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RACE REPORT: 119 Timberman – 5:26:14

Posted on August 24, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Triathlon 2 Comments

I realized on the Friday night before Timberman while packing that… I LOVE packing for triathlons! You put all the run stuff here and then all the bike stuff goes there, it’s all quite simple.

I was very excited for Timberman as the swim is in Lake Winnipesaukee, a crystal clear body of water 5 hours north of here. I am used to racing in dirty Hudson River-esque places, so this was going to be a treat!

Dougie popped over at 7AM Saturday, we loaded the gear and blasted out of the city error free. We had a fun road trip up to New Hampshire, stopping at Breugers Bagels and communicating with Van2 (Kate, Allison, Tara and Ryan) who were an hour behind us… slackers!

We arrived 5 hours later, grabbed our bibs and then headed over to bike check-in at the lake. We quickly set up our gear then high tailed it back to the car as we wanted to go for a swim in the lake. It was hot as hell and the clear water in the afternoon looked so inviting.

I could see all the way to the bottom as I swam out. It was great! There were buoys already set up and I said to Doug, “This does not look like it s that far at all.” ‘Of course not Baker you fool, that is the Sprint course from earlier in the day’ is what I would tell myself in the morning as I saw the real course markers. Dougie and I got in a solid 800 meters before calling it a day.

Van2 had just arrived. So had a crazy thunderstorm. They ran their bikes over to transition and then we all high tailed it outta there toward dinner.

We had reservations at CC Tomatoes down by Concord. Dougie and I got there an hour before Van2 and so we posted up at the bar for a few beers. It was a local italian restaurant where everyone knew each other. I immediately loved it. Cassie the bartender served us up some drinks and then the guy next to us, Tim, swung around asking where we were from. Clearly we stood out.

We hung out with Tim for the next hour discussing the area we were racing in, which happened to be where he grew up. We chatted about local ski resorts and hiking, it was great. The girls and Ryan showed up and we introduced them to our new friend Tim before sitting to eat. As we walked away Tim said farewell and noted that the Lobster Fettuccine was awesome. Sold.

We carbed up with salads and pasta chatting about race strategy. It was Kate, Allison and Tara’s first Half Ironman. I was excited for them, although we all knew conditions were going to be rough with the heat wave that was in place.

I asked for the check as it was getting late and our server noted that a man at the bar had already paid it! Dougie and I looked at each other and simultaneously said “Tim!” I tried to catch him as he ran out the door. I yelled, “Tim, did you buy us dinner?” He smiled, “Maybe. Have a great race tomorrow!” and with that he was gone. Thanks Tim, where ever you are. You restored a few city slickers faith in humanity.

RACE DAY

Up at the lovely hour of 4:45 and on the road by 5. It’s always weird going to bed and waking up when it is dark out. We had learned that Van2 woke up at 3, drove to transition and were sleeping in the car.

Dougie and I are both All World Athletes this year so our bike rack was right next to the Pros. It was kind of cool and intimidating at the same time as things were a touch more ‘serious’ by us.

We found Tara, Allison and Kate after they had set up transition and we all headed over to the lake to watch the wave starts. We had to race too, so that would be a good place to hang.

It was an absolutely gorgeous sunrise on the lake. It was a bit of a double edged sword though… with the beautiful sun comes heat.

We sent off Kate and then as our wave was getting ready bid farewell to Allison and Tara. Time for battle.

As Dougie and I waded into the water I broke my very own rule. I normally suggest to weaker swimmers to hang back and on one of the flanks. I was so excited to be in this damn lake that I got right in front. I was even jumping around a bit to the music playing. I may as well have been at a concert. The surrounding competitors were not feeling my vibe with their serious faces on.

The gun went off and I went out hard. I have done this enough that fear of getting punched or kicked doesn’t register, it has just become normal. It’s like the subway at rush hour, but in water.

I think around 500 meters in I had trouble breathing. I was having a bit of a panic attack I think. It’s happened to me once before on an open water swim in the middle of the Hudson river and it’s not a good time. I started breast stroking and thinking that this was the end of my race, game over. I even looked back to see what my exit strategy would be. Who am I? This is not me.

I stopped and was just bobbing around. It’s an interesting experience to just stop in the middle of the swim, the sound of others rushing past quietly. A voice called out to me. It was a woman in a kayak 10 feet away. “Hi. Are you okay? You are allowed to hang onto my kayak for a minute if you need to.” I swam over feeling very defeated and hung onto the front with one hand. “I don’t know what’s going on, I have done this many times.” I reassured her. “This is a very daunting task. You are also breathing very fast, slow your breathing down okay?” She was right. I slowed my breathing down and just chilled for a minute taking it all in. I looked off toward the distant turn buoy in the middle of the lake then back at her. “Thank you very much for all of your help miss.” and with that I plunged back into the soup and swam off, feeling normal.

Back in the groove I was swimming with ease and really enjoying myself wondering how I let it get so out of hand earlier. I focused on my form and plugged away. I got bopped in the face a few times and of course people were tickling my feet, but thats standard practice. As I rounded the final turn buoy I noticed how not tired I was and thought about all the open water lake swims we had been doing at Aunt Margie and Uncle John’s house. It was really paying off.

I exited the swim with excitement and ran over to one of the many wetsuit strippers. I love wetsuit strippers, mainly because they knock 1 minute off my T1 time.

My bike was one of the only ones left on the All World Athlete rack which made me think ‘Womp womp’ in my head. No matter… we will just play a game called catch up.

I jump on my ride and noticed that my legs were totally ready to ride immediately. I put my head down and started digging in. It was gorgeous out with a bit of a breeze, a breeze that would turn into ‘wind’ on the return trip but for now, it was at our back.

Around mile 5 I caught up to Kate and chilled with her for a second asking how she was doing. All was well so I hit the road, pressing forward steadily.

At mile 10 I caught up to Dougie and we rode together for the next 5-10 miles chatting away. We were moving at a good clip and passing people. We had to climb this monster hill. While doing so the Pros were ripping back down the hill on the return ride. It was awesome seeing bikes move that fast and I looked forward to dropping it down once I was on that hill.

At some point I lost Dougie and was just movin’ along. I played leapfrog with this Canadian gal Caron Pare for most of the ride. I was also moving a a very quick pace, averaging 24mph.

Mile 20 hit and I decided to have a bite of my Clif Bar. I needed the solids.

Mile 25 hit and I realized I had dropped my only Clif Bar.

It didn’t matter. I felt great and was crushing it. I had enough EFS formula and a few Gus to propel me home. What I didn’t know was that as we made the turn around we were confronted with a headwind. I hate wind. You can’t see it. It’s like an invisible foe pushing you here and there, mocking you.

The miles clicked by. I saw Allison on the other side of the road making her way to the turnaround and so I yelled hello to her. My inspiration was the big hill. Get to the big hill.

And the big hill came. I was going 6mph when I was climbing the hill, now I was rocketing like a bat out of hell topping out at 47.5mph on the descent! I honestly don’t know if I have ever gone that fast on a bike before, it was sick. I had no idea of my speed at the time because to look down at my Garmin would most likely mean a fiery death. I just tucked in and let me legs rest… I may have even been maniacally laughing.

Coming out of warp speed, I still had a solid 30 minutes of riding left. Our A Race is Ironman Louisville so heart rate training has been in full effect. I felt really great at this point in the race and I have no doubt in my mind that it is due to that style of training.

As we approached T2 I saw people out on the run course and got jazzed up.

A quick shoe swap, smear myself with 50SPF sunblock, grab my visor and I was off to the run.

The run course is a double out-n-back. I was looking forward to seeing the crew… a lot of times. I felt pretty good going into it. The legs were moving and I had some energy and I was focused on getting my HR to equalize.

Did I mention that it was crazy hot out? Why was it that all 3 triathlons I was racing this year were like 90+ degrees out? I mentally decided that I was going to stop at every aid station and pour water on my head. At the time, it seemed like a good idea. Looking back, once I had seen my final time I would wish that I had given it a bit more push.

The rolling hills and shade didn’t bother me too much until we got toward the turnaround and had to deal with the half mile on open highway. It was horrible. All I could think about was having to do it 3 more times.

We hit the return and I blasted forward, excited to see my friends.

I saw Dougie and shortly after Allison, who was having a great race.

The turnaround by the Finish is a bit of a mindfuck as you run right past the end, but you have to do another loop! The ‘good’ thing about having to do another loop is that you know the course. I blasted forward, the only dread in my head was the highway scene that was to take place at mile 10.

I was Dougie again, followed by Allison followed by Tara followed by Kate who yelled, “I’m confused why did I see Allison and now you?” Clearly Kate wasn’t aware of the ‘2 loops’.

I was still hosing myself down with water at every chance I had. Once more Dougie passed by followed by Allison at which point I yelled to her “Kate is confused at the 2 loop curse. Help her?”

At this stage in the game one of us were thinking straight.

I had also caught up to my friend Caron Pare (remember her from the bike?) and gave a peace sign as I passed.

I finished the race with a good punch but knew my time was sub par. I was happy for my bike splits though and the idea of just finishing the race. What if I had stopped on the swim?

Sex/ Age	Age Place	Overall Place	Swim 1.2M	T1	Bike 56M	T2	Run 13.1M	Total Time
M37	59	403	44:25	2:25	2:47:01	2:34	1:49:49	5:26:14

I went to the food tent after and waited for Dougie. We ate some real crap pizza and then went to change and wait for the gals. They all finished with glorious first time Half Ironman times and should be proud of themselves. It’s always a battle and never easy.

Doug and I hung out in the parking lot drinking beers, reflecting on our race. The gals and Ryan eventually found us and did the same. We all laughed and basked in our own personal glory as the summer sun set on the lake. It was perfect.

—

This is a race I will do again. The course and the people rock.

This race also goes to show you that no matter how many times you do something you can always get thrown a curve ball. Were it not for my guardian angel in the kayak would I have finished this race?

I tell my athletes this all the time, stick to the plan. Something one of my mentors taught me years ago. I diverted from my plan and went out hard, almost costing me a DNF. Stick to the plan.

Tim of ‘Tim’berman. You are the man and thank you for buying us dinner. You have restored our faith in humanity.

To the gals of GCR… nice work. You even made it into the race report.

RACE REPORT: 117 NYC TRI – 2:22:38

Posted on August 5, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Triathlon 2 Comments

My favorite triathlon happens to be the NYC Triathlon. It is a hometown race, it is a short distance and the course is fast (and can be furious). 2015 marks my fourth year attending and I feel like I know the ins-and-outs of the race like the back of my hand.

I am currently training for a Full Distance (Ironman) race and so my training has been focused in that direction. I had no goals for this race except to have fun and give it my all.

—

I went to the Expo to check in on Friday during work. There, I met up with Amy and Joe, two athletes I coach who are some serious competition. We had a few chuckles during the race briefing as the Fox 5 News gals gave us race tips.

We ran into Juan and Elizabeth in the expo as well. Such a love fest these triathlons are!

The next day I went to rack my bike in transition and noticed how incredibly hot it was. I think it is always hellish during this race. Thank god it is only an Olympic distance. This year, just like the last 2, I decided to leave all my crap in Transition on Saturday rather than wake up at 4AM. Like I said, knowing the race means I get that extra few hours to chill and drink coffee, watch the news and play with my adorable dog-like cat George. (instagram.com/toosexyformyfur) Follow him, I dare you.

Dougie’s son Doug (16) was having his birthday party at Carmines that night. He invited a select few to the event. In attendance was Dougie, Danika, Doug, Hailey, Madison, Susan, Eric, Joe and his son, Abbe and myself. I had dared Doug Jr. that he couldn’t eat a whole serving of Carmine’s family style bolognase, a daunting task. There was cash on the line, so Doug Jr. had his game face on. We started immediately, confusing the waiter when he asked what kind of water we wanted and we instead ordered one family order of bolognase.

I would like to tell you that Doug Jr. fought the good fight and came out victorious, but in the end the pasta got the better of him. Seeing as how he ate 90% of the meal I awarded him half of his total prize money. Nice job Doug on a well fought fight!

The rest of us racing the next day (Dougie, Susan and myself) were well fueled on pasta and ready to rock the next day.

RACE DAY

I awoke feeling fresh and spry at 5:45AM on race day. I made myself some coffee and relaxed for a bit, watch online as the professionals took off. I left the apartment to catch a quick cab west at 6:15 and by 6:30 I had linked up with Dougie at our meeting point. It was all very military and all very carefree simultaneously. One of my giant water bottles was filled with Cafe Bustelo.

We wandered along the North River and it’s lines of excited triathletes. I ran into my friend Ben there and passed another pal Elik before we found Joe and Colman on a bench. We four pondered the race and the impending hot weather that was to strike us down on the run. It looked to be bad.

As time started to catch up with us we all parted ways. “See you boys on the other side.”

In my corral I noticed the usual bits of horrifying debris in the water floating around. The current was on it’s way to becoming a slack tide at this point as the race was delayed. The thought of jumping into the Hudson no longer scares me, in fact it thrills me as if I were jumping into the community pool on a hot summer day. The march of the penguins had begun as we made our way to the start platform. I tried to put a few guys at ease that were around me asking questions. I would like to think I helped them.

As I entered the soup I simply dug in and started swimming. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was happy to be alive, splashing around and enjoying the mayhem.

The river was choppy, it was murky and I tried to not drink it. My form was good and I did not stop at all… just a simple morning dip in the mighty North River. I emerged 24 minutes later (my slowest time to date by 6 minutes) and ran off towards T1.

Running along the river towards my bike (which I had not seen since the day before) I wondered what state it would be in. Flat tires, missing and not there at all, maybe a new paint job? She was there ready to rock without any issues. I geared up and we took off. I saw Dougie exiting the swim maybe 5 minutes behind me as I blasted up the ‘steep hill’ onto the Henry Hudson Parkway.

I had decided to do the race naked (without a Garmin) and so once on the open road I just dropped the hammer. I felt great, the sun was shining and I was in a groove, flowing north.

It took three miles before the burning in my quads subsided and I could actively pursue and pass people. With no fear holding me back and nothing to lose I just barreled forward, trying to push my own boundaries. The course is comprised of rolling hills, some rather large where speeds can top out. I just did what I do best, rocket downhill and meticulously move uphill focused on easy cadence and relaxed breathing. It was truly a blast.

It is a very congested course and I was excited to hit the turnaround point without injury or error.

On the return I really let it rip, not caring if I had enough in me for the run, but somehow knowing I would get the run done no matter what. This is when using ‘heart’ over Garmin data really makes a difference. Data tells you that you can’t, your heart tells you otherwise.

With 8 miles to go someone was alongside of me that I recognized! It was Dave from Episode 035 and 109, he knew me from Burrito Races and he helped me fix a flat in Princeton. We chatted for a bit, he let me know that the guy up ahead of us was a jerk, drafting him illegally.

With 2-3 miles to go and not many people on the road heading out on the bike Dougie passed me and yelled hello. Strange indeed. I quickly deducted one of two things… mechanical issues with the bike or he drank too much of the Hudson and had a quick stomach pump. Either way, he had lost an hour and yet, he seemed in good spirits.

I ripped into T2 and flipped on my sneaks. The first half a mile or so is a narrow path that ends in a quick switchback. After we were through there the all familiar 72nd Street presented itself. I heard my name almost immediately and saw Abbe, Danika, Hailey, Madison and Eric cheering me. Hailey and Madison had made me a very cool sign.

As I waved to them I passed a guy who yelled “Hey Baker, you’re killing it!” It was my old friend Jim from Ironman NYC! I wished him well and proceeded.

Shortly after I saw the Gotham City Runners banner and the crew cheering me on!

Entering the Park I could feel my pace quickening, this was good. (Remember, I don’t have a Garmin on.) I was very disappointed to not see Matt6 at the first aid station passing out Gu as he has been in the 3 years past. Matt, hello? Where were you? I didn’t even take a Gu.

I plodded along and saw Joe. He and I both agreed it was a brutally hot day and it was killin our speed and morale.

A little while later I passed Colman on Harlem Hill. “Beers at Amsterdam Ale House!” I yelled.

On the final 2-3 miles down the East Side I felt great and held it together. Nothing to report other than I ran through a bunch of course sprinklers and loved every moment.

On the final approach I saw Abbe yelling at me and taking pictures. I gunned it.

Sex/ Age	Age Place	Overall Place	Swim 1.5K	T1	Bike 40K	T2	Run 10K	Total Time
M37	22	166	22:18	4:40	1:10:30	2:02	43:10	2:22:39

This was not my best NYC TRI time by far. I think we lost the current with the delayed start. I am happy about the race though. Getting to see friends and athlete’s that I coach out there makes this such a great sport to be a part of.

Doug eventually finished with a smile. He had a double flat right out of the gate and only one tube.

We (Abbe, Danika, Dougie, Hailey, Madison, Susan, Eric, Amy, Joe, Stuart and his girlfriend) all hit Amsterdam Ale House for some well deserved celebrating.

Congrats to everyone who finished, especially my group…Dougie, Joe, Amy, Colman and Rachel!

RACE REPORT: 116 Challenge AC Half Ironman – 5:27:58

Posted on July 8, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Triathlon 2 Comments

Remember that time I wanted to PR the Paris Marathon and dropped all triathlete knick-knacky stuff to focus on only running? Yes, well the Challenge AC Half Ironman crept up very quickly after. With 3 long rides in the realm of 40-45 miles and one swim since my honeymoon in October it was sure to be pretty. At least my run game was on point… or so it would seem.

Some exciting things I had going for me aside from ‘me’ though were that one of my athlete’s ‘The Cardiac Crusher’ had been destroying his training regimen in a good way and was set up for a good race. Another privilege I had was the possibility of sending another one of my athletes into Ironman status. It was an exciting weekend.

Dougie D picked me up early Saturday and we made our way south towards AC. The gals (my wife Abbe, his soon to be wife Danika and a rogue Russian/Serbian named Bojana wanted in Macedonia for espionage) were already there trying to take advantage of a beach weekend. It was a flawless entry and approach into Atlantic City. I had never been there and immediately noticed a lot of junkies and strange folk milling about. What was this strange land?

Bally’s was the host hotel of the race and that was where we were staying. The ratio of people racing to people in town to gamble and stay up all night was 1 to 50 without exaggerating. I felt like I was in the movie Casino, patterned carpet, mirrored ceilings, the smell of stale smoke everywhere and pings and pongs, bleeps and bloops sounding off in the distant casino floor. I questioned everything.

It was very easy to check into the race and get all our gear. We then met the gals (plus our friend Brian, an Irish guy dating the Serbian) and headed to an Irish Pub that was supposed to be cool. By now the weather was taking a turn for the worse. It would soon get very worse.

We had some lunch, a few beers and then tried to formulate a game plan. That game plan included Doug and I running the 1/2 mile from the Irish Pub to Ballys in a downpour. We grabbed the car and picked up Abbe and Danika who would help guard the car while we dropped off gear in transition.

Have you ever seen The Wizard of Oz? Of course you have, it’s the oldest color movie. Imagine transition like that. Not flying monkeys or a witch but crazy 30 mile per hour winds, torrential rain with port-o-johns flying around. Doug and I were yelling to each other just like Marty and Doc in the final scene of Back to the Future, “Dougie! Lash the bike to the bar with the bungee cord!” “What?” it was so windy we couldn’t hear each other. We just bungee corded our bikes to the transition bars, threw some bags on the seat and handle bars and rolled out, soaked to the bone. I even had my new Brooks/Gotham City Runners rain/windbreaker which should actually just be renamed windbreaker.

Dinner was at Carmine’s, the AC version. Good news though, the bolognese tastes just like the Manhattan version, which rocks! We pigged out. Seriously, I could not eat anymore but I wanted to.

We were in bed by 9:30 or so, not bad at all.

RACE DAY

I often tell people that I only need 6 hours of sleep nightly. Sometimes I jinx myself, like on this night where I woke up at 3:30 on the dot wide awake and ready to roll. We were going to wake up at 4:30 so I just tried and tried to sleep just a few more minutes to no avail.

Doug and I were quietly (at least we thought) moving about the dark room gathering our triathlete belongings. We put on the arm marker tattoos which would later pose an issue as they never come off. I even used Goof Off, on my arm! Ironman brand ones come off a lot easier, what’s the deal Challenge Family? We left the hotel room at 5 on the dot and guess what, the casino and bar were bumping as if it were happy hour on a Friday! Then again if we went up to any of those fools and told them what was about to go down they would probably say we were the crazy ones. Touché pussycat.

We had 10 minutes to spare in transition. I have done this enough that it’s like making my bed. I am not saying this to sound arrogant, I am just saying that in triathlon experience is a big part of the game.

I was cracking up as the guy across from me was confused as I was hosing my neck, shoulders and ankles down with Vaseline.

We rolled over to the swim start as they were announcing things and prepping the crowd. I was looking for David (first time Ironman) and Joe. We found Joe and settled in. My friend Elik came over at some point and was confused as he knew Joe and I but didn’t know that Joe and I had known each other or that I was now coaching Joe. He also knew David which further blew him away. Triathlon is a tight community and that’s why I like it!

I looked up and said to the guys, “It’s going to get sunny” in a half excited half scared tone. With a shrug of our shoulders we gave each other fist bumps as our final water entry was announced. March of the Penguins had begun.

It was time trial single file water entry which has it’s pros and cons. Pros… you aren’t getting your ass kicked in the soup. Con… you have no idea who was in front or behind you once the bike and run starts.

I gave a fist bump to Steve, the race director, and then jumped in holding my goggles to my eyes Navy Seal style. It was go time.

The water was salty and the perfect temperature for wetsuit swimming. I calmly began my race, focused on my form and every stroke. I was really enjoying myself. I had on a brand new wetsuit, my goggles were locked in place and I just plugged along doing my thing. It was a right to left loop and for the most part was a pretty mild swim. As I neared the last turn buoys I just didn’t feel right. My sighting was throwing them in different directions and I felt like I was making zero progress. Finally, at the last turn as I made my way toward the homestretch I popped out of the water (something I never do but I was curious) and was pushed back quickly. Ah ha! We were indeed swimming against the tide. I was immediately overwhelmed with anger. “This is bullshit.” Then I thought to myself, “No, it’s not. If this shit were easy everyone would do it.” I pushed real hard, fighting the current and eventually made it to the dock. It was my worst 1.2 mile swim to date (48 minutes), but only by 2-3 minutes.

I passed numerous people walking towards T1. My heart was revving up, I was pumped. I got my wetsuit off, threw all my bike gear on and blasted out of T1. As I mounted I noticed it was raining! What? We also had to ride over these crazy ass carpets protecting us from what I could only guess what was quicksand.

Out on the highway making my way to Jersey the rain wasn’t quite blinding, but it was getting close. The 30 mph headwinds that would haunt us all day were not helping my mentality either. I was pretty bummed about my poor swim time.

We quickly made a few lefts and rights and were all of sudden in rural New Jersey, not far from where I spent the first 9 years of my life in fact. As we barreled down this straightaway I remember seeing dark storm clouds coming at me. It was very ‘movie like’ and I just said to myself, “Lets go into this storm and see if we come out.” I mean, there was no visible lightening so it wasn’t a tall order.

At some point early I looked down and realized my timing chip had fallen off my leg. Most likely this happened while I was pissed in T1 taking off my wetsuit. Whatever.

I was holding down a solid 20 mph average pace, yet I wasn’t happy. I was in pain, the stupid ref motorcycle was up in my grill for like 10 miles and it was raining. As mile 25 rolled around my sunglasses cleared up, the clouds dissipated and the sun reared it’s face. Good? For now. Everything clicked in and I started blazing the second half with no pain. I was passing people liberally and really feeling like a biker. The guys I was riding alongside were great (for once) and we played leapfrog for awhile.

Getting close to T2 I noticed that I hit 56 miles (the bike course distance) way prior to T2. When I would finish it would be 58 miles. Strange and not cool.

Finishing the bike portion of the race I had a lot more steam in me then I realized. This is good. I also realized that the sun was blazing and this 13 mile run was not going to be pretty. Let the battle begin.

Pulling into T2 was great as I got to see Doug and Joe (one lane apart) prepping for the run. The three of us exchanging silly banter as we geared up, it was like homecoming for triathletes. They took off a minute ahead of me. I made sure to try and lather up in sunscreen, although I don’t think it was very effective.

I felt great leaving transition. I started off with a 7 minute pace, knowing it was soon to fade in the ungodly sun. We hit that boardwalk and went south and I thought to myself, “How the hell are we going to survive this with the heat?” Aside from the heat being bad, no one in the immediate 20 miles of AC had any idea there was a race going on. That means that as we ran all along the AC boardwalk no one knew or cared that some serious racing was going down.

Approaching the crux of the Atlantic City Boardwalk was quite an ordeal. Smells of cigarettes, fried food and disappointment wafting your way as you try and tough out the 80 degree shade free course. As you navigated all the clueless people you wondered why this location was chosen as a race destination. I thought of my athlete David and got very worried and upset knowing he would have to deal with this hours later… more crowded and his mind in not such a forgiving place.

I can’t even tell you how many times I ran out-and-back. It was exhausting. Making my way north for the first time I saw Abbe and Danika. Abbe was yelling, “Hi Husband!” I pulled over, gave each gal a kiss. Bojana was at a neighboring restaurant and asked if I needed water. “Um, Yes” I grabbed some and asked how their morning was before taking off. There was laughter and then there was me, Baker, speeding off. At mile 6 I really thought about stopping. It was stupid hot out with limited aid stations. I kept going.

I saw Doug every now and again as we passed each other on the numerously ridiculous out-and-backs and we would high five. It was the worst course I could remember in recent times and the aid stations were so spread out you could die of dehydration or motivation between. I fought to hang on, going for aid-station-to-aid-station mentality. I also thought about how ridiculously horrible the run course was for the full distance athletes.

I made many a friend running that course. Everyone was way cool which I expected at a triathlon, it helped my motivation. At one point I passed a guy and said hello, mentioning the tough conditions. He said, “Hey man, mind if you pull me along, I could use it.” Smiling and replying “Hell no man, let’s go.” He hung on for awhile. We chatted, he was from Colorado Springs. He knew my old team, Kompetitive Edge as well. At another point I gave a shout out to a guy who was biking the entire course with me prior to the run. We had been playing leap frog all day.

I soon came back around passing Abbe again who had a bottle of water. “Hi husband, do you want more water?” Um, no brainer. Even if they disqualified me for ‘outside help’ this was not going to be a PR day. As I grabbed the water I looked left at the woman I had been running along side and we chuckled together. I took a big sip and then hosed myself down. The bottle was still half full so I offered it to my friend. She took it and repeated my maneuver.

This was the final out-and-back and I was catching up to Doug. As I approached the 11 mile turn around I saw him heading back toward the finish. I took my time at the aid station, pouring water on my head, drinking my flat coke and thanking volunteers before setting off.

Dougie had a 1 minute lead on me and I thought, “How cool would it be if I caught him and we finished together!” Mission set, lock and deploy.

With 800 meters to go I rolled up behind him and said, “Can you smell the beer?!” We slogged out the last section in probably our fastest pace of the day. We finished and made some faces which at the time we thought were bad ass. You decide. We kinda just look beat up.

Sex/ Age	Age Place	Overall Place	Swim 1.2M	T1	Bike 56M	T2	Run 13.1M	Total Time
M37	30	130	48:53	2:57	2:51:07	2:44	1:41:35	5:27:58

Abbe, Danika, Bojana and Brian were there right at the finish to greet us. After cooling off we made our way to a local hang out for food and beer. We were pretty spaced out/banged up until the solid food started processing into energy.

We found Joe soon after and yes, he had PR’d by 4 minutes and broken the 6 hour mark! We went to Transition, collected our things and had a few more beers at Ballys before taking off. I wanted to stick around to see David finish the full, but at this point that looked to be 4-5 hours from the current time.

We arrived back in mighty Manhattan in time for a late dinner and some much needed sleep.

—

The course was not my favorite, it down poured, it was hot and sunny, I had zero training going into it and AC is weird. But, the rave staff and volunteers were amazing. To be out and about in the rain and heat is true dedication, thank you.

Big ups to Joe, who I knew had it in him to break 6, and pulled it off like a boss.

Big congrats to David, who is now officially an Ironman after completing the full course just over 14 hours!

You both are prime examples of ideal athletes to coach. I dish out the punishing work and you execute with no questions asked. Thanks guys, you make me a proud coach!

RACE REPORT: 115 Brooklyn Half Marathon – 1:22:04

Posted on May 20, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 1 Comment

The title of my story shall be “It’s a Family Affair” for a number of reasons, mainly that 7 of my family members were running the race. There were also countless others running, not related to my blood line, that I would consider family.

The night before the race was quiet and calculated. Abbe made a delicious pasta that incorporated shrimp, a key requisite for my pre race fueling.

RACE DAY

Abbe woke up at 4:30, but I opted for another 30 minutes of slumber. I only needed 30 minutes flat to drink some coffee, dress and depart. We left at 5:30, caught a cab and picked up my brother Jeff a few minutes away before heading to the borough known as Brooklyn, or as I often think ‘Breuckelen’ the original town in the Netherlands it is named for. We were right on time.

We arrived at Grand Army Plaza around 6:10 and had 30 minutes to get to our corrals, piece of cake.

Security was a breeze and we soon met up with Dougie and Danika followed by Josh, Allison, Randi and Amy of Gotham City Runner fame. We all soon departed for corrals as the start time neared.

Josh, Leslie, Sam, Evan, Riley and I were all kind of intermingling and waiting for the gun to go off. We would all finish the race within a few minutes of each other, something I hadn’t experienced in a race before.

As the gun went off the six of us (plus many more runners) took off with Evan in the lead. We had a little bit of fun banter the first mile or two, but it soon tapered off as we all individually began to focus.

I had broken the course up into three parts…

Sector I: 5K straightaways at the start

Sector II: 5K Prospect Park (hilly)

Sector III: 10K Ocean Parkway straightaway to Coney

I hit the first part in 6:12, 6:09 and 5:57.

As we entered Sector II, Prospect Park as some would call it, we were more or less in single file race formation hitting the tangents. I still felt great but felt as if I could have pushed it more. I think being specifically trained for a marathon and not a half marathon slowed me down ever so slightly. Evan was out of sight by now and Josh was 20 seconds in the distance plugging along at a similar pace. As a team we looked pretty legit, especially with our new singlets.

Leslie and I in step, synchronized running is a thing.

The miles in Prospect Park were run in 6:17, 6:26, 6:23, 5:58. Now it was time for the ever boring Ocean Parkway straightaway.

As we exited the park I saw Aunt Margie cruising into the park and we gave a shout to each other. What are the odds of that happening!?

Thanks Ben Ko for the photos!

Still feeling good I knew that I had to hold it together for the last 10K and keep the pace steady. I grabbed a Gu at mile 8 and unfortunately got some kind of bullshit Orange flavor. I like Gu’s flavored like candy… Espresso Love, Vanilla Bean, Salted Caramel, Chocolate anything, not fruit flavors. I guess it helped.

Leslie was passing me now and I yelled over, “Go get Josh!” to which she responded, “Yea it’s been pissing me off, I’m going to catch him dammit.” Josh and Leslie are husband and wife for those of you curious about the household rivalry.

8, 9 and 10 were hit at 6:12, 6:20 and 6:21. I wasn’t on pace to PR, but it was looking like a good race in general.

At Mile 11 I saw Josh stretching and yelled if he was okay. He was having some glute issues but jumped back in behind me, determined. I thought I could help, “I will pull Josh along to the finish.” Whether that’s what he was thinking I have no idea, but we were making steady ground together and were passing many people. I felt like we were two fighter planes.

Josh and I headed to victory.

I saw my coworker Melissa at mile 12 cheering (her brother was running) and she snapped a few good pics of us.

GCR bitches. Move over.

We powered into the finish where I saw my sister-in-law Ali cheering, and finished in a 1:22:04.

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M37	202	237	27	1:22:04	6:16	73.49%

Evan, Josh and I all met up right at the end and had finished in a two minute span, Evan taking the team win. The skies looked ominous so I headed right to Peggy O’Neils, the after party location, to take shelter. Once there I grabbed one of the few picnic tables available and waited for the gang to roll in.

The Brooklyn Half may be a boring course, but it makes up for it with the best after party in NYC. At Peggy O’Neils all of the local teams gather and start drinking immediately. There are open barbeque pits and a live band, not to mention the local NYC running family holding it down. I saw all of my friends there and we all melded into one giant running community no matter what team affiliation.

You know how we do.

One-by-one my family members and my team members streamed in, needing beer and in some rare cases water. My Aunt Margie, Charla, cousins Tommy, Phyllis, Gillian, and Cat, brother Jeff and my wife Abbe (friends Dougie and Danika) all finished in pretty amazing times! The Gotham City Runner crew also all finished with some pretty sick times. What else can you do after that but celebrate your accomplishments.

As the day wore on we got very hungry. There is this place Dougie and I go to down on Brighton Beach after open water swims (my athletes take note) where we get awesome Russian food. We decided to head there. After some solid nourishment our camp deiced it best to head back to mighty Manhattan.

—

It really makes me proud to say that a large number of my family ran this race. I have been bragging about all of them to anyone that asks me about the Brooklyn Half. I respect each and every one of you for your accomplishment. I wouldn’t choose any other family but ours if I had a choice.

Speaking of family, I am also so proud to be a part of the Gotham City Runners AND the larger NYC running community. I have so many friends on so many teams and you are all ridiculously great. The Runner Army is real.

To my athletes who ran this race (you know who you are), you killed it. You are all limitless.

RACE REPORT: 114 NJ Half Marathon – 1:43:25

Posted on May 17, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running Leave a comment

Why run a Half Marathon 2 weeks after Paris? Because the ‘Dad Posse’ and I do it as a tradition, that’s why. Spoiler alert: Ed couldn’t make it.

Jim and I set off from mighty Manhattan on Saturday afternoon. The weather was perfect.

We met Mike (and his son Kevin, who is also quite an athlete) at the Expo before heading to Val’s in Rumson for some post race nutrients. This place was awesome. Old school family restaurant… you know, the kind of place where you get a starter salad automatically with your main entreé.

The rest of the night was spent in Mike’s backyard drinking a few beers in front of the fire pit. Perfection.

RACE DAY

Mike’s wife Kara dropped us off a few blocks from the start. It was a bit chilly, but would warm up during the race no doubt.

I met Abbe and my cousin Gillian at the start (they were spectating) to say hello. Then, I ran into Aunt Margie, Charla, and Lindsey who were all running. Aunt Margie was doing the full, so she had her game face on.

In my corral I of course ran into my teammates. We were all chatting about goal times when someone asked me mine. “I have no goal, just here to run.” Hearing that, my friend Hannah asked if I would pace her. She was running the full and needed to hold 8’s. I told her no problem.

The gun went off and the team surged.

We saw Abbe and Gillian at Mile 2 and they looked very puzzled as they had no idea I was pacing Hannah.

We were nailing our splits. 7:55’s to 8 flat the whole time. I was having a good time pushing Hannah and helping her where I could. I was trying to hit the tangents as precisely as possible so I was instructing her as to when to move left or right.

At mile 11 we picked up Kate who would pace Hannah the rest of the way through her full marathon. I hung with them until the half marathon turn off, wishing them well.

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M37	4451	327	38	1:43:25	8:01	61.00%

After the finish we headed over to a tiki bar that was 200M before the finish line. It was a perfect place to watch all our friends come through. There were a number of Gotham City Runners hanging with us as well.

Mike and Kara had us over for a quick bbq before we all headed back towards the city. It was a great weekend! Thanks to the Farley’s for hosting!

Big ups to my Aunt Margie who rocked a 4:19 marathon!

Training for Paris

Posted on April 29, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Running 3 Comments

No, this post is not about how to eat enough cheese and foie gras to prepare you for a trip to France.

People have been asking me about my training going into Paris, so this is a brief overview of what I focused on. Before we do that though, I think it is important to discuss what I did for training in the past because I made some dramatic changes.

For the past 11 marathons (not triathlons) my training was as follows:

Tuesday: Speedwork
Thursday: Tempo run
Sunday: Long run

Did it work? Yes. I love the science aspect of sports though and thought it would be interesting to freak it and do something radically different.

I decided to run 6 days a week and focus on volume. I would stop swimming and biking altogether and become a focused ‘runner.’ The schedule I built was a modified Higdon plan.

Monday: 4 Miles
Tuesday: 5-6 Miles
Wednesday: 4 Miles
Thursday: 4 Miles

The Monday through Thursday miles increase every 4 weeks peaking at 6 and 10 miles.

Friday: Off

Saturday: 6 miles at race pace (6:25 per mile)
Sunday: 14 miles

The weekend runs increase to 13 race pace miles and 20 miles on Sunday. These runs were crucial and very challenging. At times my long runs felt grueling right from mile one, but that is the purpose. ‘Running on tired legs’ simulates the feeling one has at miles 18-26 of the marathon.

My weekly mileage peaked at say 50-55 miles per week, which was 5 lower than my goal. I had to hit 3 twenty mile runs but was only able to make it to 18 on all of them. Previously, my weekly training mileage peaked at say 25 miles, so it was a big difference.

I was also very consistent. There were days in which it was -10 degrees or raining, but I still got out there and followed the plan.

Another thing I stopped doing was weight training. I wanted to strip down and embrace the body type of a runner. What does that mean? By focusing on one sport entirely, I wanted my body to adapt and evolve into a runners body naturally. I lost maybe 4-5 pounds, but became more streamlined.

My nutrition stayed more or less the same. I eat pretty healthy year round, so I didn’t have to make too many changes. I drink a veggie shake every morning and eat a high carb meal before heavy training days or races.

Staying injury free is very important as well. Something I try and instill in my athletes is to foam roll and stretch after workouts and every morning if possible. I paid a few visits to the good Dr. Levine as well for ART and Graston sessions.

That pretty much sums up my strategy for the Paris Marathon. I wanted a new PR and so I pushed myself further than I ever had in training. Will I use the same training techniques for New York this year? Certainly.

If anyone has any further questions feel free to email me.

RACE REPORT: 113 Paris Marathon – 2:51:37

Posted on April 19, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 8 Comments

Our adventure begins on a jet plane headed to France. Abbe had always wanted to run the Paris Marathon and I had never been to France (of course I like to run as well) so we entered the lottery and both got in. I’d like to tell you ‘I know a guy’ and that’s how we both got in, but it was just fate.

I really enjoy overnight flights as I imagine myself living back when air travel was glamorous. I savor my meal, drink my red wine and wonder what adventures lay in store. Once the meal is over I take a sleeping pill and voila, minutes later I awake at my destination. People often misread the warning label on modern sleeping pills. It says don’t drink wine while taking them, but what it really means is don’t drink ‘too much’ wine.

We arrived at our hotel on Avenue Marceau the next morning at 10. We dropped our bags off and then hit the streets.

Spring in Paris is pretty magical. Avenue Marceau is lined with beautiful trees blossoming with white flowers. We picked a place just down the block on the corner to sit outside and have some lunch. Abbe’s folks Linda and Dave joined us, they were staying just down the block and were part of our cheer squad.

After eating Abbe and I ventured into the Paris Metro in search of the marathon expo. I was immediately impressed by the Metro. Keep in mind, as a 15 year resident of New York City, I question everything that is not New York City. Trains were coming every 2 minutes, were not crowded and it was clean and calm. What was this strange land? We even transferred 3 times flawlessly. I felt at home, immersed in the Paris infrastructure.

The race expo rivaled that of the New York City Marathon. It was massive and it seemed every running company was representing. As I got my bib the older man handing it to me said in an accent, “You came all the way from America to run!? Bon Chance!” I nodded with a smile and realized I was mirroring the experience I normally have in New York as I marvel at all the out of town runners.

Abbe and I secretly hoped we would run into one of our Runner Army friends at the expo but alas, we were far from home and saw no one familiar. We headed out and back into the metro, embracing the 70 degree weather we were experiencing.

Once we showered and unpacked we made our way to the hotel lobby we had a drink and waited for Maura. That’s right, Maura from NYC (and Ireland), Gotham City Runner and a dear friend was popping over from her stay in Ireland to cheer us on. She arrived just past 5 and was ready to go have some fun in Paris.

We set out towards Georges V (or as I like to say Jorge Sank) and landed at this fantastic pizza place. It wasn’t NYC pizza (of course, who would even hope to find that outside of the city) but a brick oven version that rocked. After dinner we kind of bar hopped around the neighborhood (we were by the Arc de Triomphe).

SIDENOTE: One of the things I picked up on and love about Paris over NYC is that all of the outdoor seating faces outward. Imagine an entire corner bar with seats and tables looking out, as if the streets themselves were putting on a show.

The next morning Abbe, Maura and I set off down the Seine for our 2 mile shakeout run.

It was a blast and we saw many runners doing the same. My legs felt pretty good but they didn’t feel fast by any means. My mind wandered and wondered if I could pull off this PR attempt. We popped into a cafe for a quick breakfast… double espresso and a croissant, something I would repeat every day from here on out. Something I would come to love dearly. So simple, so delicious and so perfect.

Our goal for the day was to stay off our feet if possible. We met the Lewis’s and hit the Metro, making our way toward Ile de la Cité (City Island). We ate at another fantastic place that was definitely not suited for the vegetarian crowd. There were giant spits of chicken and pig in the front, and yet there was a clean and modern ascetic to the place. Bravo.

Walking along the Seine and into City Island was breathtaking. It really is a beautiful city. Not sure if any of you know this, but I went to Art School? I was an Art History minor and seeing Notre Dame in person was horrifying (as I relived all the papers and tests) and superb, looking up at the many facets and sculptures adorning it.

Big ups to Professor Joe Basile. Throughout this trip I thought of your wisdom and how it still resonated. From all of the architecture to basically everything in the Louvre information and historic facts poured through my head and I thought… “JOE!” Thanks for being a great professor and friend.

We hopped on one of the Seine boat tours soon after so we could get off our feet. We toured the many bridges that crossed the Seine, each one quite different in design and time period. Pont Alexandre (a crowd favorite) is probably mine as well. We also cruised past the shining star of Paris, the Eiffel Tower. Did you know that until it was built in 1889 the Great Pyramids were the tallest human made structure in the world?

After our tour we needed a refreshment. We saw in the distance one of at the few irish pubs that Paris houses ironically named ‘Galway Irish Pub.’

You see, Maura is from Galway specifically and knows everyone who lives or lived there. Seriously, we went there with her in 2013 to run the Connemarathon and she’s like the Mayor. Unfortunately, the person who founded this pub passed away many years ago so we didn’t get a name. It was indeed a great pub though!

As dinner approached we headed back in the direction of our hotel. We needed some carbs and the restaurant across from Dave and Linda’s place, Cafe Ceasar had been around forever. It was jam packed with runners fueling up for the night! We had to come back in an hour so… we had a drink across the street. I am a sucker for a European Heineken on draft, it’s so much better. When we returned we all had a fantastic meal. I chose the penne with bolognese sauce and was thoroughly full and quite happy.

We three went back to our hotel to rest up. My mind was at ease. Everything I had done up to this point was a perfect execution of my plan. 3-4 months of solid 6 days a week running. No triathlon cross training. Don’t do anything stupid; i.e.: rollerblading, random soccer game, break dancing on a whim. Eat tons of carbs the two weeks leading into the race. Get good sleep. All I had to do was race the race and unleash my legs, which were dying for some speed. Sweet dreams my dear runner friends…

RACE DAY

We awoke to a beautiful sunny 45 degree Spring morning. I felt great and had some oatmeal and an espresso. My start was at 8:47, two minutes after the Pros. At 8 sharp I gave Abs a kiss, said goodbye to Maura and did a quick warm up over to the start, which was strategically a few blocks away.

Exiting the hotel into the streets of Paris, I was emotionally overwhelmed for the first time in a long time before the start of a race. The gorgeously perfect weather, amazing architecture and more importantly everything I had been so focused and deliberate on the last 4 months was coming to a climax. The marathon (or an Ironman for that matter) is like going into battle. You never know what lay in store for you on the battlefield, all you can do is prepare, and I was prepared.

It was so well organized and very easy to find and enter my corral. I saw from the bibs that I was a long way from home, no USA tags to be found and yet, these were my people… runners. Looking around at everyone we all had the same look in our eyes, nodding quietly saying in whatever language was spoken, “Good luck out there, kill it.”

The sun was poking it’s head up over the buildings and I thought, ‘This thing is gonna get hot.’

My wave went off without a hitch and we set of barreling down the Champs Elysees. The sun was reflecting off the pavement and the obelisk of the Place de la Concorde cut through the morning sky off in the distance, guiding us like a compass. My legs felt free, hitting a 6:15 pace effortlessly.

My goal pace was a 6:25 – putting me across the finish line in 2:50. “Baker, but you seem to be going too fast?” True, but everyone is different. I normally fall to pieces during miles 21-24 no matter what kind of pacing I attempt. Therefore, I ‘bank time’ in the beginning. Most runners are opposed to the banking time strategy, but it works for me.

Back to the show! And a show it was as I knew my friend and fellow athlete Dougie was tracking me in NYC at 4AM while he was on his trainer ride. I thought to myself, ‘Dougie is tracking me so let’s give him a good race to watch.’ This also helped keep me motivated, knowing that Dougie would most likely start yelling at his laptop were my pace to falter.

Running along side of the Louvre was way cool. It was a long dark passageway. We were on the Rue de Rivoli, a street with a lot of shopping, which also had lots of cheer squads. As the miles ticked off easily I was hitting 6:17, 6:21 and 6:17. I saw Dave in the crowds as it’s very easy to hear your English speaking cheerers amongst a sea of Frenchmen. One of the words I would hear one thousand times during the race was ‘Allez’ which means ‘Go’ in French.

On Cheering: It was surreal and refreshing to not understand most of what people were screaming at you during the race. All you knew was that people were in the act of cheering and not saying things that might upset you like, “You look great.” “Last uphill.” “Come on you can do it.” “Almost there.” which are most likely false statements. Here in France I just zoned out and pretended they were saying anything I wanted them too. To me ‘Allez’ became ‘Tacos.’

I broke the race up into 4 parts… we were now going from Part 1 (city to Park A) to Part 2 (Park A) and were at mile 6. I was excited to see what these big parks flanking Paris were all about. My pace was still right around 6:17 or so. Perfect. I was also trying to have some fun and enjoy my surroundings, something that many of my friends told me to do. The Park, Boise du Vienesse, was very pretty but I really didn’t get to spend too much time seeing all of it. All I knew is that we went from city streets to wooded streets.

At mile 7.5 I saw this beacon of neon orange. It was Maura, exactly where she said she would be in her 2014 Boston Marathon jacket. I ran over and gave her a high five. It rocked to see her.

The next few miles were uneventful as I just held on to my pace, running through sunlit park streets. It was hot now, approaching 10 o’clock and I knew as we exited back into the city it would get rough. Section 2 of 4 was now complete. Section 3 was all city, then entering the final Section 4 which was the Park on the opposite end of town. Allez!

Something happened at mile 11-12 that almost ended my day. I was running hard in flying V formation with 3 guys, I was in draft position in back. We were running down hill and I couldn’t see the street too well. Just then a speed bump came along and I jammed my front leg into it stumbling forward and causing a lot of panic amongst my fellow runners. I corrected my form and everyone nodded, knowing we had just missed a ‘domino effect’ disaster. I admittedly dialed it down a touch right there as my heart was racing.

I hit the half at 1:22 and smiled knowing that I was having the race of my life (thus far) but that dark moments certainly lay ahead.

We cruised around a crazy crowded Bastille before making our way onto and along the Seine. At this point someone yelled in a french accent “Yea, go Gotham City, go Batman!” I threw my hand up in typical fashion laughing at the same time. Batman… Gotham City has so many other notable landmarks and cultural institutions but I guess ‘Go Metropolitan Museum of Art sounds dumb.’

On music: The bands in the Paris Marathon trumped the NYC Marathon ten-fold. No contest in fact. Every mile there were these pseudo marching bands playing rock songs with heavy, heavy tribal drums. No band lacked a good horn section either. It was very inspiring and the volume was at the perfect level as well. Sometimes in NYC it’s so freaking loud it knocks you around.

Miles 12-18 are run along the southern edge of the Seine and there is no shade aside from some car tunnels you run through. We were passing all the notable landmarks and it was quite breathtaking. I tried to enjoy it, although the now piecing pain in my quads made it tough. Paris, I now realized, was not a flat course and had some major downhills that I was now feeling. I was still holding a 6:20 pace but didn’t think so at the time.

At mile 19 we started making our way into Boise de Boulogne, the final Section of the course, which would also be most challenging. My legs were on complete fire now and my mind started wandering into dark places, wanting me to quit or stop running. I knew this moment would come, the real battle of the race, and did my best to fight on. My Dad’s birthday was the next day and I knew he was watching me from where ever he might be. I used him as inspiration and kept my feet going. ‘There is no pain, only glory.’ I welcomed uphills at every turn!

Mile by mile was how I was going to get this thing done. Miles 19-21 were 6:34, 6:41, 6:35… I was slowing up and fighting to stay with it, especially with the heat. I lost 2 minutes at Miles 22 and 23 as I stopped to stretch my quads. It helped a lot doing so, and got me from mile to mile. I also knew at this point that my 2:50 goal was out the window and started getting pretty down on myself. I even thought about walking the rest of the race.

I was having problems with reading my watch, trying to figure out what my time was when a race clock came by. It said 2:40:xx and I had just over 2 miles to go. “What?” I thought. I could do this. I could pull it together and get this shit done and maybe, just maybe get close.

I picked it up even though my legs were in crazy pain (good pain, not someone injured tweaked pain) calves feeling like they were going to pop out of my body. I hit a sub 7 for mile 25. One to go.

The blinding hot sun was beating down on me. I was pouring water all over my body and directly onto my calves to numb them, which had been working!

7 flat for mile 26.

I turned a corner to finish, the Arc dead ahead, and was ecstatic to see a 2:53 on the clock (I started 2 minutes after keep in mind so that meant 2:51 for me.) I had PR’d by 3 minutes and was just shy of my 2:50 goal! I started laughing out loud and let out a “Fuck.” Paris almost killed me.

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M37	3263	432	254	2:51:37	6:32	72.00%

I wandered toward the Arc and our hotel. I few of the locals congratulated me. The sun was out and I was walking barefoot in a park just next to the finish, it felt fantastic.

I found Linda and Dave back at the hotel. We had become friendly with all the staff and my friend Camille came over to congratulate me. “Fantastic Chris! Sit down, do you want something?” “Thanks Camille, yes a beer and a sandwich please.”

We sat outside as I relayed the race info to my in-laws. We became concerned though as Dave saw Abbe at the Half and she wasn’t having a good time. Evidently it can be a very crowed race (54,000 runners) the further back you start.

Thankfully though, we found her. She had PR’d as well and broken 4 hours! It was time to celebrate.

Dave, Linda, Abbe Maura and I went out on the town. First to a cute spot right down the block (Le Grand Corona) where we sat outside having booze. Then, we had a fantastic french meal at Chez Andre. We finished the night at the hotel bar, happy as clams.

—

Big ups to all the runners who ran Paris, it was a tough day out there. Congrats to my wife who nailed a sub 4 with a huge PR! Congrats to my fellow teammate Hannah who also PR’d.

Thanks to Maura, Linda and Dave who were our super star Cheer Squad!

This race is evidence to me that if you are dedicated, focus on the training without making excuses (like, this winter was crazy rough) you can pull off an epic race. Someone who inspired me to train hard and stick with it no matter what is my friend Claire. She trained her ass of this Fall and wrecked the Chicago Marathon with a huge PR and a BQ. Thanks for the push my friend.

Running the streets of Paris was something I won’t soon forget. Thanks Paris.

RACE REPORT: 112 Rock n Roll DC Half – 1:26:35

Posted on March 20, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running Leave a comment

As the 3 o’clock hour approached at work, I changed out of my suit and into civilian attire. I bounded down into the subway heading toward Penn and blending in with the masses already commuting home.

Abbe and I met at our normal spot, the ‘Secret Place to Wait for the Train’ that we had discovered a few years ago. We were both very exited to get out of Manhattan for the weekend… our mini-vacation. Our train was called, we boarded and then departed right on schedule. We enjoyed a bottle of wine and a movie while we quietly cut through the afternoon landscape.

The D.C. Metro has quite a few flaws, one of them is that in order to exit a metro station you need to re-enter the metro card you originally used in the turnstile. If for some reason you do not have enough money on the card, you cannot leave. You are trapped in the subterranean abyss forever, roaming aimlessly station to station. Or, in my case, fueled with anger you hop the turnstile like a (smooth) criminal.

Once we surfaced, our hosts for the weekend Amanda and Alex met us and lead us to dinner at Lavagna. The race was the following morning so we fueled with pasta and of course, red wine. This race fit in snugly to our Paris Marathon training plans. We were to run the race at marathon goal pace and not ‘race’ it per se. This meant that we were mentally a bit more relaxed. Once I found out that Alex was also a ‘watch guy’ we proceeded to highjack the conversation splitting the table in two. All of us were in bed around 11, dreaming of a rainy, windy race morning.

RACE DAY

I decided to wake up with 15 minutes to spare (before we had to leave for the race). Abs and Amanda had been up for an hour already having breakfast, which I opted out of. I sipped some much needed coffee before Abbe and I headed out for our 2 mile warm up to the Start. It was 40 degrees and rainy but we were unfazed.

Nearing the Capitol and feeling slightly goofy I got into my commentator voice and started with, “We find ourselves in the Nation’s capital, home to freedom and the American way. Where bills become…” “Chris, not now!” from an Abbe who was not feeling my improv. Our timing was actually perfect. We jumped into our corrals and immediately started the race! I would later find out that although it looked like I was in corral 1, they had already released two corrals so this was technically corral 3. A minor setback.

The first few miles were spent navigating through runners and trying to get my pace up to 6:25. At the only out-and-back on the course, which happened to be mile 3 I finally hit my pace mark. I also saw Abs on the other side and gave a shout.

Miles 4 to 6 are spent in Rock Creek Park. It was wooded and quite a nice place to run. We wouldn’t notice it until the Finish, but by now we were soaked through from the rain. There happens to be only one really nasty hill on this course. It is at mile 6 as you are leaving Rock Creek Park, it’s a doozy. The reason it poses such a challenge is due to the fact that for the first 5.5 miles you are running on flat terrain then, out of nowhere from around a bend, you hit this hill like it’s a wall. The beauty of it all was that there were posters of fallen military along with people lining the entire hill holding giant American flags. They were on the course at times, so if you were hugging the turns tight (as I was) you ran through the flags. It was touching and very epic.

Back on the streets of our Nation’s capital, I kept plodding along at a 6:30ish pace. My legs were starting to feel the miles. One of my mantras is, “Just give it all you’ve got on this day.” I tried to hold true to the statement and just started clicking miles off one-by-one.

Passing by Mile 11 I got to see Amanda and Alex cheering. It was raining pretty hard by now and those last 2 miles couldn’t come soon enough.

I finished in 1:26:35 with a 6:37 pace. Or did I?

I was slightly off from my projected 6:25, but I was satisfied.

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M37	1279	154	21	1:26:35	6:37	70.02%

Standing in the middle of a large uncovered parking lot my body temperature dropped rapidly. I went from a sweaty “Wow I just ran a great race, boy am I thirsty.” to “Get me the hell out of here and into a hot bath.” Looking out across the barren wasteland of a parking lot, I could make out off in the distance a glimmer of hope. Was it a mirage? Am I seeing things? I walked toward the light and as I got closer my instincts had proven correct, it was indeed a covered beer tent.

I took shelter and honestly really didn’t want a beer, mainly because my hands were numb. Not long after after my arrival Abbe showed up, also cold and wet. As soon as Amanda, Alex, Jason, Amber and Erik showed up we bolted out of there making our way to the Metro.

After showering we all headed to lunch for some much needed refueling. Later that day we went to Gregor and Jenny’s place (neighbors) as they were having a St. Patrick’s Day party! Gregor made one of the best Bloody Mary’s I had ever had, and I am picky. That night we all met back up and went out to eat. We were celebrating the race, but also the fact that Jason was now officially a Doctor! Our friends Jordan (another Doctor) and Katie (who PR’d in the race) along with Bradley and Christin also joined in. Drink of choice for the evening… Old Fashioned(s).

It was a helluva day for sure. Big thanks to our hosts Amanda and Alex!

In conclusion I submit this Runner’s Anecdote.

Sunday morning while having coffee Abbe decided to check the race results to see if perhaps I had won my age group. Personally, I thought there was no way based on my time and the volume of runners (15,000). A round of excitement and laughter erupted from Abbe’s side of the room. “Honey, it says here that you ran a 1:10 and came in 7th overall!” I started to question my Garmin. We all started trying to figure out how this could have happened. There were no other Christopher Bakers (obviously), no other Bib Number mix ups and there wasn’t even someone who ran my supposed 1:26:35 time in place of me. Did I run a 1:10? I mean, you get to a point in a run where your mind is on another plane…

In the meantime why not post the results to social media, right? What is wrong with the image below showing my final splits?

Not only did I run a fantastic Olympic level Half Marathon, I also shattered the world record for the mile three miles in a row in my last split. Go me!

After writing a letter to the race organizers, they adjusted my time to reflect that on my Garmin so that the true 7th Place winner can bask in their glory. No trophy this time Baker…

On Consistency

Posted on February 15, 2015 by admin

Posted in All Leave a comment

Winter training versus Summer training is a common debate among all of us. I do not have a favorite as I see two sides of positive to both.

Winter:
What else are you going to do in the dead of winter? Head to a barbeque? Go to Fire Island for a beach weekend? Probably you will be doing a lot of nothing since the weather does not permit for much outdoor group fun. Unless, of course, you run! I find that you can get solid training runs in without any distraction.

Summer:
It’s crazy hot in the summer. I love summer training because I hate layering up. Starting a long run at 6AM to beat the heat? Yikes.

Well, any way you cut it here we are in the dead of winter on a ‘feels like’ -16 degree day. I have been quite diligent and consistent in my winter training for the Paris Marathon. My strategy this time around… 6 days of running per week with no cross training. I have temporarily retired my ‘triathlete’ title. It has been very challenging to wake up and hit the streets when it is dark and cold out, but every time without fail on my return home I feel great and am happy I made it out the door.

This style of training is completely different from my triathlete training. Just like most of my athletes, I impatiently want to see results. This cycle I have been very consistent, something I try to instill in my athletes. If you are consistent and do the work, the results will come. You will evolve.

Yesterday was a great example. All I have been doing is run, run, run. 4 miles here, 8 miles there, some speed work and a lot of foam rolling. I am scientifically training for the marathon distance, nothing else, so my speed has seemed to diminish. I want results from all of this crazy training!

I set out for my first of a few long runs yesterday, 18 miles.

It was cold, but bearable aside from the wind. I set off from Engineer’s Gate toward Harlem Hill at a 7 ish pace. It’s the pace I wanted to be around, roughly 30 seconds slower than my goal pace. I felt pretty good. 3 miles in I bumped into Abbe and ran with here for a mile before she told me to scram. I high fived Beth and yelled ‘Hi’ to Juan and Elizabeth. By mile 6 I had made my way over to the West Side Highway. I saw Sam and Steph and gave a wave (it seemed the Runner Army was out in force today).

Then, something fantastic happened… results! My pace quickened to a 6:40/45 pace effortlessly! Although excited, I thought that there was no way I could keep this up for another 8-10 miles.

I turned around at mile 10 and made my way back north, still moving at a decent pace. I popped a Gu at mile 14.

As I finished up my run in the Park I felt like I could keep going for another 3-4 miles no problem. Consistency, it seems, has paid off.

So, the next time you have a run to do and it looks cold and scarey outside, think of this…

Sir Edmund Hillary (and Norgay) probably never looked outside and said “It’s too cold. Everest can wait.”

Go kick some ass.

RACE REPORT: Manhattan Half Marathon – 1:28:21

Posted on January 27, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running Leave a comment

I normally don’t like to pay money to run around my backyard, but since my Aunt Marge (in charge), cousin Cat and Charla were coming in for the race, I was game.

They all converged on my apartment around 6:30AM. We had some coffee, formulated a game plan and were out the door by 7. They got to meet the Gotham City Runner crew, those that were racing anyway, at the start. The weather was great. During my warm up this gal screams “BAKER!” and nearly gave me a heart attack. It was my friend Rachel, also running the race. Right after that I ran into Abbe who was just running around the Park to get in her miles.

As I was stretching before heading to my corral, my old running friend Rowland popped up! We became friends because we run the exact same pace. Seriously people. During 3 of the 4 NYC Marathons I have run, around mile 3 I always look over and there he is, hitting the same numbers. This even happened randomly in Boston 2012.

He and one of his friends (I think he said his name was Doug) and I entered our extremely packed Blue Corral a few minutes from start time. I had run 8 miles the day before (and have been running 6 days a week) and wasn’t really sure how I wanted to handle this race. While chatting with Rowland he said, “I would be happy with anything under 1:30.” Hmmmm… I thought. “Yea me too.” And with that we were off. It took us 20-30 seconds just to hit the start mat, that’s how packed it was!

My legs felt pretty heavy, so I just kept a pace I liked. As we rounded the bottom of the Park things were still pretty congested. It wasn’t until we were up past Cat Hill that it opened a bit. I looked to my right and there was Rowland and Doug. For the rest of the race, the three of us acted as team, running in V Formation. We ramped our pace from 7:15 to around a 6:40 at times, passing people like F-15s.

At Engineer’s Gate I saw Uncle John cheering and gave him a shout.

Then, barreling down Harlem Hill we saw Abbe coming the other way and gave a shout. I looked over at the guys and said, “That’s the Mrs.” At the top of Harlem Hill we were kind of murmuring how we were disappointed we had to come back around and run it again.

We also saw Craig who was snapping photos for GCR!

I had no watch on, so I was just running to run. It was great. As we hit the 6 mile mark back at the start the clock read 40:xx.

By now my heavy legs no longer felt heavy. This whole running 6 days a week thing has been strange and exciting for me. I have only ever run 3 days a week with my highest mileage being in the 35 mile range. I would be at 45 miles this week after completing the Half and my legs have never felt better (overall, not in current race time). There hasn’t even been the slightest hint of pain or injury. Enough! Back to the race.

Miles 8, 9 and 10 happened to go by pretty quickly. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day! We were taking turns leading and following each other and by now aside from a cheer when we ascended a hill, there was zero talking. I was having a blast.

At the last mile we all fell apart a bit. I was feeling really good so I started pulling away. I had 7 or 8 minutes left to get in under 1:30 and my mind was spinning. By now we were catching up with the back of the race so there was a lot of ‘bobbin and weavin’ going on. I ended up finishing in 1:28 and change.

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M36	122	130	17	1:28:21	6:45	67.86%

I found Craig, who was now at the finish taking pictures and hung with him before setting out to find my family. Uncle John, cousin Gillian, Dave and Lindsey were all cheering about 100 meters from the finish. Right as I found them Aunt Margie cruised by on her way to a sub 2 finish, followed by Cat! This was Cat’s first Half Marathon and I was very proud of her for not only completing the course, but also finishing in a very respectable time! Shortly after Dave’s wife Charla finished. That was our cue to head back to my place where Abbe was making a breakfast pizza. Whaaaat? Yes, pizza for breakfast, try it sometime.

After showering we all went down to Kinsale to celebrate. It was a great finish to the week. Congrats to all!

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