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Tag Archives: 26.2

RACE REPORT: 145 Eugene Marathon – 2:57:05

Posted on May 4, 2019 by admin Posted in All, Race Reports, Running Leave a comment

Abbe and I grabbed a cab and headed to JFK on Thursday at 5:30AM. I was sleepy, but this getting up early for races thing has become the norm, so I wasn’t too out of sorts. I was teetering on that fine line of ‘Am I awake for good?’ or ‘Should I try and nap on the plane?’ I opted for the latter and passed on a coffee.

After a 60 minute snooze I felt fresh. I am reading three books for the first time since college and so I started bouncing between them. I am reading ‘Atonement’ for Book Club, ‘The King in Yellow’ which is super weird and I forgot why I even chose it and ‘Calypso,’ David Sedaris’s latest. (He is my favorite author).

Hello Portland!

A dear friend of mine from college days, Mikey, lives in Portland so we were very excited to spend some time with him. He picked us up and we set off for lunch.

Abbe’s friend Brad Farmerie (chef and owner of Saxon and Parole) had sent a very extensive list of places to eat. Since Abbe has a love of all things sandwiches we headed to Lardo. It did not disappoint! I might also note that it was gorgeous out… 75 and sunny, so sitting outside felt amazing.

We checked out Mikey’s place and chilled for a bit before headed to dinner at Xico. Susan and her brother Ryan joined us. After another amazing meal we jumped in the car and headed to Eugene.

Tracktown U.S.A.

As a runner, how could you not be excited to wake up in TrackTown USA? Bill Bowerman invented the waffle shoe here that would later become the sneaker that we now know and take for granted! He also cofounded Nike, you may have heard of them? And then there is the legendary PRE!

Anyway, we woke up and went for a walk to the stadium which was through Alton Baker Park across the street. As we exited and were on school grounds Abbe said, “Hey look, the track team!” It was a group of runners at first that then turned into a thousand. Then we realized, “Oh! It’s the 5K!” You chase two really fast runners wearing the Krusteaz Pancake outfits in the 5K and hope to beat them. Holy smokes it must be hot in those pancake suits while running a 5k, gross.

We eventually made our way down onto the field, like the actual football field, and were able to cheer on the finishers as they came in. Tomorrow we would be finishing the same, right on the 50 yard line!

Is this what it’s like to score a touchdown?

Did Someone Say Lunch?

We headed to the Tap and Growler for some some sandwiches to fuel up. My strategy the day of a race is to focus on proteins for lunch and carbs for dinner, so I had a pork burrito bowl. We were also taking it pretty light on beer and focusing on hydration.

Birds of Prey

Fun Fact: I love hawks and eagles and owls and anything that is a bad ass bird. Hummingbirds too. Did you know that Central Park’s Red Tailed Hawk population is booming? So I guess I’m a bird guy. We went to the Cascades Raptor Center to kill time and because, whoa, so many amazing creatures in one place!

It was on the side of a hill and had 25 small enclosures where the birds were kept. I at first got very sad seeing these majestic creatures penned up, but then upon further reading learned that all of them had been injured or basically could not survive in the wild. We even saw 3 Bald Eagles… what!?

Dinner was at Ciao Pizza Trattoria. We had planned it carefully weeks before after studying the menu. It was a family owned homemade pasta kinda spot. I opted for their version of linguine bolognese which has been my go-to pasta for the last few years. It didn’t disappoint one bit. Abbe, Susan and I were in bed by 9:30 with a 5AM wakeup call. Plenty of slumber time.

Strange Days

I had the wildest dreams I can remember in some time on this night. I only write this so I can reflect back. I was actually running a race of some distance, in and out of buildings, and kept getting sidetracked which for some reason didn’t stress me out. I was also talking to God, yes God, which is odd as I have spent 2 days in church ever. He (yes it was a he) was helping me dress and he was very relaxed. It was so weird and yet simultaneously cool, like hanging out with Prince. What does it all mean? Was it battle preparations for the next day?

Race Day!

We all woke around the same time. Getting older has one advantage, waking up early is getting easier. The temperature was 38 degrees and would climb to 50-55 at the end of the race. The ladies were wearing singlets but since I tend to run a bit cooler when I race I made a game time decision to switch to my long sleeve Battalion shirt. I had brought numerous options to choose from including rain gear because… always be prepared!

Our Lyft driver was great. She got us to where we needed to be and she was very calm about it all. Thank you. We scurried off in the cool morning air to hit baggage check and maybe a bathroom stop. Our timing could not have been more perfect. As we were exiting the stadium, goals accomplished, we had 5 minutes to game time. We said goodbye and popped into our respective corrals, ready to crush.

And so it begins…

The gun went off and we took off pretty quickly. I was right behind the 3 Hour pacer, which was perfect as my goal was to go just under 3, maintaining a 6:50ish pace as I had done in New York last Fall.

Sometimes you got it and sometimes you don’t. I tend to know within the first mile how my day is going to go. That doesn’t mean I won’t finish, it just means this thing is gonna be rough. Today I felt liquid, and I knew I had something in me. Mile 1 ticked off at a 6:56, which was a good warm up, but I needed slightly better if I was going to hit my goal.

As we entered Mile 2 I saw Mikey cheering on the right. We were running through the city, which consists of low lying buildings so the sun was just piercing the roadway. It was really pretty actually.

The next couple of miles were a series of straightaways through some fun neighborhoods. The crowds were very energetic and kept us moving. Miles 3-7 were under 6:50 by a few seconds.

We were now on an out-n-back section of straightaway that would conclude at Mile 10. It was really shady with shards of sunlight piercing through the trees to our left. Once we made the turnaround at Mile 7.5 we would be in full sunlight. I was plugging along pretty steadily.

The Decision

I was having a great race thus far and Mile 8 and 9 were a 6:38 and 6:39, which one would say is too fast for what I had been training for. When you train for a marathon, you are only as good as the conditions on race day allow you to be. You are at the mercy of the weather gods. Today, on this morning, the gods were with us. If there were any time to dial it up it would be when conditions were in your favor. I thought to myself, ‘You’re going a bit fast.’ and then looking around and taking it all in I thought, ‘Conditions this perfect only arise every few races, set it off.’ And so I did, all smiles. This is when I passed the 3 hour pace group.

At Mile 10 I saw, or rather heard Ryan yell “Go Chris!” I knew it was him as we had just met, and people I have just met call me by my first name only. Or, if it were a female voice it would have been my Mom.

The Halfway Point

On the Mile 12 straightaway I saw Mikey who gave me a solid high five AND shot this video. 6:41 pace. It was here I took my first gel.

I was very curious how the Half Marathon and Full Marathon breakaway point would look. Would I be all by myself? It’s hard to tell who is racing the Half versus the Full until you hit this moment.

At 13, we pulled hard left and some of the guys I had been racing with hung on. We had a solid 3-5 guys in race formation going hard as we entered this park/bike path area. It was my least favorite part of the course as it weaved along the river and offered no insight to who was overtaking you and it made footing a bit tedious. In times past when the 3 hour pacers pass me I tend to fail, so I was hyperconscious as to where they were and at Mile 14 they were on my ass!

I knew I had to keep my pace under 6:50 to avoid those punks, so I held to that, even though I was now in a bit of pain. My energy was great, but I was feeling it in my legs. 6:42, 6:47. 6:40 to the 17 Mile turnaround on the other side of the river.

I was looking across the river now, in case I saw Abbe. She never left me all day as I knew this was a bigger race for her as she has never qualified for the big show, Boston, and this was going to be her day for it. I didn’t see her, but conditions were favorable, so I was hopeful.

The Annoying Guy

From miles 10-19 I ran with this beefy annoying guy. When people would pass him he would look at them in anger, which is odd as a marathon is you versus you, unless you are an Olympian, which homeslice was not. He was doing this odd thing with me. Every time we hit an aid station my pace was consistent as I grabbed water and gatorade. He walked the aid stations to take in fluids. Then, 30 seconds later I heard this sporadic pitter patter of footfall as he caught up to me and then leveled off.

I knew he couldn’t keep these antics up, but I also didn’t care to ruin my own race. Until… this pack of young 20 somethings started cruising by in flying V formation and I decided to hang on. We clocked mile 19 at a 6:33 and it felt great. I never saw that guy again.

20 On…

Miles 20-22 were 6:45, 6:42 and 6:40. We were cruising in some shaded forest paths now and I knew I had this thing in the bag if I kept up and didn’t falter, which was of course possible in Miles 23-26. I didn’t see Mikey or Ryan and was wondering where Abbe was, hopeful she was having as good a day as I was.

Heatwave

Mile 23-24 was on the open field of Alton Baker Park and had no shade from the sun. I felt it immediately and my pace entered the 6:50-6:56 range, the slowest all day. I knew I had just a few miles to go and had created a solid buffer for my sub3 time, so i wasn’t very stressed. I thought about pouring water on my head at an aid station but was glad I didn’t as we finally reentered the shaded forest. I would have been chilled.

Right before Mile 25 I felt something odd. Fatigue in the way of energy, not leg power. I had one gel in my pocket and even though I had a mile to go I decided to take it. Did it help? Yes. A few moments later I had a slight sugar and salt energy surge, helping me push through.

Mile 26 was a 6:36 pace and I was reaching hard for that sub3, my mind was a mess. The clock said 2:51:xx and I had to get around the stupid stadium. It took forever! In reality it took 6 minutes.

The End

I turned and entered the stadium feeling like I was going to have a heart attack and saw the time, 2:57! I have in the past withheld emotion from my finishes, but have recently wanted to embrace it, and so I did.

As I crossed I threw up my arm and yelled “Hell Yea!” (not evident in the pictures) and then let forth a wave of excited screams. This was marathon number 20 and I had not only gone under 3, I had gone 2:57:05, my third best time ever at a 6:45 pace. After gathering my medal I stopped on the side of the field and looked around at it all and laughed a bit, tears in my eyes. You see, the glory of a marathon is fleeting and very personal. You must savor those seconds after it as they cannot be recreated, and so I did.

Abbe and Susan

I gathered my belongings from baggage and headed into the stadium where I soon found Mikey and Ryan on the 50 Yard line. I had a stream of texts coming in from the friends that were tracking me, thanks to you all! But where were Abbe and Susan?

Right on cue Susan showed at 3:32, nailing a BQ, followed by Abbe with a 3:34! I yelled my face off. I was so elated. Abbe has been chasing the Boston Qualifier for some time now and she had finally caught it. It was an epic day.

The five of us celebrated with beers once we all found each other. Basking in the warm sun, legs happy again, we had all achieved our very challenging goals and were all smiles.

After the Party it’s the Afterparty

We all went to lunch at the Bier Stein before heading back to Portland.

Dinner was at Pok Pok, the ultimate Thai restaurant. New Yorkers might know as we had a spot in Brooklyn that closed sadly. Not surprisingly, it was amazing… some of the best Thai food I have ever had without actually going to Thailand.

We hit Richmond Bar for one more drink before calling it.

After the Afterparty… it’s Monday

We had planned to have an entire day in Portland after the race. After sleeping in and like a thousand cups of coffee Abbe and I went to a Chinese Garden in the heart of Portland. It was really cool and very relaxing.

Once Susan joined us we went to Country Cat Kitchen for some heavy food to reload. I ordered the fried chicken because I love fried chicken and may even consider myself a slight connoisseur on the topic. I took a few bits of piece one (of two) and told Abbe it was a 9. I was in heaven. I was also taking my time so I could make sure this moment wouldn’t just slip by. By the time I had dialed into the second piece everything had settled and it was even better than the first. “Abbe, this is a 10.” Holy cow!

Next up we hit the Mississippi area for some bar hopping. Mikey and Susan’s friend Jason met us. We eventually arrived at Prost where another dear friend from college, Pete, was in wait! Man, it was good to have everyone back again telling old stories and laughing.

Reflection

We took a 6:20AM flight the next day. It was sad to see all that fun go by but it was time to return.

I (we) trained really hard on this one. I really enjoyed the ride and every one of those challenging runs. Especially the ‘Bridges’ long runs, and the feeling of getting one step closer to accomplishment after finishing them.

Marathon 20, you were awesome. You made me realize that age is just a number as I ran my 3rd best time ever at age 41. Running is hard if you let your mind get in the way.

Portland bitches, I love you! It’s great knowing we will always be friends.

And Abbe… YOU DID IT! XXOO

    26.2 Eugene Marathon Marathon

    RACE REPORT: 144 NYC Marathon 2:59:16

    Posted on November 7, 2018 by admin Posted in All, Race Reports, Running Leave a comment

    How do I even begin to explain the significance of this race? 

    10 years ago I was dared to run a marathon by the President of Rolex, Allen Brill (rest in peace). That single dare altered the course of my existence. I mean, I wasn’t stealing cars or on my way to prison, but this created new goals.

    Running and triathlon have changed my life for the better. Thanks to running I have countless friends pushing their boundaries in the sport. I coach numerous athletes who continue to impress me. Running… who knew?

    I’ve broken 3 hours three other times, but never in the four times I have ran the NYC Marathon. 

    Present Day…

    Abbe’s folks arrived Thursday and so we did what any logical New Yorker would do, we went gallery hopping in Chelsea. It was great as usual although I didn’t run into any old college friends which was odd.

    Friday after work we went to Reema’s birthday party in Cobble Hill at Black Forest. It was a great turn out finished with a pasta dinner (carb loading begins).

    Saturday

    It was cool and misty rainy day on Saturday. Good! Get it out of your system and let us run rain free please.

    Abbe and I made our way to Grand Army Plaza (in Manhattan) to cheer on our friends running in the Dash to the Finish 5K. I saw all of my friends and even got a high five from Bojana. Next up… bib pick up at the Javitz. 

    This would be marathon 19 and so I think Marathon Expos have gotten played out by now. I enter them as if it’s a Supermarket Sweep… “Where’s my Bib? Okay, got it. Next, the tee-shirt. Cool, thanks lady. Now get me the hell out of here!” 

    We had lunch with Abbe’s folks plus special guest star Brian H. at Randolph Beer off the Bowery. It was solid fuel. The rest of the afternoon was spent off our feet relaxing at the apartment before our 5:30PM dinner down the block at Paola’s. I opted for the bolognese which has been my pre-race go-to for like 3 years now. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. In bed by 10:30PM… 

    Race Day

    Why can’t all major races coincide with an event that gives you an extra hour of sleep? Thanks Daylight Savings! So we woke up at 5AM but it was really 6AM to our bodies… piece-o-cake. Abbe and I jetted out of the apartment at 5:45, caught a cab, picked up Meredith and were at the Staten Island Ferry by 6:15. We linked up with Brian and his friend from Germany, Jimmy. We were shooting for the 6:30 ferry but the 6:15 was loading and we had an opportunity to jump on so we did.

    I remember gazing out as the sun was coming up and thinking to myself, ‘The Gods are with us today.’

    It was a beautiful morning in the mid 40’s and sunny. The day was designed for running and we all felt it as the rising sun blasted into the ferry windows warming us like a beacon of hope.  

    Entering Fort Wadsworth we said goodbye to Brian and Jimmy as they were Blue Camp and we were Orange. Abbe and I applied sunscreen and ate our pre-race fuel. Mine consisted of 1 banana and some GENUCANN drink mix. I was ready to roll…

    After a hug and a kiss Abbe and I parted ways and entered our respective corrals. We had 30 minutes until showtime and I felt great. In my corral I was sipping my GENUCANN and having a fun time people watching. Then the guy next to me started asking questions about the race and you guessed it, we became friends. His name was also Chris. New York Chris meet London Chris.

    We had a gorgeous rendition of the National Anthem, I even said to London Chris “Wow, she is good.” Next, Peter Ciacia did his usual race instructions. I’d like to give a special shout out to Peter. Ever since I started racing in New York Peter has been the voice of the NYRR. Every race be it a 5K or a Marathon has been announced by him… “Lead vehicle, do I have clearance on the roadway?” We’re all gonna miss you Peter, happy retirement.

    The canon sounded and ‘New York, New York’ started pumping through the speakers. Showtime. 

    Wow, the Verrazano’s Narrows Bridge is long. Like, 2 miles long. I enjoy it though as all the early explorers like Hank Hudson came right under us through ‘The Narrows’ to discover mighty Manhattan. I tried to take it easy on the uphill and was doing a 7:04 pace, fine. Mile 2 on the other hand I was rocking a 6:12 which was kinda dumb.

    I hit Mile 3 in 6:31 which was also a bit too fast, but it felt fine on the legs. I had to pee so bad and in the past that it has destroyed my time so my mind was all over the place as on what to do. So I stopped, but it was gonna be quick, real quick! I was even counting out loud in the porto john… “29, 30, 31, fuck this is now too long.” 40 seconds and I was back on the streets, minor delay.

    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Brooklyn brings a solid cheer game to the marathon. The bands were totally killing it! I was looking at the bands, grooving and nodding to them in appreciation.

    After my bathroom stop my paces started falling into place. I started to hover in the 6:45-6:50 range, which was what I needed to hit for my sub 3 hour race. I normally go out way hard knowing that I will fade out anyway, but my amazing wife Abbe convinced me otherwise. 

    At Mile 6 I heard, “GO BAKER!!!!!” and as I look across 4th Ave I see Steph and Matt6 cheering! (Great to see you both.)

    I was rotating between Gatorade and water every other aid station. I’ve done this many times and it reduces the possibility of getting cramps from ‘course Gatorade’ which can be too concentrated at times. 

    At Atlantic Avenue I was watching for a bunch of my cousins who live nearby, but that area is so chaotic I knew it might not happen. Blasting right onto Lafayette headed into Fort Greene I checked off ‘Sector One’ which to me is the 4th Avenue stretch. 

    Miles 8-13 are pretty tight as you wind from Fort Greene to Williamsburg to Greenpoint. I was still somehow holding onto my 6:45ish pace and feeling peppy. I was, however, starting to have those beginning doubts of making my sub3 time. I was having so much fun yelling at the cheering crowds that I told myself I would be okay with an over 3 hour finish, which was partially true. 

    To take my mind off things, like running, I waited until I saw a super lame quiet cheer squad and I would start this ‘underhand pitch’ move with my arms and yell, “BROOKLYN MAKE SOME NOISE!” After the initial reaction, which was fabulous, I started doing this a lot. In fact so much I was wondering if my fellow runners were getting annoyed with me. Like, ‘Who’s this guy, Mister Cheery McCheererson?’

    The stupid Pulaski Bridge reared it’s ugly head at Mile 13. It’s so bland. I knew I had cheer squad in Long Island City though so I kept things moving. Up ahead I noticed a familiar shirtless figure… it was my buddy Rowland! For those new to my really long and drawn out race reports, Rowland is a friend and a training partner. We run the same pace and often find ourselves side by side during marathons.

    I approached him and tried to be funny, just hanging to his left for a second, but he knew it was me. We chatted for a bit and he noted that he didn’t think he was going to break 3 at this point. In my head I was kind of thinking the same thing. My legs were starting to hurt (at Mile 13?) and I was doubting myself. I figured I would hang with Rowland and run with him, giving up on my sub3 attempt.

    Then, Long Island City happened. As we hit 48th Avenue or Street or whatever, LIC is confusing still, I saw Stephan, Amanda, Vivian, Silas, Leonora and Brad! Amanda was holding out a Redbull which I had requested and so I sped up and grabbed it, sloppily popping it open and chugging a few ounces. As I was rounding the corner I saw Carlos and Heath cheering me on as well! With this added cheer support I lunged ahead and was back on track. Mentally I was like ‘F-Yea, if I’m gonna go for this, let’s push it.’ And so I did.

    Miles 15 and 16 were a 7:01 and an 8:04 as it was the notorious Queensboro Bridge, which is a steady incline. This was not my first time dealing with this cold, gothic, lonely place… I knew exactly what to expect and how to deal with her. With my head looking into the distance I plugged along, slowing my heart-rate and pace so I didn’t blow up. I was amping myself up for the descent into mighty Manhattan, one of the pinnacle moments in the race. At the apex of the bridge I let out a yell of triumph, hoping to inspire some fellow runners, but all I received was silence. Was it something I said?

    The sound of Manhattan hits you as you are on the bridge making your way down. It’s like the roar of a football stadium, the sound of deafening white noise just waiting for you to arrive. It’s something so epic I will take it with me to the grave.

    Welcome to Manhattan.

    You are in the center of 1st Avenue, the Mayor of your own Parade and you can lose the run right here in this moment. Get too caught up in all of the excitement and you blow up, leaving nothing for Miles 20-26. And yet… you really need to soak this in and enjoy it as it’s one of the coolest experiences. I took my time and reeled it in a bit (I’ve blown up here in the past). My pace was still holding steady, and it surprised me.

    Thanks Jon!

    At 93rd Street I saw my Battalion cheer squad… Bobby C, Jill, Jon, Jenn, Kerryn, Cat, Morgan, Gillian, Phil, Bojana and Brian. Next, only a few blocks up I saw Kelly and Beth. Then, it was Bardy and Dana followed by Elizabeth and Juan! Go Upper East Side cheer squad! Great to see all of you.

    I really only had half a mile until I hit the Bronx after my last cheer patrol, not bad. Entering I knew Noah would be stalking me somewhere in the hood. Sure enough I saw him at like Mile 21. He chased after me insisting that I break 3 hours. Another huge boost and I was still in the 6:50 pace range.

    The day before the race Dougie Dee was texting me some positive vibes and he said something that stuck with me. ‘Coming back over the Madison Avenue Bridge I expect you to be on fire bro.’ Hell yea. I was on fire and I used my Brooklyn tactics to get Manhattan pumped. “Manhattan make some noise!” as I was bombing down the bridge. It felt great! 4 miles to go. 

    Rounding Marcus Garvey Park I got a huge salute from TMIRCE led by Chris Ho! Then, right after, I see the Gotham City Runners crew cheering me on as well! My pace was in check, but I was still uncertain about my final outcome. 

    As we neared The Park I knew I had the ever challenging 5th Ave to deal with. It’s a steady incline for around 1.5 miles, yeah it’s a delight. Just like the Queensboro the strategy is to slow down and keep it together. I was running on the far left ‘shaded’ side of 5th and everyone else was on the sunny side. Why?

    As we were hitting the top of the hill I saw Uncle Billy, all my cousins, Bojana, Brian, Jenn and many more high fiving me! It pushed my energy as I hit 90th Street and made my way into The Central Park.

    Entering The Park truly is like entering my backyard, I know every twist and turn, every landmark. It felt good is my point and I knew I had a few miles to go. As I rounded the turn by the Met hitting the Mile 24 marker with roughly 15 minutes to go I had a freak out moment. 6:50 pace doubled plus 0.2 miles (which is always annoying) would leave no room for error. I needed to dial it up.

    I made the decision to drop the hammer and set the course on fire. The sun was blinding and there were people cheering me on, but I don’t remember who as I was so laser focused. Mile 25 was a 6:43, not amazing, but also not slower than my overall pace. Right around Mile 25 I saw my friend Paddy (a fellow runner and theater actor) who jumped out at me on the course making sure I saw him.

    As I descended toward Central Park South I really pushed it. I’ve given a lot during a race before, but never at the end of a marathon, so this was new pain territory. I was on overdrive and passing runners left and right, I wanted this sub3, it was attainable, and I wasn’t going to let it slip away. I kept looking at my watch and as I crested 59th Street and turned into Central Park. I had just over 2 minutes to get to the Finish Line. I think the clock said 2:57:55… not a great time.

    With the flags of every international runner surrounding me, pushing me on, inspiring me, I ran so hard. I mean, I turned on some kind of fire that I had never tapped into before. I was totally having an out of body experience too, if that makes any sense. My legs were in such pain but my head and heart were fine and I had an amazing amount of energy. As I turned the bend coming in towards Tavern on the Green I couldn’t make out the clock time. I was confused but didn’t care, I pushed harder and harder and as I neared the Finish and the clock read 2:59:16… I had done it, sub3 in NYC. My final mile’s pace was a 6:15 and I was holding back tears. I laughed, “Ha! Yes!” as I kind of looked through everything happening around me and into some blurred reality.

    I walked on in a daze and then saw my other friends and training partners D and Brad! We took a few photos after high fiving and hugging, of course.

    After the Party it’s the Afterparty

    I walked the entire way back to The District on the Upper East. It’s a long story, my plan got sidetracked and I’ll tell you in person one day. I will say this though, I led a number of lost cheer squads over to the course to route on wives, moms and loved ones, so not all was lost.

    As I entered The District I was met with a roar of applause from the restaurant, led by my crew already present. I was home. There were so many friends and family there I can’t begin to name them all!

    Run squad

    I felt amazing, which isn’t always the case after a marathon. Trevor showed up followed by Abbe and Brian H. Then Brianna and Meredith arrived. Every time a runner entered we erupted in cheer! Man I love this day! Positivity gets injected into you from the time you wake up. We even have a few friends that are signing up to run the race for the first time… Mike! Christophe?

    Legs.

    Epic doesn’t even begin to describe the day. All of my friends had amazing races. Abbe ran her second fastest marathon! I’m personally still wrapping my head around everything that transpired.

    Thank you so much to all of my friends out there cheering. I relied on you this time and you came through like shining rays of light. This emphasizes what running is, we are one big family out to help push and support each other through our own goals and achievements. You make me proud. 

    And finally, on a personal note. I’ve been chasing the unobtainable sub3 in New York since I started running in 2008. I can tell you that I gave everything I had in this race, I wanted this so bad and pushed myself to pain thresholds I hadn’t experienced before. Our bodies can do so much more than we know, but our mind stops that from happening. Free your mind, make the impossible possible. I’ll be the first one on the sidelines cheering you on. – Baker out

    26.2 Marathon NYC Marathon

    RACE REPORT: 138 The Chicago Marathon – 3:02:36

    Posted on October 14, 2017 by admin Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 2 Comments

    Abbe has always wanted me to run the Chicago Marathon. She ran it the first year we dated, on her birthday, and she loved the course. One morning as we were looking at the race site we noticed that we had made the qualifying time to enter and avoid the lottery! We made a quick decision and registered. Game on.

    We left so very early the Friday before the race. We caught a cab at 4:45AM and were at the gate in Laguardia by 5:15 for a 6:00 flight. The good news is that we were in Terminal A, or ‘Marine Terminal’, and I had never been to that one! It was a terminal used for people who commuted via airplane. Abbe and I played a fun game called spot the runners.

    We arrived at our hotel in Chicago at 9:15AM and I needed coffee stat!

    Next, we took Chicago’s ‘L’ to the expo. I would come to love the L as it was so efficient and reliable, unlike the state of our NYC Subway system these days.

    The expo was Bonkertown and not my favorite place. The lines for bib pick up were a bit insane as they forgot to tell runners to check in at the kiosks before the secondary lines. I thought it would get better once I had my bib, I was wrong. As we made our way into the main part of the expo we had to go to the back to get our shirts, of course. Walk through all the race goodies so you might buy something, then you can leave. Abbe and I did look at possibly getting a Chicago tee shirt or hoodie, but the lines stretched out of the roped in areas our around the expo pathways. I had never seen anything like it, hundreds of people just waiting to buy stuff. I also wondered how these people had the patience for these shenanigans. My head was wrapped around how we were going to get lunch before I passed out.

    Speaking of lunch, it was awesome! We went to Abbe’s favorite sandwich shop called Xoco (Choco). It’s one of chef Rick Bayless’s spots. I had this awesome pork sandwich that was served faced down in a spicy tomato broth.

    Next up… we met one of Abbe’s coworkers Julian and his wife Denise at a new restaurant called Proxi in the West Loop. Look at me all ‘I know the names of the cool neighborhoods after just a few hours in town.’ The food was spectacular. We had tried some of everything being a bit indulgent as we still had one more night before the race.

    On Saturday I went out for a solo shake out run. It was a 3 mile out and back to Navy Pier. It was a gorgeous morning, but getting hot quick.

    Abbe had a work meeting with chef Noah Sandoval at his restaurant, Oriole. After that Bojana, Brian and Amanda picked us up. We were headed to Lincoln Park to a pizza spot Bojana knew (she grew up in Chicago). Abbe and I had thin crust while the rest of the group had deep dish.

    The rest of the day was spent on a boat doing an architectural tour of the city along the rivers. It was quite fun and made a lot of sense as we were off our feet.

    We all met Jason and Amber for dinner at Ostoria Langhe in Logan Square. The pasta was delicious and was definitely a good choice. Running fuel was consumed… and we were in bed by 9:30.

    RACE DAY

    We were up at 6 prepping and I was very excited to run this puppy. Weather looked pretty bad (hot and humid) but didn’t care. I was at the end of taper madness and was going to be set free into the streets of Chicago.

    We left the hotel and walked the one mile to the start. It was actually kind of brisk and cool out… for now.

    I kissed Abbe goodbye at Gate 2 as I had to go to Gate 5, which made no sense. I spent the next 15 minutes winding around navigating to the A Corral which was slightly nerve wrecking. I felt like a mouse in a maze, with no cheese reward.

    In A Corral with 10 to spare I started looking for all my friends. I couldn’t find David, but I did find Rowland and Delgado, or ‘D’ as we call him. We chatted about pace strategy, all of us looking to be right in the 3 hour mark. If conditions were favorable, then we push to sub3. We fist bumped and D said “Stick together guys!”

    The gun went off and were took off at an even 7 minute pace, settling in. It was a beautiful morning, 65 degrees with a cool breeze, for now.

    We were running in the dark canyons of center city and it was way cool. The crowds were similar to the NYC Marathon, very loud and three deep along the course. Around Mile 3 we lost Rowland in the crowds after a bridge unfortunately. D and I had a quick chat that we should aim to hit 6:30s for the first half, knowing that the second would be bad and we would lose time. I was down.

    The route up into Lincoln Park is great. It’s a really wide road with tons of crowd support. Slowly we ran up against the back of the 3:00 pace group and I thought to myself ‘What should we do?’ As if on queue D says “Baker what should we do, should we go?” I laughed and said “I was going to ask you the same thing!” “Then we go!” Yells D and we slowly pushed past them.

    At mile 5 we hit our first ‘6:30’ spot on. I was psyched. D also taught me a new way of getting fluids while running with a group, the person closest to the aid station simply passes water to the guy on the outside, brilliant!

    We were also running on the left in the shade which helped out a lot.

    Miles 6-12 were 6:32, 6:28, 6:34, 6:32, 6:35, 6:25, 6:24… not bad pacing!

    I felt great and so did D. We had quite a system we were rocking and we were overtaking lots of people. We saw Amber, Jason and Eric cheering right around Mile 12!

    On everyone’s splits mile 14/15 is where things got strange. It says we were running a 5:38 pace, but we certainly were not.

    Miles 15-17 were in the 6:40 range because I was struggling and told D I needed to ease up a bit. He was cool with this and let me control our timing. My stomach was a bit screwy as I had a super concentrated Gatorade around mile 14 that didn’t sit well. It was also heating up and things were getting tougher.

    #friendship

    We saw Bojana and Amanda cheering here!

    I think it was right before Mile 17 that I told D to go ahead as I was going to slow him down. I could feel myself faltering in pace and energy and knew I couldn’t keep up the 6:40’s anymore. “Okay Baker, see you at the finish!”

    Miles 18-22 I slowed down by 10 seconds per mile roughly. At Mile 22 I was running a 7:17 pace and my legs were on fire. This is pretty normal (beat up legs) for a marathon, I think we all just forget it’s going to happen until it happens.

    I was just hanging on in the blistering sun and trying to get to the end. Since Mile 16 we had been in unobstructed sun and heat (75 degrees maybe?) and it was taking it’s toll.

    Miles 23-26 were in the 8:00 minute range and I was struggling. I just kept plodding along mile to mile, aid station to aid station. I felt like I was in slow motion and that with every step my quads might explode, blood and muscle tissue splaying my friendly spectators. Gross, sorry.

    I finally made it to the Mt. Everest of a highway overpass to make it to the final 200 meters. As I came across the finish D was waiting there with a high five. I finished in 3:02:36, which I will take any day.

    Sex/
    Age
    Bib Overall Place Age
    Place
    Finish
    Time
    Pace/
    Mile
    AG %
    M39 1049 1048 184 3:02:36 6:58 68.50%

    We tried waiting for Rowland for awhile but a security guard made me walk to the end which sucked, but I get it.

    I saw a couple friends finishing, including Grace. I tried to find D and Rowland and as time ran out I knew I had to make it to the Palmer Hotel where my friends (and wife) would find me. I wasn’t running with a phone so it was crucial I made it to the rendezvous point… or be lost forever.

    I planted myself in the hotel lobby bar and proceeded to order the best chicken noodle soup i have ever had… with a beer of course! I also made friends with a lot of the folks at the bar. Once Abbe, Bojana and Amanda found me we headed out to get ready for the pig roast celebration that Nina and Momo (Bojo’s parents) were putting on for us. It was an absolute blast and I have never been more stuffed after a race.


    This race was a blast, thanks Chicago. It was far from easy for sure, but the course and the crowd support and the amazing volunteers made it a fantastic experience. I achieved my goal of coming in right around the 3 hour mark and had fun doing so.

    Thanks to Nina and Momo for the awesome after party!

    Big ups to Rowland and D for the fantastic pacing. We were on fire for that first half kicking out solid 6:30s! Days like this really make me appreciate the running community.

     

     

    26.2 Chicago Marathon

    NYC Marathon – 2016 Spectator Report

    Posted on November 12, 2016 by admin Posted in All, Race Reports, Running Leave a comment

    Marathon Sunday in New York City is my favorite day in the city. It has been since 2008, when I ran my first race and fell in love with running. Most years I am running it, but I bowed out of 2016, mainly because I was running a marathon in Italy 3 weeks prior. That meant I was on super cheer squad duty!

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    Our cheer support started on Saturday night. Abbe and I had a dinner/sign making gathering at our place. We had quite a few people show up, including one Battalion member running the race the next day, Anders!

    RACE DAY

    Waking up on Marathon Sunday and not having anywhere to go is a strange feeling. It is both welcoming, calmly drinking coffee and catching up on the news, and a feeling of missing out or lack of purpose. Thinking about all of your friends and teammates lounging around Fort Wadsworth waiting to the the line on one of the greatest marathons on earth… well, it feels like you didn’t get invited to someone’s birthday party.

    To combat that feeling we had a party of our own. Noah, Cat, Gillian, Tia, Phil, Eric, and Susan came over for bloody mary’s and breakfast. We had the TV tuned to the marathon and when the lead women came off the Queensboro Bridge we set out towards 1st Avenue.

    14910379_10211047604167037_6141599382900014549_nHi Susan!

    The weather outside seemed perfect for cheering (and running for that matter). On 1st Avenue (Mile 18) we picked up a few more friends… Role Call: Neil, Alena, EK, Chris, Bobby, Jill, Bojana, Brian, Lisa and Dave. We had our signs and our trackers out ready for our peeps. First up, Sebastien!

    14980622_10211047604487045_9130482719071621075_nHi Alena and half of Sweendog’s face

    He was on par for a 2:40 finish time, and so he was kind of off by himself running and easy to spot. I jumped out from the barricades and gave him a point, thumbs up cheer scenario.

    Beth and her cheer squad showed up to add to our fun at this point. We saw Juan crushing it but he had his music up so loud he couldn’t hear our insane yelling! Shortly after Dani came flying by looking great!

    Next up was Battalion teammate Anders who was killing his first marathon! Jenn, also running her first marathon came by looking like a speedster as well!

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    Another first timer was my cousin Tommy, who came by and gave us a solid thumbs up! Battalion teammate Kelly was right behind him. As she passed by she threw me her handheld water bottle in what was nothing short of a 4th down touchdown pass. It was perfect!

    After watching a few more friends cruise by we needed to make our way back west to 5th Avenue which was Mile 23. We pit stopped at our apartment, Cheer Squad Base Station Alpha, to refill our bloody mary’s and use the bathroom first.

    14900392_10211047602967007_282299852283409395_n14925379_10211047602126986_7245556730667343733_n

    5th Avenue’s cheering was still light and we were able to get right up along the course. We missed Sebastien because, well he ran a 2:42 and change which for those of you not in the know, is fast. We did see Anders though who seemed to be having a great time even though it was mile 23!

    14938306_10154697441203288_7806628249872836486_n

    We saw Juan and Jenn fly by followed by Tommy. I also saw Laura, who I coached to a Half Ironman earlier in the summer. It was her first marathon and she was also doing fantastic! We did miss a lot of our people as it got really crowded and overwhelming.

    Once Tiki Barber (we’re Strava friends) came by we made our way to The Battalion after party at The District.

    Already there waiting were Uncle Bob, Aunt Rosalie, Tommy’s wife Kelly and their adorable daughter Fiona as well as Ander’s wife Alena. We posted up to the bar and waited for our marathon champions to get there.

    As Anders entered the crowded bar we started a round of applause and I yelled out “3:17!” It was a pretty sweet welcome with Alena passing him a beer to complete the ceremony.

    Jenn had a similar experience. She ran a 3:24 for her first marathon which also earned her a coveted Boston Qualifier by 10 minutes! Go Jenn!

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    Tommy, who was a few minutes behind her posted a 3:29 for his first marathon! Way to go cuz, it’s in our blood!

    All of us hung out partying, listening to each runner give their epic tale. It was great. Kelly (another Battalion teammate and friend) had gone home and showered as she always does after a race and showed up a little later. She was pumped with her 3:42!

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    As the night pressed on people came and went. Abbe and I eventually left to grab dinner before calling it a night.

    Congratulations to all of my friends and teammates on this glory filled day! I hope someone was inspired to run just like I was when I cheered at my first New York City Marathon in 2007!

    Thanks to everyone whose images I borrowed as well!

     

     

     

    26.2 New York City Marathon NYCM

    RACE REPORT: 130 Lake Garda Int’l Marathon – 3:05:15

    Posted on October 27, 2016 by admin Posted in All, Race Reports, Running Leave a comment

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_26Our team, The Battalion, likes to travel for work. That is, we pick fun destination races. 2016 was the Lake Garda International Marathon in northern Italy. We picked it for it’s gorgeous scenery and well… the food.


    DAY 1

    The Emirates flight to Milan was a flawless victory for me. One Ambien and I was out for the whole 8 hours. We (Abbe, Dougie, Danika and Eric) landed at noon, rented a car, and set out into Italy’s northeastern lake region. The weather was overcast and would soon get worse, as the Hundred Years Storm was approaching.

    Lake Garda is Italy’s largest lake. It is roughly 5 miles wide by 40 miles high. We entered the perimeter of the lake headed north just as the rain started. A few more miles and what many of the locals called The Hundred Years Storm opened up, dropping the craziest downpour I have ever seen on us. We slowed down and carefully made our way around the small windy roadway. At one point an apple fell onto our windshield and I really thought it was going to shatter. Go Fiat!

    Finally at Hotel Castello in Malcesine, we ran inside and checked in. The place was fantastic and right next to the famous castle that Malcesine is known for.  The Etruscans founded the town in 500BC so yea, it’s got history… my kind of place.

    We were welcomed by Marco and Matteo at Hotel Castello and they would soon become our trusted friends and top notch hosts.

    After dropping our bags off we met in the lobby for a few drinks before headed to dinner. I was beyond Code Red hungry so we had little time. We scouted a few places before landing at Ristorante Caminetto, which was a local pizza place owned by a guy named Mario who was running around taking orders. He spoke zero english. He was extremely welcoming to us and we immediately had pitchers of white and red wine (and a beer for Eric) on the table. Then, the power went out! Nobody in the place really made a peep, they just kept talking and eating. Then guy next to us even used his iPhone flashlight to see his meal and continue chowing down. I had a pizza diavola, one of my favorites. I even get it here in NYC at San Matteo. The food was absolutely amazing and being around the locals was a blast.

    The rest of the night was spent at ‘Eric’s Place’. He opted for a suite with a sick balcony, so we partied there, obviously.

    DAY 2

    It was a bit overcast again and in the low 50’s. For breakfast, we ate downstairs in the hotel dining room with some Italians, Brits and Germans. It was a very wide variety of food and we (as Americans) were thrilled with all the options. A cheese and meat plate for breakfast? Grazie!

    The rest of the day was spent exploring the old town of Malcesine. It was quite a cool place and felt like stepping back in time as we wandered through the tight cobble stone streets. We had lunch at Ristorante Aristotele which turned out to be a fantastic place. I had Bolognese as the first part of my carb-o-loading. (This would not be the last time I would have Bolognese.)

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_malcesine1

    Next, we took the local bus ten minutes down the road to Torbole, another lake town. This was where registration was as well as the finish of the race. It was a slightly smaller town known for its windsurfing, so every bar and shop had a surf theme. Dougie and I found these sweet Torbole cycling jerseys that we picked up.

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_jersey

    Bib pickup was a cinch. No one spoke english, so it was a ‘simple pass me this and I’ll pass you that’ scenario finished with a ‘ciao, grazie’.

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_bus

    We ended up heading to dinner at 8-8:30 that night. What’s so great about a 9:30AM marathon start two blocks from your hotel… the night is yours!

    I forget the name of the place we had dinner, but it was superb. (Fun Fact: all of the meals in this story are going to be amazing aside from maybe one.) Dougie and I got this spicy seafood pasta that the server recommended.  I know, I know… very risky the night before a marathon, but we had a good feeling about it. The feeling was spot on and it was delicioso. We finished our meal with some of the homemade grappa-like substance they had brewing and then hit one more bar for a night cap before bed.

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_prerace_dinnerbeyond_defeat_italy2016_bar1Does Danika have her own bottle of wine?!

    DAY 3

    We casually woke up and hit the hotel restaurant breakfast. It was a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky. We would start the race with 50 degrees and end it at 70. I fueled up with some greek yogurt and fruits as well as an espresso. Back in the room as I geared up I had my usual (as of late) peanut butter on bread.

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_racemorning

    I was very excited to get this run on in such an amazing environment.

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    Dougie, Danika, Abbe and I set off for the start down the cobble stone streets and all thought, “Wow, it would be terrible to have to run on these.” We think Eric may have gone back to bed.

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_start

    The Start was in the center of town and all 500 runners were milling about trying to stay warm, even though t was a mere 50 degrees. Dougie and I had Newtons on and people were staring at us as they had never seen them before. It was also very hard to figure out what was happening as everything was being broadcast in Italian. We just waited until people started lining up and we followed along. Then, just like that, we were all just running.

    We all started in the back, so it was a little tight running through the streets of Malcesine, although very fun to see the locals cheering. I hit Mile 1 at 8:28 and decided I wanted to pick it up. I even thought how fun it would be do have negative splits on a marathon.

    The scenery was just as I imagined it. We were running south on the out-n-back right along the banks of the lake with the Dolomite Mountains cutting into the sky, the sun projecting dramatic shadows across them. I think the local italian racers must have thought me crazy as I stared into the distance, shit eating grin across my face.

    Miles 2-5 were in the high 6:50’s and I was feeling pretty peppy and really excited to be running. Tapering can be so hard sometimes. The turnaround took us quickly through a tiny italian town with very narrow streets. It was a very ‘Death Star Run’ situation and it felt like we were flying.

    Back on the course heading north I passed Abbe and gave her a high five. A few moments later I saw Dougie and did the same, Battalion representin’ hard.

    Miles 6-10 I started to drop into the 6:40’s feeling fluid and really enjoying myself. At mile 10 we passed the town we were staying in and there were a lot of locals out cheering yelling ‘Bravo, bravo!’ By now everyone running by me was in race formation and cutting the tangents very tight. Italians sure do know how to race!

    As we started to make our way to Torbole, the fabled winds that rip over the Dolomites from the north hit us dead on. It was pretty rough and there were tiny packs of 2-3 runners here and there drafting each other. My pace for miles 11-15 dropped into the high 6:50’s.

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_mile16

    Luckily, we started descending and bearing right a bit so we were shielded from the mighty north wind for the remainder of the run. The course got very twisty now and there were a series of very cool tunnels we went through that passed under the mountains. I was by myself and found that I was just staring out at the lake and mountains smiling. It was so beautiful. Torbole was in sight now, some 4 miles into the distance. You could see all of the wind surfers enjoying their Sunday on the lake zipping back and forth at very high speeds. Without exaggeration there were between 30 and 40 of them. Miles 16-18 were clocked at 6:38, 6:11, 6:36.

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_mile17

    We leveled out as we entered Torbole and started to see the cheering crowds. Then, in the center of town we passed the finish line turn off for those running the 15K or 18 miler.

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_mile18Just saying hello to my fans…

    Marathoners had to keep going, which was tough mentally. We ran out along the waters edge and caught some really cool views of the side of the lake we had just come from.

    Then, the most challenging part of the day approached. We had a 3 mile out-n-back along a flat sunny stretch of road. It was really hot by now and I was slowing down. The remainder of my pace would be in the 7:15-7:30 range. At mile 23 I was fading pretty bad and all by myself out there without anyone in sight. My mental game was collapsing. Then, I heard this pitter patter of speedy feet catching up to me. It was a woman I had passed and said hello to at mile 16. As she passed I said “Bravo! Great pace, go, go, go!” and she replied back to me, “You too, come on!” This was such a big help. I held her pace and for the rest of the race shadowed her from about 10 meters back.

    The last 3 miles were on a small paved trail and at least offered some shade for us, which was very helpful. We hit the lake front again and took a left making our way to the finish. I was totally spent and very happy to cross. My time was a 3:05 and change which I was very happy with.

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_finish1Comin’ in way hot on that turn!

    It turns out Monica, who finished in front of me, was 3rd Place Female so there were loads of cheering! So much so that they didn’t even announce my finish.

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_finish2

    Sex/
    Age
    Bib Overall Place Age
    Place
    Finish
    Time
    Pace/
    Mile
    AG %
    M38 26 19 2 3:05:15 7:03 67.47%

    After getting my medal I made my way to the food and drink tent. A banana and Gatorade set me straight and I started to regain normalcy. Our meet up spot was a restaurant called Winds on the main drag, so I headed there, ordered a beer and waited for my crew. Shortly after, Danika followed by Abbe and Eric and then Dougie all showed up.

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_celebrate1Not a bad location for a race.

    We left Wings Restaurant and headed down to the shore to bask in the glorious sunshine. After a few drinks and some food we headed back to Malcesine for showering.

    That night we headed back to Ristorante Aristotle where I had a really hearty and tasty pasta dish. We finished up the night at Eric’s Place, obviously.

    beyond_defeat_italy2016_lake_garda

    Thank you Lake Garda, for providing me with a truly epic setting to run a marathon. I was overwhelmed with the beauty that surrounded me countless times.

    DAY 4

    The next day we headed out to the Ferrari Factory in Maranello to test drive Ferraris!

    Italy… to be continued…

     

     

    26.2 Lake Garda Marathon

    RACE REPORT: 124 The Boston Marathon – 3:18:17

    Posted on April 23, 2016 by admin Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 3 Comments

    Beyond_Defeat_Boston2016_1685

    After running Boston in the historically horrible heat of 2012 I was very reluctant to come back. A few years later though, I was enticed. I had forgotten how hard the course was and was excited by the buzz and possibility to run again in the most noble of running races. I trained my face off and BQ’d in Paris last year, which gained me entry.

    Abbe and I, along with Dougie and Danika, arrived Saturday at lunchtime via the train. Cousin’s Matt and Shannon (who were up from North Carolina to watch the race) joined us.

    Our next order of business was the Expo. The weather was perfectly Spring like, 50 to 55 degrees and sunny. It was very well organized and I was at my bib pick-up counter easily. A funny conversation took place while getting my bib though. The girl who was looking over my credentials (Runner Passport and ID) looked at my very seriously and said, “Is your license expired?” I kind of had a panic moment and said, “Um… no?” She handed it back to me along with my bib. I then looked at my license, in red at the bottom it said ‘Expires in 2022.’ Why you gotta mess with my head lady?

    We ran into my friend Beth and she told me to watch for her by the Citgo sign on Monday.

    Then, I went and purchased my 2016 Celebration Jacket, a fun tradition. I tucked it away in a bag after, only to be worn after I finish the race.

    We had dinner at Union Oyster House that night. It was awesome. We had on non-race bibs.

    Beyond_Defeat_Boston2016_Union

    Sunday felt very anti-climactic due to the fact that I had my bib and everything I needed for Monday. It could just be a ‘fun’ day to do whatever. We started off with a shakeout run. I parted with Abbe, Danika and Dougie at Boston Common once I hit 2-3 miles. They continued on for another 8.

    Beyond_Defeat_Boston2016_BC

    We went to Barking Crab for lunch where Matt, Shannon and Greg joined us! I love Barking Crab and find it necessary to visit it every time I go to Boston. It was gorgeous out, so we wandered around Boston harbor before deciding to go to the Boston Tea Party museum and re-enactment. It was highly entertaining. So much so that we ended up going to a pub, Mr. Dooleys, for some traditional irish music. The guys in the band at one point asked who in the crowd is running. I raised my hand and in an irish brogue he laughed and said, “Ya, you look like a runner.” This befuddled me, as I really don’t think I look like a runner.

    Dinner was to be had at Scampo, an amazing italian (obviously) place built in an old jail. I choose lasagna as my meal of choice. Abbe and I took off right after dinner due to the whole ‘race’ thing the next day. I was so mad though, because Dougie and Danika went to the bar next door and Commissioner Bratton and the Chief of Police… for NYC, were hanging out!

    RACE DAY

    Beyond_Defeat_Boston2016_Morning

    Look how dumb and happy I am on race day. I thought the temperature was going to be fine!

    I grabbed a coffee and set off on my 30 minute walk to the buses. It was so peaceful.

    I got to sit in the front seat of the bus, which was fun. I felt like the Battalion Commander of a bus full of troops ready for battle. Once in base camp I was immediately spotted by my friends Rowland and D. We laughed a bit at how it was going to hit 70-75 degrees. A PR today would be challenging. We camped out on some boxes and chatted for an hour before making our way to Wave 1 start corrals.

    By now it was hot and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. For those not familiar with the Boston’s challenging course, one aspect is that there is no shade the entire way. A sunny day means it is on you the whole 26.2.

    At 9:50 two Blackhawk choppers cruised us, which was pretty sick. Then… the start gun.

    We blasted off at a 6:15 pace, which I slowed down to a 6:30. We were in a tight pack, typical for Boston.

    As we hit the 5K mark I was feeling good. When we hit the 10K mark I was not. The heat was really settling in and the sun was annoying me. Some crazy bad vibes started running through my head. I wanted to quit.

    15K mark… “Why am I doing this. This is so rough. Everything hurts and my body is on fire.”

    Then, I thought about how my cousin Libby and my Aunt Jen were in Wellesley cheering and I got excited to see them. They live in Boston. I was in Boston, that’s right, that’s where I was. This wasn’t some race I signed up for on a whim, I trained my ass of last Spring, harder then I ever had in a running race, to get here. I had no intention of PR’ing, this was supposed to be about the moment.

    ‘Dial it down Baker.’ I thought. I dropped my pace to the 7:30 range, splashed two cups of water into my face and looked ahead.

    Once we hit Mile 10, I remembered this time to move to the far left of the street so that when we passed the Wellesely girls my ears didn’t explode. It is seriously so loud that your ears rattle. It’s the loudest thing I have ever experienced. Even as I passed them this year on the far left it was painful. A few of us looked at each other and kind of laughed, pushing forward.

    The town of Wellesely is pretty big and the streets were packed. I was chugging along with blurred vision. Off in the distance on the right though I saw someone jumping and waving. It was Libby! I ran right at her to give her a high five, but she was coming in for a hug! I warned her, “Libby I am crazy sweaty!” She didn’t care. We laughed and I high fived Aunt Jen as they told me to get moving again!

    Beyond_Defeat_Boston2016_Libby2Beyond_Defeat_Boston2016_Libby

    I had 10 mile to go before I would see any friends again.

    At this point I noticed a strange and annoying phenomenon taking place. As we would enter the aid stations a few guys right in front of me would come to a dead stop go get and then drink their water. Buddy, this ain’t your first marathon so what’s your deal? This started happening at every aid stop! I made a new plan to enter them towards the back for safety as a few times I almost destroyed a few guys.

    We hit the hills at mile 18, which really aren’t that bad, it’s just where they are on the course that sucks. After the second hill a guy, pretty beat up looking, said to me “Was that Heartbreak?” “No man, sorry, Heartbreak is closer to mile 21.”

    I really enjoyed the cheering from Boston College this year. They were loud, but also very supportive in their cheering, if that makes any sense.

    I was excited to see Heartbreak Hill as my quads were basically destroyed from all the downhills. My legs could use a break on a nice steady uphill. My pace for the last 5 miles was fluctuating in the 7:30-8 range.

    Knowing that now the course would level out I put my head down and picked up my pace a bit, each step more painful as I went along. I don’t remember being in more pain in another marathon than I was now. Of course, if I go back and read some old race reports I am sure I will see that last line repeated a few times.

    0026

    I could now see the Citgo sign in the distance. I hopeful reminder of all my friends that told me “I’ll be under the Citgo sign at mile 25!”

    Beyond_Defeat_Boston2016_Finish1

    As I approached I saw Abbe, Danika, Dougie, Greg, Matt and Shannon all screaming! I stopped and gave some high fives.

    Pressing on I then saw Elizabeth who was cheering like crazy!

    Next up, the GCR Cheer squad in full effect, who captured this image.

    Beyond_Defeat_Boston2016_GCR

    The right turn, followed by the left was more epic then I remembered.

    0040

    With the finish line off in the distance, I got emotional. I had done it. I had made it to this moment in time. “Thank you Boston, it is an honor and a privilege.”

    Running down the center of the street with crowds roaring I though about the Boston Marathon as this epic beast, one of the toughest in all the lands. Today it had won, as I was all used up as I crossed the finish line.

    0041

    Sex/
    Age
    Bib Overall Place Age
    Place
    Finish
    Time
    Pace/
    Mile
    AG %
    M38 1685 4552 2345 3:18:17 7:34 66%

    I really felt like I earned the medal on this day.

    After finding Abbe we all made our way back to Mr. Dooleys Pub (I really liked it). Guess who happened to be working just up the street? Our dear friend Maura! She popped in for a cider and to celebrate. I was very unlike my usual post race self. It took me a good hour to get my act together. Like I said, I got my ass kicked and it showed.

    We checked in on our other Battalion teammate Kelly, who had finished. Congrats Kel!

    We hopped a 5:30 train back to the city, where we did some more celebrating of course.

    –

    Boston is to me the pinnacle of the marathon. It took me four years to get to my first, and my second was no easier. The challenge of getting to Boston itself is what makes the experience so rewarding. Everyone you see running fought that very hard battle to get where they are. They earned a spot in the show of shows, the Boston Marathon.

    Boston inspires others. At certain points during the weekend both Abbe and Dougie said “2018. In 2 years I will be back here, this time running it.”

    I believe in them. See you in 2018 Boston.

     

    26.2 Boston Marathon

    RACE REPORT: 113 Paris Marathon – 2:51:37

    Posted on April 19, 2015 by admin Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 8 Comments

    Beyond_Defeat_Paris_Marathon_3263

    Our adventure begins on a jet plane headed to France. Abbe had always wanted to run the Paris Marathon and I had never been to France (of course I like to run as well) so we entered the lottery and both got in. I’d like to tell you ‘I know a guy’ and that’s how we both got in, but it was just fate.

    I really enjoy overnight flights as I imagine myself living back when air travel was glamorous. I savor my meal, drink my red wine and wonder what adventures lay in store. Once the meal is over I take a sleeping pill and voila, minutes later I awake at my destination. People often misread the warning label on modern sleeping pills. It says don’t drink wine while taking them, but what it really means is don’t drink ‘too much’ wine.

    We arrived at our hotel on Avenue Marceau the next morning at 10. We dropped our bags off and then hit the streets.

    Spring in Paris is pretty magical. Avenue Marceau is lined with beautiful trees blossoming with white flowers. We picked a place just down the block on the corner to sit outside and have some lunch. Abbe’s folks Linda and Dave joined us, they were staying just down the block and were part of our cheer squad.

    After eating Abbe and I ventured into the Paris Metro in search of the marathon expo. I was immediately impressed by the Metro. Keep in mind, as a 15 year resident of New York City, I question everything that is not New York City. Trains were coming every 2 minutes, were not crowded and it was clean and calm. What was this strange land? We even transferred 3 times flawlessly. I felt at home, immersed in the Paris infrastructure.

    The race expo rivaled that of the New York City Marathon. It was massive and it seemed every running company was representing. As I got my bib the older man handing it to me said in an accent, “You came all the way from America to run!? Bon Chance!” I nodded with a smile and realized I was mirroring the experience I normally have in New York as I marvel at all the out of town runners.

    Abbe and I secretly hoped we would run into one of our Runner Army friends at the expo but alas, we were far from home and saw no one familiar. We headed out and back into the metro, embracing the 70 degree weather we were experiencing.

    Once we showered and unpacked we made our way to the hotel lobby we had a drink and waited for Maura. That’s right, Maura from NYC (and Ireland), Gotham City Runner and a dear friend was popping over from her stay in Ireland to cheer us on. She arrived just past 5 and was ready to go have some fun in Paris.

    Beyond_Defeat_Paris_Marathon_Drinkies

    We set out towards Georges V (or as I like to say Jorge Sank) and landed at this fantastic pizza place. It wasn’t NYC pizza (of course, who would even hope to find that outside of the city) but a brick oven version that rocked. After dinner we kind of bar hopped around the neighborhood (we were by the Arc de Triomphe).

    Beyond_Defeat_Paris_Marathon_Arc

    SIDENOTE: One of the things I picked up on and love about Paris over NYC is that all of the outdoor seating faces outward. Imagine an entire corner bar with seats and tables looking out, as if the streets themselves were putting on a show.

    The next morning Abbe, Maura and I set off down the Seine for our 2 mile shakeout run.

    Beyond_Defeat_Paris_Marathon_Pont

    It was a blast and we saw many runners doing the same. My legs felt pretty good but they didn’t feel fast by any means. My mind wandered and wondered if I could pull off this PR attempt. We popped into a cafe for a quick breakfast… double espresso and a croissant, something I would repeat every day from here on out. Something I would come to love dearly. So simple, so delicious and so perfect.

    Our goal for the day was to stay off our feet if possible. We met the Lewis’s and hit the Metro, making our way toward Ile de la Cité (City Island). We ate at another fantastic place that was definitely not suited for the vegetarian crowd. There were giant spits of chicken and pig in the front, and yet there was a clean and modern ascetic to the place. Bravo.

    Walking along the Seine and into City Island was breathtaking. It really is a beautiful city. Not sure if any of you know this, but I went to Art School? I was an Art History minor and seeing Notre Dame in person was horrifying (as I relived all the papers and tests) and superb, looking up at the many facets and sculptures adorning it.

    Big ups to Professor Joe Basile. Throughout this trip I thought of your wisdom and how it still resonated. From all of the architecture to basically everything in the Louvre information and historic facts poured through my head and I thought… “JOE!” Thanks for being a great professor and friend.

    We hopped on one of the Seine boat tours soon after so we could get off our feet. We toured the many bridges that crossed the Seine, each one quite different in design and time period. Pont Alexandre (a crowd favorite) is probably mine as well. We also cruised past the shining star of Paris, the Eiffel Tower. Did you know that until it was built in 1889 the Great Pyramids were the tallest human made structure in the world?

    After our tour we needed a refreshment. We saw in the distance one of at the few irish pubs that Paris houses ironically named ‘Galway Irish Pub.’

    Beyond_Defeat_Paris_Marathon_Galway

    You see, Maura is from Galway specifically and knows everyone who lives or lived there. Seriously, we went there with her in 2013 to run the Connemarathon and she’s like the Mayor. Unfortunately, the person who founded this pub passed away many years ago so we didn’t get a name. It was indeed a great pub though!

    As dinner approached we headed back in the direction of our hotel. We needed some carbs and the restaurant across from Dave and Linda’s place, Cafe Ceasar had been around forever. It was jam packed with runners fueling up for the night! We had to come back in an hour so… we had a drink across the street. I am a sucker for a European Heineken on draft, it’s so much better. When we returned we all had a fantastic meal. I chose the penne with bolognese sauce and was thoroughly full and quite happy.

    Beyond_Defeat_Paris_Marathon_Arc2

    We three went back to our hotel to rest up. My mind was at ease. Everything I had done up to this point was a perfect execution of my plan. 3-4 months of solid 6 days a week running. No triathlon cross training. Don’t do anything stupid; i.e.: rollerblading, random soccer game, break dancing on a whim. Eat tons of carbs the two weeks leading into the race. Get good sleep. All I had to do was race the race and unleash my legs, which were dying for some speed. Sweet dreams my dear runner friends…

    RACE DAY

    We awoke to a beautiful sunny 45 degree Spring morning. I felt great and had some oatmeal and an espresso. My start was at 8:47, two minutes after the Pros. At 8 sharp I gave Abs a kiss, said goodbye to Maura and did a quick warm up over to the start, which was strategically a few blocks away.

    Exiting the hotel into the streets of Paris, I was emotionally overwhelmed for the first time in a long time before the start of a race. The gorgeously perfect weather, amazing architecture and more importantly everything I had been so focused and deliberate on the last 4 months was coming to a climax. The marathon (or an Ironman for that matter) is like going into battle. You never know what lay in store for you on the battlefield, all you can do is prepare, and I was prepared.

    It was so well organized and very easy to find and enter my corral. I saw from the bibs that I was a long way from home, no USA tags to be found and yet, these were my people… runners. Looking around at everyone we all had the same look in our eyes, nodding quietly saying in whatever language was spoken, “Good luck out there, kill it.”

    The sun was poking it’s head up over the buildings and I thought, ‘This thing is gonna get hot.’

    My wave went off without a hitch and we set of barreling down the Champs Elysees. The sun was reflecting off the pavement and the obelisk of the Place de la Concorde cut through the morning sky off in the distance, guiding us like a compass. My legs felt free, hitting a 6:15 pace effortlessly.

    My goal pace was a 6:25 – putting me across the finish line in 2:50. “Baker, but you seem to be going too fast?” True, but everyone is different. I normally fall to pieces during miles 21-24 no matter what kind of pacing I attempt. Therefore, I ‘bank time’ in the beginning. Most runners are opposed to the banking time strategy, but it works for me.

    Back to the show! And a show it was as I knew my friend and fellow athlete Dougie was tracking me in NYC at 4AM while he was on his trainer ride. I thought to myself, ‘Dougie is tracking me so let’s give him a good race to watch.’ This also helped keep me motivated, knowing that Dougie would most likely start yelling at his laptop were my pace to falter.

    Beyond_Defeat_Paris_Marathon_Mile1

    Running along side of the Louvre was way cool. It was a long dark passageway. We were on the Rue de Rivoli, a street with a lot of shopping, which also had lots of cheer squads. As the miles ticked off easily I was hitting 6:17, 6:21 and 6:17. I saw Dave in the crowds as it’s very easy to hear your English speaking cheerers amongst a sea of Frenchmen. One of the words I would hear one thousand times during the race was ‘Allez’ which means ‘Go’ in French.

    On Cheering: It was surreal and refreshing to not understand most of what people were screaming at you during the race. All you knew was that people were in the act of cheering and not saying things that might upset you like, “You look great.” “Last uphill.” “Come on you can do it.” “Almost there.” which are most likely false statements. Here in France I just zoned out and pretended they were saying anything I wanted them too. To me ‘Allez’ became ‘Tacos.’

    Beyond_Defeat_Paris_Marathon_Mile3

    I broke the race up into 4 parts… we were now going from Part 1 (city to Park A) to Part 2 (Park A) and were at mile 6. I was excited to see what these big parks flanking Paris were all about. My pace was still right around 6:17 or so. Perfect. I was also trying to have some fun and enjoy my surroundings, something that many of my friends told me to do. The Park, Boise du Vienesse, was very pretty but I really didn’t get to spend too much time seeing all of it. All I knew is that we went from city streets to wooded streets.

    At mile 7.5 I saw this beacon of neon orange. It was Maura, exactly where she said she would be in her 2014 Boston Marathon jacket. I ran over and gave her a high five. It rocked to see her.

    The next few miles were uneventful as I just held on to my pace, running through sunlit park streets. It was hot now, approaching 10 o’clock and I knew as we exited back into the city it would get rough. Section 2 of 4 was now complete. Section 3 was all city, then entering the final Section 4 which was the Park on the opposite end of town. Allez!

    Beyond_Defeat_Paris_Marathon_Mile7

    Something happened at mile 11-12 that almost ended my day. I was running hard in flying V formation with 3 guys, I was in draft position in back. We were running down hill and I couldn’t see the street too well. Just then a speed bump came along and I jammed my front leg into it stumbling forward and causing a lot of panic amongst my fellow runners. I corrected my form and everyone nodded, knowing we had just missed a ‘domino effect’ disaster. I admittedly dialed it down a touch right there as my heart was racing.

    I hit the half at 1:22 and smiled knowing that I was having the race of my life (thus far) but that dark moments certainly lay ahead.

    We cruised around a crazy crowded Bastille before making our way onto and along the Seine. At this point someone yelled in a french accent “Yea, go Gotham City, go Batman!” I threw my hand up in typical fashion laughing at the same time. Batman… Gotham City has so many other notable landmarks and cultural institutions but I guess ‘Go Metropolitan Museum of Art sounds dumb.’

    On music: The bands in the Paris Marathon trumped the NYC Marathon ten-fold. No contest in fact. Every mile there were these pseudo marching bands playing rock songs with heavy, heavy tribal drums. No band lacked a good horn section either. It was very inspiring and the volume was at the perfect level as well. Sometimes in NYC it’s so freaking loud it knocks you around.

    Miles 12-18 are run along the southern edge of the Seine and there is no shade aside from some car tunnels you run through. We were passing all the notable landmarks and it was quite breathtaking. I tried to enjoy it, although the now piecing pain in my quads made it tough. Paris, I now realized, was not a flat course and had some major downhills that I was now feeling. I was still holding a 6:20 pace but didn’t think so at the time.

    At mile 19 we started making our way into Boise de Boulogne, the final Section of the course, which would also be most challenging. My legs were on complete fire now and my mind started wandering into dark places, wanting me to quit or stop running. I knew this moment would come, the real battle of the race, and did my best to fight on. My Dad’s birthday was the next day and I knew he was watching me from where ever he might be. I used him as inspiration and kept my feet going. ‘There is no pain, only glory.’ I welcomed uphills at every turn!

    Mile by mile was how I was going to get this thing done. Miles 19-21 were 6:34, 6:41, 6:35… I was slowing up and fighting to stay with it, especially with the heat. I lost 2 minutes at Miles 22 and 23 as I stopped to stretch my quads. It helped a lot doing so, and got me from mile to mile. I also knew at this point that my 2:50 goal was out the window and started getting pretty down on myself. I even thought about walking the rest of the race.

    I was having problems with reading my watch, trying to figure out what my time was when a race clock came by. It said 2:40:xx and I had just over 2 miles to go. “What?” I thought. I could do this. I could pull it together and get this shit done and maybe, just maybe get close.

    I picked it up even though my legs were in crazy pain (good pain, not someone injured tweaked pain) calves feeling like they were going to pop out of my body. I hit a sub 7 for mile 25. One to go.

    The blinding hot sun was beating down on me. I was pouring water all over my body and directly onto my calves to numb them, which had been working!

    7 flat for mile 26.

    I turned a corner to finish, the Arc dead ahead, and was ecstatic to see a 2:53 on the clock (I started 2 minutes after keep in mind so that meant 2:51 for me.) I had PR’d by 3 minutes and was just shy of my 2:50 goal! I started laughing out loud and let out a “Fuck.” Paris almost killed me.

    Beyond_Defeat_Paris_Marathon_medal

    Sex/
    Age
    Bib Overall Place Age
    Place
    Finish
    Time
    Pace/
    Mile
    AG %
    M37 3263 432 254 2:51:37 6:32 72.00%

    I wandered toward the Arc and our hotel. I few of the locals congratulated me. The sun was out and I was walking barefoot in a park just next to the finish, it felt fantastic.

    I found Linda and Dave back at the hotel. We had become friendly with all the staff and my friend Camille came over to congratulate me. “Fantastic Chris! Sit down, do you want something?” “Thanks Camille, yes a beer and a sandwich please.”

    Beyond_Defeat_Paris_Marathon_Finshbeer

    We sat outside as I relayed the race info to my in-laws. We became concerned though as Dave saw Abbe at the Half and she wasn’t having a good time. Evidently it can be a very crowed race (54,000 runners) the further back you start.

    Thankfully though, we found her. She had PR’d as well and broken 4 hours! It was time to celebrate.

    Dave, Linda, Abbe Maura and I went out on the town. First to a cute spot right down the block (Le Grand Corona) where we sat outside having booze. Then, we had a fantastic french meal at Chez Andre. We finished the night at the hotel bar, happy as clams.

    —

    Big ups to all the runners who ran Paris, it was a tough day out there. Congrats to my wife who nailed a sub 4 with a huge PR! Congrats to my fellow teammate Hannah who also PR’d.

    Thanks to Maura, Linda and Dave who were our super star Cheer Squad!

    This race is evidence to me that if you are dedicated, focus on the training without making excuses (like, this winter was crazy rough) you can pull off an epic race. Someone who inspired me to train hard and stick with it no matter what is my friend Claire. She trained her ass of this Fall and wrecked the Chicago Marathon with a huge PR and a BQ. Thanks for the push my friend.

    Running the streets of Paris was something I won’t soon forget. Thanks Paris.

    26.2 Paris Marathon PR

    RACE REPORT: 099 The Reston Marathon – 3:09:51 – 2nd Overall

    Posted on April 1, 2014 by admin Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 1 Comment

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    I always thought it would be cool, never participating in any athletics growing up, to one day return to my hometown and race. Kind of a strange twist… I left town an artist to return as an athlete.

    We hopped the train to DC Friday afternoon bags filled with beer, wine and Clif Bars. Survival is key. Arriving at my Bonus-Mom’s house everyone was ready to start scarfing pizza (they had already started on beer). I didn’t grow up here, my step-brothers did, but have spent the last 10-12 years calling it home. Role call: Christine, Ryan, Maggie, Jeff, Phil, Naomi, Cayden, Owen, me and Abs. There was much race talk as it was Ryan’s first Half Marathon. I also got to see my nephew Cayden and Owens’ awesome cheer squad sign that they had made!

    BD_Reston_Marathon_001Taper madness – pulling Cayden up and down the halls.

    The next day Ryan, Abbe and I did a shakeout run down to the High School to pick up our bibs. One of the beautiful things about this race was that it was less than a mile from the house. It was raining and 55 degrees. It actually felt really good out and we tried to be positive for our race the next day insisting Bruce would be up there looking out for us. Dad also had a sense of humor so maybe we should have foreseen what was in store…

    We met some really cool people at bib pickup. We were informed that we could drive right up to the high school and park in the lots the next morning. Score! We also found out that 15 minutes before the race they would march us out to the Start. Basically, that meant we could hop in the car 20-25 minutes before gun time which in turn meant more sleeping and coffee time.

    After a quick shower we hit the Old Brogue in Great Falls for some hearty grub.

    That night everyone came back over (including cousins Kelly and Ben) while Abbe prepared a pasta feast for us. Sauteed red and green peppers, tomatoes and shrimp mixed into pasta in a most harmonious way. It was perfect. SIDENOTE: After a bit of trial and error I make sure that pasta and shrimp are in all of my pre-race meals for optimum performance.

    We were all in bed by 10. Not bad.

    RACE DAY

    Having to wake up at 6AM for a race rocks as that’s when I naturally wake up daily. Abbe had her alarm set to the tune of ‘Happy’ which in turn made me happy. We rocked some coffee, prepared some oatmeal and discussed the looming storm we were about to race in. Basically, it was going to rain (it hadn’t stopped from the day before) and turn colder by say Noon. It was also closer to 35 degrees, much different from Saturday’s 55 degrees.

    SIDENOTE: In 2010 I came down to race a local triathlon. My Father, then sick with Lymphoma, had never seen me race and I thought it would be a fun opportunity. On race day the weather was almost identical. He and I stood out in the garage looking out at the rain and I bailed. My Father would never get to see me race unfortunately.

    Today, on this shitty day, I was going to race in my hometown and I was going to go hard.

    We headed out, trying to stay positive. It was coming down pretty hard and I kept telling us that the worst is about to be over. Liar!

    We arrived at the High School and within 2 minutes of being inside they lined Marathoners up to head to the Start. Perfect timing! We bid Ryan farewell and made our way.

    I was wearing shorts, 2 thin layers plus my trusty windbreaker that got me through the Connemarathon last year. I was cold but knew once I got going my body would regulate itself. They had a guy sing the National Anthem and he had us sing along to stay warm. The wind was ripping through us and we all huddled together and tried our best. I was just wishing for that start gun so I could get going. I kissed Abbe goodbye as the gun went off. We were in the very back so I had some navigational work to do. (It was a 2 loop course, 1 loop for the Half Marathoners who were starting 30 minutes after us.)

    As we got out onto the main road it widened a bit and I found a good pace. I was running naked (no Garmin) AND there were no clocks on the course so I was really going Jedi-style. The next left we took put us straight into the wind and it really sucked. I had a visor on which makes all the difference in a rain storm. I don’t know how far back I was to the leaders, I just pressed forward. If I had to guess I would say we were running 7’s. My legs definitely didn’t feel as great as they dd the day before but that could also be nerves getting to me.

    Passing mile 3, we were in single file race formation. I seriously had no idea what my time was and I kind of liked it.

    BD_Reston_Marathon_004

    Right before mile 4 I saw the family cheering us on! I gave a wave and then made my way down onto one of the legs on paved trails. These would prove to make the course a lot more difficult than I had expected. They were in hilly ravines with small rivers (from the 36 hours of rain) flowing over them.

    We popped out onto streets for the next few miles and I was relieved. Some guy also yelled to me that he thought I was in 6th Place. Overall? What? I was now running with 2 other guys (the only guys in sight) and would continue with them the next 20 miles, leapfrogging.

    The aid stations were awesome. Every 2 miles you had water, Gatorade, Gu, oranges, bananas, cookies, pop-tarts and so forth. Essentially, you didn’t have to carry anything on you. Big ups to all the volunteers who were hanging out in the downpours all day too!

    Mile 8 was a small out-and-back. As I hit the turn-around I realized one of the guys in our little 3 man run squad was Lam! He and I gave a wave to each other and continued on. We also got a glimpse of the leader and he was crushing it. No way any of us were catching this guy. He had a 3-4 minute lead (and gaining) at mile 8…

    By now the temperature had dropped a bit and the wind was picking up. I was soaked (and had been since mile 1). My upper body was pretty warm but my hands and feet were pretty frozen. This was the first race I had zero knee pain though, so I was so happy to be out in the soup running! Thanks Dr. Levine!

    We jumped back into some trails for the next few miles and all I could think of (since there were also markers for the second loop) was ‘Holy cow, are you kidding me! The final miles are up and down these brutal little hills?!’ My legs were already deteriorating and I could hardly imagine what they were going to be like the next time around. I did see a rather large deer staring at me at one point though which was kind of cool. He wasn’t manning an aid station or anything, just doing deer stuff.

    I was now in 4th Place with Tall Guy, as we shall call him, and Lam trailing close. I knew that with 13 more miles to go any outcome was still possible. As we hit the halfway marker Tall Guy turned on the juice hard, very negative-split pre-meditated. I just chuckled to myself, not because he was doing it wrong, but because I could not follow.

    Nearing mile 15 Lam started to pull up towards me. We chatted for a minute as I told him how I grew up here and my house was right up the street. This also made me wonder why I shouldn’t just run home and right onto the shower. Lam also alerted me that we were running 7 flats. Cool, I’ll take it. I was back in 5th Place now. I started to wonder how long I could keep this thing going.

    Back on the first set of trails I pushed positive thoughts into my head. ‘One step at a time. One mile at a time. Just keep those legs running.’ Although the rain wasn’t quite a downpour anymore it was quickly getting colder.

    As mile 18 approached my calf muscles felt like they were going to pop out of my legs and run away. Ew. Seriously, they hurt a lot. I just plugged along. I was on the heels of Tall Guy but Lam was slowly putting some distance between us. I was still waving and saying ‘hi’ to all the volunteers. They were pretty awesome.

    At mile 20 as we dipped back down into the hard set of trails I started mentally psyching myself up. “Just one loop of Central Park is left, that’s all.” I was also thinking about ‘The Wall’ people hit and I decided it’s a bad way to describe it. I think it should be called, ‘When Everything Sucks and Will Continue to Suck Until you Stop Running.’

    Somewhere around here I stepped in mud crossing onto a street and almost lost my shoe! Hot tamales!

    At this point me and Tall Guy were leapfrogging quite a bit. I had no intention of trying to outrun him, our paces started to become erratic. I started to feel better at say mile 22. It was here that I had my first (and only) Gu. It was also at this point I passed Tall Guy and just kept going.

    Up and down all these damn hills, left then right, through the woods. I wanted to walk so very bad. We were now lapping slower Half Marathoners. My mind wandered, thinking of my Dad and how were he alive how very excited he would be at this hometown race. He would be so jazzed to see not only me, but his step-son Ryan and daughter-to-be Abbe running this thing as a family. It helped put some power into my steps.

    As I cleared the final hill and made my way up onto the road with 2 miles to go I set it the fuck off. “The pain you feel is only in your mind.”

    I was so excited to be so close. I was also now in 4th Place and as long as I held off Tall Guy it was mine. I have never placed in a full marathon before so 4th sounded great. I passed mile 25 still flying as I noticed up ahead this fit guy in a green top and black pants. “Is that the 2nd Place guy?” (Now 3rd as Lam had passed him.) He was making attempts to run but stopped. I passed him, nodded and gave him a peace sign.

    Entering the finish chute everyone kept yelling to me that I was 3rd Place! I was ecstatic, but needed to finish before I died. Just before I was to take a left onto the High School track I saw Lam running ‘at’ me. Totally confused I just waved at him and made my way onto the track ahead of him. The rain was really coming down now and there were very few cheerers towards the Finish. My family, however, was there in full effect. I could hear them before I could see them. My brother Phil was holding his son Cayden and ran down the fence line with me towards the end. I looked at the clock and with the seconds counting down to 3:10 (my Boston Qualifier) I sped up as to secure it.

    BD_Reston_Marathon_005

    Final Time: 3:09:51

    After collecting my hardware I got some high fives from everyone and was then instructed that we need to go inside to the High School cafeteria because that’s where everyone was hanging out. My Bonus Mom also told me Abs DNF’d because of her IT Band and I got concerned.

    It turns out the overall winner beat me by 25 minutes or so! He came in at 2:44:xx and was none other than ultrarunner Michael Wardian.

    The cafeteria was great. They had pizza, sodas, coffee you name it! I found our table and gave Ryan a high five for finishing his first Half Marathon! Then, I hugged and chatted with Abbe making sure she was okay. We all hung out Family Style, taking pics and getting warm waiting for the awards ceremony. I chatted with Lam briefly and it he took a wrong turn towards the end, which is why I passed him. Once they did the overall marathoners we took off. We had an after party to go to at the house complete with burgers and dogs by Phil and potato and cucumber salad by Maggie.

    BD_Reston_Marathon_002My main man (nephew) Cayden, who assures me he will be faster than me one day. Dig it!

    Ryan, Abs and I made it back first and Abs made us Manhattans. We had a bit of a sentimental toast, talking of Dad and what it meant for us to run this (without getting too teary eyed) and then hit the much needed showers.

    BD_Reston_Marathon_003

    Once everyone arrived the food and drinks came out. Our friends Amber and Jason also came by with their 1 year old son Erik. Erik and my nephew Owen were born 2 days apart so they kinda got along, in a no talking kinda way.

    The afterparty sadly ended way too soon. Abs and I had a train to catch back to NYC and so we needed to head out.

    As Jason and Amber drove us into DC at 2PM (thanks for the ride guys, seriously) it was snowing! Like, heavy stick to the ground snowing. We made our train and ended the weekend with a peaceful ride up to Gotham.

    —

    I would recommend this race to anyone looking for an amazing ‘home grown’ race with a challenging course. The organizers and volunteers rock and there is loads of pizza at the finish! C’mon!

    Big ups to my step-brother Ryan who has proven he is ‘beyond defeat’ in running his first Half Marathon.

    Abs, I will see you in Paris for your redemption race.

    26.2 Marathon

    RACE REPORT: 097 NYC Marathon – DNF

    Posted on November 9, 2013 by admin Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 2 Comments

    BD_NYCM2013_729

    The 2013 New York City Marathon would be my 11th marathon and my fourth on this course.

    Having successfully run Wineglass Marathon 4 weeks earlier, I thought nothing could go wrong. (foreshadowing!)

    Saturday morning I went for a shakeout run with my brother Jeff. He was running his first marathon and I had been coaching him through the training season. We chatted strategy,mostly ‘exit strategy’ on getting back to the east side once the finish line was crossed.

    That night we had a big family dinner. Jeff and Ali, Abbe’s parents, Uncle John, Aunt Margie, cousins Gillian and Cat and finally Abbe and I.

    Normally, I eat some kind of pasta with shrimp in it like Shrimp Scampi, for example. Tonight, the black ink linguine with mussels and clams looked tasty so for the first time in years I ate something different before a big race. THIS IS A CRUCIAL CLUE TO FUTURE EVENTS.

    Abbe, Aunt Margie (who was volunteering at aid station 18 and sleeping over on the fold out) and I were all in bed by 10.

    RACE DAY

    All of us were up having some Cafe Bustelo by 5:30AM. I felt great, albeit very hungry. We made oatmeal to take with us to eat on the ferry since we have 4 hours until start time.

    Abs and I met Ali on our corner and we busted down Park Avenue in a cab en route to pick up Jeff. Once we had him we flew down the FDR to the Staten Island Ferry to meet with the rest of the Army.

    We found Bethaney, TJ and Mary Craig before we got on the 7AM ferry. Then, miraculously as we sat in the middle bar area of the ferry other friends started finding us! Bojana, Lisa, Elyssa, Maura and Una just appeared out of thin air! It was so much fun rolling deep with so many friends.

    BD_NYCM2013_FerryI ate my oatmeal and was very relaxed and excited. I had set no expectations and wasn’t even running with a watch. The name of the game was fun.

    The buses after the ferry took twice as long due to security searches upon departure. It’s all a necessary precaution now based on current events I suppose.

    Since we were running a bit behind I quickly said goodbye to everyone then jogged up to Camp Green. I found the Local Competitive area and was very impressed. We were sectioned off from everyone with our own tents and port-o-johns.

    While waiting I bumped into David, Maura, Josh and Kelsey. All of us hung out and then made our way to the front of the Green Start to wait until gun time.

    BD_NYCM2013_Start

    I sat and reminisced a bit being led out with my fast friends to the front of the line. Sitting there, looking around and seeing other friends of mine on the upper deck warming up and waving. It wasn’t too long ago I sat a few corrals back; my first race, all alone and nervous at what to expect. I am very honored to have come to know so many wonderfully talented athletes who I now call dear friends.
    This year while waiting the 30 minutes or so to start, I decided to pee in the bushes. Many a man were doing it, and there were actually lines to get to a bush or tree.

    We wished each other well, then the canon sounded and the games began.

    As we began to run, I felt good, great actually. The minute we started ascending the bridge most runners flanked to the right as there was a very sharp and biting wind coming from our left. I did also not get peed on nor did I see any pee from above. (We were on the lower level.)

    Barreling down the span I began to get excited about what lie in store. Fourth Avenue Brooklyn is one of my favorite parts of the course. It’s a straight shot for 8 miles covered in crowds who are practically out on the course with you high fiving and being supportive. Brooklyn also has some great bands, and I happened to see Erin and her band at Mile 4 which was a nice surprise! The other thing that’s nice about this part is that it’s the first 8 miles so you feel great!

    BD_NYCM2013_01 BD_NYCM2013_02

    I happen to see Juan hanging on the sidelines and got a few shots of me waving!

    It was somewhere around here I ran into Joe’s (Cardiac Crusher) brother Mike! We were kicking the same pace and hung out for a second. It was at this point I realized I may not have been in the best running state, as I tried to maintain not only conversation but pace and I was slipping. My legs felt very heavy and so I left Mike so he could push ahead. SIDENOTE: Mike would go to run a 2:57 for his marathon debut! Congrats!

    BD_NYCM2013_03That’s Joe’s brother Mike in black.

    At this point I had been pushing a 6:35 pace and would unknowingly hold it for the rest of the race. Unfortunately, I was starting to really struggle with my energy. My knee and legs in general felt fine, my engine was just sputtering.

    I plodded on. Matt6 and Steph were going to be at the 10K mark so I started watching. Sure enough, I hear this, “Baaaaaker!” and as I look up Matt6 has his whole body leaned out on the course 500 meters up. I came in tight to the crowd and got barraged with high fives! My spirits soared. It wasn’t long after that I unexpectedly saw my friends Tess and Sascha with there new baby out cheering!

    The 8 mile mark hit and we veered right into Fort Greene. This is always a really pretty part of the course as its all tree lined blocks. A sharp left onto Bedford and then we make our long haul towards Queens. Is it just me or does Bedford take FOREVER! I get so sick of it. On a positive note, I saw my old friend Mike Money on Bedford cheering me on! I screamed, “Money Fresh!” which is how we used to roll back in Baltimore, back in the day.

    Somewhere around mile 10 I took a Gu. I also noticed here that my face was covered in dried salt, meaning I was secretly sweating it all out. I slammed down a few Gatorades at the next few aid stations and that seemed to put a little pep back in my step.

    I cleared the halfway mark right around 1:26 and took another Gu. I slowly ascended the Pulaski Skyway as the wind ripped through us.

    Over in Queens I saw Stephan, Amanda and Rich cheering us on! Soon after all of us were running through the more industrial part of the area, the Queensboro Bridge looming in the distance. My energy was far gone and I was thinking about walking parts of the bridge to try and get it together.

    Heading up the bridge, we were once again confronted with a strong icy wind. Rather then walk, I just told myself to take it mile-by-mile. I had been in this place many times before, especially during the run of an Ironman or Half Ironman, where you just need to keep pushing. I did slow my pace down and it felt like time was just slipping by. It was here that I wished I had brought my headphones as back up.

    Cruising down the tail end of the bridge I actually got a little choked up thinking about what was waiting for us on the Manhattan side. Slowly the white noise of the cheering squats got louder and louder and then, as we hooked that hard left it all erupted!

    This is also the point where things got bad. Heading up 1st Avenue at say 65th Street I started to get light headed. I swerved and starting running up the right side of the avenue, less crowded then the left. I’m not sure who I saw as far as friends go, but the friends that saw e aid I looked the worst they had ever seen me. Evidently my head was bobbling around as I ran.

    At 86th Street I got the chills and saw bright flashes and almost passed out or blacked out or something. I pulled over, very shaky, and decided that was it. Game over.

    With crowds ablaze I walked off the course, and removed my bib. I had a talk with an older man I met named Noel about if I could finish or not.

    I went to the first bodega I could find and got an egg and cheese with sausage on a bagel, a muscle milk and a gatorade and devoured all of them in around 5 minutes. I started to feel flush again and made my way home.

    I quickly showered and then started tracking people. I noticed the Abbe had also dropped off the radar and got worried. Luckily Stephan and Amanda texted me that they had Abbe and that she dropped out due to an ankle injury but was otherwise okay.

    I then rolled down the block to 93rd and 5th to watch for Jeff (and many other runner friends) who were killing it. I happened to bump into Micheal J. Fox (he’s pour neighbor!) who was cheering for his Team Fox runners.

    I saw Jeff, Gia, Neal, Elizabeth, and Mary Craig to name just a few.

    The rest of the day was spent celebrating at Kinsale Tavern. We had quite a crew of runners with us. It was a total blast!

    —

    Although sad that I didn’t finish the race, I got enjoy all of my favorite parts of it anyway. From the journey to the start, hanging out at the start, various points in Brooklyn and the mighty after party with all of my dear friends known as the Runner Army… it was still Christmas to me.

     

    26.2 Marathon NYCM

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

    Posted on April 18, 2012 by admin Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 13 Comments

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

    —

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    RACE DAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    I saw Elizabeth around this point which picked up spirits!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    —

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

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

    26.2 Boston Marathon Carnage
    • RACE REPORT: 162 Brooklyn Half Marathon – 1:24:45
    • RACE REPORT: NYC Marathon – 3:09:25
    • RACE REPORT: 158 NYC Marathon – 2:58:30
    • RACE REPORT: 157 The Boston Marathon – 3:00:00
    • VIRTUAL RACE REPORT: 156 #TCSNYCMarathon – 3:13:44
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