Tag Archives: Lavaman

RACE REPORT: 078 Lava Love Sprint – 1:16:24

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The Lava Love Triathlon (formerly known as Lavaman) would mark my 3rd triathlon in just over a week. It is one of my favorite races and I was really looking forward to it, especially since the weather looked optimum, unlike last weeks Rev 3 flooding!

How do you prepare for a Sprint Triathlon? A 3-legged race of course! That was Thursday night, the following morning at 4:45AM Jim, Ed (of the ‘Dad Posse’) and I left to pick up Mike (also of ‘Dad Posse’ fame) to go fishing. It was going to be another double header weekend but this time we subbed out a Tri with fishing.

Our boat left out of teh Red Bank area and we spent a gorgeous morning fishing off of Sandy Hook. We caught maybe 4 fluke, but for me, just being out on the water was relaxing. I kept thinking to myself, “If we capsized, I could totally swim over to there. Or there, or even over to there.”

I am also kind of living out of a bag the last few weeks since my apartment is being renovated so I forgot sneakers to wear on the boat. My Newton MV2 racing flats actually worked out great!

Back at Mike’s we had a few beers before setting off for Lavalette, NJ. Since we hadn’t caught any fish, we were on a mission for seafood. Were does one get their seafood fix down on the Jersey Shore? KLEINS!

Kleins rules. It sits out on the waterway where all the boats go in and out fishing so it’s a blast to watch. They also have everything you could imagine to eat, from the ocean of course. We wanted clams so we started with 2 dozen steamed cherry stones and 1 dozen cherry stones on the half shell. These were like the biggest clams I have ever seen. Almost too big. For my unnecessary main entree, I chose the blackened Mahi sandwich and it was spectacular!

Back on the road Ed suggested we stop for ice cream. Hoffman’s is a legendary home made ice cream shop a few minutes from Jim’s Grandma’s house so we simply had to go. I was now beyond stuffed.

At Granny’s, we unpacked all 4 of our bikes, geeked out on them for a little while, riding them up and down the dark neighborhood streets, had a beer and went to bed.

RACE DAY

We were all up between 4:30 and 5:30AM bright and bushy eyed. There sure are a hell of a lotta birds that love to get up early in Lavalette! Waking up multiple days in a row before 5AM has now started not to faze me which is frightening.

Granny’s house is literally on the bike course! We hopped on our rides and took the 5 minute ride over to transition. We were like a bad ass Tri-gang rolling 4 deep.

After setting up my area which took all of 3 minutes I went over to assist Mike. This was his FIRST EVER triathlon (Jim just signed him up and sent him the registration confirm) so I wanted to make sure he was good. I still remember my first tri and how my buddy Cenk walked me through all the steps. I tried to pay it back.

Down at the water we found Gio who was also racing. Together, all 5 of us entered the choppy bay and started wading out to the start buoys. The water was really nice and I was enjoying the rough waves.

The gun went off and it was total chaos. The only other worse chaotic swim has been Ironman for me. I don’t know why, maybe the mass start or the chop? It was pretty nuts though for a sprint. I have done enough of these now that getting kicked in the face or having my head dunked doesn’t really upset me. In fact, I kind of enjoy the survival aspect of it.  I did get kind of freaked out though after a quick kick when I thought to myself, “Hey, wouldn’t it be crazy if I got kicked so hard I got knocked out?” I quickly started thinking about rainbows and beer.

My swim went well. I was sighting on point and my form seemed fluid.

As I ran out of the water I was so excited to get on my bike. This is a fast course and I was ready to drop the pedal to the metal. This being the 3rd Tri in 2 weekends, my new QR Illicito is pretty broken in and I am comfortable maxing out my speed.

As usual, the first mile my legs were on fire! I started analyzing it a bit and then came up with this. In a sprint tri, when you get on the bike its similar to the start of a 5K running race, all or nothing. Hence the pain.

After passing a few folks I equalized with most of the pack and started churning the cranks building my pace. I was now having a blast! The course is 3 loops on an oval course with 2 180 degree turns. You can see who is ahead of you coming the other way which is very handy. The lead bikers were 3-5 minutes ahead of me which was a huge lead, especially since they were probably clocking 21-23 MPH. Still, I pressed on grinding those gears pushing forward, passing people here and there.

On the 3rd and final loop I passed Ed, then Mike and then saw Jim who was coming the other direction as he was ahead of me. We all did some yelling and cheering to each other, like we always do. I asked Mike how he was doing (this being his first triathlon) and responded with, “This is so awesome!”

Seeing the guys broke my train of thought and I wasn’t sure if I was on my last loop or the second loop anymore. I am REALLY glad that I opted for last loop (because it was correct) and also because otherwise I would have maybe com in last place.

This weekend I was running with my Newton MV2 racing flats (I love me some racing flats) instead of their Distancias like last weekend. These suckers are fast man let me tell you. It’s like running in slippers.

Out on the course with the bikers, I didn’t want to red line it just yet so I just shook out my legs. I didn’t have a Garmin with me as I have been trying to get in tune with my speed on my own. I have no idea if it’s working so I basically just run as fast as I can. After Mile 1 I was ready and dropped the hammer. I was steadily passing a lot of people and enjoying myself. I remember thinking how it didn’t hurt nearly as much as it did last year. Maybe I am evolving as an athlete?

I had some fun chats with people as I passed. One guy yelled, “Hey, you passed me last year! Whats up?” “Nothing. How ya been?” “Good!” “Cool, have a nice race!”

One guy was really pumped for me and was screaming for me to go get after it. Yessir, I was trying.

At Mile 2.5 I finally caught up to Jim. He told me to try and catch Gio who was up ahead. A daunting task but why not?

Pressing forward I saw him just before the turnaround which meant he was 1/4 mile ahead of me. I was running 6:20’s but there was no way I was catching him.

Finishing up I felt great and cruised through at 1:16:24. Gio high fived me then we waited for Jim, Mike and Ed to come through.

Sex/
Age
Age
Place
Overall
Place
 Swim
0.4M		 T1 Bike
12.5M		 T2 Run
3.8M		 Total
Time
M34 3 28 12:58 1:37 36:34 1:02 24:11 1:16:24

We were trying to figure out if any of us had gotten podium and really could decide. It looked like maybe I was 6th or something. Before the awards, Jim and I biked off to get some coffee for the gang. Just as we returned and were passing out drinks I heard over the loudspeaker, “Christopher Baker!” I was like , “What? What did I do?” I had gotten 3rd in my age group and won a pint glass with the race name! SIDENOTE: I collect pint glasses with race names and have Ironman Arizona, Boston Marathon, and The Boilermaker to name a few. I could not have been more thrilled at this particular award!

It turns out Gio also got an award too! How cool!

After the awards we went to Granny’s and packed up, heading north to ol Manhattan once more.

It was another awesome weekend!!! Mike, congrats and welcome to the addiction known as triathlon.

 

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE DAY

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

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

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

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

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

I was in 141st place out of the swim.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Total time: 1:13

Penn came in 19th and I was 20th.

 

Sex/

Age

Age

Place

Overall

Place

 Swim

0.4M

 T1 Bike

12.5M

 T2 Run

4M

 Total

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE REPORT: 040 Lavaman Triathlon

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

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

The plan was as follows…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE DAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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


—

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