Category Archives: Fitness

The MAF Test

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My new life of being coached has kept me very busy! I am really starting to love it and it is becoming more routine, all the pieces falling into place. Remember, prior to this I had zero structure to my workouts, I just did them when it was sunny.

Saturday, Sonja had me do a MAF (Maximum Aerobic Fitness) Test. The instructions were simple enough, run 6 miles on the track at a Heart Rate of 150-155.

I rode my bike down to the East River Track and thought that 10 miles in traffic at Mach 3 on a bike was sufficient warm-up. It was not. My HR was still really low when I started running, very strange.

That’s totally my thumb in the photo. Did I mention I am a professional photographer for a living…

I changed and started my 150-155 HR run, thinking it would be easy. It was actually quite difficult because 150-155 HR for me means roughly an 8 minute mile. I had to hold back and really keep my pace steady, which is a challenge for me. The other frustrating part of it all is my ego I suppose. I am very competitive, and I had people passing me left and right all morning! I wanted so bad to blast ahead and pretend race them but I couldn’t!

I kept to the plan and finished my test. Below are my splits at 150-155 HR.

1= 8:07
2= 7:56
3= 7:52
4= 7:57
5= 7:49
6= 7:55

I had to do 2 800’s right after and the amazing thing is that my HR dropped to 143! Wild stuff. I don’t quite understand what it all means but I have a lot of faith in Sonja and her training plan.


Sunday I ran with Abbe down the East Side path and we eventually made our way to Claire’s Beer Run!

From Cabo to being Coached

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I set off last Thursday morning with 9 friends en-route to Cabo San Lucas for a 4 day bachelor party aka ‘4 day bender’.

For those of you geographically challenged below is a map of where we were headed. I was really excited as it is remote, and is also home to the mighty Humboldt Squid.

SIDENOTE: I watched a lot of nature shows as a kid so I tend to get excited about that kind of information. Humboldt Squid are also man-eaters ohhhhh scary!

As we arrived in Cabo we ran into a mutual friend of ours who RANDOMLY happened to be going to Cabo by way of L.A. Very wild coincidence and totally awesome. I love that stuff.

Without going into my usual drawn out way of story telling I figured I would just give some highlights.

Cabo is very beautiful with a rugged almost ‘Mars-like’ terrain. Yes, I have been to Mars, it’s my home planet.

The first night there someone made me fresh salsa for my fish tacos as the normal salsa wasn’t spicy enough for me. It was the best salsa I have ever had!

One morning we went fishing and caught an 8 foot, 140 pound Striped Marlin! During this outing we were 15 miles off the coast and a huge school of Pacific White-sided Dolphins were following the boat, jumping and speeding along! I have always wanted to see this species of dolphin, so you could imagine my excitement level.

SIDENOTE: The photos I took were horrible so I appropriated some. Whatever.

During the day a few of us non-golfers would sit by the beautiful beach drinking Coronas. Once the group returned we would head out and explore town, causing a bit of mayhem here and there. It was a bachelor party after all.

Cabo San Lucas is a beautiful place and I would recommend it to anyone who love sandy beaches and surreal landscapes.

RETURN TO REALITY…

The flight home was painful. Lack of sleep, nutrition and the fact that my liver was angry were the main issues, as well as the large fellow next to me spilling into my personal space.

SUPER RETURN TO REALITY…

Let’s do some time traveling to oh, November of last year. After a fantastic race year capped off by the New York City Marathon and my first Boston Qualifier I thought about taking my game higher. To open myself up a little, I will say that my ultimate goal out of all of this is not Boston at all. My supreme dream is to get to Kona. For those not familiar, Kona is the Ironman World Championships, the race of races, end game. (Don’t get me wrong, there are crazier things to race, this is only my opinion.) In order to get to Kona you need to qualify which is very difficult.

Realizing this, I knew I needed help. I needed someone to take me under their wing and coach me, something I have never done. Remember, my athletic life started in 2008. Up until then I was just a pedestrian…

After a few months of research, I found that no one really fit what I was looking for.

Time traveling back to the present… I have finally found the coach that fits my criteria. Some of you may know her, as our Triathlon/Running circle is smaller than a lot of us realize. Her name is Sonja and she is a killer triathlete.

I met Sonja in June during the Quassy Rev3 Half Ironman. Basically, we rode part of the bike portion playing leap frog until she finally kicked my ass and took off! Since then I have chatted with her often about races and followed her progress as an athlete. I encourage all of you to follow her blog goSonja if you already don’t.

So why did I choose her as a coach?

I find similarities in our athletic careers that I think she gets and can understand where I am athletically. She started racing out of nowhere like me and has taken it very far.

Sonja is also a wife and mother and I am completely in awe of her ability to manage a family and her triathlon training. Not to compare my day-to-day to that of a mother, but my life here in NYC is really busy, and if someone like her can accomplish these things, then I have no excuses.

Lastly, she is a really fun racer. She is serious, but goofs off and enjoys the ride. Those of you who know me understand that I am a complete nut during a race. I need a coach that has a quirky and fun personality too I guess.

So. I have never had ANY sort of structure to my workouts. In fact, I only ran like 2 times a week, biked 3 times and so forth and only when I felt like it. All of this changed when my plane landed in Newark after I had 4 days of relaxation in Cabo. Coach Sonja was about to set it off!

Tuesday I did a crazy bike trainer workout. We are working on deciphering my heart rate in regards to my aerobic fitness and I am so excited about it. Throw science into something and I’m all in.

—

Wednesday I did a 1 hour fun tempo run. 9.5 miles at a 7 minute pace which was evidently not fun enough and too fast. I guess I just get too wild out there in the Park and let loose. Maybe it’s my music? My sneakers perhaps? More zombies were chasing me and I had to escape?

It’s going to be really exciting to see what areas I improve in and how I develop as an athlete. Beyond Defeat (of course) will document everything so stay tuned.

The next week is looking to kick my ass and get some real data in the works and I am very excited. I am also excited about Claire’s Beer Run this Sunday and wonder if that counts towards Sonja’s coached training?

A Taste of Spring!

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This Thursday and Friday in NYC were slated to be in the 50’s and 60’s. You better believe everyone was outside doing something whether it was running, biking, or drinking.  I did all 3.

On Thursday night some of the Runner Army met in Central Park for a tempo run. In attendance: Joe, Matt6, Samantha, Susan, and Abbe. Clearly, Abbe and Matt6 need blogs.

We split into 2 groups of 3 and blazed the northern loop of the Park. So many people were out and it was really fun wearing single layers of clothes in the mighty February.

We finished up the run (strategically) by Tavern on the Green, where Joe had parked his car. He had brought us all a sample beer from his latest brew, Coffee Stout. We sat in a circle in the Park savoring this amazing beer, i was so fun. After the beer, Susan, Abbe and I hopped in a cab headed East to continue our ‘Bamboozaling’ as Abbe dubbed it.

We grabbed a table at Brother Jimmy’s, all of us still decked out in running gear. We drank and ate runner style til 11! How did that happen? ‘Time flies.’

Friday was even warmer than Thursday! I had been skateboarding to work again and today was no exception!

After work I jumped on ‘Athena’ my trusty track bike that has never let me down. Once we crashed headfirst into an SUV going 25MPH (through the windshield) and rode away unscathed, but that’s anther story.

SIDENOTE: Fellow run/fitness blogger Kelly from Meals for Miles and I discovered a few months ago we are neighbors. I ran into her  (our first time meeting) leaving for my ride and we discovered that we live in neighboring buildings! How wild. Who says NYC is a small town?!

She is the ‘Fastest Bike in the Galaxy’ and is very responsive. It is a Cyclops Track bike made my Mike Mulholland for a US Track rider. It was made in the early 80’s with Columbus tubing and weighs nothing.

I set off down Lexington full throttle. It was amazing out and I was really having fun. I decided to ride through Times Square and by the Empire for nostalgic reasons. It wasn’t the best idea seeing as everyone was out in large groups, making it dangerous at major intersections. Why is it that a car going 30MPH inhibits pedestrians from crossing the street, but a bike at the same speed doesnt? Its still going to be quite painful when I crash into you.

SoHo was bumping and people were eating outside everywhere in the sidewalk seating. Such a refreshing change from piles of snow. (and I like snow)

I jetted up 3rd and 1st Avenues to get home. The cool thing about now riding for awhile is that your legs get stronger, like scary strong on a track bike. At stop lights I could ‘0-60’ sprint very fast and get my max speed up in no time at all. Did I mention that it has no brakes? That’s where the scary part comes in.

TRACK BIKE 101: A true track bike (or fixie as those god forsaken hipsters I hate so much dub it) has one gear per se. It is always locked into this gear and cannot coast. Meaning, at a standstill you could pedal backwards and the bike goes backwards. The handle bars have nothing but grip tape on them, no shifters, no brake levers etc. It is the purest form of a bike. In order to stop you must slow your legs down or skid. Another way is to throw your legs in the air (like you just don’t care) and while the back tire is off the ground, reverse the drive train. I live for this.


I finished up my ride and felt great having taken advantage of the amazing weather!


Survive my Birthday + Cycle for Survival

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Question: Can you survive an epic dance birthday party, only to wake up and have to spin your face off at Cycle for Survival?

My birthday party was Saturday night. My REAL birthday is February 15, so you still have time to get me presents. (Swim coach) Todd and I had been planning it for about three weeks and were hoping for a whopper of a party.

I rode my bike down to meet him Saturday morning since the weather was amazing! 40 degrees and sunny. Wait, thats nice weather?! NYC has been slammed with a winter I wont soon forget, so 40 and sunny sounds like heaven. Speaking of heaven, thats exactly where I was when riding down to meet him. It had been 2 months since I rode and I really missed it. All smiles.

We went out to Costco to get beer, liquor and snacks for the party. It was absolute mayhem. They send everyone into the store with these obnoxious double wide shopping carts that no one knows how to drive. On the outside I looked like a happy shopper, but on the inside I was screaming. This was an exercise in patience.

Lets skip right along to the party.

For the first few hours I was bar tending. It was during this time that I realized I am a horrible bar tender. I get way to distracted talking to people and bobbing around to the music.

The place really got bumping around 10-12 when the entire Runner Army showed up (sans running gear) as well as numerous other friends. At one point there were 40-50 of us out dancing.

SIDENOTE: If I am not running, biking or swimming I have an over abundance of energy. If you feed me enough beer I will dance until my legs fall off. I like lots of attention and therefore will try and dance with everybody.

I was home in bed by 1:30-2AM. On a non-race weekend this would be dandy as I could sleep in, but I had to wake up for Cycle for Survival.

I had joined Jess, from fitchickinthecity.com, and her team. I had the last shift which was a life saver based on my behavior the night before. Arriving at 10:30AM I had 20 minutes until it was my turn to ride. There were maybe 500 people and 150 spin bikes set up and the volume of dance music trumped my party by 10.

Jumping on the bike we set off with a bunch of intervals. My instructor was this feisty gal who whooped our butts. In 10 minutes I was soaking wet with sweat and totally lucid. This feeling is why I love spinning. You cant really experience it on a regular bike because the faster you go, the more windy it is, therefore cooling you down.

After 45 minutes of grueling spin it was over. I’m pretty sure I sweat out all the booze from the night before. Jess, her husband Rick and I set off for some food.

After food, I rode my bike down to help Todd clean up the party.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the party! it was so awesome seeing everyone!

(Run like) being chased by Zombies!!!

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As the weekend approached and weather for Sunday looked optimal, I contemplated racing the Gridiron 4 Miler.
After some peer pressure from some of the Runner Army who were racing as well, I signed up.

Saturday, the rain was stuck in limbo. It was coming down just hard enough to need an umbrella, but not really? I hate that.
I live right by the NYRR so it was a quick walk to pick up my race number.

At the A-B last name area the woman informed me that “There is no Christopher Baker” in her numbers. Strange indeed. Had I used one of my alias? Perhaps my secret identity? The next woman I spoke to (who had a laptop) told me that the online race registration closes the Tuesday before the race, so it was impossible that I could have been signed up. Touchè race organizer lady. You win this time.

Leaving Road Runners, I was very disappointed and sulking. The rain didn’t help and I couldn’t help but to laugh at myself. Wow, did I really want to race that bad? Either way, I was running tomorrow, and if I couldn’t race the Gridiron, I would race unsuspecting recreational runners.

I was cooped up all Saturday and really wanted to be social (if you personally know me you get this) so I called up Ahern and Robin to see what they were up to. After a brief discussion we decided to have a Wii Golf Tournament, but not just any old tournament… We decided to dress like golfers and make ‘golfer cocktails’ too.

It was a blast. We made all kinds of ‘golfer cocktails’ but my favorite was the Ginger Beer and Jameson thingy we constructed. Needless to say by the end of the night more people had arrived and ‘golfing’ turned into  ‘wild dance party.’

This is a photo from the night capturing one of my breakdancing jumps. Michael Jordan has nothin’ on my air. Don’t judge.

SIDENOTE: I studied Shaolin Kung-Fu a few years back and the only thing I was good at (or good enough to demonstrate) was the jumping tumbles. Our Master would have me do them in front of class, having me clear a 5 foot rope, then summersaulting to the ground and popping up. It was fun and I like attention so, win win.

RACE DAY (in my head)

I left my apartment around 11AM to hit the Park. It was such a gorgeous day for a change! I wore shorts, Zensah calf and arm sleeves and a dry fit top. I hate wearing loads of stuff when I run so this was perfect for the day.

My best ‘Love Sign’. I did this because for some reason in my race pics I always have the ‘Love Sign’ made with my hands. It’s really weird.

Starting the run I could tell it was going to be a good one. Sometimes you just know, you can sense it, like the engines are revved up and nothing is stalling out. Bueller? Runners? Bueller? Anyone? Are you with me?

I always enter on 84th and 5th Ave and make a counter-clockwise loop (de loop). I decided not to look at my Garmin too much. The first time I looked at it was at the end of Mile 1. It read 5:50. For real? It didn’t feel like a sub6 pace, but I guess I was zoned out.

generally speaking I was having a blast! It was sunny and I had broken a sweat (which is fantastic for February). I showed Harlem Hill what time it was, but it still slowed me down a bit.

As I rounded the lower loop I was really cooking. I started laughing out loud as I was passing other runners, because I thought how crazy and maniacal I must look. I thought, “Wow. What if ‘they’ thought I was being chased by Zombies and running for my life!?”

SIDENOTE: Running fast and laughing hard is a bad combo.

I finished up the 6 Miles with a 6:03 average pace. My legs were totally trashed, but I kinda wanted it like that.

I ended up limping my way to some Superbowl Parties later that night. On the way there, I was walking down 1st Avenue and this gal passed me who looked familiar. I had made a pact with myself a few years ago to always make contact with anyone who looks familiar or I think I may know. Life is too short and I also think coincidences happen on purpose.  So! I said, “Hey Dori?!” She turned and was like “Yeeeeees?” We quickly figured out that we knew each other from twitter/fbook and had a mutual friend, Erica Sara. I love NYC because of moments like this.

Swimasaurus Rex

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Yesterday, as my errands finished at noon, I wondered what fun thing I could do in the city seeing as I had no plans. Just then, like something out of Twilight Zone, my phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Bakes, it’s Todd, what are you doing? Let’s get our swim on.”

“Hell yes! See you in 20 minutes.”

And with a simple phone call my fate for Saturday was sealed.

SIDENOTE: Are you kidding me? You think I didn’t know it was Todd calling me? What ‘phone’ of the year 2011 doesn’t have caller ID? A crappy one. I added our names for affect, and in case you forgot who’s blog you were reading. You’re welcome.

I haven’t swam since the Harriman Sprint Triathlon last August!!! That’s like 6 months.

After some coffee, prepared for me by Ila (thank you Ila!) we hit the pool. Todd said we were to swim 1 Mile and to document our speed and time so we can follow our progression over the next few months. I was down, but more importantly to me, I just didn’t want to drown during Ironman Arizona at the end of this season.

This is my ‘To infinity and beyond’, ready and willing to swim pose. My goggles are awesome.

After a 20 lap warm up we stet the clock (Todd has one of those underwater timing thingys) and started the swim. Todd is faster than me, but for some reason I always try to keep up the first couple of laps before I realize I’m burning out.

When you take me out of Air and put me into Water I turn from fast to slow. It’s quite frustrating. Last year after getting help from Brandon (who is a sick swimmer) and a few others, the consensus is that my form just needs time to marinate.

Focused on this, my swim was based on my technique rather than trying to be a speedster. The first few laps were difficult (seeing as how I haven’t swam in 6 months) but I slowly clicked into pace. I practiced keeping as aerodynamic as possible and having quick powerful strokes. I felt good about everything, even though I wasn’t flying along, I was doing well.

Half way through the mile my body was on fire. Seriously. I thought about getting out of teh pool and walking onto the roof deck and into the snow to ‘chill out’ for a hot second. But, I didn’t. My runner mind was fully active and I wanted accurate data upon finishing my swim.

Todd finished about 10 lengths ahead of me. As I wrapped up, he gave us our times.

31.08 = 1,6500 YDS (1 Earth Mile)

I was happy with that.

I quickly popped out of the pool and went to the roof deck. I stepped out into the snow and it felt awesome! Instantly, my body cooled down.

Back at Todd’s place Ila had made us some delicious Kale Chips! I’m including the next photo because it’s silly. Todd had leftover pasta and so ‘created’ a pasta sandwich for us to eat while we decided on what our ‘real’ food should be.

I love swimming. My favorite part is that (normally) I sleep like the dead that that night. Unfortunately, last night I woke up at 3AM.

—

SUPER UNRELATED SIDENOTE: Amy C. showed my this free app called ‘Instant Heart Rate’. It’s very cool!

I got a 42 BPM resting rate which I understand to be good, but I am told I need to eat less? I’m not a doctor.

Runnin’ on Ice

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One of my favorite things to do in the entire world is ice skate. It’s fluid, fast and very soothing to my mind.

When I was age 14-18 I worked at our local ice rink. It was my time here, that I really fell in love with the sport. I also met a lot of very great people, some of whom I still keep in touch with.

During New York City’s frigid winter I get very distraught not being able to ride my bikes. Now, I know a lot of you hard core cyclists still ride, and I can dig it, personally I just hate wearing layers upon layers of clothes. In order to keep my dwindling sanity, I go ice skating in Central Park every weekend.

Look at that ice, glassy perfection just ripe for Mach 1.

I tend to go by myself for a few of reasons. These reasons do not apply to anyone in the Runner Army.

Most of my friends have a hard time waking up early and getting places.
Most of my friends can’t (or fear) ice skating.
Most of my friends hate children (no, I’m not referring to myself).

I try and get to Wollman Rink around 10AM which is when it opens. This is also optimal time because around 1PM the tourists attack the rink and it gets way to crowded to go fast. It is, without a doubt, the best rink in town. It’s 1 1/2 times bigger than a regulation sized hockey rink, it’s outdoors, and it doesn’t get obnoxiously crowded. Not to sound too sappy, but it’s also really very beautiful and scenic being surrounded by New York’s skyline as you bust your moves. I generally skate for an hour or two and then head for some hot chocolate. It’s a fantastic way to start a weekend, as well as a sick quad workout!


I still have my trusty hockey skates! Hot!

SIDENOTE: If anyone wants lessons (or just wants to skate), just hit me up!

The Doughnut Run!

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To cap off the year I decided to join the crew for the 1st Annual Doughnut Run, organized by Elyssa!

Until the emails flying around about the run I had been spelling doughnut, donut… thank you very much Dunkin Donuts for making me dumb.


We me at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge at 10:30 AM which was just fine by me. All this early running stuff gets outta hand sometimes. Role Call: Elyssa, Eissa, Amy, Matt6, Steph, Samantha, Sharon, Maura, and Maria! The concept was, run a 6 mile loop over the Brooklyn Bridge, through Brooklyn to the Williamsburg Bridge and back over into Mighty Manhattan, ending at The Doughnut Plant!

We all took off over the Brooklyn Bridge, dodging the tourists that were starting to surface.


Looping around into Dumbo we encountered an unforeseen problem… un shoveled snow! We made the best of it climbing, jumping and navigating the streets, keeping our pace. It was more of an obstacle course workout than a run and my abs are actually killing me! (I hope that’s from the run and I don’t have an Alien ready to berth itself. Gross.)

One of the cool things about a group run like this is what I call ‘leapfrog effect’ and yes I just coined it. Meaning, during the run you move around so you can chat and catch up with everyone.

Before we arrived at the Williamsburg Bridge we had a snowball fight while we were running! It was very fun but very tiring.


Ending our 6 miler at The Doughnut Plant was funny. There were groups of regular pedestrians eating outside and we, The Runner Army (another new catch phrase I have coined) arrived with a bang and everyone was like “Whaaaaaaat?”

As we entered the store it smelled good, so I chimed in, “Smells good, doughnut?” Yes, I have a bit of Dad Humor instilled in me and I have been learning to cope with it. On Matt 6’s advice I chose the Creme Brule and Tres Leches doughnuts. They did not disappoint and might be some of the best doughnuts I have ever had. I mean, I’m still a sucker for a Krispy Kreme but…

We all said goodbye to each other and 2010, departing for our various subway lines. It was an awesome time and I wont miss it next year (or at the end of every month as Maura suggested.)

Happy New Year Runner Army!

2010 in a nutshell…

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Around this time of year I think all of us like to look back on what our year entailed, then look to see what may be in store for the future.

SIDENOTE: This may be long winded, sorry. It’s more of an exercise in reflection for me, to see it written out.

THE PAST

2010 was set off with a bang for me with the Disney Marathon (my second) on January 10th. My time was 3:13:13 which was a PR by 2 minutes but I was in no way happy with this time. My mom got to watch me run a race for the first time which made for an exciting day.

February was kind of a wash as far as racing went. I did participate in the Run for Haiti charity event but set up in the back and just ran with friends.

As March rolled around I was ready for some action. The Coogan’s 5K up in Washington Heights was the start. I set a new NYRR 5K PR by running a 5:53 per mile race. This was important to me (and yet trivial) as I wanted my time under the NYRR umbrella to reflect a sub 6 mile average. Like I said, trivial, but it’s these little details that excite me at times. I ran the NYRR 8000 and the Colon Cancer Challenge as well.

The New York City Half Marathon was a milestone race as I was able to PR by 5 minutes at 1:20:48! I also qualified for the NYC Marathon with this time. More memorable then that was just how many of my new running friends I saw before, during and after the race! Such a great group of people.

In April I ran the Scotland 10K, Run for the Parks and the Lincoln Tunnel 5K.

May hit hard with the New Jersey Marathon starting it off. It was the hottest marathon I had run in with temps in the high 80’s. It was a battle field. My time of 3:15:27 was worse then Disney but I didn’t come down on myself too hard based on the crazy weather. I hate making excuses, but when people were strewn out on the sidelines like wounded soldiers I made an exception. For those of you who aren’t aware, I was and had been going for a Boston Qualifier this whole time and missing my mark by 3-5 minutes overtime.

PR’d the Healthy Kidney 10K with a 37:11 and swam the Great Hudson River 1.3 mile race. I did not PR in the swim, in fact I think I was almost last place as usual in swim events.

June was monumental as I raced my first ever Half Ironman! I got to race with all the pro triathletes I admire and even brushed elbows with a personal hero, Natascha Badmann.

I ran the Wall Street 3 Miler which is always fun in a ‘utter chaos’ kinda way. How could I forget the Lavaman Sprint Triathlon? Jim, Ed (from ‘Dad Posse’) and I stayed up till 2AM drinking beer, woke up at 5AM on 3 hours of sleep and raced. I even won 3rd in my age group so Hmmf to you ‘sleep’.

July brought us the Aquathlon Swim/Run event followed by the NYC Triathlon which was awesome! If I thought the NYC Tri was hot I was definitely not ready for the sauna that was the Queens Half Marathon! It was brutal!

In August I ran the fun, but also sweltering hot, Fire Island 5K and tried to uphold my 1st Place ranking. I failed and came in 2nd but still had a hell of a time! Then ‘Dad Posse’ and I raced in the Harriman Sprint Triathlon, always a fun event.


As Autumn arrived there was excitement in the air as marathon season was upon us! I ran the NYCM Tune-up 18 Miler and was able to maintain the marathon pace I had set. One goal I had set for myself all year was to run a Sub5 Mile in the 5th Avenue Mile race. I accomplished this by 1 second at 4:59. This was a big goal for me.

In October I ran a trifecta of 5K’s! The Montgomery River Run 5K where I took 1st Place overall, The Hoboken 5K where I PR’d at 17:37 and took 3rd overall and the Little Silver 5K where I took 11th overall.

My favorite race is and has been the NYC Marathon. This year I ran a 3:01:59 which qualifies me for Boston, another goal I had set!

The exclamation point on the year was running the Tough Mudder obstacle course with ‘Dad Posse’ and Ronny. It was hard, scary, grueling and totally awesome!

Looking back I’m very happy with my racing. Although I am very competitive, I’m still having fun out there.

What stands out most to me, as I evolve deeper into the sport, is all the friends have made! You all know who you are, from my Tuesday Night Speed Group, to the ‘Dad Posse’, random speedsters, competitors I have met during races, bikers on the road to Nyack and many others. This running/triathlon community continues to amazing me and I am very thankful to be a part of it.

THE FUTURE

Im registered for a number of races already, The Goofy Challenge, NYC Half Marathon, Alcatraz Shark Swim, NYC Tri, Rev3 Half Ironman South Carolina and Ironman Arizona. I really need to get my swimming up to par this year and try and get a bit faster. There is work to be done!

How was your year? What races will you race in 2011?

Cycle for Survival

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A few weeks ago Jess from ‘Fitchickinthecity’ asked if I wanted to join her Cycle for Survival Team this February. Hmmm… was this some sort of obstacle course we would be riding on our bikes? Tough Mudder but on wheels? Rings of fire, narrow bridges, oil slicks? All of this would be right up my alley!

After some research I found out that it was not a crazy bike ride at all, but an all day Spin event to raise money for Cancer research! Each Team is slotted a 4 hour position and has to ride during that period, switching riders in and out like a relay race.

Seeing as how my mother is a 20 year Cancer survivor and my father is currently preparing for a bone marrow transplant to possibly cure his Lymphoma, this kind of event hits home. I immediately joined her team along with 4 others.

Below is a link to my donations page, feel free to send me as much research money as you like, there is no limit!

Baker’s Page

I really enjoy racing, riding, swimming or even just walking around to raise money for various causes.
If any of you readers out there ever have a cause worth fighting for and need a team member, send me a message!