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RACE REPORT: 029 Coogan’s Shamrocks 5K: 18:15

Posted on March 7, 2010 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 8 Comments

Sex/
Age

Bib

Overall

Place

Gender

Place

Age
Place

Finish
Time

Pace/
Mile

AG
Time

AG %

M32

168

156

18:15

5:53

18:06

71.2 %

The Coogans Blues and Shamrocks 5K Race in Washington Heights capped off my week with an exclamation point!

Earlier this week I ‘connected’ with someone online – only to find out that, not only did I already know who she was, but had great admiration and respect for her. We are going to ‘run for margaritas’ which I’m really looking forward to. Its a small world people, and I like it.

Tuesday night we had speed series led by Josh aka SS in Central Park. Other runners in attendance… ROLE CALL: Erika, Eissa, Elyssa, Erin, Amy, Anna, and Matt. We did 4, mile repeats (which means, run 1 mile at almost full capacity, 2 minute break, do it all over again) and they were brutal! We have a pretty fast group I might add.

Thursday was swimming with coach Todd down in Battery Park. He came up with a new drill that we aptly named ‘Triple Homicides.’ Without getting too detailed, its a chase drill where we do 3 sprint laps, 30 second break, repeat times 10. Ive never thought of the possibility of having a heart seizure in a pool before until doing these ‘Triple Homicides’. Yeah I said it again, I really love the name we gave them, makes me feel tough especially relaying it to friends the next day. Example: “Good morning Baker, how was your night?” “Oh it was fine I guess, just did some Triple Homicides, like 10 of em, it was nothing really… just another Thursday”

I took the day off Friday because my friend Lisa (Jim’s wife) asked me to be a speaker at career day. She is teacher up at Wagner Middle on the Upper East Side. I arrived at 9 sharp to a welcome breakfast in the cafeteria. There were probably 40 volunteers and after looking at the schedule it seemed they had managed to get just about all walks of careers… lawyers, news anchors, dentists, singers and more. I happened to be paired up with Phil, who was a comedian! Sweet! I love to laugh, really who doesn’t? We each did 15 minutes, with him opening the show. It was a lot of fun and the kids were very receptive and asked some very great questions. All in all Id say that in 10-20 years time roughly 30% of the kids I talked to will be buying Rolex watches. Seriously though, I really hope some of the creative ones learned that there are great careers in the arts. Perhaps they will want to be photographers or graphic designers some day? I did touch on triathlons briefly but no one seemed to care.

The event was over just after lunch and with my whole day free I figured “What a perfect time to have lunch with one of my friends!” What did I learn today? Nearly all of my friends have 9-5 jobs, therefore I ended up eating by myself. Fine.

Based on the amazing sunshine that was blanketing the city I decided to go for a bike ride. I stopped for Nino’s Pizza and to pick up my race number along the way. My ride was followed up by an afternoon nap.

That night Erika (her royal tallness) and I went to Cassellula to have wine and cheese as she “needed alcohol”. She suggested we sneak into a movie with mini bottles of booze but I was feeling the cheese thing instead. It was really fun, we tried a bunch of what I dub ‘stinky cheeses’ that were paired with items like roasted garlic and pear butter. We also polished off a bottle of wine, 2 dessert wines, Baked Alaska and a Chocolate German Cake in which they poured fresh cream. Yes, it was amazing!

Saturday night I rocked out a bit of my traditional pre-race routine. I stayed in and watched horror movies, bad ones! For dinner I made my shrimp scampi, BUT, I altered the recipe slightly on a whim and may have made the best scampi ever! Seriously. I had a few beers to carbo-load and was tempted to get some ice cream but opted out due to the fact that I was basically in my PJs. In bed just after 11 and had a solid nights sleep.

RACE DAY

(wow, it took a page of text just to get to my race. sorry readers.)

Woke up at 6:45 and juiced up with the Bustelo. I was out the door on my bike to meet Jim and Ed of the ‘Dad Posse’ at 7:30. We arrived in the Heights around 8:15 and had loads of time to spare before the race. It was quite beautiful out and as long as you stood in the blazing sunshine it felt awesome.

10 minutes prior we all made our way up to our respective corrals. I stood around all the club team racers (who were psyched as this was the first club points race of the season.)

As I glanced to my right who do I see? Robert and Antonio! Its like clockwork man, we always run into each other in the corrals. We hung out and chatted about the course, our times, Garmin satellites, you know, runner stuff.

As the gun went off there was an immediate bottle neck! It turns out a woman in front had fallen causing a pile up for a hot second. She jumped back up and everything was back on course (literally, ha). I jumped in behind Robert as he was clearing a good path through the crowds.

Mile 1, 6 flat. My goal was to be sub 6 the whole time and this was a clear sign that my goal would be hard to achieve. Shortly after that I lost Robert in the crowds and just started trying to catch my pace.

Holy cow were there hills! 1 1/2 miles in there is this mega descent where I was practicing my new downhill technique. Basically you barrel down the hill with huge strides, almost like a prance. Yes, I was prancing. I started laughing out loud though because I then realized at the turn around we would have to run UP this monster hill. Whoa momma.

As we turned I started to pick up my pace (thanks to SS and the Hill Digger workout we did a few Tuesdays ago. Thanx!) and was cruising up the hill. It might have been a solid half mile incline, I don’t know, but it was painful.

At mile 2, 2 1/4 it all started back downhill to the finish! We were all blazing down the hill anticipating the finish. Did I mention there were bands all over? Bagpipes, Salsa, Blues… it was great! I have a sore spot in my heart for bagpipes so that really got my spirits up.

I sprinted at the end – just barely – and made it through the finish at 18:15! I was kind of upset as I wanted to break the 6 minute barrier in a NYRR race and didn’t think I had done it. You do know I went to Art College right? Yeah, no math. Later on Robert would clarify that I had indeed met my goal! I was very excited.

While waiting for my friends I bumped into Lam! Nice to finally meet you Lam! Then, Robert and Antonio popped over for a chat before they took off to run home.

Jim, Ed and I rode our bikes down to the Columbia University area to find coffee before parting ways.

Everyone had a great race today AND it was perfect spring weather for it! Congrats to all the runners!

My new post race treat is the Naked Superfood drink. (see below) Its really great, like someone took a garden and stuck it in a blender!

RACE REPORT: 028 Thursday Night at the Races

Posted on February 26, 2010 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 2 Comments

My 2 cousins Gillian (20) and Catherine (18) are pretty serious athletes. Aside from being sick basketball players they are also speedy trackstars, so once Jim and Ed of the ‘Dad Posse’ notified me that I would be running the New Balance Armory for Thursday Night at the Races I immediately contacted them for track advice on the 1500m and 800m.

Catherine: “yeah the eight hundred stride the first lap and give it your all on the second, it is going to hurt a bit.
the fifteen hundred run the first two laps around your mile split but a bit faster and then book it for the last lap.”

Gillian: for the 800: “get out fast and make sure you stay with the front people until the second lap. just give it your all. it comes down to who wants it more. make sure you read the runners and don’t get too far ahead of yourself.”

Cat: “i guess you should just listen to gillian instead…”

RACE DAY

There was a blizzard in full effect all day Thursday expected to continue into Friday but no one was phased as it wasn’t sticking to the ground… yet.

I got off work at 4, headed home to gear up and met Jim and Ed at Local Bar by the A,C Train. We departed shortly after and made it to to the Armory by 6:30.

The Armory: This 60,000-square-foot Washington Heights arena—home to one of the world’s fastest indoor tracks—hosts a jam-packed season. The venue welcomes approximately 400,000 athletes, coaches, parents and fans from 1,000 high schools and 36 states to more than 100 meets each year. Also on-site is the National Track & Field Hall of Fame—an inspiring, enlightening tribute to the sport’s history.

I have been to a few tracks in my day, but this one was really great. I was instantly intimidated. On the inner circle of the track were all these young people doing sick sprints and hurdles. I thought “Wow, I am in the wrong place, I am going to get my a$$ handed to me.” Luckily, just after 6:45 the announcement came on that all High School students at the earlier practice need to leave! So funny, after they did it equalized and I felt 100 times better, not to say that these remaining people didn’t look blazing fast, they just didn’t look like up and coming Olympians!

They made the announcement at 7 for all 1500m racers to go to the center area for heat seeding. I ran over, there were probably 30 women and 50 men. They had already started the first heat of the women’s race.

They broke us into heats based on what we thought we could finish in (honor system.) Being that I had never done this before AND that fact that I hate numbers, I was kind of lost. I waited to the 4th heat to be picked before I jumped in. I think it was the 4:40-4:55 heat.

It was really exciting as I love watching track racing to begin with! Its very strategic.

As the third heat finished it was our turn to line up. I had butterflies and was in the 1 shute and ready to go. As he fired the gun we were off and I immediately pulled into number 2 position. Following the advice of my cousins I held back and tried to actually maintain some kind of pace.

We had 7.5 laps to run on the 200m track. It was really exciting but after maybe the 4th lap I was in pain. Sprinting for 1500 meters is hard! I was now in 3rd position and the lead guys were gaining on me. Every time I crossed the midway point Jim and Ed cheered me on from the stands.

On the last lap its like every one turned up the juice! I got passed by another really fast guy and this other runner with 100m to go. Not having it. I blasted into a sprint on the straightaway and caught the second guy who passed me but couldn’t catch the previous. I was wiped!

1500m TIME: 4:47. I don’t even know if thats good?

I was on a total bee-line for the water fountains. SIDENOTE: Bring bottled water next time.

I ran into Christine there and said hello. We had never met so it was cool seeing her face to face. She was queued up for the 800m next so she bolted to get in her heat.

Since there was a snowstorm, the track meet wasn’t super crowded. Therefore, I had to run the 800m like 10 minutes after I ran the 1500m. Team Crazytime… my heart rate didn’t even slow up and I was coughing from he dry heat in the Arena. As soon as the women finished we were up. I put myself in the 4th heat again.

This time as the gun went off I was in 3rd position and we were in tight formation. We only had 4 laps to run and we were cruising through them every 30 seconds. My number 1 and 2 guys started putting some distance on me. Then, same thing at the last lap, super fast guy blazes past me. I try to keep up but its really quite impossible. I did however sprint at the end to make an attempt but couldn’t manage to catch and pass him.

800m TIME: 2:27

Water fountain save me.

In my head I was finished racing. I went up to Jim and Ed and hung for a hot second before heading down for more water. Then, I walked over to chat with Christine and see how she was doing. We were laughing about our races when an older gentleman with a grey beard approached us. “Excuse me, would you two like to be on our relay team?” A relay? Holy crap! Ive never done that but always wanted to! I blurted out to the guy “totally!”

Evidently, Christine ran track in High School (I have no athletic background aside from ultimate frisbee) so she schooled me on how this would work. 10 Teams, 10 people per team, each team member runs 1, 200m lap 5 times to make the total distance 10,000m. It sounded awesome.

Our team introduced themselves to us. They were a group of guys from Tishman Contracting if Im not mistaken. All very cool. We got numbered as Team 5 in the race and also made it our respective team name.

The race began and it immediately became a blast! We were racing some serious teams such as Central Park Track Club and the Frontrunners (who my friend Kevin Masse is on but wasn’t there). Christine was off and then as she rounded the track I stepped up. Her job was to hand off the baton to me. As she approached I grabbed it and booked! Its such a relief to have to just sprint one 200m lap! As I came around I sped up and ran along side my hand off guy (number 6 in line) before pulling off to the left. WOW! I could get used to this.

In my poor calculation of mathematics I was under the impression that we all had to run 10 legs of the race. It wasn’t until I overheard another team member say ‘only 4 to go’ I realized it was only 5 legs. Sweet! I could really blast off.

I hung with Christine and we laughed at the insanity of it all. I was really enjoying the camaraderie and the cheering. For sure we were not the fastest team out there but it was so fun! The next time I went I learned that I could actually run with Christine before she made the handoff increasing my take off speed. My goal each lap was just to find someone to chase down and pass.

The whole thing ended in around 30 minutes. We stuck around and watched a second 10,000m relay for a bit then head out to grab a bite. As we opened the doors a blast of snow came in. It was at that point we started to realize that this storm was for real! There was 4-6 inches of snow that had accumulated while we were running!

I said goodbye to Christine (she had to work the next day regardless of snow) and the rest of us hit Coogan’s Bar.

We grabbed a table and right off the bat we noticed the numerous track jerseys hanging off the ceiling. It was a track and field bar! Looking around I recognized some faces from the meet, sitting and having a post race drink and meal. Too cool.

As soon as we got situated a big group came in and what do you know, it was my relay team! They sat next to us after saying hi and thanking me for being a part of their team. Really, some stand up guys. As our drinks came the server notified Jim, Ed and myself that my relay team leader had bought that round! We all cheered each other. After wolfing down some food and a few pints we hit the subways. I slept like a rock!

—

It was an amazing time and I made some cool new friends. Track Racing is such a different ball game from distance running. Its very similar to race car driving with its drafting strategies and sitting back a few places waiting to make a move. I will totally do this again especially if I get to be on a relay team!

RACE REPORT: 027 Run for Haiti 4M: 29:45

Posted on February 21, 2010 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 2 Comments

6921

Sex/
Age

Bib

Overall

Place

Gender

Place

Age
Place

Finish
Time

Pace/
Mile

AG %

M32

6921

840

743

156

29:45

7:26

57.0 %

There wasn’t supposed to be a race on February 20th, 2010. It was supposed to be an ordinary day in Central Park, nothing special… until the devastating earthquake that destroyed Haiti last month.

NYRR came up with an idea to raise money for Haiti by way of a 4 mile race in central park where regular race entry would be $40.00 instead of the usual $15-20. They also noted that this race would count as a double qualifier for the 2011 NYC Marathon. Needless to say, everyone came out for this one.

—

My Friday night was actually quite fun.

Before I went out I made (from scratch) some Shrimp Fra Dialvo. Those of you who keep up with my posts know that this is a staple for me before a race introduced by my friend Ahern last summer. It turned out awesome. I wolfed it down and hit the subways.

My piano teacher (and good friend) Sugar has been producing this show called the Nouveau Classical Project (nouveauclassical.org). The concept is… classical music is dead. Young people are uninspired to listen to or understand what it is. Sugar’s idea is to merge cutting edge fashion designers and fine artists with a series of classical pieces and have a show. I have been to almost all of them (one of my paintings was even in the first!) and have never been disappointed.

This NCP took place in Tribeca and featured 5 performances of which my friends Amanda, Walter, Kiersten, Nolan, and of course Sugar played in. It was sold out. It rocked. Everyone was amazing and I will never be unimpressed by any of their performances.

After the reception I joined a group of the musicians at an italian restaurant for a few beers and pasta… carbo loading. I left at 12 and crashed (bedtime) shortly after.

RACE DAY

I awoke at 630AM and began fueling with Cafe Bustelo. Based on my 2 pasta dinners I had the night before I wasn’t hungry. Grabbed two bananas anyway, and headed out.

Rolled into Central Park at 830 and headed to the bandshell to meet the ‘dad posse’ minus Mike, plus Annelise and Lisa. I had wolfed down the bananas by the time I arrived. One of my coworkers often calls me a monkey for my affinity toward this divine fruit. I don’t mind.

We headed out to the corrals realizing there actually were no corrals that it was indeed as I dubbed it a ‘Sh&t Show.’ We made our way to the back of the line which turned out to be the 11 minute milers. I stood there with the gang thinking… ‘well, you just gotta pick your battles and i guess today isn’t that day. lets just have some fun.’

The gun went off and it seriously took 10 minutes before we had moved. I made friends with this really sweet girl named Stephanie next to us and we started the run together. She told me she didn’t make NYC Marathon 2010 because she did all of her 9 races and forgot to volunteer so they denied her entry! Anyone able to pull any strings? After running with her for a little while we lost each other at which point I decided to start barreling down the right side.

I crossed Mile 1 at 23:15 or something which was a total PR.

It was actually a lot of fun running with the group. Once you accept the fact that it isnt going to be a banner day in the personal record books it turns into a pure love of the sport.

At Mile 2.5 we were rounding CP and starting to head south. It was then that I decided I needed (just for me) to turn up the heat. I started sprinting up the hills (like we did a few Tuesdays ago with SS in the Hill Diggers night!) and what do you know, it worked!

I was really cookin now and really having a great time. As we turned toward the finish I picked up the pace and was doing well until out of nowhere super-tall-lanky-guy cuts right in front of me without looking! I slammed on the brakes (all Top Gun style) and may have actually burned rubber as he sped by. Not cool buddy. You just messed with the wrong guy. Hahaha, I’m kidding, or am I?

So of course my mission now was to beat him, duh.

I bolted left and started (carefully) bobbing and weaving gaining speed. Right before the finish I cut right and jumped in front of him boxing him out and beating him. C’mon, it’s the little things in life that matter people! Anyway, I guess I’m competitive after all and maybe a touch obsessive.

Never have I been to a race in Central Park so ridiculously crowded (9421 runners). It didn’t matter though, as it was for Haiti. I think the race raised over $400K which for one morning in CP is amazing.

I waited for ‘Dad Posse’ + wives and anyone else I might find (Erika, TK) finishing the run. Based on my starting right before the walkers corral I figured Erika and TK were done already.

As I sat watching the runners, who comes by but my new friend Stephanie! We high fived and said a few words as she took off for water. Seconds later Ed came in followed by Lisa and Annelise. Jim had already finished and was waiting for us by baggage.

What a beautiful day. Sometimes you have to put aside your competitive drive and just be a part of the collective, working together for one concept. I like that. Runners get it. (I’m a triathlete too so I gotta give shouts to them to as they are a part of this as well)

It takes heart to get up early and do a 4 mile race, and I’m not even talking to you my runner compadres as we do this crap every morning. I’m talking about the rookies out there today, props to you folks for coming out and killing it. I hope you all get the running bug and come join us in the Park every weekend, it will change your life.

RACE REPORT: 026 Disney Marathon: 3:13:13

Posted on January 10, 2010 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 9 Comments

Overall Place	Gender Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile
172 / 16883	165	42	3:13:13	7:22	64.6 %

Every January I try and make a stop down in Florida around my Mom’s birthday to get some one-on-one time with her. This year, I timed it so that I would also be running the Disney World Marathon, my second marathon. My mom has never seen me run a race so I wanted her and to be able to cheer me on for once.

Normally in Florida around this time, the mornings are mid-forties and the high gets upwards of 65. This seemed like perfect running weather. Little did I know that the greatest cold front Florida had ever seen was descending upon the race.

We drove up to Orlando from Tampa Saturday afternoon. We stopped off at the Disney Wide World of Sports Expo to pick up my race number and goodies. It was insanely crowded. We then checked into the Old Key West Resort suite I had booked. I picked it because it seemed to be within walking distance of the start line. It was a great little place that might even be bigger then my manhattan apartment.

At 7PM we went north to a restaurant my mom found called Fresco (by Universal Studios). It was perfect. I had my pasta fix, some red wine and we were off. I think we all got to bed just after 10 with the intention of waking up at 4:15AM. Yikes.

RACE DAY

My iphone alarm calmly woke me up at the slotted time. Was I tired? No. I need roughly 6 hours of sleep to be on my A game and I was on target. Brewed up some Cafe Bustelo that I brought with me (yes, Im that crazy about it and god help me if they ever ban it from racing). Ate a banana. Got geared up in my arctic attire… Track pants, Nike Dry fit top, Adidas track top, gloves and hat. The temperature was 28 degrees + windchill with a predicted high of 35. I mean, I’m from NYC and run in the cold, but not a whole 26 miles in sub freezing! Come on, give me a break Florida!

My stepfather Richard drove me (no way you can get my mom out of bed early- she’s like a college student) to the end of our resort entrance which is where the start was. I hopped out and ran across to the empty corrals.

I made pals with this guy Michael and we decided to hop the gates and get to our start. You’re supposed to go all the way around to the parking lots of Epcot but that takes 20 minutes.

TIME: 4:50AM… 50 minutes to start. Michael and I just bounced around in our corral trying to stay warm BSing about running until the rest of the group came. We were both in Corral A which was the lead group of 500 or so faster runners. It was still cold but now we had some protection from the wind. Seriously, not a fun time. For the first time ever I was upset that my sneakers had ventilation slots. SIDENOTE: Props to the volunteers who were out there since 1:30AM setting up.

A minute or two before gun time they had us scoot up. My right foot was ON the start line! Never before in a race of this caliber (17,000 runners) had I ever been first off! It was quite exciting.

National Anthem, fireworks, a fist bump to all my friends I had made and then we were off!

I started ballin’ down the highway in hot pursuit of the pack. Remember, its 5:40AM, pitch black, 28 degrees plus windchill and 26.2 miles to go. My main concern was to get my blood flowing and my body heat started, I could care less about silly things like ‘pacing’ or ‘taking it easy’ in the beginning. Thats also not my style.

The first 4 miles we looped into Epcot. It was very cool and I was in a line of runners watching the lead man slowly pull away. I had no intention of going after him, there were many more faster runners than me, I just wanted to break my own personal record and qualify for Boston. As the 4 miles finished we came back around to where we started but in a different chute. Now we were running up the highway with the rest of the runners to our right just getting going.

After we made it past the crowds it got real dark, real quiet, and real cold out on the highway. I switched on my ipod to keep me company. The guy in front of me was 40 yards ahead and the guy behind me the same. I started to fall into my rhythm and really get excited just to be there running a marathon. The last big race I had was the Ultra in November so I was itching for some time out on the road. I was in my head and running, just running, nothing else in the world to worry or think about but that moment.

As we hit mile 8 and 9 we started coming up to the Magic Kingdom… you know, Cinderella’s Castle, Frontier Land, Space Mountain. The crowds were back and my spirits soared. I made it a point to throw my hands up at the crowds in either the bull horns gesture or the love sign, instigating them to freak out! I wanted to have as much fun as I could on this and also wanted to show the people standing around in sub-freezing weather that we needed and appreciated them.

This next part may have been the most amazing experience of the whole race. When we think of Disney World we think of crowds, of lines, whiney kids, and chaos. I was now running through the Magic Kingdom BY MYSELF! there was no one around! Occasionally, a Disney character like Dopey or Cinderella would be sidelined, but other than that it was a ghost town. Because it was a winding path you couldn’t see the runner ahead or behind you. It was actually pretty creepy at times, until I ran right through the middle of the Castle! Unreal. I also blew a kiss at Minnie… sorry Mickey.

Departing the Magic Kingdom we were nearing mile 11 and I was looking forward to the Half-Marathon line as I set that to be snack time.

As soon as I crossed over the line I pulled over and ate the 3 Clif Shot Blocks I had in my pocket. I was starving and needed sustenance. During my last race, I had a few mini rice and bean burritos that I ate which worked phenomenally! I didn’t think I would need them on this run and I would later find out I was very wrong.

It was at this point people started catching up and passing me. It was also at this point I noticed that at all the water stations our drinks were more slushy/sno-cone like than liquid.

Back on the move through miles 14 and 15, feeling good but getting hungry again. My knees and toes were also numb from the cold. My timing was on par and at at this rate I would finish in 2:50 which was one of my goals (Sub 3 that is). I stopped and wolfed down another banana. Mmmmm.

Miles 17-19 we went through The Animal Kingdom and once again it was totally cool. It was like running through a man made jungle. Tiki Huts, Reggae Bands, the works.

Of course, as soon as we left the Animal Kingdom and got on to mile 20 I felt horrible. I was hungry again and not interested in bananas for once in my life. My pace was slowing and the cold was taking its toll on my body. I believe ‘bone cold’ would be a good term to describe it.

At mile 21 I realized my pace had slowed enough that in order to make sub 3 I would have to continue with a 6:20 pace. That was not going to happen and now I was just content with finishing as long as I broke my last marathon’s time of 3:15:51.

As we entered mile 24 we were brought full circle back into Epcot and I found myself running ‘Around the World.’ Runners were passing me now and on a normal day I would take offense to this and step it up, but I was a mess.

As I neared the finish line I knew my Mom and stepfather Richard would be watching. I would try and find them but I more importantly needed to get this race done! As I rounded the corner and saw the immense crowds I knew I would never spot them. Then, out of the roar of the crowd I heard this unforgettable sound, it was the sound of my Mother’s voice, “Chris!” I turned and smiled, waving as I went on to the finish line knowing they had seen me.

At my Ultra Marathon I sprinted to the finish giddy with excitement, not today. As soon as I crossed, my body was like “Get me food now or its over buddy!” My time was 3:13:13 which is a bit odd (numerically) I would say. I broke my personal record but did not qualify for Boston. I got my medal (super awesome gold Mickey Mouse head) my aluminum blanket and walked on to the food area. I heard a few other runners saying how they were unhappy with their times too. I grabbed a bagel and blueberry muffin and devoured them in record time.

My Mom and Richard came running over and gave me a big hug. They were really excited by the whole thing which was cool to see.
Back at the Resort my Mom whipped together a delicious breakfast. I took a hot shower and we headed back to Tampa.

I was supposed to be meeting my friend Morgan and 4-5 other run-bloggers who were there running but I just couldn’t stay out in the cold any longer. Sorry guys!

All in all it was a good race and I made great time. Its hard to stay upbeat though when you know what you are capable of and let it fall apart. Like I always tell people, you never whats going to happen on race day!

Congrats to all 17,000 Marathoners!

—

This is what I walk away with…

1- I didn’t train for this race at all. I ran maybe two 5 mile runs since November. I’m running the NJ Marathon and the NYC Marathon and I will train very hard to achieve my goals.

2- If rice and bean burritos work on a race, why leave them out for no logical reason? Bring my burritos to all distance races.

3- Eat a bigger breakfast before a marathon, maybe oatmeal (like I did for the Ultra which worked great).

It’s funny, on the Ultra I learned a great deal about distance running… food, etc. Then, I get to this marathon and I throw it all out the window!

RACE REPORT: 025 NYE Midnight Run: 4M

Posted on January 4, 2010 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 3 Comments

I hate 2 holidays in New York City, The 4th of July and New Years Eve. It’s not that I don’t like these holidays in and of themselves, I just hate spending them IN NYC.

Im quite sick of the overly crowded bars with the ticket prices, the house parties with strangers… it’s all so old. Therefore, I had planned to be on a beach somewhere, in the heat, with a pina colada. This plan failed as I jinxed myself by planning a trip to Florida on the 7th to run the Disney Marathon. There would be no way to schedule a NYE trip so close to another vacation based on work etc etc etc. What to do, what to do?

END RANT —

Ed, Jim and Mike of the ‘Dad Posse’ had mentioned that they would be running the NYE Midnight fun run in Central Park. Maybe I would like to join? After an email from Ed’s wife Annelise inviting me over for the pre-run party it was a no brainer and I signed up.

I had a pretty laid back day. I went ice skating with Marissa, shot over to Robin and Ahern’s for our annual Irish Whiskey toast then made my way up to Ed and Annelise’s place.

The party was perfect. Role call: Ed, Annelise, Jim, Lisa, Mike, Kara, Jack, Isabelle, Ben, Josephine, Elizabeth, Kelly, Kevin plus some of Annelise’s family. For our pre-race medicine I made margaritas from scratch (I think it may have took a half hour to juice all the limes). None the less, I think they were a hit and may have improved our race times in the end.

At 11:30, Ed, Jim, Mike, Zack his sister and I hit the road to make it to Central Park in time.

We were a bit late and the race had begun (remember its a fun run and un-timed). We ditched our gear with Zack and his sister (big ups for watching our stuff) and we started the run.

It was like a snow-rain mix but the 4500 runners didn’t seem to care, nor did we. There was a barrage of fireworks going off the whole time which was totally amazing to run under.

We started the race in a group of four, taking turns leading. Really, we all were following the 3 gals running in bikinis. I’m serious, they were and they were totally awesome. I chatted with them briefly, one of the girls was ‘duped’ into running this thing and was clearly not pleased with her run-happy friends.

It was around this point that we all lost sight of one another in the pack. It was then that I decided to start ballin’ down the course. I would occasionally slide out on the snow patches to see how far I could go, then jump right into a sprint. Although entertaining to me, I’m sure no one around me thought it was that cool.

There were lots of people high fiving us on the sidelines and it was really great. Props to anyone who hangs out in bad weather cheering on runners!

I was cruising pretty fast and was soaking wet head-to-toe. In all honesty, it started to become quite hard to race. At mile 3, I was being drafted by a guy who annoyed me. I pulled a ‘Top Gun’ and jammed on the brakes allowing him to fly past me at which point I yelled “your turn to lead buddy!’ He agreed. Remember, I was juiced up with margaritas and positive-crowd vibes. We rounded the corner to the finish and I sprinted it out nearly having heart attack… or maybe that was margarita induced heart burn?

After finishing I turned around to hit the finish and cheer on the guys as they completed the race. Its so hard to see anyone in a dark storm though, FYI.

We all found each other and did a round of high-fives as Ed says “Who wants some refreshments?” and produces 4 Fosters Oil Can beers! Wow!

We all cruised out of the park saluting the New Year and our race.

It was exactly how I imagined myself ringing in the New Year. What better way then to be doing something I love and now live for, running and competing.

RACE REPORT: 024 Knickerbocker 60K: 5:01:01

Posted on November 21, 2009 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 6 Comments

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Gender Place	Age Place	Net Time	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile
M31	14	12	12		5:01:01	5:01:01	8:05

The Knickerbocker 60K is a mild Ultramarathon (I say that because hard core Ultra Runners only consider a 50 miler and up Ultras) consisting of 9 laps around Central Park totaling 37.2 miles.

I had been signed up to run this race for a few months, and during a conversation with Ed from the “Dad Posse” he asked me why I would want to run such a crazy race? After a day or two of introspection it came to me… Fear. Fear was the reason I was running this thing. I was afraid of this race from the get go and wanted to take it on head first.

I was a little nervous as I had only run a distance no greater than 17 miles in the last 4 months, which some would say is poor preparation. Whatever.

2 weeks prior I was actually stressed about it. The week of, not the case. I was actually more excited just to run because I had taken the week off from physical activity, which to any of you who know me personally is like torture.

The night before the race I spent ‘preparing for battle’ as I like to say. I made 3 Powerade Redbull 50-50 mixed drinks for the run. I also made 7 mini burritos made from rice and beans. Why? My hero runner, Scott Jurek, is a naturalist and isnt into Gels and Goos. Quite frankly, neither am I , they are gross. Take yourself back to the 70’s and 80’s when these things didnt exist, what did runners do? Eat burritos? Maybe not, but that is what I had in store for my “Brunch” tomorrow.

Once my bag was packed I made my staple pre-run meal. Pasta with fresh shrimp. Its the perfect meal and Im never hungry when I wake up. I ate this and watched the 2006 Ironman Championships which is a great way to get inspired. Try it. Oh, and try and not shed some tears too, impossible!

I was in bed by 10:30, 11 o’clock and had dreams about the race. I woke up every two hours.

RACE DAY

Woke up at 6AM, had some Bustelo and was out the door by 6:30.

Elizabeth (or Ms Ritz) had been generous enough to offer up holding my bag-o-goodies prior to the race! So nice, thanks Eliz! So after dropping my stuff with her I went over to the Road Runners and geared up. I made a few friends at the start. One of these gals, Jessica, happens to be running the Disney Marathon in January too! Small World! It was cool hanging with someone prior to a race of this magnitude.

Speaking of which, compared to other RR races in New York, this almost seemed like a rogue operation! In comparison, other races have close to 5,000 racers, this had 185!

Mike and Ed popped over to say hi before the start. Ed would be riding his bike around the track and Mike would be running.

After a quick speech by the race coordinator we were off.

I was running without my music on as it was a beautiful morning. Not sure how my pace was but I was in the top ten runners and we were chatting and being silly about the whole 9 laps thing. Its rare in a race that you get this kind of humanity, all of the competitive edge being gone. You’re really testing yourself, not others.

Laps 1 and 2 went by pretty quick and I was right on target with my 1- 1:10 hours per 2 laps time frame. My only morning fuel was a Clif Bar and two bananas, but I wasn’t hungry. Weird. .

At the end of Lap 2 I was pacing a guy I had caught up to. His name was Sebastian and we became friends. We chatted about our runs etc. He was faster than me for sure, but we stayed together until Lap 4 when I had to take a bathroom break.

It was after this that I turned on my headphones and started to get into my zone if you will.

People often ask what I listen to when I run? I listen to Drum n Bass mixes, this one happened to be a very aggressive DJ Hype mix.

Something to take note of…
We were running against the flow of normal running traffic, so we would pass the same people numerous times and they started routing for us! It was so helpful and fun! I saw Ed, Mike, Jim and Patrick (of the “dad Posse”) numerous times, giving me high fives as we passed. Sebastian at one point asked who I was and how I knew so many people, hilarious.

At Lap 5 I removed my white zip-up top and just had my red dry fit on with my track pants. It was getting warmer and I needed to lose some weight. I had made more friends with all the volunteers around the course because you pass them so many times. They were teasing me about changing my outfit calling me the stripper runner!

Lap 6 is when I started to get hungry. I pulled over to where Elizabeth was stationed with my gear and grabbed a burrito. Some of my volunteer pals were astonished at the fact that I was actually eating a rice and bean burrito. “Dude, are you seriously eating a burrito?!” I offered them one on the return loop but they werent hungry. This kind of banter back and forth only solidifying what an insane race this was. As I returned the next lap the gals asked if I was having a margarita (my powerade mix) to wash down my burrito.

Im not going to lie and try and act all macho about this run, at this point my legs were basically on fire. Trying to ignore the sensation, specifically in my quads, was very hard to do. I was using every water station as a chance to have a 15 second walk and drink break which helped and also gave me something to look forward too.

My next lap around I took off my track pants and red top, revealing my staple beater-running shorts combo. This felt great and I could really fly without the pants.

It was at this point I noticed all my friends gathered at the finish! Role call: Todd, Ila, Jeff, Ali, Jon Boy, Danny, Anna, Phyllis, John, Robin, Ahern, Becky, Cottom, Benny!
I yelled as I went by that this was my last lap, Lap 8! Boy was I mistaken.

I cruised around the 3.9 Mile loop ecstatic that this would be my final lap and telling all my volunteer buddies the same, I felt pretty good. It was 55 degrees and sunny in an amazingly colored Autumn Central Park. It was spectacular and I kept telling myself ‘what a day to be alive.’

200 Yards to the finish I saw my brother and his GF Ali yelling to me that I still had a lap to go! What? As I cruised up the race guy said I did indeed have one more. He showed me the race log and it said I had completed 8 laps? No, he said, its a 9 Lap course! WOW. Buzzkill.

I smiled at him and said “Okay, one more lap it is.” and I took off!

It felt like I might have ran that 9th Lap the fastest. What was really weird is that, even though my quads were burning, I was still feeling great, I even had a smile on my face. This is a trait I have picked up from another hero of mine, Natascha Badmann. She is a 7 time Ironman champion and always runs with a smile on her face. When asked why she does it, she simply states that running and racing is what makes her happy. I like that. Me too.

As I made my final turn towards the finish I did get a little choked up thinking about what I was going to complete. I told myself to save those emotions for later, when it would really set in. For now, bathe in the glory of the finish.

As I came down the home stretch I rocked a pretty good sprint into the finish as seen here (thanx benny)

Finish Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG77fgrfzms

I hit my target goal of 5 hours and actually came in 12th Place overall, earning a plaque! Cool man!

I have never felt more relieved to stop running, then after a 37.2 Mile fiasco. Oh, and I now know every inch of Central Park… every turn, tree, shadow, curb, trash can, sign… Im not running in it for like a month.

After the race a bunch of us went to Brother Jimmy’s which seems to be my staple race ending meal. We had some beers and loaded up on food. I had blackened catfish, mac and cheese and collared greens. At 3 we all left as I was in dire need of a shower and a nap.

I am now an Ultramarathoner!

Special thanks to all my friends who made it out to support me, it means a lot! Also special thanks to the volunteers and all the runners who saw me and cheered me on!

SIDESTORY: Sunday I was watching football at our local bar, Black Sheep, with my brother Jeff. This gal in a booth is staring at me and as I caught her glace she holds up her arms like “Well?” I was like “Um, hi?” Then she says, “Yea hi, Burrito Man! How did the race finish for you?” Wow what a small world, she was one of the spectators that joked about the margaritas!

NYC Marathon: Commentary

Posted on November 1, 2009 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 3 Comments

I did not run the 2009 NYC Marathon, BUT, in honor of my 3 friends who ran it I wanted to do a write up.

—

A common question I hear in the weeks up to, and during the Marathon was “Baker, are you running this year?”
I wanted to, believe me. As a runner and someone who has run NYC, to be a spectator definitely feels like you missed the bus. But, to be part of the cheering committee, especially when you know people running is great!

There are a few ways to run the NYC Marathon, and I did not get in using any of these tactics.

– Charity. Raise upwards of $2500-$3000 for any given team and you can run. Here’s the catch, if you don’t raise 3K, they take the difference out of your bank account. Last year this was how I got in. I wasn’t a runner at the time and never figured on doing multiple Marathons. In fact, I am quoted as saying at the finish to my friend Ila “I will never do this again!”

– Grandfather clause. Run 15 or more NYC Marathons and you’re in. No comment.

– Qualify. My time would need to be 2:55 in any marathon or 1:23 in a Half, which I just missed by 2 minutes at Grete’s Gallop.

– Lottery. 100,000 entries, roughly 40,000 accepted. Its like the Ivy League of running. I did not get in using this tactic this year.

– Lottery rejections. If you apply and are denied 3 years in a row, you get automatic entry the next year.

– Running! What better way to secure a spot? Run 9+ Road Runner Qualifying Races, volunteer once and you are locked in for the following year. So, with my 13+ races I am in for 2010! I will also run these races next season and ‘snowball’ myself into the marathon every year from here on out. Had I known this last year I might have done it, but remember, I wasn’t a runner at that point.

—

I went up to Bar Coastal on 78th and 1st around 11AM. Anyone who lives in NYC and hasn’t been a spectator at the world’s greatest spectator event really needs to get in gear. It was my little brother Jeff’s birthday so we had a dual purpose. Actually, our middle brother Phil, and his wife Naomi, had a child the night before. Cayden Charles Baker, so Jeff and I were also celebrating his birth and calling each other Uncles all day!

I would be lying if I didn’t say it was crowded. Any of you who know me well, understand I don’t do well in packed bars, but today is different. Today, you just accept it, mainly because every place you go is teeming with cheering New Yorkers.

Aside from partying, I was up there to cheer on my 3 runners…

Roll Call.

Becky!
Becky is my new roommate and friend. She is a runner and has done a marathon before, just not NY. Her leg has been bothering her, but after a visit to her doctor she said it was a green light for the race. I signed up for athlete tracker (which is cool) but beware, after 10K I didn’t receive any more updates for her and was a bit worried thinking she might have been injured. Jim and Elizabeth’s updates were streaming in fine. At around 4PM I got the message though, Becky had indeed finished strong! She’s a trooper and had to fly out on business that very night!

Elizabeth!
Elizabeth, or Ms Ritz, I met because we both write about running. Our friends Robert and Antonio (who I run with) introduced us. Her leg had also been bothering her 3 weeks prior to the race. She really wanted to run… anyone who knows a serious runner understands that once a goal is set, its hard to get around it even with doctors orders. I was getting all my updates for Elizabeth and man, she was cookin! 8:30s or less all day long! I owed Elizabeth a high-five as she was cheering me on at the Poland Spring race. I missed her and Becky at my post on 78th street as its so crowded and crazy. Its really hard to find your people. She finished and made her qualifying Boston time! Nice work Elizabeth, hopefully after my Disney marathon I will get a BQ and see you there!

Jim!
Jim is a member of the notorious “Dad Posse” also consisting of Ed, and Mike. Jim’s main goal was a Sub 4 marathon. Jim is pretty funny in the fact that he is real humble about racing. I mean, the guy has done an Ironman! There is no higher power than an IM. I was at the sidelines with Ed and Annelise, their 3 children Jack, Isabelle, and Ben Skywalker along with Jim’s wife Lisa and their 2 children Elizabeth, Josephine (and Louey!) We were anxiously awaiting Jim’s approach, the kids even had signs made up! Very cute. He cruised up looking pretty good for having run 17 miles, eating some gels his wife had and posing for some PR photo shoots. He bid us farewell after his 60 second stop and continued on.

I left the gang and headed indoors to continue Jeff’s birthday celebration. So many friends came out, it was great. We were maybe 20 deep having a blast when I get an email from Athlete Tracker saying Jim had finished in 3:58 and change. I threw my arm up in a fist pump and screamed, everyone around me wondering what the hell I was doing. I looked around and yelled “Jim ran a Sub 4! Hell Yea!” and still, people looked around at each other, “Who is Jim?”

It didn’t matter, my 2 worlds of racing and recreation were smashed together in a funny juxtaposition.

All 3 of my friends, new friends, who I met this year from running and am proud to call friends, were Beyond Defeat. They all accomplished their goals, and each one of them, as I have said in entry 1 of this blog, got to be King for a Day. Congratulations.

RACE REPORT: 023 Poland Spring 5M: 30:28

Posted on October 25, 2009 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 3 Comments

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Gender Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG Time	AG Gender Place
M31	40	54	51	13	30:28	6:05	30:19	124

After Saturday’s poor performance I was ready for battle out in Central Park. The Poland Spring 5 Mile Marathon Kick-off is an exciting race as it marks the last event before the marathon!

Saturday night I made my Shrimp Fra Di Avlo again and again it rocked! I as in bed by Midnight.

RACE DAY

I awoke at what seemed to be 6:30AM, but the light didn’t seem right. (I work for a watch company so I wear wristwatches) so I checked one and found that it was in fact 7:30AM! My ‘smart’ clock turned back the Fall Time a week early. Robots. I was meeting Ed, Jim and Ed’s neice Amanda at the bandshell at 8 so I had to hustle.

I rode my bike up to CP and found Jim at the spot. We locked our bikes up and he took off. SIDENOTE: Jim is running the marathon next week, so he was doing a training run on his own. He was trying to time his run to coincide with our finishes and as you will see, he did a pretty good job. I found Amanda and Ed down by the start and we gave the usual fist-pound of good luck.

I jumped in my corral kind of late so I was at the very back of the Blue Bibs.

As the gun went off it took me easily 7 seconds to cross the start line, meaning, I was stuck in the pack and had work to do. For some reason I like this. Similarly to when I used to drive and had to ‘bob-n-weave’ through traffic.

I took the left flank and started cruising just as I noticed this jacked-up guy with a tribal necklace and red shirt running at my pace. I decided to run with him. Our first mile was like 6:30! No good. We started to pick up the pace as the crowd thinned.

As we hit mile 3 I was just getting into the groove and feeling it. I also had my brand new racing flats on and was in heaven! (They have no heel really, so it keeps you pushed forward on your toes and mid foot, which is a run philosophy I believe in strongly. Ask me about it one day.) I had passed my pace buddy by this point and was trying to make up for lost time on mile 1.

Around mile 4 I was coming up the hill past the Boathouse when I heard “Yeah, go Baker!” It was Elizabeth (or Ms Ritz as many of you runners know her as) and I ran over and we high fived! Thanks Elizabeth. I actually really needed a push at that point and having people cheer you on boosts your energy.

Then, at mile 5 as Im rounding the south end to start gearing up for my finish who do I see? Robert, who was volunteering, yells “Go Baker!” Awesome, another running buddy! But then, the jacked guy I was pacing earlier passed me! Now, I would like to say that I am non competitive at times, but its so hard to control. How could I let this guy pass me after I passed him, illogical. Pushing on, he had an easy 20 yards on me and I was hurting.

As we started our approach to the finish by Tavern on the Green I saw Jim sidelined yelling at me! By this point there were 3 people between me and the jacked guy. I leaned forward on my tippy toes and started my sprint. (the feeling is similar to watching football drills where they are running through the tires with knees high, toes pointed down) I was cruising and I felt no pain, I was passing eveyone picking up speed along the way, with 2 meters to go I passed my guy!

The end sprint is by far my favorite part of racing. The problem is, saving up a little steam at the end for that kind of a finish… it doesn’t always work out as planned. I finished in 30:28 which was fine by me considering my previous day’s race disaster!

Jim ran down and gave me a high five, he was going to do anther lap and meet up with us around the time when Ed was finishing (like I said, he had the math down!)

After the race I was looking for the Medals that Jim said we get after this particular race… no dice.

I grabbed a water and headed to the finish to wait for the gang. Ed had not run a race in around 3-4 weeks (since the Grete’s Half Marathon) because his knee was being problematic, so I wasn’t sure at what time he would finish. He had said earlier that he was going to complete it, even if he had to crawl! Nice.

Around 54 minutes he came cruising through looking like everything was okay. He had said that it took 7 minutes to get to the start and sure enough his real time came back as 46:52! This is a record for him and not bad considering as he was coming off an injury. Amanda was right behind him with a time of 47:03.

Amanda, Jim, Ed and I shared some good stories about the race. In general, we were all pretty excited that we beat the guy in the banana suit. It was a great day for a run.

RACE REPORT: 022 Nike Human Race 10K: 43:16

Posted on October 24, 2009 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 2 Comments

Sex/ Age	Bib	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile
M31	216	43:15	6:59

The Nike Human Race’s concept is that everyone around the world runs together at the same time. Very conformist, but I like it.

Friday night I spent being a homebody. A few friends called and invited me out- but it sounded potentially dangerous. Dangerous, like, I would oversleep. Instead I decided to make some Shrimp Fra Di Avlo from scratch! My buddy Ahern has cooked it for me a few times and it really has some power in it the next day during a race… therefore it has become my ritual. It turned out really well and I saved enough to make some for Saturday night, as I had another race Sunday.

RACE DAY

The race started at 8AM in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I was to run it with my friend Soo Young, Soo Kueng (they are twins) and 3 of their friends. We had said that if it was raining we would bail.

I woke at 630AM and was pretty excited to maybe sleep in, so I texted Soo Young “It’s raining, guess its off.” She replied with something like “Really, you’re not running? We are leaving soon.” Damn. Last time I didnt run because of weather conditions I never heard the end of it, so I texted back “see you in 30!”

I jumped on the Q which was running very late, so late in fact that the 1 hour ten minutes I gave myself to get to the start would dwindle down to 5 minutes by the time I got to the race.

Sitting on the train headed to BK I could make out lots of other runners because we had to wear the stupid Nike dry fit shirts. (They never make them aerodynamic and it feels like youre running with a sail on). At Canal, this gal got on and sat next to me. She had on ‘the gear’ and I knew she was part of the movement. She kept glancing over at me and I took it to mean maybe she wasnt sure what stop we were to get off at. As Prospect Park approached she looked my way and said “Is this our stop?” “No, one more.” I told her. She smiled and said, “Youre Jeff Baker’s older brother arent you. I grew up in the same town in Virginia as you and went to your High School. My name is Amira.” Holy cow small world! I knew her brother! Gotta love NYC for stuff like that. We chatted and walked to the start, gathering her pal Alan along the way. I bid farewell and made my way to baggage drop.

As I got there I saw that it was mayhem! A school bus with crowds around it, you had to actually enter the bus to drop gear off. Do I wait? Just then the announcer says “2 minutes to the start!” Oh really? I ran (with my backpack) up to the 6 minute miler area and ducked into an area 50 yards back from the start. The gun went off right after and we started the run.

I was trying to break free of the crowds but I was way back in the thick of it all. It wasnt until mile 2 or 3 I was able to get some breathing room and open up.

This was my first ‘crappy’ race in a long time. Here is why… picture this… I have on an oversized red shirt, a backpack full of various items (extra sneakers, extra track pants, extra jacket, extra shirts, iphone, change) in case of rain? I also didn’t have time to change out of my track pants so I was wearing them, and underneath were my running shorts. I was a mess.

To shed some positive light on the situation, it turned out to be a beautiful morning in Prospect Park, the trees changing color… it was the epitomy of Autumn.

Miles 4 and 5 I had my usual “I should just walk the rest of the way” feeling I get during a bad run. I did not, however, succumb to these ideas. I finished the race with a sprint and as I neared the line I heard taunts from the announcer regarding me running with a backpack. Whatever… I love attention, anyway you cut it.

I walked up to the finish to wait for my friends. Soo Young and Saemi were first out of the group. This was Soo Young’s first official race and she did great! The other 3 gals met up with us then we went in search of food! We found a cute diner and had a fun breakfast together, parting ways after.

I attempted to enter the closest subway I could find to make my way back to Manhattan, BUT, all the subways were messed up today. So I had to walk 20 blocks to GAP (Grand Army Plaza)! Thank you iPhone for your guidance; Brooklyn, lets get it together will ya?

RACE REPORT: 021 Little Silver 5K: 17:40 – 3rd Place

Posted on October 11, 2009 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 4 Comments

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Gender Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile
M31	7	3	3	2	17:40	5:40

The Little Silver 5K Classic takes place in the Red Bank area of NJ. Mike (of the ‘Dad Posse’) and his family moved there recently and had invited us (‘Dad Posse’ and their respective families + baker) out for the race and a BBQ.

Ed was picking me up in the early afternoon Saturday to head out so I used the morning to go for a 30 mile bike ride around the city. It was a beautiful day and for once, i wasn’t anxious about leaving the city as I normally get, I was genuinely excited to get out for the weekend!

Ed and his wife Annelise picked me up around 3 to head south. I sat in the way back with their eldest son Jack, who is also a runner. We chatted about our race strategies for the next day, also having a deep discussion regarding LEGOS and which theme set was best. The younger two, Isabelle and Ben, were sound asleep for most of the trip.

Mike and Kara live on a very cute street with their two children Kelly and Kevin. As we pulled up, droves of neighborhood kids were running and playing in the yard. We exchanged ‘hellos’ and then immediately got a tour of the new house, which is quite a beautiful place. Jim and Lisa arrived shortly after with their two daughters Josephine and Elizabeth.

They have a big backyard with a deck (and had a cooler of Coronas), so we planted ourselves there. The kids were down in the basement playing and having a blast. All the kids range in age from 4 to 9 and I must say, are very well behaved and quite an adorable little bunch.

Mike and Kara have a fire-pit (which rules) so we helped all the kids make s’mores. After the kids ate, the adults sat down to an amazing meal prepared by Mike and Kara. Later in the night I found myself sitting at the kitchen bar with the guys as we ‘Carbo-loaded’ on beer for the race. SIDE NOTE: why is it at every gathering people always gravitate to the kitchen? I’ve seen this many a time. Around 1-1:30AM we decided it best to get some sleep.

RACE DAY

At 6AM the kids started stirring, and therefore so did we. We had coffee and a big breakfast spread of bagels, bananas, muffins and yes, my Chia Seeds. We got the kids ready, tagging them with their race numbers, and then heading out for the local High School.

It was brisk with a fall chill in the air. The first race was the kid’s 1 Mile. Jack and Kelly ran this one and did great! In fact they were probably top 10! We had 30 minutes before the 5K and we were all hanging out chatting. I spent most of the time fake ‘Star Wars’ fighting Ben (the 4 year old) which was a workout in itself.

By now it had warmed up to 60-65 degrees and the sun was out. Perfect running conditions. We all made our way to the start. Jim, Lisa, Annelise, Mike and myself were the adult runners. Ed still has a sore knee from the Half-Marathon the weekend prior so he sat this one out.

At the front of the pack I was hanging out with a group of 3, 6th graders who were really funny. Some jerk behind me told them “You kids better watch out, if you’re not fast you’ll get trampled.” They looked worried so I leaned in and said “Don’t listen to that fool, you will be totally fine!” I mean c’mon buddy, it’s a local race, not Olympic Time Trials.

As the gun went off I immediately jumped in behind a guy who I pegged for some serious competition. We were flying down the road, I was flanking him to his right side. This guy was very fast and had a serious stride. Nearing the first turn (the course was one big block, and ended on the track at the HS) he sped up and I thought “No way can I keep this up.” I backed off and caught my pace. As we took the turn I glanced to my left and saw that we had put some distance on the rest of the pack.

I ran the first mile at 5:24… whoa momma.

It was right around this time I heard footsteps coming from behind, coming fast. This kid in a Tri-suit passed me, blazing down the course. On the back stretch the lead man had 1 minute on me and then the 2nd guy had 30 seconds on me, a serious distance in a 5K. I always kept my eyes locked on the number 2 guy, pressing forward.

As we neared the High School I could hear cheering and got pumped! I was very tired and was seriously looking to end this race.

I hit the track and started around my final 300 meters, people screaming. I knew there was a guy behind me, but I wasn’t sure how far back. It was then, that a spectator yelled, “He is like 30 yards behind you, you got this!” I thought “Thank you helpful spectator.” As I took the top curve I could see him in my peripheral, I also knew, if he was going to make his move, it would be now. I picked my pace up to a sprint as I entered the straight away. To my right were all the kids… Jack, Kevin, Kelly, Ben, Elizabeth, Josephine and Isabelle (Kara and Ed too) yelling and cheering me on! I waved and got a burst of crowd energy, finishing in 17:40, a personal record.
I grabbed a water and headed up to the finish to cheer on the rest of the gang.

The first one we spotted was Mike. He cruised by in great form and also finished with a PR!
Next Annelise, Lisa and Jim came running around. They all made it in under 30:00 which was a PR for the gals. Jim had run a serious 20 miles the day before so he wasn’t out to set any land speed records.

After we finished there were lot of high fives and excitement. As they announced the winners I heard my name “Christopher Baker, hailing from New York City! Third Place overall!” They gave me a trophy and some gift certificates! SIDE NOTE: Why was this important to me? This was the first trophy I had ever won. To much disbelief, no, I had never run Track in High School, nor played on any sports teams. I was an artist (still am) and only in the last year or two have become interested in competing. Just ask my brothers… they will say something like ‘Yeah, he’s bad at sports’.

The younger kids had races after us. You have never seen anything cuter than 25, 4 year olds running a 50 yard dash with smiles on their faces! All of them ran in their respective age groups. Jack really did well in the 220, which is 1/2 of a lap. I think he came in second or third and was really cooking! He has real potential to be a serious runner as he gets older! In fact, all the kids looked really good out there so we might have a young running team on our hands. All the kids get medals and a cookie (I unfortunately, did not get a cookie).

What was so great about this dynamic was that all of us were feeding off of each others accomplishments. The adults ch
eering the kids and vice versa. No 1 race took precedence over another, all were of importance. Everyone came out feeling great and having a really fun time. Its so crucial to have a group of people that supports you, especially in a competitive environment like that.

Before leaving, we spent the early part of the afternoon at Mike and Kara’s having a delicious lunch (I had Kara’s chili which was superb!) and playing in the backyard with the kids. Thanks for having us over Mike and Kara!

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