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RACE REPORT: 169 Brooklyn Half Marathon – 1:22:58

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Remember this winter? It was freezing all the time! I ran sporadically and very inconsistently because of my lack of warm weather motivation. Until March, when I realized that I probably needed to up my training into the double digit mileage since the Brooklyn Half was creeping up. 

I was officially signed up for a big 2026 race year though, The Brooklyn Half Marathon, Tallin Estonia Half Marathon, Montreal Marathon and the New York City Marathon, so it was time to drop in.

HIT THE STREETS

I ran a few 11-12 milers as well as one 14 in April and started rolling hard with my team on Wednesday mornings for speed work. Manhattan Track Club has around 25 runners who show up for the Wednesday morning sessions and it’s very fun. Painful, but fun. There’s a group of 4-5 teammates who run the same pace as I do, so we rock a flying V during the workout and it’s been a blast. This single factor has ramped up my endurance.

WHERE’S MY BIB

NYRR changed the bib pickup this year, moving it all the way to the eastern side of Prospect Park. Not sure why. It used to be on a pier along the Brooklyn waterfront, and taking the water taxi over was honestly one of the best parts of the experience.

I did get to see my old friend Liz there, who is a NYRR Coach, so it was nice catching up with her over a coffee.

STICK WITH THE PLAN

I’ve been experimenting with food since I started running in 2008. I’ve gone through shrimp scampi phases, years where I made ‘race burritos’, and most recently my steak era. Emily makes a restaurant quality rib eye steak with broccoli and sweet potatoes for me the night before and it could be the perfect meal. I’ve done this now on four marathons and a bunch of half marathons and it always has me full of energy on race day. Do it.

Chef Emily’s amazing creation.

I was asleep by 10pm.

TAXI!

I was up at 4:30am, with no alarm, and psyched to get the party started. Emily woke up with me, made me her signature oatmeal for the road and then went back to bed. Yes, I’m spoiled and quite lucky.

I grabbed my bag of snacks and headed downstairs for my 5:05am Uber pickup.

“What’s in the snack bag, Baker?” Glad you asked. One container of Emily’s oatmeal with honey and blueberries (scheduled for 30 minutes before the race), two bananas because every marathon needs a backup banana and you never know when another runner might need one, Gatorade, and gels.

I went with a car this year because the last two years on the train were complete chaos, despite living one block from the 72nd Street 2/3 station.

I stopped off in FiDi to pick up our friend Jenna who was also running.

ONTO THE FIELD OF BATTLE

We arrived at the entry point in perfect time, 5:45am, giving us a full 30 minutes until bag check closed. I was through security with my snacks and in Corral A by 6:00am. 

I got to see my friends Ben, Emily G., Rob, and a bunch of team mates before finding my friends Rowland and D. I’ve been running alongside these guys for 16 years, the ultimate flying V. As the corrals collapsed, we all made our way to the starting line up by the Botanical Garden. The weather felt great, although we all knew it was gonna get cooking on the back half. 

Rowland and D. were going to run 1:30, and I wanted to hit 1:25, so once the gun fired we fist bumped and I did my thing.

PHASE ONE, THE STREETS

I really dislike the out-and-back through Grand Army Plaza. The first 1 to 2 miles are always a complete mess with everyone jockeying for position.

You also get a lot of ‘freshman’ runners absolutely hammering the pace and trying to pass the entire field during this stretch, which is honestly pretty entertaining to watch. Bro’s, you still have 12 more miles to go, and half of them are going to be in direct sunlight. Relax.

My pacing was high, 6:18, 6:21 and 6:07 for mile 3. I wanted to be in the 6:30 range to hit 1:25 and not blow up, but here’s the thing, it felt easy.

PHASE TWO, THE PARK

As I was nearing Prospect Park, I could feel the temperature and I was a sweaty mess. 

Immediately after hooking the hard right into the park and making my way up the eastern edge I saw my friend Bojana cheering me on! Her husband and my good friend Sweendawg was also running.

I really don’t like this part of the race and never have. It’s a three mile loop that kind of all feels the same, so I just plod along and try and maintain some sort of a consistent tempo. I was pacing in the 6:25 range while in the park… just hanging on for the explosion.

PHASE THREE, THE STRAIGHTAWAY

I fucking love the back half of this race. Most people hate it, but once you get there, all the variables disappear except the weather. At that point it’s simple: lock in, get laser focused, and drop the hammer (intelligently). 

I studied Shaolin Kung Fu many years ago, and our Sifu had us look way into the distance, past your goal, when attacking. I do that here as I stare down Ocean Parkway. It’s as if I can see Coney Island and the sea. Mile 8 was a 6:13, maybe a bit fast but I still felt great.

MANHATTAN TRACK CLUB CHEER SQUAD

As I cleared mile 9 in 6:19, I caught up to my teammate and friend Alex. He’s one of the guys I run with on Wednesdays, so I rolled alongside him and we cruised together for a bit. I had my first gel here.

We both knew what was coming next: our team cheer squad at mile 9.5. Avenue M for Manhattan Track Club.

They were absolutely epic.

I kept pushing along knowing that mile 10 and 11 were coming up and mentally, after that things would ease up. I was trying to keep my pacing steady and not fluctuate, and I hit mile 10 in 6:16 and 11 in 6:19, so I was on target and at this point was not in jeopardy of blowing up.

THE BEND

There’s like this slight bend in Ocean Parkway at mile 11.4 or something, followed by running under the Belt Parkway, which signifies… the end is near! I ate my second gel here mainly to unload the dead weight and I really like the Coke flavor. I cleared mile 12 in a 6:17 and was now starting to do finish line math calculations. I wasn’t going to PR, but I was having a great race.

When you take that right onto Surf Avenue, the Parachute Drop, which is where the finish line is, always seems so far away. Such a mind fuck.

I finished in 1:22:58, which is way faster than my goal of 1:25 and a full 4 minutes faster than needed to qualify for the New York City Marathon next year, my main target, so I was pumped!

BOARDWALK BEER BLAST

Walking through the finish in local races is always a blast because I inevitably see friends. A guy that was tailing me congratulated me and thanked me for dragging him along. Then, I saw my friend and teammate Meagan who had finished a few seconds ahead of me. We ran into Ashish and Howie soon after as well! On Wednesday speed workouts I actually pace with these 3 often.

We high tailed it over to Ruby’s on the boardwalk (where I’ve spent many an after party the last 9 Brooklyn Half’s I’ve run) and celebrated with the team. It seemed like everyone had great races. 

As the morning wore on Bojana, Sweendawg, Maura, Hannah, Joan, Jamie, and many others came to hang out. 

As I’ve mentioned before, The Brooklyn Half Marathon reminds us of the great local New York City running community we have, which is why it continues to be one of my favorite races.

RACE REPORT: 166 Berlin Marathon – 3:02:26

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Abbott, the sponsor of the World Marathon Majors emailed me in late May asking if I wanted to go for my 4th Star in Berlin. I registered immediately.

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

One week before the New York City Marathon last year I tore my right hamstring doing a last minute speed workout where I pushed it too hard. I didn’t run from November until late February and only focused on recovery work for the hamstring. It was a really tough time not being able to run both mentally and physically.

After many months of exercises that would strengthen the hamstring and after it finally healed, I was able to run again with mild pain. The true test for me on if I could pull off a Fall marathon was the Brooklyn Half Marathon in May. Luckily, I had a great race and even threw down a time (1:24) similar to what I would have run before the injury.

TO GERMANY WITH LOVE

I arrived in Berlin at 6am the Thursday before the race. (In retrospect, one day too early.) Since my hotel room wouldn’t be ready until 2pm I roamed around Berlin in a hazy jetlagged daze drinking coffee whenever I could. 

I found what would become my favorite local restaurant called Zollpackhof and had a much needed lunch including (of course) some german beer followed by the best nap ever.

FRIDAY FUN

I did a quick shakeout run Friday morning around the start and finish areas. It was fantastic seeing all the other runners (from all over the world) out and about – all smiles.

I took the train out to Templhofer Airfield, where the Expo was around 11am. It was a wildly cool space, but we had to wait for close to 30 minutes in a windy queue to get our bibs. The Expo itself was massive, with all sorts of vendors, similar to NYCM Expo. Once again, the lines to purchase gear were insanely long, so I opted not to buy anything. I instead geeked out on the runway where they had some vintage planes on display for us to check out. 

My friend Erin invited me to a NYRR event that afternoon at a restaurant by the Zoo, which was fun. Upon Quinton’s recommendation I popped into a place called Monkeybar after for a drink. The place overlooks the park that the zoo sits within. 

That night I met up with my New York City run buddy Erik at an Irish Pub for some dinner and drinks. We run the same pace, so we would be starting together on Sunday. While eating we formulated a battle plan.

SATURDAY

I wasn’t going to, but since everyone was out again I threw on my shoes and went for an easy run. 

After the run I wandered around by the Brandenburg Gate and ended up at Checkpoint Charlie. As cool as Berlin is, I found that there aren’t tons of touristy things to do like there is in NYC. Erik and I met up and went to the Holocaust Museum, which is quite an impressive space. We then went to a very german lunch place and had some hearty food plus… beers.

I had started to become very comfortable taking Berlin’s public transportation and was now familiar with the city, so I went out to this Italian place I had scoped out for my pre race dinner. Since it was just me I was hoping to avoid a wait and eat at the bar.

THE THING ABOUT BAR SEATING

In Berlin, few restaurants have a ‘bar’ within them for solo diners to eat, unlike New York City. This became a bit challenging for me when looking for fun places to dine.

BACK TO ITALY

I did in fact wait in a line to enter the italian place and when I told the wait staff that I’d eat at the small bar they had, they thought I was out of my mind. This was an unusual request for them. 

This started a trend (Yes, I’m a trend setter) because a few other solo runners left the queue for a table to come sit with me at the bar. I had a steak with potatoes, which in recent years has been my go-to pre race meal. One guy ate a whole pizza and even offered me a slice, which I declined.

CURTAIN CALL

I woke up at 6am to a gorgeous morning. It was sunny and conditions were set to be 45-65 degrees throughout the day, which is great. (55 degrees is my sweet spot.) 

In my hotel lobby people were as usual in most marathons hoarding bananas like they were going to bake banana bread up in their room. C’mon people… 1, maybe 2 will do the job. 

I left the hotel very casually and strolled over to the start, across the street, and was in my corral 20 minutes later. The efficiency was impressive, as well as all the urinals next to the corrals making it super easy to use the bathroom. Why should the guys hold up bathroom lines if they can just pee in a trough? I wish the NYC Marathon did this.

THE HOLDING PEN

I ran into Erik in our corral and we kind of just hung out for the 20 minutes we had. We were in the front corral and taking it all in, including the excitement of great weather. You can train your ass off and have top fitness… but a hot race day can destroy all of that.

TAKEOFF

After a fist bump, Erik and I took off with the crowds, surging over the start mat. My goal was to ease in with a 7-7:10 pace until I was warmed up, then pick it up slightly. Running around the Victory Arch was pretty epic and Mile 1 hit right around 7 flat.

The course at this point was very wide with runners fanned out, but we soon took a hard right and things tightened up. Miles 2-4 hit right around 6:50 and I was feeling great. 

At Mile 5 we were just north of the start looping around and passed my hotel and all of the surrounding areas I was now familiar with, so that was neat. From here on – everything would be new as far as terrain. 

KEEP ON MOVING

Miles 5-10, which I had now picked up to a 6:40 pace were fun because we were in a very urban space. It was still fairly crowded with runners and so paying attention to your footing was paramount.

LETS TALK ABOUT THE WATER

Every aid station had PLASTIC CUPS, like clear Solo Cup with water and Marten Drink. I was so shocked that Europe was using these instead of some wildly new biodegradable vessel. 

Miles 11-16 were around 6:50 and at the Half I was definitely getting into my head. I really wasn’t enjoying the course because there isn’t much to look at. Berlin isn’t a very ‘tall’ city and the course is flat, so it’s a lot of the same visuals. You could definitely tell you were moving into new neighborhoods at times though.

THE BACK HALF 

For Miles 17-21 I felt my pace slowing and energy fading a bit as I crept closer to a 7:00 mile. I was trying to find cool landmarks to look for to take my mind off things. By now the temperature was creeping into the 60s and that wasn’t helping. 

As we neared the end I slowed up a bit more with a few miles breaking the 7:00 barrier (7:11 and a 7:13) and my legs were obviously on fire. The course at this point was very wide again as it was urban, there were even train tracks you needed to be aware of. 

Friends warned me that the last mile was a series of turns until you get to the straightaway, and they were right. It’s kind of disorienting.

Similarly to the Boston finish, the Brandenburg Gate takes such a long time to get to once you see it on the straightaway! It was pretty epic though, passing through the historic arches and on to the finish. 

Thanks for the photo Feeney!

I hit a 3:02:26 which I was thrilled with, especially since this was my comeback race from a hamstring tear 1 year prior.

HYDRATION

I wandered around the finish area and took a few photos before exiting. Erik was staying on the southern part of the finish, so we were going to meet up later. I popped into this food hall called The Cube where I proceeded to get a large order of french fries and a beer. My NYC friend David met me here as well and we had a bit of a celebration. 

Back at the hotel I called Emily to give her my race update and then chilled for a few hours.

MEET ME AT THE BEER HALL 

I met Erik to celebrate at a German Beer Hall (I thought it appropriate) called Augustiner am Gendarmenmarkt which was a quick train ride away. We sat at the bar, which of course is one reason I picked the spot, they had a legit bar and ordered some giant 1L beers and schnitzel. 

The place was perfect and wildly lively with marathoners and their friends celebrating. We had a young guy come up to us and start chatting about how he bailed after Mile 16 or something. He asked how we did and after Erik and I told him 3:02 and 3:05, he was like “Oh. Wait, how old are you guys?”

Erik and I hung about and celebrated, reminiscing about various parts of the race before calling it a night. It had been a great day.

IN CONCLUSION

What a great comeback race! Berlin was amazing and definitely an experience I won’t soon forget. It was also an extremely well organized race (aside from the expo line). Next up, London and Tokyo to complete my 6 Star mission.

RACE REPORT: 168 NYC Marathon – 3:08:40 

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MARATHON 25

For me, the New York City Marathon is what started it all… running it on a dare from the CEO of Rolex in 2008. It changed my life. 

Running the New York City Marathon is hard, it’s a challenging course with bridges and the weather is very un[predicable but most times hot. The alternative is to ‘not’ run it and watch all your friends being the center of everyone’s attention. So I choose to run.

BY LAND OR SEA

This year for the first time ever, I opted for a bus to Staten Island versus my usual ferry ride. I was awake by 4:45am (Emily made me some oatmeal to go) and I was out the door by 5:05. It was 42 degrees and looked like it would be a great day to run with a high of 62. I had on a winter hat, gloves, long sleeve sweatshirt and sweats as my ‘throwaway clothes.’ 

Our Upper West Side bus left around 5:30am and I was sitting with a few of my fellow Manhattan Track Club runners, which made the ride all the better! 

We were dropped off outside of base camp around 6:30am (not bad) and waited for over an hour is a ridiculously unorganized security line (very bad). I actually ran to my corral area after we were through to be safe.

CORRALS

I waited for Rowland and D, then we all entered our coral to hang out. When the corrals close, they take it quite seriously so there’s a chance of a lock out. We made a few friends while waiting before we made the energizing march out onto the highway to the start line. 

After some standard issue Frank Sinatra we headed out over the mighty Varazzano. The discussion we had as a group was to go out conservatively, with the aim of having a great race and trying to enjoy ourselves. I was game. 

As we hit the apex of the bridge in a flying vee, I looked out towards Manhattan, always a gorgeous sight and a shining reminder of why I live here. My heart leapt and let out a yell to my comrades as we made our descent into Brooklyn. 

WHERE BROOKLYN AT?

Brooklyn comes hard with the party vibes. They always have. 

Once you clear the highway and wind onto Fourth Avenue, you can fall into a steady rhythm for the next 5-6 miles as you cruise along the mostly straight route. We were rocking a 6:55-7:00 pace and I felt good, not particularly speedy, but smooth. I didn’t have to pee, so that alone was a major win. 

At Mile 6 I saw my cousin Morgan and her boyfriend Reed (Miller Music) cheering, which boosted my spirits. Then, around Mile 7 I saw teammate and major speedster Carly (who dropped a sub3 in Chicago a few weeks prior). 

SEE YOU AT THE CROSSROADS

Mile 8 takes runners through a historic convergence of transit and traffic, now dominated by the Barclays Center. The sky opens up and the cheer squads increase exponentially as you take the hard right onto Lafayette and into Fort Greene. This is where I lost D and Rowland.

Miles 4-8 were a squeak under 7:00 per mile and I was still feeling good.  

DEATH STAR RUN

Lafayette in Fort Greene up through Williamsburg on Bedford Avenue are where the streets get narrower and the crowds thicker, it’s mayhem and if you’re having a good race a lot of fun. I could also feel my pace quickening ever so slightly as my excitement grew. 

I got to see my friend Jenn and her boyfriend Curtis around Mile 12, right before we left Greenpoint for Long Island City.

TIME TO JUICE UP

At Book Club the week prior to the race my friend Amanda and I reminisced about how in 2018 she and her husband Stephan passed me a Redbull at Mile 14. I would go on to run under 3 hours that year. So we decided to try it again this year! 

As I left the miserable Pulaski Bridge and descended into Queens I got excited. Sure enough, her, Stephan and their kids were cheering hard and had a Redbull ready. It got all over me. Have you ever tried to open a soda while running at race pace? It’s tricky. 

I also got to see my friend Chip and his family right after which rocked! 

CHASE THE HIGH

It was getting pretty hot out there at this point, nearing 65 degrees with no shade, so I was looking forward to the dreaded Queensboro Bridge and its cold darkness. I no longer fear it as I know how good the payoff on the other side is. 

I plodded along on the far right, head down, laser focused on steadiness and breathing while my body cooled down. I was running a 7:20ish pace here all the while getting excited. As we crested the span and started to make our way down I lengthened my stride and shook out my body. As soon as we start to run over the island of Manhattan, my home, my ears perk up. Quite possibly my favorite moment in any race is here, when the roaring sound of thousands of spectators begins to stir, the white noise slowly increasing. 

I yelled out to my fellow runners, “Here we go! Come on, get pumped!” Many other runners ‘whooped’ out at this. 

I always get a little choked up descending and making that hard left onto 59th Street seeing the crowds, the roar hitting you like a sonic wave. Everything leading up to the New York City Marathon is about this moment to me. So fleeting, so perfect.

STAY COOL 

As the smile on my face grew, I tried to maintain my pace while steadying myself to the right side of the course as I always do. My pace was still in the 7ish range along 1st Avenue.

I saw numerous friends cheering along this stretch, which is always thrilling. At 93rd Street I spotted the massive gold CB balloons my wife (and Cheer Squad Leader) Emily had in tow. There was a huge crowd of friends as I passed by – I even managed to get a solid high five from my father-in-law, Len. 

I held a solid pace up until Mile 20 as we were headed into the Bronx, where I felt my energy kind of sputtering. 

BAKER IS BURNING

The sun was kicking my ass. By now it was pushing 11 o’clock and it was high in the sky doing its thing, which meant increasing our body temperature as we ran. I had been fueling properly with gels, gatorade and salt tabs so I wasn’t sure why I was feeling this way. I stopped and stretched for 15-20 seconds which did help.

Mile 21 was a 7:52. Yikes.

As we came over into Manhattan again I was still a mess. I didn’t want to stop to walk, but I told myself I’d do it at the next aid station to slam some gatorade and get my bearings. I was very concerned that the rest of the race would continue like this.

THAT’S BANANAS

Of course I randomly decided to stop at the one aid station where they were serving up bananas! It was so delicious. Did you know that I love bananas and eat them almost daily? I even brought 2 to Staten Island (the extra one is always in case a friend is hungry). 

Mile 22 came in at 7:58. 

As I took off running though, I had a new found energy and lift! I knew everything was going to be okay. That was my final walk break of the race. 

MANHATTAN TRACK CLUB CHEER ZONE

I knew I had one mile to go before my team’s cheer zone, which is always electric. They were out in full force with megaphones, signs, and high fives, lifting every runner who passed.

Mile 23 came in at 7:09. I was back.

From there I spotted Emily and my cheer squad up on 93rd, right before I entered my backyard: Central Park.

ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE

Cruising down the straightaway in the Park, where so many of my team workouts have taken place Wednesday mornings leading up to the race, felt like home. The colors in the park were also spectacular, with the sunlight piering through the trees in yellow, orange and red bursts.

If you can make it to the park, you can make it to the finish line. Many friends had been cheering for me along the park but I missed all of them as I was in the zone, knowing I had a few miles to go. The crowds in the park were the wildest I’ve ever seen in all the years I’ve run it.

59TH STREET SUCKS

As you leave the sanctity of the park you hook a right and are confronted with a long steady 3 avenue incline up 59th Street. It’s never a great time. I just plodded along. 

Coming into the park I was holding a 7:15 pace but I was pretty spent. I crossed the line in 3:08:40, which I would have liked to say something closer to 3 flat, but I was happy. 

After collecting my medal and my pretzels, which were life saving, I waited for my friends on Central Park West. 

BURGERS AT A TACO JOINT

I met Emily, Liz, Len, Quinton, and Kristin at Playa Bettys right after for lunch, one of our neighborhood taco spots a few blocks from the Finish Line. And yes, I ordered the burger. 

I had an hour at home to chill and shower before heading out to Manhattan Track Club’s team celebration. It was great catching up with the crew and hearing war stories about everyone’s individual races… their struggles and accomplishments. 

RACE REPORT: 162 Brooklyn Half Marathon – 1:24:45

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IS THIS THING ON?

The thing about running is that without a plan, you’re just running to run…there’s no structure to anything. When I’m running without an assignment I’m like a rogue operative operating aimlessly… but if you assign me to a mission, I get very focused and competitive. 

A team I occasionally run with had an available slot, so I took it. And from then on, I was activated.

BROOKLYN PRE-BROOKLYN

I forgot how much the bib pick-up for this race is such a pain in the ass. I get why NYRR does it – the location is scenic and spacious and it’s the Brooklyn half, but there are only like 3 entry points to get to it. Fun Fact: Manhattanites represented 7,707 runners, while Brooklyn accounted for 5,742.

FRiYAY

Emily and I had a West Village night out on Friday so I could carbo-load and to se my friends Walter and Amanda perform.

Nachos from one of my favorite restaurants – Empellon Taqueria

They are both wildly talented musicians: Walter is a concert pianist and composer and Amanda is an opera singer. Together, their new venture is called Duo Chux and they performed an amazing show. I even got to see my piano teacher Sugar, who helped write a piece for the show.

For dinner we ate at Rafele on 7th Avenue South and it was awesome! Emily and I shared the market salad, I had a pacceri all’amatriciana with pork cheek. I also stole a piece of Emily’s pizza. And home and in bed by 10!

RACE DAY

To me, race day is similar to Christmas. I wake up super excited and ready to compete. Therefore, I was up without my alarm at like 4:40am! I (quietly) bounced out of bed and started getting ready and I think I was out the door by 5:05am. I actually didn’t see any drunk people coming back from the bars, but trust me, they were out there.

TAKE THE A TRAIN (OR THE 2/3)

It’s funny, you think to yourself as you walk the quiet dark early morning streets of Manhattan that if you make it to the subway unscathed, the platform will be a ghost town. Not on Race Day! The platform was packed with a slew of idiot runners, geared up and ready to run. 

I jumped on a 2 Train that ended at 42nd Street – stopping all forward progression and we had to wait 12 minutes for the next 3 Train. As I was hanging out in Times Square I noticed some familiar faces… it was my friends Doug and Danika and yes, they were there for the race, too. We rode the train together the whole way to Franklin Avenue and it was so crowded, it could have been mistaken for rush hour.

BOARDING HAS BEGUN

When we surfaced, I only I had 5 minutes to get my things to Bag Check, so I hustled. 

Walking in the opposite direction of Bag Check towards the entry point, I decided to eat breakfast. Have any of you had MUSH cold oats? Holy cow… so good. And this is top secret, but they make for amazing pre-race fuel. Try one.

Next, we waited in the stupidest 30 minute security checkpoint I’ve ever seen. International check-in for a flight to Europe on a Friday night at Newark is better. I would later learn that this jam up would cost many unfortunate runners a late start.

Once through I had 10 minutes until kick-off. Off to Corral A!

BLAST OFF PARTY

I was looking forward to finding all my friends in Corral A, but when I got there it was packed. The odds of me finding them looked slim. There were 25,000 runners this year, so you could understand why it was so dense. 

As I wandered through the corral weaving my way towards the front, I noticed Brad over on the left, so I bee-lined it over to him. Then, out of nowhere, Delgado and Rowland popped up! The gang was all there, ready to rock! It was just then that they started marching our corral to the start line, so there was a big exodus. Along the way, I ran into my friend David and a few others, which is why I love the local NYC running community so much!

AND SO IT BEGINS

The gun went off and it took us around 10 seconds to hit the start mat before we emerged into a frenzied mass of runners. We flanked the left side of the course and started to get into a groove. As I surged ahead, all my friends were like “Have a great race Baker!” and I knew then that we were running different races. My goal was to drop a 1:27:xx so that I could time-qualify for the NYC Marathon next year, so I was on a specific mission. 

COOL IT DOWN

Mile 1 went off at a 6:29, which was too fast for what I had been training for, so I made the decision to cool it down to a 6:45. I felt really fluid and energized, but knew it was going to be hot. Mile 2 showed up as a 6:26! My plan to slow down wasn’t working. 

As we edged along Prospect Park getting ready to enter for what I think is the hardest part of the race, I clocked a 6:19 for Mile 3. Things were either going great or I was going to get stomped on the back half.

OVER THE HILLS 

There’s always a great crowd cheering at Machate Circle (the southwest corner of Prospect Park) as you enter and this year was no different! It gave me a slight boost, which I then toned down knowing that the next 3 miles would be undulating hills. 

By now it was very humid and I was holding my running hat in my hand as it made no sense to wear it. My friend David and I were running alongside each other, which was a lot of fun. He yelled at me midway through the park “Baker – stay focused! You’re really fit right now, you’ve got this!” It was a big boost to my spirits. 

I kept my cool as we rounded the drive and held a 6:40 pace. I was waiting patiently…

ESCAPE VELOCITY

I like to envision the run around Prospect Park like slowly orbiting a planet, picking up momentum in order to break free. As I was leaving the park and breaking free of its atmosphere, I clocked Mile 7 at a 6:18. It was time to set it off. 

Barreling down Ocean Parkway, I felt really good and knew I had the energy to continue to push the pace. I clicked on some music and started jamming.

STEADY MOBBIN‘

I was steadily pushing past runners, cheering them on as I passed trying to help. Miles 8-11 were all averaging around 6:25. I saw Doug (thanks for the photos!) as well as Adam cheering. It was great to see some familiar faces out on the course.

The temperature continued to be hot and steamy and at times the sun looked like it was coming out, but then it started misting. 

Around Mile 11, I passed my friend Emily and then Danny, both looked strong. 

My Mile 12 was a 6:22 as I started to prepare for the finish.

FASTEN SEATBELTS AND PUT AWAY TRAY TABLES

As we cruised into Coney, my pace was quickening but my legs at this point weren’t thrilled. I was red-lining. 

We took the left toward the Boardwalk followed quickly by the right and the finish was in my sights. Mile 13 popped in at a 6:17.

GOALS 

I finished in 1:24:45 which was 2 minutes faster than my original goal of 1:27, which qualifies me for the NYC Marathon in 2024! Mission complete. 

As I hung out in the finish chute, I saw many local running friends that I congratulated. We all slowly made our way toward baggage as it started to rain and our body temperatures started to drop. After I collected my bag and threw on my windbreaker – game changer – I made my way into the stadium where the NYRR after party was. In years past we would go to Peggy O’Neil’s (now Coney Island Brewery), but it hadn’t opened yet and the weather was getting worse. I made the call to just head home and regroup with friends back in Manhattan to celebrate.

THE AFTERPARTY

I met up with my friends Josue and Maura (+ a few others and of course made new friends) at The Spot, a lively bar in Hell’s Kitchen that happened to be hosting a Drag Brunch. After hanging there for a few hours I returned home where Emily was preparing a celebration dinner of lamb… it was the perfect end to a great day.

| PUSH THE POSSIBILITIES |

RACE REPORT: NYC Marathon – 3:09:25

Posted on by Posted in Race Reports, Running, Uncategorized

I always do this. I run a race and when it comes time to sign up for it again I hesitate – thinking I’d be sick of it. Then, I go running with all my friends who are like “Woo hoo, the New York City Marathon in 2022 is gonna rock!” and I get FOMO. 

For those of you who aren’t psychotic runners, if you miss the sign up deadline for a race you’re pretty much not running it.

Unless… 

ACCESS GRANTED

One morning I was out with BW doing an easy 6 miler and we ran into one of his pals. After they heard of our epic 2021 NYC Marathon, coming in under 3 hours, great weather, etc, they asked if I was running it this year. “I forgot to sign up, so stupid.” They then say, “I can get you a bib (legitimately); email me.”

And the next thing I knew, I was registered for the 2022 NYC Marathon. Big thanks M, drinks are on me.

SUMMERTIME ROLLS

Guess who got injured 3 weeks after race confirmation? Me. 

For starters, I got plantar fasciitis. I think it happened from faulty shoes and constantly walking around barefoot inside the apartment. I ended up messaging all my runner friends, some of whom have run 60+ marathons and have had every type of injury you can think of. To add insult to injury, I got Covid in late August and it took me 3-4 weeks after to fully get my lungs back.

Huge thanks to my friend and fellow runner David Y. I ‘ran’ into him in the park and he heard about what I was going through. “Baker – you go fast all the time. Slow it down.” And so I did.

I basically stopped running at the end of June through July, only going out once or twice a week for slow easy runs. I was icing my foot every day all the time, stretching it, and using Powerstep foot insoles. Strangely enough, it worked and by mid August I was increasing my mileage. To my dismay, all of my running crew were way ahead of me in NYC Marathon training so I had work to do.

RIDE THE LINE

There’s a fine line between trying to up your mileage and speed and at the same time stay injury free. I ran my first 20 miler 8 weeks before race day, keeping my pace moderate. Over the next couple of weeks I was able to successfully execute 3 more 20 milers (some with my crew BW, Row, and D) and get in some speed work. I felt really fit and was pretty excited to race.

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

My friend Jenn from DC got into the marathon after 7 years of applying, so she was in town with her husband Rick (also an old friend of mine) and was very excited. We had lunch by their hotel in Times Square at Toloache for some tacos while we talked about race strategy. It was set to be very hot, so hydration was a main topic. 

I spent the rest of the day relaxing and trying to stay off my feet. Emily made us an amazing rib eye steak with sweet potatoes and green beans for dinner. “But Baker – where’s the carbs? What about the pasta dinner?” Thanks for asking. I’ve found that for my last 2 marathons, this meal in particular has worked wonders. The sweet potatoes provide a ton of carbs. 

Flat Baker

I was in bed by 10.

CURTAIN CALL

I awoke at 5 am easily as it was really secretly 6am since we turned the clocks back. I felt supercharged and ready to fly. I’ve recently been making oatmeal with sliced apples and honey pre-running, so I made some of that to go! I also loaded my goodie bag with water, gatorade, bananas (for sharing) and lots of gels.

I jumped on the train at 72nd Street, something I’ve never done in my previous 6 New York Marathons. I normally take a cab to the ferry, but this was way better as the subway was filled with runners! My peoples! 

I easily caught the 6:30am ferry and stood outside on the very front balcony. Another first, as normally it’s like 40 degrees out. But today it was 65.

Hi Lady L.

IN LOCAL ELITE SUPER-SECRET BASE CAMP

The last few years I’ve gotten to start in the Local Elite corral. Upon entering, you find yourself in a smaller camp with your own set of port-o-potties, coffee, snacks and all of your local speedy friends! It was like a Central Park reunion and I was loving it. The warm weather made it even more fun as everyone was comfortable and not chattering about. I found BW, D, and Row easily and we geared up.

Me and Seb. He’s way faster than me. In 2009 we ran a 37 mile ultra together.

BATTLE STATIONS

After the party it’s the marathon. We marched up in front of all the other corrals and took our places. We were about 30 feet from the start line and I was surrounded by not only BW, D, and Row, but many other local running friends. It was fantastic. 

A little Frank Sinatra, the canon sounded, and the herd bolted off.

THE NARROWS

The bridge felt great as we were on the bottom level – out of the sun – and it was breezy. Our group held a tight 4-man position and moved steadily. Mile 1 of the race is straight up the bridge, so you need to stay cool. 

The descent, on the other hand, is fast so you also need to maintain control. 

As we turned onto 4th Avenue in Brooklyn, the crowds were thick, it was just Row and I together. We had lost BW and D somewhere back there and were sure we’d see them again.

WHERE BROOKLYN AT?

I have and continue to love running 4th Avenue in Brooklyn. It’s Miles 2 through 8, the crowd support is fantastic. it’s a straightaway and the first chunk of the race, so generally speaking you feel awesome. Row and I plugged along taking note of things, like the guy running barefoot and the guy in full-body Incredible Hulk paint.

MORE SALT PLEASE

At Mile 4 I was getting dizzy – like bad dizzy where my vision was jumpy. I even thought that I might have to end my race. But that early, no way I would accept defeat. After many years of running races and triathlons, one of the things you learn to do is quickly problem solve on the fly, before things turn ugly. Thankfully, D had given us all a Ziploc bag full of 5 salt pills in base camp. I knew that would help and I took one followed by some on-course Gatorade. 

One mile later I was feeling fantastic and my head was clear. Row and I had been hitting our mile markers in the 6:50 range and it felt right. 

I saw my cousin Morgan and her boyfriend Reed Miller Music cheering us on here as well!

DEATH STAR RUN

One of the parts of the run I hate is when you go from 4th Avenue by Barclays Center into Fort Greene on Lafayette. Here you are running on an avenue 8 lanes wide and then BOOM right turn onto Lafayette which is like 2-3 lanes across plus the crowds are all over the streets. 

Right before I turned I heard this blood curdling scream from across Brooklyn “Chris Baaaaaaaaker! Goooooo!” I looked back and my buddy Trevor (in town from Miami) was standing on scaffolding cheering at me. Impressive!

THE HEAT IS ON

Did I mention it was hot and humid as fuck out? For reference, the other 6 NYCMs I’ve run, I showed up to the start in layers of winter clothes… sweatpants, hoodies, gloves and a winter hat at minimum, only to shed them moments before I started running. This year I showed up in shorts and a tank top as if it was a summer morning.  

I tend to perform okay in the heat and humidity, but I definitely don’t function as fast as if it were 50 degrees. I think at Mile 10 it felt like 75 degrees plus humidity. This is where I lost Row. 

I also stopped looking at the course clocks and my watch, knowing that any PR was certainly not happening. I was running the rest of the race based on best effort.

A quick PSA about the photos I DID NOT purchase. I’ve bought plenty of race photos, and sometimes you want like 3, but these guys force you to buy all because individual images are $25 bucks! C’mon.

THE PULASKI BRIDGE SUCKS

What? It does. After going through WIlliamsburg and Greenpoint, you have to cross over into Queens by way of the Pulaski Bridge. It’s the halfway mark and the bridge is more of an extended overpass with zero shade and not much to look at. I hit 13.1 around 1:31 and change.

LONG ISLAND CITY

I have a soft spot for LIC because I started my real estate career there and have spent many days touring it with clients. The crowds were awesome. I ran by my friend Emily G. here and we chatted for a hot second.

59TH STREET BRIDGE OF DARKNESS

‘Rookie Baker’ hates this part of the race because it’s cold, dark and void of spectators but my older, more experienced self enjoys it. ‘Refined Baker?’ It’s a time to get everything in check. There are no distractions in regards to cheering crowds, so you can focus your pace and breathing back to where it needs to be. It’s a bit like meditation I guess? Slow and controlled up the bridge and then relax and open it up for the descent. It’s very exciting going into mighty Manhattan and definitely a highlight of the race to look forward to. I’ve been brought to tears (happy tears) in this moment.

I ran by this guy and he was like “Hey! Baker!” It was my friend Erik who I sometimes run with on Friday mornings.

STAY COOL

I love 1st Avenue but it’s LOUD! Like crazy loud if you’ve never experienced it. I like to stay to the right side which is less populated so I don’t get sensory overload in this crucial part of the race. 

At Mile 18 I saw Emily and her parents. I couldn’t miss them; Emily had 2 huge CB balloons! I also saw Bojo, Brian, Caitlin, and BH soon after, followed by one of my running partners, Jim. My pace quickened to a 6:57 here due to all the excitement. 

I also passed my friend and coworker Phil here who was pacing an Achilles runner.

Thanks for the pic BH!

RUMBLE IN THE BRONX

Miles 20-22 were my slowest of the race. The Willis Avenue Bridge going into the Bronx took a lot out of me. I was mentally getting beat up, too, and I tried hard to keep my feet moving. I was down to 1 salt pill.

FOUR2GO

Cruising up 5th Avenue I clocked my slowest mile (8:06) because I stopped to high five BW’s wife and say hi to their kids who were all out cheering. I was like “Where is he?” She said that he and D were like 10 blocks behind me. I thought for a brief second of waiting for them but realized that would make my situation worse. 

After I rounded Marcus Garvey Park, my pace picked up back to the mid 7’s. I saw Jim for a second time here cheering. I remember thinking, “How did he get here so fast?” I was getting excited knowing I didn’t have too much longer to go. I also saw my friend and fellow runner Jacqueline on 5th, which gave me a boost too! 

Soon after, I saw Emily and her parents on 93rd Street along with my pal Rick!

Thanks Liz!
Thanks Maura (heard here cheering).

MY BACKYARD

The park was gorgeous this year. The warm weather had stopped the leaves from falling and had in turn allowed them to get more vibrant. I was in pain here but nothing I hadn’t experienced before. And strangely enough it started drizzling, which was a welcome relief. 

I saw my friends Anna and Danny and their kids cheering behind the Met! 

The rest of the race was per usual, a bit of a blur. The last 2 miles were a 7:14 and 6:28.

THE FINISH

I completed the race in 3:09:25 with a 7:14 pace, although it felt like I was moving slower. I got to see my friend and fellow runner Susan who was volunteering at the finish too! 

I tried to wait for the guys at the finish, but volunteers tend to move you along so I had to exit.

FUTURE GENERATIONS

As I exited onto 76th Street, which was completely empty, I had one of the coolest marathon experiences I can remember. This mother and her son started clapping for me and yelled “Congratulations!” I smiled and said thanks and then the son, who I learned was named Noah, said “Can I see your medal?” As I walked over toward them, I said “Sure; in fact, would you like to wear it?” He smiled huge and looked at his mom as if to see if it was okay. “He said you could, go ahead!” I gave him the medal and after inspecting it, he put it on and had his mother take a picture of him. He then looked at me and said wide eyed, “We saw someone puke!” I laughed out loud and said yea that happens. 

As I walked away I turned back and yelled, “Hey Noah! I want to see you out there one day okay!” He nodded as I turned back heading toward Columbus Avenue. 

As if I couldn’t be riding any higher, a cop at Columbus asked to take a picture with me (why I have no idea). Then, my friend Juan popped out of nowhere and hugged me and said to the cop, “Oh, you want a picture with the famous Chris Baker!” We laughed and I explained to the officer that I was indeed NOT famous. 

I helped a few lost people cheering for their loved ones, like a good New Yorker, before heading finally to Playa Bettys.

TACO TOWN

Emily and her parents were already seated when I arrived at Playa Bettys to celebrate. It was around 12:30 and I was ready for some lunch! My friend Kiera also popped over to celebrate.

After a fantastic drawn out meal, Emily and I headed back home. We had some time before Jenn would finish and our next round of celebrating would start.

BURRITO BONANZA 

Back at Playa Bettys, this time at the bar, we waited for Jenn and Rick. She had a great race, although also felt the heat. We had a fantastic time recounting our individual experiences before calling it at like 8pm.

Me, Rick and Jenn and our wide variety of cocktails.

IN CONCLUSION

I’m a New Yorker and I love this fucking town. Why wouldn’t I want to run through the streets with all of my people cheering me on?!

I’m also thankful for my health. You never know what you have until you lose it and when I was sidelined this summer it was really depressing.

But here we are… put in the work and anything is possible. Running a marathon isn’t about me, it’s about you.

I see you. I believe in you.

I like this photo. I’m really happy.

22 down… and I’m not stopping anytime soon.

RACE REPORT: 158 NYC Marathon – 2:58:30

Posted on by Posted in Race Reports, Running

The New York City Marathon is New York’s biggest all-day block party. I think they estimate that upwards of 2 million people come out to cheer. When it was confirmed that it would take place in 2021, I wanted in. 

The only caveat was that I was running the Boston Marathon 4 weeks earlier. 

POST BOSTON TRAINING?

My legs were SHREDDED after the Boston Marathon. I didn’t run for 1-2 weeks after and when I did start up again, it was only for 3-4 easy miles at a time. I did run the last 9 miles of the course twice. Once was with BW, and the second time it was a week prior to the race. I met up with the Friday crew, all of whom were slated to run NYCM. 

I felt rested and healed, but it was anyone’s guess on what would happen on race day pushing heavier distances. 

FRIYAY

I joined the FriYAY run crew for an easy 4 miles around the park. It was nice to not go balls-to -the-wall like we normally do at 6 am.

I hit the Expo before work to grab my bib. The experience was a bit heavy for me even though I’ve been to the Javits Center 7 times to get my NYCM Bib. This time as I entered, I flashed back to both of my COVID vaccination appointments. They were here at the Javits in April and May and the scene was very different. I felt hopeful as I was getting a vaccination, but the city  was generally in a state of darkness. But instead of the Marines helping me find my vaccination station, I had fellow runners directing me to get my race gear… a total mind fuck.

SATURDAY SHENANIGANS

I met Mike B, my team lead from The Mike Biryla Team at Triplemint, on the Upper West Side at the first of two open houses we had scheduled. After wrapping the first, we headed over to the Upper East Side for the second. Check out the views from our listing on the 37th floor! 

Emily took me to a nice dinner at Vicolina, a Northern Italian restaurant on my block where I fueled up with some fusilli bolognese. This has been my pre-race go to for the last few years. 

Before bed we watched the Jean Paul Jean Paul Seinfeld episode. Soak of the year!

RACE DAY

I was awake 5 minutes before my alarm (5:30am, which was really 6:30am as we set the clocks back) and I felt great. I pumped some coffee into my veins and headed out to Jim’s place on 96th Street with my to-go coffee, bananas, Clif Bar, and Gatorade. We grabbed an Uber to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal and were there in 15 minutes flat. We boarded the 6:15am ferry to the start… flawless. 

BASE CAMPING

I said goodbye to Jim as he entered the Orange Village and I headed toward Green. We had made it to base camp by 7:15am, which meant we had about 2 hours to do nothing. A colleague of mine from Triplemint  is very involved with Team for Kids and was volunteering, so I found her and said hi. I ran into a few other running friends in the and then headed to the Local Elite tent where I spent the remainder of my time.

SUPER SECRET PLACE

It was difficult to find the Local Elite area. It was all the way towards the front of the other corrals and next to the pacer tent. It was small, but we had our own coffee, water, and bathrooms. Awesome! Seriously, like no bathroom lines. 

I hung with Brad, Jim, and Myles before Race Officials opened this secret door to the start that all of us casually walked out onto. There I found Dani, Patricia, and Colin and our whole Friday Run Crew. It was sick. Like, me and all my friends were just casually hanging out AT the start line. 

BATTLE STATIONS

At 9:10 we set off for Manhattan after numerous fist bumps from everyone. It was very exciting!

The Verrazano Bridge ain’t no joke people. BW and I planned on running together again and decided to take Mile 1 easy, which is all uphill. 

It was a bit chilly as the wind from the harbor was ripping across the bridge. 

Looking to the left and seeing mighty Manhattan off in the distance will never get old for me; it’s so majestic. 

Mile 1 – 7:43

THE DESCENT

I used my momentum from the downhill portion of the Verrazano to propel me into Brooklyn. 

Mile 2 – 6:27

FOURTH AVENUE FREEZE OUT

Coming out of Mile 2 I was feeling good! Legs fresh and mind clear… I was thinking that this was going to be a good race. In general, I can tell within the first 1-2 miles of a race if I have it or if I don’t. 

We picked up Tara here and she joined us for a bit. The crowds were strong as always and the vibe was amazing. I was all smiles.

THE BATHROOM PIT STOP

I had taken advantage of the bathroom situation at the Elite Tent but I think I’m going to be forever cursed with having to pee at the start of a race just because it’s all I think about. 

At Mile 4 or so I said, “BW, we have a problem. I have to pee and it’s not in my head.” Evidently he did too, so we stopped at the next available station. I always count while I do this so I had a rough idea of how much time was lost. This was just under 30 seconds. Not terrible,  but certainly not ideal. So we ran Mile 5 at a 5:30 pace. 

Just kidding.

ON PACING

We had been running at a 6:45ish pace consistently from Miles 3-8. Around Mile 9, D was cheering. He jumped on the course and gave me a totally bad-ass high five as we rocketed past! It was awesome. 

Then, the annoying 3-hour pace group showed up.

ON WHAT TO NOT DO WHEN LEADING A PACE GROUP

The 3-hour pace group was like 35-40 runners deep and spanned the whole width of the course. We were behind them headed into Fort Green and it wasn’t so much of a problem until we hit an aid station. It was like 40 drunk drivers careening all over to get water. I had to jam on the breaks and move to the center of the course and was not happy. 

I looked at BW and said, “I can’t be behind these guys. They are fucking my head game up.” Unfortunately, because they were taking up the entire width of the route we couldn’t get around them.

THE PASS

You shouldn’t just ‘surge’ in Miles 9-10 of a marathon, but we needed to pass these jokers. I saw an opening on the right and pointed in that direction and made my move. BW followed and after a steady 2-mile surge, we finally passed them. BW busted my chops a bit after but I assured him I needed them behind us for success. 

Miles 9-10 – 6:40

BROOKLYN

As always Brooklyn came out swinging with their cheer game. It was deafening. It was epic. 

I REPRESENT QUEENS

The Pulaski Bridge always sucked and continued to suck. It’s a boring overpass at the halfway point with zero curb appeal. 

I was having an odd moment here where my energy was off and my head was getting foggy. My pace slipped here into the 6:55 range for Miles 13 and 14. I was kind of worried about my race here and was trying to think of ways to correct it. I felt the worst I would for the entire race at this moment (which at the time I wasn’t aware of).

THE DARKNESS IS DEEPENING

The 59th Street Bridge is often described as one of the more challenging points in the marathon. It’s on the lower level, so it is very dark. It is also void of spectators, so it is very easy to get in your head and fall apart. 

I entered the bridge with BW on my heels and was surrounded by the 3-hour pace group. I tucked into the left side, shortened my stride and plugged along carefully. Because of the pace group, a normally quiet moment of the race was very chatty as the group leaders talked it out. I had lost BW at this point. 

At the apex of the bridge, I shook out my body a bit, lengthened my stride, and picked it up. My absolute favorite moment in this race is the descent onto First Avenue. When trying to describe the noise of the cheering and the breadth of the crowds I always use a football stadium as a comparison.

BACK ON MY ISLAND

Cruising down the off-ramp and onto First Avenue I got a surge of energy and felt great again. The crowds were in full force and the volume was as loud as its ever been. 

I strategically moved to the center right of the course in order to keep my pace steady and not let the energy of the crowds push me. First Avenue can be a dangerous place if you let the spectator energy inspire you to run faster than planned. 

Emily was right where she said she’d be at 93rd Street cheering me on along with some friends! My focus at this point was to hold this pace through the Bronx.

Mile 17 – 6:46

Mile 18 – 6:46

Mile 19 – 6:47

Mile 20 – 6:46

THE BOOGIE DOWN

I caught up to Myles and said hi for a hot second before crossing the Willis Avenue bridge into the Bronx. Our crew (Myles included) had done a few practice runs of this part of the course so I knew it well. 

Mile 21 – 6:44

FIFTH AVENUE FRENZY

As we came back into Manhattan I had still not checked my course time. I knew I was on pace for a 3-hour finish, but I wasn’t ready to start running the numbers yet for fear of panic. Also, I can’t do math at Mile 21 of a marathon. Instead, I focused on increasing my pace ever so slowly until I reached my backyard aka Central Park, where I would go into overdrive. 

I saw numerous friends on Fifth Avenue as I made my way south. It was great seeing them and each one gave me a surge. My legs were pretty beat up at this point, but were nowhere near the state of pain that they were in Boston 4 weeks earlier, which I kept reminding myself of. 

At 110th Street as we flanked the park, I noticed a huge number of spectators cheering us on. It was fantastic and much needed as we now had to slow climb up Fifth Avenue. I stayed on the right side of the course and picked up my pace. If I hadn’t blown up by now, I knew I wasn’t going to. 

Mile 22 – 6:48

Mile 23 – 6:43

Mile 24 – 6:37

I saw Emily again right before we crested Fifth Avenue and entered the Park. She had giant silver ‘CB’ balloons so you couldn’t miss her! 

THERE IS NO SPOON

Blasting into the park at Engineer’s Gate, I had loads of energy and my head was clear. My legs were trashed, though, so I had to ‘will’ them to go as fast as possible for the last 2.2 miles. 

The crowds were insane here, too! As we passed by Cleopatra’s Needle I almost yelled out to the crowd at its base, “That’s the oldest man-made object in NYC!” But I needed my energy. The park seemed to be flying by. 

Mile 25 – 6:32

As I passed the Mile 25 marker I decided to see what the course time was and if this was going to be as close as Boston. It read 2:51:xx… I had 8.5 minutes to get 1.2 miles. Overdrive, baby.

ESCAPE VELOCITY

I was on fire and running as fast as I could. I was passing loads of other runners, some walkers by this point, and was laser-focused cruising up 59th Street towards Columbus Circle. I had a few friends text me later saying that they saw me and were cheering me on, but I had no idea at the time. 

As I entered the park from Columbus Circle, I was on a mission. There was no way I was letting a sub3 in New York slip past me. Those last 400M seem to go on forever, just like Boylston Street in Boston. As I approached the Finish, arms swinging like a mad man, I actually heard them announce my friend Jay finishing just ahead of me! 

Mile 26 – 6:07

THIS IS THE END

As I crossed the mats my time registered as 2:58:30, a personal best on this course by over 1 minute! I’ll take it!

I immediately saw my friend Erin from NYRR who was working at the finisher area and got a congrats and a fist bump. Next, I heard my buddy Shane yell, “Baker! Congrats!” He had finished a few minutes ahead of me and crushed it. 

As I walked on after receiving my medal, I was overwhelmed with joy and had the biggest smile on my face. I even think I had a few ‘happy tears’ happen. I was on top of the world and felt a great sense of accomplishment. Sometimes these moments after a marathon are fleeting, so I tried to really feel the emotion. 

I waited for BW at 72nd Street outside the park. We celebrated our victory with some high fives and then got on the subway to head home.

AFTER THE PARTY IT’S THE AFTERPARTY 

I grabbed the crosstown bus home and had a quick shower before Emily and I set off around 2pm for Supply House, where the crew was meeting to celebrate. 

Guess what else happens on a Sunday in November? Football. Supply House was mobbed and we couldn’t even get in, so we hopped into Heidelberg across the street which actually would turn out to be successful. It’s an old school German bar that has what I call ‘big boy’ beers in  one Liter size. 

One by one the crew started amassing. Everyone had amazing races. Myles, Nick, Tara (with like a 30 minute PR of 3:05 holy shit), Colin, Ben, Jay, Erik, Bojo, Brian, Maura and many more were in attendance. It was pretty awesome. 

On the way home I found a credit card in the street. The next morning I was actually able to track down the owner using social media to return it to her and guess what? She ran the marathon too! It’s always fun to make runner friends.

IN CONCLUSION

Wow. What a day. I’ve done this a handful of times and coming back from the pandemic made this probably the most epic NYC Marathon I’ve experienced to date. And that’s what this is. It’s the marathon experience. It’s everything from the weeks of training leading up to it, the Expo, the pre race dinner, the race obviously, the friends you ran with, the emotions and the afterparty. New York City I love you. Thank you for restoring the positivity and faith in our city and ourselves that we have lost sight of these last few years. 

Until the next time when we are called to Battle Stations. Baker out…

RACE REPORT: 157 The Boston Marathon – 3:00:00

Posted on by Posted in Race Reports, Running

BACK TO RACING

We were and still are in a pandemic and things have been far from normal for a very long time. One of the things that changed or stopped rather, was racing. How can you justify gathering thousands of sweaty, gross people to race against each other if it’s going to become a super-spreader event? 

Once it was decided that being outside was safe and that the vaccines were available, races started to pop again. The B.A.A. announced that the 2021 Boston Marathon would take place, but in October instead of April for safety, and I wanted in. My 2019 Eugene Marathon time of 2:57 was used as my qualifier and it got me in!

TRAINING FOR A MARATHON AGAIN

Running is fun, right? 

I was very excited at the idea of running a marathon with my peers again so I started amping up mileage this summer. I was doing a lot of 15-17 milers for fun but no speedwork or real structured training. Then, I started running with my speedy friends BW and Jim (and a few others). One day we were out running and they were like, “Baker, where are you in your training plan?” I was like, “Training plan? We have 3 months until the race, so I haven’t built one yet.” They replied, “Baker… the race is in 12 weeks.” 

So I built an aggressive 12-week training plan. 

During this training plan, BW and I would push mileage far with some long runs, getting up to 23 miles. It would turn out to be my best training cycle since the 2015 Paris Marathon (my PR). 

TRAVERSE THE PLANET

Emily and I jumped on an 11AM train out of Penn on Saturday that got us into town by 3. 

It was a brisk 55-60 degrees out and we walked to our hotel (The Bostonian) over by Faneuil Hall. With not much to do until dinner, we decided to hit the Expo and get my bib. It was pretty painless, not crowded and very safe as far as a pandemic goes. I told Emily she was in charge of a place for us to go afterward for snacks and wine. 

This is the old State House… note the unicorn.

She directed us to a place just off Boylston called Krasi. It was a Greek place that was evidently new and pretty hot. As we approached, there were a group of well-dressed Bostonians waiting for Krasi to open at 5. Things were heating up. 

We took the only seats available which were at the bar – the whole place was booked with reservations. We ordered 5-6 items to share off the menu and had a number of amazing Greek wines, which I love. Every time someone came in to grab a table, the staff notified them that were no availabilities until 9:30pm! Emily had rocked it in regards to picking a great dinner spot for us! 

This is spicy whipped feta with fried chicken skin. Yes, it was awesome.

THE HARD ROCK CAFE

We had a room in The Bostonian, right across from the Hard Rock Cafe. I think that if you 100% love getting diarrhea and heartburn, then yes, Hard Rock Cafe is for you. But I’m not a fan. I can confirm because I was employed by them in Baltimore, so I know where that food is coming from. 

Anyway… those assholes have an outdoor PA system playing music to lure unsuspecting victims into their establishment. At like 3AM I woke up because their music was still blasting. I had to call the front desk… in my calmest demeanor. As it turns out, they had already called the cops because a bunch of other guests (probably runners) complained and soon after, the shitty music stopped. But my point is… if this were on race night it would NOT have been ideal. So that’s what I was thinking about the rest of the night. 

THE DAY BEFORE THE SHOW

Sunday morning, I did a 2-mile shakeout run around Boston Common, which is something I’ve done the last few Boston Marathons I’ve run. It’s a pretty simple run, but you get to see a lot of other runners doing the same thing. It’s so fun and inspiring. 

We went to breakfast followed by Barking Crab for lunch, a tradition I’ve kept up since my first Boston Marathon. We met Emily’s friends Matt and Ariel there and had a really fun and relaxing time. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the hotel watching Despicable Me and staying off my feet.

CARB-O-LOADING

I had made us reservations at Fox and the Knife, a restaurant that had popped up on my radar and looked pretty amazing. We arrived at 6:30 and BW joined us shortly after. We had a caesar salad, tortellini en brodo, wild boar bolognese and chocolate cake as a closer. I also had 2 glasses of delicious Falanghina wines while BW chatted race strategy. 

Bib person…

In bed and asleep by 10… and no, Hard Rock didn’t wake me that night thankfully.

RACE DAY

I woke up at 6AM easily… I’m old now so the early stuff doesn’t hurt as much as it used to. I also skipped going out to the club last night. I grabbed us coffee at the Dunks and chilled for a bit as I had a little time to relax. After gearing up, I kissed Emily goodbye and set off for battle.  

PRE BATTLE THOUGHTS

As I was walking through town I got a little emotional and said out loud, “The Gods are with us today.” Trust me, there are races where the elements are not in your favor, and those days are very tough because all of your training becomes void. I knew we had weather conditions in our pocket which meant… perfect training, good health, great sleep, proper fueling… no excuses. I was going to set it off.

THE SH(COOL) BUS

I tried to find BW at our designated meeting place, but he’s bad with directions so was nowhere to be found. At 7:30 I made the call to just go. Approaching the Wave 1 buses I saw my little sister (as I like to think of her) Robin and hugged her. I then heard “Baker!” It was D who was waiting in line to get on a bus. I jumped on the bus that was in front of his with plans to intercept him at drop off. 

In an odd twist of events the bus we were on drove down the road we would normally walk down to the start, bypassing the school waiting area. Totally wild. It was like a limo drove us to the very front. I have no idea why this happened but all of us on board loved it.  

I united with D, Ben, and BW at the porto potty stop right before the start. Weirdly enough this is the spot I’ve linked up with other runner friends in years past. It was a rolling start this year, meaning, you just start running when you feel like it, so I was completely at ease without the anticipation of a start time. 

The Team

BW, D, and I walked up toward the start line (like bad asses mind you as Aerosmith’s ‘Dream On’ was blasting). We stopped right on the blue and gold painted start line, fist bumped, hit start on our watches, and began running. It was beyond cool; it was epic. To be toeing the line in Boston with no one around was a truly amazing feeling. 

FALL FROM THE SKY

Miles 1 to 16 in Boston are all downhill. The goal for us was to hold back and keep it together running a steady 6:50 pace. It’s very easy to get caught up in the downhills and speed ahead of pace, destroying yourself in the beginning only to have a horrible back half. 

BW and I were having a good time. I would shout out paces “48!” meaning 6:48, every time we hit a split. It’s very suburban for the first 9 miles, maybe even rural, but the crowds were out in full swing cheering us on! We started sharing aid station duties to conserve energy. I would take BW’s order, which was either Gatorade or water, and then hand it off to him before getting my cocktail of choice. At the next aid station, BW would take my order. It’s very strategic and really helps keep the pace on target. 

We were hitting the numbers spot on and feeling good. I ate my first of two gels at Mile 9.

WE’RE HALFWAY THERE

At the 13.1 mark we clocked in at 1:30:xx which was good, but not great if we were aiming for 3 hours. It would leave little to no wiggle room, plus we had the Newton Hills to tackle up ahead. 

At Mile 14.5, my Aunt Jen jumped onto the course yelling and cheering me on, which gave me a boost of energy! She lives right off the course and always has an amazing Boston Marathon party. I attended one year and had fun, but also had severe FOMO from not running.

PREPARE FOR LANDING

Just before Mile 16, you finally hit this monster downhill followed by a right turn toward Newton and its many hills. We took it as easy as we could going down the hill and I noted that my quads were already busted bad. 

I then saw Gary and Jill cheering us on!

PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF

Miles 17-21 is a series of 3 uphill climbs ending with Heartbreak Hill. The strategy was to conserve energy and reduce our stride, saving the attack for after mile 21. 

Heartbreak Hill

These hills actually felt good, since it was my quads that were destroyed from the downhills. I stayed steady, used my arms and tried to keep my breathing rhythmic. It was on these hills that I saw friends Shane, Susan (my new colleague… did you hear that I joined Triplemint?), Aimee and a few others cheering me on. It helped push me tremendously. Our pace here was just over 7 minutes per mile.

Photo credit: Susan, who is a Team for Kids member!
Sayin some shit to BW

I was also waving to all the Boston College kids to bring the noise, which they did. 

THE ATTACK

As we crested the top of Heartbreak Hill, BW picked up his pace and I followed. Miles 22 and on are false downhills so if you want to make a move, that’s the place to do it. I had my second of two gels here.

We were still hitting the 6:45-6:50 pace mark, which I thought was good, but BW disagreed. He cruised up next to me at Mile 22 and said, “Baker, you need to run the last 4 miles at a 6:30 pace flat to hit your goal.” I yelled to him, “6:30s?!” His response was a somber nod. I inhaled deeply and took off like it was the end of the world, arms swinging, legs BURNING. 

The aid stations were on the right for the last 4 miles, so I moved all the way left, planning on not taking in any more fluids, focusing on getting to the finish as fast as possible.

I summoned up some strength I never knew I had for this final battle. I did not look at the crowd but straight ahead, with tunnel vision, running the tangents and keeping my running form in check. My legs hurt more than they have ever hurt in my entire life, but my heart was steady and my mind clear. I kept saying my mantra over and over in my head, “There is no pain, only glory.” 

Mile 22: 6:38

Mile 23: 6:41

Mile 24: 6:26

Mile 25: 6:31

Emily was cheering around the Mass Ave. bridge, but it was so crowded, I missed her.

At this point I felt like I was running in some alternate dimension, passing everyone. As I took the right on Hereford and the left on Boylston, the finish line could not have seemed further away.  

Approaching the finish, which only took about 2 minutes in total, I was running harder and faster than I’ve ever ran in a Marathon. I left everything I had on that course. 

Mile 26: 6:37

Mile 0.2: 5:53

As I crossed the finish line, I had no clear idea of what my time was. I checked my Garmin, which said I was a few seconds over the 3 hour mark. 

I was thrilled with my performance. My time didn’t necessarily matter as I knew I had pushed myself to the brink of collapse. 

I walked on past the finish line with a huge smile on my face. I stopped to stretch on the side and to wait for BW to come through. He finished seconds after me and was happy as well. We chatted about the race while walking through the chute before finally parting ways. 

FAMILY MEET UP

I grabbed the bag of crunch Cheetos from the snack pack they gave me (yes, there were actually Cheetos) and munched on them while I walked to the family zone to find Emily. 

After a few minutes she found me and gave me a big congrats hug. She also let me know that my finish time was 3:00:00! 3 Flat! How does that happen? I was thrilled at the obscure finish time. We then hopped in a cab to make our way back to the hotel so I could shower before the after party. 

AFTER THE PARTY IT’S THE AFTERPARTY

After a quick shower and change of clothes, we walked over to The Black Rose, an Irish pub I specifically picked as it sounded ominous. My friend Kiera and her boyfriend Vince were already there. We celebrated with beers and some hearty Irish fare before heading out to the train at 5.

Finally got to put on that dope jacket.

IN CONCLUSION

What a day this was! What a hard, painful race this turned out to be. Was it shocking? No… it’s The Boston Marathon, one of the hardest marathon courses out there. I’m thrilled though. I executed my race plan to the tee and it paid off. Have a plan! Follow the plan and do not deviate!

Thank you to everyone who believed and still believes in me. I saw you on the course cheering. I got your text messages and emails. It fuels me and is why I do this. The running community is tight and I cherish everyone I’ve met through the years that support me. I hope you enjoyed the show.

The human body is capable of so much more than our mind is trained to understand. Free your mind and push your body to new levels. We are all Beyond Defeat… we just need to rise to the occasion.

Baker out…

VIRTUAL RACE REPORT: 156 #TCSNYCMarathon – 3:13:44

Posted on by Posted in Race Reports, Running

‘The Marathon’

This year would mark the 50th Anniversary of the notorious New York City Marathon. The running community everywhere, especially us New Yorkers, were pumped. 

But…

There is a global pandemic happening and so pretty much Earth was put in a time-out. 

Most race organizers worked to create virtual events since we couldn’t gather in groups. I mean, a race where 40,000 people pack tightly into corrals is basically a super spreader spree right? 

The NYRR decided to have the marathon run as a virtual race.

What’s a virtual race? 

Using GPS tracking… Garmin watch, Apple watch, iPhone, etc. you record your race and then submit it through the proper channels. You are given a window in which you need to complete the race in order for it to count. The honor system also plays a very large role in a virtual race. 

Once the media started exaggerating how NYC was doing in late summer I found myself needing to show the rest of the world that we as a city are working together and rebuilding our community and economy. So I signed up to run the virtual race. 

I registered on September 23rd, giving me plenty of time to train for my November 1st virtual marathon.  I’m kidding. I would have to bend time and space to get this thing in order. 

I also designed my route to be a ‘Circumnavigate the Island’ route, my favorite.

Training? 

For my training I ran all the time (obviously) and worked in two 18 mile runs. Not my usual training regimen, but it was very last minute. Most importantly, mentally I was feeling fiery. 

I was even interviewed by ABC News! Here is the link: NYC Marathon Goes Virtual

Food for Fuel

I actually worked on Saturday the day prior to my race. I’m a Real Estate Agent here in NYC now and the market is on fire. I made sure to drink a ton of water and sit down any chance I had. 

That night Emily came over and I made my version of Shrimp Scampi. Sidenote: After years of testing, my ‘perfect’ race meal is pasta with shrimp. If I eat this the night before I wake up satiated and full of carbo-energy. I think the meal was awesome… I haven’t made it in forever so it was nice to get back to a pasta dish.  

Race Day

I awoke feeling fresh, well rested and somewhat ready to tackle 26.2 miles. It’s different when you’re choosing to run the marathon distance on your own time, not under the constraints of a race director, so it feels really easy to consider bailing. 

I did not of course and after a banana and a cup of delicious Kona coffee I headed out. The weather was overcast and in the low 50’s, absolutely perfect running conditions to set it off. 

First Avenue Freeze Out

I started the run going south on First Avenue. I felt good, but not too speedy. My goal, since we haven’t talked about it yet, was to run around a 3:30, having fun and enjoying the moment.   

I saw many race packs headed north (they were running the actual course) and we cheered each other on which was awesome. The positive vibes all day would be amazing. I saw a few friends on First as well who cheered me on. 

East River Rendezvous

Once I cut over to the East River on 34th Street things were starting to click in. My pace began to drop into the 7:05/10 range and I felt solid. It was here that I noticed that the sun was piercing the clouds and trying to make an appearance. 

At mile 9 I was rounding the tip of mighty Manhattan and passed my friend Allison going the opposite direction. We yelled at each other and kept moving! 

Sharks vs. Jets

As I made my way up the west side I had a solid rhythm going. My legs felt the same, good. Keep moving, keep the fun going. 

I kept thinking of all the New York moments I’ve had along the perimeter of the island within each unique neighborhood over the last 20 years. The towers falling and utter chaos, years of rebuilding, old friends followed by new friends, and many sunset cocktails and celebrations on the waterfront. New York is still (and always will be) New York, the ultimate shape shifter.  

The sun was out full force now and it felt great. The positive vibes were high as I made my way north along the west side. I was loving it and still wondering why I was running 26 miles on my own accord.  

The Appearance of Maura

Around mile 15 I saw Maura on a bike waiting to aid me. She rode alongside me with snacks and water. Eventually we parted ways as I made a beeline up to Riverside. Thanks Maura! 

Crossing the Jungle

With my mask on I wound my way through the streets of upper Manhattan and finally injected myself into The Central Park… my park and my backyard. My legs were a bit sore but nothing like in past marathons. It was actually quite puzzling.

Central Park Serenade

I knew I had a bit of a battle ahead. 8 miles to go is far from over. I was running in the 7:05/10 range which seemed to be my sweet spot all day. 

Descending Harlem Hill I kind of said a goodbye, knowing I wouldn’t need to deal with her again and moved on quickly. The Park was crowded, but not like it would be on a crazy summer day. I was also watching for other marathon runners that I could chat with. 

Sure enough, this guy started passing me and I said “Hey! What mile are you on?” assuming he was a marathon runner. “2.5 miles but I’m only doing 12. Do you want me to pace you? What are you running?” I was like, “No way man, cool. Yeah I’m running 7’s!” 

Tim (as I later found out) and I ran 6 miles at a 7 minute pace during my peak 18-24 mile range like it was nothing. Just shootin the breeze. I saw many friends in the Park at this point which was so helpful. The most epic part of the Park was certainly passing by the actual finish line at Tavern on the Green. Massive crowds, including a huge NYRR cheer squad, were present.

As we passed Engineer’s Gate up by my place, Emily was there with a whole set of balloons that said ‘Chris 26.2.’ It was awesome and totally took me by surprise!

The End is Near?

After completing a full loop, I left Tim and headed back east into the Great Lawn with 2 miles to go. I also did a little loop in the Ramble and then headed back onto the main drag. Weirdly enough, I had a stupid amount of energy and my legs were fine. Why? No idea. On another note, I had forgotten to eat any Gels the entire race. 

Tim! Big ups man. Miles 18-24 went by so easily thanks to your pacing!

Mission Complete

Barreling down the straightaway I had the finish line in sight. Earlier in the week, a friend of mine from NYRR gave me an actual NYRR Marathon Finish Line Tape to use with branding and all! I felt very legit. 

My time was 3:13 and change which I was thrilled with as it was way faster than what my goal was.  

Maura had made it to the finish line as well, hence this great video. Thanks again Maura. Emily and I were sitting down looking through the amazing Race Bag she had made me (by my balloons) when a photographer from the NY Times (Jose) came and photographed us!

Feed Me Seymour! 

After a quick shower (I was freezing) Emily and I went to Third Avenue Alehouse, which is my local haunt. You can often find me there on weekend eating, reading and in normal times chatting with my friend Chloe who works there. We housed the nacho platter then ended the day in the true spirt of Halloween by relaxing while watching Ghostbusters.

In Conclusion

Damn, you know I love a good ‘In Conclusion’ section!

Today was a blast. Was it as epic and monumental as a normal NYC Marathon? No. But guess what? Shit is super fucked up right now. I’m impressed with the NYRR and their ability to pull off as big a virtual race as they did. Seeing so many fellow runners out there really made me remember all the positive things in life.

Runners! We have such a great community! As I ran today I saw all shapes and sizes of runner. A multitude of different skin tones and different nationalities. You all have wildly different jobs and talents outside of running. We sometime speak different languages! So Fuck yeah, I love you all! Unity through running.

New York (Fucking) City has been kicking ass since 1664. We ain’t going nowhere.

– Baker out.

VIRTUAL RACE REPORT: 155 NYC Duathlon – 2:06:13

Posted on by Posted in Race Reports, Triathlon

On Virtual Racing

If you had told me a year ago I’d be experimenting with virtual races I’d tell you to take a hike. 

But, I am such a sucker for good race swag. The NYC Triathlon (my all time favorite race ever even though it’s so stupidly expensive) sent out an ad for their virtual Duathlon that comes with dope swag… so yeah, I signed up. It was also very cheap in comparison to the actual race.

Here’s the skinny; run 1 mile, bike 25 and then run another 6.2 miles at any time between July 11th-20th. I was going to do the legs of the race back to back, as if it were an actual race. I say that because you had the option to spread out the legs over a few days, which I thought silly.

Training

During COVID lockdown I have been training a lot (mainly running and biking daily) and am in pretty good fighting shape. What else is there to do really? I have not however, done any brick workouts in preparation for a triathlon/duathlon so there was going to be a good chance for ‘baby giraffe legs’ after the bike. 

Greek Food for Fuel

I decided I would execute the race on Sunday. The weather looked to be okay, hot but not crazy hot like it’s been. 

The night before I went out to eat on Second Ave and hit a Greek spot. Were this to be a more serious distance for me, I would have opted for a more Italian type meal, but this would be fine. Greek food can also be heavy and have that ‘stick to you’ quality I love in a pre race meal. 

ManhattanHenge

I was asleep by 10… perfect.

(Virtual) Race Day

The thing about a virtual race is that you can start whenever! You want two cups of coffee pre race, do it! Feel like watching the news until 11am? Lovely. Fix that leaky faucet in the bathroom? It’s your world baby, go for it! I think I left for my 1 mile run at 7:30 or so? 

I ran down Park Avenue to 83rd and turned around (in NYC every 20 blocks is a mile and I live on 93rd Street). I felt like I was moving but in reality I was only clocking 7:30-7:45 per mile, which wasn’t my intention setting out.

Warp Speed

I crushed a banana and then hopped on my tri bike for the 25 miles/4 loops of The Central Park. It felt good, per usual, to get on the bike and getting moving, wind in my face. For fuel, I had 2 bottles of EFS and no solids. 

As I entered the Park slowly I waited until a point I had mapped out that would get me to 25 miles (not 24, as 1 loop of CP is 6 miles). As I got to that point I hit my watch and then exploded into race pace. I’ve never done this before and it felt a lot like auto racing and very fun. 

I tackled all 4 loops in similar fashion and had no deterioration in speed or pace. I was going all out on downhills and flats and then dropping to easy gears and watching my heart rate on the uphills. I was also having a blast, but also being safe as it was busy. I know that there were also a number of people doing what I was doing, but there was no way to tell. So… I just imagined everyone biking to be a competitor I had to pass. 

I did take note that there were a number of Empire Tri Team members out doing the race looking strong! 

I finished in 1:16:07 with a pace just under 20mph average which I was excited by. 

Baby Giraffe Legs

I stopped to meet Abbe at 100th Street on the East Drive (where I had plotted my 25 miles to end). She had my sneaks and other items laid out nicely for me in T2. I changed shoes, sprayed on some extra sunscreen and bolted off. My legs were immediately jello! I haven’t experienced that in a while and it took a solid 5 minutes to shake it off. 

T2

Mile 1: 6:42

I was really happy to get Harlem Hill out of the way at the start. 

Miles 2-4: 6:36, 6:20, 6:25

As I rounded the bottom of the Park I was still feeling peppy! I just kept those legs moving.

Mile 5: 6:25

One thing that was challenging was the lack of aid stations. Had it been a greater distance on the run I might have planned some secret drops. 

As I came up to The Gates (which any NYC runner knows is a straightaway) I tried to keep my pace maxed out. I was really close. 

Mile 6: 6:19

As I got up to T2/The Finish Line I also realized I would have to overshot it by 200M, which was fine. I yelled to Abs, “200 to go!” as I went by. 

The Finish Line?

I finished in 2:06:13 which I guess is okay? This is my first virtual duathlon so I have no idea and no personal benchmarks to go by. 

Wait, that means it was an automatic PR right!?

Celebration?

COVID post race parties aren’t a thing really, so the afterparty situation just doesn’t happen. 

I did however, take my book and go to my local pub Third Ave Alehouse for some lunch and a few drinks. My friend Myles alerted me that he was out as well doing ‘to go’ socially distanced drinks in the hood, so I met him for a few after. 

In Conclusion…

Is virtual racing wierd? Hell yea. Is it all we have right now? Yes, so I’ll take it. I miss the competitive edge of it all though I will say that. Chasing actual racers down, maybe winning some hardware, and drinking beers in gross race clothes with fellow athletes is what I live for. I have faith in (most) of humanity that we will get back there soon, we just need to get our shit together. 

Keep training for battle. Baker out.

154: Grete’s Great Gallop 10k – 37:51

Posted on by Posted in Race Reports, Running

Friday.

What better way to plan for a fast 10k than to go out to a cabaret the night before?

One of my athlete’s and now long time friend, Nelson Aspen, was having a performance at the Green Room 42 at 7PM and I wouldn’t miss it. I had an extra ticket and had offered it up to his friend Vicki who had just landed from LA. Her and I grabbed a drink and headed into the show.

His performance, as always, did not disappoint! After the show we all met up in the hotel bar for an after party. I got to meet the ABC7 News Team who had attended. I was sad to see that Amy (Freeze) whom I already know as she is a runner didn’t make it.

I was home by 9 to make myself a cozy oil and garlic pasta dinner to fuel up for the race. Goodnight Moon.

Saturday.

I was up at 7 and out the door by 7:30 for an easy jaunt down to the start in south east corner of The Park.

I did not run into any friends in my Corral and so just did my thing and bopped around to my music. Soon enough the gun went off and we were cruising.

Mile 1 we were in a fairly tight pack and I was analyzing my body. Did I feel loose? Yes. Any pain? No. Did I feel fast? I did. My pace clicked off at a 6:12.

Mile 2 I decided to pick it up a bit and start having fun, passing people and pushing the pain threshold. I couldn’t help but notice how gorgeous it was out. My pace clicked off at a 5:57. Mile 3 I slowed to a 6:12 as we had to tackle the notorious Harlem Hill.

By now I was running in a flying V formation with 2 other guys. One was named ‘Johnny’ who had quite a few local friends yelling hi. I was a bit jealous… where were my peeps today!? We were doing a really solid job of working together as a pack. After we crested Harlem Hill I moved ahead of them and lead us for the next mile while they tucked in behind me. Mile 4 was a 6:18, which I wasn’t pleased by.

With two to go I pushed it hard again. I lost my guys and was pretty much running solo coming into the lower half of The Park. Mile 5… 6:02. I told myself ‘Just hang on a bit longer.’ as my body was burning up.

Then up ahead, I saw my friend Emily! She’s a super speedy runner friend that I had trained with and got to know earlier in the summer as we had similar paces. She is aiming to break 3 in NYC in 2 weeks and I think she’s got it covered. She has also recently asked me to pace her in the race which I’m super excited about and very honored to do! Anyway, I cruised up along side of her and we chatted for a hot second before I pushed on.

I blasted up 72nd and finished in 37:51 (Mile 6 was a 5:59).

I was really happy with my performance. It wasn’t a PR but one of my top 3 finishes in a 10k and mind you, those other top finishes were in my younger days!

On Heart Rate.

An interesting thing I noticed (for the first time ever) when analyzing my HR was that it didn’t spike until Mile 2! Totally wild right. My engine needed to warm up?

Saturday Post Race.

After cleaning up after the race I headed over to Third Avenue Ale house with my book to grab some lunch. It’s always super chill and the bartender Chloe is a big reader too so we can chat books.

That night I travelled off the island all the way to Brooklyn to my cousin Morgan’s apartment warming party.

It chalked up to a pretty dope Saturday.