Today was the half marathon that I have been waiting for since the summer began. The conditions today were almost perfect for the middle of July. There was a light drizzle in the morning, but held off by the time the race began to keep the air cool, but damp. The half marathon took place at Presque Isle in Erie, Pennsylvania at 7:30 a.m. Before the start of the race I did not see anyone who seemed like they would give me much competition, but then a fellow runner I have raced against before joined me at the starting line by the name of Jake Walker. We shook hands before the starting line and asked each other what times we were shooting for. I was in hopes of a sub-1:10 half marathon earlier today and he was looking for a 1:08. As the gun went off we ran the first third of the race side-by-side. We went through the first mile in 5:08, but I knew I should have stayed honest to myself and stuck to my 5:20 pace. I have been running quite well as of late, but I have been running 5k's and doing 400m/800m repeats with 3-4 mile repeats at the track, not the kind of workouts fit for a half marathon. I felt great at the start and wanted to see how long I could stay with this guy and maybe I could surprise myself. I tried staying on Jake's heels at the beginning, clipping through the 3 mile mark at 15:30 and through 4 miles in 21 flat. The next two miles my breathing started to increase more than my liking, and my pace started to slow by 6 miles, coming through at 32 minutes flat. By the 7.5 mile mark, I had lost pace with Jake and I started to really feel the consequences of going out at a faster pace than I had expected.
I had a fellow cross country team member, Leif Schmidt, bike the half marathon at my side when Jake was...well...just too fast! Leif kept me honest with my pace for the most part, but he really helped me out when he told me that he noticed my form was going to shit. With Leif biking at my side, I went through 10 miles in just under 55 minutes, but I really didn't break completely until mile 11. Between mile 11 and 12, I ran just under a horrid 6-minutes for my mile split, and I felt as if there was nothing I could about it. Probably one of my worst attributes as a long-distance runner is the fact that I run up on my toes. So as I am sitting here typing, it is not my quads that are in extreme pain, it's instead my much smaller calve muscles. Every step began to hurt, but I could not believe that this extremely flat, 13.1 mile course was taking as much a toll on my legs as it was. If it had been another 5k, I could have gutted on the pain in my calves because it would only last me for a little over 15 minutes. However, I didn't adjust to the half marathon distance, and I paid the price. I finally finished in 2nd place overall with a time of 1 hour 12 minutes and 43 minutes (5:33 per mile). Jake continued his grueling pace and finished first, for what I later found out was his first half marathon ever in 1 hour 7 minutes and 54 seconds (5:11 per mile).
I was a little disheartened that I did not hit my sub 1:10 time for a half marathon, or even come close to it, but I did run a personal best for a half marathon, and I dropped almost a full 3 minutes from my half marathon in Cooks Forest in late March. I will be heading back to the track later on this week to continue my "speed" training. I ran a 15:29 5k at the Fredonia 5k last Wednesday, and I would like to get under 15 minutes by the end of the summer. I have a little over a month to go until September rolls around to accomplish my 5k goal. September will be my highest mileage month as I prepare for my marathon in October. As for now, I am running a 5k in about two and a half weeks, with plenty of speed workouts in between.
I will call this a night since I have work in a.m.
Out.
The Mancos Project
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Blog Training - Day 1
So today is my first day of training and also recording some insight. I've concluded that this (blogging) is an excellent tool for runners to let themselves disperse their thoughts in a collective way. Although this is the first day of recording some of my running online...although I also use "Google Docs" to record my mileage...I am in the midst of my marathon training for the summer. I'm going to be well over 70 miles for the week. Yesterday I did some mile repeats. I notice that yesterday was definitely by far the most sluggish my legs have felt thus far this summer. Regardless, I was still running my splits a hell of a lot faster than in June. I've grown akin to not just doing mile repeats, but incorporating 200 meter repeats, along with 400s and 800s. I don't usually do 1200 meter repeats though for some reason. I guess I would just rather go that extra lap.
Yesterday I was hitting my 200s in about 30-32 seconds. I only did 4 total. I figure 200s are a good way to wakeup the legs. It wasn't until halfway through my 800 meter repeats until I realized that my legs did not feel fresh at all. Nonetheless, when I went through the first lap in 67 seconds, I was under my 2:20 mark for an 800 meter repeat. I did 2x800m repeats. The first in 2:16 and the second in 2:20. In between the 800s I did 2 mile repeats. The first in 4:50 and the 2nd in 4:49. They weren't the fastest mile repeats I've done this summer, but at least I ran them at a consistent pace. After the 2 mile repeats I took some extra time on the track to let my legs recover for a bit. I wanted to run this last mile repeat at least in the vicinity of 4:50. I took off a little faster than normal...I knew this would be my last mile repeat for the evening. Went through the halfway point exactly in 2:20. Great! The third lap was a little slower feeling the lactic acid starting to settle in. I push forward however and ignore the quickening of my respiratory system. This hasn't been one of my superman workouts, but I'm determined to finish strong. As I hit the final 100 meters of the track I just let loose. Click the watch as I cross the line in 4:44. I'm happy...or content would be a better word I guess. I finish with a cool down and stretching. When it's all said and done I put in a solid 10 1/2 miles for the day.
Usually the day after I do a good speed workout I like to run at a long distance and at a fast tempo. Penn State Behrend is approximately five miles from where I currently reside, so I have created a nice 10 mile loop for myself. I've run this loop probably about 4 times so far this summer. I usually do it once every other week and like to run it faster each time. As soon as I started my watch today I could tell that this run probably wasn't going to be as promising as I would typically like. Usually when I do a speed workout the day before, the next day my legs do feel a little tired, but also responsive in a sense because in stead of running at sub-5 minute pace, they are now running at either a high 5-minute pace or a low 6-minute pace. Today felt as if I was going at 7-minute pace, but hell, I cross the half way point in a little over 29 minutes, and the 2nd half is a little quicker on the way back. I pick up the pace a little on the way back, feeling revived by the notice of my watch that even though I feel like a slug, I'm running like a stud, haha. I finish the 10 mile loop in exactly 57:38 and start my cool down.
Maybe this is a good sign for the half-marathon coming up in exactly 10 days (July 20th). I'm running the Presque Isle half-marathon next Sunday. I want to get myself over 70 miles for the week and then take next week easier than the norm. I do notice a slight twitch in my achilles-tendon. I'm hoping to run the half-marathon in 1:12 at least, but I would really like to run a sub-1:10 and start hitting the pace for the qualifying time for the Marathon Olympic Trials. I ran a half-marathon in late March in 1:15:39, but the course had a nasty hill at the end and I ended up puking my Gatorade infested stomach half-way up. You can check out the results below:
http://runhigh.com/2008%20Results/2008%20Results%20A/R032908BD.html
I think I am going to stick with the speed workouts and tempo runs for right
now. I would really like to get my 5k time down to sub-15. My PR just came a little over a week ago in 15:24 back near my hometown in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. My girlfriend, Christie, also ran her PR for the 5k. She's definitely the most impressive story between the two of us. She decided to run cross country for the first time in her life a little over a year ago. She had never been in a competitive race before her first cross country race last fall. In fact, she passed out the first race from the heat, but then came back the next race at the Notre Dame Catholic Cross Country Championships and ran a respectable 20:57. Last Wednesday...in Punxsutawney...she ran 18:26! Hopefully the success continues and the times keep getting lower for us both. Out.
Yesterday I was hitting my 200s in about 30-32 seconds. I only did 4 total. I figure 200s are a good way to wakeup the legs. It wasn't until halfway through my 800 meter repeats until I realized that my legs did not feel fresh at all. Nonetheless, when I went through the first lap in 67 seconds, I was under my 2:20 mark for an 800 meter repeat. I did 2x800m repeats. The first in 2:16 and the second in 2:20. In between the 800s I did 2 mile repeats. The first in 4:50 and the 2nd in 4:49. They weren't the fastest mile repeats I've done this summer, but at least I ran them at a consistent pace. After the 2 mile repeats I took some extra time on the track to let my legs recover for a bit. I wanted to run this last mile repeat at least in the vicinity of 4:50. I took off a little faster than normal...I knew this would be my last mile repeat for the evening. Went through the halfway point exactly in 2:20. Great! The third lap was a little slower feeling the lactic acid starting to settle in. I push forward however and ignore the quickening of my respiratory system. This hasn't been one of my superman workouts, but I'm determined to finish strong. As I hit the final 100 meters of the track I just let loose. Click the watch as I cross the line in 4:44. I'm happy...or content would be a better word I guess. I finish with a cool down and stretching. When it's all said and done I put in a solid 10 1/2 miles for the day.
Usually the day after I do a good speed workout I like to run at a long distance and at a fast tempo. Penn State Behrend is approximately five miles from where I currently reside, so I have created a nice 10 mile loop for myself. I've run this loop probably about 4 times so far this summer. I usually do it once every other week and like to run it faster each time. As soon as I started my watch today I could tell that this run probably wasn't going to be as promising as I would typically like. Usually when I do a speed workout the day before, the next day my legs do feel a little tired, but also responsive in a sense because in stead of running at sub-5 minute pace, they are now running at either a high 5-minute pace or a low 6-minute pace. Today felt as if I was going at 7-minute pace, but hell, I cross the half way point in a little over 29 minutes, and the 2nd half is a little quicker on the way back. I pick up the pace a little on the way back, feeling revived by the notice of my watch that even though I feel like a slug, I'm running like a stud, haha. I finish the 10 mile loop in exactly 57:38 and start my cool down.
Maybe this is a good sign for the half-marathon coming up in exactly 10 days (July 20th). I'm running the Presque Isle half-marathon next Sunday. I want to get myself over 70 miles for the week and then take next week easier than the norm. I do notice a slight twitch in my achilles-tendon. I'm hoping to run the half-marathon in 1:12 at least, but I would really like to run a sub-1:10 and start hitting the pace for the qualifying time for the Marathon Olympic Trials. I ran a half-marathon in late March in 1:15:39, but the course had a nasty hill at the end and I ended up puking my Gatorade infested stomach half-way up. You can check out the results below:
http://runhigh.com/2008%20Results/2008%20Results%20A/R032908BD.html
I think I am going to stick with the speed workouts and tempo runs for right
now. I would really like to get my 5k time down to sub-15. My PR just came a little over a week ago in 15:24 back near my hometown in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. My girlfriend, Christie, also ran her PR for the 5k. She's definitely the most impressive story between the two of us. She decided to run cross country for the first time in her life a little over a year ago. She had never been in a competitive race before her first cross country race last fall. In fact, she passed out the first race from the heat, but then came back the next race at the Notre Dame Catholic Cross Country Championships and ran a respectable 20:57. Last Wednesday...in Punxsutawney...she ran 18:26! Hopefully the success continues and the times keep getting lower for us both. Out.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
This will first be an experiment.
Wow. Pretty cool stuff. I've read about blogging(i.e. "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman great book!), heard about blogger.com, but have never really felt the need to create a blog. Since this is my first blog I'm not going to bother typing any questions, comments, gripes or complaints. This is quite new to me right now and I'm sure I'll become more accustomed to this whole new way of exercising thoughts, experiences and virtues, but I guess I'll just kind of tell the audience reading a little about myself.
My name is Kenny Foster. I'm originally from a small town called Brookville, Pennsylvania. I recently graduated from Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania. I graduated with a degree in Intelligence Studies, and I now currently work for the US Government. I ran four exciting years of cross country at Mercyhurst and now I'm faced with the challenge of still bettering myself without the hopes of collegiate competition. What helps more than anything with this challenge is the fact that I have an amazing girlfriend who shares a common passion with me. We both love to run. Since I titled my blog "My Running High", that is primarily what this blog will be about. Perhaps I will even publish these blogs one day and make a book out of it, who knows.
I'm currently training for the Marine Corp Marathon in hopes of joining a marathon team that I may or may not discuss later on down the road, but for right now...it's just a "marathon team." I've ran the Philadelphia Marathon twice. My first time running the 26.2 mile course I finished with a time of 2:43 and the next year in 2007 I ran the course in 2:32 (5:49 avg. per mile). I have high hopes of running in the Marathon Olympic Trials in 2011, but we will see how things pan out. If I can get under 2:30 for the Marine Corp Marathon I'm confident that I can drop it down to sub-2:20 before 2011.
But that's still a few years down the road, so in the mean time, I'm going to catch a little rest. My legs are pretty sore from the mile repeats I did just a few hours ago. Out.
My name is Kenny Foster. I'm originally from a small town called Brookville, Pennsylvania. I recently graduated from Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania. I graduated with a degree in Intelligence Studies, and I now currently work for the US Government. I ran four exciting years of cross country at Mercyhurst and now I'm faced with the challenge of still bettering myself without the hopes of collegiate competition. What helps more than anything with this challenge is the fact that I have an amazing girlfriend who shares a common passion with me. We both love to run. Since I titled my blog "My Running High", that is primarily what this blog will be about. Perhaps I will even publish these blogs one day and make a book out of it, who knows.
I'm currently training for the Marine Corp Marathon in hopes of joining a marathon team that I may or may not discuss later on down the road, but for right now...it's just a "marathon team." I've ran the Philadelphia Marathon twice. My first time running the 26.2 mile course I finished with a time of 2:43 and the next year in 2007 I ran the course in 2:32 (5:49 avg. per mile). I have high hopes of running in the Marathon Olympic Trials in 2011, but we will see how things pan out. If I can get under 2:30 for the Marine Corp Marathon I'm confident that I can drop it down to sub-2:20 before 2011.
But that's still a few years down the road, so in the mean time, I'm going to catch a little rest. My legs are pretty sore from the mile repeats I did just a few hours ago. Out.
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