Breaking the Wall

Week starting Mar 04, 2012

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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
58.209.009.501.3078.00
Green Crocs 3 Miles: 78.00
Night Sleep Time: 49.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 49.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Day of rest. Went to church. It was a Fast Sunday. So we had testimonies in the Sacrament meeting. Then we had a lesson on 2 Nephi 9 in Sunday school, and a lesson on prophets in the Elders' Quorum.

Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
13.600.000.000.4014.00

A.M. 7 with Benjamin and Jeremy, 2 with Jenny and Julia, 3 alone. Total of 12. Did a pickup for 600 in 1:55. Felt good. Today I decided to retire my old pair of Crocs which lasted 2220 miles and broke in a new one which is exactly the same type and even color as the old.

 P.M. 2 total. 1 with Jacob, 1 with Joseph. Had the usual company.

Green Crocs 3 Miles: 14.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Comments(7)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.602.000.000.4013.00

A.M. Total of 12. 7 with Jeremy. 5 with Benjamin. Last 2 in 11:58, which is his new 2 mile record. Jenny and Julia ran 1 mile.

P.M. 1 with Jacob ans Joseph. Jenny and Julia did 1 helping pace friends. 

Green Crocs 3 Miles: 13.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.005.000.0012.00

A.M. Ran with Benjamin and Jeremy. Did a 5 mile tempo - 2.5 up, 2.5 down. The wind was about 0.6 tail, then head, then backwards more or less after the turnaround. The splits reflected that: 3:34 for the first 1 K, 5:51 at the mile, then 6:09, half mile in 3:04, then half in 2:49, next mile in 5:26, got excited about running 5:20 for the last mile, but hit a wall of headwind instead and it was 5:34. At least it was not 5:45. Total time 28:53. Finished the cooldown with Benjamin and Jeremy - total of 7 for them, 8 for me. Then ran 1 with Joseph and Jacob, and 3 with Jenny and Julia.

P.M. Travel to Mountain View, CA to visit the Linkedin office.  

Green Crocs 3 Miles: 12.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.500.004.500.0012.00

A.M. Ran in Mountain View on Steven's Creek trail. It was actually marked every quarter. I knew I should not be doing anything fast since I ran hard the day before and traveled on top of it, but it was too tempting. So I did 2 miles thinking I would just blast it at sea level, but no, I was dragging and it took some effort to run 11:27 on a stretch that appeared to be going downhill and had some minor headwind. I jogged some, and decided to run the same stretch backwards. This time I managed 10:50 with almost the same effort. That was odd. I tried the other direction one more time for half a mile and it was 2:46 (5:32 pace) with quite a bit of effort. That was certainly odd, but I suppose the fatigue from travel + hard run yesterday were showing. Total of 12 miles.

P.M. Flew home. 

Green Crocs 3 Miles: 12.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.003.500.000.5014.00

A.M. Ran with Benjamin, Jeremy, and Gary. Was feeling the fatigue from travel. Tried a couple of quarters into a headwind - 82, and 81, felt tired, sensed the struggle was more than from just the headwind, decided it was not a good day for quarters. Then paced Benjamin and Gary through a 3.5 mile tempo in 21:38 - 6:11 pace. Our estimated 5 K split was 19:03, so Benjamin got a PR. Slower tempo pace actually did not feel too bad. Total of 7 with them, then 2 with Jenny and Julia, and 3 more alone.

P.M. 1 with Jacob, 1 with Joseph. Usual company of kids. 

Green Crocs 3 Miles: 14.00
Night Sleep Time: 6.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.503.500.000.0013.00

A.M. 10 miles before the chess tournament. Ran the last 3.5 in 20:57, 5:59 average. Felt sleepy, and it felt harder than it should have, but that was expected given the lack of sleep this week.

The tournament was Utah Elementary championship. I took Joseph, Julia, and Jenny to play. Benjamin came along to support his siblings and to play chess with whoever happened to be around. That is an exciting possibility, because Kayden Troff and his brothers and friends usually happen to be around. Kayden is 14 years old, is a national master, and on the verge of becoming an international master.

I promised the kids that if they came back from the tournament with a greater than zero score they would each be getting an electronic gadget of some kind depending on the age and the performance. So for the last two months they practiced every day and improved quite a bit. I knew they would score above zero, but they did better than I expected. Joseph won 3 games, drew one (his opponent managed to stalemate him), and lost two, so 3.5 points and 22 place in the 1st grade out of 66. First graders are fun to watch, they play very animated. The tournament director has to be called quite often to resolve disputes. However, the overall experience is a testimony to how much we underestimate the attention span potential of a 7 year old kid. They are engaged in an intense analytic activity for a period of 6 hours with only short breaks in between, and they think it is fun.

Jenny won 4 games, and lost 2, 4 points, 28th place in 5th grade out of 110. Julia won 5 out of 6 and lost one, 5 points,  6th place out of 110 in 3rd grade. She should have been 4th as she beat the girl that was awarded 4th in a dramatic game where she at one point was a full rook down but then sent her queen on a rampage sending the opponent's king out of for a walk, then she grabbed a couple of pawns, managed to win the lost rook back, forced a queen trade, then won on pawns. But the tie break system backfired because Julia coming into the tournament unrated was getting weaker opponents in the early games, so she ended up placing lower even though she won the face-off and otherwise scored the same number of points.

After the tournament I ran 1 mile with Joseph and Julia. Later I ran a mile with Benjamin, and 1 more with Sarah giving me total of 13 for the day. Benjamin ended up with 6, Jenny ran a mile. 

Green Crocs 3 Miles: 13.00
Night Sleep Time: 6.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 6.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
58.209.009.501.3078.00
Green Crocs 3 Miles: 78.00
Night Sleep Time: 49.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 49.50
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