Category Archives: Triathlon

RACE REPORT: 060 Lavaman Triathlon: 1:13:17

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The Lavaman Sprint Triathlon would mark my first triathlon for the 2011 season. I was very excited.

Friday night right after work I met Mike and Ed of the ‘Dad Posse’ by Penn Station and we hopped a train to Little Silver, NJ. We popped a few Coronas and caught up on life.

After a brief stint at Mike’s place in Little Silver we headed south to Belmar. We were meeting Jim (he was driving down with our bikes) at a place called Klein’s Fish Market. Klein’s ‘wowed’ all of us with their dockside seating, fresh fish and beach vibe. Personally, I was having a little slice of heaven, a.k.a…. steamed clams.

SIDENOTE: The waitress was cracking us up. She kept forgetting to bring us things (like forks) and proceeded to drop an entire beer in my lap. As it went down it also took some clam butter with it. We all just laughed and made the best of it. Yes, those jeans are in the laundry now.

We made it to Granny’s house (Jim’s grandma) by 11PM. Her house literally sits right on the bike course, it’ so perfect!

RACE DAY

Waking up at 5:30AM is never easy, especially on a Saturday morning. After a quick cup of Cafe Bustelo, we set out on our bikes to ride the 1/8th of a mile to the start.

After check-in and setting up transition we all walked the beach to get to the swim start which was half a mile from transition. We jumped in the bay with 15 minutes until start. The water was perfect! The 3 of us bobbed around close to the start, but not too close as I couldn’t stand in the deeper water… Ed and Jim have a couple inches of height on me. A fist bump and then the start sounded.

The men start was about 200 people and it was pretty rough swimming. For some reason, I was enjoying it. I was pushing legs out of my face and getting my feet tickled by countless other swimmers.

SIDENOTE: Although it has only been 2 weeks since the Great Hudson River Swim, I felt 1 million times stronger, more confident and happy to be in the water swimming.

I really dug in and was focused on my form, stretching my body’s length and pulling the water. Running out of the bay, I unzipped my suit and was doing a good job of undressing while I ran.  Normally, my wetsuit top gets caught on my head and I’m running like a blind man into things.

I was in 141st place out of the swim.

Jumping onto my bike, my legs were ready to unlock and get some speed going. The first place female (who is the sickest female bike rider I have ever seen) was riding along side of me for a mile or so before she made her assault and disappeared.

The bike course is 3 loops with 180 degree turns at each end so you can see who you are chasing and who is chasing you! I was pushing really hard and passing a lot of people. I think once I hit the second lap my legs were really fired up and cranking. I set my eyes forward and just cranked.

During the bike I got so focused on passing people I realized I wasn’t enjoying the ride, or the scenery. I thought to myself, have fun, relax! You love bike riding, so take it all in, not just the chase! And I did.

As I was finishing up my bike, I saw a few guys starting the run. They easily had 5 minutes and I tried to do the math on what it would take to catch them. “Run like an animal.”

Coming out of transition onto the run course I could feel someone on my ass. I let him pass me but kept him in my sights. My legs were a bit wonky (mostly my quads) and the first mile I chased him and tried to get my legs into run mode. At mile 2 that’s exactly what happened. I felt awesome and had no pain. It was at this point that the guy I was tailing started to slow up and look tired.

I caught him and I guess since I was in a pretty happy mood I yelled “C’mon Penn (he had a Penn Cycling hat on) let’s do this!” I flanked him and he held on to my pace. He told me we ran mile 1 in 5:30 which might have been a bad idea. I assured him it was a great idea and that we only had a few miles to go.

Together, we started passing a lot of runners. At one pint Ed was on the other side of the run course and yelled “Yea Baker! Go!” Penn was like “Are you on some kind of a team?” “No, those are just my buddies. We are out for a fun time.”

We didn’t do too much talking during our attack on the run course, but every once in awhile Penn would tell me were were hitting 6 minute miles, which I was happy about. When Mile 3 approached, I yelled to him, “1 to go, lets see how many more guys we can pick off!” He smiled and looked ahead, saying “We definitely got those 2! Lets go.”

I felt a weird presence during the last 800 meters or so, and then I realized some guy was chasing US down! I yelled to Penn that we need to step it up, we were being tailed. We finished with the guy literally steps behind us, but we held him off! It was also the first time I didn’t have the need to sprint the finish like I normally do. I guess I was just enjoying the company.

Total time: 1:13

Penn came in 19th and I was 20th.

 

Sex/

Age

Age

Place

Overall

Place

 Swim

0.4M

 T1 Bike

12.5M

 T2 Run

4M

 Total

Time
M33 5
20
 12:03 1:18 35:06 0:52 23:56 1:13:17

I immediately went to the water station and slammed a few cups. Penn came over and introduced himself. His name was Eric. He thanked me for helping him out back at Mile 2 when he was fatigued. I in turn, thanked him as he kept my pace up as well.

The first place female was hanging out in the tent too and I gave her a congrats. She crushed it.

I then went over the finish line to cheer and wait for the guys. Jim finished, followed by Ed.

All of us had a really great time out there! What a great start to the season!

Next up is the ‘Run for Bruce’ this Saturday.
—

This year marks the inaugural Memorial run for Bruce Baker. Join us at the starting line at Columbus Circle at 11AM. From there we will zip down the West Side Highway with a final destination of PJ Clarke’s on the Hudson (250 Vesey St, New York, NY, 10281) for food and libation.

RACE REPORT: 053 Tough Mudder

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While on the mighty facebook a few months ago, my friend Ronny from Belgium (who is a 3rd degree Judo wrestler) suggested we race the Tough Mudder in New Jersey that coming November. He sent me a link which displayed a Half Marathon distance obstacle course… fire pits, icy lakes, rope bridges and mud. Yes, yes, yes I will sign up. Within minutes I had Ed and Jim of ‘Dad Pose’ signed up as well. Little did we know…

The morning of the race (I signed us up for a 12:20 wave, thank you!) it was 38 degrees and was to warm up to 55 or so thank god. Ed picked me up at 9:45 and we then scooped up Ronny and Jim before heading out of the Lincoln Tunnel. I’m not gonna lie. I looked for all possibilities to get out of this one. You see, COLD, is my greatest weakness. (note to all opponents) SIDENOTE: Once the NYC Marathon was over I got very nervous. I knew I had this race coming up and I told myself ‘I would rather run another marathon than attempt this mayhem.’ But, we must confront our fears.

The car ride camaraderie was just what I needed. As we entered the park grounds and saw what was taking place we were all instantly excited. We had a full 360 degree view of a lot of the main obstacles and the race was crossing our path at certain points.

Gearing up I had on tri shorts, running shorts, a long sleeve tech top, racing flats, Zensah calf sleeves and bike gloves. We made our way to registration and basically signed our life away.

Waves started at 9AM so we got to see guys coming in from the race who were shivering and covered head to toe in mud.

Please remember how clean and well kept all of us look in this photo.

Lining up at the start, which was a drag race track, we had the sun shining on us but the wind was fierce. It would be our main opponent all day. A few words (including the tough Mudder motto) and we were off as a monster truck led us out.

As a Tough Mudder I pledge that…

* I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.

* I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.

* I do not whine – kids whine.

* I help my fellow Mudders complete the course.

* I overcome all fears.

We ran the length of the track and back which was maybe a mile, then veered off onto obstacle 1 of 18. It was the “Ball Shrinker” which is a rope overhead, rope below walk across a freezing lake. Ronny was in front of me (did I mention Ronny is 6’3″) so my foot rope was unreachable at times, therefore I used my upper body strength to ‘monkey bar’ it across. The water was numbing and our feet burned as we got on dry ground.

Running along the lake I knew it wasn’t long before we had to take a dip in it and really start to feel some pain.

“Walk the Plank” is where you rope walk up a wall then jump off (20 FT) into a freezing lake. I didn’t think it would be too bad, I was wrong.

Jumping off the platform and into the lake was fun, but as I hit the water my body went into shock. My strategy was to use my triathlon skills to freestyle swim across the 50 yards to the other side. After 3 head dips I became delirious from the numbness in my skull and decided I had to keep my head above water. My body was shutting down and for the first time in awhile I was deathly afraid.

Speeding forward I met the “Underwater Tunnels” which was a series of barrels you had to swim under. Once again my brain was frozen, but somehow I made it to the shore.

Running along the bank, we all talked of how our bodies burned due to the cold. THEN, we had to cross the freaking lake again! This time the water seemed warmer? I breast stroked it the whole way and may have set a world record.

Exiting the lake, we had to run maybe a mile until the next obstacle, warming us up I guess. Next, we hit the “Spider Walls” followed by the “Mud Mile.” Did I say mud? From here on out MUD would be the theme of the day.

“Mud Mile” is a series of pools that were waist high sludge mud with hills between. Think chocolate milk meets Jell-o Pudding. On the first hill I tripped and went headfirst into the mud. The guys laughed at me.

We were really having fun now and our spirits soared. The fact that our extremities were numb and burning seemed unimportant.

Next we went onto a dirt bike course which was a muddy series of ups and downs. I really can’t even begin to describe the mud. It was also very challenging to run on. You have to constantly watch how you place your feet so you don’t really twist an ankle. There were always huge holes under the mud where you would sink in, sometimes up to your waist.

Winding around and around, we arrived at “Cliffhanger” which is a huge assent up a 50 ft muddy incline. I didn’t make it on my first try and had to approach from a different angle. Luckily, the name of the game is to help fellow Mudders, so some guys (forming a human chain) grabbed me and pulled me up. SIDENOTE: Don’t wear racing flats in the mud.

Now we had to hit the “Kiss of Mud” which was a barbed wire net you had to crawl under in the mud. It was messy, but hey, it wasn’t even close to as bad as the lake jump so we were smiling.

After a quick 1 mile jog we had to go through the “Boa Constrictor Tunnels” which were 50 feet long, and 2 feet in circumference and covered with rocks and mud. Not fun.

Next we hit the “Berlin Walls” which are series of 3, 10 foot wooden walls. We nailed this. Ronny would jump up and straddle the wall, then I would go and he would pull me up, followed by Jim, then Ed. Military science at its best. Speaking of which, at this point, looking around at everyone scaling walls I couldn’t help but appreciate our U.S. Armed Forces and my friend Cory. I thought to myself “Baker, this is probably the closest you will ever be to the military, enjoy all of it!” And I did.

Another long run and then we arrived at the “Tired Yet” obstacle. A million tires on the ground that you had to run through like a football drill. I was really excited about this because I never played or tried out for football so I wanted to see what I was made of. I did well. Right after was the “Rubber Necking” obstacle. Grab a tire and run it 1/4 mile to the drop point. This was easy.

We were about halfway done the course at this point and frozen to the core, so seeing the burning fire pits ahead excited us. Remember, this whole time we were all running together as a team, that’s what Tough Mudder is all about.

Cruising up on the smoke filled area (patrolled by the local Firemen) we ran through a track laced with burning hay bails. It was really hard to see with the smoke but the heat felt so good!

Next we were back on a dirt bike course weaving along, up and down the muddy hills again. Mud, Mud, Mud, all day. Ed took a really nice digger that would later leave him with ‘Most Muddy Award.’ Really though, I’m so surprised no one twisted and ankle seriously injured themselves! We had to dip under the “Devils Beard” obstacle which was a 50 foot long rope net you had to army crawl under in the cold mud. Awesome.

After running in the mud for 2 more miles we entered the forest. It was very peaceful and for some reason there were less Mudders around. We had to leap over fallen logs (the “Log Bog Jog” obstacle) before running into a mud pit that was crazy hard to get out of! Ronny actually jumped the whole thing which the rest of us hadn’t thought about!

I really thought I wouldn’t have to get into freezing cold water again. Wow. I was wrong. After a 1 mile stint around a lake we approached the “Funky Monkey” – “Twinkle Toes” combo. Alright here it is. Greased monkey bars over a lake that have an incline, apex, then go down to a platform. Next, you walk across a thin beam to the shore. Easy right? How about being covered in mud and totally shivering cold? Exactly.

Going first, I ditched my gloves thinking that would make it easier. I made it 2 freaking rungs before falling in! Lame! I swam to the platform. Then, 2 steps into the beam I fell in! Double Lame AND I was soaked and freezing. The rest of the guys did way better than me, all of them making it across the thin beam.

Finishing that obstacle, I knew the hardest part of the day lay behind us. We had to hit some tunnels again before entering the race track where we started.

The 18th and ‘Secret’ obstacle was a bunch of electrified wires hanging down that you had to run through. Seriously! I got hit once in the right shoulder should sent a shock wave through me, but whatever, I was frozen anyway!

After that there was a half mile jog around the track to the finish! We were so excited!

Probably the hardest part of the whole day was peeling off our clothes and putting on warm replacements. Impossible! I had my socks half way on and just gave up, jamming my shoes on over them.

We grabbed our free beers and hung out by the fire pit before heading off to a diner to have a big meal. We were all Tough Mudders now and I really believe in it. Even now as I type this some 7 hours after the finish my fingers are still tingly. It was really quite a fun experience and I really enjoyed the team effort, instead of the usual ‘every man for himself’ attitude. It also hardened me up, so maybe now I won’t complain during those easy races in Central Park during the winter!

RACE REPORT: 046 Harriman Sprint Triathlon: 1:25:40

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Sex/
Age
Age
Place
Overall
Place
 Swim
0.5M		 T1 Bike
16M		 T2 Run
5K		 Total
Time
M32
4
23
 18:16 1:09 47:37 0:56 17:41 1:25:40

I was really looking forward to this weekend… a lot.

Friday after work my boss (and friend) Brian, of the Brian Goss band, was playing at the Bitter End. Erika and I were joined by the happily engaged Joey D and Melissa, along with Todd. My ‘music’ friends were there too. I used to take piano lessons and became friends with my piano teacher’s friends who are all these super talented concert musicians. Walter, Daniella and Amanda (who sings in Brian’s band) to name a few. It was a great time! We all met up with Asher and Ilka after to have some dinner which then concluded our night.

Saturday, Erika and I rode down Summer Streets (the city closes off Park Avenue top to bottom so people can run and bike). I had to muster up all of my patience while riding, as its a really chaotic scene. I’m used to riding in traffic, which may seem dangerous but is actually way more organized! Erika was right about it being very cool to see everyone out taking advantage of the event.

That afternoon, I played some tag football with Todd and Cottom as Ila watched on. Soon after I met Erika for dinner on the Upper West Side. Her friends Jen and Josh joined us at La Vela, which is a great little Italian spot. Erika and Jen were running the Bronx Half Marathon the next morning so all of us needed carbo-loading. 2 bottles of white wine was evidently a part of that race strategy.

After saying goodbye to everyone, I walked over to my friend Annie’s roof party. She had gotten engaged the night before so I wanted to pop in and say congrats! I was quite responsible and only stayed for 1 beer. I was back home and asleep by 11. However, the secret irresponsible side to that is the fact that I rode my skateboard home through Central Park at high speeds in the dark. It seems I have not yet mastered this new device.

RACE DAY

I was up at 5AM and had some Cafe Bustelo in hand by 5:05.

I rode a few blocks over to meet Ed and Jim from ‘Dad Posse’ so we could drive to the race. SIDENOTE: Ed, Jim and I all live on 83rd street just a few blocks down from each other. It’s pretty cool. After we geared up Ed’s SUV with the bikes, we took off. High fives to Ed for packing a thermos of ‘Rocket Fuel’ coffee for the 1 hour car trip! All of us were zingin’ when we got to Harriman State Park!

Walking through the parking lot we ran into my friends Cenk and Carla, who were with Nisso and Jamie. We were all super excited to be there and to race! Harriman really has a great vibe and I would recommend it to anyone.

At check-in it dawned on me (as some of the volunteers were going “Hey Lucky number 7!”) that I had a GREAT bib number! Perhaps this would help me out in the race? Or maybe I should have just bought a lottery ticket while wearing my bib number?

Ed was right next to me in transition, and as we were setting up, Amy came over to hang out! It was fun having so many friends around during the race, it was like a party.

10 minutes before the start Ed and I jumped in Lake Sebago to do some practice swimming. It’s always such a ‘refreshing’ change to swim in something other than the Hudson River. I also helped zip up the wetsuit of a 70 year old man. I looked at Ed and we both smiled and were like “Thats bad ass.” He would later win an award for his age group, of course.

Wave 1 (me) lined up on the beach and prepared for the attack. I was going to try a new approach. Since I’m a slow swimmer, the longer I can ‘run’ into the water the better off I will be. As soon as the gun sounded, I took off, running like a crazy baboon through knee deep water. Finesse, it was not.

Diving in and beginning my swim I was immediately reminded of the kelp that rises from the bottom eerily. If you didn’t already know this about me, I love horror movies, therefore I had visions of Jason Vorhees popping out of the kelp and pulling me under during the entire swim. It may have helped my time.

The course was an out-and-back 1/2 mile, and as we rounded the buoy to return to shore, I got into the zone. It was a great feeling, one I wished I had felt from the start of the swim.

Nearing the shore my heart-rate began to spike as I got excited to jump on my bike. Ever since I rode to meet the guys earlier I had been jonesing for some bike-time. Running out of the water, and nearly falling on my face because my legs were in ‘swim mode’ , I noticed all my friends were around me! You couldn’t plan it if you tried! Jim, Amy and I all popped out of the water together and ran into transition teasing each other, it was awesome!



You can see Jim and I were laughing about something, Amy is in the background in blue.

Transition always feels like an eternity to me, even though I’m pretty good about getting in and out in about a minute.

Jumping onto ‘Andraste’ and taking off, I would soon come to remember just how difficult this bike course is.

The first few miles are basically uphill. It’s really hard combination (swim-to-uphill-biking) because all you want to do is push, but your legs aren’t warmed up yet.

The easiest part of the course is the big bomb drop hill in the beginning. You seriously spin out your lowest gear for 10 minutes while tucked in aero. People were clocking 40+ MPH. Then, you get to the bottom. This is when the pain starts.

Confronted with a 180 degree turn around, you are forced to slow down to a crawl. Now you have to go back up that wonderful downhill you were so happy to bomb through. It’s not the same track, so you don’t see oncoming bikers, but it runs parallel.

It reminded me a lot of the Rev 3 Quassy bike course, just in a smaller scale. It’s a very technical ride with lots of ups and downs, along with wild turns. There were a few moments I jumped out of aero in fear as I was careening around a bend, not knowing what lay ahead. This is, of course, also what I look forward to anytime I ride a bike.

I was playing leapfrog with 2 or 3 really strong riders. It was killing me to keep up with them, but I did my best to trail them until the end.


Carla took all of the photos, thanks!!! Even though this one is blurry I still think it’s really cool.

Cruising down into transition, I could see a few runners out on the course already which pissed me off. Throwing my bike onto the rack and putting my flats on (no socks) I shot out of transition in a fury. SIDENOTE: I will never wear socks again! It was amazing running without them.

Once again, the first 1/2 mile is all uphill and my calves were ON FIRE! I thought they were going to pop out of my legs. Gross.

Once we got onto level ground they cooled off and I started increasing my pace big time. I picked off the 2 guys I was biking with earlier, and then set my sights on a guy 200 meters in front of me. This is my favorite part of any triathlon… the chase!

As I hit the turnaround, I could see that guy, plus one more that were in my range. We smiled at each other and saluted.

It was at this moment I realized that I felt amazing. It was one of those running moments where it all just clicked in and came together. I smiled big and kicked it up a notch.

1 mile to go I saw Jim coming the other way! Go Jim!

Coming down the home stretch I passed my targeted guy (saying hello and nodding) making my way towards the next fellow. As I passed him, I could start to see the finish come into sight and was half excited and half disappointed that it would be over. I looked to try and catch one more guy but he was too far ahead for me to bridge the gap.

Blazing through the finish I saw that my time was 1:25 and change. I was happy because I knew I had bested my previous time by a good 4 minutes.

I walked over to get some water and congratulated a few of the first guys in. They were all super cool, each of us trading pieces of our race.

Not wanting to miss any action, I hightailed it over to the finish line to wait for my friends to come through! It was then I saw Ed coming off the bike course. He didn’t see me, so I ran over to transition and gave him a shout.

At that moment Jim came bounding down the run course cruising through the finish! He also ran over to Ed, pacing him onto the run course.

Amy came in shortly after and I cheered her on, urging her to sprint it out, in which she did. Then came Cenk, followed by Ed and then finally Nisso.


We had a great cheering section and it was so fun being right at the finish chute. We all had a few laughs and watched the awards before taking off.

Once again Ed gets props. Getting to his car he pulls out a mini cooler with 3 ice cold beers inside! We cracked ’em and had a toast to our great races!

—

This race marks my 1 year anniversary of triathlons! It’s funny to look back at last year’s race to compare and contrast. I’ve improved in many areas, BUT, I’m still slow as molasses in the water!

RACE REPORT: 043 NYC Triathlon

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Sex/

Age

Age

Place

Overall

Place

 Swim

0.9M

 T1 Bike

24.8M

 T2 Run

6.2M

 Total

Time
M32 23
66
 18:23 4:18 1:11:25 1:29 41:44 2:17:17

The NYC Triathlon would be my 4th triathlon completed and the 1st attempt at an Olympic Distance.

Swim: 1.5K
Bike: 40K
Run: 10K

Gotta love those even numbers…

The day before the race, Erika and I volunteered at the Run for Central Park. We were bike marshals and got to ride in front of the race clearing the path for the leaders. It was very cool and totally fun!

That night I dropped my bike off into transition. That’s a mandatory rule. No way can you roll in with your bike the next day, think of the chaos! SIDENOTE: I have never been to a triathlon with this many racers. There were like 3,000 bikes!

Erika and I had a really nice dinner, mine consisting of pasta and shellfish of course! I think I was asleep by 10:30PM which was great because I needed some rest.

RACE DAY

My alarm went off at 5AM and wow was I ever ready to get this day going! I was so excited, mainly because the most stressful part of any race for me is the night before and that had passed. It was game time.

I met Brandon down in transition and after a quick setup we headed off to watch the Pros come in.

There would be something like 20 waves of people, starting at 6AM with the Pros and finishing at 8AM. Since he and I were at the tail end, we had 2 hours to kill.

We stationed ourselves right where the swimmers come out and run to T1. It was awesome! The Pros make it look so easy and they are also nasty fast right out of the soup!

Once that excitement was over we walked up towards the swim start and met up with Daniel, Alex and Alex’s wife. We hung out watching the swimmers go by. I had a rice and bean burrito for breakfast followed by a banana.

One of the things I enjoyed about this race (and hated it at the same time for different reasons) is that with so many wave starts it makes for great race viewing, like watching 20 separate races!

As it got closer to the 7:39-7:45 start times we all made our way into the age corrals. I made a few friends there by being silly trying to convince them of the existence of the notorious ‘Hudson River Shark’ to which they replied “So you’re saying we’re gonna need a bigger boat?” Good people at the triathlons.

As our wave came up we walked out onto the pier and waited. I stood on the pier while there was a line of guys in the water floating. The current was moving with us at maybe 1-1.5 knots! As the gun sounded I waited a hot second for the first line to go then I lunged in and started plowing through the water!

I have swam the Hudson 6 times or so and have lost all fears of swimming in it. I do however have a fear of getting elbowed in the face. So of course, 100 meters out it was still pretty chaotic and I got elbowed in the side of my head. Not much you can really do as it’s all part of the game, so I just kept pushing forward. It was a really enjoyable swim thanks to the speedy current. I also probably only drank 1 gallon of it this time which, um, either helped or hindered my race, not sure. Does the Hudson count as electrolytes?

Coming out of the water in 18:23 I quickly made my way to T1. As I was passing a water station I heard “Hi Chris.” It was my co-worker Kathy from Rolex volunteering at the water station! I dumped a cup on my head and said “Kathy! Hi! Later!”

My wetsuit slipped off, I donned my crappy bike shoes, clipped on my aero helmet, grabbed my nautical star wristband and bike, and took off running towards the exit.

There were a few narrow turns getting onto the West Side Highway, but once there I dropped to my low gears and started cranking!

It felt great to be out riding, especially since I have really started getting comfortable on my new bike. I have to thank my friend Allen who let me borrow his race wheels! They are really sweet and increased my aerodynamics a lot!

I was trying to ride “smart” but at the same time, I wanted to give it my all since it was a race. So I thought to myself “Time to go into the pain box.” Which is a quote from a female triathlete I follow.

Little did I know… there were some serious bomb drop hills on the course! I had no idea! It was awesome! I tucked in and flew, spinning out my top gears!

I was passing lots of people and just trying to make up for any time I lost on my swim, which is a common theme in my triathlon world. For Christmas this year I’m asking for faster swim times.

I was yelled at a few times by riders when I didn’t announce I was “Passing on your left!” Whatever guys.

For hydration, I was drinking this new (secret) race formula I mixed up and it was very effective! Hint: It has a packet of Emergen-C in it among other easy to find household ingredients.

The mythical toll booths up in the north were not as bumpy as I had heard. We all cruised over them with no problems. I hit the turnaround point in what I thought was a great time. SIDENOTE: I’m really bad with Garmins. Mine was going, but had gotten locked into ‘Compass Mode”.

Barreling back down the highway I was really excited and pushing hard. It was at this point I got in my head. “You have been looking forward to this race for a few weeks now. Don’t just race through it, enjoy it!” I did just that. I was still rocketing down the highway, but I was now a little more relaxed and smiling.

At T2 I ripped off my bike shoes and laced up my racing flats, taking off, almost forgetting to remove my aero helmet. That would have been hilarious, BUT would it have helped my time being that aerodynamic… perhaps?

Crossing 72nd Street was a little bit like the NYC Marathon. People were out in bulk, cheering and yelling, cowbells, music, etc. It was awesome. I focused my sites on the tree line in the distance.

As I entered the Park there was a huge contingency of cheerers as well! I made the left and started on the all-too-familiar trek around the northern tip of Central Park. Once again I found myself thinking, “Baker, you once ran 9 loops around the Park. If you can do that, this should be no problem.” True, but it was now 100 degrees and I kinda wanted to turn around and go swim the Hudson again.

The aid stations had hoses which dramatically helped. At every one, I ran through, and/or had someone hose me down. Puzzling to me, were the numerous people who opted OUT of the sprinkler fun.

At Mile 2 I looked at my Garmin and YES, I was heading N, NE. Wonderful. I yelled to a volunteer “What time is it?” so I could properly gauge my time. “9:35!” she yelled. Hmmm, my finish goal of 2:15 was slowly slipping away. I better speed up.

The last mile or 2 were great as I know the terrain well and the infamous Harlem Hill was behind me.

Rounding the turn to the homestretch on 72nd street and heading uphill I caught Erika and Michelle cheering! They took photos and Erika made me this sign! It helped out a lot and as you can see from the pictures I was in good spirits.

I rounded Cherry Hill and entered the finish chute, picking up my pace and getting overly excited! I blasted through and was immediately handed a water and an ice cold towel.

My time was 2:17:17 (what’s up with my strange finish times?). It wasn’t 2:15, but I was happy with the results.

I got my medal and then wandered off into the chaos looking for a way out. Then I heard “Hello Baker…”
It was Erika. She was hanging out on the fence line waving at me. She gave me a congratulatory kiss and then told me where to meet her.

We watched the finishers for another 10-15 minutes hoping to see some of the gang come through to no avail. I needed food and a shower so we made our way back to transition to collect my bike.

What a fantastic race! Props to all my friends who raced. Everyone did so well!

—

Erika and I met our friend Allen for brunch at 44 1/2 (after I showered of course). We then headed over to see A Little Night Music with the new cast, featuring Elaine Stritch and Bernadette Peters. It was amazing and a perfect end to the weekend.

RACE REPORT: 040 Lavaman Triathlon

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Sex/
Age
Age
Place
Overall
Place
 Swim
0.3M		 T1 Bike
13.7M		 T2 Run
4M		 Total
Time
M32 3
19
 9:49 1:33 36:53 1:33 25:39 1:15:29

Jim (from ‘Dad Posse’) had us sign up for the Lavaman Sprint Triathlon for 2 reasons. 1: triathlons are awesome 2: the course went by his Grandma’s house so we had a place to stay and easy access to the start!

The plan was as follows…

Saturday afternoon Jim and I drive down to Granny’s. Ed (also racing) would be either driving down to meet us later that night or leave at 4AM the next morning to arrive in time for the start. Mike and Gio would show up once the race had started to cheer us on.

Saturday morning I took a 4 mile run in the sun then hopped on my bike to meet Erika and Marie downtown to go to an art festival in Brooklyn. I parked my bike in Union Square then we took the L Train to the center of the hipster world. Any of you who know me know I despise hipsters and if I had my way I would hunt them. Full beard in the 90 degree summer sun = retarded.

We got back to Union square just after 1PM and seeing as I had til 4PM to play, I rode my bike out to Fort Greene to see Jasika and Claire who were having an impromptu gathering. Jasika made us Pear Sangria which was out of this world refreshing! After catching up with them I took off to head back to the Upper East Side. It took 40 minutes on my bike – not bad.

Jim picked me up and we were on the road around 6PM headed to Lavalette, New Jersey!

We arrived at the Jersey Shore around 8PM and after quickly saying hello to Granny we went out to get some food. We stopped at Mia’s and had some pasta. It was a cool and windy night and we were hoping the wind would ease up for tomorrow.

Back at the house we hung out in the garage drinking beers and working on our bikes, preparing them for the morning’s battle. Around 10:30 we were winding down for bed (we had to wake up at 5AM) when we got a text that Ed had just left Manhattan en-route to us! It’s easily a 90 minute drive. Jim and I had a quick conference and decided that in all fairness to Ed, we couldn’t go to sleep until he arrived. That would have given us the unfair advantage of 2 hours more sleep than him on race day, duh. Therefore, we continued drinking beers on the roof deck.

Ed showed up around 1 in the morning! In fairness to us, Ed insisted he have a beer! We rolled into bed at 2AM!

RACE DAY

No sooner did we lie down, we have to pick our heavy heads off the pillow. It actually hurts my mind and body right now just thinking back to how I felt!

Jim dug around the pantry for awhile and found some American Lite coffee which may have been from the late 70s. It was beyond horrible and yet… I still drank all of it!

My head cleared a little once we hopped on our bikes to ride to transition.

I set up my transition pretty quick then made my way over to Jim and Ed to see how they were doing. For such a small and local race there were some very hard core bikes floating around. Some to the tune of $10,000! There was also this total jerk in front of Jim who made me upset. He thought he was away “too cool for school.” In these kinds of events, 99 percent of the racers are awesome, totally down to earth, and fun to talk to. This guy was part of the remaining 1 percent. During the bike course he would become my target.

Before the start, we had time to jump into the Bay. It was really shallow, but the water was nice. I got stung by a jellyfish. He would not be the only jellyfish I encountered during this race. Mike had showed up and was taking pictures from the shore.

6:50 was my start and I waded into the water to wait for the gun. I wasn’t nervous at all and thought, finally, all the open water swims and triathlons had eased my mind. The gun went off and I dove in, digging hard.

After a hundred yards or so I slowed up my pace and caught my rhythm. I attempted a new technique I was working on last Wednesday in the pool and thought it was speeding me up. I finished the .38 mile swim in 109th position which was a slight improvement since the Rev3, but still wasn’t up to my standards.

Running out of the water I ran by Gio who was yelling something like “Hustle Baker!!!”

Made it through T1 in good time and jumped on the bike, taking off in hot pursuit of the leaders. (Did you notice that my T1 and T2 times are identical? Strange indeed.)

The bike course was a 3 loop, out and back, so you could always see whoever was in front of you coming back in the opposite direction. This is great because you can figure out how many spots behind you are. It also sucks, because you’re like “Seriously? How is that guy biking so fast! I have to catch him?”

The first lap was tough, but as I came around into my second lap, I saw that jerk from transition up ahead and really let my legs burn. I passed him a few minutes later and never looked back. I just stayed in aero position and let the pain start, never coasting.

I saw Ed and Jim a few times on the coarse and we yelled to each other! I also saw Mike and Gio at transition numerous times, taking pictures and yelling for us to kill it!

As I pulled into T2 to ditch my bike, I saw that there were runners already out and I knew I had some work to do.

Bolting onto the road my legs were not ready at all! It’s not that they hurt, I just can’t get up to full speed, like being stuck in the mud in a car. I passed a few guys and then around mile 1 we hit an aid station where I poured water on my head and took off! My legs were warmed up and in full swing.

SIDENOTE: Erika and I participated in a running clinic hosted by Danny Abshire, Ian Adamson, and Ian Anderson from Newton Running on Tuesday that taught me a lot about form. At a few moments in this run, I used what I had learned and it definitely helped me increase my pace and stay focused. Thanks guys!

At this point I was cruising at a 6:15-6:20 pace and steadily gaining on people. I felt good, but the sun was out and heating things up real fast. I wanted this to be done. Coming around the corner I could see the yellow of the finish in sight and sped forward.


I finished in 1:15:29 which I was happy with.

I found Mike and we cheered on Jim and Ed as they came through the finish at their respective times.

We grabbed food and watched the awards. I ended up getting a trophy for 3rd in my age group which was cool!

We rode back to Granny’s where we eventually took off to head back. Jim dropped me off at my cousin Cat’s grad party in North Jersey where we rocked until 4PM or so. Was I deliriously tired? Yes. Was all the pain and sleep deprivation worth it? Indeed!


—

I leave you (anyone who has ever considered doing a triathlon) with this…
This was Ed’s second triathlon (his first being the week before!) and he has only been training for 9 months or so. As he sat eating his bagel after the race looking somewhat serious, somewhat pissed, kinda staring off, I said “Hey Ed, what’s up, you good?” He chewed for a second then stopped and said, “That was Awesome!!!”

RACE REPORT: 039 Rev3 Quassy Half Ironman

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Sex/
Age
Age
Place
Overall
Place
 Swim
1.2M		 T1 Bike
56M		 T2 Run
13.1M		 Total
Time
M32 26
133
 45:26 2:18 2:55:16 1:39 1:39:56 5:24:36

Swim. Bike. Run. Seems easy enough right?

My first triathlon of 2010 (second triathlon ever) was the Rev3 Quassy Half Ironman in Connecticut this past weekend.

As far as training went, my philosophy has always been to just do as much of the 3 disciplines as possible. I really hate regimented workouts as it takes the enjoyment out of it for me. Mentally, I tell myself  ‘Okay, you need to do a speed run this week, 4 bike rides, a swim and maybe a distance run.’ but nothing is written out. I also like to sign up for a ton of races which keeps me on my toes and can be considered ‘training’.

Jim from “Dad Posse” had us sign up for this race months ago when I wasn’t even sure I could handle such a distance. Sometimes you just need a little push, you know. It takes place in Connecticut just west of Hartford, in some beautiful countryside.

Saturday morning I went on a quick bike ride, then proceeded to make 4 ‘Race Burritos’. SIDENOTE: Erika thinks I should market them, so this is the name I will be using for now. I also prepared some shrimp scampi to take with me for Saturday night’s dinner in the hotel. I didn’t want to go out and as all of us racers know… we have our rituals and this is one of mine. I packed all of the goodies up in a big blue cooler. It’s funny, when I was at the grocery store buying the cooler the gal at the register was like “Alright! Looks like a BBQ and some Sunday beers!” Not quite… try ‘first aid kit’ or ‘survival kit’. Evidently, her 5 year old son also likes to run.

It’s also very hard packing for a triathlon. So many components that I ALMOST forgot my running shoes! What a disaster that would be. I guess I could have experimented with barefoot running right?

Jim showed up at 2:30 to drop off his wheels. He had to bail on the race last minute but was kind enough to let me borrow his car. Thanks Jim! I took off, headed into the northern territories.

I arrived at 4:30 and headed over to race check-in. It was very organized. While dropping off my bike into transition for the night I ran into Bill, a fellow NYC Triathlete and runner! He was right across from me in transition.

SIDENOTE: This was a high caliber, therefore all the Pros came out. What does this mean? Remember, this is my first Half Ironman so I was already nervous, now enter people like Matty Reed (last year’s winner) who is like 6 ‘5 and has the sickest bike.

Back at the hotel I mixed up my water bottles with half Red Bull-half Gatorade. It looked a little bit like a mad scientist’s laboratory. I ate my shrimp scampi while watching some bad hotel TV and was asleep by 10PM.

RACE DAY

I had the strangest dream. I had woken up and went to the race and was and hour or two late. I was very upset and the race director was like, “you can go ahead and start with a 2 hour deficit if you like?” Right. I was freaking out and just then my REAL alarm went of. It was 5AM in reality and I was right on schedule. Drank a cup of coffee, had a banana and some granola and I was off.

Arriving at transition at 6AM (it closes at 6:30) I quickly set up. I made friends with these two fellas across from me who saw me taping 2 burritos to the top tube of my bike. “Hey man, what’s that, a PB&J?” “Nope, those are rice and bean burritos!” They laughed and upon hearing about how I had already tested this fuel in an Ultra and a Marathon they were firm believers.


Notice me contemplating where to tape my second burrito…

After laying out my bike and run gear I grabbed my wetsuit and headed down to the beach to get ready.

Wetsuit on, I waded into the lake to get acclimated. It was then that Gallacher came over and introduced himself. He is a good friend of Jim’s I had been communicating with on email. We had a few laughs and watched the Pro’s line up. Craig Alexander was among them who took Ironman Kona last year. He is basically a beast and would end up winning it. After the male Pro’s took off into the water there was a 3 minute gap, then the female Pro’s entered. My heart almost stopped when Natascha Badmann was 5 feet from me! She is a personal idol of mine and I never thought I would be IN the same race as her! Kinda felt like I was right where I was supposed to be in life… The women were off and then it was time for my age group to line up.

Before we get underway with race details first lets clarify some things for anyone not familiar with Triathlons.

Generally speaking there are 4 triathlon distances, Sprint, Olympic, Half Ironman and Ironman. They always go in the swim, bike, run order. Today’s race was a Half Ironman distance, my furthest and most challenging race to date, even harder than my Ultra. I think this has to do with the fact that your entire body is in pain because you use all muscle groups.

Swim: 1.2 Miles
Bike: 56 Miles
Run: 13.1 Miles

A battle.

We lined up and within the 3 minutes the gun went off!!!

It was chaos. I was trying to stay in the lead but seriously, its like a piranha attack (I have never been attacked by piranhas). As space opened a little, I got my life in order and was steadily swimming, sighting every third stroke. I’m not the best swimmer due to my lack of speed. It’s really bizarre as I don’t get tired, I just can’t move quickly through the water. This race is maybe a sign that I should take a master’s swim class.

It was a beautiful swim through a crystal clear lake, very different from the choppy and toxic Hudson River swim from the following weekend. I could feel 2 different waves of swimmers pass me, which was frustrating, but I just kept telling myself to finish, I will chase them down later.

Cruising up onto the beach 43 minutes later I ran into transition, ripping off my wetsuit. I made the good choice to throw on some socks before putting on bike shoes. A choice that may have cost me 30 seconds, but in the end I avoided some serious blisters.


Hopping onto Andraste (my Cervelo P2) I quickly got into rhythm. Immediately, I ripped open one of my ‘Race Burritos’ and began having breakfast… ‘Breakfast Race Burritos’? I like the sound of that.

In the beginning to middle of the bike portion of the race, I was playing leapfrog with this one gal who was part of the Trakkers Team. She had this really cool bike made by Isaac? I have never heard of this brand, perhaps custom? She was a really amazing biker and in the second half of the course she blasted past me and I never caught up. Props!

What gorgeous scenery. I caught myself gazing off across the rolling hills a few times before snapping out of it going “Baker, Hello! This is a race, not a nature show.” As many people have reported, this was an extremely difficult bike course. Hills, hills and more hills. Just when your legs were recovering and you were settling into a rhythm, around the bend comes another behemoth of an uphill battle. It was kind of funny in the beginning… but my humor had faded by Mile 40.

At one point while riding by a few guys, one of them yelled… “Hey man! IS THAT A BURRITO?!” I smiled and said of course it is, duh. He yelled back “Can I trade you a Lemon Gu for your burrito?” No way man, that was my lunch and high noon was fast approaching. I did however, let him know that I had an extra one back in transition he could have.

Never have I wanted to get off a bike and run more than I did at this point. Please, anything to use a different muscle group!

Throughout the entire bike course there were constant ‘bomb drop’ descents where we might have been going 50 MPH spinning out our top gears! It was insane! The best description I could think of was that of a roller coaster… the feeling right as you start to go down the first drop, in the pit of your stomach, where you are teetering between ‘This rocks!’ and ‘Am I going to die?’ SIDENOTE: When tucked into Aero position on a TT Bike the brakes are on the outside handlebars. Try going for those while bulleting down a monster hill.

The plan was to eat my second ‘Race Burrito’ during the last 10 miles of the bike in order to have a solid block of energy for the run. Why the last 10 miles you ask? During the (dirty) Jersey Marathon I learned an important lesson with my burritos. They process into energy 5 running miles, or 30 minutes, after consumption.

As soon as mile 46 hit you better believe I was hungry and I wolfed it down. My next invention is going to be ‘Race side-order of Guacamole.’

SIDENOTE: My joke the second half of the ride was, upon passing another rider who looked friendly and not too crabby, say “Hey! Someone told me we have to run a Half Marathon after this! Is that true?!” It normally got a few laughs.

Cruising into T2 I hopped off the bike and booked it over to my slot, racking my bike and tossing my helmet aside. I quickly donned my racing flats and put on my Nautical Star wristband, then bolted for the run course. It was a sharp left turn out of T2 and I was going too fast without my legs properly adjusted to walking again, almost flying over the side rails!

Miles 1 and 2 were downhill, and we were going against the flow of the bike riders coming off their last few miles. Gallacher passed me and yelled “Go Baker go!” It was right around this point that the sun made an appearance for the rest of the race, increasing the temperature to boiling!

Turing sharp right into Miles 3 and 4 we were confronted with a brutal series of gravel uphills! It was very hard on the calves and yet… very peaceful and quiet running in the woods.

Miles 5 and 6 took us down a neighborhood road to a turn-around and then back out onto the main roads. It was here that my energy soared and all pain from the bike had subsided. I’m not sure if I picked up my pace, but my spirits certainly spiked and I was running with a smile.

I have never really spent a lot of time in Connecticut, but I had my preconceived notions. Today altered my perceptions forever, in a positive light. I grew up in the suburbs of DC, Virginia to be exact, and if you went 20 miles due west you hit horse country. Miles 7-9 felt like I was back home! It was very rustic, with man-made rock walls, huge oak trees and elegantly designed farm houses. The only difference is that Virginia has this thick, musky, floral vibe to it and up here in the North the air was a little lighter. Whatever, it’s my story, I can talk about smells.

The last few miles were hard, but the thought of being done with this mayhem was what kept me going. The final mile was a gradual uphill through the woods.

A strange thing happened at this moment. I was by myself just trucking along when out of nowhere this huge monarch butterfly started flying alongside of me! It was to my right, pacing me, fluttering up and down right around chest level. It stayed with me for 100 feet before veering of into the forest.

Rounding the final turn into the ‘Finish Chute’ I sprinted. It may have looked like demons were chasing me, and yet, I was smiling.

Crossing the finish line at a high speed and then slamming on the brakes is a funny feeling. Think… Millennium Falcon coming out of light-speed… everything slows back down and your brain catches up to your body.

Time: 5:24:36 (Real Time clock pictured is incorrect based on our wave starts)

This Stats chart shows just how bad I did on the swim and how much ‘catching up’ I had to do. (I love statistical data!)

I got my finisher medal, then went for some snacks. I wasn’t thirsty or hungry as I had been very efficient in fuel intake the whole race! One thing I did do (as I looked around at everyone else who finished and took their lead) was remove my sneakers and socks to walk barefoot on the grass. It felt SO good.

I had finished right on time to see the Pro’s get their awards. They announced the women first and Natascha Badmann had came in 7th place. It’s so surreal being so close to the athletes you admire. Craig Alexander won the men’s race and even set a new course record. Nice work Craig!

Knowing that I would be fading in the next few hours, I hightailed it out of there and headed back to New York City.

SIDENOTE: I left my Garmin on the entire time I drove back to NYC… there goes THAT statistical data! Rookie move.

Driving down the Interstate with the windows down, sun pouring in and the Who’s ‘Teenage Wasteland’ blasting I put on a huge smile and thought simply, “Hell yeah.”

RACE REPORT: 015 Harriman Sprint Triathlon: 1:28:50

Posted on by Posted in All, Race Reports, Triathlon 2 Comments

Sex/
Age
Age
Place
Overall
Place
 Swim
0.5M		 T1 Bike
16M		 T2 Run
5K		 Total
Time
M31
3
31
 18:27 2:47 48:29 1:14 17:51 1:28:50

Why did I start swimming? Triathlons… someone suggested I get into
them as I could already bike and run. As you can see from previous
entries, I have completed 2 open water competitions. On this race, my
first Tri, I got to put all the elements together.

My friend Cenk, who has completed a number of Tri’s, signed us up for
the Harriman State Park Sprint Triathlon. This was great because I like
having a guide the first time I attempt anything of this caliber.

Cenk and Carla picked me up Saturday afternoon and we headed into
Jersey. They took me to one of their local restaurants which was really
good. Cenk and I decided to fuel up on pasta and steak. It seemed to do
the trick… I added beer into my pre-race diet as usual.

Later that night at their house Cenk gave me the run down of how the
race works, with transitions etc. It was very helpful and I would have
been lost on race day without this important knowledge. I went to bed
at 11 or so anticipating a solid 6 hours of sleep.

RACE DAY:

5AM… Im awake but so sleepy. I think it was a rare treat for Carla (her and I work together 9-5) to see me docile, quiet and spaced out. We packed up our gear and headed out to Harriman State Park which would take us 50 minutes.

The park was beautiful! rolling hills and still lakes surrounded by thick cliff covered forest.

Arriving at the transition area, there were already a lot of people gearing up. We grabbed our bike number, running number, timing chip, swim caps etc. Its funny to me because Im used to only getting one of the 3 or 4 elements. Now, I had all of them at once to piece together. We went to our transition areas and I set mine up like Cenk had instructed me the night before.

Cenk and I then (since we were ready ahead of time per his instruction) went to the lake to take a pre race dip. It was a great idea especially since I hadnt taken a swim in over 2 months so it eased my anxiety. My wetsuit is two pieces and my pants might be a size too small so i have to constantly hike them up. It was at one of these moments that a few members of Team Lipstick (an all female group of 10) started teasing me. They were a real cool group and very bad ass. One gal thought I was starting a new trend with my ‘low-rise wetsuit bottoms’. Funny.

2 minutes to start we were all lined up on the beach.

The gun went off and we all ran into the water and began our swim portion. What a sight to see! It was a relatively easy 0.5 Mile swim out to a buoy and back. A few people swam over me but nothing to stressful. I was actually working on some new techniques this time that I think might have helped me out. I finished in 18 minutes in change and as I turned around I realized I was in maybe the top 50 out of 400 swimmers which was way better than I expected. I made my way up the beach undoing my suit and high-fiving Carla who was watching and cheering. Mad props to Carla for taking al the great photos as well! Looking back on it, I should have been hustling a bit more to get to my bike, but hello, have you ever tried running in a wetsuit? Its hard.

At T1 I dried my feet and chest and put on my bike shoes and my tank top. I also put on my ceremonial Nautical Star wristband (which can be seen on me throughout past races). I grabbed my bike and headed to the road taking off in a hurry. I did take quite some time in T1 and my friend Jim (who has done an Ironman) asked if I was cooking burgers on the grill while getting ready for the biking!

In my mind the hardest part was over. Now I had to play catch up with the fast swimmers and overtake them.

Wow was I wrong. I had just started the hardest part. The hills were mild at first and I was pushing hard, passing riders. About 3 Miles in I caught up to Cenk who was really flying! As I got next to him I planned on hanging out for a minute but he yelled at me and pointed “Go get them!” Adrenaline! I booked. These guys had some sick bikes too. I was rocking a 1975 vintage Mercian with the shifters on the down tube! She a worthy ship though. SIDENOTE: get a new bike. Next thing I know we are going down a huge decline so fast I couldn’t pedal anymore. Id say 45 MPH at least. My fingers were on my brakes ready for any sudden emergency. At roughly Mile 6 we hit this crazy U-turn. You had to slow from 45 MPH to almost a standstill so as not to slide out. Then, the pain began.

As we came out of the U-turn with no propulsion we were confronted with a 3 Mile incline. It was brutal. The next 5 Miles would continue like this with ups and downs through the woods. I took a few moments here and there to take in the scenery which was beautiful. I also made a few friends along the way with some fellow bike riders. Mostly we talked about how bad the hills sucked. I have never looked forward to getting off a bike to start a run so much in my life.

I cruised into the transition area fast and saw lots of runners ahead of me leaving. I just kept thinking to myself, “I will chase them down.” I popped off my bike and slipped into my running shoes. I was off again.

It was a bit difficult to just start running after blazing the hills on a bike. Id say at Mile 0.5 I was in full range of speed. Not to sound cocky, but the run was very easy compared to the last 2 events. I was picking off runners and trying to figure out how far from the lead I was. (I would later find out that the winner was finished the run at the time I was starting. He was an animal, putting a gap of 10 minutes between him and the 2nd place person). Cenk and I crossed paths as I was ending my run and we cheered each other on, very exciting. The finish was a downhill and I saved up some sprint energy for the end. I blazed in at full speed crossing the line at 1:28: 50. To be honest I was just excited to finish my first Tri.

I grabbed some water and found Carla. We waited for Cenk and cheered him on as he crossed the line!

All 3 of us were quite excited and the vibe in the air was all positive! Triathletes are a little different from singular athletes I found. They are competitive, but very supportive of one another. I made friends with a 65 year old guy who had been doing Tri’s for like 20 years. He was inspirational.

We took a few pics, packed up our gear and hung around the finish to see if the times would be released. They started giving out the awards and they were doing age groups when I heard 3rd Place for the 29-34 Group goes to Chris Baker! Carla practically punched me in the shoulder out of excitement! I went up and got my plaque. It was very cool! I had no idea I would get a prize.

Afterward we went to the Coach Diner in Jersey for a big meal. We were all really starving.

It was a great experience and Im very grateful that Cenk helped me through this first one. Im very addicted to this as he predicted and just signed up for my first Half-Ironman next June.

 I am officially a Triathlete now, cool.