Category Archives: Running

New York I Love You

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE DAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’m going to set it the fuck off.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Cure for Pain

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

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

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

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

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

 

RACE REPORT: 072 The Boston Marathon – 3:23:41 ‘Total Carnage’

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The Boston Marathon or, ‘The Invitational’, as I have so dubbed it took me 3 years to get to. 3:15, 3:13, 3:15, 3:02 (the year Boston sold out in 8 hours) 2:58 and a 3:00 were my times and the last 2 secured my spot thanks to the new application procedures. Why am I telling you this? Mainly, so non-runners understand what it means to run Boston. It’s something you earn. Runners work long and hard for the privilege to run with the best-of-the-best. I feel like my time had come and I have been very excited ever since I was accepted!

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Abbe, Erica Sara and I hopped a train mid day Saturday. I had a few beers with me, Abbe made us sandwiches and Erica brought supplies to make friendship bracelets. We had a really fun time traveling up. The girls even taught me how to make a friendship bracelet, but I think I need some practice.

We checked into our uber fancy hotel (the Langham) and headed down to the bar to have a pre dinner cocktail. Next, we headed out to Union Oyster House for dinner. For those that don’t know me personally, I have an affinity for history and the preservation of historic landmarks. Union Oyster House is all of the above, claiming to be the oldest restaurant in America.

Erica and I had Lobsters (it was her first) and I guided her in lobster eating lessons. Abbe opted for Salmon. Also, my New England Clam Chowder was the best I have ever had and you can quote me on that.

Back at the hotel bar we met up with Maura (Deeds), Bryan; Brandon and Yo; Susan, James and Amy for some drinks. We chatted about the race and all things running. The heat warning had not been issued to their fullest extent yet.

The following morning Abbe, Erica and I went on a running jaunt around Boston. It was awesome! Following our run we hit the expo. We had a bullet list of things to do which we executed perfectly.

Zeev from Zensah wanted us to pop by. We chatted a bit and he gave us the low down on some of their newest products. SIDENOTE: He is coming to town Tuesday the 24th and organizing a run. Stay tuned, there will be free Zensah gear to the first 10 runners.

After the expo we hit the Barking Crab, another fantastic institution. Situated on the water, it has a huge outdoor covered deck and inside it looks like you might be in the Caribbean. Deeds and Bryan met us again an we chilled out eating and drinking as I needed to stay off my feet.

That night we went over to Deeds and Bryan’s house in Jamaica Plains for some home cooked food! They have such a cute place. In the middle of hanging out on their porch I got the call… it was Coach!

Our conversation was a pretty typical Coach to Student pep talk but with a shift of plans. Sonja told me a week ago that I was to race this puppy with everything I had. Sure, I’m totally game! But now, with the 89 degree heat warnings things were a little different. I have run 2 other really hot races, the NJ Marathon of 2010 and more recently Ironman Arizona which is in a desert, so I wasn’t entirely nervous to be honest. She knows I’m good at reading my body and racing smart and she said to be safe using that knowledge. My goals, I told her, were to basically run 6:45s – 6:50s (6:50 is a 3 hour marathon) and see where that takes me. Her words, which resonated, were, “Remember Chris, a bad day at the Boston Marathon is still a great day.”

Abbe made pasta with kale pesto and shrimp while Erica made a kale salad with avocado and grapefruit. I couldn’t have asked for a better pre-race dinner! Thanks gals and thanks to the Weber’s for being such superb hosts! Just when we started having fun I had to go to sleep. Stupid run.

RACE DAY

I slept really poorly. I was asleep from 10-1, then 2-4, then awake until 5:30. Awesome.

I geared up, kissed Abbe goodbye and headed out. It was 65 degrees at 6AM and so I had no extra layers. As I stepped outside it was gorgeous, perfect running weather right NOW. In my head I thought, “Holy S*&t. This is gonna be rough.”

On the (school) bus out to Hopkinton I sat next to a really excited gal named Shawna. She was way cool and had qualified with her first marathon, San Fran. I tried to ease her worries about the heat and to be honest, I was still not concerned. Play it as it’s dealt was how I was thinking. Little did I know what was in store.

The ‘base camp’ is so much cooler than New York City’s. It’s 2 giant fields and its very easy to navigate. As I entered the MC was like, “If you are just arriving, to your left is Gatorade, up ahead powerbars, further down bagels and if you need coffee come to the very very front.” I thought, “DO I need coffee? YES! I love this man.”

That’s exactly what I did (no not love that man) but head to the coffee zone. There I also found a bagel and bananas. I roved around until I found a quaint sunny spot on the blacktop. I had 1:30 hours until it was time to get into corrals so slowly I ate my bagel, banana and coffee. It was quite lovely actually. Then, I covered my body in Zinc Oxide, predicting that I was going to get scorched.

Once I was done with my breakfast I decided to roam around. On one of the fields this photographer stopped me and took my photo. Then, this girl goes and jumps in the picture with me and I’m all confused and then I realize it’s my friend Eissa! No way! She was with one of her friends and I hung with them until it was time to leave for corrals.

I also ran into my friend Dorothy Beal (we went to rival High Schools!) who happened to be walking by. Her and I chatted, both of us peppy and not too worried about the heat.

As I walked to my corral, a very long walk, for the first time I felt like I had earned my spot. It really sunk in and I got choked up thinking, “Dad if you could only see me now. I’m about to run the Boston Marathon.”

I snapped out of it pretty quick though as some guys on the sidelines had a grill offering us (in Boston accents) “Braghts! Who wans some braghts n bear!” I could only imagine the horrible consequences of eating a sausage and beer before a marathon.

Getting to Wave 1 Corral 3 was kind of like looking for your car in an airport parking lot. I just kept walking and walking following the numbers. Before going into my corral I ran into Paddy and we chatted for a bit. Next up I saw Sebastien. He and I chatted about times. Because of the heat he was going to shoot for a 2:40. “Totally man, play it safe.”

As I entered my corral I saw Susan’s pal James (who was aiming to go 2:50) and my old pal Rowland! Rowland and I have always run the New York City Marathon together. Like, 3 times but here’s the catch… we don’t know each other (well now we do) and we don’t plan it. We have ‘spot on’ the exact same pace. In NYCM last year we ran neck and neck miles 1-9 pacing each other like a force to be reckoned with. I lost him and we finished within 1 minute of each other.

Just standing in the corral I felt the power of the Boston Marathon. These people all around were hard core and they looked it. There were tons of team singlets from all over the world. It was so cool. I was also sweating and they were only just starting on the Nation Anthem, this worried me.

The gun went off and we… we didn’t go anywhere. It took me 3-4 minutes to get tot the Start and I was in Corral 3! Yes, there were that many speedsters in front of me!

As the run began it was very crowded. It stayed like this for 3 miles or so and I was dismayed wanting to surge ahead I looked at my Garmin, 6:50. I was right on target! So wild that there were so many people hitting the same pace.

Miles 1-3 were great. In fact I was rockin a steady 6:49 pace. I had been carrying a Gatorade bottle that I had filled with water and was strategically using it to pour on my head when needed. Really though, the heavy water pouring wouldn’t start til mile 6.

Since we mentioned it, lets just jump head to Mile 6 since nothing terribly exciting happened from 3-5. Mile 6 is right around the time I said something like, “This is fucking bananas.” It was in the high 80’s, no shade and zero wind. The gods were betting against us. SIDENOTE: If you haven’t seen a picture of me racing take this time to do so. I am really white. Blistering sun with no shade is my arch enemy. I had a few guys run up along side of me and say they hoped I put on sunscreen. Guys. I didn’t become pasty white overnight, I have been managing severe sunburn my whole life and I have also run a few times outside in the sun.

By now there was a little more breathing room on the course. The crowds, however, were a lot thicker than expected and were extremely loud and muting out my internal monologue.

I think Mile 9 is when the downward spiral began. I saw time slowly slipping away on my Garmin. I did a systems check… hydrated, check; energy, check; full stomach, check. It was the hot sun and steaming asphalt beating me down. This pissed me off since everything else pointed to signs of a potentially good race.

I was now pouring 2 cups of water on my head for the rest of the race at every station and drinking one. That’s a lot of cups… like 75 or something?

As I hit the Half at 1:33 I thought, “Well this isn’t the worst first half I have ever run.” But actually, I think it was. I also thought about all my friends tracking me and seeing me slowly fall to pieces wondering what was happening. I honestly thought about pulling out of the race.

Miles 13-15 also sucked bad. I ate a Gu and my time was fading even more. Should I quit? As we hit Wellesley I saw my long lost Aunt Jen! (her and my Uncle divorced when I was 12 and I haven’t seen her since.) She yelled, “Go Chris Baker!” Thanks Aunt Jen.

Mile 16 is where ‘S%$t Hit the Fan’ so to speak. My vision was blurry and I was more stumbling than running. Was I okay? Was it in my head? My feet were on fire so I started pouring water into my sneakers, a trick I learned in the Jersey Marathon. The crazy part was, once I was drenched from head-to-toe I would be bone dry 3/4 of a mile out and repeat the whole process at the next aid station. The aid stations at this point were a disaster. They were like giant traffic jams filled with drunk drivers. No one had it together, people were slogging around and weaving in total chaos and there were hundreds of cups and oranges on the ground.

I suppose it was right around now that I made the decision to carry on, no matter what. I thought about how long I had wanted to run this race, what it meant and that all I needed to do was finish. We were all in this together, so I slogged forward.

Back to the feet on fire thing. I was convinced my socks were the culprit so I pulled over between Mile 17-19, took off my sneakers and socks, then put my sneaks back on barefoot. Did it help. Yes, a lot in fact! I was running in Newtons and they have great ventilation on the top so my feet instantly felt cooler. The question is… did anyone keep my socks?

At Mile 19 some college kids has cups of some strange liquid. I ran by and one said, “Ice cold beer!” He may as well have told me I had won the lottery. It was the most delicious coldest thing I had ever tasted. So foamy and amazing, it turned my frown upside down.

There were also spectators with oranges, icy pops and ice cubes. I took all of these things all the time, especially the ice. Seriously, it was like Ironman. I was consistently thinking about what could help me. For instance, someone was handing out what I thought were cold wet paper towels to wipe off salt and grime, but they were dry towels. I immediately threw it on the ground.

So, I have to tell you about this guy that pissed me off. At this point during the race everyone was in survival mode, meaning, no one gave a damn about anyone else. Up ahead I see this spectator with a hose and a spray gun attached drenching the runners. “Hell yeah man!” I bee-lined it to the right so excited to get cooled down again and as I approached, the guy in front of me TOOK the hose from the spectator. He aimed it at his face and just blasted himself like an Irish Spring commercial. He did this for 2 minutes! I kept looking at the spectator like, “C’mon man, reclaim the hose!” Finally he did and sprayed me. I started running again and as I passed the hose hog I yelled, “Not cool AT ALL man!”

I saw Elizabeth around this point which picked up spirits!

Heartbreak Hill wasn’t so bad. It was a big long hill but I would have taken ten of them in a row if it was 50 degrees out.

Miles 20-26 I got kind of a second wind. Not like I was running at break neck speed, but I was at least holding a consistent pace. My quads were on fire but I just wanted the end to come. I broke the course up into 6, mile long segments (yeah it was that bad) and told myself to just take it one mile at a time.

At Mile 23 I saw my Uncle Curt who screamed my name. Then, I saw Kelly across the other side who cheered me on and finally Abbe, Erica Sara and Maura who I high fived! I thought about stopping to talk to them but I was worried I wouldn’t be able to start running again.

As soon as I passed them I shut everything else out of my vision. I stopped looking and listening to the crowds and just focused on maintaining my pace which was now in the 8:28 range.

The last mile was a giant wide open space and for the first time during the race I tried to enjoy the moment. I soaked up those last minutes fighting fatigue. I saw my friend Robert here and when he yelled I nearly cut off this poor fella in my excitement! The Finish came into view on the historic straight away and it took forever to get to! It was here that Susan’s friend James popped up along side of me and said hi.

Crossing the Boston Finish was the first time I ever thought of the Finish in a race to be memorable. It’s a pretty impressive Finish line and as I crossed I put my hands together in a prayer-like motion, not triumphant, but thankful to have made it.

Time: 3:23:41, my slowest marathon by 8 minutes. Am I upset at my time? Not at all. Sometimes just surviving a battle is a win.

My chest hurt as well as my legs and well, my body felt like it was in an oven. I grabbed 2 waters and emptied them on my head, instantly feeling better. As I was chatting with a group of runners all of them said the same thing, “That was my worst marathon time.” Ditto.

Since I had nothing on me I walked back to my hotel after chilling out in the family reunion area for a second. My legs needed a break and I thought the girls might have made their way over to collect me. At the Langham the concierge told me that we had checked out, but alas, my very ‘stand out’ Kompetitive Edge Team bag was easy to identify. (Big thanks to Kompetitive Edge for my awesome race outfit too! The crowds were screaming, “go Kompetitive Edge!”) The concierge emailed Abbe telling her I was there and then let me shower in the Health Spa.

Afterwards, I was hanging with the Concierge and he asked if I wanted water. “I am so sick of water. Ive been drinking it all day and soaked in it. I really want a beer.” “Well Mr. Baker, I would suggest you go down the street to the outdoor pub. We will tell Ms. Abbe when she arrives.” These guys rock.

I sat down outside on a quiet street and took in an ice cold Harpoon IPA while basking in the sun.

Abbe ran up shortly after and gave me a big hug and kiss! I think she was more excited at my finish than I was. Erica was right behind her and after some food we caught our train.

While on the train Eissa tweeted at me asking if she was on our train? Indeed! We added one more to our train party and it was such a blast!

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What a fantastically fun weekend this was. Had it not been for the marathon part it would have been perfect! I’m kidding. I learned a lot during this marathon. Mother nature is an unstoppable force, but mainly to never give up, no matter what. On the right part of my site I have the definition (in my words) of what Beyond Defeat is all about.

“Beyond Defeat represents the will and drive to never give up, no matter what challenges you face. It is the acceptance of the challenge. All of us are Beyond Defeat, we just need to rise to the occasion. “
Many of my friends were beyond defeat today and fought through some of the worst conditions I have ever seen in a Marathon. For that, I proudly tip my hat to all of you.

RACE REPORT: 071 Colon Cancer Challenge 4M – 23:28

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Race Season has begun! (for me at least.) It’s officially warm enough to where I can come out of hiding.

The Colon Cancer Challenge 4 Miler (not the 15K, do I look crazy? C’mon!) is a race cause that speaks to me as my Mom is a survivor. When I was 14 she was hospitalized for 3 months and barely made it due to complications. So yeah, I run the hell out of this one.

Guess who was visiting me and my youngest brother Jeff this weekend? That’s right, momma Baker! She came in Thursday and we had been having a whirlwind tour of restaurants and landmarks. My brother picked Saturday’s dinner location and I didn’t have the heart to tell him I couldn’t eat that the night before a race.  I’m talking about Sushi people! (the food not humans made of raw fish.) I decided to just go with it and see what happened on race day. Who knows, maybe Sushi was the secret super runners pre-race food?

RACE DAY

9AM races rule. You can wake up, have like 2 cups of coffee, watch the news and part of GMA and even have a healthy breakfast!

Abbe and I left with 45 minutes to spare and did a warm up run up 5th Avenue. I even saw one of my construction worker pals by my office. His response, “What no camera today?” He knows me as ‘Photographer/Graphic Designer Baker’ not ‘Runner Baker.’ Up in the Park, we split up and took to our corrals.

After a very poor rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, like so poor I thought it was an April fool’s day joke, Cha Cha gave the word and we were off!

I kept my iPod off. I was going to switch it on at Mile 1, but I wanted to listen to myself first. I also had no Garmin.

The first 800M I spent navigating through people until I was in the single file pack, lead vehicle in my sites. I wasn’t sure how fast I was going but it felt right. Mile 1 arrived at 5:55, not good enough.

Needing some pep, I switched on the iPod and blasted forward. I was in a small group of 3 guys and we had pulled away from the others behind us by a pretty good margin. Up ahead, was the lead pack starting to spread out.

I felt pretty good and made the decision to skip the water station at Mile 2. This proved helpful as I lost a few guys and pushed ahead, suffering with thirst. The clock said 11:40 which means I had made up some time, but the West Side Rollers were ahead.

I was now running single file chasing this guy 100 feet in front of me and in turn, I was being chased by a guy 100 feet back. It was quite spread out, more than I have ever experienced in a NYRR race. Mile 3 came up fast and it read 17:50. I was losing time now and wasn’t happy about it.

My left shin had been hurting like crazy since Mile 2, and now I told myself mentally ‘This is nothing, it hurts and there is no injury. Throw down some speed.’ I was in fact able to pick it up a bit. The worst of the hills was over and I knew I just had to hang on. I could feel a presence behind me (sorry, I watched Star Wars yesterday) and knew I couldn’t let up. The guy I was chasing was well out of my grasp and at this point I was hoping that I might have a PR in sight.

Rounding the corner of 72nd to finish I saw this guy out of the corner of my eye behind me. “No way was I gonna get out sprinted.” I threw it into another gear and rocketed to the finish. As I got close my Mom, brother, sis-in-law and friend Vicki cheered me on like crazy! After the finish I stopped and shook the guy’s hand behind me and gave him props for staying on my tail like that. I also saluted the guy I had been chasing. He had beat me by 8 seconds, but it seemed like 30.

My time? 23:28, the EXACT same time I got the last time I raced this. I did, however, move up in placement to 9th overall!

Sex/
Age		 Bib Overall Place Age
Place		 Finish
Time		 Pace/
Mile		 AG %
M34 55 9 2 23:28 5:52 73.00%

I always like to describe the end of a race like this like when the Millennium Falcon comes out of Warp Speed and everything stops at once. It’s very disorienting and I have learned to come with the sudden urge to vomit by downing water and breathing exercises. Whatever works right?

I met my family up at Bethesda Fountain and we waiting for Abbe to finish. She PR’d again which means I had to buy lunch! We have a deal, who ever PR’s gets taken out by the other to celebrate.

Big ups to my Kompetitive Edge Teammates (Terry Nugent, Ryan Borger, Stephanie Stevens, Brandon Jessop, Sonja Wieck, Mark Hillers, Michelle Ford, and Jason Stoddart) this weekend for killing it too!

Big ups to all my local Runner Army peeps too, there were a ton of PR’s!

 

Imaginatively Running

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My life is a movie, or rather, I pretend I am in a movie during my life. Sometimes it’s a spy movie, sometimes it’s a comedy and frequently when I run it’s an action adventure.

Why am I telling you these personal things that could and most likely will be used to tease me at the bar after a run? To help you of course. Let’s use my mile repeats from tonight as an example. Friend’s ask, “How come your last repeat is fastest?”

Lets get scientific for a hot second. Below are the repeats.
5:53 – 6:18 – 5:54 – 6:03 – 5:49 – 5:41

To you, these may look like mile repeats, but they are actually scenes in a movie. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Scene 1 = 5:53
Opening credits are over (my warm up) and things start to heat up. I’m headed to the office, I work for special ops and am needed there fast. What could be the trouble? Is it the Russians again?

Scene 2 = 6:18
Turns out my office is at the top of Harlem Hill, go figure. At the office I learn that it’s the Albanians. They have a bomb and are gong to blow up a landmark.

Scene 3 = 5:54
I take off, in search of the Albanians. Our sources say that they are fast, and we aren’t sure if our mark is a man or a woman. I keep moving, scanning everything in front of me, looking for something fast.

Scene 4 = 6:03
It’s getting busy down on the Southwest side of Central Park, but up ahead I see a woman moving at break neck speed. Could it be our mark? I slowly reel her in and then I notice a man trailing her. I don’t want to make my move now, too many people, but this is the guy. We pass the female and play leap frog.

Scene 5 = 5:49
Who is this guy?! Who does he work for?! He looks more Irish than Albanian and I’m puzzled. Was my intel misled? As I try and box him out he realizes what’s happening. “We’re on the same team man!,” he yells. I let him come up along side and he explains the dastardly plot. The Albanians are planning to blow up the Fred Lebow statue at Engineers Gate! “Fuck that!,” I yelled. “We can’t let that happen!” Our speed picks up and he doesn’t look good. “Go on without me, I’ll be fine, just stop the Albanians from destroying Fred’s statue!”

Scene 6 = 5:41
I have 1 Mile and no time to get to Fred to stop the bombers. As I start swinging my arms I ‘rev’ up (think… the sound that the Delorean makes when Marty breaks 88 MPH) and blast ahead.

Every movie I have ever seen from ‘Top Gun’ to ‘Bullitt’ is racing through my veins. I summoned every ounce of energy I have left to rocket forward, stopping those foolish Albanians.

I pass people looking like a crazy sweaty Irishman, panting and hanging on for dear life. I see the Fred Lebow statue in the distance and as I pass him I have beaten the Albanian to the punch and saved the day. Also, that was my best mile split, U.S.A. wins and I win. ‘Win win’ I believe they say?

So… I encourage everyone to live your run in a movie, and in the last scene kill it!

The Albanians used in this story were fictional. Christopher Baker holds no bias towards Albania, Albanians or Captain Lou Albano.

 

The Galway Bay Gallop

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What do runners do on St. Patrick’s Day? We integrate beer into our running.

Maura (who is from Galway) designed a very fun and difficult race for the Rogue Runners called the Galway Bay Gallop. The race was an out and back, 4 miles total. The catch? At each turn around point you had to either take a shot of whiskey or chug a beer, 3 drinks in total. The prize purse was as follows: a bottle of Irish Whiskey, a bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream, or a delightful package of Irish smoked salmon sponsored by Galway Bay Seafoods.

The next day was the NYC Half Marathon so a lot of our friends weren’t running in the Galway Bay Gallop. Also, since I was to be cheering all day during the Half I decided to get in my 18 Miler before the race. This was a poor decision.

Abbe and I showed up at the 102 Transverse to find a group of 15 people preparing!

In order to make Rogue Runner races fun, handicaps are put in place to equalize the playing field. Maura took everyone’s 4 mile race time and set up wave starts. I got to start last with a 14 minute deficit on the leaders. This is why maybe doing an 18 miler before hand was stupid. My poor legs did not feel like running at all.

At Maura’s command the first group, led my Tracy, started chugging their beers and were off. SIDENOTE: We were all really concerned with getting pinched by the cops. I later learned that it’s only a $25 ticket and not jail time. Game on.

I think there were 9 runners total. Matt6 and I were the last to go. As he set off chasing the pack I still had to wait a couple minutes to start, a difficult task considering Matt6 is no slow poke.

With 1 minute to start I prepared my Porkslap Ale. As Maura counted down to zero I attempted to chug my Ale. I’m not much of a ‘chugger’ really, never have been, so I just drank quickly. After my tasty beverage I set of with a running fury. I immediately felt like my chest was going to explode from all the carbonation! I was run-burping along the West Side Rollers, not really enjoying myself. It was quite painful in fact, not just the beer in ma belly, but trying to trick my trashed legs to run again. Clearly, my body was like “Hey Baker, we already ran today and were super excited when it was over. What’s the deal?”

As I was running I kept looking way ahead, wondering when I would see the first group on their return trip and the impossible task of trying to catch them.

It wasn’t long. Tracy appeared about 1.5 miles into my first leg of the race. She was cooking too. We laughed and high fived.

Soon after I saw a small group trailed by Matt6. Ironically, just as I was feeling good I was arriving at the second ‘Aid’ station to drink my next drink. Abbe, Claire and Erica were awaiting and cheering me on. They had a beer prepared, but in the interest of time I yelled to them that I would do a whiskey shot instead. Abbe prepared the concoction and I downed it, chasing after the group.

In case you have never run in Central Park, the West Side Rollers are no joke. Having to do them twice was brutal. Using my blurred eyesight I was constantly scanning runners ahead of me looking for my targets. Son enough I saw 2 of the gals from the original lead group. I passed them and shouted hello, continuing my search for the leaders.

By now the booze had numbed the pain in my legs enough so that I was actually trucking along at a decent pace. I rounded the bend into the transverse and saw the group chugging their final drinks! I had come in 7th Place. Tracy had held a great pace (she even had a 2 minute PR) and won the overall race!

After all the runners were in Maura had a fantastic awards ceremony. So many fun prizes! In the interest of St. Paddy’s Day we all went out for a couple more beers to celebrate. Thanks for organizing this one Maura, it was great!

—

Congrats to all my peeps who ran in the NYC Half Mary the following day! Especially to Abbe, who rocked a 30 minute PR!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New York Hot Dog Challenge

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2.5 miles, 1 hour and 10 hot dogs are quite deserving of the word ‘challenge.’ 10 competitors set out to take the challenge and come home with the grand prize of $225.

The last few weeks before the race there was a lot of buzz going around. “Who has the best odds?” “Who is the craziest?” “Does it even matter if you are a fast runner?” We had a generous outpouring of donations to create the grand prize of $225! (Thanks to all who donated to make the race exciting and bit more rewarding for the challengers!) We also had a total of 10, that’s right 10 racers signed up to compete! This was a New York Rogue Runners race so all you need to do to race is show up on game day.

I really enjoyed all the playful trash talking between everyone as well.

Wayne’s World flashback… (waving hands)

The concept for this race was born 7-10 years ago. As I was walking with friends Mirko and Benny (I wasn’t even a runner at the time) we laughed at a crazy idea. “What if you had to run through midtown and every time you passed  hot dog cart you had to eat one!” Such a sick and twisted idea. I loved it. Little did I know, years later I would be friends with a group of athletes crazy enough to pull it off!

The rules (seemed) simple enough. Follow the course map that I was to release the night before the race (to deter cheating) and eat a hot dog at every designated cart. Finish first without puking, win the prize.

RACE DAY

We met at the Mall in Central Park, a very scenic place (and iconic for any runners) to start a race. Everyone started arriving with huge smiles on their faces, excited to see what lay in store for all of us. I too, was giddy. The race itself had never been done, so the outcome was unknown. Would anyone finish? Would there be survivors?

Once all the competitors arrived I made a few race announcements and answered any questions. I was happy to not be racing, especially since eating competitions are really not my forte. The quick decision was made for all competitors to eat their first dog together at the cart stationed close by. As soon as they were done eating, they could start running the course.

(Thanks for the pics Elyssa!)

Tao, not a runner but a proclaimed eating machine, finished his dog in record time and immediately set off with 2 refs (Laura and Laura) following close behind.

We had 7 referees (including me) to follow the runners and make sure they stayed on course, ate each dog and didn’t puke.

One by one the rest of the gang finished their dogs and set off. I ran along with the middle group at first, chatting with Jim from ‘Dad Posse’ and TJ who were both setting a speedy pace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carts 1 and 2 were right outside the Park on adjacent corners. The leaders lined up and ordered their dogs, chowing down as soon as the exchange took place. (Lines were one of the unforeseen variables in the race) In the lead after Cart 2 was Matt 6, Neal and Tao. I was running along with the trailing group, TJ, Jim and Bojana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was notified by Abbe that Cart 3 wasn’t there (another unforeseen factor). I told her to wave runners on to Cart 4, luck was on their side… for now.

As we arrived at Cart 4 or ‘Baker’s Pass’ as I deemed it on the map because I work across the street, Matt had already taken off, Tao and Neal following shortly after. I sprinted ahead to catch up with Matt and Maria (who was reffing him) to make sure we were on course.

Arriving at Carts 5 and 6, or ‘Dead Man’s Corner’, one of the carts was missing so to Matt’s dismay we picked the next closest cart. We had to keep with the theme of ‘Dead Man’s Corner’ after all. While here, Tao and Neal caught up to Matt. Things were really getting exciting!

Tao finished first and took the lead.

The last 4 Carts were picked strategically. They were in a row on every block, cutting through Times Square, Hot Dog Cart Capital of the Free World. I dubbed this stretch ‘The Gauntlet’ and it would live up to it’s name.

I caught up to Tao at Cart 7. He proclaimed to not be a runner, but he was putting down a great pace for having 6 hot dogs floating around his belly. Just as he was finishing Matt arrived. It was going to be close. Tao took off to Cart 8 while Matt plowed through his 7th hot dog of the day. (You can’t run with the dogs, you must finish them before moving forward)

With the 3rd and 4th place runners nowhere in sight I stuck with the leaders to see how it was to play out.

Barreling into Times Square, Matt was at Cart 8 and Tao was at Cart 9 directly across the street! The 2 competitors were literally eating and watching each other.

I bolted ahead to the last Cart. I was really hoping it would be there as it was a crucial element in the race. You couldn’t see it as you approached which is why I chose it. A lot of the racers were hopeful that maybe the last Cart didn’t show up for work and they could keep running to the Finish. Incorrect.

As Tao arrived he looked less than excited to eat his 10th hot dog. Tourists nearby were watching us (as they had all day) in wonder. He wolfed the last dog down and took off, 1/2 mile separating him and victory.

Matt arrived seconds later, knowing he had a decent shot of overtaking Tao if he could just eat the hot dog fast. I took off down an alternate route to see the finish.

The Finish line was right in front of Rudy’s Bar, one of the last true dive bars left in NYC. 12 years ago it was my hangout, but why end it here on a hot dog run? Because you get served free hot dogs in the bar as long as you are ordering drinks!!!

As I arrived Tao had just finished taking the number 1 slot! He had been cooking that last stretch. Matt came in about a minute after him to take number 2! Both men were in rough shape and needed ‘a minute’.

It was at least 5 minutes before our number 3 position came into view. It was Bojana, our first female finisher!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then came Neal and TJ, neck and neck followed by Jim, Dennis and finally Bethaney!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Claire and Gillian both took DNF’s for the day but gave it a worthy shot!

Everyone finished in under an hour and Tao came in at roughly 40 minutes! Impressive.

All of us moved inside to Rudy’s to celebrate. We had a small awards ceremony where I presented Tao with his Medal and $225! He saluted us by chugging a beer. True story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We all stayed for awhile laughing at the whole fiasco. It was really interesting hearing everyone’s different take on the race and where it went astray.

 

It was the first race of this kind and I think it went fantastic! I had a blast following the lead racers. Congrats to everyone who participated in this difficult race and thanks to everyone for volunteering and coming out to play!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cardiac Crusher Brewery 4 Miler

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What’s so cool about being a part of the New York Rogue Runners? You get to design races!

The Cardiac Crusher Brewery 4 Mile Prediction Race (conceptualized by Joe) is a race in which you guess when you will finish. Runners cannot have any timing devices on them and the winner is whom ever comes in closest to their predicted time. It’s brilliant in design because it really doesn’t matter if you are a fast runner, what matters is understanding and listening to your own body.

We all arrived at the 72nd Street Transverse and put on our bibs. There were 6 racers (New York Rogue Runners is a relatively new group so I expect it to pick up as the season progresses.) Joe showed us the prize of Cardiac Crusher Brewery Citron Hefeweizen and then did his best Peter Chacha (CHA CHA!) impression, going over the course. Then, each of us gave our predicted times, mine being 24:30 which meant I was really going to set it off if I wanted to win. Since Sonja rarely lets me train anaerobically, I was looking forward to letting loose.

Joe set us off and I immediately just started running at I guess what I would call my 5K pace. Not having any timing device is strange and yest at the same time, very freeing.

I took it easy going up Cat Hill and then opened up a bit, feeling a little heavy. Perhaps it was the 20 degree weather holding me back?! I hate running in the cold. The 102 Transverse was a blessing. In my head I knew I was at the halfway point.

The ‘West Side Rollers’ proved a bit difficult because that’s when the wind picked up. I did, however start to feel really good at this point. What’s funny about these Rogue Races is that the other 90% of the runners out there have no idea there is a ‘race in progress.’ You get very puzzling looks from people when they see the homemade bibs. I also find it slightly upsetting as I am passing other runners and then realize, “Oh wait, these folks are just out for their run, they aren’t racing you dummy.”

Cruising up to the Finish, they called my time out at 25:14, 44 seconds off my prediction! Not terrible I suppose.

Shortly after the rest of the gang came through… Claire, Robin, Elyssa, Amy and Maura. The big winner was Robin, who was only 13 seconds off her predicted time! I came in 2nd Place (Amy in 3rd), earning me 2 of Joe’s coveted Citron Hefeweizen! Sweet, a Beer prize! (review of his brew to come later)

Thanks to Joe for his excellent design of the Prediction Race!

Don’t forget runners, on February 4th is E’s Run to City Bakery followed by the New York Hot Dog Challenge on February 11th.

 

RACE REPORT: 070 Ted Corbitt 15K – 59:26

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How do you prepare for a 15K? Do you ever have those races where you know your plans the night before will be consequential to your performance? Me too. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

Friday night before the Ted Corbitt 15K was a blast. I left work to meet up with Abbe and her best friends Drew and Danielle at Tortilla Flats down in the West Village. SIDENOTE: Danielle and Drew were visiting from out of town, so racing took a back seat while eating and drinking the front.

Arriving at Tortilla Flats for guactails I was presented a celebratory shot of tequila. I had just heard about the Kompetitive Edge sponsorship and was beyond excited. From there (after a handful of margaritas) we went to Empillon, a fantastic new mexican restaurant. I proceeded to drink margaritas, but this time washed them down with spicy fish tacos. Very logical before a 15K, I know but… celebrate we must!

RACE DAY

I was up at 6:30AM (start was at 8AM) and fueling up with some Cafe Bustelo. My stomach was totally wonky and I had no desire to eat breakfast, other than being a bit ‘cloudy’ I felt okay to race.

On the way to Central Park I thought it wise to stop and grab a banana from a bodega even if I didn’t feel hungry. Looking back, I’m very glad I opted to eat something.

Up in my corral I quietly waited for the gun. Somehow I was toeing the start mat, which I didn’t plan on as there are loads of faster guys that will be passing me by. It was brisk out, maybe 35 degrees and sunny.

As the gun went off we all set off at a pretty manageable pace, a 15K pace I suppose you might say. I was not wearing a watch. My legs felt good, but not as good as when I did my speed workout 2 days earlier. Smooth move Baker.

The course was 2 loops of the Park, the 4 Mile followed by the 5 Mile extension. I hit Miles 1 and 2 at a 6:10 pace and knew I couldn’t hold it. This was my last race in the 9+1 series so I really just had to get it done so my stress levels were low. Coming up the East Side of the course at Mile 3 I saw my friend Alex (who was volunteering as Course Marshall). Other than Alex, I saw no other Runner Army personal which I found strange. The Park seemed lonely for the first time in a long while.

The second loop was less than stellar because I started burping up acid from the spicy food and margaritas. My chest was burning something fierce and I thought about quitting. Actually, I’m pretty sure I think about quitting during every race. I have never quit a race, and I wasn’t about to start. I thought about all the races I have completed where conditions were much worse or simply a greater challenge like a marathon and tried to dumb down this race mentally. Then, I started up with one of my mantras, ‘There is no pain, only glory’ which is kinda funny in a Braveheart meets 300 kinda way but it works.

I was pushing 6:30s the last few miles and fading pretty fast. My 15K PR was 59:23, but really I would be happy to finish under an hour. Making some calculations off the course clocks things looked good. As I was coming up to the finish (a straightaway followed by a left turn and another 20 meters) I saw the clock hit 59:00. I had 23 seconds to PR!

Moments like these are wild, because time actually seems to slow down, yet that clock keeps on ticking away.

Sex/
Age		 Bib Overall Place Age
Place		 Finish
Time		 Pace/
Mile		 AG %
M33 128 73 17 59:26 6:24 69.6%

I missed the PR by 3 seconds, but had finished under an hour. I was happy.