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The 2013 New York Hot Dog Challenge

Posted on March 3, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 5 Comments

I was really looking forward to the 2nd Annual New York Hot Dog Challenge. To see an idea come to light 13 years after its inception is quite a treat.

This year, we had raised $350 in prize money but had fewer competitors. The other rule change was that the prize money was to be split by the 1st Male and 1st Female instead of a ‘Winner Take All’ program like last year. I was hoping this would inspire some of our female athletes, but as of Friday only my friend Elizabeth was in.

After running the back half of the course to make sure all the hot dog carts were there (they were and THEN some) I made my way to the start giddy with excitement.

We met at the bottom of the Central Park Mall, the sight just one month earlier of Abbe and I’s engagement…

BD_HDC2013_1stDOG

After explaining the rules the competitors each bought the first dog, a tradition, eating together. Once someone finished they could take off, and they did!

My goal the whole race was to stick with the leaders to keep track of a potential winner. From the Start to dog 1 of ‘7th Circle of Hell’ a 4 dog spree around Columbus Circle, was almost a mile. Matt6 hit the cart first followed by Bo, Neal, Elizabeth, Tony and our last years champ Dave Tao. This cart (it was said later) had the worst dogs. They were dubbed ‘The Brown Dogs’ by the competitors.

Bo and Matt6 took of first so I stuck with them as we made our way around the ‘7th Circle of Hell’. These hot dog vendors got really into the race and started cheering us on. It was here that Bo started to pull away from Matt6. By cart 5 he was almost a whole dog ahead of him meaning, in Hot Dog Challenge speak, by the time Matt6 was arriving at the cart, Bo was just finishing his dog. After a few quick exchanges, Bo was off.

I was really excited as we arrived at ‘Dollar Dogs’ because this is pretty cheap for a hot dog. I did my scouting during the weekday so there was a chance that this cart might be a no show on weekends. Matt and Tony were right on Bo’s ass. We found out that Elizabeth was out of the race, making things interesting as now the full $350 prize purse went to the overall winner. That’s a lot of cash.

Bo and I made our way back up to the Park across from the Plaza for dog 7. Some of Dave and Bo’s friends were here cheering them on. This would also be the cart where Matt6 finished the last true hot dog, therefore Tony had to eat a ‘spicy’ sausage! Props and dedication! Luckily they had restocked the cart before Neal and Dave made it to him.

By now everyone was in pretty rough shape. If the wall in a Marathon is the 18 mile mark, then dog 7 represents the wall in the Hot Dog Challenge. Bo was on the home stretch up 5th Avenue with 3 carts to go.

The ‘Zoopocalypse’ cart was at 67th street right by, you guessed it, the Zoo. Luckily, or not so lucky, the cart at 72nd Street was missing so they competitors had to run 67th Street all the way to 79th for the 9th dog. Bo set off at a pretty good pace with Matt6 off in the distance.

The tourist crowds were thick by now and it was getting difficult navigating through the streets. At the 79th Street cart Bo seemed to be in good shape for one last dog. By now we could just barely make out Matt6 about 5 blocks to the South and gaining. I really wanted a photo finish, but Bo had his mind set on a win.

I waited for Matt6 as Bo took off to the last cart to see how he was doing then sprinted on to the Met.

Bo finished his 10th dog in 3.1 miles for the win! Matt6 was just a few minutes behind him, followed by Tony (and his ref Steph) who chose to get a chili cheese dog for his final!

Soon Dave arrived followed by Neal. They had Rachel and Elizabeth reffing and guiding them. Reffing is a very respected job in the Hot Dog Challenge as competitors get pretty out of sorts towards the end and need guidance and support.

We all made our way over to Jack Russell’s for the after party and awards ceremony. Bo, the 2013 champ, went home with $350 in cold hard earned cash!

Congrats to everyone who came out! It’s not an easy race by any means, so just getting to the Start is bold. Thanks to all our volunteers who helped along the way too!

RACE REPORT: 087 Gasparilla Half Marathon – 1:26:25

Posted on February 26, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 2 Comments

As we arrived in Tampa on Friday, I was immediately struck with joy once we learned the temperature outside. After dealing with 20 degree weather for the last month I will take 80 degrees any day, even if it means running a Half Marathon in it.

My mom picked Abbe and I up from the airport (she and my step-father Richard live here). After acquiring him, we hit the race expo for bib pick-up. I have to say Tampa, pretty impressive expo! All the big names were there and it wasn’t overly crowded or squished together as some (like the Disney Expo) can be.

That night my Mom and Richard took us out to celebrate our engagement. We went to this place called Oystercatchers and filled on some delicious seafood. It may have even been healthy, which is good because we spent the rest of the night up late playing pool and drinking.

Saturday was ‘Beach Day’! We hit St. Pete’s and ended up in this quaint little beach hood called Pass-a-Grille. It was so chill. We had grouper sandwiches from this beach side shack out in the sun. When I retire I plan on opening one just like it in the Caribbean or Mexico, I’ll keep you posted. Nature was out in full effect. We saw egrets, ibises, spoonbills, pelicans and even a friendly dolphin named.

That night we met up with TJ and Bethaney at a bar by my mom’s called Datz. Its within walking distance to both my Mom’s place and Bethaney and TJ’s. Why is that an important piece of the puzzle? Bethaney and TJ are friends of ours who race Ironmans and oh, you know, the Hot Dog Challenge! They just happened to move like a mile from my Mom and were also running the Half. We conspired on the next morning’s race while having a drink before parting ways to buckle down for the night.

RACE DAY

Up at 4:30AM… ready to rock. (Start time was 6AM as it gets hot quick in Florida.) This is the first ‘race’ of the season and quite frankly I am ready to get the season going. Winter is such a buzz kill for athletes in cold climates. Yes, I know all my Colorado teammates bike in snowstorms and are hard core, I just love hot weather.

Coffee and 1 banana for fuel. That’s all for this one.

My Mom and Richard drove us up to the start and then parked to cheer. It was super easy to jog into the corrals. I was worried because they only had 2 corrals for people, Sub 2 hours and over 2 hours, but it worked out just great. People in Tampa seem to place themselves accordingly to their speed!

After a strange rendition of the Nation Anthem a minster gave a prayer for us. This was new to me, but hey it it helps improve my time I’ll bow my head. The gun went off and within 5 seconds I crossed the start mats. There were maybe 300 people in front of me and it was tightly packed.

I DID wear my Garmin. It wouldn’t prove too useful until the last half of the race as it was pitch black.

100 yards out we took a hairpin turn up over a bridge to Davis Island. We had to loop the island (5 miles) then come back over and do an out=-and-back on Bayshore along the water. A very straightforward course with very little room for user error. As soon as we entered Davis Island I began the task of flanking everyone and increasing my pace. I function very well when I have people to chase down.

The first couple of miles hurt really bad and the humidity was making me crazy. I often thought about walking or giving up. My feet were on FIRE and mind you I had on my Newts (MV2s) with no socks. Danny, do you think you can alter the MV2’s design to include some kind of air conditioning in the 014 models? Seriously though, the MV2’s are unstoppable, I wore them every race last year.

Running in the pitch black really reminded me of Reach the Beach, accept I was on overdrive. At each aid station I was taking water for my mouth and my head.

By now I was in single line race formation with my peers and we were holding steady. I didn’t want to push it any harder for fear of not finishing, walking or death by heatwave. I started to just take it mile-by-mile.

Up and over the bridge onto Bayshore, I started feeling good and there was really no one else around me so I was having fun. The guy in front of me was 50 yards out and the guy behind the same. I saw my Mom and Richard (even high fived her) on the way onto the main drag.

Unfortunately, I know Bayshore well. When I signed up for my first running race in 2008 THIS was the place I took my first EVER training runs of like 3-5 miles (in pants)! The unfortunate part is you can see where the turnaround is off in the distance. It is at that point you think, “Wow, it would take a long time even in a car to drive down there.”

I just plugged away as the miles passed, not looking at my Garmin, but easily calculating on the markers my time. I could tell just by the way I was feeling (HOT) that there was no PR today. Even still, I was proud of myself for not quitting and by now I knew I had a finish in me.

At the mile 9 turn around I had some fire in me and increased my pace. We were on the home stretch and I was ready for some breakfast. I was also excited because I could try and pick out my crew!

First I saw Abbe who yelled hi and gave me a thumbs down. I knew she was going to give me a sad face because I felt the heat and humidity too. Then I saw TJ and then Bethaney.

As the last hundred yards rolled around I saw my Mom and Richard (both with cameras) on a median screaming and cheering. It was pretty cool and they had great seats.

I finished with a smile and proceeded to shake hands with a guy who had been 10 paces in front of me the last 4 miles. 6 minutes from a PR, but it was a helluva fun time anyway. I live to race.

I walked along getting my water, bananas and then… whats this? There was a coffee truck giving out cups of joe! I grabbed some coffee from the super nice gal and walked barefoot back down to my Mom to cheer.

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M35	122005	35	7	1:26:25	6:35	69.04%

Once we all came in we made our way to Brunchery to eat a hearty breakfast!

Great race and great hardware! Pirates=awesome.

That night my Aunt Janice, Uncle Rob and Nana came over to dinner to not only celebrate the race but also the engagement. It was so great seeing all of them and sharing stories.

Thanks for hosting us Mom and Richard!

To Garmin, or NOT to Garmin… that is the question

Posted on February 21, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Running 7 Comments

This Sunday marks the start of the Spring racing season for me and I cannot tell you how excited I am. The doldrums of Winter are finally dissipating to make way for warmer weather and better outdoor conditions.

I will be racing the Gasparilla Half Marathon in Tampa under a sunny sky with temps in the low 80s. The question I have been toying with is… should I go raw and not wear my Garmin?

Last October I went without my Garmin at Grete’s Gallop and came within seconds of my Half Mary PR. Perhaps having a Garmin would have made me push harder?

I leave it to you , the readers, to help me make the decision.

Garmin or no Garmin?

History with Baker: Vol. 2

Posted on February 10, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Running 2 Comments

Every runner should know Cleopatra’s Needle. It sits off to the left of the East Drive as you head North around the Park. I kind of thought it was just some random obelisk for years until I did my homework.

I chose to write about her today as she sits covered in snow, something that is relatively new to her.

Cleopatra’s Needle (misnamed… and having nothing to do with Cleopatra in fact) is made of red granite and was built around 1450BC. That means it’s like 3500 years old!!! So awesome right? We run by this ancient artifact daily!

It was 1 of 2 erected, the other is in London. It took 4 months to move the obelisk from the Hudson River to Central Park where it sits today. The opening ceremony held on February 22, 1881, was conducted by Grand Master of Masons in the State of New York and over 9,000 Masons were in attendance.

Another fun fact per the Central Park Conservancy’s website:

“A time capsule was buried beneath the Obelisk and included an 1870 U.S. census, the Bible, Webster’s Dictionary, the complete works of Shakespeare, a guide to Egypt and a facsimile of the Declaration of Independence. A small box was placed in the capsule by the man who orchestrated the purchase and transportation of the Obelisk. He will probably be the only person in history to ever know its contents.”

Run for Love

Posted on February 9, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 10 Comments

Tuesday morning’s snow was exactly what I had been waiting for. It was peaceful snow, quiet snow that you could actually hear hitting the ground.

Abbe and I were enjoying our morning run around Central Park as I suggested we explore the Mall, her favorite part of the Park.

There, at the perfect place at the perfect time in perfect conditions, I asked her to marry me and she said yes.

Thanks to Erica for being my stealthy photographer!

Thanks to Newton Running for helping our engagement to go global!

Run for Love!

4th Annual City Bakery Run

Posted on February 5, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Fitness, Running Leave a comment

Do you like running? Do you also happen to like the most amazing hot chocolate ever created? Do you like arctic Winter weather? If you picked 2 out of 3 then the City Bakery Run is a must.

In true crazy runner spirit I planned on using the 5 mile City Bakery Run as the tail end of a longer run. My Marathon Sandwich starts in a few weeks and I would like to be a little bit ahead of the competition.
THE MARATHON SANDWICH:

February 24- Gasparilla Half Mary = BREAD
March 17 – NYC Half Mary = LETTUCE AND TOMATO
April 07 – ConneMarathon = FRESH TURKEY
April 20 – Blue Ridge Half Mary = PROVELONE CHEESE
May 05 – Long Branch Half Mary = BREAD

Guess what? It snowed the night before so it was awesome out.

My 7 miles pre-CBR went pretty smooth aside from rolling my ankle at mile 5 (I decided to try running on the pretty rocky trails) and almost took myself out for the season. I quickly jumped back onto solid pavement, the cold numbing my ankle. Did I mention it was cold? If a magic Genie had told me in 2008 that not only would I be running and doing triathlons, but that I would be running in 15 degree weather I’d have thought him ONE CRAZY GENIE! Genie you crazy, back in that bottle.

Where was I? Right, so I meet up with our gang promptly at 11AM. We had quite a group!

Setting off for our 5 mile run I was not bone cold from hanging around sweaty waiting for people. Using my Bear Grylls instincts (as my fingers were on the edge of frostbite) I ran with my hands buried in my chest. It totally worked too.

I mostly ran with my friend Elizabeth chatting about running and life. It was a blast catching up. By the time we got close to City Bakery I was so hungry. Like, almost didn’t make it hungry which is ironic as I had been telling Eliz that I don’t need much nutrition during my races these days. Not today! All I could think about was bacon and eggs.

Our group of 4 (Me, Eliz, Joshie, and Robin) were first to arrive and we jumped in line, grabbing food and yes, the infamous hot chocolate. The rest of the group trickled in and we took over the upstairs of the establishment. It was really fantastic to see everyone AND get a serious workout in at the same time!

Until next year…

Central Park Serenade

Posted on January 22, 2013 by admin

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New York City has many secrets in it’s many corners, come tucked away deeper than others. Sometimes you can accidentally stumble upon a hidden secret and not know it. Other times, like as I was walking home from ice skating, you can be drawn from the silence into something amazing.

History with Baker: Vol. 1

Posted on January 19, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Fitness, Running 4 Comments

I love history, especially New York City history. I have studied it for 15 years, have countless books and vintage maps and should probably find a new hobby.

In today’s episode we are going to talk about The Central Park and running. (Did you know there is supposed to be a THE in front of it?)

The Central Park is a man made park designed by Olmstead and Vaux (who won a design competition) and opened in 1857. I often take the ‘man made’ part to heart especially when walking through places like The Mall with it’s giant American Oaks. Imagine it in 1857 when they were just saplings…

Not all of Central Park is man made. The part of the park I wish to discuss today is one very familiar with runners and cyclists. Today we call it Harlem Hill and (going clockwise) it starts with a downhill switchback. As it levels out it takes a westward turn and begins its uphill course. It’s a very challenging part of the Park’s oval course and is avoided by taking a sharp left at the 102 Transverse. That particular location is going to be our point of interest for today’s episode.

The downhill switchback that begins Harlem Hill is not man made and actually dates back to colonial times, 1756 to be precise. It’s true name is ‘McGowan’s Pass’ named after a family that lived there at the time. They owned a tavern called The Black Horse located just before the 102 Transverse on the left. On the right just past 102, where Central Park Conservancy does composting, is where their house stood. Pretty amazing.

During the Revolutionary War the area was used by troops as it was a high-ground position. In fact, George Washington (the man himself) most likely used McGowan’s Pass to enter the city. Think of that the next time you take a jog down Harlem Hill!

After the Revolutionary War a few forts were built n the area. Fort Clinton, Fort Fish and Nutter’s Battery kind of lined the north part of the Pass from East to West. The next time you run in the winter months, look up on top of the highest point when you start to ascend the west side of Harlem Hill. You will see Blockhouse No. 1, also built at that time!

The McGowan family, prominent in politics, kind of vanish from history in the late 1800’s. Their property was sold (for $6000!) and the St. Vincents Academy took over. It was a school and later a restaurant and tavern! The Park Commission finally closed it in 1915.

I find this so amazing. Could you imagine the old McGowan Family sitting on their front porch watching people running a in a local 10K? I kind of wish the McGowan Pass Tavern, or the Black Horse were still around so I could have a cold beer right after a run!

So the next time you go for a run around the north part of the Park just think about Revolutionary soldiers camped out or a rustic hotel and tavern sitting on the hill.

This is to the right of the 102 Transverse!

How many times have you run down that hill (to the right is due north)!

F%$K THAT, Friday!

Posted on January 11, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Running 1 Comment

I had a revelation the other day while Abbe and I were on a 10 mile run to Cafe Habana for the best Cuban sandwiches in New York City. (They are. Trust me I’ve done a lot of research.)

Did you know Cuban Sandwiches were invented in Tampa, Florida? Basically, they are Tampa Sandwiches, not Cuban Sandwiches! F-THAT.

While we’re at it…

The mighty Italian Sub, a staple of daily life here in NYC was invented in Portland, Maine! “Great Scott!” F-THAT.

Also on a more serious note…

Please stop pushing people onto the subway tracks. F-THAT! (Seriously, to my NYC peeps, be careful out there.)

Zero to 100 MPH

Posted on January 9, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Fitness, Running, Training: Cycling 1 Comment

Since Ironman NYC I have been kind of in a perpetual ‘off season.’ I mean, I run and occasionally ride my bike on the trainer, but for the most part I have been on triathlon vacation. I was really enjoying it up until right after Christmas…

Something happened to me a few days ago. I think I was fed up with the month of December being a total schmooze fest, with holiday parties and corporate dinners. Whatever it was I totally set myself on fire 6 days ago.

I started off with a one hour trainer ride from hell, sweating my brains out.

Yoga with Abbe. My first time and it was really great!

Next, I ran 3 miles to my gym, did a hard weight and core workout and ran back 3 miles.

Ice skating? Sure why not. I love ice skating more than life itself after all. 1 hour, check.

A smooth 12 miles at 150 heart rate pace was a nice intro back into distance running.

Tonight? Speedwork of course. Where would we be if we couldn’t complain about speedwork? 4 miles at a 5:50 pace will feel horrible tomorrow, but the beer and guacamole I took down with Abbe, Maura and Kelly made it all the worth while.

Please don’t take this as me trying to brag, I am just really excited because I AM BACK!

Zero to 100 miles per hour in 6 days, wooooooooo!

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