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I am running the Paris Marathon this April. It will be my first Marathon in over a year. This March I pulled off the Reston Marathon in horrible conditions and sub par training, finishing in 3:09:51. Then, I learned a whole bunch of new stuff.

Reston Marathon finish in the snow, soaking wet. Boston Qualifier by NINE seconds. Yikes… hence my goofy smile.

2014 was a great year mainly because I wasn’t injured (as I was in 2013) and could openly race anything. It was fantastic! I did, however, tell myself I would take 2014 lightly, enjoying racing and training as I had in my early days (2009) of the sport. I was (and still am) coaching a number of people very seriously and really enjoyed all aspects of it. I learned even more regarding training.

Then, the Fall hit. Abbe and I took the Fall off due to our wedding and honeymoon. It was tough, but sitting out on the deck of our bungalow tracking friends in various marathons was satisfying enough. I also had a lot of time to reflect on my upcoming Paris Marathon and Louisville Ironman.

I want to nail this marathon to the wall. The Ironman, well those nail you to the wall so I am just training to do well for that puppy. But PARIS! I haven’t officially ‘trained’ for a marathon since Boston 2012. I needed to get an action plan in place.

In the past, my triathlon self cross trains during marathon training. It’s just always what I have done and been comfortable with. Not this Spring. I am officially 100% back to my original runner self. My training plan calls for me to run 6 days a week. Every marathon I have ever run, I have only run 3 days a week with a max mileage of maybe 35 miles. This will be a big change. This is a change I am excited for.

Not to worry my triathlete friends… as soon as May hist I am back on the bike for Ironman training!

I haven’t been this amped about training in quite some time. My plan has some peaks and valleys, very intense Saturday and Sunday long runs and of course a side serving of speed work.

I also want to held accountable. My goal is to break 2:50, a tall order, but I am going for it.

If anyone needs a running pal for weekend long runs, you know where to find me. Game on.

This is the 4th year in a row that I have said I wanted to run a Turkey Trot. The three years prior I have failed, mainly because of two factors… they aren’t close by my family’s house and we drink too much the night before. This year Abbe and I were determined to make it happen!

We arrived at my brother’s house the day before and had a pretty chill day aside from wrestling and chasing my two young nephews around. For dinner… beer and pizza!

Were we drinking? Yes. We were also very determined. My youngest brother Jeff made a bet with me. If I didn’t do the race I had to take a shot of Jameson at 10AM and also owe him $5. If I ran it, the bet reversed itself.

RACE DAY

Abbe woke up at like 5:30 or something crazy. I slept until 6-6:30 since we didn’t have to leave until 7:15AM.

It was a very cold morning, but the sun was shining and looked to be ideal running conditions.

We arrived, checked in and had 30 minutes to spare, so we sat in the car to keep warm. I drank more coffee because, well, I love coffee. I saw a guy wearing an Ironman NY hat and thought, ‘I wonder if I know him?’

We hit the bathrooms, got a warm up in and went to watch the 10k crew start. Although it was a local race, there were some legit looking runners.

As soon as the 300-400 or so of them dispersed the 5k group lined up in the corrals. Abbe and I were probably the oldest runners by 10 years or more up in the front. It was like the entire high school track and cross country team came out. Acne and racing flats everywhere. I looked off into the distance for a second and was kind of proud of my home town for breeding such serious runners.

The gun went off and we blasted away. I had no immediate plans other than to finish the race and not take a shot at 10AM, so I was just plugging along. The front runners were thick as thieves and maybe 50 deep as we ran down neighborhood streets. One thing I picked up from young runners is that they don’t know how to pace nor do they no how to dress when it’s cold out. So many clothes creating drag, my nightmare.

I ran up the right alley and made some progress passing people and just getting into my own pace. I had no watch, so I was just going by heart. As we hit the first mile marker there were 10-20 people ahead of me. There was no way in hell I was going to catch any of these young whippersnappers.

Miles 1 to 2 is a long out and back on a highway. It was here that my left shin started hurting. In my head I was like ‘What the hell? Why does my shin muscle hurt?’ Then it dawned on me. Tuesday I slammed my knee dead on into the corner of a cabinet while cleaning. I had a huge bruise on my knee cap and so most likely the patella tendon was agitated and pulling on my tibialis anterior muscle.

Abbe and I saw each other here and gave a wave.

The final mile was a mentally debilitating windy uphill through a neighborhood. The end was nowhere in sight.

The final half mile I was trying to catch a 15 year old to no avail.

I came in 13th overall and 1st AG with an 18:21. Fun fact: 5 of the people who were ahead of me were ages 15-17 and a 14 year old was on my heels as we finished.

After I finished I waited for Abbe who happened to PR (high five)! She also got 2nd AG! Double hardware coming home.

AND

Jeff took a shot of Jameson at 9:44AM and I am $5 richer! Happy Thanksgiving!

10 miles is a fun distance because it’s right on the brink of ‘not fun anymore.’

Abbe and I took the ol subway uptown into the Boogie Down Bronx and had loads of time to spare. Looking back on the 70 degree weather we had, I am completely jealous.

We found some of the Gotham City Runners crew, chatted, then set off for the corrals and a quick warm up. I saw my friend Rachel, then Ali and Jess all prepping.

This race was the weekend before our wedding so my mind wasn’t really set on a PR, I just wanted to have fun and see what the legs could do.

The gun went off and the large pack of front runners took off. I have no idea what pace we were doing, but it was pleasant. I juts kind of… well… ran.

At mile 3 or so I decided to pick up the pace. I was feeling fresh and had nothing to lose. I pushed forward, now passing the groups I had been running with, leap frogging between people.

The course was an out-n-back, so I got to see a lot of friends on the ride home. Everyone from the likes of Abbe to Maura, Tara, Kate and Beth!

Not much more to report other than getting fired up and running the second half faster than the first. I felt great right up to about mile 9, then I was like, ‘Okay, time for breakfast.’

At the Finish I hung with Tara, Kate and Craig before Abbe and Ali rolled up. We took the subway back to the Upper East and had breakfast with Maura, Bojana and Brian.

Princeton 70.3 was to be my ‘finale’ of the season. Due to getting married, my fianceé (Abbe) said I could not race a full Ironman this year. It would prove to be an exciting race for many reasons. I was racing it with my friend Doug, this being his second Half Ironman. Joe and Amy were racing it under my coaching guidance. Finally, my friend Susan was attempting her first Half Ironman and I was ‘kind of’ coaching her on things triathlon. New York City was attacking Princeton by way of triathlon!

Doug picked me up at 1 and were at check-in just before 3, much easier than Eagleman!

It was a giant field in a giant park. Overall, it was pretty unremarkable.

We checked into our hotel and linked up with Susan and Erik. We needed some carbs and downtown Princeton was the plan. It’s a very quaint town and we pulled into a small side street to park. As we got out this gal walking by smiled at me then doubled back. She had a Princeton sweatshirt on and a backpack, carrying some books, a student for sure. “Hey, I know you.” she says. “You’re that Ironman guy.” I smiled a bit and looked around at the gang who were looking back at me like, “Whaaaaaat?” “I mean, yea I race Ironmans but…” Then it hit me. On the flight I took from NYC to North Carolina for Abbe’s bridal shower she sat next to me on the plane and noticed my Ironman backpack. We chatted all things triathlon for half the flight! I mean, what are the odds of running into her again?

Bewildered at life per usual, we headed into Triumph Brewery to solve the mystery.

After a few pints, Amy and Dave found us and we headed to Teresa’s Cafe for dinner. I had already put our name in but we were an hour late. I don’t know what I said to her (as there was now a 2 hour wait) but she smiled and said, “As long as you are all here we can get you a seat.” Cool? Yes, very cool. The gods were with us on this one it had seemed.

After a scrumptious meal, we all retired to the hotels. Doug and I had another beer at the hotel bar and almost lured Susan in, but she wanted to sleep.

RACE DAY

Awake at 5:45AM no problem and headed to the lobby with Doug. We grabbed some coffee and waited for Ames, Susan and Erik before departing. Doug grabbed a full bag o Hilton Honors cookies for us, which all of us would eat at some point before the race.

We rocked transition pretty quick. I had one major issue, I left my water bottles in the car. Holy smokes! I had like 10 minutes before transition was to close. I ran out to Erik who had the key then did a quick warm up in flip flops to the car. Pace: Light Speed per Mile. Doug forgot his swim cap so I saved his ass too!

Where the hell was Joe?!

It was a wave start and Doug and I were to start one hour after the Pros, our female pals 20 minutes after us… meaning, we had time to chill. Chill we did! It was overcast and breezy and not exactly warm. I’ll take it though. Eagleman in July was an oven of death.

As we were waiting I saw my friend Bill cruising to his start. We gave a shout, I would later see him on the run course for more back and forth banter.

The water, although unattractive, murky and smelly, was a great temperature. If that trash pit in Star Wars that the gang gets stuck in was clear of debris and 70 degrees it might be similar. No monsters either, we had no monsters in the murky lake.

I thought I was doing a great job on my swim. Perfect sighting, form was on par, but in the end I was almost exactly the same speed I was in Eagleman to the second. This prompted me to start creating many swim technique theories.

I will say one thing. I may not be fast, but I am now very experienced and ready for anything in the soup. Fear has left me.

I saw Erik (super awesome cheer squad all day) as I left the water. I was in and out of T1 in pretty good time and going pretty hard on the bike immediately.

I was not wearing any Garmin or any sort of device to show my time. It’s my new thing and it’s pretty fun, I recommend it. I just pedal as hard as I can and see where it takes me. It was going to take me on one of the best bike splits I have ever had.

The bike course was pretty dull. Lots of corn fields and lots of terrible potholes. I saw so many flat tires.

I saw Doug early on and we rode next to each other chatting having fun. Some guy rides by me with plenty of room and shakes his head (because we were double file) and I yelled, “Don’t you shake your head at me.”

I said ‘peace out’ to my friend and proceeded to chase jerk down. I did nothing unsportsmanlike, I simply passed him.

The rest of the course was pretty uneventful. I did however, get a flat tire with 7 miles to go during one of my best bike times ever. I was clocking 21MPH-22MPH average, just going to show you that you never know what to expect. I pulled over and a women came to my aid. We started whipping out tools when a guy pops over offering assistance, “I am a bike mechanic.” he says. Um, yea you can help!

As we are fixing my flat the guy looks up at me, then to the lady and says, “I know this guy.” Continuing to help with the flat, he smiles, “You and I were next to each other in transition at the Quassy Half Ironman in 2010. You were taping burritos to your bike. I remember you as ‘burrito man’!” I was freaking out. What a strange coincidence. I explained to him that I have since retired the burrito fuel, because my first Ironman Coach, Coach Sonja, showed me the way to a new kind of nutrition. After the tire change we all said goodbye and I headed out to finish the bike portion, semi-defeated, but still amped to get my run on.

Riding along discombobulated I accidentally passed a guy as we turned, on his right. Shame on me, I guess. A course marshall (picture Mr. Magoo on the back of a motorcycle) gave me a yellow card. I tried to charm him, “But sir… I juuuust got a flat tire. C’mon. Give a guy a break.” No dice. Then, homeboy continued to flank me, watching my every move. My resentment toward him increased. I was in a holding pattern, losing time and upset that some jackass on a motorcycle was hawking an age grouper. Go track the pros man, I am not winning any cash money.

Finally, I arrived at the penalty tent where I served my 1:30 minute time as 2 guys argued whether I had to ‘stop and go’ or stay 2 minutes. Lovely.

Guess where you can’t get a penalty? Running! (I mean, unless you did something really nuts.)

It was a good day for running, if we hadn’t already swam and biked, but I still set it off pretty good. The first mile or two I was jetting past people, but I could feel internally that it wasn’t going to be too epic. I didn’t mind as this was a season closer and I was out to have fun and see how two of my coached athletes (and Susan) would do.

The run course (as well as the bike course) kind of sucked. It was so tight on miles 2-5 that there were runners coming at you and only room for 2 people across. I saw Doug at mile 4 coming at me and he was quite surprised that he was now in front of me. “Bakes! Flat tire?! What happened?!”

I felt okay until mile 6. Then, as things have started to go with me, everything clicked in. Speed increased, I felt perfectly normal, and my turnover rate got faster. Why? No idea.

As I was repeating the loop I saw Susan’s boyfriend Erik and yelled, “How is Susan, where is she?!” She had just finished the bike and was about to hit the run course. I was relieved. She’s a killer for sure, but I sometimes feel like a triathlon sherpa, wanting to make sure all my friends make it.

As I finished I had tons of energy but was also thinking about my 3rd full Ironman (a 2015 race Doug and I had just signed up for) thinking, “Oh jeez, for real I am going to double this distance?!”

I was happy with my time, the slowest Half Ironman for me by 10-15 minutes. My A goal is to break 5 hours at some point. I sat down, took my sneaks off and ate a big plate of food, watching for my peeps.

I eventually started walking around and found Doug. We decided (since we knew we had some time before our friends finished) to hit the beer tent. Sitting at a picnic table, talking about our individual races and older guy came up. “Mind if I sit here?” I replied, “Not at all man, jump in. How was your race?” He finished right after us and was 75 years old. We found out that he had done 12 Half Ironmans that year and had been to Kona 13 times. He started racing triathlon in 1978, the year it was invented and that Doug and I were born. He was our god. His name is Roger Little, look him up, he is no joke, further inspiring us. Thanks Roger.

We found Amy, Susan, Erik and Dave soon after. We relished in our victories. Joe, who slipped out, had the most to celebrate with a 49 minute PR. Joe, I owe you a drink.

We all parted ways soon after. Doug and I found ourselves a Kinsale Tavern with Abbe, Danika, Susan and Erik to celebrate.

It was a great end to the tri season.

—

I want to succeed, but now that I have athletes that I coach, I want to guide them more than anything. We had a hell of a day out there and I am so proud of all of the athletes in my battalion. I, personally, have had good races and bad races and I know that factors unknown are a component of that. You can fuel properly, and then have a bad night of sleep. You can sleep well, and then catch a cold. You can catch a cold the week before the race and kick it, only to run the fastest race you have ever raced. These are things you cannot plan, this is life. As an athlete all you can do is go out there and drop the hammer, giving it everything you have. Athletes I coach… friends, you set it off. Until we meet again in battle, congratulations.

Abbe, Maura and I arrived off the Fire Island Ferry around 5 PM on Friday like any avid Happy Hour goer would do.

After a quick check-in at the Fire Island Hotel & Resort (thanks Pat!) we headed to Hurricanes. Hurricanes is the Fire Island Hotel & Resort’s bar and restaurant. A win-win on any day would be a ‘Rocket Fuel’ and the Fish Tacos.

While there we ran into Mike (from Dad Posse) who stopped over for a drink. Bojana got off 2 ferry stops to soon so her and Brian were running a bit late. We talked race strategy a bit as well. Maura had said she wasn’t going to race it to which I talked about how I think a race is a race and she should just crush it. It might have sunk in.

The next morning Abbe did beach yoga (on a very peaceful and empty beach) while I went open water swimming. It blows my mind that just a few years ago I had a fear of open water and swimming in general. Now, without much of any concern, I ran straight into the ocean, swam 100 meters out and then started swimming the coastline. I was loving every minute of it too. It’s so peaceful being out there early in the morning before anyone is out, it’s like having the whole ocean to yourself!

After some breakfast I headed over to Ed’s as we were supposed to go for an open water swim. Ha, but wait Baker you just did that? Correct, but not in the bay. So, now, Ed, Jack (his son), Mike, Kevin (his son) and I rode bikes down to the docks for our swim. Jim was running late so we had to go ahead without him, breaking tradition.

It was exciting swimming with the younger guys, ages 12 and 14, and giving them some leadership. I swam point with Kevin trailing behind. Kevin can clearly smoke me in the water being that he is on the swim team and quite talented, but he let me guide.

I think I got in like 1.5-2 miles of swimming that morning!

I found Abbe, Bojana and Brian by the pool as I returned. Maura was showering as she had just done a long run of 17 miles… insane. Most of us had fish tacos for lunch, and Rocket Fuels. So many Rocket Fuels. We spent the rest of the afternoon basking in the sun.

We walked over to Ocean Beach, a neighboring town, that night for dinner and ate at Bocce Beach. I had the catch of the day and not pasta but, to Abbe’s point, it was just a 5K the next day.

On the way home we popped into Ed’s house where all of the Dad Posse plus wives and kids plus some extended family plus 2 dogs were hanging.

We had Rocket Fuel nightcaps at Hurricane’s after that before heading to bed. Maybe Rocket Fuels are magical drinks that have vitamins and nutrients mixed in with carbohydrates and ginger that make you run fast in hot hellish conditions?

RACE DAY

Abbe and I woke up and found Maura, so we got coffee and headed to the beach. I went for another open water swim while they walked along side the beach in the same direction, like guides maybe? I actually think they were making sure I wasn’t eaten by a shark.

The race starts at 10:30AM so to early risers you can practically do anything you want beforehand.

Once Bojana and Brian were up we all did a 1 mile warm up run over to the start. I saw the DiGangi’s and Sal plus a few other friends. We jumped into the corrals (2 waves of 300 people) and had 10-15 minutes to kill. I saw the whole Dad Posse crew come through and we had some shout outs. Most of their kids (ages 9-14) were running and I was really excited to see how they were going to do.

The gun goes off and my legs feel like lead. I mean, we were moving, but I did not feel like a gazelle. “Whatever.” I thought and kept the legs going. After the first straightaway and into he right turn I was in second. For just a moment I thought this could be a repeat of 2009’s win for me, then Meehan and some other guy popped up next to me as we tracked the lead guy. Were I having a better day we could have hunted together, but the heat and sun already had me.

Halfway to mile one I was in 4th Place, Meehan and the other guy had overtaken our lead man and were pressing forward at a sick pace.

Meanwhile, I had some kid running next to me who sounded like he was having an asthma attack. I hate that. Most seasoned runners have fine tuned their engines so that they don’t sound like freight trains coming by. It also throws off my rhythm, because I know I need to keep it steady and focused.

He wouldn’t let me pass and I didn’t give up. I finally used it as fuel at mile 1.5 to push forward past him. Then, I am hanging with this other  kid who has the same breathing problem!

He was very young and had issues every time I pushed past him. He would surge ahead in alarming anger, retaking 3rd Place. This is a recipe for disaster so I just kept at it. Personally, I was fading fast. I have been training for Half Ironmans all season and my specific training was not helping in the ol 5K. Just hang on Baker…

I pushed past my teenage friend and tried to maintain some sort of semblance of form, but the 10:45AM sun was beating me down like a hot pillow.

At the 200M mark I could hear the loud and clumsy footsteps of my young competitor, he was going to overtake me. There was nothing I could do as he did, I was wiped. As I finished in 4th Place I high fived DiGangi and immediately looked for water and shade. Although beaten at my own game, I knew I had given it all, spilled blood and earned the honor of a not-so-easy finish.

I said congrats to the young foe who beat me, “Nice push at the end man!” To which he replied with a smile, “Yeah thanks, sorry I stripped you of that 3rd Place win.” Get a job! Wait, no, finish High School, then get a job!

I wandered to the finish line and watched my crew come through. All my ‘adult’ friends passed by no problem, but I was most proud of my younger friends, ages 9 to 14. Jack, Kevin, Elizabeth, Kelly, Isabelle and finally Ben, as far as I am concerned you re all Ironmen!

We finished up the day in true Fire Island 5K fashion at Schooners. We found out that Maura and I got AG awards! Go Gotham City Runners! Nothing like coming home with some hardware after a long weekend of partying and racing.

Sometimes you need to break rules. Sometimes pasta for dinner is boring. The memories you make leading up a race are sometimes all you need to fuel you through it.

I tried to just relax Saturday after Team Championships but… instead I met my brother, sister-in-law, and friends Stephan and Amanda (Abs was there too of course) for drinks and dinner.

On a positive, more intelligent note I made us go to an italian restaurant for dinner. I had a lovely pasta with grilled scallops!

I was in bed by 10:30PM or so, pretty late for those people actually planning on going to transition before their triathlon the next day.

RACE DAY

I woke up per usual at 6, 15 minutes after transition had closed. This was planned by the way. One of the problems with the NYC Tri is that with all of the wave starts you need to be in transition from like 415AM to 5:45 AM… LAME! My solution? Leave all your sh%t in transition the day before when you drop off your bike. I’ve done it a few times and it has never failed me. I even got to watch the start of the race on the local news!

After having a cup of coffee and watching the news I decided I had better get over to the swim start. I jumped in a cab at 7AM and was putting on my wetsuit by 7:10. Did I mention that it was raining?

Something I often talk about with fellow triathletes is the concept of ‘experience’ as training. Today it was playing a huge role. I have swam the mighty Hudson river 10 or more times and rough open water swims even more. I was in no way nervous like a lot of the guys surrounding me were. I tried to calm them with jokes and silly one liners but they seemed to think I was BSing them. My point is, new triathletes, get out in the ocean or a lake for your training swims.

Into the soup we went. The current was moving really fast as it usually does. Now, some people argue that this is unfair. My argument is that everyone gets the fast current, equalizing the race.  The Pros were swimming some obscene times and so were the rookies!

The water on a scale of 1-to-Gross was like an 8 today. I tried my best to just keep it out of my mouth. My swim overall was pretty great. I may not be the fastest, but my confidence and sighting abilities keep me competitive. I even passed a few people in my heat!

As I hit T1 I was happy to see everything just as I had left it!

I popped on my ride and hit the Henry Hudson Parkway making my way north in the rain.

The bike course on a sunny day is treacherous with its harsh pavement conditions and tight lane configurations, throw in a steady rain and it becomes really harrowing! In the beginning I just slowly increased my pace and shook out the ol legs. I had some EFS that I was taking in every so often as well.

I think 8 to 10 miles in the rain let up a bit. I was starting to feel very good and very aggressive so I began to crank it, passing many people.

Once we hit the turn around point up in the Bronx I really turned up the heat. In my head I basically said, “This is a race, lets blast it! The run will get done one way or another.” And just like that I was having the time of my life. I was riding a space ship where the controls were set to light speed. No one passed me from this point forward.

Towards mile 20 I passed Joe who yelled to me. I replied, “Jooooe! How you feeling brother?” To which he replied, “I feel great!” I threw up a fist and carried on. I later passed my friend Digangi too who was also crushing it on the bike!

Cruising through T2 I hit 72nd Street to begin the run. My legs were heavy but not dead. ‘Give it 1 mile.’ I thought. I heard my name being screamed something fierce out on 72nd and realized i was Claire, TG and Abbe! Then, I passed my teammate Suzette and finally Elizabeth before heading into my backyard… aka The Central Park.

As I hit aid station one Matt6 was in his usual spot. “Baker!” We gave each other an elbow bump before I moved onward. Soon after I saw my friend David running in opposite directions cheering me on. I hit mile one in 7:01. Not bad.

Then, mile two at 6:48… whaaaaat? I was actually speeding up, strange indeed.

Mile three (6:26) came pretty fast too. My legs didn’t hurt, my heart felt good, wild. Carry on.

At mile five I passed a 75 year old man running barefoot. I saluted him. I want to be him in 40 years.

I decided to pick up for the last mile, especially knowing that there was just one slight hill at the end. I pushed it to a 6:16 pace, now things were burning.

As I finished up I saw my friend Juan working an aid station. He cheered like crazy, which helped to push me to the finish line. I had a 2 minute PR with a finish of 2:15:31!

I found Abbe, Neil and Amy (also PR’d)  after who all had fantastic races. We tried to find Joe (who had a 15 minute PR, whaaaaaat) but he had already left.

It was a hell of a day and an even bigger weekend for me. I love racing so much and to get to do it 2 weekend days in a row is so satisfying! Congrats to all my friends and athletes who raced and killed it.