Category Archives: Training: Running

How I became a Runner.

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Due to some documents that have recently been revealed, it seems that my claim of only being a runner for the last 3 years to be false. The following transcript was published in 1988, when I was only 11 and paints a dramatic account of my running abilities.

 

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Hi, my name is Chris and I am the world’s fastest runner. I can run up to light speed! Not only can I run up to light speed, but I can fire lightening bolts out of my fists! Let’s go back to 1982. It was a Saturday night and I was going to sleep. Then, I heard someone calling my name and I ran over to see who or what he wanted. “Hi, there” he said. “What do you want?” “Nothing, I just want to give you something” “What?” “Super Powers!” “Wow” “You will be able to stop robbers and burglars.” I woke up, it was a dream. Woooshh! “Wow! I can get out of bed super fast! That dream must have been real!” And so that’s how I got my super powers.

Bye. Wooooooosssssshhhhhh!

 

I was probably looking like this when I wrote that and no, Adidas wasn’t sponsoring me yet.

Bridges Run with Baker’s Mom!

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Soon after my Mom and I ran the Disney Half Mary together she started see all the comments and reading other people’s running blogs. She was really inspired and told me how great this ‘Runner Army’ was.

When she told me that my Step-Dad and her were visiting she made a few requests, one of them was to meet a lot of these famous runners!

Friday night she met my friend Elizabeth or Ms. Ritz at my brother Jeff’s engagement party. She was thrilled and Eliz gave her so many great stories.

On Sunday, I had a planned run for us.

There are Beer Runs, Doughnut Runs, and Bridges Runs… throw my Mom into the mix and you get Bridges Run with Baker’s Mom! This was a 3 Mile route (planned by Maria, thanks again!) starting at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, going into Brooklyn then back into Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge and ending at Doughnut Plant! Awesome.

On a sunny and beautiful Easter Sunday, we started at 10AM and blasted up the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a light crowd seeing as how this weekend was Easter and Passover but we still had Abbe, Maria, Joe, my Mom and me! It’s a pretty dramatic ascent and I think my Mom started a bit too quick, there are no hills in Florida remember. Once we hit the apex our pace smoothed out.

My step-dad Richard was right past the first tower and took some great shots of us!

We played ‘Running Leapfrog’ (as I have dubbed it) the whole time. Meaning, we were all bouncing around talking to different people in our group. My Mom had a real fun time talking to Joe, Maria and Abbe.

Once we arrived in Brooklyn we pit stopped in the park for a photo op.

It was very hot and humid and the sun was really starting to cook us. Big high fives to Maria and Joe who were in the middle of long runs. Maria, who was finishing her’s with the Bridges Run, was 7 Miles deep when she met us. Joe was about the same, but he had 7 MORE to go after we were done the Bridges Run.

We set off and began our ascent of teh Manhattan Bridge which is a bit more gradual then the Brookyln but as my Mom said, “It never ends!” The Manhattan is also more noisy as the Subway runs right next to the pedestrian path. This is my favorite bridge to cross for that reason (it feels more urban and edgy) and there are 90% less people on this walkway.

We finished the 3 Mile run at the base of the bridge and quickly made our way towards the Doughnut Plant for nourishment. My Mom was checking out her run data on her newly acquired (and first running watch) Garmin 405CX. I needed a new Garmin and so not knowing what to do with my old one I figured she could use it. At Doughnut Plant we met up with step-dad Richard, my brother Jeff, and his fiance Allison.

Before feasting we said goodbye to Joe who had to continue on his run. He escorted us to NYC’s #1 doughnut spot only to turn around and keep running without enjoying a doughnut! High fives to Joe for ‘taking one for the team’ and showing some serious willpower. Everyone else had a delicious treat and water or coffee. It was amazing as usual! My Mom got a cinnamon bun as big as her head.

I’m really glad we lucked out with perfect weather to introduce my Mom to some New York City running!

 

 

 

 

Bike. Swim. Cheer. Run.

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55 degrees and sunny both Saturday and Sunday? I’ll take it, and you better believe everyone else in NYC will too!

Coach had me queued up for a 2 hour trainer ride, but after running an errand outside I was like, “Stay inside and ride? No way, I’m terrorizing the town on my bike!” and with that I was off.

I chose to ride my track bike as I figured that would simulate the trainer best as I can’t coast. I also have no brakes, and since you never brake on a trainer ride that seemed logical too.

Any time I take a ride in the streets and avoid Central Park (especially since al the police have been ticketing bikers as of late) I like to say that I am ‘Saying hello to all the neighborhoods’ and seeing what’s going on in each one. The Garmin map below shows where I visited.

Pizza is a common theme for this post and halfway through my ride I popped over to Nino’s drive by window for a slice.

SIDENOTE: I have very strong opinions on the best food in NYC. Nino’s happens to be one of top 3 pizza joints.

Later that day I had swim instruction. We went over my form and worked on some drills that will improve my speed over time. Very exciting stuff!

Saturday night? Yeah I was tired.

I was really looking forward to Sunday. Maura, Bryan, Matt6 and I were to cheer on Maura H., Erica Sara and Steph (long with countless other women) in the More Fitness Half Marathon for Women.

I was supposed to wake up at 7AM but instead woke up at 6AM because my ‘smart’ alarm clock from 1998 still thought ‘Spring Forward’ was April 2nd. Save the Robots? Maybe.

Arriving just after the start, Matt, Bryan and I… ‘The High Five Station’ were on fire. We were obnoxiously loud with Thunder Stix, Cowbells and a sign made by Bryan and Maura. (Maura and Robin K. arrived shortly after, they were getting a run in first… Runnerds!)

There were somewhere around 7,000 runners and probably 1,000 of them high fived Bryan. It was awesome. We saw Maura H., Steph and Erica Sara a couple times before we headed out to get some breakfast, celebrating the gals running achievements. Both Erica Sara and Steph PR’d! Nice work gals, well done!

After the race I was supposed to run a 1:45 minute aerobic threshold run. Arriving home at 1PM I was in some kind of a funk. Maybe it was all the bad walkers cutting me off? Anyway, me being in a funk is a rarity. I pretty much swore the run off.

At 3PM I had the craving for some pizza. I embarked out to my favorite Upper East Side location on 79th and 1st, acquiring a slice of hot cheese pizza. After thoroughly enjoying it I had the secondary craving for Pretzel M&Ms. This may be due to the fact that there is a huge bowl of them on my coffee table. I had 20-30 and they were everything I had dreamed they would be.

Slowly, my attitude was changing. Inside, energy was forming.

30 minutes after my feeding… I was like “Hey, it’s nice out. I haven’t missed a day of Coach’s super charged plan (see image below) so why stop now?!”

It was an amazing run at a 147 HR Average. This means I was running 8 minute miles. On occasion I pushed into the high 7s which is great because it means I’m progressing!

I wanted to kick out some speed a few times as people passed me but I held my ground. Then, I heard these footfalls coming up behind me like a bat outta hell… I was like “Who? What?” As the runner passed they patted my back looked back and gave a shout. It was Antonio, one of my running partners from early on!

Gotta love Central Park… it’s the Runner Army’s backyard.

Appetite for… Progression?

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Over the last week my appetite has become ravenous. I find myself walking to work, drooling at all the cafes, in some sort of glazed over zombie-like shuffle.

“Will I make it to work, where my precious oatmeal lay waiting for me to devour it and live another day?”

“Will I have to throw myself through the door of some unsuspecting cafe and demand eggs, cutting everyone else in line off like a jerk?”

“Perhaps, at my last waning moment I will resort to some crazy cannibalistic behavior and eat my left arm, since I’m a righty?”

These thoughts have been going through my head because for the first time in my life my training program is through the roof and I’m loving every minute of it! Coach S has me really gearing up my volume and relaying all kinds of data to her. Heart rate, cadence, pace, times… it kinda feels like a science project…

This is what happened this week so far, explaining my hunger. I am leaving details out because I don’t want to give away Coach’s planning or secret formulas, but you get the idea.

Monday: AM Run, PM Swim

Tuesday: AM Bike, PM Run

Wednesday: AM Swim

Thursday: PM Bike

Friday: AM Run

I feel really good, especially since this kind of schedule is starting to become a bit more routine for me and falling into place so to speak. I never ran, biked or swam this much EVER. I ran like once a week (if it was sunny) and biked a couple times because I drank to much coffee those days.

Since I enjoy blogs with photos, I have included a few below (however unrelated they are to the above text) to entertain you.

LOOK! I got new goggles! I test them Saturday, look out sharks, I will eat you.

Last weekend Abbe and I went down to DC. This is a shot I took as we made our way to cheer the National Marathon runners. Pretty cool right?

Cherry Blossoms and an Egyptian obelisk.

 

 

 

The MAF Test

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

From Cabo to being Coached

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RETURN TO REALITY…

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

SUPER RETURN TO REALITY…

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

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

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

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

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

So why did I choose her as a coach?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Taste of Spring!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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


(Run like) being chased by Zombies!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE DAY (in my head)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Runnin’ on Ice

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


I still have my trusty hockey skates! Hot!

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