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