All – Page 4 – BEYOND DEFEAT

RACE REPORT: 122 Ted Corbitt 15K – 1:00:31

Posted on December 28, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running Leave a comment

We, The Battalion, assembled for the first time ever to run the Ted Corbitt 15K.

There were 10 of us running the race and we assembled on 96th and the West Drive. It was easily 55-60 degrees out, shocking considering this race is normally arctic conditions. We all set off to our respective corrals after a little pep talk.

Up in my corral it was stinky as usual, the smell of Icy Hot and BO lingering in the morning air. I had no idea what to expect as far as my run was concerned. I had only just started running again after some time off from Ironman and NYC Marathon. I was just going to have fun and push it a bit.

Ted Corbitt’s son was there and spoke a bit, very cool. Any runner who doesn’t know Ted’s story should read his bio. The guy was running 200 mile weeks at his peak.

The gun went off and it took at least 2 miles until the congestion had dissipated. I was firing off 6:20-6:30 miles the entire race which I was happy about. I knew a PR would be a tall order (59:23) but I still wanted to push my speed.

I got to see my friend Laura (who was volunteering) at 72nd Street twice. I also saw fellow enlisted Battalion teammates Danika and Maddie cheering at the 102. GCR had a nice crew out giving us cheers as well!

I finished up and headed over to the 102 to see the team come in.

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M37	5901	178	158	1:00:31	6:30	69.78%

Jeff, followed by Kelly, Dougie, Abbe, Bojana, Brian, Amy, Nelson, and Amanda. Big ups to Amanda who ran her furthest distance to date!

RACE REPORT: 121 NYC Marathon – 3:12:40

Posted on November 7, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 1 Comment

I don’t really know what kind of logic was pulsing through my brain when I signed up to run the New York City Marathon 3 weeks after Ironman Louisville.

I was trained for an Ironman, but not for a marathon. “Baker, I am confused. Don’t you run a marathon in an Ironman?” Correct. I was trained for an Ironman marathon, slow and steady. My legs had not hit my preferred running speeds for months, so I had no idea what to expect. I was just going to run this race for fun and enjoy my town, my friends, and the epic block party it throws.

Our friends Katie and Jordan were in town along with Abbe’s parents Dave and Linda. The days leading up to the race were filled with fun food related events! The night before the race we chose to eat at Felice 83, a spot Abbe and I love.

RACE DAY

We got an extra hour of sleep and it felt so good! Abbe, Katie, Dougie and I caught a cab and headed to 79th and 1st. There, we picked up Jeff (my brother) and Jim (from Dad Posse) and broke into two cabs, barreling down the FDR enroute to the ferry. I ran (ha) into Meghan and Stephanie in the massive crowds waiting to board the ship.

The ferry to the bus to the staging grounds was executed flawlessly. Jeff and I said goodbye to our friends as they were in the Blue Corrals and we were in Green.

The waiting around that occurs before the NYCM was not terrible at all this year as the weather was great. It was 60 degrees… so maybe not so great for running as that is pushing the hot threshold.

I jumped into the front corral and said goodbye to Jeff who was only 3 corrals back from me. Surprisingly, in a massive international field, I was able to find a friend. My pal Evan was chilling out in the same corral! As we waited to enter we saw a bunch of the GCR crew rollin as well. I also ran into Patricia and then finally my buddy Rowland. Such a small world this running community is!

The cannon went off and then, with much applause, we started our run.

With no watch and no goal other than to ‘have fun’ my race was relaxed. Evan decided to hang with me and we pretty much hammed it up for the first half of the race. We were singing songs to each other and yelling things like “Don’t you ever leave me!” when we lost each other at aid stations.

I am going to try and name off everyone who yelled my name cheering. If I missed you feel free to chime in, it was a blur out there!

Betsy was up first, screaming at us like a pro! Then we saw Sam who caught some great pics of Evan and I. Noah was somewhere around Mile 6 I think.

The bands were amazing this year! I was really digging the tunes an jamming out when I could.

My legs felt good but not fresh by any means. As Evan and I ran we chatted about what he wanted to run on his second marathon. He had run a 3:27 in NJ earlier in the year and just wanted to PR. I asked him what his BQ time would be and he said a 3:05. I nodded my head, “What pace are we hitting?” He laughed as we had just hit a 6:55. We needed to dial it down a bit so I slowed up. I knew I didn’t have a sub3 in me and I didn’t want Even to blow up and ruin his race.

As we entered the Fort Greene section of the race we had reigned our pace in to a 7:15 average which was perfect. The next couple miles were a blur as we were barraged with cheering spectators. Amy was there with her friend Tara cheering away! I also caught Jess in there somewhere too as she yelled out a “Go Baker!”

I think at Mile 11 or 12 the 3:05 pace group was right around us and Even looked at me with this huge smile on his face, “Baker, I think I can hang with the 3:05 group! Should I do it?!” He was totally capable at this point and I yelled “Yea man! Do it, go go go!” And with that Evan and the 3:05 group slowly moved out of sight.

We hit the nasty Pulaski Bridge, the halfway mark, and the clocks said 1:32. My quads were really hurting bad, the kind of bad that should happen at mile 20. As we made the left into Queens I saw Stephan, Amanda and Vivian cheering followed by Danika, Eric and his brother and finally Brianna! The mighty Queensboro Bridge was fast approaching, a breaking point for many including me.

As we turned into the darkness I became overwhelmed with emotion. I was headed home.

I had no Garmin to keep track of my pace (which is a total game changer) so I just plodded along with my head down taking in the skyline every so often. There were people walking and stretching at the apex. As we approached the bottom of the bridge, just like years past, you could hear the roar of the crowds below like deafening white noise. I once again got choked up, excited for my fellow runners next to me, most of them from other countries. I looked around at all of us while smiling, probably appearing a bit insane, thinking aloud ‘Welcome to mighty Manhattan.’

The guy in front of me from Sweden really got the crowds going as he ran by, pumping his hands in the air. I just smiled and ran. First Avenue was a madhouse as usual with crowds 5 deep on either side cheering their faces off. I took a Gel here and a big gulp of water and from streets 70-80 I wasn’t feeling too hot and my race finish got questionable. I just kept going, thinking about Ironman Louisville’s course which was an out-n-back and comparing it to this course. ‘We just have an out-n-back. Make it to the Bronx, turn around and come right down Manhattan’s backbone to the finish. Do it.’

I saw Dave, Linda, Jordan, Ali, Rachel, Josh, Morgan and many others. It is always hard to keep count on First Avenue. As I approached 96th Street still not feeling great I saw Maura! She was fighting with crowds to get visible. She was holding a banana and screaming “Baker! Do you want a banana?! Take the banana Baker!!!” And so I did, and it saved my race perhaps. I had a few bites and it immediately soothed my stomach and gave me a nice boost. I carried it and ate it all the way through Mile 24. Thanks Maura. I would later find out she was carrying around like 25 bananas, so I am sure she was thrilled when I took one off of her!

For the first time in the 5 times I have run this race the Bronx rocked. The DJs were killing it with old school Rap and R&B (a personal favorite). There was also a group banging on these giant drums. It was way cool. We hit the last bridge back into Manhattan and I was feeling pretty good. My legs were on fire, but my head was in the game.

At aid stations 22 and 23 I stopped to stretch out my legs for a few seconds, which added some pep to my step. I saw Farrah, Brian and a whole crew of GCR crew cheering along the final miles! Just get to the Park, get to your backyard and bring it on home.

Making that turn at Engineer’s Gate was such a happy moment. I was now on home turf with 2 miles to go. The Park has never been so beautiful during the NYCM in my opinion. It radiated gold and red from all the trees changing colors. I gave the Cat on top of Cat Hill a little kiss and wave as I passed by, paying my respects.

When you make the right turn on to Central Park South, you have like 3/4s of a mile to go, but that stretch always seems to take forever! It is also a slight uphill which certainly doesn’t help. As we approached Columbus Circle, ready to turn back into the Park for the home stretch I saw Rowland. He was in real bad shape and told me he was cramping bad. I asked if he was okay or needed help and he said no, telling me to go ahead and finish. “I will see you at the Finish.” I yelled, barreling forward.

Rowland and I having a chat.

I tried to get the crowds in the grandstands going as I approached, waving my hands, but it was very calm. I finished in 3:12:40, not my fastest and not my slowest… right in the middle. After getting my medal and bag-o-food I caught up with Rowland and some of the guys I know. Rowland was smiling now, not happy with his race but physically okay. We all talked about how hot it was out there.

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M37	3025	1700	299	3:12:40	7:21	68%

It had turned into a beautiful day. After grabbing my NYCM Poncho I headed north to the 86th Street crosstown bus so it could whisk me through the Park and over to our after party on the east side. I was the only runner on the bus as we sat and waited for the light to turn, then another marathoner entered. It was my brother Jeff! What are the odds? He had a run a 3 minute PR of 3:23! Nice work bro.

At The District these two gals were finishing lunch in our reserved section. “No biggie at all,” Jeff and I told our bartender. Then, one of the gals pops up and gives me a big hug! It was my friend Danielle who used to bar tend at Hurricanes on Fire Island (now she tends at Schooners)! Her boyfriend happened to be running the race as well.

Slowly our runners and friends started to trickle in. Ali, Rachel, Josh, Morgan and a few others were already there. Then, my neighbor Karen, Dougie, Danika, Dave, Linda, Abbe… Susan and Eric, Kelly, Claire, Thomas, Maura… Farrah, Brian, Justine, Mike… Jim (who had Citibiked from the Finish to The District!)… Cat, Gillian, John, Alamar… Katie, Jordan… and finally Bojana and Brian who had just gotten engaged! I feel like I am forgetting about a dozen people.

The night ended with some epic tacos at El Paso.

—

Running isn’t always about making a great time or a huge PR. Running is a unique opportunity to bring people from all over the world, from different occupations and varying ages and abilities together.

This race closes out the 2015 race season for me. It was one hell of a year, thanks to all of my running and triathlon friends who helped me along the way, making it epic.

Big ups to Evan who did in fact run a 3:05 with the pace group! Another high five goes to my youngest brother Jeff who rocked a surprising PR of 3:23 out there in his second marathon. Jeff, ‘one and done?’

See you in Boston. Battle Stations!

RACE REPORT: 120 Ironman Louisville – 11:27:49

Posted on October 18, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Triathlon 5 Comments

Last year Dougie and I were chatting after a 70.3 and he had said he wanted to attempt his first Ironman. After some research we landed on Louisville.

I set us up with a rigorous training program for the summer. It was grueling and very time consuming. (Big shout out to our wives Abbe and Danika for putting up with our 10-12 hour training days.) We executed it to a tee and now it was time to race.

—

Doug and I had the car packed and were rocketing across Manhattan by 4PM on Thursday. The wives were flying out to meet us the next day.

2 hours in we stopped in rural PA for coffee and some snacks. At the Starbucks this kid practically yells at me, “I love that shirt! Where did you get it?” He was referring to my Brooklyn Brewery shirt, I too love this shirt. I was bewildered at this question in this day and age of the mighty internet. I told him you can get them at the brewery. This puzzled him further. “Where is that?” “The Brooklyn Brewery is in Brooklyn.”

10 minutes later in a drive through line a few young kids working saw the bikes and said, “Do you guys do racing, or do you do triathlons?” Dougie and I smiled and looked back at them replying, “A little bit of both.” This was all happening as spooky church bells were ringing in the distance.

We made it out to a place just south of Pittsburgh that night. We checked in and then hit the local Smoky Bones BBQ to have some beers and apps.

The following day we had another 5 hours on the road. Sipping on coffee and chatting we had just passed from PA to West Virginia on into Ohio, when we saw a State Trooper pop out onto the road. At the same time a guy on a motorcycle zipped by. He wasn’t going too much faster than us, but enough to draw attention. We were like, “I bet he pulls him over.” And just like that the lights come on! But guess what Mr. Speedster did? He sped up and tried to outrun the cops!!! I have never seen a high speed chase before so I was like, “Dougie, try and keep up!” No dice. They must have been doing a buck fifty. 5 miles down the road we saw them and luckily no one was hurt. The officer was getting out as the perp was laying face down on the street hands out. Busted. Thanks you Ohio for making our morning memorable.

My father used to make this stuff when we were kids during football called Cincinnati Chili. It was basically a red bean and ground beef base chili served over pasta with grated cheese. Since we were coming up to Cincinnati, Doug and I had an idea to go get some Cincinnati Chili IN Cincinnati! (I can now officially spell Cincinnati.)

We stopped at Camp Washington Chili, in operation since 1940. It was some of the best I have ever had. Red beans, ground beef, diced onions, cheddar cheese and franks red hot served over a bed of spaghetti. A perfect blend of carbs and protein! The staff was extremely friendly. We even made friends with a few locals once they heard we were from NYC. This older guy (he had just turned 80) who was busing some tables came up and asked how we liked it. “Fantastic! Thanks!” Our server later informed us that he was the owner!

Off to Louisville! It was at this moment when they announced that the swim wouldn’t be cancelled due to the algae blooms! It would in fact be a full Ironman. Game on.

We met the gals (who had arrived just after noon) at a local spot down the block from the hotel. After a quick hello we went to check in as time was fading on us.

Dougie and I are All World Athletes as we were in the top 2 percent of finisher last year. It came with promises of special check in lines and other fun things, but I have to say I was let down by the whole program. None of what was promised existed aside from our ‘Black Swim Cap’ which was pointless. It actually seems less attractive when you think about if you needed to be rescued in the water, no one would spot a black swim cap.

The rest of the day was spent gallivanting around town trying whiskey flights and eating amazing food. It was Abbe’s birthday so we planned a special dinner at Proof on Main. Delicious!

Saturday morning was the practice swim. The outside temperature was 48 degrees but the water temperature was 71… refreshing! The gals watched us from afar before taking off for their run. Abbe is running the NYCM and Danika the Philly Half.

The rest of the morning was spent packing up our 5 bags, Morning Clothes, Bike Transition, Bike Special Needs, Run Transition, and Run Special Needs. It’s tedious business.

Once we dropped the bags and the bikes at transition it was like a huge weight had been lifted. All the anxiety, all the training, it was all locked into firing position.

We had a lovely outdoor lunch with the wives and just took it easy the rest of the day. That night we took a cab to an Italian spot called Volare. It was perfect.

I had some red wine that night to relax and it totally worked. My body and mind were so exhausted that I fell asleep at close to 9PM. That is a record for me! In fact, sleeping before a big race is a challenge in itself.

RACE DAY

Up at 5AM and ready to rock. I was not nervous, the training was there, it was just time to execute and put everything together like a puzzle.

Battle Stations!

It was pitch dark out when we left the hotel to walk the 10 minutes to transition. The air was 46 degrees with a predicted high of 70 later in the day.

We spent a hot second in transition. Everything was queued up and ready to launch. We then walked the mile, mile and a half to the swim start… march of the penguins.

It was crazy at the swim start. There is a rolling start to Louisville where everyone lines up and then proceeds into the soup. People had been camping out in the cold to hold front line positions! We walked and walked until we were at the end. We were maybe 2/3rds back in line, no biggie. We made friends with all the people around us, laughing it up.I munched on my peanut butter sandwich and sipped on water.

The sun had started to rise and it was a beautiful sight, as if an old friend had showed up to cheer.

The canon fired and we all cheered! It would be another 30 minutes until we made it up to the docks, but it happened fast. I put my ear plugs in and filled up my morning bag before handing it off to the volunteer. I fits bumped Dougie and we hit the water.

I loved the swim. You set off down this narrow channel (maybe 800M) around an island before headed back towards the city. We were told that there would be current against us until we hit the return point but I think it was the opposite. It was easy shooting down the channel and we were really cooking! It was foggy right on top of the water, that mixed with the red orange sunrise made for quite a sight.

I struggled at the turn buoy past the island. It just felt like churning waters and I couldn’t get a solid rhythm down.

Once I was midway down the second half of the island I was able to start making steady progress again. We were about to go under 2 sets of bridges. Right before I came upon what I thought was a dead body and got super freaked out. It was this older guy floating on his back with his arms out stretched and eyes closed. I was like, “Holy guacamole, I need to flag down help.” Just then he opened his eyes like and rolled over starting to swim again. Whew!

Swimming under this bridge that was being constructed I could see a giant gap in the roadway that hadn’t been completed yet. It was way cool but I kept envisioning a runaway truck careening off the gap and into the swim course.

Approaching the swim exit one thing I noted was how great I felt. I could have done another mile I think.

I popped out and got my wetsuit stripped. Then, as I was running off I heard and saw Abbe and Danika cheering! They had a great position right by the exit.

I hauled ass (it was cold) and made it into T1. As I was going into the men’s tent I saw Dougie! I made my way deep into the crowded tent and found a seat in the middle. I changed into a full bike kit and had a long sleeve jersey on due to the temps.

I jumped on my QR and shot off into the bike course feeling great. It was noticeably cold and I was happy to have long sleeves and gloves on.

It took me a few miles before I got into the groove. I was watching my heart rate and not my MPH. I noted that I immediately had a splitting headache. I was pissed as this was a new obstacle I had never faced.

Miles 16-24 are this wicked out-and-back with some monster hills. There were caution signs everywhere as we bombed down the big ones. These roads were narrower so it was really intense. One wrong move and you were head on with a pack of bikers. On the way out there was a biker down and emergency people tending to him. We had to slow and move in a single line to pass. A guy three riders behind me was like, “C’mon guys, speed it up!” And I was like, ‘Who the F is this ass behind me?’ I am sorry, when someone is hurt, possibly very badly, ‘racing’ takes a back seat. We can all live to race another day. I slowed up and let him ride by me a few miles up. As he passed he nodded to me to which I responded with a death stare.

My head was pounding at this point. I had been pushing my helmet around to see if that would help to no avail. Then, I reached back and released the tightener and instantly I felt great! I had been squeezing my brain!

We hit the first loop (of two loops) and I was still feeling great and making steady progress. The course was starting to get gorgeous now, with us passing horse farms everywhere. They were majestic horses too, the kind that might race in say Churchill Downs, which was on the run course.

The best place to cheer on the bike is this small town called La Grange. The streets narrow and they are lined with spectators. There is even a DJ. I liked this part because imagine a pack of bikers in aero coming in hot at say 20 MPH and everything gets tight around you. I immediately think, ‘Death Star Run!’ and channel Luke Skywalker and R2.

As we hit the 60 mile mark I started to feel this headwind that everyone was talking about in the swim start line. It was nasty. Luckily (or not so luckily) I was about to turn into the second loop. By this time I was feeling slightly less peppy but soon got my energy back. We pit stopped at the Special Needs and I swapped out my water bottles. I slammed a coconut water as well. My helper laughed as he produced a giant bag of gummy bears. “Gummy bears?” he smiled as I just waved for him to give them my way.

Back on the road I snagged a few, all of which were lemon. Really? No red? C’mon!

Miles 80-90 were a bit of a struggle as my back was getting tight and every time you stretch the headwind catches you. Aero is the only way to deal with the wind.

I finished the bike feeling great, ready to get to this run. Ready to get into my strongest suit and do some work.

In T2 I changed into running shorts and a running shirt. I felt so fresh! I slammed a coconut water here too.

As I hit mile 2 Abbe, Danika and a surprise guest, my Aunt Dee Dee! I stopped and gave everyone hugs and kisses. Abbe ran along side of me, I wasn’t fully in ‘run mode’ just yet so I was a bit untalkative.

I knew I had executed a good swim and a good bike, but not my best. I decided that I was going to drop the hammer and give em a show on the run. I pretended this was no different from any other marathon and tried to block out the earlier part of the day.

Out to mile 7, back to mile 14, out to mile 21 and then back home. 4 segments.

I was just drinking water and Gatorade, flying through the aid stations. I saw my friend Jen (who would go on to win her AG) flying by here and gave a shout, “Jen! Go!” As we hit the first turnaround it all clicked in. No more post bike wonky-ness, just running.

I kept my aid station visits quick and tried to keep my momentum up. As I was making my way back to down I passed Dougie and we high fived as I yelled “Doradooooo!” Then I ran past our crew and Abbe ran with me once more. She said “Honey, you are throwing down a 7:30 pace!” I had no idea, I was just running to run.

I grabbed a Gu from an aid station at mile 17 which helped a bit. I was also alternating between coke and chicken broth at every other aid station which seemed to work. I was so excited at the last turnaround. I was now on segment 4!

I was getting a lot of great crowd support out there now. People were chanting, “Great pace! Keep it up!” I was fired up. The sun was going down so my shades came off. My quads were now burning like crazy so I just took it mile by mile. I saw Dougie again at my mile 24 and gave anther high five.

I took a left, then a right and saw the Ironman finish. I slowed my pace a bit to let the woman in front of me have the finish line to herself. I crossed with a 11:27:49! Not my best Ironman time, but one that I am happy with. I ran a 3:26 marathon, which is my fastest in an Ironman.

Sex/ Age	Age Place	Overall Place	Swim 2.4M	T1	Bike 112M	T2	Run 26.2M	Total Time
M37	73	341	1:24:50	10:18	6:16:21	9:22	3:26:58	11:27:49

Abbe, Danika and Aunt Dee Dee came and grabbed me after I passed through the chute. They asked what I wanted to do? “Sit down.” was my response.

We made our way the half a block to our hotel lobby bar and posted up. Aunt Dee Dee bought me a beer and I had a giant plate of french fries. People always wonder why you are not immediately hungry after an Iron (or Half Iron)? When you train your body to run on liquid nutrition all day it takes a little while for you to crave solids again. I asked how Dougie was doing. He was to finish at 9:30 so I went up and took a quick shower.

That shower was amazing!

I found the gals out on the course in front of the finish and we anxiously awaited Doug to arrive. 15 minutes later there he was. We cheered our faces off as he crossed the finish. ‘Doug Dorado YOU are an Ironman!’

We grabbed Dougie and went back to the hotel bar where we had more beers. I ordered a huge plate of fried chicken (as I was now hungry after burning 10,000 calories). Jen and Mark came by to hang as well. She won her AG and her third Kona ticket!

We then went out to watch the midnight finishers. What an epic and emotional time. For those of you not familiar, midnight is the cutoff time for the race. You need to cross by then to get your medal and IM status.

Imagine, out of the distant darkness a figure moving toward. Everyone starts drumming on the sides of the finish chute and as the runner approaches it gets louder and louder until we all erupt into cheering! Epic, simply epic.

We said goodbye to Jen and Mark and then hit a bar. I was up the latest I had been up (1:30AM) in a long time, which is ironic as I should be sleepy. We all turned in after that. It felt great to have my head hit that pillow.

—

This was my third (and far from last) Ironman distance. It made me realize why I love the sport of triathlon once more.

Big ups to Dougie D for nailing his first Ironman! I put us through hell in the training season to get us in shape for this thing and he survived. Congrats bro!

Super big ups to Abbe and Danika who have put up with us while we trained the long hours and only talked Ironman talk 24/7.

Thanks Louisville, you put on a top notch race.

Training Weekend: 108.5

Posted on September 7, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Training: Cycling, Training: Running, Training: Swimming, Triathlon Leave a comment

Ironman Louisville fast approaches and training has been spot on. My 2 previous Ironmans had decent training, but nothing like what I have designed for Doug and I this time around.

Last weekend we rode 75 miles and then ran 4 off the bike followed by a 2 mile open water swim on Sunday. Then, Tuesday we ran 18 miles to shake out the legs (I’m kidding, it was an intentional long run). Exhausting stuff. I have been so so hungry. Please feed me.

As I sit here writing I am still hungry. Yesterday we embarked on a 100 mile ride out to Ramapo State Park and Harriman State Park.

We would our way through fun back roads in towns like Ho-Ho-Kus (it’s really a town name!) Saddle Brook and Franklin Lakes before getting to the heavy stuff.

Taking a left onto Skyline Drive, we started one of the most challenging climbs I have ever tackled. I tried to maintain some sort of level heart rate, but as we got further into the climb and I was out of the saddle, sweat starting to trickle into my eyes, all hope was lost. It was through the roof. Really, the only thing on my mind though was not quitting to walk my bike, so with my quads burning bad we made the ascent. I waited for Dougie at the top and we had a laugh at the mayhem.

We rode through some beautiful parkland and had many more climbs. Our total elevation gain was 6,660 feet.

Riding through Tuxedo Park we passed a porcupine! Seriously, I did not even know they existed that close to me.

Then, as if a porcupine wasn’t ‘wild animal’ enough, I had to stop my bike to let 15 turkeys cross the road! See you guys in a few months…

The whole ride took us around 6:20 to execute including pit stops. By the time we arrived back at the car it was 2PM and we were not excited to run in the mid day sun. We did at least, make the best of it by running over the George Washington Bridge and back. It was such a beautiful day and great to see the city in such clear conditions.

We pulled the 6 mile run off with an 8:20 pace which is right on track with training.

We hit the showers, grabbed a sandwich and a beer and then (along with Danika) headed up to the Doyle’s for Keenan’s 4th birthday celebration. We were in remarkably good shape after our activities, we even managed to throw a football around.

The following day we headed out to Super Secret Tri Training camp. (Thanks Aunt Margie and Uncle John!) We were pretty trashed from Saturday, but knew the swim would help.

We executed a 2.5 mile swim in our wet suits and I feel like I could have kept going. Transformations and ‘body evolution’ are happening.

108.5 miles done and I am so excited for my off day tomorrow!

—

Big shouts to a bunch of the battalion. Amy, Rachel, Tess, Patty and Victor all raced the Lake George triathlon series this weekend and they all crushed it! We even have a few first time Half Ironmans in that mix! Congrats to all!

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.

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