06 March 2012

After seeing my last post from back in December I know I have been well overdue for an update on my website. It’s hard to believe that the California International Marathon and my marathon PR of 2:19:49 was already 3 months ago. There have been many changes and new happenings over the past 3 months that I’m eager to share on RunKennyFoster.com.

After the marathon in December at Sacramento, I didn’t know exactly which route I wanted to take with my running. I definitely had some options ahead of me, but the direction was uncertain. I hadn’t really planned for anything past the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials, so after I missed the Olympic Trials A standard for the marathon by 49 seconds in Sacramento, I had to take some time and think of what I wanted to accomplish next. I’ve always been the type of person to set goals and try to achieve the goals I’ve laid ahead of myself. So, for the first time since 2008, I actually didn’t have a goal directly in front of me that I needed to attain in the near future. It was a weird feeling at first, but also a little bit of a relief. I took the rest of December to collect my thoughts, enjoy the holiday season with friends and family, and then get back to work in January.

What actually ended up happening was a hugely unexpected 5k road PR on New Year’s Eve, where I ran 14:48 by myself from the gun, then suffering from bronchitis for the first half of January. Although January was a rough month and start to 2012 for me, I dedicated the rest of the month to doing hill repeats and strength workouts that I’ve been seeing the benefit from as of late.

After a few consecutive weeks of solid workouts, my new coach, Scott Simmons, has persuaded me to train for the Olympic Trials in the 10k. This happens to be two of the new and exciting changes that has occurred over the past 3 months. One, being that I’m training under Scott Simmons with the American Distance Project, and two, being that I’m currently training for the 10k. The 10k is brand new ground for me and I have actually never even run a 10k on the track before. It is still not official when my 10k debut on the track will be, but it will definitely be in the coming weeks. Right now, I’m more than likely looking at my first 10k on the track being at the end of April.

Training has been going great under Scott Simmons and with the other athletes on the American Distance Project, mainly Joseph Chirlee, Tommy Neal, Robby Young and Edwin Sang. It just so happens that the American Distance Project is coming directly out of Colorado Springs and I’m luckily in the right place at the right time. Scott Simmons has me currently team up with the same guy I ran with for much of 2011, Joseph Chirlee. The only difference is that I’m in much better shape than I was back in 2011 and I can actually consistentyl push Chirlee in the workouts. I don’t know what the 10k will bring for me, but training with Chirlee and the other guys on the program has been a blessing. Especially now that I’m working a full time job again in the Army, which is another of the changes - “post-WCAP training.”

Two of the workouts we’ve done as of late is a 6 x 1 mile repeat workout w/ 3 minutes recovery ranging from 4:38 to 4:44 and a 12 x 800m repeat workout w/ 2 minutes rest ranging from 2:09 to 2:22. The one trick Scott has us doing in the workouts is a “hammer” repetition where we go all out, typically during the 2nd to last rep. So on #5 of the mile repeats, Joseph and I went all out for the mile and both ran a 4:38...during the 800m, #10 was the hammer rep, clipping off a 2:09. Hard to believe that I’m running this fast, late in a workout now, at altitude, but running sub-2:10 in an 800m event in high school would take such a huge effort out of me.

The workouts that Coach Simmons has been giving me seem to be working. I just recently ran a 10-mile altitude PR of 51:53 in Pueblo, Colorado at the Colorado State 10-Mile Championships. Although it was a huge effort and I tried my best in the race, Scott wanted me to focus on it more as a workout and not as a race. I wasn’t able to taper for the race and I think I ran just shy of 100 miles for the week when I toed the starting line. Still, I was happy to have placed 4th overall in this hugely competitive field. Along with my ADP teammates, Tommy Neal and Robby Young, Robert Cheseret, Patrick Rizzo, Justin Ricks, Alex Nichols, Brian Dumm and Matthew Levassiur were in the field. Even had I tapered for the race, I think 4th place is what I would’ve ended up with regardless, and it’s always nice to get paid in prize money for a workout. My next hard workout I have on the schedule is coming up this Thursday, which is 25 x 400m repeats. I’ve never done this many 400’s in a single session and I’m eager to see how I’ll do and also, if I finish the workout, how my body will respond. My goal is to run all of these 400s under 70 seconds and I believe the rest is somewhere between 30-45 seconds.

The other bit of exciting news recently announced is that my wife and I will be representing the Mancos Project at our future races and also heading be heading down to Mancos, Colorado in September to train for a month with the group before I have to leave for Fort Huachuca, Arizona to attend a 6-month Army school. The Mancos Project is a brand new group for elite distance runners who want to live a sustainable lifestyle. The group is headed by a good friend of mine, Ben Hahn, who studied and ran track as well as cross country at Edinboro University. After our marathon performances at CIM, Ben contacted my wife and I about possibly joining the group and now we’re officially project members along with John Yatsko (1500m, Northern Arizona University), Julian de Rubira (Steeplechase, UC-Santa Barbara), Chris Marker (5k, Allegheny College), Tony Dipre (1500m, Allegheny College), Dylan Kleinberg (Environmental Coordinator), and Dustin Stein (Tour de France Cyclist, Farm Manager).

I can’t think of any better group to run for and I can’t think of any better, more simple lifestyle to live. Throughout the majority of my life I’ve kept my political, economic and environmental ideas mostly to myself. I’ve never went to a political rally or demonstration. I’ve never held a sign for a particular cause and I don’t have a huge background with environmental activities, but I believe the Mancos Project is a great way for myself and other athletes to voice these issues and actually do something to help the cause. Even if it is simply constructing a garden, living off the land and making our own food while representing what we do at U.S. Championship events as well as the Olympic Trials, I think this is a proactive option than just holding up a sign.

Aside from being a sustainable, eco-friendly group for elite American distance runners, it’s also in my eyes a new way of life and a great way to train as an elite runner. My wife and I are both very excited to take this new journey and see where it takes us, both in running and in helping out the environment.