Category Archives: Training: Running

As Featured on ‘The Runner Diaries’

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I met Erin Kelly last year when I coached her through her first Ironman. We have since become friends and she asked me to participate in her project ‘The Runner Diaries.’

Inspired by Refinery29’s Money Diaries and The Cut’s Sex Diaries, welcome to The Runner Diaries, where we’re sharing a behind-the-scenes look into a week of training with runners of varying ages, paces and GPS coordinates.

This week, we have Christopher Baker of New York’s Upper East Side. Baker is an artist, endurance sport coach, and active member of running and triathlon community The Battalion. Below, he documents his training to achieve an aggressive goal of qualifying for the 2018 Boston Marathon (“BQ-ing”) in the upcoming New Jersey Marathon, and a trip to the northeast to spectate and cheer at the Boston Marathon on Marathon Monday.

Continue on to The Runner Diaries here fir the full story.

Training Weekend: 108.5

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Beyond_Defeat_training_porcupine

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

Beyond_Defeat_training_turkeys

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

Beyond_Defeat_training_ride

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

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

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

Beyond_Defeat_training_swim1

We executed a 2.5 mile swim in our wet suits and I feel like I could have kept going. Transformations and ‘body evolution’ are happening. Beyond_Defeat_training_swim2

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

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

Running with my racers

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My weekend plans changed quite a bit. As I sat drinking my coffee I realized that the Knickerbocker 60K was going down and I had some crew racing it. Hmmm… I think I’ll go run and support my peeps!

I ran the 60K in 2009. Here is a funny video of my finish.

As I set off in the opposite direction of all the Knickerbocker folks I flashed back to my race and how fun (and painful it was).

I saw friend Jim first, who seemed to be doing great! Then, I saw Kevin and Michael from Front Runners, looking strong. Next up, Sebastien, who was on a mission flying by. I said to myself, “I bet he is trying to win this thing.”

Cruising across the 103 Trans I saw Paddy coming my way. I flipped around and started running with him. He was on lap 5 of 9 and doing great. We chatted about running and just kinda enjoyed the day. As a runner, and being in Paddy’s shoes a few times, I tried to be the best pace setter a guy could be. First off, I tried to be the one doing most of the talking.  Second, I didn’t do TOO much talking and kept my pace as close to his as possible. I think I did a good job.

After 2 miles I bid him farewell and flipped back around. I saw Robin here and had a brief chat with her before she took off.

I did a full loop of the Park after this and saw Kevin, Michael, Paddy, Sebastien, and Jim a few more times. It was an amazing fall day for a run and I was kinda sad I didn’t sign up to race this one!

This post was really just a lead in for some ‘Big Ups’ and ‘Godspeeds,’ so here we go.

Sebastien! You won the damn thing! Congrats! We first met during the 2009 Knickerbocker  (pic of us hangin after below) and he came in 2nd then!

Paddy! Nice work on the PR brother!

Ed! You have your first marathon to run tomorrow in Philly, kick some ass!

Bethaney! Godspeed in Philly! Lookout for Ed!

Kelly! I sense a PR tomorrow in Philly.

Philly peeps, godspeed. Have a great race! I hear you have to have purple mohawks to get into this thing?!

Ironman Arizona peeps! Jen and Audra, please have mercy on your competitors. You two are a force to be reckoned with. Kill it and represent Kompetitive Edge in style. Arizona was my first Ironman so it has a special place in my heart.

Brooklyn Marathoners! Represent! Cooper Trooper you better own it!

It makes me terribly proud to know so many outstanding athletes.

 

 

 

Fall in New York… Run.

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This weekend (for me) was not the end of Summer, but the start of what looks to be an amazing Fall.

I had a manly steak dinner with my second youngest brother Jeff Friday night at Keen’s Steakhouse, one of the oldest in New York City. In fact, it has Peter Luger’s beat by merely one year. He is getting married this weekend so I was just making sure he didn’t have cold feet. Kidding…

Saturday morning I rode my bike up to 168th and Broadway where I met Josh (aka Speedy Sasquatch) and his crew. He was hosting a 20 mile training run in the Pallisades, the same Pallisades where the Ironman run took place, and needed bike support.  It turns out my friend Allen was biking too so we got to hang out all morning and catch up!

We had a blast riding up and down the Pallisades handing out water to the 15 or so runners. They were a great group and all of them are gong to kill the NYC Mary! Here a few shots of the gang as they ran. Nice to meet all of you!

I was secretly jealous that I wasn’t running.

So, Sunday morning I set out on a long run. My goal was to just maintain a 150 heart rate and see where that leads. It was gorgeous out and I was really having a blast. Around the Park and down the West Side path to the Battery. Even ran (ha!) into my friend Sebastien doing his long run. I haven’t ran further than 14 miles since Ironman in August and the NYC Mary is like 6 weeks away or something so this was a necessary workout. I was so thrilled because I ran 7:30’s flat with a 150 heart rate! I used to be more of an 8:00-7:50 per mile with a 150 heart rate, which means I am improving overall! Thanks Coach, it worked!

I bumped into Erica Sara at the end of my run and had a fun chat before realizing I was late for brunch at the Waldorf!

Booked it home and had 15 minutes to shower and get dressed to make the brunch. Did I pull it off? Hell yes! I even dressed in a suit.

Fall is here and with it, Marathon season!

Back to Bricks

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If you asked Coach, I don’t think she would agree that me surfing out at Rockaway Beach was on the training program. I did bike after that, so I think she was appeased, especially since she had me queued up for a serious brick on Sunday.

My younger brother Jeff, number 2 out of 6 of the famous Baker Tracy Gang of Brothers, had expressed interest in biking out to Jersey so I invited him along.

We set out at 8:30AM under overcast and cool skies. It was actually perfect. The Sunday morning Manhattan streets were very quiet and we easily made our way up to the epic George Washington Bridge. Once over, I had given him 2 options. Option 1 was to ride 9W straight to State Line while option 2 was to (as I call it) take the low road and blast through Pallisades Park. He chose option 2 as it would be more scenic. It was a good call.

Pallisades Park is a fast ride through a tight windy forest. I liken it to the speeder bike chase scene in Return of the Jedi, minus the lasers. I noticed (as we passed this stealthy looking fellow) that he jumped on my brothers tail and started a draft. Jeff and I were already drafting each other. You know why? Because we are brothers and not total strangers looking for a free ride. No biggie though, I figured we’d pull him along for a few minutes. Then, it got a little out of hand. Not that I mind, but we had a long way to go and I didn’t want us to bonk later. I pretended we needed to stop and look at something and he zipped past. He did, however, say thanks as he departed. That’s cool.

We felt the fury of that last super long hill at the end for sure. Anyone who has ridden the course knows exactly what I’m talking about. Slow, burning, pain.

Out on 9W I asked Jeff what he wanted to do. He seemed fine so instead of doubling back we headed toward State Line.

Next, at State Line we had a conference and yes, we were pushing forward again. This time, as we barreled down State Line Hill we had just committed to the full ride. I love State Line Hill as it’s this long slow descent where things can get a bit hairy. We topped out at 40.3 MPH which made me happy because I had promised Jeff some good speedy attacks.

Once we entered the Piermont and Nyack areas we kind of just enjoyed the scenery. I took him to Runsible Spoon because their muffins are not to b missed. I had their Chocolate Chip Banana one on my mind since the start of the ride. We chilled for a hot second enjoying our snack before heading back.

I had told Jeff that the ride home was fast than the way there with just 2 uphills. He would later yell that I was a liar.

If you think riding down State Line Hill is fun, you should try going up it. They don’t make a gear small enough. This is where all my Colorado friends are shaking their heads going, “Wuss. You have no idea what a hill is.” Indeed! But you, my friends have no idea what pizza is. Or bagels.

Jeff’s chain started popping off as he hit his low gears (note the grease on his face). It looked more like we had been mountain bike riding through some bogs.

We made it back safe and sound. We had traveled 53 miles in 3:15:00 which I think is impressive since he had never done the ride.

We parted ways and I jumped into my running shoes for 30 minutes of pain. Actually, I felt really good running after the bike. I even got yelled at by Coach for running too fast. Who knew?

After a shower I ate like a maniac then met back up with Jeff and his fiance Allison to have some dinner in drinks in remembrance of our father. It was a pretty solid weekend.

Oh, and thanks Kompetitive Edge, my new helmet is here!

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.

 

Wanna go for a run and get free stuff too?

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Anyone want to join us for a run on Tuesday in Central Park?

Join me, Erica, Abbe and Zeev from Zensah for a lovely few miles in Central Park on Tuesday, April 24th. We’ll be meeting at the Jack Rabbit Upper West Side store at 7pm and then heading out shortly after. Jack Rabbit has graciously offered us the use of lockers so if you are coming straight from work, just head downstairs and drop off your stuff before the run.

The first 10 folks to show up will get a free pair of Zensah compression sleeves! And every person to show will be entered into a raffle for a custom engraved Erica Sara Designs race necklace.

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.

 

Spring-a-ling

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Being a February baby, I tend to really dig winter. Snow, ice skating, and not sweating on the way to work. However, I am also an endurance athlete so I have really enjoyed the non-winter aspects of this particular winter.

Saturday I had a 3 hour trainer ride queued up, because my coach thinks it’s winter here. But guess what? The gods have been smiling down on us as of late and it was 55 degrees! You better believe I rode outside!

I blasted around Central Park and on down into the Financial District. On my way back up, zig-zagging across town and back again, making sure all my favorite places were in tact, I decided to eat some pizza. Not just any pizza, I wanted some of the best pizza NYC has to offer. I have been here 12 years and have a very specific opinion on everything, especially food related topics.

SIDENOTE: Back in the day… we used to go to Doc Holiday’s Bar every Tuesday night for ‘all u can drink beer’ for $5! Cheapest night in ol Manhattan hands down. For dinner we would go to Nino’s Pizza beforehand on Avenue A and 8th Street. Its some of the best pizza in New York and you can argue all you want with me, this is truth.

The cool thing about Nino’s Pizza and bikes is that they have a take out window! I rode right up – Drive Thru Style – to order my pizza. This older guy greets me with a smile and a “My friend! Where have you been!” It was the same guy that used to serve me my pizza years ago. I explained that drinking my face off on Tuesday’s nights doesn’t fly these days for me.We chatted while I ate my slice then I went on my merry way.

I decided to digest before continuing my ride, so I walked up to 14th. Another cool thing happened as I was walking. I had my track bike with me instead of my Tri bike as the workout didnt call for shifting of gears or brakes. Crossing the street this messenger kid with his track bike looked at me, then down at my bike. He then said, “Hey, that is a beautiful bike!” I smiled and thanked him.

The end of my day was spent walking around my new neighborhood (I’m moving in a month or two, but it’s still the same general area) with a bowl of ice cream. I strategically stayed on the sun lit sides of the street, basking in my sunny ice cream glory.

Go Saturday!

Sunday was spent doing a progression (long) run. “Oh what’s that? It sounds fun!” It’s not. It’s pain in long increasing doses.

I warmed up then started my run maintaining 7:30s. It was a beautiful day in Central Park once again. Next, 45 minutes later, I picked it up to 6:45s. Oh, now we’re having fun. Then, another 45 minutes later I picked it up again to 6:15s for 15 minutes. Get it? Progression. Yes, pain progression.

All kidding aside, I loved this workout. Boston is coming up fast and I need to be ready.

Ah New York, such a great city. I also found out today that my screen printing teacher from art college (who was awesome) is a runner and is friends with some of the Runner Army! Small world right?!

 

 

 

 

 

From Beer to City Bakery to Breakage

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I happen to win a few bottles of the Cardiac Crusher Brewery’s Citron Hefeweizen a few weeks ago and told Joe I would give it a proper critique.

After one of my longer runs last week I sat down to enjoy one of them. To me, one of the most enjoyable things after a hard sweaty run is an ice cold beer. Such a reward. The Citron poured with a sweet aroma, similar to that of a root beer, with a reddish brown hue. It looked delicious. It certainly tasted delicious too! I was expecting a lighter hefeweizen, similar to a Hoegaarden, but it was richer in flavor. It reminded me of my favorite beer, Schneider Weisse! I would definitely drink this again and even purchase it in large quantities! Hats off to the Cardiac Crusher Brewery.

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I’m happy to say the New York Rogue Runners ‘E’s Run to City Bakery’ was a success. We had 15-20 runners assemble in Central Park and make our way down to City Bakery by way of the West Side path. It was great company and a lot of fun! (Banana Hot Chocolate? Insane delicious!) This weekend is the New York Hot Dog Challenge which I am thrilled about. If you don’t want to take the challenge, come out and spectate.

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Training has been back in full swing the ;art month and Sonja has me amping up my workouts. Little did I know that the day after Superbowl Sunday she would throw a crazy speed workout at me! (She never gives me speed workouts, what gives?)

I had to do 5×1200’s on the track at a 5:50 – 6:10 pace with a short 1/4 mile break between. I knew I was in for a hurting.

As I started the first interval I felt fast, but internally my body was like “Whaaaaaaaaat?” I thought I might just do one interval and call it quits, blaming poor eating the night before.

Then, as I finished I did my lil 1/4 Mile jog and thought, “Okay, one more.” After the second I said the same thing and it kind of went like that until I just finished up the intervals. I felt like I was dramatically slowing down each time, but I actually held the pace I was scheduled for. Sweet.
Here are my splits. You can see me starting to fade.

Lap 1 = Time 4:16 Pace 5:45
Lap 2 = Time 4:22 Pace 5:44
Lap 3 = Time 4:24 Pace 5:57
Lap 4 = Time 4:26 Pace 6:00
Lap 5 = Time 4:30 Pace 6:06

When I was done I was really happy I didn’t give up on myself. I was also not attacked my werewolves. It was a full moon and quite desolate out there by NYC standards and I kept thinking I would be attacked by were wolves right as I was getting tired and couldn’t escape.