All – Page 5 – BEYOND DEFEAT

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

Posted on March 20, 2015 by admin

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

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

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

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

RACE DAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In conclusion I submit this Runner’s Anecdote.

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

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

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

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

On Consistency

Posted on February 15, 2015 by admin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go kick some ass.

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

Posted on January 27, 2015 by admin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We also saw Craig who was snapping photos for GCR!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE REPORT: Ted Corbitt 15k – 59:43

Posted on December 22, 2014 by admin

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A 15k race, for me, is a blast. Right when things start to really hurt, the race is over.

It was a tad chilly, but then again the Ted Corbitt is always chilly due to it being held in mid December. I met my friend Rachel at the start and we did a quick warm up before heading to our respective corrals.

I had no Garmin. I had no expectations. I was just going to run at what I thought was a ‘hard’ but comfortable race pace by feeling.

I was drifting off thinking to myself, “That woman did a lovely job with the National Anthem…” just as the gun went off.

It was super crowded and congested the first mile or two. There seemed to be a lot of speedsters out today. I later found out it was the last points race, so yes, quickest of the quick.

Somewhere around mile three, my pal Antonio popped up next to me! We run similar paces so we hung together for like 3-4 miles. It was great catching up with him. I asked him what his goal was and he simply said, “I don’t know… break an hour?” I thought to myself, ‘Yea, that would be cool for sure.’

We saw Abbe, Jeff and Maura running in the opposite direction and gave a wave.

I was slowing up a little and told Antonio to go ahead. I then passed and tried to encourage my friend and fellow teammate Daniel yelling, “Swing those arms!”

Approaching the finish I saw Josh, Randi, Chloe and a handful of other Gotham City Runners so I decided to ham it up for the camera.

I managed to break an hour after all!

Guess what is so crazy wild about my pace? It is the EXACT pace I am training at for the Paris Marathon!

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M36	129	134	16	59:43	6:25	70.26%

Paris Marathon Training: New Tactics

Posted on December 18, 2014 by admin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE REPORT: 110 Ashburn Farms 5K – 18:21

Posted on December 11, 2014 by admin

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

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

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

RACE DAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M36	66	13	1	18:218	5:55	70.70%

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

AND

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

RACE REPORT: 109 Bronx 10-Miler: 1:04:38

Posted on December 5, 2014 by admin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M36	135	92	21	1:04:38	6:28	69.92%

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

Central Park History – Running Tour with Nelson Aspen

Posted on November 13, 2014 by admin

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This morning, instead of doing our normal Tuesday speedwork, my friend (and Gotham City Runners teammate) Nelson Aspen and I decided to do a historical Central Park run. I would also interview him to discuss his new book, our mutual love of running, and New York City.

We took off, running down the west side in awe of the fall foliage.

NA: Look at these colors! I really think this week is peak fall foliage here in Central Park. So tell me about these ‘spikes’ we are hunting for around the Park?

CB: Well, when The Commissioners Plan of 1811 envisioned their master grid plan for the city of Manhattan they needed someone to survey the land. That man was John Randel Jr. Over the course of 10 years Randel would traipse through the wilderness of Manhattan dropping markers everywhere an Avenue and Street intersected. Central Park was conceived 50 years after the grid plan, so some of his markers are still here!

We ran on, admiring the fall weather.

CB: How many marathons have you run again?

NA: Twenty. I might even have a few more left in me…

CB: Really! That’s exciting. What was it that got you started? I mean, you lived in New York City in the early 80’s, did you just start out here in Central Park?

NA: ‘Laughing’ Oh no. You didn’t run in Central Park back then. In fact, you really didn’t go into Central Park back then! I didn’t start running until I moved to L.A. in 1990. And only then because I saw a flyer there advertising a trip to run the Honolulu Marathon if you did some fundraising. So I did it!

CB: Wait, a (basically free) trip to run a marathon in Hawaii? Oh right, back then the running craze didn’t exist right?

NA: Exactly! I did that race 3 times in fact! (Running up Diamond Head every morning at sunrise is something every runner should experience!)

Just then we were arriving at the location of the first Grid Spike. I had found this one on my own about a year ago. We admired it for a moment, noting how precise it was as we looked off at the cross streets. Pretty hard to imagine Manhattan overtaking The Central Park.

Continuing on…

CB: How was your weekend? You were in L.A. right?

NA: Yes! It was hectic. But I always manage to squeeze in a few runs to keep me sane.

Nelson keeps a crazy schedule as an Entertainment Journalist and appears every weekday on Australia’s #1 morning news show. He’s kinda like the Ryan Seacrest ‘down under’!

CB: When did you decide to leave L.A. and come back to Manhattan?

NA: Actually I always missed NYC. Once my beloved springer spaniel passed away at the ripe old age of 16, I looked around and thought, “What am I doing with this big house and yard and car and stuff!?” I missed the simplicity of living in Manhattan and I was fortunate that my TV gig supported the move. I spent 22 years in Hollywood… you serve less time for murder!

The next grid spike was one I found more recently and one that is a little more off the beaten path. We headed off the park drive onto the trails and soon came upon our second artifact! A common misconception is that Central Park was 100% man made. Not true. In fact, most of the North Woods are virtually untouched.

CB: Hey so let’s talk about this book of yours. You said there are a few famous runners, not to mention loads of celebrities involved?

NA: Yes… it’s my fifth book and my favorite so far. “My Prime Time: Middle Age is Only the Beginning.” It’s not only a road map to all the fabulous benefits of being a grown up, but I profile a lot of my celebrity pals who make it all look so easy. Hugh Jackman, Jodie Foster, Julianne Moore, Brad Pitt… many, many more. Many renowned health care experts and running buddies are in there, too. Dean Karnazes, Kathy Switzer, Roger Robinson. There’s something in there for everyone, regardless of age.

CB: Awesome man! I am excited to go to the book release party at JackRabbit Sports in a few weeks. You expecting any surprise guests to attend?

NA: If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise. I bet you’ll recognize a few faces there.

We finished up our run of 5 miles at the third grid spike. It was a beautiful morning and a lot of fun to interview my friend as we cruised around our park.

Everyone in the New York City area should try and come out to Nelson’s book signing this Tuesday, December 2nd at 7PM at JackRabbit Sports (Upper West Side location).

You can find out more about Nelson’s celebrity interview, other books and running adventures at www.nelsonaspen.com

RACE REPORT: 108 Princeton Half Ironman – 5:29:24

Posted on October 23, 2014 by admin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE DAY

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

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

Where the hell was Joe?!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sex/ Age	Age Place	Overall Place	Swim 1.2M	T1	Bike 56M	T2	Run 13.1M	Total Time
M36	62	350	46:21	2:32	3:00:38	3:18	1:36:35	5:29:24

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

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

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

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

It was a great end to the tri season.

—

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

From Greece with Love

Posted on September 27, 2014 by admin

Posted in All 1 Comment

As our flight left the ground we banked hard right, giving us a full view of the majestic New York City skyline, my home. It would be 5 days until I would see her again. We were headed to Greece by way of Rome on a matter of security… protect two U.S. citizens getting married abroad.

Operative ‘A’ (posing as my fiancée) was already getting cozy and making an attempt to sleep. I happen to enjoy longer flights, sipping my red wine and imagining I am living in the romantic era of air travel. ‘Mother’ had given me a few pills for the trip and after my pasta meal (we were headed to Rome after all) I took one and promptly fell into a deep slumber.

In Rome I had one concern, coffee. Abbe and I found a place to sit while we oriented ourselves. What we were not ready for was a second passport checkpoint. “Play it cool Abs.” As we approached, the Italian behind the glass paused for a moment, giving me a glance like we had known each other. ‘Guastavino?’ I thought. Without so much as even looking at the passports he stamped them.

Our connection to Greece went off without a hitch and we made it through the Athens airport avoiding customs.

In Athens it was just after lunchtime and we desperately needed some food to recharge. We met our guides ‘Linda’ and ‘Dave,’ both posing as American Tourists, at an outdoor cafe. We quickly ate and then departed as we had a three hour drive to our final destination, the western mountains on the Peloponnese Peninsula.

Athens isn’t much to look at (aside from the mighty Acropolis of course) but as you cross over onto the peninsula things get dramatically beautiful. The mountains rise up across the Gulf of Corinth and the sea turns a deep blue. We then headed due south into the mountains, making our way to the small town of Kalavryta. We were flying along up the mountains, deadly drop offs to our right. Luckily for us, Dave happens to be pretty skilled behind the wheel and he navigated the hairpin turns with ease. If anyone was trying to follow us into the mountain pass, they would have had a hard time keeping up.

At the highest point, as we banked left along a sharp bend a mountain range rose ahead lined with windmills. It is something I will never forget.

Approaching the town of Kalavryta one is reminded of a small Swiss village surrounded by mountains. We found our hotel as well as our American counterparts. Christin, one of the two U.S. citizens getting married, greeted us with open arms. She and her family happen to be from this town. Unbeknownst to both her and her fiancée Bradley, we were hired to make sure they were safe during the wedding.

You see, the Greeks in this area love all kinds of meat, especially encased meat like lamb sausages. A few of them had gotten word of the wedding and had heard tales of Bradley’s love of encased meats, often giving him the ‘meat sweats.’ Fearing for their livestock and local economy, they were worried that he would ravenously consume everything meaty. The American had to be stopped.

I waited in the hotel bar for Abbe to finish getting ready for dinner. We had an engagement at Christin’s Aunt’s home. While sipping my espresso I saw Bradley, gave him a big hug and chatted about the weekend’s festivities. Then, I spotted ‘the tattooed man,’ one of our allies from back home. We had never met but knew the key code words to verify our identity.

He approached as I said, “Beautiful watch.” He smiled in his sunglasses and said back, “Indeed, it is a Rolex. I hear you know the brand well.” The connection had been made. He introduced himself as George and as it turns out, was the father of the bride. He told me that my code name for the duration of our stay would be ‘Christos.’

That night we all casually strolled through the town center to the home of Christin’s Aunt. We were treated to many home cooked and delicious treats. She even makes her own wine, which was quite a popular item over the course of the night. We met countless family members who were all some of the most heartwarming and welcoming people I have ever met. It seemed like having to protect Christin and Bradley here not needed.

The next morning I took Abbe on a run into the mountains to survey the surrounding lands. I have never been to a place so stunningly gorgeous. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I was at peace and very relaxed. Abbe was not pleased with me at all for taking her on a run straight up a mountain, but I was enjoying the scenic vistas.

Later, we met up with our American counterparts and toured the town, stopping to have an outdoor lunch at a local establishment. It was there that I consumed quite possibly the best Greek Salad I have ever had. I later found out that everyone there grows their own vegetables on small farms they have.

In Greece meals take time. I enjoy this a lot since I love to eat. We basked in the quiet midday rays chatting when from down the block Bradley approached. I watched to make sure he wasn’t followed and all seemed well. He was looking for some food to hold him over until his wedding.

A few hours later we found ourselves driving deeper into the Greek countryside toward an even smaller town called Priolithos. It took us 15 minutes for our caravan to get there. We were all congregated on the side of the road as church bells rang out across the valley from the mountains. I looked up onto the hillside at what I thought was a church and glancing at George he nodded, “That’s where we are going.” Only 4-wheel drive vehicles would be able to make it up the steep switchback. That in mind, a few of us set out on foot. I figured, if there were any dangerous ambushes it was better for us to get up there first to take them out.

It was slow moving, steep and as my American associate ‘Tim’ would say, “Freaking hot as hell.” We were cautious around every bend and found no real trouble aside from our footing. The cars now started to trickle up the pathway.

Once everyone had assembled at the top, Christin hopped onto her Uncle’s donkey and was escorted up to the church by her father and some musicians. It was pretty amazing. Inside the Greek Church was performed a traditional Greek ceremony. I had never witnessed this before and so was very attentive, even though I could understand nothing. My eyes were also peeled, looking for any potential assassins tempted to stop the event. All seemed clear and the wedding concluded with an eruption of clapping and cheer!

Back outside, we all paraded down the hillside, anxious to get to the reception back in Kalavyrta.

The event started as a seated dinner. Abbe sat next to me and one of our new friends from Greece, Theodora, sat across the table. She was an excellent host, introducing us to everyone and translating things we could not decipher.

Once the wedding party had arrived, the food started coming out. The family had grown, harvested and made everything and so fresh, doesn’t even begin to describe the tastiness of our food. Greek salad, pasticcio, spanakopita and lots of wine made up the first half of the meal. Next, as if we could eat more, came chicken and the lamb from Christin’s Uncle’s farm. Never have I had better lamb then we had that night. I was so full, and yet, I needed to eat more.

We started dancing in a traditional Greek dance known as the Kalamatianos, holding hands and moving in a circle. Everyone was doing it! At times we would leave the wedding venue and dance down the streets of the town, returning through a back door.

I took a break because Theodora was nice enough to track down an espresso for me.

The dancing continued and slowly people started to retire. I just kept at it. I was having a very fun time and before I knew it the time was 3:30AM. Bradley and Christin made the call to shut down the party as they were tired.

A group of us strolled up the quiet moonlit street to our hotel, happy as could be.

The following day our guide Dave woke us up. We had to leave, there was another job out on the island of Mykonos and we were already late. Not knowing the details of this new assignment, we said goodbye to all of our new friends and departed. The wedding had gone off without a hitch, Bradley was now officially Greek (now under Greek protection) and our work here was now over.

From Greece with Love – Christos

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