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RACE REPORT: 144 NYC Marathon 2:59:16

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How do I even begin to explain the significance of this race? 

10 years ago I was dared to run a marathon by the President of Rolex, Allen Brill (rest in peace). That single dare altered the course of my existence. I mean, I wasn’t stealing cars or on my way to prison, but this created new goals.

Running and triathlon have changed my life for the better. Thanks to running I have countless friends pushing their boundaries in the sport. I coach numerous athletes who continue to impress me. Running… who knew?

I’ve broken 3 hours three other times, but never in the four times I have ran the NYC Marathon. 

Present Day…

Abbe’s folks arrived Thursday and so we did what any logical New Yorker would do, we went gallery hopping in Chelsea. It was great as usual although I didn’t run into any old college friends which was odd.

Friday after work we went to Reema’s birthday party in Cobble Hill at Black Forest. It was a great turn out finished with a pasta dinner (carb loading begins).

Saturday

It was cool and misty rainy day on Saturday. Good! Get it out of your system and let us run rain free please.

Abbe and I made our way to Grand Army Plaza (in Manhattan) to cheer on our friends running in the Dash to the Finish 5K. I saw all of my friends and even got a high five from Bojana. Next up… bib pick up at the Javitz. 

This would be marathon 19 and so I think Marathon Expos have gotten played out by now. I enter them as if it’s a Supermarket Sweep… “Where’s my Bib? Okay, got it. Next, the tee-shirt. Cool, thanks lady. Now get me the hell out of here!” 

We had lunch with Abbe’s folks plus special guest star Brian H. at Randolph Beer off the Bowery. It was solid fuel. The rest of the afternoon was spent off our feet relaxing at the apartment before our 5:30PM dinner down the block at Paola’s. I opted for the bolognese which has been my pre-race go-to for like 3 years now. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. In bed by 10:30PM… 

Race Day

Why can’t all major races coincide with an event that gives you an extra hour of sleep? Thanks Daylight Savings! So we woke up at 5AM but it was really 6AM to our bodies… piece-o-cake. Abbe and I jetted out of the apartment at 5:45, caught a cab, picked up Meredith and were at the Staten Island Ferry by 6:15. We linked up with Brian and his friend from Germany, Jimmy. We were shooting for the 6:30 ferry but the 6:15 was loading and we had an opportunity to jump on so we did.

I remember gazing out as the sun was coming up and thinking to myself, ‘The Gods are with us today.’

It was a beautiful morning in the mid 40’s and sunny. The day was designed for running and we all felt it as the rising sun blasted into the ferry windows warming us like a beacon of hope.  

Entering Fort Wadsworth we said goodbye to Brian and Jimmy as they were Blue Camp and we were Orange. Abbe and I applied sunscreen and ate our pre-race fuel. Mine consisted of 1 banana and some GENUCANN drink mix. I was ready to roll…

After a hug and a kiss Abbe and I parted ways and entered our respective corrals. We had 30 minutes until showtime and I felt great. In my corral I was sipping my GENUCANN and having a fun time people watching. Then the guy next to me started asking questions about the race and you guessed it, we became friends. His name was also Chris. New York Chris meet London Chris.

We had a gorgeous rendition of the National Anthem, I even said to London Chris “Wow, she is good.” Next, Peter Ciacia did his usual race instructions. I’d like to give a special shout out to Peter. Ever since I started racing in New York Peter has been the voice of the NYRR. Every race be it a 5K or a Marathon has been announced by him… “Lead vehicle, do I have clearance on the roadway?” We’re all gonna miss you Peter, happy retirement.

The canon sounded and ‘New York, New York’ started pumping through the speakers. Showtime. 

Wow, the Verrazano’s Narrows Bridge is long. Like, 2 miles long. I enjoy it though as all the early explorers like Hank Hudson came right under us through ‘The Narrows’ to discover mighty Manhattan. I tried to take it easy on the uphill and was doing a 7:04 pace, fine. Mile 2 on the other hand I was rocking a 6:12 which was kinda dumb.

I hit Mile 3 in 6:31 which was also a bit too fast, but it felt fine on the legs. I had to pee so bad and in the past that it has destroyed my time so my mind was all over the place as on what to do. So I stopped, but it was gonna be quick, real quick! I was even counting out loud in the porto john… “29, 30, 31, fuck this is now too long.” 40 seconds and I was back on the streets, minor delay.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Brooklyn brings a solid cheer game to the marathon. The bands were totally killing it! I was looking at the bands, grooving and nodding to them in appreciation.

After my bathroom stop my paces started falling into place. I started to hover in the 6:45-6:50 range, which was what I needed to hit for my sub 3 hour race. I normally go out way hard knowing that I will fade out anyway, but my amazing wife Abbe convinced me otherwise. 

At Mile 6 I heard, “GO BAKER!!!!!” and as I look across 4th Ave I see Steph and Matt6 cheering! (Great to see you both.)

I was rotating between Gatorade and water every other aid station. I’ve done this many times and it reduces the possibility of getting cramps from ‘course Gatorade’ which can be too concentrated at times. 

At Atlantic Avenue I was watching for a bunch of my cousins who live nearby, but that area is so chaotic I knew it might not happen. Blasting right onto Lafayette headed into Fort Greene I checked off ‘Sector One’ which to me is the 4th Avenue stretch. 

Miles 8-13 are pretty tight as you wind from Fort Greene to Williamsburg to Greenpoint. I was still somehow holding onto my 6:45ish pace and feeling peppy. I was, however, starting to have those beginning doubts of making my sub3 time. I was having so much fun yelling at the cheering crowds that I told myself I would be okay with an over 3 hour finish, which was partially true. 

To take my mind off things, like running, I waited until I saw a super lame quiet cheer squad and I would start this ‘underhand pitch’ move with my arms and yell, “BROOKLYN MAKE SOME NOISE!” After the initial reaction, which was fabulous, I started doing this a lot. In fact so much I was wondering if my fellow runners were getting annoyed with me. Like, ‘Who’s this guy, Mister Cheery McCheererson?’

The stupid Pulaski Bridge reared it’s ugly head at Mile 13. It’s so bland. I knew I had cheer squad in Long Island City though so I kept things moving. Up ahead I noticed a familiar shirtless figure… it was my buddy Rowland! For those new to my really long and drawn out race reports, Rowland is a friend and a training partner. We run the same pace and often find ourselves side by side during marathons.

I approached him and tried to be funny, just hanging to his left for a second, but he knew it was me. We chatted for a bit and he noted that he didn’t think he was going to break 3 at this point. In my head I was kind of thinking the same thing. My legs were starting to hurt (at Mile 13?) and I was doubting myself. I figured I would hang with Rowland and run with him, giving up on my sub3 attempt.

Then, Long Island City happened. As we hit 48th Avenue or Street or whatever, LIC is confusing still, I saw Stephan, Amanda, Vivian, Silas, Leonora and Brad! Amanda was holding out a Redbull which I had requested and so I sped up and grabbed it, sloppily popping it open and chugging a few ounces. As I was rounding the corner I saw Carlos and Heath cheering me on as well! With this added cheer support I lunged ahead and was back on track. Mentally I was like ‘F-Yea, if I’m gonna go for this, let’s push it.’ And so I did.

Miles 15 and 16 were a 7:01 and an 8:04 as it was the notorious Queensboro Bridge, which is a steady incline. This was not my first time dealing with this cold, gothic, lonely place… I knew exactly what to expect and how to deal with her. With my head looking into the distance I plugged along, slowing my heart-rate and pace so I didn’t blow up. I was amping myself up for the descent into mighty Manhattan, one of the pinnacle moments in the race. At the apex of the bridge I let out a yell of triumph, hoping to inspire some fellow runners, but all I received was silence. Was it something I said?

The sound of Manhattan hits you as you are on the bridge making your way down. It’s like the roar of a football stadium, the sound of deafening white noise just waiting for you to arrive. It’s something so epic I will take it with me to the grave.

Welcome to Manhattan.

You are in the center of 1st Avenue, the Mayor of your own Parade and you can lose the run right here in this moment. Get too caught up in all of the excitement and you blow up, leaving nothing for Miles 20-26. And yet… you really need to soak this in and enjoy it as it’s one of the coolest experiences. I took my time and reeled it in a bit (I’ve blown up here in the past). My pace was still holding steady, and it surprised me.

Thanks Jon!

At 93rd Street I saw my Battalion cheer squad… Bobby C, Jill, Jon, Jenn, Kerryn, Cat, Morgan, Gillian, Phil, Bojana and Brian. Next, only a few blocks up I saw Kelly and Beth. Then, it was Bardy and Dana followed by Elizabeth and Juan! Go Upper East Side cheer squad! Great to see all of you.

I really only had half a mile until I hit the Bronx after my last cheer patrol, not bad. Entering I knew Noah would be stalking me somewhere in the hood. Sure enough I saw him at like Mile 21. He chased after me insisting that I break 3 hours. Another huge boost and I was still in the 6:50 pace range.

The day before the race Dougie Dee was texting me some positive vibes and he said something that stuck with me. ‘Coming back over the Madison Avenue Bridge I expect you to be on fire bro.’ Hell yea. I was on fire and I used my Brooklyn tactics to get Manhattan pumped. “Manhattan make some noise!” as I was bombing down the bridge. It felt great! 4 miles to go. 

Rounding Marcus Garvey Park I got a huge salute from TMIRCE led by Chris Ho! Then, right after, I see the Gotham City Runners crew cheering me on as well! My pace was in check, but I was still uncertain about my final outcome. 

As we neared The Park I knew I had the ever challenging 5th Ave to deal with. It’s a steady incline for around 1.5 miles, yeah it’s a delight. Just like the Queensboro the strategy is to slow down and keep it together. I was running on the far left ‘shaded’ side of 5th and everyone else was on the sunny side. Why?

As we were hitting the top of the hill I saw Uncle Billy, all my cousins, Bojana, Brian, Jenn and many more high fiving me! It pushed my energy as I hit 90th Street and made my way into The Central Park.

Entering The Park truly is like entering my backyard, I know every twist and turn, every landmark. It felt good is my point and I knew I had a few miles to go. As I rounded the turn by the Met hitting the Mile 24 marker with roughly 15 minutes to go I had a freak out moment. 6:50 pace doubled plus 0.2 miles (which is always annoying) would leave no room for error. I needed to dial it up.

I made the decision to drop the hammer and set the course on fire. The sun was blinding and there were people cheering me on, but I don’t remember who as I was so laser focused. Mile 25 was a 6:43, not amazing, but also not slower than my overall pace. Right around Mile 25 I saw my friend Paddy (a fellow runner and theater actor) who jumped out at me on the course making sure I saw him.

As I descended toward Central Park South I really pushed it. I’ve given a lot during a race before, but never at the end of a marathon, so this was new pain territory. I was on overdrive and passing runners left and right, I wanted this sub3, it was attainable, and I wasn’t going to let it slip away. I kept looking at my watch and as I crested 59th Street and turned into Central Park. I had just over 2 minutes to get to the Finish Line. I think the clock said 2:57:55… not a great time.

With the flags of every international runner surrounding me, pushing me on, inspiring me, I ran so hard. I mean, I turned on some kind of fire that I had never tapped into before. I was totally having an out of body experience too, if that makes any sense. My legs were in such pain but my head and heart were fine and I had an amazing amount of energy. As I turned the bend coming in towards Tavern on the Green I couldn’t make out the clock time. I was confused but didn’t care, I pushed harder and harder and as I neared the Finish and the clock read 2:59:16… I had done it, sub3 in NYC. My final mile’s pace was a 6:15 and I was holding back tears. I laughed, “Ha! Yes!” as I kind of looked through everything happening around me and into some blurred reality.

I walked on in a daze and then saw my other friends and training partners D and Brad! We took a few photos after high fiving and hugging, of course.

After the Party it’s the Afterparty

I walked the entire way back to The District on the Upper East. It’s a long story, my plan got sidetracked and I’ll tell you in person one day. I will say this though, I led a number of lost cheer squads over to the course to route on wives, moms and loved ones, so not all was lost.

As I entered The District I was met with a roar of applause from the restaurant, led by my crew already present. I was home. There were so many friends and family there I can’t begin to name them all!

Run squad

I felt amazing, which isn’t always the case after a marathon. Trevor showed up followed by Abbe and Brian H. Then Brianna and Meredith arrived. Every time a runner entered we erupted in cheer! Man I love this day! Positivity gets injected into you from the time you wake up. We even have a few friends that are signing up to run the race for the first time… Mike! Christophe?

Legs.

Epic doesn’t even begin to describe the day. All of my friends had amazing races. Abbe ran her second fastest marathon! I’m personally still wrapping my head around everything that transpired.

Thank you so much to all of my friends out there cheering. I relied on you this time and you came through like shining rays of light. This emphasizes what running is, we are one big family out to help push and support each other through our own goals and achievements. You make me proud. 

And finally, on a personal note. I’ve been chasing the unobtainable sub3 in New York since I started running in 2008. I can tell you that I gave everything I had in this race, I wanted this so bad and pushed myself to pain thresholds I hadn’t experienced before. Our bodies can do so much more than we know, but our mind stops that from happening. Free your mind, make the impossible possible. I’ll be the first one on the sidelines cheering you on. – Baker out

RACE REPORT: Brooklyn Half Marathon – 1:26:49

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It’s always nice to get out of your own neighborhood to explore. I met my cousins Cat, Gillian and Morgan at Distilled for a pre-dinner drink the night before the Brooklyn Half Marathon. Winter seems to have finally left, so we sat outside and took in the sights and sounds of Tribeca. Off in the distance I see someone familiar… it’s my friend Maria leaving work! She comes up and high fives me and we got to catch up for a hot second.

Our dinner was across the Street at Terre, a chill Italian spot. The food was really top notch! I had the Rigatoni (Danza) e Gamberi (spicy grilled shrimp, garlic and tomato) and I have been dreaming about it ever since. No visit to Tribeca is complete without a drink at Nancy Whiskey Pub so we popped in for one.

RACE DAY

I randomly woke up at 4:45 and since I was planning on waking at 5 I just stayed up. I prepped some Cafe Bustelo in a go cup, geared up and then called my friend Trevor like 2 or 3 times to wake him up. We were traveling to the start together and he warned me that he might sleep through his alarm. I donned my poncho and headed out into the rain. It was 5:20AM.

We opted for a cab as we were running slightly off schedule. We arrived at the entrance to Wave 1 security right around 6. It was steadily raining and 50 degrees, but I felt great. We met two of Trevor’s friends up by our corrals and hung around until it was showtime. I also saw my friend Sebastien who was warming up, so I jumped in and did some easy running. Then, right before we were to enter the corrals I saw Evan and he gave me a bear hug. He said he was shooting for a 1:15. Spoiler alert, he ran a freaking 1:13 which is a monster PR and generally speaking just a great time!

As we waited in the corrals a few of us that ran Boston were chuckling how these conditions pale in comparison. I was thrilled to be running in a warm spring rain! I also remember being very very calm right before the start, while others hopped around shivering. Was this running nirvana? Runirvana?

The gun sounded and we were off to a pretty quick pace immediately, maybe 6:30ish. Half of a mile in a guy next to me says ‘Hey Baker, how are you?’ It was my friend Brad, a CPTC runner who I have done marathon training runs in Central Park with! We started running together chit chatting. A mutual friend and runner he coaches Patrick was up on the left and shouted a hello. He was aiming for a faster time then Brad and I so we let him slip away.

We were pretty soaked by now, but it wasn’t too debilitating. In fact, I felt perfectly cooled as far as my core temperature was concerned.

Brad and I were on the same page with tempo, we were going to hold down a 6:30 pace until we hit Ocean Parkway at mile 7 and then open it up if we felt good. At aid stations we were working together as well with only one of us going in for fuel and passing it off to the other. It’s a great teamwork strategy where you hardly slow down and can keep the focus on the pace. I felt good, but I definitely didn’t feel fast or fluid.

We were still having fun as we entered Prospect Park and our pace was on track. I am happy to report that even on Prospect’s rough hill at mile 5 we held a 6:33 pace, pushing each other up the hill. It was right around here, as we crested that I heard a runner say, “Hey Baker!” It was Trevor!

We rocked a 6:05 on Mile 7 as we were descending out of the park and onto Ocean Parkway. I was also frustrated as my shorts kept falling down due my drawstring not being tight. They were also water logged which wasn’t helping. I made the decision to say goodbye to Brad soon after to tie them as I couldn’t go another 6 miles like that.

I pulled over and tied them super tight, there was no way I was pulling over again. Having lost 10-15 seconds, I took off again and got my pace back up. 2 minutes later my left shoe came untied! So Mile 8 was a 6:51.

Soon I passed Trevor again who seemed quite confused to see me behind him.

Miles 9-11 were pretty uneventful as I tried to maintain my slowing pace. I was now in the 6:40/45 range and my right hamstring was hurting.

A few people we creeping up and passing me, one of which was a female who was crushing it. She put a solid 30 second gap between us at one point and then at Mile 11 I saw her on the sidelines bent over stretching. She looked frustrated. As I came by I said to her, “Come on, let’s go and finish this. You know you got it.” She popped up and started running. “Thanks man!”

All of us were now doing a bit of leapfrogging as we were nearing the end. At Mile 12 I saw my friend D (Delgado) cheering!

Mile 13 I dropped back down to a 6:30 pace and was feeling a bit more peppy. Then, at the turn onto the boardwalk I hear my name, my cousin-in-law Kelly was cheering! “Is Tommy running?!” I yelled (Tommy being my cousin). “Yes!”

I finished with a 1:26:45, not by best and not my worst.

After walking through the finish I beelined it over to baggage. The Brooklyn Half Marathon is notorious for bad bag check retrieval and I was getting cold. It did in fact take a solid 15 minutes for me to get my stuff even though there were maybe 10 people waiting at that point.

Next up, Ruby’s for our afterparty.

AFTER THE PARTY IT’S THE AFTERPARTY

Ruby’s was actually moderately full with non-runners as I entered. I luckily found a table and posted up.

Soon after D showed up and gave me a high five and hug. His friend Rashid from Cali was there with his girlfriend so we joined them. Rashid finished in like 1:17 or something sick! We also learned that Rashid and I both ran Paris the same year, him finishing in a 2:50 and me a 2:51! We HAD to have been running next to each other.

Trevor showed up next followed by Bojana, Sweendawg and Brian. Tommy, Kelly and Fiona popped by for a little while too. Big ups to Tommy who rocked a 1:36 which is a solid 3 minute PR! Finally, Maura, Kate and some of the Gotham City Runners showed up to join us.

It was great to see all my people out there. That’s one of the reasons I love the Brooklyn Half Marathon so much… and the afterparty is wild and stinky.

RACE REPORT: 2018 Boston Marathon – 3:10:33

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I have a love/hate relationship with running the Boston Marathon. I love the race, the vibes, how hard it is to gain entry and the entire race weekend. I hate that the last two times I ran it was 90 degrees and 80 degrees, making the experience a brutal one.

The year 2018 marks my 10 year running anniversary so I thought it fitting to try and run Boston, the race of races. I fought very hard last April in the New Jersey Marathon and was able to qualify.

DEPARTURE

On Saturday, Abbe and I caught a 9AM train out of NYC that would get us into Boston just after 1PM. We love the train up to Boston as it’s really quite a relaxing way to get there.

Although it was a gorgeous morning in NYC, it was freezing in Boston. We dropped our bags off at the hotel and made our way to the expo. It was a relatively painless process. At one point we were roaming around the expo and I turned to my left and Meb was standing right next to me! I yelled, “Abbe! Abbe! It’s Meb!” I mean, who doesn’t freak out when they see Meb? A minute later we were walking by two people and one of them says, “Who’s Meb?” C’mon people.

That night we met Kerryn and Chandra for drinks at Stoddard’s before heading off to a delicious dinner at Townsman.

Sunday morning Abbe and I met Jenn over in the Commons for a shakeout run. It was 32 degrees, windy, snowing, and April. My legs felt great and it’s always exciting to see all of the other runners getting in their shakeout. I put in just over 4 miles and was satisfied.

We met cousin Greg over at Barking Crab for lunch, which has become a tradition. We had a blast catching up with him and gorging ourselves on tasty crab legs. After lunch Abbe and I spent most of the afternoon over in Copley Plaza searching for running gear for me. I neglected to bring a tight shell to wear as a base layer and with conditions getting worse for Monday I wanted to be prepared. We found a great Under Armor top that would turn out to be quite helpful. We also found a Boston Marathon branded running cap. My Ironman visor had almost blown off my head a number of times during the shakeout and I didn’t want to take any chances, especially in cold, windy rain.

Pre-race dinner was held at Scampo, also a tradition. They have great food and a cool atmosphere. We were joined by Chandra and another friend who moved from NYC to Boston last year, Laura.

As we sat down for dinner tonight I befriended an older couple next to us. They asked if I was running tomorrow. “Indeed! The weather looks horrible but I am still excited to run the race.” We laughed as I asked them, “So which one of you are running? Both?” They then explained that her sister, which was the man’s wife, was at Mass General next door and had Leukemia. They were here for her, not the race. I was immediately overwhelmed, especially as it hit home pretty hard as my father lost a battle with Lymphoma in a hospital not too dissimilar. Her name was Karen and they said she was excited to watch the race from her room. I told them, and I meant it, to tell her that I would be running the marathon for her.

I turned back my dinner guests and tried my best to produce a positive non-teary smile. I had bolognese with spaghetti and it was perfect. It was really early when we left so Laura took us to this new tiki bar for a night cap. The place, Tiki Rock, was super cool.

RACE DAY

I woke up at 2AM and didn’t fall back asleep until 5, awesome. I used the bathroom around 4 and when I looked out the window I saw conditions resembling a winter hurricane… sideways rain with wind gusts and objects bouncing down the street… perfect running weather. It was still 32 degrees and I had a small moment there laying in bed where I was thinking about bailing.

At 6AM I grabbed a coffee from the lobby. There were tons of runners in the most ridiculous outfits I have ever seen, it was great. It was a poncho party. After I geared up and said goodbye to Abbe I jumped in an Uber to go find my people.

I dropped my gear off in bag check, not something I often do but with this weather a change of clothes is medically necessary. Then, I ran over to the bus pickup where I was meeting Rowland, D, Sophie, Jenn, and Erin. I located two of the three (plus Erin’s friend Kellen) and we got onto a bus. It was cold, windy and rainy, a theme that would be consistent throughout the day.

Poncho Party!

The four of us had fun on the bus and enjoyed the temporary warmth. Erin’s mom sent her to us with a box of plastic ‘food handling’ gloves. I put a pair on under two pairs of gloves. Spoiler Alert: My hands were warm and dry the entire marathon; THANKS MRS. KELLY YOU SAVED THE DAY! Our bus got lost by the Hopkington exit which concerned none of us because… more time in a warm bus. When we did exit the bus my optimism was crushed pretty hard by the sharpness of the weather. The school looked more like a hurricane evacuation center than a marathon base camp.

Within 10 minutes they called Wave 1 to head to their corrals so I bid farewell to my friends (they were Wave 2) and made my way to the start. I made new friends with a group of Irish lads who were pretty fun. My knowledge of all things irish is pretty good these days thanks to our friends Maura and Sweendawg, so I had a lot to talk about.

THE START

I stopped at the last set of porta potties (along with like 900 others). Rowland and D found me as I was leaving and we ran to the start together. None of us were expecting great times so we just told each other to be safe and finish. I entered my corral with 5 minutes to spare. There were a lot of groups of international runners getting pumped up, chanting and jumping around so I did the same. The energy was picking up and I was now jazzed to run.

My first two miles were right around 7 flat, perfect as I didn’t want to blow my quads. The weather was slightly less rainy and I was warming up and felt happy to be running. Unlike other Boston’s I was really taking in the crowds and focusing on the experience.

At mile three or four is when the first torrential downpour started. The rain was coming at us in sheets head on, rock and roll. From that point on it was consistent storm conditions that would occasionally ease up for 5 minutes to a mere steady rain.

Miles four to ten I was feeling good and enjoying the race a lot. Every time a downpour started I laughed out loud at the insanity of it all. My pace was still pretty consistent too with 6:55-7:05 splits which I was happy about. I certainly felt heavy though with my waterlogged shoes and heavy outfit.

Speaking of which, for those interested (and for my future reference) let’s talk about what I was wearing.

In order I had on:
– Short sleeve Under Armor tech
– Long sleeve tech
– Adidas windbreaker
– Grey hoodie throwaway
– Grey sweatpants throwaway
– Poncho
– 2 pairs of gloves plus plastic insulation
– A running hat plus winter cap

At the start I ditched the poncho and sweatpants. At mile two I ditched the winter hat but kept the hoodie for the entire race. There were times when I unzipped it to see if I could manage but the cold would seep into my bones.

Back to the race…

For the first time I smiled and had a good time when passing the Wellesley girls. So many of them were out even though it was terrible weather.

Right past the mile 14 marker I spotted my cousin Libby and my Aunt Jen and popped over for a hug and a photo! Getting to see them had kept me going for that first half of the race. It was around this point where I noticed my left quad hurting a bit. This wasn’t too surprising as the Boston course is known for destroying quads, I just didn’t know why my right one was not sore yet. My pace would also start to slow from this moment on to a 7:30/8:00 minute pace.

At Mile 15 I saw a horrible runner crash. Up ahead I saw a guy stop right in the middle of the course. He had dropped his Gel and was attempting to pick it up. As he bend down his ass protruded and he basically hip checked another runner over top of him. The guy flew into the air and came down on the front side of his body and I think hit his face on the pavement. Medical people were close and rushed in thankfully.

Next up… the Newton Hills!

These begin with an uphill on Mile 16. There is a series of four big hills that end with Heartbreak Hill at Mile 21 and they are no joke. My legs were on fire when I hit the first one. It was here that I started thinking of Karen, who was hospitalized with leukemia at Mass General. This pain I feel is temporary, keep moving.

Heartbreak Hill
Heartbreak Hill – Photo credit Jenn’s Dad John. Thanks John!

The wind was just so relentless. It really brought your pace down and used up more energy than could be afforded. I saw a friendly face at the bottom of Heartbreak Hill. Laura (or LVL) was cheering and yelled out to me! I dug in and made my way up the hill and accomplished my goal of not stopping or walking any part of it.

My hands were still warm!

As we descended down into Brookline I just took it step by step, mile by mile. By now the infamous Citgo sign was coming into view and I knew Abbe, Kerryn, Chandra and Jeri (a runner friend from the Dakotas who was in town to cheer) would be at Mile 25 in pink ponchos. They were so easy to spot! I ran over and high fived all of them before Abbe yelled at me, “Get moving!”

Right after that I saw my friend Jacqueline cheering which also helped pushed my destroyed legs along!

For the first time in my 3 years of running Boston I got a little teary eyed as I hit the ‘Right on Hereford’ and then the ‘Left on Boylston’ on my way to the finish. I really soaked it all in. (‘Soaked’ ha)

I finished with an 8 minute course PR of 3:10:33.

We were all shuffling like penguins thanks to Boston’s hooded space capes (which were really warm). Then, another downpour started and I laughed super hard turning to the guys to my right who in turn started cracking up. We were all in this together.

Baggage check was a disaster. It took me 30 minutes to get my clothes in a jam packed area where no one could move. Once I did acquire my gear I went to the changing tent, which was another 30 minute wait, no thanks. I walked toward the exit area and in my head I was like ‘I can survive until I get to Brandy Pete’s for the after party and change there.’ Then, right before I was to exit I saw this lobby where a handful of runners were huddled in and changing, unchecked by lobby guard! A stranger helped me change my shoes as my hands were not working just yet.

AFTER THE PARTY IT’S THE AFTERPARTY

The 15 minute walk to Brandy Pete’s was pretty hard. My body temperature was definitely falling and I needed shelter. Upon arrival I took off my cloak and hat and made friends with the bartender Rachel, ordering a Guinness. I realized that my hands were trembling and I was stuttering my words. Right as my beer hit the bar Abbe, Kerryn, Chandra and Laura showed up and I was able to fully change into dry clothes. That’s the thing that was crazy. Mentally I was cold and I didn’t realize until I was changing that I was drenched head to toe even an hour after I had stopped running.

LVL, Alex, and Chris Lopez showed up next. We were all waiting for Erin, or EK as she is known (an athlete I coach and an amazing coach herself) to show up. She arrived in good spirits within 30 minutes and we immediately chatted about the hurricane we just ran in. Next up Jenn, Lee and her Mom and Aunts and Cousin arrived. Jenn was happy to have finished her first Boston.

After about an hour I felt back to my chatty normal self. I had some warm food in me which was doing it’s magic and all my friends were bobbing around having fun. Our friend Sophie was the last to show up. She went out with her folks after the run so she was a bit delayed.

Our group finally called it at 7PM. We were headed to Woburn to hang out with Kerryn’s parents who had invited us to stay the night.

After a quick (and amazing) hot shower at Janice and Marty’s place they took us to Sichuan Garden, a local favorite. It was such a great meal post race, hot (a keyword) and spicy!

I woke up to sunshine and slow pace morning coffee and it was awesome. No running today? Fine by me.

Kerryn, Chandra, Abbe and I had a quick lunch back in the city before catching a train home. Jenn and Lee found us and we had our traditional ‘party in the cafe car’ ride home.

The End.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Big thanks to Janice and Marty for their wonderful hospitality Monday night!

Big ups to our cheer squad, who also braved some serious conditions. I’m kind of glad I was running and not cheering.

Congratulations to Desi and Yuki on their wins along with all the other Cinderella Story type finishes. It was such a wild race with incredible, unpredictable outcomes.

And of course congratulations to all my friends and athletes who finished with fantastic times. We all had our individual struggles out there and yet we all finished, which is a win in those conditions. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the rain and wind and how we didn’t all crumble and succumb to Mother Nature’s fury. I’m picturing that scene in Lord of the Rings where Gandalf is holding his staff up and yelling, “You shall not pass!”

And finally, I hope Karen in Mass General enjoyed the show.

RACE REPORT: 141 Tough Love VCTC Valentines Relay

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One of the athletes I am coaching, Erin (who is also a coach), told me about this Valentines Day relay race in Van Cortlandt Park. Abbe and I immediately signed up with the team name ‘BakerBaker 2 by 4.’

RACE DAY

Abbe and I had also decided to run from our place on the Upper East Side to the race, which would be around 9-10 miles. Run your legs out before a race? Why not.

After discussing the course we were to take she set off. I was running 10 minute late and would have to catch her.

As I stepped outside I was like ‘Hey, it’s pretty nice out!’ It was a sunny morning hovering around 40 degrees, perfect running conditions. I stopped down at my local bodega and grabbed a banana to-go and then blasted off into The Central Park. I felt really good, very fluid. Knowing that Abbe had a 10 minute lead on me I booked it, hovering around a 7 minute pace.

At the top of the Park I saw two familiar faces coming my way. It was Rowland and D getting in their long run! We high-fived and went our ways. We are all running Boston in a few weeks and will most likely run together ‘Flying V’ style. I’m very excited.

I ran across 110th Street toward Riverside and couldn’t see Abbe. She had really put some ground between us. Therefore, instead of sticking to the plan (always stick to the plan) and enter at 108th street, I just went north anticipating a way to get into the park. It urns out that as you head north on Riverside Drive, you have very minimal and limited access points. After a quick phone call to Abbe I told her to keep going and I would find a way to get into the park further north. She was currently at 125th street.

Barreling ahead, I found a set of stairs that would take me down toward Dinosaur BBQ and the running path, perfect! I was at 125th Street, so Abbe must only be 3-5 minutes ahead of me now. I took off, my Mile 5 split was like a 6:25, I was clearly in the hunt. As I got nearer to The Little Red Lighthouse I started thinking to myself, ‘I should have definitely caught up to her by now. Oh snap, what is she is behind me and this whole time I had been putting more distance between us.’

That’s exactly what happened.

I stopped and ran back a bit and waited, finally she came around the corner. We gave each other a huge hug and then went along on our way. I also had breakfast (the banana I had been carrying).

At the end of Riverside, just past the Cloisters, we exited onto Dyckman Street and then made a left on Broadway. From here it would be a straight shot up to Van Cortlandt Park. We were bother tired and very thirsty.

We finally arrived at VCP’s Tortoise and Hare Statue which is where the bib pickup was. We saw Chris, Mary, Eric, Andrew, Chris, Bojana and Brian. We grabbed our bib and prepared, we had made it there with 10 minutes to spare… not bad.

Abbe was first and so she and the lead wave made their way to the start. The gun went off and some 35 people or so blasted off. It was pretty cool to look all the way across VC Park and see the little dots of runners making their way. The anchor wave was starting to get cold.

The first couple runners returning were crushing it! Abbe came through in maybe 10th position or so. She high-fived me and I took off.

Boy were my legs tired! Great idea, run 10 miles up to the start of a race…

As I rounded the first turn a familiar face was headed my way. It was my friend (and Battalion Teammate) Noah who just happened to be out for his morning run! He gave me a fist bump and then turned my way running along side of me. I explained what was going on and suggested he pace me since I was wiped. Not a problem…

Barreling through the mud we made our way onto the trails. We were about to go up Cemetery Hill, which evidently was supposed to be rough. Noah confirmed the roughness. It’s not that it’s a big hill really, it’s that the incline is very steep and winding and it’s on gravel. Our pace slowed by a minute per mile as we made our way to the top. My heart was racing and my legs were burning.

On the decent a runner in a red shirt flew past us! He was jamming and as we flattened out Noah said “We can take that guy.” And so we did, although I was fading fast.

We soon saw Abbe and Bojana cheering and taking pictures.

On the final straightaway to the finish I heard someone approaching… it was red shirt guy and he was blasting it. I tried really hard to fend him off and I can honestly say I gave everything I had, but it wasn’t enough. He caught me right at the finish line and beat me by a few meters!

As I came out of warp speed I high-fived red shirt runner as he passed going the other way. I also found some much needed water. As I was sipping it Noah came over as well as red shirt runner. He introduced himself as Shane and we chatted about the race fe or a second. He was a great guy and a very noble competitor. Abbe soon found us as well and joined in on the race talk.

We headed out shortly after that for some much needed food! It was one hell of a race and running day in general. Thanks to Noah for the supreme pacing.

 

Great seeing everyone too!

RACE REPORT: 139 Abbott Dash to the Finish 5k – 19:13

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Jeff Baker didn’t know it, but we signed him up for the Abbott Dash to the Finish 5K the morning before the marathon.

His wife, my sister-in-law, had planned a surprise trip up to NYC for them for his birthday weekend, which always falls on marathon weekend. Marathon weekend, for those not in the know, is the greatest weekend in New York City.

Friday night’s dinner was at Elio’s, a local neighborhood italian spot that we enjoy. I had some penne with broccoli rabe and italian sausage and it was perfection! Salman Rushdie was also in attendance at Elios.

RACE DAY

After some coffee, Abbe, Jeff and I set off for an easy warm up run to the start down Park Avenue. It was a cool and crisp 48 degrees out, perfect for running.

The start was bustling with runners, 10,000+ actually! We split up to enter our respective corrals. I ran into my neighbor Angus again in the A Corral! There was a huge international crowd present due to the marathon the following day and it made me really happy. As a New Yorker I always feel inclined to help tourists, so this presented tons of new opportunities.

The race was delayed by 15 minutes, during which my mind wandered around until it landed on the fact that I was thirsty. Wonderful. My mouth kept getting drier and drier and I swallowed, wishing for the first aid station.

Angus and I fist bumped and then the gun went off. I felt a bit sluggish, maybe because I was parched.

Barreling down 42nd Street was quite fun and the low light bounced off the buildings in a beautiful ‘fall morning’ kind of way. I hit Mile 1 in 5:19, which doesn’t seem accurate to me. There wasn’t an aid station either.

After taking a sharp right onto 6th Avenue I felt my pace equalize and settle in. I felt pretty good now and was enjoying all the international cheer squads positioned up the avenue. At the end of 6th we took a right onto 59th Street and had a really nice downhill going towards 5th.

Taking a left and entering The Park, Mile 2 clicked off as a 5:39 and there was finally some water!

I slowed a bit on the uphill towards the East Drive a bit, but was really just having a great time. As we rounded the bottom of the Park we entered the official marathon course. It was (as always) lined with al the flags of every nation represented in the marathon. This is my favorite part of the course (NYC Marathon as well) because it really shows you how broad the running community is. I also always get a bit choked up in a happy way when cruising by the flags.

I heard my name loud and clear right before I finished as the whole Gotham City Runners crew cheered me on!

Mile 3 was a 6:10 and my finishing time was a 19:13.

Sex/
Age		 Bib Overall Place Age
Place		 Finish
Time		 Pace/
Mile		 AG %
M39 8453 232 24 19:13 6:11 70.80%

I waited for Abbe and Jeff up by 72nd Street. Jeff said that what he misses most about leaving NYC is running around the Park. Once we all regrouped we finished the morning with a clockwise loop in glorious fall weather.

RACE REPORT: 138 The Chicago Marathon – 3:02:36

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Abbe has always wanted me to run the Chicago Marathon. She ran it the first year we dated, on her birthday, and she loved the course. One morning as we were looking at the race site we noticed that we had made the qualifying time to enter and avoid the lottery! We made a quick decision and registered. Game on.

We left so very early the Friday before the race. We caught a cab at 4:45AM and were at the gate in Laguardia by 5:15 for a 6:00 flight. The good news is that we were in Terminal A, or ‘Marine Terminal’, and I had never been to that one! It was a terminal used for people who commuted via airplane. Abbe and I played a fun game called spot the runners.

We arrived at our hotel in Chicago at 9:15AM and I needed coffee stat!

Next, we took Chicago’s ‘L’ to the expo. I would come to love the L as it was so efficient and reliable, unlike the state of our NYC Subway system these days.

The expo was Bonkertown and not my favorite place. The lines for bib pick up were a bit insane as they forgot to tell runners to check in at the kiosks before the secondary lines. I thought it would get better once I had my bib, I was wrong. As we made our way into the main part of the expo we had to go to the back to get our shirts, of course. Walk through all the race goodies so you might buy something, then you can leave. Abbe and I did look at possibly getting a Chicago tee shirt or hoodie, but the lines stretched out of the roped in areas our around the expo pathways. I had never seen anything like it, hundreds of people just waiting to buy stuff. I also wondered how these people had the patience for these shenanigans. My head was wrapped around how we were going to get lunch before I passed out.

Speaking of lunch, it was awesome! We went to Abbe’s favorite sandwich shop called Xoco (Choco). It’s one of chef Rick Bayless’s spots. I had this awesome pork sandwich that was served faced down in a spicy tomato broth.

Next up… we met one of Abbe’s coworkers Julian and his wife Denise at a new restaurant called Proxi in the West Loop. Look at me all ‘I know the names of the cool neighborhoods after just a few hours in town.’ The food was spectacular. We had tried some of everything being a bit indulgent as we still had one more night before the race.

On Saturday I went out for a solo shake out run. It was a 3 mile out and back to Navy Pier. It was a gorgeous morning, but getting hot quick.

Abbe had a work meeting with chef Noah Sandoval at his restaurant, Oriole. After that Bojana, Brian and Amanda picked us up. We were headed to Lincoln Park to a pizza spot Bojana knew (she grew up in Chicago). Abbe and I had thin crust while the rest of the group had deep dish.

The rest of the day was spent on a boat doing an architectural tour of the city along the rivers. It was quite fun and made a lot of sense as we were off our feet.

We all met Jason and Amber for dinner at Ostoria Langhe in Logan Square. The pasta was delicious and was definitely a good choice. Running fuel was consumed… and we were in bed by 9:30.

RACE DAY

We were up at 6 prepping and I was very excited to run this puppy. Weather looked pretty bad (hot and humid) but didn’t care. I was at the end of taper madness and was going to be set free into the streets of Chicago.

We left the hotel and walked the one mile to the start. It was actually kind of brisk and cool out… for now.

I kissed Abbe goodbye at Gate 2 as I had to go to Gate 5, which made no sense. I spent the next 15 minutes winding around navigating to the A Corral which was slightly nerve wrecking. I felt like a mouse in a maze, with no cheese reward.

In A Corral with 10 to spare I started looking for all my friends. I couldn’t find David, but I did find Rowland and Delgado, or ‘D’ as we call him. We chatted about pace strategy, all of us looking to be right in the 3 hour mark. If conditions were favorable, then we push to sub3. We fist bumped and D said “Stick together guys!”

The gun went off and were took off at an even 7 minute pace, settling in. It was a beautiful morning, 65 degrees with a cool breeze, for now.

We were running in the dark canyons of center city and it was way cool. The crowds were similar to the NYC Marathon, very loud and three deep along the course. Around Mile 3 we lost Rowland in the crowds after a bridge unfortunately. D and I had a quick chat that we should aim to hit 6:30s for the first half, knowing that the second would be bad and we would lose time. I was down.

The route up into Lincoln Park is great. It’s a really wide road with tons of crowd support. Slowly we ran up against the back of the 3:00 pace group and I thought to myself ‘What should we do?’ As if on queue D says “Baker what should we do, should we go?” I laughed and said “I was going to ask you the same thing!” “Then we go!” Yells D and we slowly pushed past them.

At mile 5 we hit our first ‘6:30’ spot on. I was psyched. D also taught me a new way of getting fluids while running with a group, the person closest to the aid station simply passes water to the guy on the outside, brilliant!

We were also running on the left in the shade which helped out a lot.

Miles 6-12 were 6:32, 6:28, 6:34, 6:32, 6:35, 6:25, 6:24… not bad pacing!

I felt great and so did D. We had quite a system we were rocking and we were overtaking lots of people. We saw Amber, Jason and Eric cheering right around Mile 12!

On everyone’s splits mile 14/15 is where things got strange. It says we were running a 5:38 pace, but we certainly were not.

Miles 15-17 were in the 6:40 range because I was struggling and told D I needed to ease up a bit. He was cool with this and let me control our timing. My stomach was a bit screwy as I had a super concentrated Gatorade around mile 14 that didn’t sit well. It was also heating up and things were getting tougher.

#friendship

We saw Bojana and Amanda cheering here!

I think it was right before Mile 17 that I told D to go ahead as I was going to slow him down. I could feel myself faltering in pace and energy and knew I couldn’t keep up the 6:40’s anymore. “Okay Baker, see you at the finish!”

Miles 18-22 I slowed down by 10 seconds per mile roughly. At Mile 22 I was running a 7:17 pace and my legs were on fire. This is pretty normal (beat up legs) for a marathon, I think we all just forget it’s going to happen until it happens.

I was just hanging on in the blistering sun and trying to get to the end. Since Mile 16 we had been in unobstructed sun and heat (75 degrees maybe?) and it was taking it’s toll.

Miles 23-26 were in the 8:00 minute range and I was struggling. I just kept plodding along mile to mile, aid station to aid station. I felt like I was in slow motion and that with every step my quads might explode, blood and muscle tissue splaying my friendly spectators. Gross, sorry.

I finally made it to the Mt. Everest of a highway overpass to make it to the final 200 meters. As I came across the finish D was waiting there with a high five. I finished in 3:02:36, which I will take any day.

Sex/
Age		 Bib Overall Place Age
Place		 Finish
Time		 Pace/
Mile		 AG %
M39 1049 1048 184 3:02:36 6:58 68.50%

We tried waiting for Rowland for awhile but a security guard made me walk to the end which sucked, but I get it.

I saw a couple friends finishing, including Grace. I tried to find D and Rowland and as time ran out I knew I had to make it to the Palmer Hotel where my friends (and wife) would find me. I wasn’t running with a phone so it was crucial I made it to the rendezvous point… or be lost forever.

I planted myself in the hotel lobby bar and proceeded to order the best chicken noodle soup i have ever had… with a beer of course! I also made friends with a lot of the folks at the bar. Once Abbe, Bojana and Amanda found me we headed out to get ready for the pig roast celebration that Nina and Momo (Bojo’s parents) were putting on for us. It was an absolute blast and I have never been more stuffed after a race.

This race was a blast, thanks Chicago. It was far from easy for sure, but the course and the crowd support and the amazing volunteers made it a fantastic experience. I achieved my goal of coming in right around the 3 hour mark and had fun doing so.

Thanks to Nina and Momo for the awesome after party!

Big ups to Rowland and D for the fantastic pacing. We were on fire for that first half kicking out solid 6:30s! Days like this really make me appreciate the running community.

 

 

RACE REPORT: 137 Grete’s Gallop 10K – 38:36

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Nelson convinced me to run the Grete’s Gallop 10K one week before my Chicago Marathon. Training-wise, it actually made sense, so I signed up.

The night before the race was my cousin Morgan’s 24th birthday, so old! Abbe and I went out to Brooklyn to hang with her and my other cousins and a few friends. We were very responsible runners though and were back home by 9ish.

RACE DAY

Abbe and I were up at 6AM and rolled out at 7:30 for an easy warm up to the start on 68th Street and the East Drive. I said goodbye to her as I jumped in A Corral.

A Corral was awesome. It contained all my friends! First off, I saw my neighbor Angus who was attempting his first race in like 8 years. Then, Elizabeth shows up and snaps a picture of me after she says “Do something!” Rowland popped up next and then Michael came and said hi. It was 55 degrees and you couldn’t ask for a more perfect run day.

I had no goals going into this aside from using it as a final speed session. Fire up the engines and let her rip!

The guns went off and I started running at a ‘fresh pace.’ Meaning, my legs felt fresh and pretty quick.

Having to ascend Cat Hill immediately is always a challenge. It’s like pedal to the metal then, whoa, engine trouble.

Miles 1-3 were 6:13, 6:09, 6:16 and I was excited to be running fast.

The West Side Rollers knocked some wind out of me though and Mile 4 was a 6:25.

For a second I thought I might be able to PR as I thought I had to go just under 38 minutes. My PR is actually a 37:02 so looking back on this moment in time I don’t know what I was thinking. So… I started to pick up the pace in the hopes of a PR.

Miles 5 and 6 were 6:04’s. I finished with a 38:36, no where near a PR, but I was still happy. It was such an awesome fall morning!

Sex/
Age		 Bib Overall Place Age
Place		 Finish
Time		 Pace/
Mile		 AG %
M39 3905 65 9 38:36 6:13 71.31%

After the race I ran into my friend Carlos who runs for North Brooklyn and hung with him for a second. Then, Angus pops in. He had crushed it on his first race back!

As I was leaving I saw Rowland and D, so I caught up with them. We were all running Chicago next week and kind of formulated a time and pace plan. Abbe found us soon after, she also had a great race.

Abbe and I finished the day by going to the Medieval Festival up in Fort Tryon Park that afternoon.

Days like today make me so happy to be part of the running community. To see all my friends out there really makes me realize where my place is. Thanks to all of you runners who make it so special.

 

RACE REPORT: 136 Reston Triathlon

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Ironman Chattanooga was called off by Dougie and I this year, leaving a hole in my triathlon calendar. I decided to fill it by racing the Reston Triathlon with my youngest brother in my hometown.

The Part About the Bike Box

I don’t have a car and therefore had a slight logistical problem. I needed to get my bike to Reston for the race. I love public transportation and so immediately ruled out renting a car. This would have been an expensive option as well. Train tickets were pretty reasonable, and seeing as how I love train travel I made this my chosen mode of race transportation.

To get your bike on the train (or a plane) you need a bike box. I was going to use the Evoc softcase, which is a pretty sweet setup. It is very lightweight and has reinforced edges and the bike frame itself locks into a separate metal piece. There are wheels as well, making it ideal for city travel.

I took the day off work and left to catch a noon train on the Friday before the race. Abbe and I got the bike down the stairs fairly easily. She wasn’t joining me on this one as she had other plans in the city she needed to be present for. As I said goodbye to her I then stood looking at this massive situation I had to maneuver through the NYC Subway. I said out loud to her that this seems like a bad idea. I had done a lot of research on getting the bike on the train and knew I had a 50/50 shot of being successful. “Screw it, I’m going for it.” and off I went.

I did pretty well getting it down into the Second Avenue Subway, two people even helped me get it through the emergency access gate. Everyone was quite curious about my luggage and asked lots of questions. People were very shocked to hear that you can just sign up for a triathlon and not ‘qualify’ to participate in them.

Going up the stairs is slightly more challenging. Thankfully, a woman helped me get it up the stairs at Herald Square. Go New York!

Arriving at the illustrious Penn Station I had an hour and 15 minutes until my train, enough time to deal with any other BS I might come across. I found a lovely conductor lady and quizzed her about my bike box, asking what the odds of me getting this puppy on the train were. “Pretty good if you pay the large luggage fee of $25. The line is empty, go ahead and get it taken care of.” You bet I will, as I ran over to the empty kiosk. The woman working the desk was not impressed with my chipper ‘I’m excited to get on a train’ attitude. “Hi! I need to get on a train with my oversized luggage.” “That isn’t making it on any train aside from the 3PM bike train.” she replied. “But, it’s just a big bag, not a bike.” Clearly I had a bike in there. The graphics on the side of the bag that said ‘Evoc Pro Bike Bag’ made it a dead give away. I asked and pleaded as to what I could do to get it on the train. She basically told me I was on my own and if I could convince the conductor trackside to take it on board then so be it. “That’s it, that’s all I can do?” “Yep.”

I knew that the trackside people would also be less than thrilled to see this bag, as my first conductor friend told me so. Emergency Action Baker has just gone into high speed mode. I was going to get a cab to my apartment, drop my bike off and cab it back to Penn in an hour to make my train. I would figure out the bike part of the race once in Reston, but for now I needed to make this train.

It was 11AM  and I was in a cab headed north on 8th Avenue, not a fast ride. It didn’t help that homeslice was watching movies on his phone at stoplights. I actually made it to my place by 11:30. Abbe ran down and helped me repack my luggage before I ran off towards Madison Avenue.

I made a game time decision that the subway was a better option to inject me into Penn. I took a cab across the Park to the A, C, E at 96th and jumped underground.  It was 11:42 when I boarded the C train.

At 11:54 the doors opened at Penn and I bolted out full speed. I had this.

I quickly made note of my track and bee lined it to the closest entry point. I sat down with 2 minutes to spare before the train doors closed. Mission complete. Bike bags suck. I was a sweaty mess.

I had a lovely train ride down and was glued to the book I was reading for book club, Underground Railroad. I highly recommend it.

My brother Phil, not the one doing the tri, picked me up and we headed from DC to Reston. We met Jeff, the one doing the tri, at our step brother’s restaurant Red’s Table for some happy hour action. The rest of the night was spent at Jeff’s barbecuing and playing with all of my nephews. It was a blast.

On Saturday Jeff and I went out for a shakeout run followed by a 20 minute bike ride. Oh right, what was my bike solution? My brother Phil lent me his road bike. Thanks Phil!

We went and checked into the race and then bounced around town with Ali and Dylan. That night we went to Phil and Naomi’s house for pasta dinner. We had shrimp scampi which was delicious.

Bedtime was at 10…

RACE DAY

I was up at 5-5:30AM and felt pretty good. Jeff and I watched the news while sipping coffee. Hurricane Irma was hitting Florida at the time so we were concerned for our Mom.

We rode over to set up T2 (Jeff lives across the street, quite literally, from the finish line and T2) making it super easy. It may have been the silliest T2 setup I have ever done. Since I had Phil’s bike, and he doesn’t have clips installed, I would be riding it in my running shoes and in my running gear basically. I looked at my T2 spot and just placed 1 Gel on the ground. The people around me looked at me like I was insane.

Next, we rode over to T1 on Lake Audubon. It was pretty chilly out with the air temperature being 50 and the water temperature 72. I enjoyed the fact that this is a very hometown race, where everyone knew everyone. There was also some serious competition present.

I was in Wave 2 and so I fist bumped Jeff and made my way to the lake. I waded out to the start buoy and hung out for a hot second. The water was pleasant but not warm by any means although I knew I would heat up once we started swimming.

The gun went off and I dug in. This was the second time I had swam this year, the first being the NYC Tri in July. It’s like riding a bike right?

I was thoroughly enjoying my morning swim. The sun was rising and it was looking like a beautiful day. The lake also brings back memories for me. I learned how to sail on it when I was 15, at a time when i was also scared of the water.

I did get blasted in the face once and had my goggles pop off.

I knew my swim was slow because I could feel a few waves pass over me. When I exited I saw Jeff, who had beat me out of the water. I yelled over to him “Jeff! Go!” I then scrambled out of my wetsuit, dried off and hopped on the bike. By now Jeff had a solid 2 minute lead on me, which is a pretty big gap on the bike.

The course was 3 loops on back roads. The first few miles it took me awhile to get into gear. Once I did I picked up the pace and started having some fun. I saw Phil, Naomi, Cayden, Owen, Ali and Dylan all cheering with signs at mile 5.

One of the things that started to happen to me was that I was getting major hip pain after mile 10. I would say that has to do with me riding a bike that isn’t fitted for me. I was also struggling with not being clipped into the pedals. It would be tough for me to catch up to my brother.

By the time I finished up my third loop the sun was beating down and turning up the heat. I dumped my bike, grabbed my lone, sad gel and took off.

The run was in the woods on paved trails, a staple of the Reston community. Luckily, it was also very shaded. Mile 1 clicked off at 7:11, the hunt for Jeff was on.

I saw him coming my way after the first out-n-back, roughly at mile 3. We high fived and I yelled that I was coming for him. I took my gel at mile 4 with my pace hovering in the 7:15 range.

I finally caught him after we went up this torturous half a mile hill. We ended up running the last mile or so together which was pretty fun. I also saw my friend Jenn run by! I had no idea she was racing. I later texted her and learned that all my buddies (Shag, Rick, Albers, etc.) were hanging out. Unfortunately, time was not on my side and I couldn’t go join them.

Finally, as we got to the finish he was like “Let’s go!” and we blasted across the line simultaneously!

Sex/
Age
Age
Place
Overall
Place
 Swim
1.5K		 T1 Bike
40K		 T2 Run
6M		 Total
Time
M39 37:49 1:26:02 43:46

The Reston Triathlon website is down, more stats to come later.

We grabbed some food and then found our family. Back at Jeff’s we started making breakfast sandwiches to refuel as it was early. I was close to being Code Red so when the food was finally ready I inhaled mine!

That afternoon was spent celebrating over at my Bonus Mom’s house with everyone. It was a hard earned medal and a fun race.

 

 

 

London Relocation

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I awoke abruptly to Abbe saying, “Honey we have to go now, pack your bags and get in the car! We have 3 hours to catch a flight out of Dublin to London. We have a new assignment… and time is not on our side.”

Driving south by southeast across the Irish countryside I was slipping in and out of consciousness. Our previous assignment had done me in. Abbe was behind the wheel, Eric was asleep (shocker) and Peter was alert and helping us stay awake.

We met Peter at the wedding. He is a good friend of Bojana and an Agent for the Serbian Government, Code Name ‘Hristos Vaskrse’. Part of our new assignment was to get him to Dublin safely.

Sundays are quiet in Ireland, so the roads were practically empty. It was very easy for us to make our projected time of 3 hours and at the airport we bid farewell to our new friend and ally Peter, Code Name ‘Hristos Vaskrse’.

Abbe, Eric and I breezed through security with our agency status and made it to the gate early.

A quick flight later and we were taking the Heathrow Express straight into London. It was 15 minutes from the airport to city center! Most of London made me a sad New Yorker as they seemed to have ironed out all the urban issues NYC struggles with.

It was hot in London, like 65 degrees and gorgeously sunny. We were staying in Convent Garden.

Our assignment… we were going to be contacted and asked to rendezvous with other Agents. The goal was to set up peace talks between agencies. We didn’t know what to expect.

That night we wandered around looking for some good local beer. We stumbled uponTemple Brew House which happened to have a trivia night going on! I may have spoiled one of the answers, but I thought everyone knew graphite was the material in pencils.

Next up was dinner at Red Cow. We were in search of Sunday Stew, a thing in London, but we missed it. The food we had was superb, a common theme in London starting tonight was dining where the locals dine, my favorite!

The next morning Abbe and I did a run tour of (west) London.

We saw St. James Park, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and most importantly and surprisingly the sister obelisk to Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park. We also happened to see changing of the guard and changing of the horse guard!

Lunch was held at Noble Rot, where we met one of Abbe’s coworkers who is a highly respected wine reviewer, Neal Martin. We had a three hour lunch in which Neal picked out a fantastic White Bordeaux from 1990 for us to enjoy.

The food, of course, was also delicious. In a fun twist Dan, the owner, also happened to have signed the band Coldplay who are Abbe’s favorite band. Epic! Two of the band members are also part owners in Noble Rot as well.

Next up, the British Museum. I had flashbacks to art school the entire time. I was back in Joe Basile’s Egypt Class and then I was in Joe Basile’s Ancient Roman History Class, you catch my drift.

That night, after wandering the streets some more, we went to eat at Hoppers, a Sri Lankan restaurant recommended by Dan from Noble Rot. There was a two hour wait, which we were prepared for.

Just two secret agents, doing secret agent stuff.

We hung out at Dog and Duck Pub a block away and drank delicious pints outside on the street, Why can’t we do that in NYC?

Once our two hours were up and we were seated, the food and dining experience were top notch. Leo, our waiter, helped us pick out way too much food. So far on the London trip we were notorious for over ordering.

We started with Bone Marrow Varuval and Hot Butter Deviled Shrimps. The two couldn’t be more different, and yet they played into each other so nicely. The bone marrow smooth and mild while the shrimp had a zesty zing that hit you just as it was leaving the mouth.

Next we had the Lamb and Chicken Kari, comparable to curry but more flavorful in a complex way. All of the spices hit in waves, not all at once, like listening to a bands’ full album. Eric insisted we overeat and get the Ceylonese Split Chicken. It was peppery in texture and very good. I just wish we had room for it. Were I to redo the meal I would have ordered two of the Chicken Kari dishes.

We decided that we needed cocktails after dinner so we went to a place called Cahoots in an old tube station.

The drinks were great and so was the vibe. Imagine a post WWII vibe, with swing music and twists on traditional cocktails. Although slightly cheesy, you could only appreciate it.

The next morning Abbe and I went for another run, this time to the east towards Tower Bridge. The weather was even better than it was the previous day, 70-75 degrees without a cloud in the sky. Was this really London? We ran the Millennium Bridge, went into St. Paul’s Cathedral and saw a lot of the western part of town. Eric was at a coffee shop by the Seven Dials, so we set out to finish there.

This was my first time in the Seven Dials and I thought it was very cool, a great place to hide out. Tiny narrow streets that weaved through secret alleys that held interesting shops, one being 26 Grains, a very cool coffee shop. We found a very happy Eric there. I also met a triathlon family (due to my Garmin watch) from northern New Jersey, small world!

Hotel. Shower. Change. Deploy.

We met Dougie and Danika on the Tower Bridge span around noon. Before touring the bridge, I needed a snack, so we hit a local restaurant and sat outside munching on some chips. Soon enough we were in Tower Bridge engulfed in it’s history. For those not aware, one of the attractions is the glass floor on the east and west walkways. Imagine 20 feet of walkway, all reinforced glass, 120 feet over the roadway. My hands are getting sweaty just writing about this. Yes. I have issues with heights. I can ride a blazing fast track bike without brakes through Manhattan traffic, but a very safe glass floor, no way. What’s my deal?

After some persuading by Eric and Dougie I went onto the glass walkway. They even took a photo to prove it. I did trick the staff, which I am most proud of. As they were coercing me to walk I simply said, “So how many times has the glass broken?” Without missing a beat she said three times and smiled. A stranger across from me slowly left the glass walkway.

Lunch was calling so we hit the George Inn which was close to Borough Market. Our original goal was to eat at the market, but due to the recent attack it remained closed.

The Shard, being the tallest building in London, evidently had some terrific views. We needed to see it. As a New Yorker I can pick up on certain vibes when approaching places and this place screamed ‘high end dress code.’ I walked up to the bouncers (reminder that it is 4PM on a Tuesday) and they looked me up and down like I was a homeless bum. I felt a little violated, but I get it. “Hi, we want to have a drink at the roof bar. We are obviously tourists and I get the feeling that there is a strict dress code.” They told us we could take our chances there or at three restaurants on the other side of the building… way better odds if you ask me.

We were able to get into the first place we attempted entry into and had a cocktail and took in the view. Although it was amazing, it was a mere 35 or so floors up. In New York we have bars in buildings 100+ floors up, some so tall they are above the clouds.

It was at this point that we were contacted by the Agents we were here to meet. As it turns it out it was D, Matt and Christina from the Hoboken Operation that we met in Ireland! I wonder if they knew that they would be contacting us on the second part of their mission?

6:30 PM at Casita Andina, don’t be late.

Note: There are no photos on the second part of the write-up to help conceal the identity of the Hoboken Operation.

We had never heard of this place but after checking it out with our local intelligence it seemed safe and like every was on the up-and-up. We had a few hours before dinner so we deiced to hit he London Public Library. They had an exhibition o rare books, yes please!

We saw, among many artifacts, the Magna Carta, Handwritten Beatles songs, handwritten songs from Mozart and Handel, handwritten notes from Michelangelo and Da Vinci (what?!) and finally, the showstopper for me, an original Beowulf written in 1,000. Priceless? Yes.

We had a drink at the Lyric Bar close by to Casita Andina before dinner as well. How come in London you can take your drinks out on  the street but not in NYC, or America? Lame.

D, Matt and Christina rolled in and we were seated within 30 minutes. This was a neighborhood spot, tiny and crowded. The food, tapas, was great!

The 6 of us laughed and told stories of the irish wedding while eating great food and drinking delicious wine.

Our assignment was over quickly once it was agreed upon that we should merge forces and work together back in the States. Some days we would hang out in the ‘Boken, others in Manhattan. It was all too easy, but then again, solutions to global espionage are often simple. Abbe and I left early. Once we reported in that our mission was finalized headquarters put us on a 6:45AM flight out of Heathrow. Thank you? I was dreading going back to desk work, but I guess that’s the name of the game in international spy work.

Thanks London. Thanks Ireland. You were good to us.

End Transmission.

 

 

Escape from Ireland

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It seemed simple enough, our assignment that is. Escort and protect two Serbian Nationals across Ireland so they could rendezvous with a Serbian American and an Irishman. They were getting married in a few days and it was of utmost importance that the Serbian Nationals be there for it. Basically, the wedding wouldn’t take place without their presence.

I hardly slept on our flight over from JFK, making it very hard to stay sharp once we landed. ‘Abbe’ and I were posing as a married couple from New York, border control fell for it hook line and sinker. Agent E had flown with us and was on his own to get past the guards. His cover was that of an ‘overly American’ tourist.

Dublin has been infiltrated.

Our pick up point for the Serbians, let’s call them ‘Momo’ and ‘Nina’, was just inside the main terminal. We spotted them immediately and made contact.

The Agency had provided us with a nondescript rental car. We all hopped in and began our 3 hour trek across the country. We were headed to the north west of County Donegal to a town called Letterkenny. Our only concern was that we would be passing through Northern Ireland for an hour of the trip. If stopped in UK territory, it would be a tough situation that we might not be able to work our way out of.

We needed to recharge with some food, so we made the call to stop at Carrickmacross, a small town along the way where we wouldn’t draw too much attention. We ate at Markey’s, a quiet pub on the main road. I had one of the best chicken salads I have ever had there. Momo and I decided it best to try some of the local Smithwicks as well. It didn’t disappoint and he insisted we have a second round.

Two hours later and without incident, we arrived in Letterkenny and checked into our hotel. We had received word that the bride and groom (to be) were just down the road at a place called The Cottage. It was a very dark bar, like an old pub from long ago. I scanned the room and it looked safe, our contacts were in the back and quite happy to see that we made the trek safely. Momo and I had, yes you guessed it, a Smithwicks.

The Irishman, Brian, was from the area and had a lot of family around. We drove off together to his relatives restaurant for dinner and celebration. There were 20 or so people there. We had some cocktails and mingled. It was then that we made contact with another set of American Agents, their territory was Hoboken just across the Hudson River from us. We all got along instantly .

The next morning Abbe, Agent Eric and I made our way north to an old fort high upon the hillside. It was called Grianan of Alieach and it provided a 360 degree view of the surrounding countryside. It was very impressive. It was clear from this vantage that we had not been followed and our location wasn’t compromised. We had the green light to move to the final location.

With Momo and Nina safe, we made our way to the next rendezvous point and location of the wedding, Lough Eske to the south. Lough (lake) Eske is situated in a remote area 10 miles from Donegal Town and is quite a beautiful setting.

After checking in we had lunch at the bar with Eissa and Nick who were running point on the job. They had been at the castle well before us and gave us the ‘all clear.’

“Abs, we should check out the grounds.” I wanted to make sure everything checked out and there wasn’t anything suspicious going on that could interfere with the wedding.

The grounds were gorgeous. It had a very ‘magical’ vibe to it with dense, very lush forests unlike any I had ever seen. We explored a few remote pathways that lead deep into the forest and everything seemed well.

That afternoon it was like an American Reunion in the bar. Dougie, Danika, Eric, Eissa, Nick, Stephan, Amanda, Lisa, Alex, Chris, Kristin, Christina, Chris, (lots of Chris-like names), Jodi, Becky, Anders, Elena, Maura, Brian H., Sweendawg and of course Bojana. We decided that our best bet for food would be to hit up Donegal Town. We choose Olde Castle Bar as our destination and had a blast! The van driver into town was completely insane as drivers go and for a second I thought they might have been an enemy agent sent to take us out.

That night we stayed up until 1AM listening to the band at the hotel bar. I had heard of this secret graveyard and wanted to take everyone there on a mission late at night, but the rain came in… bedtime.

Showtime.

Dougie and I were on our own to patrol the castle grounds before the wedding as the girls all had to do hair and make up. We made our way to the far end of the property and eventually were able to discover the secret graveyard! It was epic and had a 12 foot Celtic cross. Had we found this the night before I think people would have lost their minds, especially in the dark. A true test of trust were they to have followed me.

Not satisfied with our initial sweep I recruited Eissa and Nick to go further out just in case. We thought running would help us cover more ground and we would be safely disguised as ‘jogging tourists’. The countryside was beautiful! With very few cars and narrow country roads one really felt at peace. With the eleventh hour fast approaching we ran back to the castle.

I took a quick shower, threw my suit on and headed down to have some lunch at the bar. I left my firearm in the room… I wouldn’t need to use it unless something unexpected happened.

Everything was going off perfectly. I had my sights on the groom and Momo and hopefully Abbe had Bojana and Nina covered. Eric was nowhere to be found and was hopefully doing something useful like a perimeter sweep.

Once my crew showed up we made our way outside to the pavilion where the ceremony was to take place. It was partly cloudy and 70 degrees out, unusual for Ireland. The crowds were filling in the seats and there was a vibrant buzz of excitement. We had a 5 minute rain scare, but then the weather cooperated.

Bojana’s brother Neb was the officiant and he did a wonderful job. He has a very stoic and noble way about him that reflected out into the crowds. I have to admit, my toughness broke up for a second during the ceremony and I got a little emotionally happy for Sweendawg and Bojo. Thank god I had my sunglasses on.

The time was 2:30PM. We had from now until 6PM for the Happy Hour. Eric grabbed me a beer and we all headed outside into the sun. It’s kind of hard to protect the bride, groom, Momo and Nina when they all disappear! I was told they were safe by Abbe, so I just continued to do what I do best, socialize.

For most of the Happy Hour(s) we all hung out on the outside patio where it was unusually sunny and absolutely gorgeous out. I think I even got sunburned… in Ireland!

Where’s Momo?

At 6 sharp the doors to the main room opened and we took our seats. There were a series of speeches that went until 7 and then we could eat. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was relaxed and fun. The wedding was to go all night, so what was the rush?

I checked in on Momo after dinner as he was outside having a smoke. Then, a number of us went to the secret Library I had accidentally found (when I got lost on the elevator) the day before. It was a nice respite from all the action.

Back down in the main room the band had set up and dancing had begun. We all got to it.

Around 11PM we took another break and a different group of us went up to the Library. I took it upon myself to entertain my friends with a reading from ‘And Berry Came too’ by the late Dornford Yates. A favorite of mine, especially during the holidays. Feeling refreshed we all decided it was time to really throw it down on the dance floor.

By now the band had stopped and a DJ was in its place. Perfect! The crowd was going fairly wild and having fun. The other half of the wedding was drinking on the patio or in the happy hour room.

I took a personal break at some point. Knowing that our mission was over, I wanted to say thanks to Momo. I bought he and I two whiskeys and we had a toast. This would be the last time I would see him for some time. October to be exact. A new assignment was in the works that would bring us back in touch.

Just as I was walking away something tremendous happened. The DJ started playing an all too familiar (but not at weddings) song. We all started looking around bewildered and then simultaneously bolted for the dance floor. ‘Footloose’ was playing. Never in my history of weddings have I seen a crowd go more bananas then this night, myself included. We were all Kevin Bacons on this night, at this moment, dancing uncontrollably. We danced so hard that the next day my legs felt as if I had run a Half Marathon.

Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’ was next and that didn’t slow us down at all, my vocal chords paying the price on this one.

The finale… Frankie Boy’s ‘New York, New York,’ epic to say the least. It brought down the house and all of the New York crew really let the pipes burst.

At 1AM they stopped the music and informed us that the downstairs Oak Bar was open. “Sweet, a new area to explore.” A lot of us migrated down there to have some more fun. Abbe and I made it until 2AM before we headed off. Arm in arm as we went up the stairs we both smiled, looked at each other and said, ‘Mission Complete.’

8AM.

I awoke abruptly to Abbe saying, “Honey we have to go now, pack your bags and get in the car! We have 3 hours to catch a flight out of Dublin to London. We have a new assignment… and time is not on our side.”

…to be continued in London Relocation, the epic Part II.