Category Archives: All

Back to Bricks

Posted on by Posted in All, Fitness, Training: Cycling, Training: Running, Triathlon 1 Comment

If you asked Coach, I don’t think she would agree that me surfing out at Rockaway Beach was on the training program. I did bike after that, so I think she was appeased, especially since she had me queued up for a serious brick on Sunday.

My younger brother Jeff, number 2 out of 6 of the famous Baker Tracy Gang of Brothers, had expressed interest in biking out to Jersey so I invited him along.

We set out at 8:30AM under overcast and cool skies. It was actually perfect. The Sunday morning Manhattan streets were very quiet and we easily made our way up to the epic George Washington Bridge. Once over, I had given him 2 options. Option 1 was to ride 9W straight to State Line while option 2 was to (as I call it) take the low road and blast through Pallisades Park. He chose option 2 as it would be more scenic. It was a good call.

Pallisades Park is a fast ride through a tight windy forest. I liken it to the speeder bike chase scene in Return of the Jedi, minus the lasers. I noticed (as we passed this stealthy looking fellow) that he jumped on my brothers tail and started a draft. Jeff and I were already drafting each other. You know why? Because we are brothers and not total strangers looking for a free ride. No biggie though, I figured we’d pull him along for a few minutes. Then, it got a little out of hand. Not that I mind, but we had a long way to go and I didn’t want us to bonk later. I pretended we needed to stop and look at something and he zipped past. He did, however, say thanks as he departed. That’s cool.

We felt the fury of that last super long hill at the end for sure. Anyone who has ridden the course knows exactly what I’m talking about. Slow, burning, pain.

Out on 9W I asked Jeff what he wanted to do. He seemed fine so instead of doubling back we headed toward State Line.

Next, at State Line we had a conference and yes, we were pushing forward again. This time, as we barreled down State Line Hill we had just committed to the full ride. I love State Line Hill as it’s this long slow descent where things can get a bit hairy. We topped out at 40.3 MPH which made me happy because I had promised Jeff some good speedy attacks.

Once we entered the Piermont and Nyack areas we kind of just enjoyed the scenery. I took him to Runsible Spoon because their muffins are not to b missed. I had their Chocolate Chip Banana one on my mind since the start of the ride. We chilled for a hot second enjoying our snack before heading back.

I had told Jeff that the ride home was fast than the way there with just 2 uphills. He would later yell that I was a liar.

If you think riding down State Line Hill is fun, you should try going up it. They don’t make a gear small enough. This is where all my Colorado friends are shaking their heads going, “Wuss. You have no idea what a hill is.” Indeed! But you, my friends have no idea what pizza is. Or bagels.

Jeff’s chain started popping off as he hit his low gears (note the grease on his face). It looked more like we had been mountain bike riding through some bogs.

We made it back safe and sound. We had traveled 53 miles in 3:15:00 which I think is impressive since he had never done the ride.

We parted ways and I jumped into my running shoes for 30 minutes of pain. Actually, I felt really good running after the bike. I even got yelled at by Coach for running too fast. Who knew?

After a shower I ate like a maniac then met back up with Jeff and his fiance Allison to have some dinner in drinks in remembrance of our father. It was a pretty solid weekend.

Oh, and thanks Kompetitive Edge, my new helmet is here!

I am a surfer!

Posted on by Posted in All, Fitness, Swimming 4 Comments

One of my life dreams is to live on a beach and surf. I would own a little taco hut, tikki bar thing and in the afternoons I bar tend. The problem is, or was, that I had never surfed.

After I closed on my new apartment this spring I went to inspect it. Inside the previous owner had left his old, perfectly awesome surfboard! It’s a Gordon & Smith Fish, which I think is a respectable surf board. This seemed to me like a surf omen. I must surf. I must surf soon.

Enter Delvecs. He is an old friend of mine who happens to love surfing. We kind of put all the pieces together and planned some weekend trips to surf! Awesome!

We drove out to Rockaway Beach “New York City’s only break.” There, we met Delvec’s pal Jay (who actually happens to work with my brother) and got suited up in our wetsuits. What did I wear? You’re g’damnd right I wore my TYR Cat 5 triathlon wetsuit! Turns out it was perfect for the water temps.

Out at the beach we had a little Surf 101. Jay is a very good surfer from California so between him and Delvecs I was covered.

The breaks were pretty crowded so we hung to the right by a jetty to start. I jumped in the water and started paddling, worried I wouldn’t get past the breakers, but I did. I guess all those Triathlons have helped my swimmy arms.

We floated on our boards now, waiting for the good stuff. Songs like ‘Catch a Wave and you’re sitting on top of the World’ and ‘Surf Wax America’ rattling around in my head.

Then, Delvecs instructed me to catch the next one and to start paddling. I did this and I did it without looking back, I just paddled.

Out of nowhere this unseen force swept me up and sped me along at an increasing speed! Without thinking, as I barreled down the wave, I just ‘popped’ up as they had instructed me. I was surfing! I held the line until the wave faded out. I was so happy!

Back out with the guys they they congratulated me. I was thrilled and so we kept at it.

We surfed from 8AM to 11:30AM. I caught a few more waves and really started to get a good feel for it.

Now, I would be a poor sport if I left out a few of the wipeouts I took and just let you to believe I was some Cinderella Story surfer. I took some serious nose dives from the top of the waves! Here’s the thing, if you are situated too far back on the board everything goes wrong. Lets replay my description of catching a wave, but change my body position.

Out of nowhere this unseen force swept me up and sped me along at an increasing speed! Without thinking, as I barreled down the wave,my nose went forward and slammed into the water tossing me forward the wave crashing on top of me.

So, that happened a few times.

All in all I am so excited to have learned how to surf! Now I just need to spend some quality time out there honing my technique a bit. Big thanks to Delvecs and Jay, my awesome surf instructors!

Surfs up bitches.

 

 

 

 

 

RACE REPORT: 078 Lava Love Sprint – 1:16:24

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The Lava Love Triathlon (formerly known as Lavaman) would mark my 3rd triathlon in just over a week. It is one of my favorite races and I was really looking forward to it, especially since the weather looked optimum, unlike last weeks Rev 3 flooding!

How do you prepare for a Sprint Triathlon? A 3-legged race of course! That was Thursday night, the following morning at 4:45AM Jim, Ed (of the ‘Dad Posse’) and I left to pick up Mike (also of ‘Dad Posse’ fame) to go fishing. It was going to be another double header weekend but this time we subbed out a Tri with fishing.

Our boat left out of teh Red Bank area and we spent a gorgeous morning fishing off of Sandy Hook. We caught maybe 4 fluke, but for me, just being out on the water was relaxing. I kept thinking to myself, “If we capsized, I could totally swim over to there. Or there, or even over to there.”

I am also kind of living out of a bag the last few weeks since my apartment is being renovated so I forgot sneakers to wear on the boat. My Newton MV2 racing flats actually worked out great!

Back at Mike’s we had a few beers before setting off for Lavalette, NJ. Since we hadn’t caught any fish, we were on a mission for seafood. Were does one get their seafood fix down on the Jersey Shore? KLEINS!

Kleins rules. It sits out on the waterway where all the boats go in and out fishing so it’s a blast to watch. They also have everything you could imagine to eat, from the ocean of course. We wanted clams so we started with 2 dozen steamed cherry stones and 1 dozen cherry stones on the half shell. These were like the biggest clams I have ever seen. Almost too big. For my unnecessary main entree, I chose the blackened Mahi sandwich and it was spectacular!

Back on the road Ed suggested we stop for ice cream. Hoffman’s is a legendary home made ice cream shop a few minutes from Jim’s Grandma’s house so we simply had to go. I was now beyond stuffed.

At Granny’s, we unpacked all 4 of our bikes, geeked out on them for a little while, riding them up and down the dark neighborhood streets, had a beer and went to bed.

RACE DAY

We were all up between 4:30 and 5:30AM bright and bushy eyed. There sure are a hell of a lotta birds that love to get up early in Lavalette! Waking up multiple days in a row before 5AM has now started not to faze me which is frightening.

Granny’s house is literally on the bike course! We hopped on our rides and took the 5 minute ride over to transition. We were like a bad ass Tri-gang rolling 4 deep.

After setting up my area which took all of 3 minutes I went over to assist Mike. This was his FIRST EVER triathlon (Jim just signed him up and sent him the registration confirm) so I wanted to make sure he was good. I still remember my first tri and how my buddy Cenk walked me through all the steps. I tried to pay it back.

Down at the water we found Gio who was also racing. Together, all 5 of us entered the choppy bay and started wading out to the start buoys. The water was really nice and I was enjoying the rough waves.

The gun went off and it was total chaos. The only other worse chaotic swim has been Ironman for me. I don’t know why, maybe the mass start or the chop? It was pretty nuts though for a sprint. I have done enough of these now that getting kicked in the face or having my head dunked doesn’t really upset me. In fact, I kind of enjoy the survival aspect of it.  I did get kind of freaked out though after a quick kick when I thought to myself, “Hey, wouldn’t it be crazy if I got kicked so hard I got knocked out?” I quickly started thinking about rainbows and beer.

My swim went well. I was sighting on point and my form seemed fluid.

As I ran out of the water I was so excited to get on my bike. This is a fast course and I was ready to drop the pedal to the metal. This being the 3rd Tri in 2 weekends, my new QR Illicito is pretty broken in and I am comfortable maxing out my speed.

As usual, the first mile my legs were on fire! I started analyzing it a bit and then came up with this. In a sprint tri, when you get on the bike its similar to the start of a 5K running race, all or nothing. Hence the pain.

After passing a few folks I equalized with most of the pack and started churning the cranks building my pace. I was now having a blast! The course is 3 loops on an oval course with 2 180 degree turns. You can see who is ahead of you coming the other way which is very handy. The lead bikers were 3-5 minutes ahead of me which was a huge lead, especially since they were probably clocking 21-23 MPH. Still, I pressed on grinding those gears pushing forward, passing people here and there.

On the 3rd and final loop I passed Ed, then Mike and then saw Jim who was coming the other direction as he was ahead of me. We all did some yelling and cheering to each other, like we always do. I asked Mike how he was doing (this being his first triathlon) and responded with, “This is so awesome!”

Seeing the guys broke my train of thought and I wasn’t sure if I was on my last loop or the second loop anymore. I am REALLY glad that I opted for last loop (because it was correct) and also because otherwise I would have maybe com in last place.

This weekend I was running with my Newton MV2 racing flats (I love me some racing flats) instead of their Distancias like last weekend. These suckers are fast man let me tell you. It’s like running in slippers.

Out on the course with the bikers, I didn’t want to red line it just yet so I just shook out my legs. I didn’t have a Garmin with me as I have been trying to get in tune with my speed on my own. I have no idea if it’s working so I basically just run as fast as I can. After Mile 1 I was ready and dropped the hammer. I was steadily passing a lot of people and enjoying myself. I remember thinking how it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it did last year. Maybe I am evolving as an athlete?

I had some fun chats with people as I passed. One guy yelled, “Hey, you passed me last year! Whats up?” “Nothing. How ya been?” “Good!” “Cool, have a nice race!”

One guy was really pumped for me and was screaming for me to go get after it. Yessir, I was trying.

At Mile 2.5 I finally caught up to Jim. He told me to try and catch Gio who was up ahead. A daunting task but why not?

Pressing forward I saw him just before the turnaround which meant he was 1/4 mile ahead of me. I was running 6:20’s but there was no way I was catching him.

Finishing up I felt great and cruised through at 1:16:24. Gio high fived me then we waited for Jim, Mike and Ed to come through.

Sex/
Age
Age
Place
Overall
Place
 Swim
0.4M		 T1 Bike
12.5M		 T2 Run
3.8M		 Total
Time
M34 3 28 12:58 1:37 36:34 1:02 24:11 1:16:24

We were trying to figure out if any of us had gotten podium and really could decide. It looked like maybe I was 6th or something. Before the awards, Jim and I biked off to get some coffee for the gang. Just as we returned and were passing out drinks I heard over the loudspeaker, “Christopher Baker!” I was like , “What? What did I do?” I had gotten 3rd in my age group and won a pint glass with the race name! SIDENOTE: I collect pint glasses with race names and have Ironman Arizona, Boston Marathon, and The Boilermaker to name a few. I could not have been more thrilled at this particular award!

It turns out Gio also got an award too! How cool!

After the awards we went to Granny’s and packed up, heading north to ol Manhattan once more.

It was another awesome weekend!!! Mike, congrats and welcome to the addiction known as triathlon.

 

 

 

RACE REPORT: 077 Great South Bay Triathlon – 1:11:28

Posted on by Posted in All, Fitness, Race Reports, Triathlon 5 Comments

…continued from Rev3 Quassy Olympic Triathlon.

Somewhere deep in what is known as Connecticut, we find our protagonists speeding along a dark and stormy highway in a white Mercedes Benz drinking coffee. Little did they knew what lay in store for them just 30 miles ahead…

Sunshine. Lots and lots of sunshine. It was as if there was some evil curse over Quassy spewing cold rain and wind all day. Not cool.

On our way to the second triathlon of the weekend, The Great South Bay Triathlon in Islip, Long Island we stopped in a town called Croton Falls searching for food. We ended up at a place called Primavera which was a pretty high class place! Good thing we were able to shower at the hotel after the race or we might not have been admitted. Primavera (Zagat rated in fact) made some of the best spinach ravioli. Jim and I quickly feasted before moving on.

In around 2 hours we were on the southern shore of Long Island checking into the tri. This race was a bit more home grown. The funniest part was when they went to body mark me and didn’t know what to do since I had my Rev3 tattoos still on! SIDENOTE: Dear Rev3, what is in those body marking tattoos? I was using a wash cloth (with soap) and they weren’t even fading! The women thought it was really cool that we did a triathlon that morning. “Jill, look at this guy, he already has body markings!” They put my new number under my Rev3 number. It was messy, but I’m not gonna lie, I felt pretty bad ass with 2 different tri markings on me. I already had my age practically tattooed on my calm so they didn’t have to worry about that.

We met Ed at his boat slip (Yes, Ed has a boat) and while waiting for him attempted to dry off our wet everything. Seriously, everything in our bags was wet from the race.

I dubbed this moment ‘Triathlete Refugee Camp.’

As we blasted across the sound Ed had noted that there were white caps. They were no joke! If you weren’t holding onto something, you were in the soup. Did I mention we were drinking beers on the boat?

Arriving in Ocean Bay Park a mere 20 minutes after setting sail, we checked into our rooms at the Fire Island Hotel. Ed owns it so he didn’t check in. He was launching the new website that night (fireislandhotel.com) along with a series of new renovations and a music series so there was a party going on. Live music and a wine tasting from Barefoot Wines along with some sensational apps. It was pretty awesome!

Not to promo Ed’s place too much, but any of you city folk that haven’t gone out to the Fire Island Hotel for a weekend are missing out. It has a Margaritaville vibe, with a classy new look. From Manhattan you could be there using only public transportation in and hour and a half.

We had a really nice dinner at the Hotel’s restaurant. We all basically had these amazing fish tacos. Thank god all of us were exhausted because it meant we could sleep early! I think we went to bed at 9:45 which was desperately needed after the full day of racing and traveling.

RACE DAY

Once again I woke up at 3AM and was tossing and turning until 5. Maybe I had too much sleep? Probably not.

The Hotel was quiet and peaceful. Jim and I met Ed at his house and then set off towards the boat. Aside from getting to drive by the swim course on a boat (way cool) we also go to see the sunrise across the sound.

Arriving at Transition I felt very sleepy. I was yawning and basically non-energetic. I was BIB 15 so my spot was right up front which was a first. I made friends with my neighbor Tosin (also a New Yorker who works in my hood actually) and we went down to the water together.

It was hot, it was sunny, the water was gorgeous. I loved all of it. It was like waking out of some triathlon nightmare. That nightmare was cold and rainy Quassy the day before! This was like a big fluffy triathlon cloud. If only the people complaining about the chilly ocean water knew what we endured. Maybe they did because I had a hug SEG on my face and was splashing around like a penguin.

I was in Wave 1 and we set off right on time. Unlike yesterday, I just put my head down and dug in hard. I was actually swimming over people for once! It was a triangular course and my sighting was dead on, until the end.

Everything was going so great, I was making smooth progress, hitting the buoys, and having a lot of fun. Then as we rounded the last buoy to head to shore I had nothing to aim at but the beach. I overshot the pier boundary and found myself making friends with kayakers telling me to, “Swim left!” Not nearly as scarey as the Alcatraz miscalculating, but still annoying since I lost some time.

On dry land once again I bolted to T1 with a fury. I bounded onto ‘The Morrighan’ and took off. Now that the back wheel was no longer rubbing against the frame it sliced silently through the course!

To give you a not so Apple-to-Apples example of how the wheel affected me… Rev3 = 16 MPH, GSB = 22 MPH

The course was really winding and very fun. My strategy was to ride as hard as I could. I didn’t get passed too much at all on the bike. In the beginning 2 guys in the most serious bike outfits for a local race overtook me. Like, it may as well have been Kona, disc wheels and all. For the bulk of the ride I rode neck and neck with is guy going my pace. Every time I went to pass him he sped up. That was until out of nowhere, Jim comes flying by yelling, “Heeeeey Baker!” I laughed out loud and yelled, “Wait up!” I shot my gears down and really cranked it, quads burning. We only had 1-2 miles to go so I figured I could hang onto Jim as he’s a pretty fast rider.

T2 was a blur. I threw on my Newtons and took off. One thing I noticed… Pre-race I was eating these Gu Chomps because I was a little hungry. When setting up Transition I left the bag in my shoe in case I needed them on the run. Guess what was stuck onto my big toe? Correct, a GU Chomp. In my mind I was like, “F-it, it’s only 3 miles.” Maybe I would need it at Mile 2 or something? Eeeeeeew.

I saw Tosin up ahead and he instructed me to chase down the 19 year old that had passed him. Aye aye.

I was running pretty hard but was feeling the fatigue from yesterday’s Olympic set in. Finally, at like Mile 2.5 I passed the 19 year old. Do you know what he said as I ran by? “I will let you go since you aren’t in my age group.” Oh to be young.

I saw DiGangi and his cousin Sal, then as I was finishing I saw Ed coming in on the bike!

I finished in 1:11:28 which is actually a PR by 2 minutes or something. I’ll take it.

Sex/
Age
Age
Place
Overall
Place
 Swim
750M		 T1 Bike
11M		 T2 Run
3.1M		 Total
Time
M34 6 54 19:52 1:12 30:17 0:55 19:12 1:11:28

After Jim finished, we went up to cheer Ed on. Turns out we are standing right next to Boomer Esiason! Small world.

Ed came in shortly after then we departed to have a victory breakfast! It was there Ed informed us of how some speedster took a turn too hot and T-boned him! Ed was bruised and cut, but the attacker went to the hospital in an ambulance.

—

What a weekend! ‘Tri Hopping!’ Even though these weren’t my best times and I didn’t place, I spent the weekend doing what I love most, racing. Sometimes you cant get too caught up in the big picture, you just need to enjoy where you are at that particular moment.

RACE REPORT: 076 Rev3 Quassy OLY – 2:59:37

Posted on by Posted in All, Fitness, Race Reports, Running, Triathlon 7 Comments

Somehow, I was talked into doing 2 triathlons in one weekend.

On Friday I left work early to meet Jim for our drive up to Quassy, Connecticut. Yes, we hit loads of stupid Friday rush hour traffic. How people do that everyday I do not know. What I do know is that if I participated I would be the most stressed out crazy person on the road and possibly wanted by the police for roadside murder.

The first thing Jim said to me as we began our trip was, “Did you bring your rain gear? I did.” No, I didn’t pack rain gear, nor did I pack anything warmer than a tee shirt. My race outfits were 2 tank tops. I was worried.

We arrived in Quassy at 7PM with 1 hour to spare before transition closed. We checked in, then listened to the race director discuss tomorrows plan as we were in for a bit of a storm. In fact, it was already pretty gloom out and I was cold. While there we bumped into Gallagher, one of our friends who we thought was racing the Half on the following day. It was great seeing him and we made plans to meet up the following day.

I had us booked at the Waterbury Marriott a few towns over so we headed there to check in before dinner. Entering our room, we were overwhelmed by it’s grandness, then I remembered I had booked the business suite! Ed was supposed to be doing this with us but had to bail, so Jim and I both had separate rooms with a kitchen, dishwasher, 2 bathrooms, the works.

After check-in we went in search of carbs! Driving towards an Italian spot I had looked up we hit a red light. Jim and I were looking at this really cool restaurant to our right before we both said, “That place looks cool!”

It was. The place was called City Hall Cafe and had a really old classic vibe going on.There was even a live band doing Neil Diamond covers! So cool.

I had lamb chops (I’m a sucker for lamb) and Jim had pork chops. It was enough food for 4 people. To get our carbs in we had a few beers.

Back at the hotel we noticed the Celtics game on in the lobby bar. I agreed we could have one more beer as long as we were in bed by 11:30AM since we had to get up at 4:45AM. Not to justify staying up because of crappy weather racing, but I was NOT looking forward to the next day’s rain.

Asleep at 12. Up at 3. Crazy thunderstorms. Asleep at 3:30. Up at 4. Asleep at 4:30. Up at 5.

Thanks Kompetitive Edge!

RACE DAY

I am addicted to the Doppler Radar. I love it so much! I spent the morning analyzing the rain patterns trying to predict when the rain would pass. It was drizzling now and looked (generally speaking) pretty crappy outside. Like, if you didn’t have to race, you would sleep in and drink coffee in your PJs until you absolutely needed to leave your apartment. We, on the other hand, were going swimming.

I ate a banana and threw on my Kompetitive Edge race kit. I was really excited because even though I had worn the red and grey KE tops in marathons this April, I hadn’t worn the full kit including the tri shorts.

In transition everyone was pretty chipper as the scene in any Rev3 race, but the rain was coming down and I was cold. As soon as I could I put on my wetsuit, a general faux pas in any normal circumstance because you get hot. Even with the wetsuit on I was cold.

Gallagher, Jim and I headed down to the beach to get some swimming in before gun time. Amazingly, the water was warmer than the air and it felt so good to get in! I felt like those arctic monkeys you see on the animal station in the hot springs with only their ice covered heads poking out! Monkeys don’t wear goggles.

We had to wait awhile back on the beach to start because one of the course buoys had blown off. We were once again freezing.

As my wave lined up at the waters edge (Wave 2) some of the guys were praying for more rain insisting that we should get it over while swimming. I hate all of these people. They prayed way too much. Stay tuned.

The gun went off and we bolted into the soup. I was hard right, second back, and pretty unfazed at the prospect of a bunch of people swimming over me. I guess Ironman mass starts with over 2500 people will numb you to a wave start.

That’s me second from the front.

This was my first open water swim of the season and I freaked a little. Not like I stopped swimming, I just got all up in my head. Was my breathing off? Where was I going? Like, really stupid things to think about. The col thing, was that this same thing happened last year during my first swim and I knew it was just a matter of time.

Indeed it was. After I passed the first red buoy, marking the 1/3 mark, everything was fine and I was swimming hard. It was lightly raining and visibility was sub par but I did pretty good on my sighting. Now, all I thought about was how to make the swim longer because the bike was going to suck. It was so lovely in that lake water. Warm, no wind, I had eye protection and if I needed nutrition there were fish.

Exiting the swim I kept my wetsuit on as long as I could. I didn’t even unzip it and in fact I ran hard to get my temperature up. I threw on the arm warmers I bought the night before. They were like the last pair and if I hadn’t had them I don’t know if I would have finished the race without a med tent stop.

I started the bike portion, semi-excited because I was racing my new Illicto aka ‘The Morrighan’, and sad as it was raining and cold.

I saw Jen right off the bat which cheered me up.

The Rev3 Quassy course is no joke. There are no straight aways, only uphills and downhills. Imagine this if you will… as you rode up the hills it was quiet and calm with the rain slightly annoying. Once you began the downhills and started hitting 20+ MPH the rain stung and made visibility null and void. Thanks god I had switched out my Oakley Fast Jacket’s dark lens with the red ones. This helped immensely.

The first 10 miles were brutal and I was getting passed a lot. This pissed me off because I am normally the one doing the passing on the bike (since I get passed by so many people on the swim). My bike was making a funny sound, like a hissing sound, but since it was raining I couldn’t pinpoint it and just kept riding. (Travel into the future with me. As we were getting ready for the next day’s triathlon Jim and I discovered that my back wheel was rubbing against the frame and brakes! After making the adjustment the ‘hissing’ sound stopped and the wheel zipped around. Live and learn right?)

I’m not sure what exactly happened at mile 12 or so but I got this fire inside me and everything stopped hurting. I blasted into the high gears and started passing people on the downhills and laughing out loud at the crazy rain. I was back.

My joke of the day was, as I rode next to someone going the same pace I would say, “I heard we’re in for some rain.” I had a few guys laughing pretty hard which was my goal. I mean come on, riding in a 50 degree downpour? No one is having a great race so we may as well make the best of the situation.

Even though I was on my second wind or warmed up or whatever, at Mile 20 I was ready to be done. My hands were numb and it got really hard to shift gears. Then I started thinking about how hard it would be if I needed my brakes.

Once again, I saw Jen! She held her hand up as to high-five me and I thought, “No way I can do this Jen, my hands are numb and I will crash.” But then she just said something like, “Virtual high Baker, looking good!” Phew!

Riding into T2 I was really pumped to get out and run. Biking in the rain, not cool. Running in the rain, very fun. Good thing I brought my trusty visor!

Leaving T2 I grabbed a Gu since I hadn’t eaten anything but my banana earlier. My feet were numb so it kind of hurt to run on them. More worrisome, was the fact that if I was actually running to hard and maiming my feet I would have no idea.

The run rocked! I was really feeling it and got my legs in check real quick, like by mile 1.

I passed a lot of runners and used that as my motivation to keep going. I thought of ‘Reach the Beach’ and our Kill Sheet and how many kills I was making.

Mile 4 came up really fast. I didn’t even see Mile 3 for some reason so Mile 4 was like, “Surprise!”

One interesting thing that happened was that as I was passing a guy in my Age Group he said, “Ah, damn it!” I wanted to be like, “Hey man, we are nowhere near getting any kind of awards today. It’s gonna be okay.”

Rev3 is mostly chill people but you occasionally get a hot head.

The last mile is all uphill, not cool. As I made my way to the finish I was surprised to see my friend Amanda cheering me on and then doubly surprised to see a field of mud separating me from the Finish!

My time was 2:59:37 which was the least of my concern. I just wanted to get it over with. I have heard a lot from people like, “Dude, rain and cold ain’t nothing. You should have killed it.” Sorry, but not in my world. Case in point… I ran a 3:23 Marathon in 90 degree (shit show) heat and then a 2:54 two weeks later in perfect conditions.

Sex/
Age
Age
Place
Overall
Place
 Swim
0.9M		 T1 Bike
25M		 T2 Run
6.2M		 Total
Time
M34 39 234 35:51 3:18 1:34:55 2:21 43:13 2:59:37

Anyway, it was still an awesome Rev3 as always and I was so happy to have finished!

I chatted with a bunch of strangers afterward and then went to the Finish to cheer. Once Jim came in we made the decision to bolt. Why? We had 1 hour left on our hotel check out which meant we could take a hot shower.

“Oh Hell Yeah.” (and we needed Dunkin Donuts)

After the most amazing shower and coffee Jim and I continued our journey. We were headed to Long Island to meet up with Ed for our Sunday triathlon…

077 The Great South Bay Triathlon

Big thanks to sponsor Kompetitve Edge for hooking me up in some sick gear!

 

RACE REPORT: 075 AHA Wall Street Run 3M – 18:21

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The Wall Street 3 Miler is not a ‘runner’s race.’ This is not the race to PR. You will be elbowed, crowded, tripped, and generally annoyed unless you take it as it is, a fun run.

I met Ed pre-race (after saying hi to Melissa and Erica) and we headed over to the start. There are no corrals, just approximate pace flags. We had done this race a few times and knew the protocol, just go as far forward as you can regardless of what the flags say. Like I said earlier, this is not a ‘runner’s race’ and therefore a few of the rules of competition were skewed.

The gun went off and it took me a good 30 seconds to cross the Start. I was wearing my Newton MV2 racing flats (Thanks Kompetitive Edge!) and was anxious to really test them out.

I was moving at a steady pace passing people, but other gung ho runners were blasting past me like crazy men. These people were not regular runners and I would see lots of these fellas at mile 2 1/2 fading.

As we twisted and turned through Wall Street and the canyons of the Financial District I really started enjoying the course. It was somewhere around Mile 2 and although still thick with runners, it was manageable. I just held to the outside and kept my pace up as high as I could. There were lots of good crowds out cheering people on, mostly people who had coworkers running out supporting them.

Turning onto the final long stretch we were running directly into the sun. It’s very surreal because you can only make out these dark silhouettes of runners ahead. My pace was at its peak on this last mile and I felt good and was very excited to meet up with my friends after. Making the last turn on a quiet neighborhood street I heard, “Goooooo Baker!” It was Claire and Abbe causing a cheering ruckus!

Blasting down the homestretch I could no longer catch anyone. I finished in 18:21 and am happy with that time. I had no goals for this race aside from just enjoying myself, which I did. I didn’t even wear a Garmin!

Sex/
Age		 Bib Overall Place Age
Place		 Finish
Time		 Pace/
Mile		 AG %
M34 3765 77 18 18:21 6:07 67:43%

After the race we (Ed, Jim, Abbe, Erica, Melissa, Chelsea, Maura, Elyssa, Joe, Allen) went to Eamonn’s of Brooklyn which is not in Brooklyn at all. We celebrated with a few pints and some food. Yes, it was awesome!

Saturday I am off to Rev3 Quassy followed by the Great South Bay triathlon on Sunday! Weekend doubler headers rule!

RACE REPORT: 074 Reach the Beach: 26:09 (hours)

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The Reach the Beach relay is a 200 Mile (36 leg) race across the state of Massachusetts. Each team is comprised of up to 12 people who run constantly until you ‘reach the beach’ 200 miles later. You don’t sleep, you just run, eat, and use the bathroom.

This race is particularly monumental to me because last year on the day I was supposed to leave for it, I received a call telling me my father was dying and that I needed to get to him immediately to say goodbye. Instead of racing, I was a part of the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life.

They say time heals all, and while that may be true I have learned (in this last year) that our time is limited, so you must embrace every moment of every day. I could think of nothing more fitting then to do what I love most right now, to run all night.

Our super start team, Team Honey Badger, left Thursday afternoon in a 2 van caraVAN (see what I did there? Clever right?) towards New Haven. Team Roll Call Go! Alamar, Maura, Elyssa, Neal, Allen, Abbe, Robin, Patricio, and me!

After spending a few hours in rush hour we finally parked in New Haven, aka Neal’s turf. He went to grad school here and has a pulse on the scene. What scene are we talking about exactly… Pizza! “I’m going to take you to the best pizza restaurant ever.” To which I replied in my snotty New York voice, “Um, I rarely eat pizza outside of NYC.”

If there were a pizza scale, lets say it was 1 to 10 (10 being supreme-o) Pizza Moderna was an 11. We had a fried clam pizza along with the Italian bomb and the veggie bomb. I think I had like 3 huge slices! We had a few pitchers of beer which Maura entertained us with stories of her doing hard time. I’ve known Maura for awhile so having a convict on my team didn’t really bother me.

Back on the road we arrived at the start (Fitchburg, MA… home of the corn dog) by 11PM.

RACE DAY(s)

Abbe, Elyssa, Robin and I got up early and went to the local grocer to get supplies. “Hmmmmm.” you ask. “What does on need on a 200 mile race across a U.S. State?” We picked up bananas, apples, water, Gatorade, Peanut M&Ms, granola bars, peanut butter, bread, grapes, sliced turkey, ice, almonds, and some Coca Cola. These are all things we split between the 2 vans to aid our team once the race began.

I misspelled the team name.

After we checked in and took a few team photos it was time for Allen to set it off. Our start time was at noon. SIDENOTE: They started the teams based on speed in order for everyone to end up at the beach at roughly the same time. If you started at 9AM you were a slower paced team then someone starting at 2PM.

It was a beautiful day, but it was getting hot.

Allen and 10 others started the 12 Noon wave by charging up a serious uphill.

Van 1 (Abbe, Robin, Patricio and myself) ran to the van and started toward the first transition point. Allen came blasting through and Abbe lay in wait. As he hit her with the slap bracelet baton she took off. It would go something like this for 36 legs.

My first leg started at 3PM and I was so excited to finally be running. We had made a ‘Kill Chart’ so keep track of people we passed during each leg and so I was secretly eyeing up my targets before Patricio arrived to tag me in. He hit me with the baton and off I went. We had no intention (as a team) of trying to place, we were just out for the love of the game, so Kills were everything.

By Mile 1 I had 3 kills under my belt but I was hurting bad. I was holding a 6:15 pace but needed to slow it up so I dropped my speed. I turned onto a dirt road and thought, “This, is awesome!” Basically, I imagined myself in the Duke’s of Hazzard blasting down the road, but with Newtons instead of a Dodge Charger.

Other vans with funny names were driving by constantly cheering us on. This would happen the whole entire race and I thought it was so cool!

Van 1 was waiting at Mile 3 to dish me some water which I needed bad. I had passed another 3 people (innocent older mom-like runners) and was ready to be done running.

7.2 Miles @ 6:30 pace = Kills 8

After Leg 1 our van decided to go in search of real food, like burritos. We ended up in Worchester (secretly pronounced Wooster and NOT home of Worcestershire sauce to our dismay) at Tortilla Sam’s. Tortilla Sam was selling burritos for like a buck fifty! A smart person running a 200 mile relay who was at the beginning of the race, might have questioned these outrageous prices and worried about food poisoning or even sudden death, but not Team Honey Badger. I had a veggie burrito and got a rice and black bean to go. All of us also had coffee.

We picked up Van 2 at their last transition and Allen began his second run. It was now after 6:30PM and so the rule was to have a reflective vest, 2 blinky lights and a head lamp on. We looked like crazed miner-crossing guards being chased by non-existent zombie school children.

By the time it was my turn to run again it was 3 hours later. This was the norm for everyone. It was also 9:15 PM and pitch black. I had my reflective gear on (Thanks Claire!) and was actually kind of scared to run in the dark with all this crap on me. Little did I know this run would be one of my most memorable and fun runs to date.

I started off on the shoulder of a highway cooking down a hill against traffic. Not so cool right? Then, I (and I say I because in a race like this there aren’t any other runners around) turn onto a back country road. It was very dark.

I was flanked by thick forest, my head lamp creating a sort of ‘bubble’ of light around me as I ran into nothingness. All I could hear was my footfall, my heavy breath and the crickets emanating from the left and right. It was cold now so every time I exhaled a sort of steamy fog passed into my light bubble for a second.

I felt an intense fear, as if I were going to be attacked from any side by an unseen foe. Then, I laughed a bit and thought, “Wow. If my Dad could see me now. He would think this was possibly the coolest thing ever.” And it was.

Me, and the street, nothing else. It was the purest form of running I had ever experienced. I couldn’t tell how fast I was going because I couldn’t see things passing me by. I could hear my breathing and footfall and ran to that as if it were music.

A few miles in I saw some blinky lights, meaning, targets were up ahead. I sped up and passed one or two runners. Then, a few more. As I came into transition like a bat out of hell I had been running a 6:14 pace and not even known it.

6 Miles @ 6:14 pace = Kills 12

Our van was now half way done our part in the relay. We went on a quest for coffee. I was in the way back having a semi-heart attack and cleaning my body with baby wipes. The cool thing about running in the dark? No sunscreen!

As Abbe pulled us up to the drive-thru Burger King, she order coffee then Patricio goes, “1 Large Fry.” I sat there for a second thinking, “Damn it Patricio.” “Make that 2 Large Fries!”

I housed them and loved every minute of it.

We parked at the transition area where we were to meet Van 2, 2 hours from then. We all tried to relax and maybe sleep but it seemed impossible. 2 hours is not a lot of time to try and get some z’s either. The temperature was now nearing 45 degrees.

Leg three approached and it was nearing 1AM. Allen geared up and waited for Neal at the transition. Even though it was late, it was still the same giant runner party at transition!

As Allen finished his 3rd leg he blasted past 3 people to make his kills for that leg 14, a team record! He was on a mission.

It was getting really hard to get aid to our runner due to the darkness. We had a hard time finding out which runner was ours and they, in turn, had a hard time figuring out what van we were!

Abbe, Robin and finally Patricio finished up as I waited in the cold to start my 3rd leg. It was now 3:15AM!

I tried setting it off as I did the run before, but I was starting to feel fatigued from running and lack of sleep. I did however manage to pass an Ultra Team runner girl (an Ultra Team was a team of 6 people who were most likely fast) that had passed Abbe. Abbe had been talking about it so I figured I would avenge her being a ‘kill.’

This run was almost as cool as the other night run accept I was exhausted. It also took place on major roads with cars, so the whole spooky aspect wasn’t really there.

4.2 Miles @ 6:20 pace = Kills 10

As our 3rd leg came to a close all of us were really wiped out. We were delirious. Immediately we drove to our last transition start to try and sleep before Van 2 made their way to us.

We did actually manage to get somewhere between 20-60 minutes worth of sleep. It helped me tremendously. As I woke to the sun at 6AM I felt not great, but good. I walked over to some local moms selling coffee and BSed with them for awhile. The volunteers and helpers in this race were so wonderful!

The rest of the gang woke up and were a bit groggy. Allen got ready for his 4th and final leg and went to meet Neal.

It was kind of refreshing to be out of the darkness and into the light. I feel like we had made it.

The only unfortunate thing about the light is that it gets hot fast.

During Robin’s last run Allen and I were waiting to give her water we we started chatting with a few other teams. They actually thought we were an Ultra Team! We told them no way and they insisted, saying that they started at 9AM as opposed to our 12 Noon and so we had made up 3 hours. I’m not going to try and be modest here, because this is a team race, but we felt pretty bad ass. A few other teams after said the same thing and thats when we started doing some quick math. “Did we have a shot at placing?” We had been running for fun this whole time, not knowing if we stood a chance at a decent finish time.

As I started my last run I was far from excited. It was 75 degrees and sunny and I was very tired. Mainly, my legs felt trashed.

My leg was a straight shot down a highway, so exciting. I wanted to quit and walk so very badly but I just kept going. I took it mile by mile. Abbe saved me when at mile 3 she busted out some Coca Cola for me. I chugged a few ounces and kept going, the heat bearing down on me.

Finally, I rounded a corner and came into transition, finishing my end of the race.

6.5 Miles @ 6:35 pace = Kills 2

Exhausted and hungry, our van decided we needed a proper breakfast. We hit Old Country Buffet. As far as NY Times food rating go, it would have been sub par, but I’ll tell you what… that food was fantastic! Bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, fruit, coffee and for dessert a Raspberry Lemonade Icee!

We headed to the finish after that so we could rendezvous with the gang.

We chatted with Jess for a bit, who was on the New Balance Team before heading to the beach to run in with Neal. As he round the corner we all gathered around him and ran into the finish chute, all nine of us triumphant! I have never crossed the finish as a team before and it was quite cool.

Next? What a silly question… the beer tent! We all threw back 1 or 2 delicious cold ones before heading to the beach for a group picture.

200 Miles = 26:09 Hours. 20th overall and 5th in our division!

That night we went out for an early dinner. The last time I stayed up all night was 15 years ago so I was basically a mess. Half of us went to sleep at 8PM. We slept a full 10 hours and I felt so refreshed in the morning.

Total Kills = 133

Thanks to Captain E for setting up this race and thanks to my amazing teammates! All 8 of you are truly Beyond Defeat.

To those of you who think this race might be easy… it is far from it.

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After traveling back I headed down to DC to be with my 6 brothers and my bonus mom (step-mom.) The following day, on the one year anniversary of my father’s death, we drank Johnny Walker Black scotch around his grave site telling happy stories about him and what he meant to each of us.

The people we surround ourselves with are a direct reflection of who we are and what we represent. I am honored to have these friends and family in my life. Keep running.

 

 

New York I Love You

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I am going to start doing a series of posts on my experiences here in New York City and this is numero one. Dig it.

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One of the things that makes New York great is the ability to do anything. Do you like to sew? There are classes and talks on sewing. Maybe you like to collect butterflies. Yes, there is a butterfly collector meet-up.

When my friend Elizabeth asked if I wanted to go see Chrissie Wellington speak this week I thought, “Oh man, Triathlon Nerd Meet-up.” “Hell yes I want to go!” For those of you who have no idea who Chrissie Wellington is, I’m going to slap you. Seriously though, the gal won the Ironman World Championships 4 times.

What would I wear? A running outfit? Perhaps a Rev 3 visor? My wetsuit minus the goggles and pee? (people were actually wearing these things by the way.)

I get out of work at 5 and the event started at 7… what to do, what to do?

Abbe invited me to be her guest at a wine tasting downtown that started at 5:30. Perfect!

I arrived at the very dark and sleek venue and met some of her colleagues before getting started on my Vouvray wine experience. We started with the drier wines, moving down the spectrum to some sweeter ones One of them literally tasted like you were biting into a crisp green apple. Amazing.

All of this was happening while we were being served some spectacular hors d’oeuvres. My favorite were the lamb tacos, which were no taco at all mind you. It was more like spicy lamb wrapped in puff pastry heaven.

At 6:30 I left the gals and headed uptown to see Chrissie. I blasted north on the Subway, arriving promptly at 7. Timing is everything.

As I was entering I saw my friend Josh! Josh is a speedy runner (Homeslice just ran a 2:38 in the Dirty Jersey Marathon coming in 3rd overall) who runs for the Front Runners team. Shorty after that I found Elizabeth and we took our seats.

John Korff, the man who’s company puts on the NYC Tri and Ironman NY was our MC.

Chrissie was really fun to listen to. She gave a lot of great pieces of advice, most of which I have heard over the years from others, including my Coach. What was so captivating about her though was how she used Ironman as a vehicle to a larger world stage. Now that she is known for her athletic achievements she can pick and choose her charities and foundations, raising awareness and money.

The other thing that resonated was, she said she always wanted to run a race and give it all physically and emotionally. It resonated because I think I actually did that for the first time a few weeks ago at the Kentucky Derby Marathon.

Everyone stuck around to get their books signed, but I departed, mainly because the line was insane and I was starving!

Walking home in the cool spring air after a talk like that made me want to run.

Where else can you go from a fancy wine tasting to an Ironman talk?! I love you New York!

 

RACE REPORT: 073 The Kentucky Derby Marathon – 2:54:04

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It’s funny how plans can change. Sometimes maybe it’s better to not even have a plan, or a goal for that matter.

Boston was supposed to be my PR marathon and 2 weeks later, The Kentucky Derby Marathon was to be a fun run if you will. That all changed when Boston, or Mother Nature, kicked my ass. I was so bummed and worn out that I wasn’t even into running Kentucky, just come and cheer on Abbe and Katie.

Arriving in Louisville Thursday night we immediately went to ‘Joe’s Old as Dirt’ to meet Katie, Dr. Jordan, her brother Chris and parents Clay and Linda. They were already into some beers so we naturally followed.

We stayed at Katie and Dr. J’s that night and in the morning went on a ‘shake out run.’ Katie showed us around her town, it was really pretty and smelled so fresh, especially compared to NYC.

The weather report said we were going to have great temperatures (55-65 degrees) but thunderstorms in the morning. Not good.

After our run we headed to the Expo to get our bibs. We then went to BBC Brewery to have a hearty lunch. Abbe’s folks Linda and Dave arrived and joined the party. I tried to eat smart and had a rice and bean burrito and an ESB. So far so good…

Pre-race dinner was at this really cool place called Bello Rosso. It looked like someone’s house. Well, actually it was a house, it just looked like a family still lived there with tables sprinkled throughout. Way artsy. I had the lasagna. I normally don’t get lasagna out because I make a pretty serious homemade lasagna which is my Mom’s recipe which in turn is our family friend Debbie’s (she Italian) recipe. What I’m trying to say is that Debbie’s recipe kicks ass so why risk eating a lower grade lasagna. I chose to because our waiter said it was good. It showed up and was roughly 3 servings worth of lasagna. Was it good? Yes. Would it feed an entire starving family? True. I ate maybe 1/3rd of it before feeling like I was going to give birth to a lasagna baby. We will come back to this topic in the Race Day section of our story.

The weather report had also been updated constantly all day and it now looked like 20% chance of thunderstorms. That means no rain in my book. The race was on!

I slept from 10-1 that night and then just lay awake wishing for sleep. I even put on my iPhone App that makes ambient noise to see if it would help. It only helped Abbe stay asleep.

RACE DAY

I woke up at 6AM and was not even the slightest bit hungry. In fact, I was full and still pregnant with my lasagna baby. I did manage to force down an apple. (I love apples.)

Abbe and I were picked up by Katie and Dr. J at 6:45. It was clear skies and 45 degrees. Had it been raining it would have been horrible. Dr. J dropped us off a block from the corrals and Katie, Abbe and I made our way over. We had 30 minutes to spare which is plenty in a race where there wasn’t high security staging areas… I’m talking to you Boston.

We hugged and wished each other well before departing for corrals. Up in my corral I found it really fascinating from a sociological stand point. All the local speedsters knew each other, just like the New York scene! People were high fiving and yelling to each other, very cool Kentucky.

I saw the Start mat but chose to hang back and play ‘Dark Horse’ this go around. I still wasn’t even sure what was going to happen and after Boston I had been kind of doubting myself. “Had I lost it? Am I slowing down?”

The gun went off and we pushed forward down the main streets of Louisville in a tight pack. My music was off and I was doing systems checks left and right. (Think Top Gun) “How are the legs? Am I hungry? Do I have any tightness left from Boston? Is my heart beating? Did I bring my free beer ticket for the end of the race?”

After over a mile of straightaway we cut south and then back west the way we had come. Remember, I was running with Half Marathoners too, so there was no easy way to tell who to pace with.

Miles 1-3: 6:25, 6:28, 6:23

I was going way too fast. I thought about where I needed to be and that was in the 6:45 range in order to break 3. I thought about Boston and how that was my ‘plan’ because that’s what speed I train at. I was mentally limiting myself. I was telling myself I wasn’t capable of anything but a slight sub3. I was playing it safe.

“I’m going to set it the fuck off.”

I said that out loud by the way. My legs felt awesome and I started speeding up faster, passing more people.

Miles 4-6: 6:24, 6:22, 6:20

We were now running due south towards Iroquois Park. I substituted Iroquois Park with the Red Mountain from IMAZ and then it all became familiar. The crowds were great and the kids were so cute high fiving us. What a nice break from the loud  Boston crowds.

At Mile 8 we turned into Churchill Downs! We ran under into the tunnel and then out onto the outfield. There were horses warming up (or doing whatever it is horses do a week before a race. Tapering?) It was a definite highlight of the run.

As soon as we came back onto the course they split the Half Marathoners, who started the return, and the Marathoners who continued south. It emptied out and the only guy in front of me was like 100 yards up. Seriously? Where is everyone.We were running on a street lined neighborhood street and I was loving it. I even had a snack, that’s right a Vanilla Gu! What a delicious treat at 8:30 in the morning.

Mile 7-9: 6:23, 6:25, 6:24

Just past Mile 9 was our cheer squad consisting of Dr. J, Linda 1, Linda 2, Dave, Clay, Chris, Kristin, and Adam complete with signs and making some serious noise! It was awesome!

My goal at this point was actually to just hold my 6:23 average pace as long as I could and I was doing okay! Then… well then came Iroquois Park.

Miles 11-15 were the turnaround location and also wound through a hilly (yet scenic) park. It begins with a dramatic winding uphill for, oh say 1/2 a mile and then thrashes your legs with ups and downs, lefts and rights over the next 3 miles. It was very wooded and at this point I had no one visible for in front of me or behind me. At times I often wondered if I was even going the right way. Perhaps I was supposed to turn around somewhere and head back?

I also held off the urge to pee. Those trees were calling my name man, “C’mon Baker, take a break, no one is around.” At Mile 14 I kinda figured we were looping back around and just tried to maintain some speed. I used the downhills to my advantage even though I knew I would pay for it later.

Miles 10-14: 6:30, 6:30, 6:46, 6:31

I was never so happy to leave the wilderness. Back at the entrance I saw the bulk of the marathoners entering the park as I left it. People cheered me on. I blasted back down onto the street and plunged forward, my body slowly adjusting to not climbing hills anymore. It felt good but I knew I had a ways to go.

These miles were easy as I knew the course and I had everyone coming at me wishing me luck and telling me stuff like, “You’re in 4th place.” I saw Abbe coming up and we high fived and smiled! Then, I passed our cheer squad again, this time they were ready with the cameras! One thing that was difficult was wishing people good luck back. I was exhausted and every 5 feet someone yelled, “Good pace.” “Great work you’re killing it!” and so forth. Most of the time I simply waved or nodded to them but I really wanted to yell back.

I saw Katie cruising up around Mile 19 and guess what we did? That’s right, we high fived!

Miles 15-19: 6:29, 6:19, 6:37, 6:24, 6:39

It was also right around this point that we temporarily merged (2 miles) back into the back portion of the Half Marathon pathway. Not a good logistical decision. It was like entering the freeway doing 80 and up ahead was stand still traffic. I did my best to be polite and bob and weave past people on the right side. It was actually kind of fun.

Some runner also yelled, “Go KE!” which is the abbreviated name of my team Kompetitive Edge. This guy knew the team for sure and I thought that was quite cool.

At Mile 20ish the Marathoners split right onto an open roadway. It was me and one other guy wearing orange who was way ahead of me. I ate my second and last Gu. Things started to get rough right around here. I was by myself with little or no crowds, the sun was rising, and it was the last 6 miles of a marathon (duh). I just focused my eyes on the orange of the guy in front of me and kept moving.

I started doing the math in my head here and got really emotional at the prospect of a PR. I told myself to cool it and stay focused, I could get all weepy when I got my ice cold beer at the finish.

Whoever said there were no hills at the end of this course is the biggest ass. I turned a cornier at Mile 22 and was confronted with a serious uphill. Then, at the top (being excited to be done with the hill) I saw the next hill, even bigger, up ahead! I tried my best to just swing my arms and get through them and I did. I didn’t walk at all during this marathon, not even at aid stations.

At the end of Mile 24 I was a mess and fading.

Miles 20-24: 6:39, 6:42, 6:55, 7:10, 7:19

Something came over me at the start of Mile 25. I got like a second wind or something and really dug down deep. We turned the last left and there was this immense straight-away (not too dissimilar to Boston) and I just punched it. I swung around like a bat out of hell, scaring a few Half Mary walkers and jammed through the Finish line feeling triumphant.

Miles 25-26: 6:58, 6:59

I finished with a 4 minute PR in 2:54:04! It was also 29 minutes faster than my Boston Marathon 2 weeks earlier.

Sex/
Age		 Bib Overall Place Age
Place		 Finish
Time		 Pace/
Mile		 AG %
M34 128 13 3 2:54:04 6:35 71.00%

After the finish I walked back to Mile 25 to cheer on Abbe and Katie. I found a really great spot and cheered everyone along. When Abbe showed up I jumped in and ran with her asking how she was and giving her the rest of the lay of the land. I dipped out and made my way back to the Finish to find her.

At the end of the run we all met up. Abbe and Katie both PR’d! Congrats gals, you did so great! We had a few beers before heading out in search of worthy food.

That night we all celebrated with some Kentucky BBQ and some bourbon! It was well deserved.

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Thanks to my sponsor Kompetitive Edge!
Thanks to our hosts Katie and Dr. J and the whole cheer squad!

What did I learn in today’s episode? Stop limiting yourself to your safety zone. Set it off!

The Cure for Pain

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Moments ago I was listening to the band Morphine’s ‘Cure for Pain’ and started laughing out loud. I’m about to run my second marathon in under 2 weeks and it seems that I am ‘looking for pain’ not it’s cure.

Most of you reading are some form of an athlete whether you consider yourself one or not, being a runner, triathlete, swimmer or a soccer player. Why, as athletes do we quest for this pain? Maybe it’s just that runners are a bit crazier than the rest of the lot?

For me, I think it comes down to battle, or rather it’s modern equivalent. When I am 16 Miles into a Mary, I am deep in battle. It hurts everywhere, my senses are heightened, and the only thing that matters is pure survival. Last week’s Boston Marathon was a perfect example of that since the only thing I was concerned for at Mile 16 (or maybe even Mile 9) was surviving the race and getting my medal!

This weekend I am not the only one racing. In Kentucky, Abbe and Katie will be running I have a number of friends racing Big Sur… Bojana, Eissa, Elyssa, Shawna (who I met on the bus to Boston), Robert. I’m also through with wishing my all friends ‘Good Luck’ which is odd since I’m irish. You don’t need any luck, you already have what it takes. Instead, to all of you I say Godspeed! Go find your pain.

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Thanks for everyone who came out to the run last night! I look forward to many more runs with you.