Breaking the Wall

Week starting Dec 17, 2006

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: 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
70.005.500.000.0075.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.702.000.000.0012.70

Repetition of my new version of Jingle Bells - oh, what fun it is to run through the snow 10 miles today. There was more snow on the ground. Ran with Ted at 5:30 am. 10.04 in 1:15:40. Did a fartlek on the way back. 5:30 effort gave us 6:30 pace. Same for slower speeds - losing about a minute per mile. Ran with the kids in the evening. Moved the site to another server. Steve Hooper kindly offerred to share his co-located space. Fixed a couple of bugs - when you changed your web name, it used to lose your picture. There was also an issue with uploading new pictures that I've also fixed. Of course, when you move a site, new unexpected issues may appear. If you notice anything wrong with the site let me know.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
11.000.500.000.0011.50

Ran with Steve Ashbaker and Ted this morning at 5:30 AM. The roads were good. Ran 10.04 in 1:15:19, mostly at a leisurely pace, but picked up on the last half mile. Very cold and slippery. Steve fell down, and then on top of that ran into a gate a few miles later. That reminded me of running into a chain-link fence at about 6:40 pace one foggy morning in Russia. I was lucky to end up only with a broken lip. Another time, again in Russia, I slipped while trying to take a turn on a wet snow-covered trail at 6:20 pace and rammed into a sled, the kind that has sharp metal rods sticking out. I was also wearing shorts. I ended up slicing my shin, but aside from the bloody visuals it did not hurt at all until I was done with the run and got into a shower. Another time, I fell down 4 times in one 12.5 mile run. Lots of things have happened in now over 22 years of continuous running.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon. Went Christmas shopping with Jenny later.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(6)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.300.500.000.0012.80

Ran with Ted at 6:30 AM. That's sleeping in! 10.04 in 1:09:00. The road conditions were better, but still slick in a number of places. Cold, 12 F. The HRM of The Toy does not work well in the cold - bogus readings all the way through the run. Ted said a special cream would help.

Ran with the kids in the evening. They are starting to get used to the cold.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.800.000.000.0012.80

Again, 10.04 with Ted at 6:30 AM. Sleeping in again. Ran faster this time - 1:08:10. It got colder - 10 F. Icicles on the eyelids. The roads are slick in some places, but clear in others, that's very nice.

Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Add Comment
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.502.500.000.0013.00

Ran with Ted in the morning. Some variation today - did a 2.5 mile tempo on the way back in 14:40, then came back to Ted. Total 10.24 in 1:09:17. Enough snow and ice on the road to make it annoying, but not enough to make it really slow.

Ran with the kids in the evening. Lots of snow by then.

Went to see Dr. Jex. My lower back curve in the neutral position standing up was 27 degrees. This almost withing the normal range, which is 35-45 degrees. However, no noticable improvements in running. Two possibilities - either the postural improvements do not carry (at least right away) from static position to dynamic (running), or the shape of the lower back is not a significant factor in the running economy. I sure hope it is the former, otherwise I'm back to square one on the whole running ecomony improvement project.

It does make sense to me that having a proper curve in the lower back should give you some extra spring on take-off. Then you can run like a kangooroo, effortlessly bouncing like a ball.

Next step is to figure out some exercises to develop a proper dynamic curve in the spine as opposed to static. That is something the Pettibon method does not have, or at least I have not seen it in the instructions and excerises.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(3)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
12.700.000.000.0012.70

Ran 10.04 in the morning with Ted in 1:09:51. The roads were completely covered with snow and ice. Ted suggested the 7:00 mile guy felt safe and was laughing at us. But he laughed too soon. We sped up to 6:30 - 6:40 pace, which was probably worth 6:10-6:20 on dry ground, and got him. Ran with the kids in the afternoon.

I am writing this entry on Christmas morning, as I am thinking about what Christmas means to me. Christmas without presents is still Christmas. However, Christmas without service is not. What is the big deal about the birth of Christ? Why do we celebrate his birth? Why do we count years from the time of his birth? He has done something for us that we could not. It is not possible for us to come back into God's presence without first being cleansed from the physical and spiritual damage we experience while living on earth. And Christ makes that cleansing possible.

I was 17 when I first heard of this. I had many questions that were not answered. I believed the Biblical account of Christ's life was mostly correct, but could not quite understand its sigfinicance, or what it meant for me in practical terms. Later, the answers that made sense came to me as I read the Book of Mormon. I do not think I would have believed in Christ was it not for the Book of Mormon.

My friend related an experience that happened while he was serving an LDS mission. One lady had a hard time with the idea of faith, and was asking for historical evidence. After a long discussion, my friend finally received an inspiration. "Suppose we could go back in time with a video camera, and tape Christ's suffering on the cross. Watching the footage, you would know that he had suffered and died. But how would you know he had died for your sins?"

That knowledge comes through the Holy Ghost, by which power we may know the truth of all things. And the Holy Ghost comes when we obey God's commandments, humble ourselves, remove the spiritual static from our lives, and quitely listen. Then Christ can come into our lives, and we will know him.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments(1)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
70.005.500.000.0075.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Lone Faithfuls
(need a comment):
Recent Comments: