Michael Letendre Athlete Blog
Check out MaineTrackXC's winter athlete blogger Michael Letendre's first blog. Letendre is a senior distance runner & captain for Lewiston High School. Michael has personal best 2:11.2 for 800m & 4:56.4 for the Mile. Follow Michael as he chronicles the 2011-2012 indoor season.
Hello World,
I hope all is well. Last Saturday’s meet was a perfect example as to why I love competitive running. I mean don’t get me wrong an early morning run in the late spring before the world has a chance to wake up is an absolutely beautiful moment that will always top any race result, but Saturday was magnificent. The night before I had fallen asleep around 6pm (which is absolutely rare; trust me) so I managed to get myself around eleven or so hours of sleep before decided I couldn’t possibly sleep anymore before the meet. I felt great. That meet was one of the first meets I have felt really pumped for in a while and I honestly don’t know why. I suppose I didn’t need a reason. Or maybe the reason was that there was no reason. Ha-ha, that’s much too deep of thoughts to possibly pursue at the moment.
That meet I was running in the 4x8, mile and the 800 which for those of you who don’t know can be tough because the mile and the 800 are relatively close to each other taking into consideration that indoor track meets move along fairly swiftly from event to event. I had felt really excited the whole ride over but it really got to me come the break down. Team chants are awesome when everyone participates. Getting on the line for the 4x8 I felt great; heart beating, adrenaline rushing and not to mention the gap between first (Brunswick) and second (Lewiston) were so close that it made for a good race to really put in a good effort to keep the gap at a minimal. The third lap is usually when my mind begins to hit that wall most all runners are in some way afraid of but not this time. The wall never came. Now I didn’t run anything spectacular, but for a kid who hasn’t run in two seasons and improved my 800 split by six seconds from the last week I’d say I’m in a place where improvement is well appreciated. I ended my split with around 2:12 hand time. This upcoming Friday I plan to break 2:10 and qualify for the state meet as I am not running the mile so I’ll be as fresh as I possibly can if one does not include the fact that I will still be running in my team’s 4x8. My performance in last Saturday’s 4x8 with a 2:12 split has earned my spot back on the 4x8 A-Team for Lewiston. I was pretty pumped about finding this out. Not so much because I was back on the relay team but because from here on out it’s going to create a push from all of the possible runners for the relay team to really step up their game and give it all they have to earn their spot on the relay team. We’re a little off the record at the moment but we look to take down the school’s record.
Even though it’s just an 800m race to start of the meet if I run hard in the 4x8 and it can often affect my chances to perform as well as I would like in other events I still have to run but to a pleasant surprise it didn’t seem to have much of an effect on my mile. Throughout the meet I had just felt in such a mood that absolutely required me to just make random noises of excitement at random points during the meet (trust me, they were absolutely necessary). If nothing else I hoped that by having myself get excited for events that it could bleed off to other runners and start a snowball effect. It had been a while since I had run an open mile but I’ve always had the same strategy going into races like the mile. Unlike the 800, the mile allows for some time to make moves and really play with the other runners. Often times the lead pack will always take the mile out faster than pace; which is to be expected and I love it when it catches the inexperienced runners off guard and have them die down after the first 400 meters. As awful as that may sound I mean it truly is a great learning experience for newer runners and experienced runner alike; we all get eager during races some times. I take the mile out a little slower than the lead pack because I’ve learned that if I take it out too fast I will hit that mental wall faster than SpongeBob crashing when attempting to drive. Yes, I did just make a SpongeBob reference, who saw that one coming? Not me. I like to stay behind the lead pack maintaining a small but reachable gap; like playing Cat and Mouse (except the cat never catches the mouse if the mouse is the lead runner). I like to even splits for the first 800 meters at around 2:30 and then work with what I have left to make the best out of the remaining 800 meters. Currently I’m running just above five while I get back into shape but I plan to break five and earn a new personal record (which currently stands at 4:56). One of my favorite things about the mile is the finish. From the very moment I begin my last laps I can tell if I ran hard enough through the rest of the race or if I could have ran harder if I magically manage to have an excessively strong last lap. I came in at 5:06 last week and look to break five in two weeks (not running the mile this upcoming Friday) with two other teammates who will be breaking five minutes for the first time in their running career (how exciting).
After the mile I had a few minutes and then hopped right back on the line for the 800 meter race which was not expected to be my best race. In this case the 800 meter race was to be used as a workout factor in the meet rather than a race to put out a spectacular qualifying time. Not much to be said about this race except that the mile got the best of me and my legs just did not want to go as fast as my mind did.
Overall, it was a great meet. I really like it. If every meet was as awesome as last Saturday’s meet was I will be one happy athlete. Improvement and smiles across the board; what more could one ask for?