems. So I decided to just run brisk at whatever pace was happening naturally until I felt it was not healthy to run.

I felt it was not healthy to run from the very start at any pace.  However, as I increased the pace I did not feel much worse, so after a couple of miles we settled into 6:10-6:15 groove and were coasting along. I was feeling that great, but it was not getting worse, so I just kept going. It was nice to run in shorts.

We hit the first 5.1 in 32:44 (6:25 pace), then came back in 31:16 (6:08 avg), then did turned around again and ran 30:47 (6:02). Then I told Jeff I wanted to try sub-6:00 but no faster than 5:50 and see if I can make it to the end. Jeff overdid it a bit. I managed 5:45 pace with him for the next 2.3 miles, and other than the stomach it actually felt good. But the stomach was not doing well at all as the nausea increased. So I told Jeff to go, and coasted to the finish trying to maintain 6:00 pace but slipping in places where the road was not ideal. I ended up with 6:11 last mile and 30:12 for the last 5.1, which is actually decent - 5:55 average.

Jeff finished in 2:03:11 (28:24, 5:34 average). The last 1.3 at 5:20 pace really helped his cause.

I was pleased to observe that in spite of the stomach problems and the slowing pace in the last  couple of miles I never felt fuel-deficient and the form felt quite smooth.

Afterwards I was not feeling too bad at first, and followed through with the plans to go to a science/engineering activity with the family at the Thanksgiving point. But this was probably a mistake. I started feeling bad there, was counting miles on the way back almost the same way I count miles at the end of a hard run, and then threw up as soon as I got home.  

P.M. Felt a little better, good enough to run with the kids. Did 2 with Benjamin and Jenny in 16:50. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 12:45. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:58. Jacob ran 0.25 with Benjamin in 3:14.

Water Clogs 3 Miles: 22.90
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 2.00Total Sleep Time: 9.50
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
73.1713.700.002.1589.02
Water Clogs 3 Miles: 89.02
Night Sleep Time: 53.50Nap Time: 5.50Total Sleep Time: 59.00
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