Breaking the Wall

Week starting Dec 09, 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: 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
62.802.500.700.0066.00
Green Crocs 4 Miles: 66.00
Night Sleep Time: 47.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 47.50
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.000.000.000.000.00

Day of rest. Went to church. Afterwards we had a family Christmas party. We did it earlier than normal because Sarah is due around Christmas.

Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.007.00

A.M. Lots of snow today. Ran with Rob and the kids. Total of 7 miles. Benjamin did full 7, Jenny and Julia 3, Joseph 2, Jacob 1, William 0.5. Rob ran around 5, I think. We slipped a lot.

Green Crocs 4 Miles: 7.00
Night Sleep Time: 7.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 7.50
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
8.000.000.000.008.00

A.M. More or less a repeat of yesterday except I did 8 miles total. Benjamin did 7, Jenny and Julia 3, Joseph 2, Jacob 1, William 0.5. Rob did 4. Even more snow today, sometimes we could not even go 10:00.

Green Crocs 4 Miles: 8.00
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.002.000.000.0012.00

A.M. Last night Sarah was feeling nervous about labor and had a hard time falling asleep. So I gave her a math problem to solve. The problem was this. A plane on the 45th parallel starts flying west trying to "catch" the setting sun. How fast does it need to go for the sun to stop setting? She solved it for the case of doing it on the equator ( circumference of the earth/24 = 1035.62 mph), but struggled with the 45th parallel location. So I started explaining the solution. To make long story short all you need to do is multiply the equator speed by the cosine of the parallel, so in this case circumference of the earth/24 * cos(45 degrees), or in other words (40000/1.60934) *(sqrt(2)/2)/24  = 732.29 mph, however I started explaining the proof of that, and she fell soundly asleep within two minutes. 

I felt recovered from the marathon and ran total of 12 today. All of it was with the kids and/or Rob. So Rob ended up doing 4 miles with one of them in 7:36 on hills, Benjamin 7.5, Jenny and Julia 3, Joseph 2, Jacob 1, and William 0.5. Benjamin and I did a 2 mile tempo down the Provo Canyon. The purpose was to assess the damage. For Benjamin, the loss of fitness after the cold. For me, to verify that the cause of 2:44 in Rocket City was indeed humidity and nothing else, and also to measure the recovery from the marathon.

We went through the first mile in 5:42, and Benjamin was struggling. So we backed off to a little under 6:00 for the next half mile, and then picked it up in the last 0.5 (5:38 pace) to finish 2 miles in 11:29.  It was obvious that Benjamin had suffered significant damage, but on the positive side his fitness was not completely destroyed, and he has made great progress just over the last two weeks. Two weeks ago he struggled at 8:00 pace. Now he can sustain 5:45 over 2 miles.  

I felt great and the entire time wished I could have felt that way just in the first two miles of the marathon then bring the humidity on. This alone would have made me 40 seconds faster :-)

So this run confirmed to me that I am just really really bad at dealing with humidity right now for one reason or another. Maybe it has something to do with that I've had almost zero exposure to humidity over the last 20 years.

Green Crocs 4 Miles: 12.00
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
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Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.000.000.000.0012.00

A.M. Did 12 total. Most with the kids and Rob. Rob did 4, Benjamin 7, Jenny and Julia 3, Joseph 2, Jacob 1, William 0.5.

Green Crocs 4 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
10.800.500.700.0012.00

A.M. 4 with Rob, most of the rest with the kids. Did a couple of pickups. Benjamin did 7, Jenny and Julia 3, Joseph 2, Jacob 1, William 0.5. I got 12 total.

Green Crocs 4 Miles: 12.00
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
15.000.000.000.0015.00

A.M. Ran with Rob, the kids, and Chad. Total of 15 for me and Chad. Benjamin did 8, Jenny and Julia 3, Joseph 2, Jacob 1, William 0.5, Rob 4. There was a lot of snow. 

Green Crocs 4 Miles: 15.00
Night Sleep Time: 8.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 8.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
62.802.500.700.0066.00
Green Crocs 4 Miles: 66.00
Night Sleep Time: 47.50Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 47.50
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