New York City has many secrets in it’s many corners, come tucked away deeper than others. Sometimes you can accidentally stumble upon a hidden secret and not know it. Other times, like as I was walking home from ice skating, you can be drawn from the silence into something amazing.
Category Archives: Running
History with Baker: Vol. 1
I love history, especially New York City history. I have studied it for 15 years, have countless books and vintage maps and should probably find a new hobby.
In today’s episode we are going to talk about The Central Park and running. (Did you know there is supposed to be a THE in front of it?)
The Central Park is a man made park designed by Olmstead and Vaux (who won a design competition) and opened in 1857. I often take the ‘man made’ part to heart especially when walking through places like The Mall with it’s giant American Oaks. Imagine it in 1857 when they were just saplings…
Not all of Central Park is man made. The part of the park I wish to discuss today is one very familiar with runners and cyclists. Today we call it Harlem Hill and (going clockwise) it starts with a downhill switchback. As it levels out it takes a westward turn and begins its uphill course. It’s a very challenging part of the Park’s oval course and is avoided by taking a sharp left at the 102 Transverse. That particular location is going to be our point of interest for today’s episode.
The downhill switchback that begins Harlem Hill is not man made and actually dates back to colonial times, 1756 to be precise. It’s true name is ‘McGowan’s Pass’ named after a family that lived there at the time. They owned a tavern called The Black Horse located just before the 102 Transverse on the left. On the right just past 102, where Central Park Conservancy does composting, is where their house stood. Pretty amazing.
During the Revolutionary War the area was used by troops as it was a high-ground position. In fact, George Washington (the man himself) most likely used McGowan’s Pass to enter the city. Think of that the next time you take a jog down Harlem Hill!
After the Revolutionary War a few forts were built n the area. Fort Clinton, Fort Fish and Nutter’s Battery kind of lined the north part of the Pass from East to West. The next time you run in the winter months, look up on top of the highest point when you start to ascend the west side of Harlem Hill. You will see Blockhouse No. 1, also built at that time!
The McGowan family, prominent in politics, kind of vanish from history in the late 1800’s. Their property was sold (for $6000!) and the St. Vincents Academy took over. It was a school and later a restaurant and tavern! The Park Commission finally closed it in 1915.
I find this so amazing. Could you imagine the old McGowan Family sitting on their front porch watching people running a in a local 10K? I kind of wish the McGowan Pass Tavern, or the Black Horse were still around so I could have a cold beer right after a run!
So the next time you go for a run around the north part of the Park just think about Revolutionary soldiers camped out or a rustic hotel and tavern sitting on the hill.
This is to the right of the 102 Transverse! 
How many times have you run down that hill (to the right is due north)! 
F%$K THAT, Friday!
I had a revelation the other day while Abbe and I were on a 10 mile run to Cafe Habana for the best Cuban sandwiches in New York City. (They are. Trust me I’ve done a lot of research.)
Did you know Cuban Sandwiches were invented in Tampa, Florida? Basically, they are Tampa Sandwiches, not Cuban Sandwiches! F-THAT.
While we’re at it…
The mighty Italian Sub, a staple of daily life here in NYC was invented in Portland, Maine! “Great Scott!” F-THAT.
Also on a more serious note…
Please stop pushing people onto the subway tracks. F-THAT! (Seriously, to my NYC peeps, be careful out there.)
Zero to 100 MPH
Since Ironman NYC I have been kind of in a perpetual ‘off season.’ I mean, I run and occasionally ride my bike on the trainer, but for the most part I have been on triathlon vacation. I was really enjoying it up until right after Christmas…
Something happened to me a few days ago. I think I was fed up with the month of December being a total schmooze fest, with holiday parties and corporate dinners. Whatever it was I totally set myself on fire 6 days ago.
I started off with a one hour trainer ride from hell, sweating my brains out.
Yoga with Abbe. My first time and it was really great!
Next, I ran 3 miles to my gym, did a hard weight and core workout and ran back 3 miles.
Ice skating? Sure why not. I love ice skating more than life itself after all. 1 hour, check.
A smooth 12 miles at 150 heart rate pace was a nice intro back into distance running.
Tonight? Speedwork of course. Where would we be if we couldn’t complain about speedwork? 4 miles at a 5:50 pace will feel horrible tomorrow, but the beer and guacamole I took down with Abbe, Maura and Kelly made it all the worth while.
Please don’t take this as me trying to brag, I am just really excited because I AM BACK!
Zero to 100 miles per hour in 6 days, wooooooooo!
The 3rd Annual Doughnut Run
How do you end the year? Do you eat doughnuts? Oh, maybe you’re one of those people who like to run?
My crew combines the 2 into one harmonious blend of delicious exercise.
We met on the coldest day of the year thus far, it was a balmy 15 with wind chill. Abbe and I were the first to arrive and I suggested we huddle up next to the subway kiosk to gain shelter from the north wind. One by one our Runner Army friends arrived with cheer! The talk amongst the ranks was to avoid going over any bridges, and Brooklyn all together, and just run to the Doughnut Plant to eat. All eyes looked to Elyssa (this was her baby after all) and she said we would just run 4-5 miles around the west side, aiming for the Doughnut Plant.
Taking off due West, we encountered wind from every angle. As Neal said, “It’s the first mile that’s the hardest, as you need to warm up.” Heading north up the West Side path, the entire thing was a sheet of ice. None of us wanted to end our season before it began, so we bee-lined it east off the ice.
We eventually cut across Bleecker, down to Grand and finally to our fabulous finish at the Doughnut Plant.
I chose the Vanilla Bean Glazed which was awesome. We took over the space and had a great time before we all parted ways.
Congrats to a great 2012 everyone!
RACE REPORT: 086 Ted Corbitt Classic 15K – 58:59
I love a good 15K mainly because its such a freakish distance! I think I have run 3 in the last 4 years or something. They teeter right on the edge of, “Should I train for this” and “It’s only 5 more K than a 10K, I’ll just wing it.”
In order to prepare for the run, I went to watch the Brooklyn Nets play the Pistons the night before in the new Barclay’s Center. Todd, Frank, Cottom and I met up at Smoke Shop (no, it is not a weed store) for some BBQ and beers. The place rocks if you are into ribs.
We easily entered Barclay’s at 7:30 and made our way to our seats. Let’s take a moment to discus Jay’s (Z) new stadium. Jay, hats off! What a fine piece of design it is, with a street level entrance right into the heart of the arena. No climbing stairs for an hour like The Garden. They also have local food vendors like Fatty Cue, Habana Outpost, and Brooklyn Burger! I love this concept.
Why do people in Brooklyn seem more friendly than in Manhattan?
Since this is a race report I wont dwell too much more on the game, but know this… BK Nets won by 2 in double overtime at the buzzer!
So of course we had to celebrate.
RACE DAY
I woke up after my 5 hours of beer fueled sleep feeling pretty beat up. Normally, I can rally but I think I may have caught this flu that’s popping around since I had a sore throat.
I geared up, didn’t eat anything, and jogged off to the Start. Blue Corral was already mobbed, so I just walked in and decided to hang in the back of it, especially since I wasn’t feeling too peppy.
Where the front of the Red Corral met the back of the Blue is where I bumped into Kelly! Hi Kelly. We hung out for a bit goofin’ off before we had to get serious. We also saw Dani off to our left who gave a wave!
The gun went off and I started running, but not too fast as I was behind a large group of speedsters. As we rounded the corner and headed into Cat Hill I flanked the pack on the right and started progressing forward through them. I thought I was going to take it easy but my competitive side always gets the best of me. I wasn’t wearing my Garmin (my new thing and I love doing it) so I was just running by feel. I kinda felt like quitting. In fact, the first 5 miles of the race I thought of ways to quit. My chest hurt and I was so very tired, but I had committed to a race…
I was slamming down water at every aid station. I normally never do this but I was quite parched. Maybe it was the salty barbeque I ate the night before or the 5 million beers or I was getting the flu? Who knows? I don’t, I’m no doctor!
Run, run, run, all I do is run.
By mile 4 we were in race formation, single file and were maybe cooking at a 6:30 pace. I would go on to play leap frog with a few tall fellows. The irony of it, was that I would overtake them on the downhills. You would think that with a larger gait and more body mass they would pick up speed? Maybe they were afraid of tumbling? I also saw Abbe (on her run) who yelled out to me!
As I passed Mile 6 I had entered the point of no ‘giving up’ as this is right by my apartment at Engineer’s Gate. My original plan was to just run off the course instead of doing 2 loops and go home and go to sleep. I must have missed my exit.
Coming down the west side of the Park I actually started to feel good. My pace was steady and my form was doing fine, I wasn’t smashing my legs down or anything like that. As a I turned in to finish I had this feeling of ‘maybe I should do a few more miles’! Then, I thought about sleeping and how wonderful that would be.
I ended up finishing in 58:59, a 24 second PR!
| Sex/ Age |
Bib | Overall Place | Age Place |
Finish Time |
Pace/ Mile |
AG % |
| M34 | 125 | 65 | 22 | 58:59 | 6:20 | 70.4% |
For the rest of the weekend I slept a lot and ended up wiping that wicked bug out of me. Maybe that ol’ 15K even helped!
QUARANTINE!
Free Yourself from the Numbers
With each passing day I gain the new friendship of a runner or triathlete. Since my first race, the NYC Mary in 2008, my life has taken quite a turn and I love it. I honestly don’t know what I did with my time before training for Ironmans and Marathons?
Look! I used to run in PANTS!
As my athletic endeavors became more challenging I found myself absorbed in the science behind it all. I hired a fantastic coach, learned about nutrition, heart rate, cadence, pace strategy and aerobic thresholds. This helped me tremendously! I saw improvements in my times and felt great about my training regimen. I had a sort of revelation the other day though, watching my twitter feed and everyone talking about their runs, bikes or swims and the mileage and pace associated with each one. (Funny how all my friends now are athletes says the kid who went to art school.) I got kind of turned off by the whole thing, the science of it all. Even I was guilty of over analyzing my training.
I had forgotten that at it’s core, the reason I run, or racing in triathlons, is that it’s fun. No matter what pace you hit, how even your heart rate was, or how many miles you put in, at the end you still feel great and probably really enjoyed yourself. You just forgot because you were too focused on numbers.
I set out to do a little test 2 weeks ago during the Grete’s Great Gallop Half Marathon. I was going to run naked (without my precious Garmin) and prove that it doesn’t matter. I raced my heart out and came within 5 seconds of a PR I set in 2010! I wasn’t looking at my wrist every 30 seconds, I was focused on how I felt and how fast my legs were turning over. It was very ‘freeing,’ similar to turning off your cell phone during a vacation.
The New York City Marathon is in 2 weeks and I am running that bad boy Garminless. I invite anyone interested to try it! Obviously first time marathon runners or people out to BQ might not apply, but everyone else, what have you got to lose? Who’s with me?!
Anyone want to make any Garminless predictions for my time? My course PR for New York is 3:00:48.
RACE REPORT: 085 Grete’s Gallop 1/2 Mary – 1:20:53
The mighty Grete Waitz (for those of you that don’t know) was a rock star of a woman, winning the NYC Mary 9 times. Whaaaaa?! She is also from Norway and based on a recent DNA test I found out I am primarily Norwegian. Perhaps a distant relative? One could only wish for a relative like her. I digress… this Half Mary is in her honor and takes place in The Central Park.
Since completing Ironman in August a huge weight was lifted in my training both physically and mentally. My ‘A’ races (Boston as well) for the season are over. I’m racing NYC Marathon, but I always do that simply because it’s so much fun! Therefore, I’m not stressin’.
That brings us up to speed on our discussion on Grete’s Gallop. To race, or just run, THAT is the question. Abbe told me to race it and seeing how the Mary is 3 weeks out thats more than enough time to recover for it. Also, I secretly can never just ‘run’ a race no matter what I tell myself beforehand.
Now I was nervous. I started thinking about my latest Marathon PR and how I achieved it. Perhaps I could use that same strategy? This strategy (used in the Kentucky Derby Marathon) was simply to throw all pacing rules out the window and run as fast as I could the whole time.
The day before the race was actually quite relaxing. Abbe and I went to the Met (I now live a stones throw from it) and checked out the Warhol exhibit. We hit the Member’s Lounge for a few drinks and then headed back to the apartment for a nice home cooked race meal. In bed by 11! “Baker, good god man why so late?” The race started at 10:30, who ever heard of that?
RACE DAY
I had a strange dream about my father during the night that was really vivid. He ‘visited me’ and brought me a keepsake. It kind of affected m a lot and I decided to hone in on it while racing.
Had some coffee and really just counted down the hours until I had to leave! Abbe left earlier as she was volunteering. You can read all about her wild experience here.
A quick 10 minute jog got me over to the Start Corrals. I saw Erica Sara finishing up her 20 miler and ran with her for a hot second.
Up in my corral I didn’t see (for the first time in awhile) any of my Blue Corral buds. I later found out Antonio was hiding in it somewhere.
The usual suspects spoke… National Anthem… race route instructions… THE GUN.
I never know how a race is going to go until I start running (or swimming if we are referring to a Tri.) Immediately I felt as if I ran hard the day before. My legs, although moving at a good pace now, felt exhausted.
We hit Mile 1 at 5:45. What did I tell you my plan was? That’s right, run hellfire speed the whole time and I seemed to be holding up to it. In my mind thought I was like, “Man, this hurts bad. Maybe this isn’t such a great idea. Remember that easy long run we did last weekend at a 7 minute pace, let’s do that!”
Unfortunately, my legs didn’t listen. They can be stubborn. I was already tired by the time we hit Tavern on the Green (the Finish) and was like, “OH, now we have only 2 laps to do.” I kinda wanted to come up with a reason to DNF since my heart was on fire and I was super hot, and yet, I just kept running.
Oh, I forgot to tell you. I intentionally did not wear a Garmin. I wanted to try and get in tune with my heart and not just numbers.
I saw my friend Elizabeth at Mile 4ish who’s cheering gave me a boost.
By the time Harlem Hill was approaching we had formed a single line of runners, spaced out 10 meters each. A few of us started leapfrogging, but we were all holding the same pace so no one gained. It was at this point I started running ‘boy, girl, boy (me), girl’ with a few legit competitors. We would run the entire rest of the race together! That’s 9 miles of us all in formation, each of us taking turns leading.
Harlem Hill kicked my ass. Oh, and we had to run it one more time, awesome!
Climbing the east side of it I saw Jim from ‘Dad Posse’ who gave me a good cheer!
As our line barreled down the East Side we played the tangents. Well, we played them until I saw Course Marshall Abbe at which point I veered over to give her a high five. I tried to think of something more entertaining to do, like tackle her into the bushes, but I was exhausted.
Then, we saw Ed from ‘Dad Posse’ who gave me a cheer. I wondered if they both knew each other were in the Park running?
After we crossed the Start area I switched on some much needed music. Based on my calculations we were running right around a 6 minute pace. I was happy with this but knew we would slow down, this being the half way point in the race.
Right around Mile 8 or 9 I noticed that I felt pretty good! So weird. I was still tired, but I was running happy and knew I would finish.
I saw Sebastien cheering on the sidelines who gave me a boost.
Our pace team, led by a tall brunette with a grey sports bra, a CPTC guy, me, and a brunette in a pink hat and shades, were now attacking Harlem Hill for the second time. We hit it pretty hard and showed no mercy. I was happy to hit the apex. (ohhh good word.) Barreling down the descent I saw Josh on my left cheering us on. I yelled, “Josh baby, what’s popping?!” I seemed to be in a cheerful mood, maybe because I had 3 miles to go.
By now we had started lapping other runners and it was no longer possible to hit the tangents, having to run wide left. We would no longer be able to get to the aid stations unless willing to risk serious time loss.
Passing Abbe again I gave her yet another high five. Then I saw Sebastien again (who had crossed the Park). I love seeing all the Runner Army out there support each other. Times like this make me happy to be a part of the local running community.
I hit Mile 11 at roughly 1:06 and change. I tacked 14 conservative minutes onto that and calculated that, yes, I might PR. I ‘thought’ my PR was 1:20:21, so that was the time I aimed for.
It got real crowded the last 2 miles and I was just trying to make it around the other runners without slamming into them. I was really excited to PR and was trying to keep pace up.
As the last mile hit I came upon and Urban Athletics runner going my pace. “Hey Chris!” he said. I evidently knew this person but had a hard time putting a face to a name until someone yelled out, “Go KB!” Beganics, of course! We chatted briefly before reeling in the last 400 Meters. The clock said 1:20 flat and knowing I could never PR at that rate I didn’t punch it. In reality, my PR was 1:20:48 and I probably should have blasted ahead. Way to do your pre race homework Baker.
Truly exhausted.
I finished in 1:20:53 and you know what, I’m so happy with the time! I raced without a Garmin and was a few seconds from a Half Mary PR, one that I set in 2010 in fact!
| Sex/ Age |
Bib | Overall Place | Age Place |
Finish Time |
Pace/ Mile |
AG % |
| M34 | 132 | 83 | 17 | 1:20:53 | 6:10 | 73.5% |
I have no idea what I was doing at the end… waving at the crowd?
RACE REPORT: 084 5th Avenue Mile – 4:57
1 Mile, from 80th Street to 60th Street, down 5th Avenue. No turns, just a straight shot of blistering speed right to the lungs. It hurts but is over just as fast as it began.
This was my 3rd time running it and I was a bit nervous. I was chatting to some of my runner friends about this last night. I wasn’t nervous about finishing the race, or running it close to what I might be capable of. What was on my mind, and many others, was would I be able to beat my previous mile time of 4:59?
After a quick jog over to the Start I left Abbe at her corral (Wave starts based on gender and age) and I ran down to the Finish. (It was only 1 mile away.) I ran into Erica and Lora and we had some quick runner talk before wishing each other well and setting off.
As the Women (aged 19-29) came blasting down I watched for Abbe but lost her in the masses. I did, however, see Robin blazing a path! Nice work.
I found Abbe at the Finish and she had accomplished her goal of breaking 7 minutes with 6:38!
She took my position cheering and I ran up to the Start. (It was only 1 mile away.)
It was quite humid out so I grabbed some water before running into Josh, Elyssa and Bojana. We high fived, of course. Josh and I left the gals to their corrals we did some sprints while chatting. We took our place behind the gals as soon as they set off.
Josh and I were probably 50 people back from the Start mats. As the gun went off I counted down how long I had to cross the mat (to subtract it from my clock finish) but I was so amped I kept counting while running and messed up the plan.
I cut hard left and took off, passing a large chunk of the masses. The corrals are not based on speed so it’s always a mixed bag. Moving ahead I passed this guy, then he hung on maintaining pace. Not to judge or tease, because I am happy for anyone who wants to exercise, but home slice had on basketball shorts and may have been wearing high tops. He inspired me to speed up because his foot falls sounded like he was trying to break the concrete. It was like a ‘foot belly flop’ every time he hit the ground. Quite annoying, so I sped up.
The uphill at the halfway point definitely took some spunk out of my game. I tried to just maintain whatever pace I had, which I was unsure of since I wasn’t wearing a watch.
At the crest of the hill I tried getting my heart rate to cool it. I think it worked as I blasted down the decline with ease. It was here that I heard my name being cheered on a few times! Turns out it was my friend Robert. Thanks for the pics man!
As I approached the final 3/4’s of the mile I felt great and got fired up. I also saw Abbe, Elyssa, Erica and Lora off to the side screaming my name which helped tremendously. Just like previous times, even though you can see the Finish and it seems like you’re cruising, it takes an eternity to reach it. All the while watching the clock tick off those precious seconds… 4:50, 4:51, 4:52.
I crossed the Finish at 5:02 but knew I had some sort of buffer based on my start. Later that day when the times were posted I learned that I had a 2 second PR with a time of 4:57!
| Sex/ Age |
Bib | Overall Place | Age Place |
Finish Time |
Pace/ Mile |
AG % |
| M34 | 369 | 117 | 27 | 4:57 | 4:57 | 76.3% |
So now next year will be extra stressful trying to top that. It’s funny how just one second can be such a big deal in a small race like this.
Congrats goes out to all my friends who ran today! It was pretty glorious for everyone. Oh and double ups to the winner, Matt, who beat out Bernard by .2 seconds with a 03:52.4. That, is fast.
Post race lunch with a friend.
RACE REPORT: 082 Percy Sutton 5k – 18:03
I love 5K’s. Straight up pedal to the metal maximum overdrive with a smile. A breakfast full of pain that ends as quickly as it started.
The Percy Sutton 5K is one of maybe two NYRR races of this distance and just as I predicted, all the speedsters came to play.
Kelly met Abbe and I in front of my apartment (we no longer live next door so she had to hoof it up the 10 blocks) and we set off to the start. It was a 3.5 mile warm up that I definitely wanted. Running a 5K without a warm up isn’t smart. Imagine starting up your car and immediately slamming down the gas pedal.
We had a lovely run through Harlem and up to the start of the race. I saw Antonio and Sebastien before getting corralled up. Speaking of corrals, Abbe got to be in Blue with me for the first time ever! Hey there speedster, nice to meet ya! After a few words from Mary and a very cool trumpet performance of the National Anthem we were off.
It took me 14 seconds to get to the Start mat and begin.
I would like to take this moment to go on a rant. I noticed that there were a lot of people sneaking into the Blue Corral. Not just people in Red from the next fastest corral right behind us, but people who were in Orange and Yellow too. This defeats the whole purpose of having a corral system. If you think you deserve to be in a faster corral, then earn it like the rest of us.
As soon as I was in the mix that little button in my mind ‘clicked on’ and I was on the hunt. Originally, I was just going to get it done and run a nice manageable pace. Maybe next time. I was bobbing and weaving through all of the runners trying to get up to maximum speed. By the first 1/2 of a mile I had broken free and was in a group where we were running roughly the she pace.
Just after this point we starting going up a huge hill! I had thought this was a mostly flat course but was totally wrong! We were running up into the Heights! It hurt bad but I held my pace and made it up to the top of the long ascent.
Right past the first mile I started picking it up a little more. As I was passing some people I saw this guy with his shirt draped over his back with an ORANGE BIB! How did he get so far up? Oh I know, he snuck into the very front of the Blue Corral. As I passed him he hung onto my pace and followed me. Then, as we were taking a sharp left he came around to my right and tried to box me out! My adrenaline spiked and I broke hard right knocking past him with my shoulder and firing my afterburners, leaving him behind. Peace out cheater.
Fun fact: The only sport I ever played growing up was Ice Hockey.
We were now in the Heights running along the top of the park. My legs were tired but actually felt pretty good. I pressed forward.
Past Mile 2 we started heading downhill. You can really wipe out going downhill at 5K speed so I tried to maintain some control and not over do it.
We broke hard left again and were in the finishing straight away. I made a few more passes but was fading out. At the last 100 meters this guy came barreling past me like a bat out of hell! Props to you speedy stranger!
| Sex/ Age |
Bib | Overall Place | Age Place |
Finish Time |
Pace/ Mile |
AG % |
| M34 | 133 | 109 | 23 | 18:03 | 5:50 | 72.7% |
I finished in 18:03. Not a PR, but it did knock my NYRR ‘on file’ pace from a 5:52 to a 5:50.
After I dumped some water on my head and slammed 2 cups I found Sebastien and we chatted for a bit. I also saw Antonio and got to meet David. They all had fantastic races.
This moment right here is what I love most about the local racing scene. Hanging out with friends, chatting about our times, having a few laughs. There really isn’t a feeling of competitiveness at all. Each of us complimenting us on one anothers different strengths, whether it be speed or distance.
I found Abbe, Kelly and Amanda after the race. We headed back to my place for eggs, bacon and coffee! Woooo. All before 9:30AM.