Jim – BEYOND DEFEAT

RACE REPORT: 040 Lavaman Triathlon

Posted on June 22, 2010 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Triathlon 8 Comments

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

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

The plan was as follows…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE DAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—

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

RACE REPORT: 039 Rev3 Quassy Half Ironman

Posted on June 10, 2010 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Triathlon 8 Comments

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

Swim. Bike. Run. Seems easy enough right?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE DAY

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

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

Notice me contemplating where to tape my second burrito…

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

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

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

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

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

A battle.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE REPORT: 031 NYC Half Marathon: 1:20:48

Posted on March 23, 2010 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 7 Comments

Overall

Place

Gender

Place

Age
Place

Finish
Time

5K
Split

10K
Split

15K
Split

Pace/
Mile

AG %

170

145

1:20:48

18:46

37:58

57:15

06:10

73.31

March goes in like a lion and out like a lamb? Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps…

After the monsoon that was ‘last week’ the sky cleared into what one might actually call Spring. Our running group took full advantage of this Tuesday night with a tempo run around the park. Roll Call: Amy, Elyssa, Michele, Josh, Joe and Allen! After we finished we went to Cold Stone and rocked out some ice cream, awesome! I felt prepared for Sunday 100 percent.

Saint Patrick’s Day is maybe my favorite holiday. It’s even my phone extension at work, 317, seriously it is, call me. My office sits on the 3rd floor of 5th avenue and 53rd, aka FRONT ROW SEATS to the parade every year. Some people hate it, but I savor the bagpipes, military processions and the marching bands. I do not savor, however, the drunken maniacs that hinder me from getting my lunch. I liken it to a zombie movie. You need to get to from point A to point B, acquire a sandwich and return, crossing the streets or running away whenever a drunken zombie yells or approaches you.

As if all that excitement wasn’t enough we had Lindsey Vonn in our offices for some PR and I got to meet her. She is very down to earth and really funny. I told her about the Half on Sunday but she cringed, running isn’t her thing. She’s more of a biker actually.

I biked and ran Thursday as it was around 70 degrees and sunny. Strictly amazing. I also went on a ‘drink date’ with someone who out-marathons me (you know who you are)! True story. It was a really great time and no, we didn’t talk about running the entire conversation!

Saturday I woke up and took a 1 hour bike ride around town. It was beautiful. Later that night I got ‘tuxed’ out for the Explorers Club Annual Dinner at the Waldorf. This was my 4th year going and I normally get to eat tarantulas, scorpions, and hissing cockroaches but they made cuts this year and they were left with cured meats and cheeses. Boring. I even asked a bunch of people “hey, were are all the weird things to eat?” The strangest thing he had to serve was Eel. C’mon man, thats like a household item these days…

I got to catch up with my friend Cenk (we raced Harriman together) as well as my friend Leroy who is an astronaut and was co-chair of the dinner. (www.leroychiao.com)

Dan Aykroyd was the MC and he did a ‘Coneheads’ skit which was hilarious. Part of the night we heard from Donald Johanson, who was the scientist who discovered Lucy (the missing link). He was an amazing speaker discussing our evolution and where we were headed. I could listen to him for days, very intelligent and captivating man.

Another speaker who caught my interest was Steven Squyres. He is responsible for the Mars Exploration Rover Project! He had images of Mars from the robots and talked about (as Bowie said it best) Life on Mars! Amazing.

Jim Fowler came out with his usual assortment of strange and amazing creatures… 27 foot long anaconda, african sea eagle, and a baby bobcat to name a few.

The night was concluded with a performance by the Cirque-tacular Arial Dance Company. A woman and 2 men swung, spun, climbed and hung from a sash suspended 75 feet in the air while classical music played. It might have been one of the most breathtaking and beautiful things I have ever seen.

I left around 11:30PM and got to sleep at Midnight anticipating my race in the morning.

RACE DAY

My alarm went off at 6AM and as I looked out at the dark skies my body was saying… “sleeeeep, go baaaaaaack to sleeeeep.” My brain however was like “Battle stations! Its a race day.” I therefore pulled myself up and got some coffee on. Miss the NYC Half? Never.

I left at 6:30 catching a cab up to 84th and 5th and was at baggage by 6:50. Perfect.

As I was walking to my corral I bumped into Eissa and Elyssa from Tuesday night speed sessions and we hung and chatted for a bit before it was time to jump in. In my corral I hear “Baker!” I look left and its my trainer friend Jenn! Photo op!

The corral filled I was right in front of the stage and got to see some of the elites get up and speak… shortly after the gun went off!

Even though I was in the front it was still pretty crowded for the first mile or two. There was a lot of competition, drafting, elbows… boxing people in etc. This would go on all race and it was the first time Ive ever experienced this outside of the track. Right off the bat I see Ed from ‘Dad Posse’ cheering me on, shortly followed by Jim!

As we looped down around the bottom of the Central Park loop I was passing people and getting into my groove. Normally, my ‘Running Engine’ doesn’t really kick in until maybe 3 miles deep.

At the 72nd Street crossing Elizabeth (or Ms. Ritz as most runners know her) yelled out and took some pics! Soon after I saw Robert who also cheered me on. What a day!

We hit miles 4 and 5 which were the Harlem Hill and WOW it hurt. I tried to bolt up it as best I could, remembering the Hill Digger drills we had done but also maintaining some sort of pace as I still had 9 more miles of this mayhem.

We passed the start line (Mile 6) and were headed south again, but this time we were to exit on 7th Avenue and make our way into Times Square. Along the way I saw Jim again who said I was killing it and to keep it up! I grabbed the first of 2 waters I was to drink here.

Erika was right where she said she would be at 58th and 7th Avenue cheering us on with her awesome sign! As you can see from it, we had a big group (from our Tuesday Speed Team running).

Continuing on into Times Square I hear “Hey Christopher! Go!” It was a coworker, Stephanie, who was in town from Geneva!

I was really looking forward to the Times Square portion of the race. Why you ask? Well, on any given day I avoid Times Square like the plague. Its smelly, crowded and most of all has rookie ‘walkers’ everywhere holding up foot traffic. TODAY, however, I got to run right down the middle of it (like a steel version of the Grand Canyon) without anyone getting in my way. I was also the center of attention cruising down the width of a whole Avenue, which I tend to enjoy.

At 42nd Street we took a sharp right and headed down towards Hudson. I thought about running straight into it to cool off, then realized it would jeopardize my time. Speaking of which, I was indeed flying and was on target for my sub 1:25 mark! I kept telling myself “Just keep going, eggs and coffee at Todd and Ila’s after… the sooner you finish the sooner you eat.” 42nd Street is actually all downhill to the river which I have personally never noticed.

As we rounded the West Side Highway and began our descent I knew we had a solid 3 miles to go and as I looked at the clock it showed 1:01! What?! Was I really blazing that fast? I would surely make my goal (pending no fluke situation, which of course is always very possible). I grabbed another water for safety and kept moving fingers crossed.

One of our Tuesday Speed racers (Erin) is a musician that goes by the name Lady Southpaw. She was picked to be part of the entertainment and was set up on Mile 11, playing all day. As I neared she was looking my direction singing and added “Chriiiiiis Baaaaaker!” into her lyrics! Too cool. I pushed on.

Shortly after I saw Robert again and he yelled “Yeah Baker, finish strong!” which actually resonated the most and I really thought to myself, “Hell yeah, 1 Mile to go, lets do this.” I picked up my pace and passed maybe 1 or 2 other runners en route to the finish which was now visible. It was the white bridge that goes over Chambers Street which rocks because on any normal morning run that is my turn around point, so I know the path well.

As I got close I saw the clock ticking at just past the 1:20 mark and I nearly freaked out! I totally had a huge SEG (s&*t eating grin) on my face as I blazed into the finish! Thanks again Elizabeth for sending me these pics!

Final time: 1:20:48 with a 6:10 pace.

I walked onward, very happy and relived that it was over, got my medal and some water. It was there that someone I had been corresponding with over email, Russ, approached me and we got to meet in person! He is really fast and clocked a 1:14 or so.

Soon after I was off to Todd and Ila’s where we had a fantastic brunch (or breakfast as it was 9AM). My friends Asher and Ilka joined us as well and I recapped the race and my excitement at all that had transpired. With my time I had qualified for the NYC Marathon next year which was very unexpected!

After brunch I joined my friends Robin and Ahern at their place uptown (after a shower of course). Ahern’s father ran it as well and PR’d too! He is from Philly and is on course for the NYC Marathon 2011 (pending he doesn’t make it into 2010 with the Lottery). Awesome! We celebrated with quesadillas and beers.

—–

What a day! Sunshine, friends, warm weather… all before 9AM!

Seriously though, I was a bit emotional and almost lost it right after the finish on my solitary walk over to Todd and Ila’s (they live a few blocks from the finish). Not really because of ‘qualifying’, or ‘PR-ing’, but more just being surprised! At what? Surprised at what I was capable of at that moment (cutting 4 minutes off my last half in only 4 months) and what I could look forward to accomplishing in the near future. Ironman Kona is on my ‘to do list’ (not just to participate in, but to compete) and with every race I get closer. I really took in the moment and was pretty overwhelmed with happiness.

It really was an awesome day for all runners. Congrats also goes out to my Tuesday crew who ran – I know all of you had fantastic races as well!

RACE REPORT: 029 Coogan’s Shamrocks 5K: 18:15

Posted on March 7, 2010 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 8 Comments

Sex/
Age

Bib

Overall

Place

Gender

Place

Age
Place

Finish
Time

Pace/
Mile

AG
Time

AG %

M32

168

156

18:15

5:53

18:06

71.2 %

The Coogans Blues and Shamrocks 5K Race in Washington Heights capped off my week with an exclamation point!

Earlier this week I ‘connected’ with someone online – only to find out that, not only did I already know who she was, but had great admiration and respect for her. We are going to ‘run for margaritas’ which I’m really looking forward to. Its a small world people, and I like it.

Tuesday night we had speed series led by Josh aka SS in Central Park. Other runners in attendance… ROLE CALL: Erika, Eissa, Elyssa, Erin, Amy, Anna, and Matt. We did 4, mile repeats (which means, run 1 mile at almost full capacity, 2 minute break, do it all over again) and they were brutal! We have a pretty fast group I might add.

Thursday was swimming with coach Todd down in Battery Park. He came up with a new drill that we aptly named ‘Triple Homicides.’ Without getting too detailed, its a chase drill where we do 3 sprint laps, 30 second break, repeat times 10. Ive never thought of the possibility of having a heart seizure in a pool before until doing these ‘Triple Homicides’. Yeah I said it again, I really love the name we gave them, makes me feel tough especially relaying it to friends the next day. Example: “Good morning Baker, how was your night?” “Oh it was fine I guess, just did some Triple Homicides, like 10 of em, it was nothing really… just another Thursday”

I took the day off Friday because my friend Lisa (Jim’s wife) asked me to be a speaker at career day. She is teacher up at Wagner Middle on the Upper East Side. I arrived at 9 sharp to a welcome breakfast in the cafeteria. There were probably 40 volunteers and after looking at the schedule it seemed they had managed to get just about all walks of careers… lawyers, news anchors, dentists, singers and more. I happened to be paired up with Phil, who was a comedian! Sweet! I love to laugh, really who doesn’t? We each did 15 minutes, with him opening the show. It was a lot of fun and the kids were very receptive and asked some very great questions. All in all Id say that in 10-20 years time roughly 30% of the kids I talked to will be buying Rolex watches. Seriously though, I really hope some of the creative ones learned that there are great careers in the arts. Perhaps they will want to be photographers or graphic designers some day? I did touch on triathlons briefly but no one seemed to care.

The event was over just after lunch and with my whole day free I figured “What a perfect time to have lunch with one of my friends!” What did I learn today? Nearly all of my friends have 9-5 jobs, therefore I ended up eating by myself. Fine.

Based on the amazing sunshine that was blanketing the city I decided to go for a bike ride. I stopped for Nino’s Pizza and to pick up my race number along the way. My ride was followed up by an afternoon nap.

That night Erika (her royal tallness) and I went to Cassellula to have wine and cheese as she “needed alcohol”. She suggested we sneak into a movie with mini bottles of booze but I was feeling the cheese thing instead. It was really fun, we tried a bunch of what I dub ‘stinky cheeses’ that were paired with items like roasted garlic and pear butter. We also polished off a bottle of wine, 2 dessert wines, Baked Alaska and a Chocolate German Cake in which they poured fresh cream. Yes, it was amazing!

Saturday night I rocked out a bit of my traditional pre-race routine. I stayed in and watched horror movies, bad ones! For dinner I made my shrimp scampi, BUT, I altered the recipe slightly on a whim and may have made the best scampi ever! Seriously. I had a few beers to carbo-load and was tempted to get some ice cream but opted out due to the fact that I was basically in my PJs. In bed just after 11 and had a solid nights sleep.

RACE DAY

(wow, it took a page of text just to get to my race. sorry readers.)

Woke up at 6:45 and juiced up with the Bustelo. I was out the door on my bike to meet Jim and Ed of the ‘Dad Posse’ at 7:30. We arrived in the Heights around 8:15 and had loads of time to spare before the race. It was quite beautiful out and as long as you stood in the blazing sunshine it felt awesome.

10 minutes prior we all made our way up to our respective corrals. I stood around all the club team racers (who were psyched as this was the first club points race of the season.)

As I glanced to my right who do I see? Robert and Antonio! Its like clockwork man, we always run into each other in the corrals. We hung out and chatted about the course, our times, Garmin satellites, you know, runner stuff.

As the gun went off there was an immediate bottle neck! It turns out a woman in front had fallen causing a pile up for a hot second. She jumped back up and everything was back on course (literally, ha). I jumped in behind Robert as he was clearing a good path through the crowds.

Mile 1, 6 flat. My goal was to be sub 6 the whole time and this was a clear sign that my goal would be hard to achieve. Shortly after that I lost Robert in the crowds and just started trying to catch my pace.

Holy cow were there hills! 1 1/2 miles in there is this mega descent where I was practicing my new downhill technique. Basically you barrel down the hill with huge strides, almost like a prance. Yes, I was prancing. I started laughing out loud though because I then realized at the turn around we would have to run UP this monster hill. Whoa momma.

As we turned I started to pick up my pace (thanks to SS and the Hill Digger workout we did a few Tuesdays ago. Thanx!) and was cruising up the hill. It might have been a solid half mile incline, I don’t know, but it was painful.

At mile 2, 2 1/4 it all started back downhill to the finish! We were all blazing down the hill anticipating the finish. Did I mention there were bands all over? Bagpipes, Salsa, Blues… it was great! I have a sore spot in my heart for bagpipes so that really got my spirits up.

I sprinted at the end – just barely – and made it through the finish at 18:15! I was kind of upset as I wanted to break the 6 minute barrier in a NYRR race and didn’t think I had done it. You do know I went to Art College right? Yeah, no math. Later on Robert would clarify that I had indeed met my goal! I was very excited.

While waiting for my friends I bumped into Lam! Nice to finally meet you Lam! Then, Robert and Antonio popped over for a chat before they took off to run home.

Jim, Ed and I rode our bikes down to the Columbia University area to find coffee before parting ways.

Everyone had a great race today AND it was perfect spring weather for it! Congrats to all the runners!

My new post race treat is the Naked Superfood drink. (see below) Its really great, like someone took a garden and stuck it in a blender!

RACE REPORT: 028 Thursday Night at the Races

Posted on February 26, 2010 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 2 Comments

My 2 cousins Gillian (20) and Catherine (18) are pretty serious athletes. Aside from being sick basketball players they are also speedy trackstars, so once Jim and Ed of the ‘Dad Posse’ notified me that I would be running the New Balance Armory for Thursday Night at the Races I immediately contacted them for track advice on the 1500m and 800m.

Catherine: “yeah the eight hundred stride the first lap and give it your all on the second, it is going to hurt a bit.
the fifteen hundred run the first two laps around your mile split but a bit faster and then book it for the last lap.”

Gillian: for the 800: “get out fast and make sure you stay with the front people until the second lap. just give it your all. it comes down to who wants it more. make sure you read the runners and don’t get too far ahead of yourself.”

Cat: “i guess you should just listen to gillian instead…”

RACE DAY

There was a blizzard in full effect all day Thursday expected to continue into Friday but no one was phased as it wasn’t sticking to the ground… yet.

I got off work at 4, headed home to gear up and met Jim and Ed at Local Bar by the A,C Train. We departed shortly after and made it to to the Armory by 6:30.

The Armory: This 60,000-square-foot Washington Heights arena—home to one of the world’s fastest indoor tracks—hosts a jam-packed season. The venue welcomes approximately 400,000 athletes, coaches, parents and fans from 1,000 high schools and 36 states to more than 100 meets each year. Also on-site is the National Track & Field Hall of Fame—an inspiring, enlightening tribute to the sport’s history.

I have been to a few tracks in my day, but this one was really great. I was instantly intimidated. On the inner circle of the track were all these young people doing sick sprints and hurdles. I thought “Wow, I am in the wrong place, I am going to get my a$$ handed to me.” Luckily, just after 6:45 the announcement came on that all High School students at the earlier practice need to leave! So funny, after they did it equalized and I felt 100 times better, not to say that these remaining people didn’t look blazing fast, they just didn’t look like up and coming Olympians!

They made the announcement at 7 for all 1500m racers to go to the center area for heat seeding. I ran over, there were probably 30 women and 50 men. They had already started the first heat of the women’s race.

They broke us into heats based on what we thought we could finish in (honor system.) Being that I had never done this before AND that fact that I hate numbers, I was kind of lost. I waited to the 4th heat to be picked before I jumped in. I think it was the 4:40-4:55 heat.

It was really exciting as I love watching track racing to begin with! Its very strategic.

As the third heat finished it was our turn to line up. I had butterflies and was in the 1 shute and ready to go. As he fired the gun we were off and I immediately pulled into number 2 position. Following the advice of my cousins I held back and tried to actually maintain some kind of pace.

We had 7.5 laps to run on the 200m track. It was really exciting but after maybe the 4th lap I was in pain. Sprinting for 1500 meters is hard! I was now in 3rd position and the lead guys were gaining on me. Every time I crossed the midway point Jim and Ed cheered me on from the stands.

On the last lap its like every one turned up the juice! I got passed by another really fast guy and this other runner with 100m to go. Not having it. I blasted into a sprint on the straightaway and caught the second guy who passed me but couldn’t catch the previous. I was wiped!

1500m TIME: 4:47. I don’t even know if thats good?

I was on a total bee-line for the water fountains. SIDENOTE: Bring bottled water next time.

I ran into Christine there and said hello. We had never met so it was cool seeing her face to face. She was queued up for the 800m next so she bolted to get in her heat.

Since there was a snowstorm, the track meet wasn’t super crowded. Therefore, I had to run the 800m like 10 minutes after I ran the 1500m. Team Crazytime… my heart rate didn’t even slow up and I was coughing from he dry heat in the Arena. As soon as the women finished we were up. I put myself in the 4th heat again.

This time as the gun went off I was in 3rd position and we were in tight formation. We only had 4 laps to run and we were cruising through them every 30 seconds. My number 1 and 2 guys started putting some distance on me. Then, same thing at the last lap, super fast guy blazes past me. I try to keep up but its really quite impossible. I did however sprint at the end to make an attempt but couldn’t manage to catch and pass him.

800m TIME: 2:27

Water fountain save me.

In my head I was finished racing. I went up to Jim and Ed and hung for a hot second before heading down for more water. Then, I walked over to chat with Christine and see how she was doing. We were laughing about our races when an older gentleman with a grey beard approached us. “Excuse me, would you two like to be on our relay team?” A relay? Holy crap! Ive never done that but always wanted to! I blurted out to the guy “totally!”

Evidently, Christine ran track in High School (I have no athletic background aside from ultimate frisbee) so she schooled me on how this would work. 10 Teams, 10 people per team, each team member runs 1, 200m lap 5 times to make the total distance 10,000m. It sounded awesome.

Our team introduced themselves to us. They were a group of guys from Tishman Contracting if Im not mistaken. All very cool. We got numbered as Team 5 in the race and also made it our respective team name.

The race began and it immediately became a blast! We were racing some serious teams such as Central Park Track Club and the Frontrunners (who my friend Kevin Masse is on but wasn’t there). Christine was off and then as she rounded the track I stepped up. Her job was to hand off the baton to me. As she approached I grabbed it and booked! Its such a relief to have to just sprint one 200m lap! As I came around I sped up and ran along side my hand off guy (number 6 in line) before pulling off to the left. WOW! I could get used to this.

In my poor calculation of mathematics I was under the impression that we all had to run 10 legs of the race. It wasn’t until I overheard another team member say ‘only 4 to go’ I realized it was only 5 legs. Sweet! I could really blast off.

I hung with Christine and we laughed at the insanity of it all. I was really enjoying the camaraderie and the cheering. For sure we were not the fastest team out there but it was so fun! The next time I went I learned that I could actually run with Christine before she made the handoff increasing my take off speed. My goal each lap was just to find someone to chase down and pass.

The whole thing ended in around 30 minutes. We stuck around and watched a second 10,000m relay for a bit then head out to grab a bite. As we opened the doors a blast of snow came in. It was at that point we started to realize that this storm was for real! There was 4-6 inches of snow that had accumulated while we were running!

I said goodbye to Christine (she had to work the next day regardless of snow) and the rest of us hit Coogan’s Bar.

We grabbed a table and right off the bat we noticed the numerous track jerseys hanging off the ceiling. It was a track and field bar! Looking around I recognized some faces from the meet, sitting and having a post race drink and meal. Too cool.

As soon as we got situated a big group came in and what do you know, it was my relay team! They sat next to us after saying hi and thanking me for being a part of their team. Really, some stand up guys. As our drinks came the server notified Jim, Ed and myself that my relay team leader had bought that round! We all cheered each other. After wolfing down some food and a few pints we hit the subways. I slept like a rock!

—

It was an amazing time and I made some cool new friends. Track Racing is such a different ball game from distance running. Its very similar to race car driving with its drafting strategies and sitting back a few places waiting to make a move. I will totally do this again especially if I get to be on a relay team!

RACE REPORT: 027 Run for Haiti 4M: 29:45

Posted on February 21, 2010 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 2 Comments

6921

Sex/
Age

Bib

Overall

Place

Gender

Place

Age
Place

Finish
Time

Pace/
Mile

AG %

M32

6921

840

743

156

29:45

7:26

57.0 %

There wasn’t supposed to be a race on February 20th, 2010. It was supposed to be an ordinary day in Central Park, nothing special… until the devastating earthquake that destroyed Haiti last month.

NYRR came up with an idea to raise money for Haiti by way of a 4 mile race in central park where regular race entry would be $40.00 instead of the usual $15-20. They also noted that this race would count as a double qualifier for the 2011 NYC Marathon. Needless to say, everyone came out for this one.

—

My Friday night was actually quite fun.

Before I went out I made (from scratch) some Shrimp Fra Dialvo. Those of you who keep up with my posts know that this is a staple for me before a race introduced by my friend Ahern last summer. It turned out awesome. I wolfed it down and hit the subways.

My piano teacher (and good friend) Sugar has been producing this show called the Nouveau Classical Project (nouveauclassical.org). The concept is… classical music is dead. Young people are uninspired to listen to or understand what it is. Sugar’s idea is to merge cutting edge fashion designers and fine artists with a series of classical pieces and have a show. I have been to almost all of them (one of my paintings was even in the first!) and have never been disappointed.

This NCP took place in Tribeca and featured 5 performances of which my friends Amanda, Walter, Kiersten, Nolan, and of course Sugar played in. It was sold out. It rocked. Everyone was amazing and I will never be unimpressed by any of their performances.

After the reception I joined a group of the musicians at an italian restaurant for a few beers and pasta… carbo loading. I left at 12 and crashed (bedtime) shortly after.

RACE DAY

I awoke at 630AM and began fueling with Cafe Bustelo. Based on my 2 pasta dinners I had the night before I wasn’t hungry. Grabbed two bananas anyway, and headed out.

Rolled into Central Park at 830 and headed to the bandshell to meet the ‘dad posse’ minus Mike, plus Annelise and Lisa. I had wolfed down the bananas by the time I arrived. One of my coworkers often calls me a monkey for my affinity toward this divine fruit. I don’t mind.

We headed out to the corrals realizing there actually were no corrals that it was indeed as I dubbed it a ‘Sh&t Show.’ We made our way to the back of the line which turned out to be the 11 minute milers. I stood there with the gang thinking… ‘well, you just gotta pick your battles and i guess today isn’t that day. lets just have some fun.’

The gun went off and it seriously took 10 minutes before we had moved. I made friends with this really sweet girl named Stephanie next to us and we started the run together. She told me she didn’t make NYC Marathon 2010 because she did all of her 9 races and forgot to volunteer so they denied her entry! Anyone able to pull any strings? After running with her for a little while we lost each other at which point I decided to start barreling down the right side.

I crossed Mile 1 at 23:15 or something which was a total PR.

It was actually a lot of fun running with the group. Once you accept the fact that it isnt going to be a banner day in the personal record books it turns into a pure love of the sport.

At Mile 2.5 we were rounding CP and starting to head south. It was then that I decided I needed (just for me) to turn up the heat. I started sprinting up the hills (like we did a few Tuesdays ago with SS in the Hill Diggers night!) and what do you know, it worked!

I was really cookin now and really having a great time. As we turned toward the finish I picked up the pace and was doing well until out of nowhere super-tall-lanky-guy cuts right in front of me without looking! I slammed on the brakes (all Top Gun style) and may have actually burned rubber as he sped by. Not cool buddy. You just messed with the wrong guy. Hahaha, I’m kidding, or am I?

So of course my mission now was to beat him, duh.

I bolted left and started (carefully) bobbing and weaving gaining speed. Right before the finish I cut right and jumped in front of him boxing him out and beating him. C’mon, it’s the little things in life that matter people! Anyway, I guess I’m competitive after all and maybe a touch obsessive.

Never have I been to a race in Central Park so ridiculously crowded (9421 runners). It didn’t matter though, as it was for Haiti. I think the race raised over $400K which for one morning in CP is amazing.

I waited for ‘Dad Posse’ + wives and anyone else I might find (Erika, TK) finishing the run. Based on my starting right before the walkers corral I figured Erika and TK were done already.

As I sat watching the runners, who comes by but my new friend Stephanie! We high fived and said a few words as she took off for water. Seconds later Ed came in followed by Lisa and Annelise. Jim had already finished and was waiting for us by baggage.

What a beautiful day. Sometimes you have to put aside your competitive drive and just be a part of the collective, working together for one concept. I like that. Runners get it. (I’m a triathlete too so I gotta give shouts to them to as they are a part of this as well)

It takes heart to get up early and do a 4 mile race, and I’m not even talking to you my runner compadres as we do this crap every morning. I’m talking about the rookies out there today, props to you folks for coming out and killing it. I hope you all get the running bug and come join us in the Park every weekend, it will change your life.

RACE REPORT: 025 NYE Midnight Run: 4M

Posted on January 4, 2010 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 3 Comments

I hate 2 holidays in New York City, The 4th of July and New Years Eve. It’s not that I don’t like these holidays in and of themselves, I just hate spending them IN NYC.

Im quite sick of the overly crowded bars with the ticket prices, the house parties with strangers… it’s all so old. Therefore, I had planned to be on a beach somewhere, in the heat, with a pina colada. This plan failed as I jinxed myself by planning a trip to Florida on the 7th to run the Disney Marathon. There would be no way to schedule a NYE trip so close to another vacation based on work etc etc etc. What to do, what to do?

END RANT —

Ed, Jim and Mike of the ‘Dad Posse’ had mentioned that they would be running the NYE Midnight fun run in Central Park. Maybe I would like to join? After an email from Ed’s wife Annelise inviting me over for the pre-run party it was a no brainer and I signed up.

I had a pretty laid back day. I went ice skating with Marissa, shot over to Robin and Ahern’s for our annual Irish Whiskey toast then made my way up to Ed and Annelise’s place.

The party was perfect. Role call: Ed, Annelise, Jim, Lisa, Mike, Kara, Jack, Isabelle, Ben, Josephine, Elizabeth, Kelly, Kevin plus some of Annelise’s family. For our pre-race medicine I made margaritas from scratch (I think it may have took a half hour to juice all the limes). None the less, I think they were a hit and may have improved our race times in the end.

At 11:30, Ed, Jim, Mike, Zack his sister and I hit the road to make it to Central Park in time.

We were a bit late and the race had begun (remember its a fun run and un-timed). We ditched our gear with Zack and his sister (big ups for watching our stuff) and we started the run.

It was like a snow-rain mix but the 4500 runners didn’t seem to care, nor did we. There was a barrage of fireworks going off the whole time which was totally amazing to run under.

We started the race in a group of four, taking turns leading. Really, we all were following the 3 gals running in bikinis. I’m serious, they were and they were totally awesome. I chatted with them briefly, one of the girls was ‘duped’ into running this thing and was clearly not pleased with her run-happy friends.

It was around this point that we all lost sight of one another in the pack. It was then that I decided to start ballin’ down the course. I would occasionally slide out on the snow patches to see how far I could go, then jump right into a sprint. Although entertaining to me, I’m sure no one around me thought it was that cool.

There were lots of people high fiving us on the sidelines and it was really great. Props to anyone who hangs out in bad weather cheering on runners!

I was cruising pretty fast and was soaking wet head-to-toe. In all honesty, it started to become quite hard to race. At mile 3, I was being drafted by a guy who annoyed me. I pulled a ‘Top Gun’ and jammed on the brakes allowing him to fly past me at which point I yelled “your turn to lead buddy!’ He agreed. Remember, I was juiced up with margaritas and positive-crowd vibes. We rounded the corner to the finish and I sprinted it out nearly having heart attack… or maybe that was margarita induced heart burn?

After finishing I turned around to hit the finish and cheer on the guys as they completed the race. Its so hard to see anyone in a dark storm though, FYI.

We all found each other and did a round of high-fives as Ed says “Who wants some refreshments?” and produces 4 Fosters Oil Can beers! Wow!

We all cruised out of the park saluting the New Year and our race.

It was exactly how I imagined myself ringing in the New Year. What better way then to be doing something I love and now live for, running and competing.

RACE REPORT: 024 Knickerbocker 60K: 5:01:01

Posted on November 21, 2009 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 6 Comments

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Gender Place	Age Place	Net Time	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile
M31	14	12	12		5:01:01	5:01:01	8:05

The Knickerbocker 60K is a mild Ultramarathon (I say that because hard core Ultra Runners only consider a 50 miler and up Ultras) consisting of 9 laps around Central Park totaling 37.2 miles.

I had been signed up to run this race for a few months, and during a conversation with Ed from the “Dad Posse” he asked me why I would want to run such a crazy race? After a day or two of introspection it came to me… Fear. Fear was the reason I was running this thing. I was afraid of this race from the get go and wanted to take it on head first.

I was a little nervous as I had only run a distance no greater than 17 miles in the last 4 months, which some would say is poor preparation. Whatever.

2 weeks prior I was actually stressed about it. The week of, not the case. I was actually more excited just to run because I had taken the week off from physical activity, which to any of you who know me personally is like torture.

The night before the race I spent ‘preparing for battle’ as I like to say. I made 3 Powerade Redbull 50-50 mixed drinks for the run. I also made 7 mini burritos made from rice and beans. Why? My hero runner, Scott Jurek, is a naturalist and isnt into Gels and Goos. Quite frankly, neither am I , they are gross. Take yourself back to the 70’s and 80’s when these things didnt exist, what did runners do? Eat burritos? Maybe not, but that is what I had in store for my “Brunch” tomorrow.

Once my bag was packed I made my staple pre-run meal. Pasta with fresh shrimp. Its the perfect meal and Im never hungry when I wake up. I ate this and watched the 2006 Ironman Championships which is a great way to get inspired. Try it. Oh, and try and not shed some tears too, impossible!

I was in bed by 10:30, 11 o’clock and had dreams about the race. I woke up every two hours.

RACE DAY

Woke up at 6AM, had some Bustelo and was out the door by 6:30.

Elizabeth (or Ms Ritz) had been generous enough to offer up holding my bag-o-goodies prior to the race! So nice, thanks Eliz! So after dropping my stuff with her I went over to the Road Runners and geared up. I made a few friends at the start. One of these gals, Jessica, happens to be running the Disney Marathon in January too! Small World! It was cool hanging with someone prior to a race of this magnitude.

Speaking of which, compared to other RR races in New York, this almost seemed like a rogue operation! In comparison, other races have close to 5,000 racers, this had 185!

Mike and Ed popped over to say hi before the start. Ed would be riding his bike around the track and Mike would be running.

After a quick speech by the race coordinator we were off.

I was running without my music on as it was a beautiful morning. Not sure how my pace was but I was in the top ten runners and we were chatting and being silly about the whole 9 laps thing. Its rare in a race that you get this kind of humanity, all of the competitive edge being gone. You’re really testing yourself, not others.

Laps 1 and 2 went by pretty quick and I was right on target with my 1- 1:10 hours per 2 laps time frame. My only morning fuel was a Clif Bar and two bananas, but I wasn’t hungry. Weird. .

At the end of Lap 2 I was pacing a guy I had caught up to. His name was Sebastian and we became friends. We chatted about our runs etc. He was faster than me for sure, but we stayed together until Lap 4 when I had to take a bathroom break.

It was after this that I turned on my headphones and started to get into my zone if you will.

People often ask what I listen to when I run? I listen to Drum n Bass mixes, this one happened to be a very aggressive DJ Hype mix.

Something to take note of…
We were running against the flow of normal running traffic, so we would pass the same people numerous times and they started routing for us! It was so helpful and fun! I saw Ed, Mike, Jim and Patrick (of the “dad Posse”) numerous times, giving me high fives as we passed. Sebastian at one point asked who I was and how I knew so many people, hilarious.

At Lap 5 I removed my white zip-up top and just had my red dry fit on with my track pants. It was getting warmer and I needed to lose some weight. I had made more friends with all the volunteers around the course because you pass them so many times. They were teasing me about changing my outfit calling me the stripper runner!

Lap 6 is when I started to get hungry. I pulled over to where Elizabeth was stationed with my gear and grabbed a burrito. Some of my volunteer pals were astonished at the fact that I was actually eating a rice and bean burrito. “Dude, are you seriously eating a burrito?!” I offered them one on the return loop but they werent hungry. This kind of banter back and forth only solidifying what an insane race this was. As I returned the next lap the gals asked if I was having a margarita (my powerade mix) to wash down my burrito.

Im not going to lie and try and act all macho about this run, at this point my legs were basically on fire. Trying to ignore the sensation, specifically in my quads, was very hard to do. I was using every water station as a chance to have a 15 second walk and drink break which helped and also gave me something to look forward too.

My next lap around I took off my track pants and red top, revealing my staple beater-running shorts combo. This felt great and I could really fly without the pants.

It was at this point I noticed all my friends gathered at the finish! Role call: Todd, Ila, Jeff, Ali, Jon Boy, Danny, Anna, Phyllis, John, Robin, Ahern, Becky, Cottom, Benny!
I yelled as I went by that this was my last lap, Lap 8! Boy was I mistaken.

I cruised around the 3.9 Mile loop ecstatic that this would be my final lap and telling all my volunteer buddies the same, I felt pretty good. It was 55 degrees and sunny in an amazingly colored Autumn Central Park. It was spectacular and I kept telling myself ‘what a day to be alive.’

200 Yards to the finish I saw my brother and his GF Ali yelling to me that I still had a lap to go! What? As I cruised up the race guy said I did indeed have one more. He showed me the race log and it said I had completed 8 laps? No, he said, its a 9 Lap course! WOW. Buzzkill.

I smiled at him and said “Okay, one more lap it is.” and I took off!

It felt like I might have ran that 9th Lap the fastest. What was really weird is that, even though my quads were burning, I was still feeling great, I even had a smile on my face. This is a trait I have picked up from another hero of mine, Natascha Badmann. She is a 7 time Ironman champion and always runs with a smile on her face. When asked why she does it, she simply states that running and racing is what makes her happy. I like that. Me too.

As I made my final turn towards the finish I did get a little choked up thinking about what I was going to complete. I told myself to save those emotions for later, when it would really set in. For now, bathe in the glory of the finish.

As I came down the home stretch I rocked a pretty good sprint into the finish as seen here (thanx benny)

Finish Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG77fgrfzms

I hit my target goal of 5 hours and actually came in 12th Place overall, earning a plaque! Cool man!

I have never felt more relieved to stop running, then after a 37.2 Mile fiasco. Oh, and I now know every inch of Central Park… every turn, tree, shadow, curb, trash can, sign… Im not running in it for like a month.

After the race a bunch of us went to Brother Jimmy’s which seems to be my staple race ending meal. We had some beers and loaded up on food. I had blackened catfish, mac and cheese and collared greens. At 3 we all left as I was in dire need of a shower and a nap.

I am now an Ultramarathoner!

Special thanks to all my friends who made it out to support me, it means a lot! Also special thanks to the volunteers and all the runners who saw me and cheered me on!

SIDESTORY: Sunday I was watching football at our local bar, Black Sheep, with my brother Jeff. This gal in a booth is staring at me and as I caught her glace she holds up her arms like “Well?” I was like “Um, hi?” Then she says, “Yea hi, Burrito Man! How did the race finish for you?” Wow what a small world, she was one of the spectators that joked about the margaritas!

NYC Marathon: Commentary

Posted on November 1, 2009 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 3 Comments

I did not run the 2009 NYC Marathon, BUT, in honor of my 3 friends who ran it I wanted to do a write up.

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A common question I hear in the weeks up to, and during the Marathon was “Baker, are you running this year?”
I wanted to, believe me. As a runner and someone who has run NYC, to be a spectator definitely feels like you missed the bus. But, to be part of the cheering committee, especially when you know people running is great!

There are a few ways to run the NYC Marathon, and I did not get in using any of these tactics.

– Charity. Raise upwards of $2500-$3000 for any given team and you can run. Here’s the catch, if you don’t raise 3K, they take the difference out of your bank account. Last year this was how I got in. I wasn’t a runner at the time and never figured on doing multiple Marathons. In fact, I am quoted as saying at the finish to my friend Ila “I will never do this again!”

– Grandfather clause. Run 15 or more NYC Marathons and you’re in. No comment.

– Qualify. My time would need to be 2:55 in any marathon or 1:23 in a Half, which I just missed by 2 minutes at Grete’s Gallop.

– Lottery. 100,000 entries, roughly 40,000 accepted. Its like the Ivy League of running. I did not get in using this tactic this year.

– Lottery rejections. If you apply and are denied 3 years in a row, you get automatic entry the next year.

– Running! What better way to secure a spot? Run 9+ Road Runner Qualifying Races, volunteer once and you are locked in for the following year. So, with my 13+ races I am in for 2010! I will also run these races next season and ‘snowball’ myself into the marathon every year from here on out. Had I known this last year I might have done it, but remember, I wasn’t a runner at that point.

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I went up to Bar Coastal on 78th and 1st around 11AM. Anyone who lives in NYC and hasn’t been a spectator at the world’s greatest spectator event really needs to get in gear. It was my little brother Jeff’s birthday so we had a dual purpose. Actually, our middle brother Phil, and his wife Naomi, had a child the night before. Cayden Charles Baker, so Jeff and I were also celebrating his birth and calling each other Uncles all day!

I would be lying if I didn’t say it was crowded. Any of you who know me well, understand I don’t do well in packed bars, but today is different. Today, you just accept it, mainly because every place you go is teeming with cheering New Yorkers.

Aside from partying, I was up there to cheer on my 3 runners…

Roll Call.

Becky!
Becky is my new roommate and friend. She is a runner and has done a marathon before, just not NY. Her leg has been bothering her, but after a visit to her doctor she said it was a green light for the race. I signed up for athlete tracker (which is cool) but beware, after 10K I didn’t receive any more updates for her and was a bit worried thinking she might have been injured. Jim and Elizabeth’s updates were streaming in fine. At around 4PM I got the message though, Becky had indeed finished strong! She’s a trooper and had to fly out on business that very night!

Elizabeth!
Elizabeth, or Ms Ritz, I met because we both write about running. Our friends Robert and Antonio (who I run with) introduced us. Her leg had also been bothering her 3 weeks prior to the race. She really wanted to run… anyone who knows a serious runner understands that once a goal is set, its hard to get around it even with doctors orders. I was getting all my updates for Elizabeth and man, she was cookin! 8:30s or less all day long! I owed Elizabeth a high-five as she was cheering me on at the Poland Spring race. I missed her and Becky at my post on 78th street as its so crowded and crazy. Its really hard to find your people. She finished and made her qualifying Boston time! Nice work Elizabeth, hopefully after my Disney marathon I will get a BQ and see you there!

Jim!
Jim is a member of the notorious “Dad Posse” also consisting of Ed, and Mike. Jim’s main goal was a Sub 4 marathon. Jim is pretty funny in the fact that he is real humble about racing. I mean, the guy has done an Ironman! There is no higher power than an IM. I was at the sidelines with Ed and Annelise, their 3 children Jack, Isabelle, and Ben Skywalker along with Jim’s wife Lisa and their 2 children Elizabeth, Josephine (and Louey!) We were anxiously awaiting Jim’s approach, the kids even had signs made up! Very cute. He cruised up looking pretty good for having run 17 miles, eating some gels his wife had and posing for some PR photo shoots. He bid us farewell after his 60 second stop and continued on.

I left the gang and headed indoors to continue Jeff’s birthday celebration. So many friends came out, it was great. We were maybe 20 deep having a blast when I get an email from Athlete Tracker saying Jim had finished in 3:58 and change. I threw my arm up in a fist pump and screamed, everyone around me wondering what the hell I was doing. I looked around and yelled “Jim ran a Sub 4! Hell Yea!” and still, people looked around at each other, “Who is Jim?”

It didn’t matter, my 2 worlds of racing and recreation were smashed together in a funny juxtaposition.

All 3 of my friends, new friends, who I met this year from running and am proud to call friends, were Beyond Defeat. They all accomplished their goals, and each one of them, as I have said in entry 1 of this blog, got to be King for a Day. Congratulations.

RACE REPORT: 023 Poland Spring 5M: 30:28

Posted on October 25, 2009 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 3 Comments

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Gender Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG Time	AG Gender Place
M31	40	54	51	13	30:28	6:05	30:19	124

After Saturday’s poor performance I was ready for battle out in Central Park. The Poland Spring 5 Mile Marathon Kick-off is an exciting race as it marks the last event before the marathon!

Saturday night I made my Shrimp Fra Di Avlo again and again it rocked! I as in bed by Midnight.

RACE DAY

I awoke at what seemed to be 6:30AM, but the light didn’t seem right. (I work for a watch company so I wear wristwatches) so I checked one and found that it was in fact 7:30AM! My ‘smart’ clock turned back the Fall Time a week early. Robots. I was meeting Ed, Jim and Ed’s neice Amanda at the bandshell at 8 so I had to hustle.

I rode my bike up to CP and found Jim at the spot. We locked our bikes up and he took off. SIDENOTE: Jim is running the marathon next week, so he was doing a training run on his own. He was trying to time his run to coincide with our finishes and as you will see, he did a pretty good job. I found Amanda and Ed down by the start and we gave the usual fist-pound of good luck.

I jumped in my corral kind of late so I was at the very back of the Blue Bibs.

As the gun went off it took me easily 7 seconds to cross the start line, meaning, I was stuck in the pack and had work to do. For some reason I like this. Similarly to when I used to drive and had to ‘bob-n-weave’ through traffic.

I took the left flank and started cruising just as I noticed this jacked-up guy with a tribal necklace and red shirt running at my pace. I decided to run with him. Our first mile was like 6:30! No good. We started to pick up the pace as the crowd thinned.

As we hit mile 3 I was just getting into the groove and feeling it. I also had my brand new racing flats on and was in heaven! (They have no heel really, so it keeps you pushed forward on your toes and mid foot, which is a run philosophy I believe in strongly. Ask me about it one day.) I had passed my pace buddy by this point and was trying to make up for lost time on mile 1.

Around mile 4 I was coming up the hill past the Boathouse when I heard “Yeah, go Baker!” It was Elizabeth (or Ms Ritz as many of you runners know her as) and I ran over and we high fived! Thanks Elizabeth. I actually really needed a push at that point and having people cheer you on boosts your energy.

Then, at mile 5 as Im rounding the south end to start gearing up for my finish who do I see? Robert, who was volunteering, yells “Go Baker!” Awesome, another running buddy! But then, the jacked guy I was pacing earlier passed me! Now, I would like to say that I am non competitive at times, but its so hard to control. How could I let this guy pass me after I passed him, illogical. Pushing on, he had an easy 20 yards on me and I was hurting.

As we started our approach to the finish by Tavern on the Green I saw Jim sidelined yelling at me! By this point there were 3 people between me and the jacked guy. I leaned forward on my tippy toes and started my sprint. (the feeling is similar to watching football drills where they are running through the tires with knees high, toes pointed down) I was cruising and I felt no pain, I was passing eveyone picking up speed along the way, with 2 meters to go I passed my guy!

The end sprint is by far my favorite part of racing. The problem is, saving up a little steam at the end for that kind of a finish… it doesn’t always work out as planned. I finished in 30:28 which was fine by me considering my previous day’s race disaster!

Jim ran down and gave me a high five, he was going to do anther lap and meet up with us around the time when Ed was finishing (like I said, he had the math down!)

After the race I was looking for the Medals that Jim said we get after this particular race… no dice.

I grabbed a water and headed to the finish to wait for the gang. Ed had not run a race in around 3-4 weeks (since the Grete’s Half Marathon) because his knee was being problematic, so I wasn’t sure at what time he would finish. He had said earlier that he was going to complete it, even if he had to crawl! Nice.

Around 54 minutes he came cruising through looking like everything was okay. He had said that it took 7 minutes to get to the start and sure enough his real time came back as 46:52! This is a record for him and not bad considering as he was coming off an injury. Amanda was right behind him with a time of 47:03.

Amanda, Jim, Ed and I shared some good stories about the race. In general, we were all pretty excited that we beat the guy in the banana suit. It was a great day for a run.