Breaking the Wall

Week starting Mar 14, 2010

Previous WeekRecent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesSasha Pachev's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageMonth ViewYear View
Graph View
Next Week
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
198619871988198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

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:

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 133.01 Year: 776.88
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
74.636.240.303.0084.17
Eva Clogs Army Miles: 84.17
Night Sleep Time: 47.00Nap Time: 2.00Total Sleep Time: 49.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Day of rest. Went to church. In Sacrament the talks were on the Atonement of Christ. Good talks. Taught in Sunday School - the lesson was on the life of Christ to go along with the talks. It just happened that I was teaching in the Elder's Quorum as well (second time this year) on creation.

Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 1.00Total Sleep Time: 9.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.730.200.000.0012.93

A.M. 10.18 in 1:19:39 with Jeff. We were both tired from the 20 miler on Saturday + daylight savings and opened with a glorious 9:12 mile. I this is the slowest start in non-adverse conditions since a long time ago. Jenny ran 2.5 with Sarah. We actually caught them at the very end of the run, and I was able to time their last 100 meters. They were going around 10:40 pace.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 16:29. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 12:48. Benjamin picked it up in the last 300 to 5:50 pace. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:55. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:12. I think that is his record, if not, then only a second off.

Eva Clogs Army Miles: 12.93
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.950.000.000.0012.95

A.M. 10.2 in 1:19:56. Met Jeff on the trail. Jenny ran 2.5 with Sarah.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 17:16. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 13:17. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:35. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:39.

Eva Clogs Army Miles: 12.95
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 1.00Total Sleep Time: 8.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.130.000.302.0014.43

A.M. Jeff and Kimia were blessed with a baby girl last night, so I ran alone this morning. Did 10.18 in 1:15:53 with 4x800 in the middle with essentially full rest in 2:30.7, 2:31.7, 2:31.1, and 2:30.8. It was a bit colder when I started, so I wore pants. Later I wished I had been in shorts. In the first two I was fading in the last 200. Then I came up with a plan to avoid fading. Increase the effort at 300, and increase it even more at 600. That worked. I ran a slight negative split in the last 2. However I was not happy with how hard it was to maintain such a slow pace for so short.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin including a fartlek mile in 6:26.9 alternating 100 in 21 and 29 for the first 1000, then a steady pace to the finish (last quarter in 92). Hopefully this gave him some confidence that if he can fartlek through a 6:26 mile with this much pace variation, he can run it steady in 6:00.  1.5 with Julia in 12:57. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:35. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:40.

Eva Clogs Army Miles: 14.43
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.930.000.001.0012.93

A.M. 10.18 in 1:13:56. I was wondering what I could have done in shorts yesterday. So I decided to wear shorts today and try one test 800 to see how it would feel. It was interesting. I opened with a 77, but then was able to give myself a kick in the behind and close in 73 finishing in 2:30.8. Then I decided to do one more, and this time ran 2:30.0 with even splits. So about the same as yesterday in pants. Interesting results. Possible explanations - pants do not slow you do as much as I think, at least when the temperatures are around 35, I was tired from yesterday, or I just ran with less effort today. The less effort explanation holds some credence as evidenced by fading yesterday in the last 200, but closing strong today.

Jenny ran 2.5 with Sarah.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin in 16:51. Julia ran the first 1.5 with us in 13:05.  0.5 with Joseph in 4:38. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:30.

Eva Clogs Army Miles: 12.93
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.753.000.000.0018.75

A.M. Met Jeff on the trail. Ran 16 because tomorrow is Benjamin's chess tournament, and I will only be able to run 10. Total time was 1:58:47 as we had a very sluggish start. Picked it up in the last 3.04 and ran it in 18:03, slightly sub-6:00 average. It felt harder than what it should have. Probably due to the 800s while still not fully recovered from the 20 miler on Saturday. I think the lack of soreness in the muscles makes me greatly underestimate the stress of running 5:58 average for 20 miles and how long it takes to recover from it. I should probably keep my hard running in those 20 milers to 10 miles, definitely no more than 15.

P.M. 2 with Benjamin and Jenny in 16:50. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 12:51. 0.5 with Joseph in 4:22. 0.25 with Jacob in 2:26.  

Eva Clogs Army Miles: 18.75
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Comments(5)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
9.143.040.000.0012.18

A.M. Benjamin's chess tournament (Utah Elementary State Championship) . Spent all day there. Benjamin played 6 games, won the first 4, then lost the last 2, and took 12th place out of 92 players in the 5th grade. 

P.M. I sure thought I'd be feeling terrible after a busy day, and running late at night with a full stomach. Started with 2 with Benjamin in 17:49. Julia ran 1.5 with us in 13:27.  Jenny ran 2 with Sarah. Joseph and Jacob ran with Sarah as well. 

After that it was already 8:30, and I needed to finish the run, take a shower, and read the scriptures with Sarah before 10:00pm. So I ran brisk. Figured 6:40 was the slowest I could go and still get 10 in, so I did just that. I was expecting not to feel well, but quite on the contrary I was feeling great. I wondered if it was the adrenaline from the chess tournament, and it would end after about 4 miles, but it did not. I just kept cruising along at around 6:30-6:35 pace. With about 3 miles to go decided to shift gears to test the waters with the idea that if 6:00 pace felt hard I would back off immediately and run the slowest it takes to get home before curfew. In spite of the dark sub-6:00 pace felt very comfortable, so I just kept going. The tunnels and turns slowed me down more than normal in the dark, and then I had an interesting incident. Two guys with skateboards were under a bridge. As I was approaching them one of them asked me if I had seen anybody. I said no, and then immediately ran into the other that I did not see. So I lost a couple of seconds on that, but was able to get back into the rhythm. In spite of the obstacles my last mile was still a decent 5:48, and the total time for the last 3.04 was 17:54. Total time for 10.18 was 1:04:37.

Eva Clogs Army Miles: 12.18
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
74.636.240.303.0084.17
Eva Clogs Army Miles: 84.17
Night Sleep Time: 47.00Nap Time: 2.00Total Sleep Time: 49.00
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
Recent Comments: