Back on the Road to Boston - 7 Weeks In

After a very intensive training program for my first marathon (Boston 2012) and taking second crack at the distance at the KeyBank Vermont City Marathon, predictably my efforts on the blog dropped like a stone! Some mental and physical downtime from running was necessary. I still need to write up my Vermont experience, especially because it helps tell the story of how I'll be running Boston again in 2013 - that will appear in another entry.

A next race for me could have been the 2012 New York City marathon, after having qualified with my half marathon performances in Lowell (Baystate Marathon in October 2011: 1:27:xx) and New Bedford (in March 2012: 1:21:xx). However, with that downtime in mind, I decided not to apply. This was not without some hesitation (turning down a shot to run in a world marathon major should not be taken lightly - especially since qualifying standards are tightening).

So I resolved to maintain a basic level of running fitness over the summer and fall, and then resume training for a spring 2013 marathon (or two, if necessary to get that elusive Boston Marathon qualifying time) to be determined. I ran in a few races, a 5K and also the Yankee Homecoming 10 miler. After getting sick in August, I resumed training at about 20 miles/week. While it isn't that substantial a workload, I did keep up on intervals training - performing many of the same workouts required for the early part of my marathon training program, for example:

• 4-5x 800m
• 3x 1200m
• 5x 1000m
• 3x 8minutes
• 5x 1200m

This training seems to have paid off in the Mill Cities Relay race, where I participated on the Greater Lowell Road Runners mens masters team by running the 2.5mi shortest leg of this 26+ mile course. I managed a steady sub-6:00/mi pace for all 3 splits (miles 1-2, and the final half mile).  One of my teammates Mike Girouard wrote a very nice event summary here.

So beginning the week of November 12th I started a marathon program in earnest. Here is a summary of the weekly workload since that starting point.


I am very hopeful for how I will perform in Boston in 2013, especially since I feel I have some unfinished business. 15 weeks to go...

Boston Marathon Recap

The following is an expanded recap, adapted from a facebook post I wrote last night after the Boston Marathon.

I finished the Boston Marathon today in 3:59:23. This was a battle against the heat right from the start. The temperature eventually reached 88 degrees F by the time this one was over. My first 10K was fine, then it went downhill, then very very downhill. By mile 18-19 in Newton I knew my family was going to be cheering me on from a home in that area. I kept thinking back to the way my kids would use a garden hose to cool me off after mid-day track workouts in summers past and how badly I wanted to cool down. I was thinking about sitting on the grass and getting my kids to hose me down for 5 minutes straight. But that of course would have been the path to quitting, and we just don't go for that! I saw my family, and also a coworker Arnold at that spot. Next up was Heartbreak Hill. To this point in the race I had not stopped/walked and I drew a line in the sand - I would absolutely not walk at any point on Heartbreak. I saw another friend Brian Banks on the hill who called out my name as I ran by. I gave a point back in his direction to acknowledge his wonderful support. After the hill I did spend some time walking, eating ice chips, orange slices and popsicles kindly offered by race volunteers and spectators. The final 1.5 miles were done as a proper run so I could soak in the experience of the incredible crowd support and take those memories with me without focusing on the walking so much. As I made the left turn from Hereford onto Boylston St., the final stretch, I raised my arm in the air knowing it was just a few hundred yards left. I could see the finishing area and knew it would be close to get under 4 hours.

My goal would have been to finish in under 3:00:00, an audacious goal. But there are so many good things to take out of this. Here are just a few:

• First of all I am now a FINISHER, period. First marathon, in the Big Kahuna. No messing around. It's about going for BIG goals.
• My wife Danielle and mother in law Linda Friel & children supported me all the way and cheered me on in Newton with some awesome signs - "No Quit!"
• My Mom&Dad, brother Jon Cain and sister in law Colleen Locke course-hopped and found me in Ashland, Natick, and Comm. Ave. after Kenmore Square, and had a cool sign too to help me find them. These guys have had my back on this project from the beginning and support me so much.
• I am incredibly proud of the work our training group including Joe Loureiro and Will Swenson put in over the last 22 weeks to be ready for today. We did not get the best draw with the weather but we have got to be proud of the whole body of work - the incredible discipline (5:15 a.m. runs), training execution, solid race results, and masterpiece of a training plan we followed (contributed by none other than our leader Joe).
• We raised well over $4000 for American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts in the process, putting food on tables of families in need, assisting those burned out of their homes, and much more. 
• And I got to see so many words of encouragement by text, facebook and twitter today. I'm catching up on all of them now after an exhausting day! Thanks guys! 

Here is a video and just a few photos. The video includes some of my teammates explaining why they ran, and is posted on the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts wordpress blog. I strongly encourage you to subscribe to it!
 

 

Athlete Alert

Event Information:
Event:	2012 Boston Marathon
Runner:	Ken Cain
Latest Results:
Location Time Pace/mile 10km 0:43:41 7:01 Half-Marathon 1:40:40 7:40 30km 2:33:58 8:15 Finish 3:59:23 9:07

All times are unofficial. Times may vary in post race official results.

Athlete Alert

Event Information:
Event:	2012 Boston Marathon
Runner:	Ken Cain
Latest Results:
Location Time Pace/mile 10km 0:43:41 7:01 Half-Marathon 1:40:40 7:40 30km 2:33:58 8:15

All times are unofficial. Times may vary in post race official results.

Athlete Alert

Event Information:
Event:	2012 Boston Marathon
Runner:	Ken Cain
Latest Results:
Location Time Pace/mile 10km 0:43:41 7:01 Half-Marathon 1:40:40 7:40

All times are unofficial. Times may vary in post race official results.

Athlete Alert

Event Information:
Event:	2012 Boston Marathon
Runner:	Ken Cain
Latest Results:
Location Time Pace/mile 10km 0:43:41 7:01

All times are unofficial. Times may vary in post race official results.

Race Day Logistics and Athlete Tracking

Here you can follow my progress in the Boston Marathon:

Bib # 21907
Wave 3, Corral 4, starting at 10:40 a.m.
http://raceday.baa.org

Or use the AT&T Athlete Alert system, especially for those who will be out on the course as spectators! This allows you to receive email or text message updates at the 10K, 21K(half), 30K, and 42K(finish) markers.
http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/att-athlete-alert.aspx

Monday cannot come soon enough!

Cheers,

-Ken

Team Sport Report: Bob Oakes

Bob and I go way back to fall 1989 where we met at Northeastern University. It's funny how you meet lifelong friends right away when you get to college. I was a bit of a wanderer that first week (orientation), and eager (ok maybe desperate?) to find some new friends, decided to head to a social event at the Ell Center.  Well, I ended up hooking on with a small group there, and followed them back to their dormitory. That's where I met Bob. It is also where I met my wife Danielle. That night I was given a very short lived and perhaps unfortunate nickname homeless Ken. Another good friend Bruce Skillin quickly took care of that problem, doling out nicknames based on where everyone came from. Mine started with "Ken Dover".

So what does any of this foolishness have to do with running? Well, first off Bob also was also a cross country athlete in high school, and we did make a few fleeting attempts our freshman year to hit the roads. During parents weekend, ours were impressed when we did a morning workout around the Fens before engaging in a day of family visits and touring the city. But it was a couple years later when we turned up the dedication a bit and started up with some early a.m. runs along the Charles River - in February. I would run from my campus apartment over to Bob's place on Comm Ave., then head over to the Esplanade. That was the beginning of learning what a frozen face feels like with the bone chilling and high velocity winds along the Charles. The experiment didn't last all that long but showed we hat at least a some dedication and discipline in us, lazy undergraduate slackers.

But the real deal with Bob is that he's a quintessential optimist, one to rally the troops, and do it while keeping things loose. Back then, when we were up against a homework / project / final exam deadline Bob was the guy to be around. When doubt inevitably set in, he would step in and say "hold on - we can do this, trust me". Also, preparing for final exams was simply prohibited until we first had a chance to blow off some steam on the friday night before - per order of Bob. We've been in lots of situations like this and the guy knows what he's talking about. We "learned" 3 chapters of Physics all night before an 8am final exam and nailed it! Now, he did have to drag me half asleep for a mile walk in the freezing cold to the exam, and he himself had to be nudged awake during the exam, panic and start from the beginning - but we got it done and nailed the test. As always.

So if - no when - things start to feel a little "dark" in the marathon, I'm going to have to think back to Bob's rallying style, listen to that advice and try to pull it off. Bob, let's just hope it's not as big a hole as being down 3 games to 0, trailing the Yankees in the 8th inning - although that certainly was an incredible comeback!

Championship Revelry, Red Sox Parade 2004

Team Sport Report: Scott Graham

There are some people out there that give back more than they take. Scott Graham is one of those people, at least as I have seen it myself in the running community. He offers plenty of advice to less experienced runners, great camaraderie, and has volunteered at races such as my first half marathon last fall - the Bay State Half Marathon. It was truly awesome to have my family out there rooting me on during the race, but also a pleasant surprise to see Scott out there shouting his support and offering high fives.

When he is competing he is also very good at giving out trash talk! He can dish it out and back it up too. And I say this is all in good fun! Well, as it turns out a little trash talking is how I met Scotty G.

The first time I saw Scott was at the first annual Krit Classic road race. The only thing I noticed (not having spoken that day) was that it seemed like he knew what he was doing, wearing a race team jersey among a fairly casual race crowd. Now I would never have met the guy if it weren't for a Google image search and the Westford Academy (WA) Summer Race Series. After the Krit Classic I was searching for race photos and I came across Scott's blog runscottygrun.blogspot.com. Well, the same day I attended the first
week of the WA summer series and saw none other than Scott toeing the line there.

We raced pretty competitively (for me), with Scott taking first place and me not far behind in second.  After this race Scott took to his blog and wrote this race summary, the key part being this:

"There were four of us together when we hit the mile in 6:13. Which was still 17 seconds faster then I wanted to be so I slowed it down a bit. No sense in blowing my Mt Washington race for this one. One of the 30 year old's came around me and took the lead. Allen and the other 30 year old started to drop back. I just let this guy get a 20 yard lead and stalked him for the next 2.4 miles. I hung right behind him and never took the lead UNTIL, I could tell that he was tiring. His breathing was labored and his form was starting to break down. With 2/10's of a mile left to go I went around him and quickly put 30 yards on him. He was broke, I took a quick look over my shoulder and his head was looking down and his form was now ugly. I cruised onto the track and took the W, in just under 6:30 per mile. Right where I wanted to be."

OK, from that point it was game on! I got my revenge in week 2, but Scott took care of business in the remaining head to head matchups that summer. The good news is that my portrayal in his blog posts improved!

This post here has got to be in the Scotty G Hall of Fame, as he described his feelings after running that Mt. Washington Road race:


"I want all my friends to go out to their garage and get a 2 x 4 and write my name on it. If I ever sign up for the Mt Washington road race again I want you ALL to use it on me. I don't want the 2 x 4's used to knock some sense into me, I want you to use them to knock me out completely."

Now I'll let you in on a little secret that Scott has in fact competed in this race since he wrote those words. I guess his friends aren't all that great - we should have sought out those 2 x 4's as he requested!

Another thing you should know is that Scott is a 25 year veteran of the Boston Marathon! He is also going for #26 in this year's running. In fact my training partner Joe Loureiro and I hosted Scott for a 14 mile training run this winter. It was my pleasure to train with him, and also broker an introduction between two real running afficionados.

So Scott, here's to a another Boston success! I know you'll be starting in wave 1 and I'll be way back in wave 3, so no hard feelings when we meet in mile 24 or so? Just saying...

Week 2 Inspiration and Training Recap: Apr 02 - 08

Well this journey got started in week 22 and here we are with only two weeks left! It's about to start getting real. This is the first of two taper weeks, decreasing our mileage and letting our bodies absorb the previous weeks of hard training.

Inspiration

Also this week Team Red Cross participated in a very special event featuring speakers Brian Boyle (who will run the marathon as part of the team) and two time Boston Marathon champion and gold medal winner Joan Benoit Samulelson. We got our fill of inspiration, and a reminder how our fundraising for the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts is saving lives and providing urgently needed assistance to disaster victims in the region.

At the above link you can learn a little bit about Brian's incredible story of survival, perseverance, triumph and giving. He is a survivor of a terrible auto accident, beneficiary of blood services, Ironman Triathlon finisher, and spokesperson for the American Red Cross. He authored the book Iron Heart that chronicles his experiences. Brian recounted for us one of the ways he managed to work his way back from this horrific setback to achieving success in one of the world's toughest sporting events (Ironman) - by telling himself "every breath is a gift and every step is an achievement". It's a real honor to be running along side him for Team Red Cross in this Boston Marathon.

I also very much enjoyed the perspective offered by Joan Benoit Samuelson, who told us among other attributes, to be successful you've got to have passion and be prepared to run your race. It was also a great pleasure to take my young daughter who herself is a budding runner to this event and to get a chance to learn from and meet Joan. For most kids I know a speaking program is not the most exciting thing - but who knows what highlights and memories she will carry with her?

Training Update

As for the running, 38 miles in total this week:

M: 3.3mi easy pace in 24:15

T: 5.9mi tot: 1.5mi warmup, then 4x {400m with 200m recovery}, 1mi tempo run, and 1.7mi cooldown. Intervals were 1:38, 1:34, 1:29, 1:21 and 6:17 for the mile tempo

W: 9.1mi in 1:06:52 with lots of those miles solidly in the 7:10s/mi pace

T: 6.3mi tot: 5.8mi workout, then 10x 20sec uphill sprints, .4mi run to the finish line

F: off

S: 10mi tot in 1:09. 2mi warmup, then 6mi at marathon pace, 2mi cooldown. The splits for the 6 mile tempo run were 6:48, 6:45, 6:36, 6:36, 6:46, 6:46. These are faster than goal marathon pace, testament to the difficulty in not going out too fast (a big challenge on race day)!

S: 3.3mi in ~23 min relatively easy Easter Sunday run

Team Sport Report: Cain Family

This is another in the team sport series about those who have inspired me to run and stick with it over the years. Of course with almost everyone it begins with family. Me, my mother, father and brother Jon constituted our family of four growing up.

My Dad, Ken Cain Sr.

My father introduced me to running. He ran cross country in high school in Ashland, NH and told me stories about that course ending with a big uphill. I wouldn't mind going back to the old haunt sometime and running that now (presumably) defunct course to see what that feels like (I'll venture a guess - painful). Back in week 10 I ran point to point from Campton to Ashland that was special not only for the challenge (very cold and nasty hill climbs) but the destination being my early childhood home town.

Between Dad's high school days and when I started running, he took up smoking. At some point, I forget exactly when, he just stopped - cold turkey. After that he refocused on getting in shape, and when I was in middle school about to enter high school we went out on training runs together. In addition to dad's fitness we were also testing if I wanted to join the high school cross country team in the fall. Of course what I remember most is appreciating the fact that Dad wanted to take me out running and getting to spend that quality time together. This is something I try to carry on today with my own kids today as they get older and show their own interest in running.


Another thing I remember is how we grew up in a relatively rural area in New Hampshire. At that time there were few opportunities for organized activities / exercise in the harsh New England winter climate. So our solution to this from a running perspective (and folks let me say this is probably where I get my mental and physical pain tolerance among other issues!) - was to run in the basement of our house! Yes, figure 8's around the wood stove! Contrasting to that is today's situation where you have literally hundreds of organized activities from which to choose for your child - a real luxury. For me personally I'll take the old school style - it's worked for me. I have no complaints with the current day style for my own kids.

I'm almost certain the rock is still there on Point Loma in San Diego, CA

My Mom, Carline Cain

Mom was always there for me growing up. She stayed at home and helped keep the family running with her tireless efforts. While I certainly cannot claim to perfectly exemplify these attributes (far from it!) I hope I've picked up just some of her very strong work ethic and determination. She certainly made sure to keep me and Jon on the ball especially in school. And it was Mom that had the sense to know when it was time for me to skip a practice or two in high school cross country if the academic workload got too high and needed to be done first.

I can also thank Mom for what I presume is a high metabolism. She is the sweet tooth in the family and it definitely passed down a generation to me! I try to be reasonable about my diet these days, but maybe the sweets somehow for me got the metabolic engine running. I'll say this right now do not take diet advice from this fool right here. I insist -- consult another more credible authority! 

My Brother, Jonathan Cain

My younger brother Jon and I are nine years apart in age. I used to play a bit of a teacher role with him when he was very young. However patience was not always a virtue - particularly when I tried to teach Jon as a 4 year old how to hit a curve ball! Sorry about that bro' (at least it was a wiffle ball)! Also Jon really looked up to me quite a bit, especially when I headed off to college at Northeastern University. My bedroom was converted into a pretend university classroom with professor Jon!

Later on when he was in high school, also running cross country, I was studying nearby at UNH. It was a great pleasure to go over to my old high school and work out with Jon and his team during their practices. I may just have another story to tell about that in another team sport post. But nowadays Jon is a huge supporter of mine as I have transitioned into distance running. He and his wife Colleen were such a huge part of my first half marathon experience last year in the Bay State Half Marathon. They hopped from spot to spot on that loop course around the Merrimack river and made sure I had a cheering section several times as I chased my goal. I am so looking forward to them doing some course hopping in Boston and powering me once again toward a new goal.

Week 3 Training Recap: Mar 26 - Apr 01

Week 3 was busy to say the least. I was on a business trip to Monterey, CA through wednesday. In addition to very long days attending conference presentations I managed to get in some early a.m. training runs.

M: 4.5mi in 32:20 along Monterey Peninsula Recreation Trail.
I was surprised and encouraged to see a large number of runners wearing ARMY T shirts running in the opposite direction from me. I continued until the end of this huge procession and decided to turn around and join them. We continued along this paved trail and eventually went out on the roads toward what looked to be a park entrance. "Great - a park!" I thought, "someplace different to run without getting lost in the dark"! Well, when we rounded the corner into this "park" I noticed a sign for the entrance to the US Army property and figured I'd keep myself out of trouble by turning back!

T: 7.3 mi tot: 5x {800m, 2 min recovery}, then 4x {200m, 1min recovery}.
I started out on the Monterey roads finding to a decent hill on Cass St. There I did a warmup and decided it would be good (in a challenging sort of way) to start my first 800m interval from the bottom. Not the best idea, as I found out this hill is about, oh, 800m in length! I did 400m of the next interval going up to the top again. After this I decided it was best to get back to sea level and finish there.

W: 12mi in 1:28:46 with some awesome hill climbing.
I had to venture out a bit more in order to get the planned distance without too much monotony, while also not getting lost in the dark. So I went to Cass St. from tuesday's run and improvised from there. Well, as you know in California it wasn't long before I found myself a monster hill climb! Two words best describe the workout: Skyline Drive. The link below has a map and here is the elevation profile.
Skyline Drive run Monterey, CA

T: off - red eye flight back to Boston - I know, excuses excuses
F: off

S: 24.6mi in 3:00 - final long run (a near marathon itself) before tapering for Boston!
2K warmup, 10K@7:21/mi, 10K@7:05/mi, 10K@6:58/mi, 4K@ "max effort" that turned out for me at this point in the run to be 7:22/mi, ~3.6K cooldown that turned out to be 8-9 min/mi - survival mode to the finish!

This was a real milestone of course for the distance, but also because it marks the (near) end of a huge amount of training for Boston. Training partners Joe Loureiro and Will Swenson were waiting for me after finishing the run a few minutes earlier. It was a great feeling to have the run completed, and also to reflect together on how far we've come along in the last several months. Joe and Will, I really appreciate your interest and ever present support in my first attempt at the marathon. I was feeling the love after that workout - thanks you!

S: 3.1 mi in 30:36 Run for the Troops 5K in Andover, MA
http://www.runforthetroops5k.com/
I really enjoyed running this one with my wife Danielle and our daughter who ran her first 5K ever! She had a goal to get 30:00 for the race. This is not a bad effort and I was proud to help her try to get it! Danielle also had not run a race in a long time and has been working out very hard for several months with tons of cross training and some treadmill work. She was very excited to be able to handle this race without any real difficulty and I was very happy for her.

Also attending the run and making the day very enjoyable were training teammates Joe and Will, their families and Team Red Cross members Karen Teller, Paul Garcia, and Susan Driscoll. Karen and Susan staffed a table providing information about services that the American Red Cross provides to US military personnel.

Team Sport Report: King Tut and Coach Gurity

This is the first in a series of "team sport reports" in which I will share stories about people I have met who inspired me (and many others undoubtedly) to love the sport and keep at it.

King Tut and the Sand

"King Tut" is coach Gary Tuttle, my cross country running coach at Dover (NH) High School for four years. Gary is the first (official) running coach I had, after my dad helped me get started by running with me when I was middle school age.

I remember coach following us around on his bike during my freshman season, making sure nobody cut any corners. A few of us guys fools on the team did. His most memorable workouts were hills. We would run on our XC course starting at the high school, going on trails through the woods and then encircling a sand pit. On certain other training runs this might be where some would decide to skip a loop. But here there was no such escape. We entered the sand pit, and ran repeats up and down the soft sand wall, all under the careful and expert supervision of coach! I know, I know, this sounds like a great deal of fun (by the way - who wants to try this with me some time? I'm pretty sure coach would host a group training run). Everyone who's ever been coached by King Tut talks about these workouts to this day!

Coach recently posted a number of photographs of teams and individuals he has coached over several years. It is a real pleasure to see these photos and the gratitude expressed by his former athletes. And it is a real testament to his commitment to coaching.

Tut and Cid Leading Us to Victory
 
Cid Gurity joined the XC team as an assistant coach during my final year at DHS. He was just getting started in coaching and was about to begin a family, learning that year he would become a father. What I remember generally about Cid is his pure enthusiasm for the sport and for coaching us fools young adults to improve. I also remember seeing how much my parents appreciated how much he put into helping the team - now that is some high praise coach! Specifically I remember a race that year and my coaches' roles in helping us win.

My senior year was my best season, and really my only one as an above average runner (while not "great" by any stretch). We were also becoming a more competitive as a team. We had a three team meet vs. Alvirne and Portsmouth (at Alvirne). I had the overall lead late in the race and remember passing by coach Tut who could see the situation (I was likely to win, a first for me) and told me to make sure to keep it going and push all the way. I followed coach's advice as I powered along the school track about 3/4 of a lap to the finish. What an awesome feeling it was to head down the final stretch and see a beaming coach Cid just beyond the stripe. He held out his arms as I crossed the line and gave a giant hug! He was obviously happy for my individual achievement, winning and breaking 18 minutes, but must certainly have been pleased with his role in helping our team improve. We had some more strong performances by our teammates that day and we all waited with baited breath while the final team scores were tallied. We won by a very narrow margin (also a first in a long time for our squad)!

I recently reconnected with coach Cid by email. He updated me on some highlights since we were at DHS, and talked about why he coaches. I find it very encouraging to hear how hard he has worked as a volunteer, part time, etc. building up teams from very meager beginnings to achieve success. And to sense the pride he feels in the accomplishments of his athletes and how important this work is to him.

Coach Cid Gurity

Week 4 Training Recap: Mar 19 - 25

54 miles total this week. 4 weeks out and rapidly approaching race day. Life is moving at warp speed too. I am writing my training recap as I am sitting in the Monterey, CA airport eagerly wanting to get home after being here for a work conference for several days.

I'm thinking about mixing in some new content with the steady stream of training recaps as we get toward marathon day, stay tuned for some "team sport reports". As if I don't have enough going on :-)

M: 5mi in 36:26. This was the day after New Bedford Half Marathon. My mindset was that it was an achievement just getting out the door.

T/a.m.: 7.6mi: 1.25mi warmup, then 20x 400m at 5K to 10K pace (planned), ran a bit slower than that at first and built up to faster intervals by the end, then 1.5mi cooldown

T/p.m.: 2.5mi super easy 28:05 with my 10 year old daughter who asked to go out on a run with me. She wants to run a 5K road race coming up soon and asked for me to help her get ready! A very nice relaxing run and conversation with her.

W:  12.2mi in 1:29:43. This is the second to last 12 mile mid-week longer run of the training program before taper time! Thank goodness, these are a real project, starting even earlier than usual at 05:00 to be done at a reasonable time.

T:  7.5mi tot: 6.8mi in 47:55, followed by 6x 150m strides
F:  off
S: 22K total. 2K warmup, 10 alternations of 1K@6:34 + 1K@7:07/mi pace (plan). Had foot pain in the later part of the workout and decided to slow down and cut short just slightly the overall workout. Here are the paces (min/mi) for each of the alternations:

• 6:32/mi, 7:10/mi
• 6:26, 7:06
• 6:23, 6:58
• 6:32, 7:00
• 6:40, 7:06
• 6:45, 6:55
• 6:22, 6:45
• 6:29, 7:32 <--- Pain here in that 6:29/mi 1K interval
• 6:47, 7:57
• 6:40, 7:43

S: 5.7mi: 6:27, 6:30, 6:42, 6:05, 6:10, 6:10/mi
11 hours on a plane trip to California preceded this effort. I think being cooped up in a plane so long made me feel obligated to get out there and hit it harder than usual.

Week 5, New Bedford Half Marathon Recap: Mar 12 - 18

For the week 5 recap I'll skip the day by day training details and focus on the fun - the race! After all, that's why we put in all this hard work, to have it show up in a strong performance on race day.

55 miles total for the week. Other than the New Bedford Half Marathon on sunday, the most noteworthy training run was a hill workout on thursday. I ran 8 miles including a warmup and cooldown, and in the middle these repeats (6x):

• 60 sec up at 5K race pace
• 2 minutes recovery pace continuing up the hill
• turn and run downhill hard for 2 minutes
• recover for 90 seconds to the bottom of the hill

Jitters
A good marathon training program includes a long distance race toward the end of the program before the big event. My training partner Joe Loureiro and I ran this half marathon, and another training partner Will Swenson will run the Eastern States 20 miler. It's typical to have pre-race butterflies sometimes days in advance of a big test like this. But this time I was both preoccupied with work and family activities as always, and also thinking ahead to my ultimate goal - Boston. So I felt no jitters whatsoever. I posted this the day before the race: A Cold Blooded Tweet. Well, those jitters finally appeared, and they came up big on race day morning as we traveled to New Bedford. There are a lot of details to be concerned with on race day from sleep to nutrition to hydration, etc. But foremost is the idea that you want to put all of that incredible training effort to good use right now - today.

A Good Field
This race is a pretty big event in New England and there are several runners I know or follow who participated. I traveled with Joe and some runners from the Merrimack Valley Striders running club, and knew I would be seeing friends including Erica Ouellette, Matt Story, Denis Tranchemontagne and Yvonne Yen. And a prominent local runner Nate Jenkins would be competing (and likely challenging for the overall race victory - he did, and placed second overall in another very impressive performance).

Beating Expectations
Before the race I guessed maybe I could on a very good day race 1:25 and beat my previous 1:27+ performance in the Bay State Half Marathon in Oct. 2011. I did some back of the envelope calculations, imagining I might turn this into an interval workout (4x 5K intervals with very short rest periods in between), and maybe put together a 1:25 result. Well, I guess I was way off because I finished this race in 1:21:48!!!!

There are two hills on the course, but also long stretches of gentle downhill running that I think greatly assisted my pace. I started to notice some very fast (for me) mile splits especially on the downhills starting in mile 3/4 and just kept going with it as long as I could. Well, when I came up upon my friend Denis at about 11.5 miles I still had enough left in the tank to finish strong. He told me if I put in a good kick I could get under 1:22 for the race. After a fist bump and exchanging some encouraging words I gave it a shot. He was right - as I turned the final corner I could see the official race clock ahead ticking off 1:21:40, 41, ... and I knew I had it. What a great feeling to be running strong down a straight stretch to the finish line knowing you've just beat your best time by nearly 6 minutes - fantastic! Now that is the definition of a good day on the race course!

My mile by mile time splits from the New Bedford Half Marathon

Race Results from coolrunning.com

Also very gratifying to see was that nearly everyone I know managed a PR or very close to it. Joe Loureiro managed his best half, even in the face of some physical challenges in recent weeks of training. I'm so glad to see Yvonne get a sub 2 hour half as she is preparing for the Chicago Marathon. Erica Ouellette her training partner and Chicago teammate also got her best time. Matt Story too got a PR while battling some pain during the race. And Denis just about matched his best time also set in New Bedford last year.

Me and Joe (wearing the MVS singlet). Still smiling early in the race! Both photos courtesy of http://krissyk.smugmug.com/ Krissy Kozlosky

Working hard in the first half of the race. No smiling now!

Training Recap Week 6: Mar 5 - 11

43mi this week

M: off (my legs needed it after a busy weekend of running 23+ and 6+ including the Claddagh Pub 4 miler)

T: 7+mi tot: 1.35mi warmup, then 12x {400m, and 200m recovery}, 1.6mi cooldown. The 400m runs were done in 3 sets of 4 at 1/2 marathon, 10K, 5K and 3K effort.

• Set 1: 1:43, 1:39, 1:39, 1:34
• Set 2: 1:43, 1:36, 1:34, 1:26
• Set 3: 1:44, 1:39, 1:38, 1:30

W: 12.28mi in 1:28 7:12/mi pace.
Wednesday is our mid-week medium/long run that started at about 6 miles way back in Week 22 (November last year) and is now at its peak of 12 miles now here in week 6 from now until the marathon (except final taper weeks possibly). 5 weeks to go! (but really, who's counting?)

T: 5.7mi tot: 5mi in 36:51, and then 6x150m strides following the run
In mile 5 I decided to throw in a random surge / sprint for about 1/10 mile just to mix it up (you could say just for fun) and make the otherwise ordinary workout more "interesting"

F: off

S: 17.4mi long run with tempo intervals, a really challenging workout!
Here the plan was: 1K warmup, 6K @ 6:58/mi, 5K @ 6:54, 4K@6:46, 3K@6:38, 2K@6:34, 1K@max effort with 1K recovery 7:21-7:41/mi pace between the intervals

Here is the workout data, I think I did pretty well compared to the plan (except the 3K interval)! A real highlight of the workout is that I managed a 6:55/mi pace for the whole workout (including those slower 1K recovery runs) - very encouraging!
runningahead log entry here

S: off

Summary after 17 weeks of training for Boston:

Claddagh Pub 4 Miler, March 4 2012 - Photo Credit Ted Tyler jimrhoades.com

Training Recap Week 7: Feb 27 - Mar 04

Another very good week of training is in the books. Like last week it featured a contrast in weather (Florida/vacation then back home to New England where I endured two downright messy workouts in snow and rain). It also included new personal mileage records (58 miles for the week, and a single long run of 23 miles)!

M: 3.5mi, 30:36 easy pace, barefoot running on the beach at Lovers Key State Park
(map)
I was thinking about sneaking in the next day's longer, faster workout here. However, there are tons of hard, sharp shells on this beach and it just wasn't going to happen. I had to watch every step and adjust to avoid painful landings. So I took it easy and that was fine by me after logging lots of miles in the previous week including 15 and 8 miles in the prior two days.
 
T: 7.8mi tot: 1.7mi warmup, then 3x {8 min at ~6:30/mi pace, 2min recovery), 1.6mi cooldown
(final workout in Florida, early a.m. before flying home in the afternoon)

W: 11mi in 1:19, lots of miles in the 7:10s and 6:33 final mile - feeling good!

T: 7.2mi in 53:50 easy 7:30/mi pace in some very sloppy conditions with lots of water and some snow accumulated on the ground

F: off

S: 23.25mi in 2:54, 7:30/mi overall in very sloppy weather conditions.
More snow had accumulated overnight and we had some light freezing rain at the beginning of this long run. The plan was to run a 25 mile (yes 25) tempo run at 90 to 95% of goal marathon pace. The route included two 12+ mile loops. I was very well soaked by the time I ran by my house after "lap" 1. I decided to keep going since I really wanted to have another 20+ mile run logged at this point after having only run one several weeks ago. So I soldiered on and got a lot more soaked including getting sprayed with snow by the tires of oncoming motorists - about 4 or 5 times (I practiced some hand gestures and voice work at this point :-). I cut about a mile from the end of the second loop to simply put an end to it. Had some pain in the feet on one of the late downhill sections, and then my leg muscles all wanted to cramp / spasm after I finished running.

S: 6.2mi tot, 4mi race!
The training plan was to run 4 miles easy. My training partner Joe Loureiro had signed up for The Claddagh Pub 4 mile race so I decided to join him and add a little flavor to an otherwise mundane training run. I wondered if my legs would be up for this but I did some stretching between saturday's long run and this day. Well, the legs did just fine - I ran a 6:18 first mile, 6:37 mile 2 that featured quite a hill climb to the mile marker. Then, I used the downhill at the beginning of the 3rd mile to build a fast pace that I ended up holding the rest of the way to the finish line! Miles 3 and 4 were both 6:01/mi!

6:20/mi pace for the race, 14th place overall, and 4th out of 159 runners in my age category! That felt good!

Training Recap Week 8: Feb 20 - 26

Well things are moving right along and as I write this it is actually already March. Less than 45 days to go until Patriots' Day! I think the hype machine is going to get fired up very soon now, as I complete my training and reach (and hopefully well surpass) my goal to raise $4000 for the American Red Cross of Eastern Massachusetts. You can contribute to my efforts by visiting this page:
http://american.redcross.org/goto/KenCain

This week was split between cold New England and very warm Florida (Fort Myers and Sanibel Island) where we took a family vacation during the school vacation week. So I only had to wear my cold weather gear twice and got to use shorts and tank tops the rest of the week!

55 miles this week!

M: 7mi trail run!
Plan was for 4mi of simple road running, but noticed a couple of other runners heading down toward a trail head and decided to join them. After a few miles running and talking we discovered we had a mutual friend Scott Graham who himself is a 25 time veteran of the Boston Marathon! So one of the guys I joined on this day told me if I wanted to get him going, to ask Scott about the one time he beat Dave Dunham in a marathon. Dave was running with Dan Verrington, both very accomplished runners. Maybe I'll try that some day Scott :-)

T: 7.6mi tot: 1.5mi warmup, then 20x {200m on, 200m recover}, ~1.4mi cooldown
This was an early a.m. workout at home before flying to Florida later in the day

W: 11mi from Fort Myers just out to the beginning of Sanibel Island and back. The only "hill" is the big causeway bridge 0.25mi "up" and 0.25mi back down
RunningAhead Log/Map 1

T:  6.35mi tot
5.5mi in 37:10, 6:45/mi pace in the Florida mid-day heat (somewhere in the 80's F)
RunningAhead Log/Map 2

then, 6x 180m strides following the run

F: off
S: 15.1 in 1:48 7:11/mi overall. An "out and back" course to the Sanibel Island Lighthouse pictured below.
RunningAhead Log/Map 3

S/XT: Family bike ride on Sanibel Island, 8+mi a real challenge for the kids but we took lots of breaks including one at a nice playground
RunningAhead Log/Map 4

S: 8mi in 55:28 (planned 4-5 easy), from the Island Cow restaurant where my family had dinner,back to the hotel. They passed me just before the end of this point to point course!
RunningAhead Log/Map 5

Training Recap Week 9: Feb 13 - 19

46 miles total this week. We moved the tempo intervals to Thursday instead of the usual Tuesday routine due to the prior (week 10) workout that included multiple 5K tempo runs over 17 miles of work - quite a challenge. Makes sense, but you'll see we were back at the long run / tempo work only two days later with two 10K tempo runs incorporated into a 16+ mile long run!

Not too many editorial comments this week. But one thing that is in the back of my mind and creeping forward is that it's been a while since I've put together a 20 mile+ long run and I'll need to get a few of those in before we get to the starting line on April 16th.

M: staple 4 mile route, 4.8mi tot in 34:31
T: 8mi + 6x 200m strides after the run
W: 10K in 44:19, change of plans vs. 11mi. Training partner was dealing with significant leg soreness/tightness and cut his run short to add in some stretching. I varied my route a bit but cut my workout short as well.
T: 5.1mi tot, including 6x {2min tempo, 1min recovery} intervals run mostly at 6:15-6:30/mi pace
F: off
S: 16.6mi tot: 3K warmup, 10K with goal 7:00-7:10/mi (did 6:58!), 4 min of easy running, then 10K with goal 6:40-6:50/mi (did 6:48 and had to contend with some hill climbing in the process!), 3K cooldown
S: 4.5mi tot, couple of miles on trails that are still not covered with snow (and may never get there this winter - fine by me!). The soft trail surface + new running shoes provided some relief on the knees in particular.

Training Recap (That's What I'm Talking About)! Week 10: Feb 5 - 12

This week included a mix of the usual work and training grind, but a rare opportunity for a long weekend away with my family. We rented a condo in Campton, New Hampshire and visited Waterville Valley for a beautiful day of skiing. We also got to visit our friends we met at UNH and who now live in northern NH, Thad and Joselle (Germano) Presby (remember her name, see the end!). They treated us to some great company and a fantastic dinner. As we discussed the near perfect skiing weather we enjoyed (and anything else worthy of significant appreciation), Thad would say now that's what I'm talkin' about! I agree, it was one of those great weekends!

We also visited my family in my early childhood home town of Ashland, NH on the way home (more on that too, in the Sunday workout!).

Here were my workouts this week, 46 mi tot:
M: 5mi in 33:44. Something got into me here with splits 7:04, 6:55, 6:47, 6:26, 6:33
T: 6.9mi tempo intervals: 1.4mi warmup, then 12x {400m at tempo effort, 200m recovery}, cooldown home. Intervals done in 3 sets of 4 at half marathon, 10K, 5K, 3K paces (something like 6:30, 6:05, 6:00, and 5:50/mi).
W: 11mi at "recovery" pace. Completed in 1:19 tot, 7:10/mi. Final 4 miles were sub 7:00/mi.
T: 6mi + 6x 150m strides, 6.6mi tot in 47:34. Again had the legs going just fine, with the final 4 miles of the 6mi run at 7:05, 6:57, 6:42, 6:19
F: off/XT (skiing the bunny slopes with Danielle & the kids)
S: off
S: 16.8mi point-to-point Campton to Ashland: 3K warmup, 4x {5K at goal marathon pace, 1k recovery} (runningahead summary/map). What a cool run this was! I love designing a point to point course, and thankful to have a supportive family willing to accommodate my adventures and pick me up at the destination! This ended up being a crazy challenge for several reasons:

• It was only 8 degrees F with sub-zero wind chills
• I left my energy gels (GU) at home. So this left me with a sports bottle I filled with Gatorade that would become frozen slush by the end (delicious orange slush)!
• I had to be very certain of my route in a relatively unfamiliar setting, so Danielle could follow my intended course in the car, and make sure I was alright
• The planned workout was very aggressive, calling for 5x 5K intervals at goal marathon pace
• The terrain ended up being a more extreme version of the Boston Marathon course, with a large elevation drop followed by a large elevation climb. It was all down from the mountains, but then UP to the lakes!

After the first 4 5K intervals and completing the fourth 1K recovery my watch started beeping again giving me the "go" signal for number 5. I knew that the next segment of the course was going to send me upward once again. I was at a convenient stopping point (a covered bridge by Little Squam lake beach in Ashland) and so I called it a workout. My watch read 2:00:00 when I stopped and I pulled out the cell phone to call Danielle who had driven by just a few minutes prior.

Me hanging out with the best support crew in the business!

all ready to go at the starting point in Campton

Summary after 13 weeks of training for Boston:

And now for the trivia portion of the blog post, and to wrap it up - Joselle Germano as it turns out was the woman who was the top woman finisher in the Bay State Marathon in 2001. I had forgotten that she is a very accomplished runner because I know her first through Danielle and our studies at UNH and we have not talked much about running over the years. You can see her outstanding performance in that race here:

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/01/ma/Oct21_13thAn_set2.html

Joselle in the last mile of the Bay State Marathon - victory is near!

Mt. Washington finish

Training Recap: Week 11, Jan 30 - Feb 04

44 miles total this week, another successful one in the books that I am very thankful for. Unfortunately I received some surprising and sad news that one of my friends from my basketball group has recently passed away. I learned about this on friday and so decided I would dedicate my 16 mile long run to him, including improvising a running course that passes by the gym where we have played together for the last several winters. While a 16 mile run most people would assume is a big achievement I consider this only a very small token of respect I can offer him.

M: off (used the "no training partners" excuse, but also my body really needed it after saturday's 20 miler that included 4mi tempo intervals, and another run on sunday)

T: 8mi tot with 1000m tempo intervals: 1.4mi warmup + 6x {1K @ 6:20-6:30/mi, 2min recovery}, 1.4mi cooldown. For the final 1K interval I turned on the jets (relatively speaking) for a 6:04/mi pace

W: 8mi starting at recovery pace then progressively working to sub 7:00/mi in final 2 miles

T: 7.5mi tot: 5.75mi at brisk paces down to 6:27/mi for the last 3/4 mi. Then, 12x 20sec uphill sprints in 4 sets of 3 (starting with left foot forward, right foot forward, facing backward & spin & go, prone position & jump up & go)

F: off

S: 16mi in 1:55 for 7:15/mi pace overall. Did this one solo, so I had to work on the mental edge to not quit early (the route needed some tweaking at the end to make it 16 tot). Glad I did not, especially on this day. Worked this one pretty well I think with a consistent pace, faster than planned (would have been 7:30 working down to 7:20 for final miles).

S: 4.5mi @ 7:10/mi pace

Summary after 12 weeks of training for Boston (we're past the half way mark)!

Training Recap (and Revelry!) : Week 12, Jan 23 - 29

53 miles this week, not too bad! This is the second time running more than 50 miles in one week.

M: 4.6mi in a snappy 30:42 that almost didn't happen. A planned solo run led to waking up 30 minutes later, then hearing the coffee machine sound its ready alarm. Thankfully my temperature sensor pictured here "spoke to me" and kept the workout plan intact! I felt great from the start so it was just a matter of getting out there.

T: 7.7mi including 20x 200m tempo intervals (14 of them under 6:00/mi pace). A real mental challenge to not think about the big number (20) of reps. A trick I used: think about how many you've already done and set the (immediate) goal to finish the next one. Training partner Joe Loureiro mentioned after 17 that we had just 3 to go - incorrect! 17 done and 1 more to get to 18! Then we talk again.

T ("XT") - Team Red Cross kickoff event at the South End Athletic Company in Boston!  Check out the photo gallery from this great event, provided by Kat Powers of the American Red Cross. Kudos and thank you to Dan Fitzgerald of SEAC, team manager Nicole Marcotte and everyone from the American Red Cross who organized a fantastic social and fundraising event for our cause!

W: 10.1mi in about 1:14, 7:19/mile
T: 6.8 mi: 6mi + 6x 150m strides at the end of the run. Snowy roads
T("XT") JJ Grey & Mofro concert in Boston! Now providing additional musical inspiration for my marathon campaign!

F: off
S: 20mi in 2:24:45 (7:16/mi) marathon specific workout!

• 2mi warmup
• 4mi at goal marathon pace (mp 6:50/mi plan): 6:53, 6:46, 6:33, 6:45
• 4mi recovery
• 4mi mp: 7:01, 6:38, 6:54, 7:00
• 4mi recovery
• 1mi "all out" - I couldn't pull this one off, did 7:20 while Joe and Will were able to push here. First venture into 20 mile distance and a pretty solid effort in above 8 mile tempos left me drained
• 1mi survive to the finish!

Food for thought - that 7:16/mi pace would get you a 3:11 marathon...

S: 4.5mi recovery in 34:43

Ken, Joe and Paul!

Team Red Cross Power Shot!

Training Recap: Week 13, Jan 16 - 22

Another busy week. It doesn't get any less interesting, I will say that. Here is how it went:

M: 5mi in 35:29

T: 7.5mi tempo: 1.35mi warmup, 4x {1mi at goal half marathon effort 6:31/mi, 3 min recovery jog}, 0.8mi cooldown. That was the plan, but Mother Nature said we had to run through an inch or two of snow on the roads so the tempo intervals were slower. All four intervals were between 6:44 and 6:57/mi so not wildly off.

W: 10.1mi beginning at recovery, then progressing to aerobic pace. The progression was more sudden for me, again with the urge to go faster than plan kicking in. 7:45 first mile, then a few 7:20s and speeding up, by mile 8 it was 6:54. Slowed down to about 7:05/mi for the final two miles due to fatigue and also running directly into a stiff headwind on some stretches. 40+ degrees at the start but windy - and temperature dropped before we were all done with this one.

T: 7.85mi tot: 5.85mi of steadily increasing paces 7:40, 7:20s, 7:10s, 6:34/mi for the last .85mi. And then 15x {15seconds "up" hill sprints, walk down recovery taking approx. 1 min.}, with .4mi cooldown home. We mixed up the start of the sprints by leading with the "wrong" foot, then facing backward, and finally (the master stroke) lying prone on the ground (hello pavement!) to begin our sprint. It's tough to do that and press the watch lap button (try it at home!). I didn't mention yet it was only about 10 degrees that day (hello pavement!).

F: off
S: 14mi. The BallardVale Runners hosted friend Scott Graham for an early a.m. long run (especially) up and down and around town. Scott, we like and respect you a great deal but this is the way you have to treat your running guests I think :-) Perhaps you owe me one. Just not up Mt. Washington please - like everything we do in this sport - that's just crazy!
S: off

Next week it's challenge time on the long run - first 20 miler is coming up. And that one is not going to be ordinary. We'll be going for a "marathon specific workout" inspired by Dick Beardsley, via Nate Jenkins blog and adapted for our use by my training partner Joe Loureiro.

Summary after 10 weeks of training for Boston:

You're Invited! Team Red Cross Kickoff Party Tuesday January 24th

Please take a look at the following invitation, and feel free to share!

Cheers,

-Ken

Training Recap: Week 14, Jan 09 - 15

Well, since this experience of marathon training is new to me, you can be sure that there are going to be lots of personal records and milestones achieved. It really does feel good (no joke)! This week was no different. I set a personal distance record for the week (53 miles) and for one individual training run (18 miles)! I'm planning another personal distance record in 2 weeks (20 miler!) and the ultimate ecord (for me) on April 16th!

Here is how this week went day by day:
M: 4.4mi default aerobic pace planned, but pushed final two miles in the 6:30s/mi. Sometimes I just can't control that urge to get to the finish line (see Saturday!)

T: 8mi tot: ~7mi default aerobic pace + 6x 150m strides at the end

W: 10mi recovery run in about 1:14, 7:15/mi overall.  Also was hampered by another night of poor sleep due to tendon pain in my finger. It strikes only before 10 mile runs apparently (just like last weekend). Oh well.


T: Monster tempo run 8.5mi tot: warmup + 16x {400m "on", 200m recover}, cooldown. The 400m tempo runs were done at 1/2 marathon, 10K, 5K, and 3K effort (repeated 4x in that order). Our goal paces were: 1/2 marathon (6:31/mi), 10K (6:10), 5K (5:57), 3K (5:40.8).  However, my split paces looked roughly like this: 6:45/mi, 6:20, 6:03, 6:00. I'll take it!

F: off

S: 18.1mi in 2:12 (7:18/mi overall)! This one was supposed to be done slower. Joe, Will and I set out early but it didn't take long before I got this internal "drive" to push at a little bit faster pace. Well before you know it I'm out there on my own pushing ahead. I just went with it and ended up with 13 out of the final 14 miles (and the final 11 miles in a row) run at a faster pace than I would need to qualify for Boston 2013 (7:26/mi).  Wow! And sorry boys I'll try to behave myself in the future!

S: 4.5mi recovery pace in 3 degrees temperature! Luckily no real wind to speak of. But when it's that cold you pretty much have to throw everything in your outdoor running gear wardrobe at it (and I did)!

Summary after 9 weeks of training for Boston:

A Day of Service and Team Building

On Saturday January 7th I worked alongside a large group of dedicated volunteers including some from Team Red Cross, at the Boston Food Pantry. I drove in from suburban Boston to the food pantry on Mass. Ave. The weather that morning was beautiful, and in addition to it being just after the holidays, there was an expectation that we would distribute emergency food supplies to a very large number of families in need. It turned out to be true - 631 families visited that day!

I arrived at 8:30 a.m. and worked continuously at a very fast pace through 12:00! I worked behind the scenes outside in the warmth of the sun (thank goodness!), first sorting through some produce to ensure we only distributed fresh, quality food items. Others on the volunteer team greeted patrons and distributed a variety of meats, produce and non perishables. There were some families lining up outside and it felt a little awkward to be tossing out some of the unfit produce into dumpsters while they observed our efforts. It also struck me that I was making a personal judgment about the quality of food on behalf of another family I had never met, driving home to me the seriousness of the need and a desire to to the best job I could on their behalf.

Following this I worked alongside a group of Red Cross teammates and some other volunteers including some from Boston Cares - to prepare bags of non perishables. We worked very hard, but enjoyed great conversation and teamwork along the way to prepare hundreds of bags. A few of us were hustling back and forth from the palettes, keeping the "assembly line" table full of the necessary supplies, where the rest of the group assembled all of the items into shopping bags.

Occasionally I brought supplies to the front area where families were entering the building. Seeing children waiting in line, a very unfortunate reality, reminded me of my previous service experience in high school at a local soup kitchen. There, we prepared and served hot meals to families. One of my most vivid memories from that experience is that I got to help some of the kids with their homework -  that has really stuck with me over the years.

Now as you know I am very excited about my upcoming first marathon. It is so exciting to me that I will be able to run in my "home town" of sorts in Boston (I grew up in NH). There are so many landmarks I am thinking about passing as I run the race next April - most notably Heartbreak Hill and especially Fenway Park, home to my beloved Boston Red Sox! But as I take those thousands of steps from Hopkinton to Boylston Street I'm also going to be thinking about another part of Boston that while not located on the course and not as widely recognized, is just as deserving of consideration and personal inspiration!

This was really a rewarding experience for me and reinforces why it is so important to support this worthy organization. If you agree and would like to help, please make a donation at this link.

Team coach Dan Fitzgerald, Isaac Burrows, captain Karen Teller, Yours Truly, and Paul Garcia

Training Recap: Week 15, Jan 02 - 08

39mi total this week. A theme this week was "sticking to it" even in the face of some annoyances that could have easily gotten in the way and provided for some "excuse making".

This was a "mini taper" week with the key workout being the 10K "time trial" on Saturday.  The objective was to get a guage of our fitness relative to a training program that is pretty much based on shooting for a 3 hour marathon (not saying I'm going to get that on my first go at 26.2). More on pace and marathon projections at the end. Here's the day by day report:

M: 4.9mi in 33:49 with increasing effort each mile: 7:37, 6:55, 6:41, 6:41, 5:52/0.92 (6:23/mi pace)

T: 6mi tempo: 1.44mi warmup, 6x {600m tempo effort, 2:00 recovery jog}, 0.83mi cooldown. Tempo paces were 6:24/mi, 6:15, 6:12, 6:04, 5:54, 5:45!!! I love seeing those strong (for me) paces after the fact when I sync up my GPS watch. When you're in the heat of the battle, so to speak, you may not be monitoring your times but just trying to get through the workout - especially in the early a.m. darkness. We rely on the GPS watches to give us audible "go" and "rest" signals.

W: 9.2mi in 1:07 in the bone chilling 7 degree weather. Here's to "sticking to it" (more on that on "saturday" entry below)! We haven't seen what New England can really throw at a Boston Marathon trainer yet so still consider myself very lucky here. And another mild week ahead is in the forecast.

T: 5.34mi tot: 5mi + 4x ~100m strides
F: 3.33mi in 23:25 just under 7:00/mi

S: 10.5mi tot: 2mi warmup, {6.21mi 10K "time trial" in 40:18 for 6:29/mi pace}, 2.3mi cooldown.
OK, the story here is that it could have gone a lot worse and I'm happy to have actually participated in (and finished) this workout. Some of you know that in addition to my running I play basketball. Well, as part of that little "cross training" adventure I have ruptured a tendon in my small finger (shooting hand no less!). Well, friday night my healing finger that has been in a splint for weeks decides that it's time to introduce throbbing pain with "shooting" nerve pain every 60-90 minutes while I sleep. Well I decided to still get out there at 5:15 a.m. since I had already convinced a training partner Joe Loureiro that I needed to get an early start, and he agreed to move his start time earlier.

S: off due to lack of sleep - thank you once again to my aging/injured joints, tendons, etc.!

So, we have been using McMillan Running's calculator as one way to determine pace goals for those tuesday tempo interval workouts, and as a fun way to project future marathon performance. Let's take a look at some recent training/race performances and play "back of the envelope" calculation games:

• August 2011 Yankee Homecoming 10mi race in 1:09:36 projects to a 3:15 marathon (according to above calculator)
• October 2011 Bay State Half Marathon in 1:27:34 projects to a 3:04 marathon
• This Saturday's 40:18 for the 10K projects to a 3:09 marathon

If you plug in 2:59:59 into the McMillan calculator it provides targets of 6:10-6:23/mi for tempo intervals, 1:04:16 for a 10mi race, and 1:25:20 for a half marathon.

 Summary after 8 weeks of training for Boston: