Quassy – BEYOND DEFEAT

RACE REPORT: 090 Rev3 Quassy OLY – 2:51:09

Posted on June 7, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Triathlon 1 Comment

My first triathlon of the season was to be the Rev 3 Quassy Half Ironman.

I met Jim from ‘Dad Posse’ at his place around 3:45 on Friday. After packing up the gear and loading the bikes I was told, “You’re driving, I have to do some work.” Sweet baby jesus! The last time I drove an automobile was 1 year ago at the Reach the Beach relay, so although excited, I was also nervous.

I don’t think we broke 20MPH for the first hour of the trip. How anyone commutes in a car in the Tri-State area into Manhattan is a mystery to me. I would be a mess. We even saw an old man crossing the street almost get whacked by some crazy guy driving like a bat outta hell. Everybody, lets just take a deep breath and bring it down a couple notches. It’s gonna be alright.

On the ride up I decided that I would attempt to switch from the Half to the Olympic for a few reasons. Many of you know I have been going to PT to fix my knee tracking issues. It has been successful, but I haven’t run over 6 miles since February. I have raced the Half at Quassy before and really had nothing to prove anyway. You’re crazy if you think you can PR on those hills. The rest of the gang (Jim, Mike, Gio and Ann Marie) were racing the OLY so it would be a lot more fun to race with the group.

Big ups to Revolution 3. They put on a fantastic race every time and this weekend I got a taste of their ‘behind the scenes’ service. The gal in charge of registration, Kelly, informed me that all I had to do to switch races was get a new swim cap and tell the timing people. She gave me my cap and then another gal at timing queued up their computer system and swapped out my info. Easy! (I did of course take a hit monetarily as the Half was slightly more expensive, but that’s fine…)

My spaceship – ready to fly.

We left the race area and headed toward Waterbury, where our hotel was and where we needed to pick up crucial supplies. We stopped at a Riteaid. Jim and I were laughing at how ‘laissez-faire’ we had gotten. Both of us had no food for the next day. So… I picked up some microwave oatmeal.

After stocking up on goods, Mike, Jim and I headed over to City Hall, the restaurant where we ate last year. Sure enough, there was live music in the outdoor area! I had my staple, Shrimp Scampi and a couple beers. My allergies have been kicking my ass this week so I was not in my usual ‘stay up late the night before a race’ mode. Therefore, we were in bed by 11 or so.

I had the strangest dream where I awoke at 3AM (with 2 hours to spare) and met my friend Alex. We went to Art College together, MICA for those curious, and I was an Art History minor. Alex took me to some architecturally famous church that we toured for an hour or so. I told him at 4 that I should probably head back to the hotel so I could grab an hour of sleep before the race.

RACE DAY

I REALLY woke up at 5AM and I felt awesome and ready to rock. The gods smiled upon us this day, as my thoughts trailed back to the 2012 race where it was 45 degrees and a torrential downpour. On this morning, the sun was shining, and no matter how hot it might be I was happy.

It took me roughly 5 minutes in transition to set up. The rest of the time I just spent eating my oatmeal and smiling, chatting with my neighbors. Since being injured I have been practicing a very different philosophy called, ‘Nothing to lose.’ It’s all about ego and practicing it on a super challenging course like Quassy is perfect.

In the last 4 months all I have wanted and wished for was to run again. Not just run, but run with heart like an animal. Today’s race would see how I had progressed, with my PT 2 times a week and running maybe 4-6 miles at a clip. I was excited! So ‘Nothing to lose’ means simply, be happy you have the ability to race, no matter what the outcome. Try it.

After a quick practice swim in the PERFECT water (it was 68 degrees and drinkable as far as a New Yorker is concerned) we hung tough on the beach. I watched Jim, Mike, Gio and Anne Marie go off. I started 10 minutes after them which was kind of cool because for me it meant 2 waves wouldn’t be swimming over me half way through.

Gun goes off and I’m dead middle. I start my swim the most cool and relaxed I have ever started a swim. Chilly Willy… focus on form. I did just that for the first 1 third. I had a few folks busting into my space but this crowded swimming stuff doesn’t phase me anymore. I pushed a few people away and just kept my face guarded from any kicking.

As we rounded the first turn buoy all hell broke loose. It was like 100 people getting lost at the same time. We were swimming directly into the rising sun, a seemingly romantic proposition for a heroic tale like Odesyus. I could see nothing but a giant blast of light, blinding me to the affect of having to look away. “Fuck it.” I said and just followed a bunch of feet.

Imagine the swim course as 3 sides of a square, we were on the middle of the parts and personally, I was slowing down without definite direction. I am really good at sighting, but that slows you down as you have to lift your head out of the water. So, if you have no idea if you are headed the right direction, sighting takes place more often and form goes to shit.

At the second turn buoy I had to bank hard left to make it. I had cut too far inward and now had to make up the difference. Very similar to when I swam from Alcatraz and almost got lost at sea, but this time we were in a docile lake.

Finishing up the last third of the course I knew my time wasn’t my best but guess what, I was racing and that’s all I cared about.

I was 585 out of 717.

Running up the chute some young guy looks at me and yells, “East 83rd Street baby!” I looked at him, puzzled, and said, “Hell yeah, represent!” Before my current and very permanent East 93rd Street locale, I had lived on 83rd Street.

T1 was smooth and I was on The Morrighan (aka: Quintana Roo Ilicito) in no time and very happy. I love biking and really just wanted to enjoy the ride. It took me awhile to warm up but I was soon aero and gaining on my competition.

Right around mile 1 I came across a familiar bike. It was Mike! He was racing his first ever OLY so this was a big deal. After a quick exchange I realized he was in good shape and he urged me to carry on. And so, I did.

If you have ever raced Quassy (this was my 3rd time) you know that the hills are unrelenting. There are basically no straight aways. Its a 5MPH uphill stretch (your lowest gear) followed by a 45-50MPH chaotic downhill. Rinse and repeat. Can you maintain the stamina to run off the bike? I saw many who could not later on, only because they pushed too hard on the bike.

The course is beautiful. Rolling hills (which I have already mentioned) and stone walls, old farmhouses… it’s picturesque. If only you could be on these roads in a vintage Lincoln Continental and not a human powered bicycle. I really watched myself on the biking due to the knee. I pushed it, but at a 75% level, all smiles.

25 miles happened fast, but I was right at the point where I was ready for it to be done. The beauty of the Olympic Distance.

Millions of thoughts pouring through my head as I transitioned. “How would my knee feel racing, not running. Would I have to bow out at some point. Was there a beer tent at the finish?” All of these important factors.

I was 321 out of 717. I had passed 264 people on the bike, but it didn’t feel like it as my mind seemed to be in another place.

As the run began my knee had what I would describe (on those forms) a dull pain. 1 or 2 on a scale of 10, and so… I ran.

Right around Mile 1 I saw a familiar face, it was Jim! Do not be fooled by Jim, he is a sick athlete. I may have him on the run, but he crushes me in the swim and the bike is always a toss up. We chatted politics and what we were going to eat later before I headed out.

I was running naked (in fact the whole race) so I had no idea of my pace. Sometimes it’s good to go out like that. I always think to myself, “What did Dave Scott do?” They hardly even had color TV let alone satellite watches. Sometimes you need to throw science out the window. Whatever happened to just setting it off and going for it anyway?

That’s what I did on this day. I wasn’t breaking any records BUT I hadn’t run that far in the last 2 months. Having a watch on would have totally bummed me out, instead I just hung on for survival as it was 95 degrees out. Every mile just clicked off. At every water station and poured water down my shirt and over my head.

I walked none of the brutally challenging course, holding onto my breath and my mind. It was hard.

Finishing the last mile I thought of Sonja, who had coached me through my first 2 Ironmans, a friend and also a warrior. “I owe her a little homage.” I thought. Sonja does these awesome jumps at the end fo her races, so I decided I was going to do that in honor of her.

Rounding the finish chute I let some of the guys in front of me get ahead and pass (totally unlike me!) With a clear shot of the finish I busted my aero move, only to find out it worked!

Sex/ Age	Age Place	Overall Place	Swim 0.9M	T1	Bike 24M	T2	Run 6.2M	Total Time
M35	40	219	35:20	2:28	1:25:29	1:29	46:14	2:51:09

Satisfied, I rolled to the picnic area to find Gio and Anne Marie. We waited for Jim, then Mike, then we parted ways. Mike and I went back to the hotel to get cleaned up in a record 20 minutes. We left shortly after to return to mighty Manhattan.

Congrats to all my friends and teammates who competed! Big thanks to Kompetitive Edge who hooked it up with the amazing new Tri Kits!

RACE REPORT: 076 Rev3 Quassy OLY – 2:59:37

Posted on June 6, 2012 by admin

Posted in All, Fitness, Race Reports, Running, Triathlon 7 Comments

Somehow, I was talked into doing 2 triathlons in one weekend.

On Friday I left work early to meet Jim for our drive up to Quassy, Connecticut. Yes, we hit loads of stupid Friday rush hour traffic. How people do that everyday I do not know. What I do know is that if I participated I would be the most stressed out crazy person on the road and possibly wanted by the police for roadside murder.

The first thing Jim said to me as we began our trip was, “Did you bring your rain gear? I did.” No, I didn’t pack rain gear, nor did I pack anything warmer than a tee shirt. My race outfits were 2 tank tops. I was worried.

We arrived in Quassy at 7PM with 1 hour to spare before transition closed. We checked in, then listened to the race director discuss tomorrows plan as we were in for a bit of a storm. In fact, it was already pretty gloom out and I was cold. While there we bumped into Gallagher, one of our friends who we thought was racing the Half on the following day. It was great seeing him and we made plans to meet up the following day.

I had us booked at the Waterbury Marriott a few towns over so we headed there to check in before dinner. Entering our room, we were overwhelmed by it’s grandness, then I remembered I had booked the business suite! Ed was supposed to be doing this with us but had to bail, so Jim and I both had separate rooms with a kitchen, dishwasher, 2 bathrooms, the works.

After check-in we went in search of carbs! Driving towards an Italian spot I had looked up we hit a red light. Jim and I were looking at this really cool restaurant to our right before we both said, “That place looks cool!”

It was. The place was called City Hall Cafe and had a really old classic vibe going on.There was even a live band doing Neil Diamond covers! So cool.

I had lamb chops (I’m a sucker for lamb) and Jim had pork chops. It was enough food for 4 people. To get our carbs in we had a few beers.

Back at the hotel we noticed the Celtics game on in the lobby bar. I agreed we could have one more beer as long as we were in bed by 11:30AM since we had to get up at 4:45AM. Not to justify staying up because of crappy weather racing, but I was NOT looking forward to the next day’s rain.

Asleep at 12. Up at 3. Crazy thunderstorms. Asleep at 3:30. Up at 4. Asleep at 4:30. Up at 5.

Thanks Kompetitive Edge!

RACE DAY

I am addicted to the Doppler Radar. I love it so much! I spent the morning analyzing the rain patterns trying to predict when the rain would pass. It was drizzling now and looked (generally speaking) pretty crappy outside. Like, if you didn’t have to race, you would sleep in and drink coffee in your PJs until you absolutely needed to leave your apartment. We, on the other hand, were going swimming.

I ate a banana and threw on my Kompetitive Edge race kit. I was really excited because even though I had worn the red and grey KE tops in marathons this April, I hadn’t worn the full kit including the tri shorts.

In transition everyone was pretty chipper as the scene in any Rev3 race, but the rain was coming down and I was cold. As soon as I could I put on my wetsuit, a general faux pas in any normal circumstance because you get hot. Even with the wetsuit on I was cold.

Gallagher, Jim and I headed down to the beach to get some swimming in before gun time. Amazingly, the water was warmer than the air and it felt so good to get in! I felt like those arctic monkeys you see on the animal station in the hot springs with only their ice covered heads poking out! Monkeys don’t wear goggles.

We had to wait awhile back on the beach to start because one of the course buoys had blown off. We were once again freezing.

As my wave lined up at the waters edge (Wave 2) some of the guys were praying for more rain insisting that we should get it over while swimming. I hate all of these people. They prayed way too much. Stay tuned.

The gun went off and we bolted into the soup. I was hard right, second back, and pretty unfazed at the prospect of a bunch of people swimming over me. I guess Ironman mass starts with over 2500 people will numb you to a wave start.

That’s me second from the front.

This was my first open water swim of the season and I freaked a little. Not like I stopped swimming, I just got all up in my head. Was my breathing off? Where was I going? Like, really stupid things to think about. The col thing, was that this same thing happened last year during my first swim and I knew it was just a matter of time.

Indeed it was. After I passed the first red buoy, marking the 1/3 mark, everything was fine and I was swimming hard. It was lightly raining and visibility was sub par but I did pretty good on my sighting. Now, all I thought about was how to make the swim longer because the bike was going to suck. It was so lovely in that lake water. Warm, no wind, I had eye protection and if I needed nutrition there were fish.

Exiting the swim I kept my wetsuit on as long as I could. I didn’t even unzip it and in fact I ran hard to get my temperature up. I threw on the arm warmers I bought the night before. They were like the last pair and if I hadn’t had them I don’t know if I would have finished the race without a med tent stop.

I started the bike portion, semi-excited because I was racing my new Illicto aka ‘The Morrighan’, and sad as it was raining and cold.

I saw Jen right off the bat which cheered me up.

The Rev3 Quassy course is no joke. There are no straight aways, only uphills and downhills. Imagine this if you will… as you rode up the hills it was quiet and calm with the rain slightly annoying. Once you began the downhills and started hitting 20+ MPH the rain stung and made visibility null and void. Thanks god I had switched out my Oakley Fast Jacket’s dark lens with the red ones. This helped immensely.

The first 10 miles were brutal and I was getting passed a lot. This pissed me off because I am normally the one doing the passing on the bike (since I get passed by so many people on the swim). My bike was making a funny sound, like a hissing sound, but since it was raining I couldn’t pinpoint it and just kept riding. (Travel into the future with me. As we were getting ready for the next day’s triathlon Jim and I discovered that my back wheel was rubbing against the frame and brakes! After making the adjustment the ‘hissing’ sound stopped and the wheel zipped around. Live and learn right?)

I’m not sure what exactly happened at mile 12 or so but I got this fire inside me and everything stopped hurting. I blasted into the high gears and started passing people on the downhills and laughing out loud at the crazy rain. I was back.

My joke of the day was, as I rode next to someone going the same pace I would say, “I heard we’re in for some rain.” I had a few guys laughing pretty hard which was my goal. I mean come on, riding in a 50 degree downpour? No one is having a great race so we may as well make the best of the situation.

Even though I was on my second wind or warmed up or whatever, at Mile 20 I was ready to be done. My hands were numb and it got really hard to shift gears. Then I started thinking about how hard it would be if I needed my brakes.

Once again, I saw Jen! She held her hand up as to high-five me and I thought, “No way I can do this Jen, my hands are numb and I will crash.” But then she just said something like, “Virtual high Baker, looking good!” Phew!

Riding into T2 I was really pumped to get out and run. Biking in the rain, not cool. Running in the rain, very fun. Good thing I brought my trusty visor!

Leaving T2 I grabbed a Gu since I hadn’t eaten anything but my banana earlier. My feet were numb so it kind of hurt to run on them. More worrisome, was the fact that if I was actually running to hard and maiming my feet I would have no idea.

The run rocked! I was really feeling it and got my legs in check real quick, like by mile 1.

I passed a lot of runners and used that as my motivation to keep going. I thought of ‘Reach the Beach’ and our Kill Sheet and how many kills I was making.

Mile 4 came up really fast. I didn’t even see Mile 3 for some reason so Mile 4 was like, “Surprise!”

One interesting thing that happened was that as I was passing a guy in my Age Group he said, “Ah, damn it!” I wanted to be like, “Hey man, we are nowhere near getting any kind of awards today. It’s gonna be okay.”

Rev3 is mostly chill people but you occasionally get a hot head.

The last mile is all uphill, not cool. As I made my way to the finish I was surprised to see my friend Amanda cheering me on and then doubly surprised to see a field of mud separating me from the Finish!

My time was 2:59:37 which was the least of my concern. I just wanted to get it over with. I have heard a lot from people like, “Dude, rain and cold ain’t nothing. You should have killed it.” Sorry, but not in my world. Case in point… I ran a 3:23 Marathon in 90 degree (shit show) heat and then a 2:54 two weeks later in perfect conditions.

Sex/ Age	Age Place	Overall Place	Swim 0.9M	T1	Bike 25M	T2	Run 6.2M	Total Time
M34	39	234	35:51	3:18	1:34:55	2:21	43:13	2:59:37

Anyway, it was still an awesome Rev3 as always and I was so happy to have finished!

I chatted with a bunch of strangers afterward and then went to the Finish to cheer. Once Jim came in we made the decision to bolt. Why? We had 1 hour left on our hotel check out which meant we could take a hot shower.

“Oh Hell Yeah.” (and we needed Dunkin Donuts)

After the most amazing shower and coffee Jim and I continued our journey. We were headed to Long Island to meet up with Ed for our Sunday triathlon…

077 The Great South Bay Triathlon

Big thanks to sponsor Kompetitve Edge for hooking me up in some sick gear!

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.”