Monthly Archives: September 2011

Bike Adventures with Baker

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The 5th Avenue Mile is one of my favorite races. Last year I completed a dream, which was to run a sub 5 minute mile at the race and since then its always had a place in my heart.

Unfortunately running 1 Mile as fast as you can has NOTHING to do with Ironman training.

I was set to run the 5th Avenue Mile, then tack on anther hour and a half of medium paced running. Sunday was to be my long ride, a very important component to IM training.

As Abbe and I sat having coffee looking at the weather Saturday morning she said, “You know, it’s not supposed to rain today. Tomorrow is the big rain forecast.” Biking in the rain, aside from being dangerous, plain sucks. Running in the rain I can deal with. The decision was made then and there to skip my race and hit the road for my 5 hour long ride.

I set out, geared up with 2 water bottles of ‘fuel’ and a Clif Bar, headed towards the George Washington Bridge. My goal was to make it to Bear Mountain. I had never been and was really curious what all the fuss was about.

As I neared the GW I noticed a heavy amount of what appeared to be novice riders. Using my super sleuth skills I deducted that, yes, there must be some sort of group ride.

Once on the oh so familiar 9W I set controls to autopilot at around 20-22 MPH and just took in the scenery, sipping on my ‘fuel’ cocktail every so often. I felt great, perhaps due to Abbe’s Truffle Pasta from the night before compounded with my Irish Oatmeal.


I always find it funny when you pass the Welcome to NY sign because… that’s where I was coming from! Did I just time travel, or maybe pass into an alternate dimension, or maybe the state is just shaped funny?


Hitch hikers? Really? Yes, I must have time traveled to 1972 when everything was safe! I started looking to see if cars had seat belts right after and realized I was still in the present.

I hit Nyack 1:30 into the ride and blasted forward, marking uncharted territory for me. An adventure… yes, lets have an adventure!

I went through a series of small towns and occasionally hit a stoplight. In my head I was marking off places where I could either pee or get more food or both.

I passed Rockland Lake State Park which was really beautiful. There were swans out on the lake and it was really peaceful. Soon after we hit a ‘T’ in the road and I instantly flashed back to my first Century Ride from 2002! We passed through this very spot heading in the same direction!


I passed these crazy cliffs and took a picture because they seemed very Lord of the Rings-ish and I pictured Frodo and Sam climbing them all starved cause they are out of Lambas Bread.
We went through a few more towns, Stony Point being quite quaint.

It was right around here I said to myself, “Where the hell is this goddamn mountain?”

I entered what appeared to be a wilderness area, or rather, a place where humans dared to live. The hills became fierce and I knew I was close to my destination. It was also at this point I realized that one of my water bottles full of ‘fuel’ jumped ship! This worried me slightly as I needed that energy to make it back home.

I took a left into Bear Mountain State Park and started going up Hell-o-Hill. Seriously, I rode for 30-40 minutes in my lowest gear, knees bleeding, straight up the mountain. For what it’s worth, the park is gorgeous. I was all by myself in dense forest with streams, brooks and all kinds of nature-y things around me. I was moving at 7 MPH the whole time and I was dying to see what was at the top of this thing. It had better be awesome.

It was. Clear views of the Hudson for as far as the eye could see. Pretty amazing. I think it’s so cool to live in Manhatty, in the heart of the urban jungle, and yet I can ride my bike over to a mountain!


After taking a breather, I hit the road. It took me 8 minutes to descend the mountain and you better believe I had my hands on the breaks the whole time and was still going 30-35 MPH! It was wet and I didn’t want to slide off the side of the cliffs to my doom.


The second part of the ride seemed easier for some reason. Maybe it’s because I knew the terrain now, or perhaps I was just warmed up. I don’t know?

I had been riding without music on the way there, but on my return blasted some Drum n Bass to keep me company. It gets lonely out there on the open road…

Close to Nyack there is a Toga Bikes. I popped in and got a new water bottle and grabbed some snacks for the road.

As I neared the GW and was coming up on 90 miles I started to feel a little winded, but then I realized my ass was just sore.

My total distance was 97.7 Miles at 5 hours, 45 minutes.

It was a glorious adventure.

I’m going to Boston!

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After 3 years of hard work and 5 Marathons I have finally gotten into the Boston Marathon!

In November of 2008 I ran my first race (NYCM) after starting to run that summer. I missed Boston by 5 minutes, my qualifying time being 3:10. In 2010 I set out to attain a Boston entry and finally got my times up to par after a few near missed that really got me down.

It’s amazing what a little hard work, pain and dedication can do.

November 2008 =     3:15:51
2009 =                         Where’s the Marathons?
January 2010 =          3:13:13
May 2010 =                 3:15:27
November 2010 =      3:01:59
January 2011 =           2:58:16

“All of us are beyond defeat, we just need to rise to the occasion.“   

RACE REPORT: 065 9-11 Heroes Run 5K: 18:11 – 2nd Place

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I love me a good 5k…
Who doesn’t? It’s a race where you get to run as fast as you can, pedal to the metal, for 3 quick miles!

Erica Sara convinced me to run in the 911 Heroes Run on the morning of the anniversary of the attacks. It seemed like a worthy way to pay tribute.

RACE DAY

Saturday morning was spent riding my Tri Bike 60 miles, so my legs were a lil tight Sunday morning. I actually didn’t even feel like running.

Abbe and I met Erica on 1st Avenue and we caught a cab over to Randall’s (who’s Randall anyway?) Island. We got to Icahn Stadium like an hour and change before the race start. Just then 2 choppers flew overhead heading downtown and I said, “Hey, look its the President.” A few minutes later announcers confirmed that yes, it was our Commander in Chief flying overhead. Cool!


For such a small race as far as numbers go, this was heavily sponsored. Chevrolet was there and they had like 5 cars on display. I actually thought we might be able to win a car and embarrassed myself by asking the Chevy guys.

After getting my bib we found the course map.

Soon after runners were instructed to line up at the Start while the opening ceremonies took place. These were some of the most touching and inspirational speeches I have ever heard before a race. We were reminded by Ryan Manion (of the Travis Manion Foundation) that there were thousands of others running the Heroes Run simultaneously! The singing of the Star Spangled Banner was one of the best I have ever heard at a race before as well.

As the gun went off I hugged the inside of the track and bolted. I thought of how Jesse Owens qualified for the Berlin Olympics and of Usain Bolt breaking the 100m record  on this very track we were on.

Exiting the Stadium we went out into the parking lot and onto some pedestrian paths. It wasn’t long before I could hear footfalls behind me and was consequently passed, moving into second place. If I was running 5:50’s he was clocking 5:30’s, and I knew chasing him down would be near impossible.

I kept my pace, and held him in my sights, moving toward the turn around point. I was really starting to slow and fade and tried to keep it together. As I came around I saw the guy chasing me was only 20-30 seconds back and knew if I faltered he would surely overtake me. I swung my arms, moved my feet and constantly inspected and adjusted my form. I also kept thinking how cool it would be to win a Chevy (were they actually giving away cars as prizes). I mean, they had 4 cars, so 2nd place would surely get a car right?

The last mile was on a gravel path which certainly didn’t help my pace. As I turned back into the Stadium I had a 100m straightaway to the finish which I DID NOT sprint. I was so spent, that Finish line never looked so good.

Time: 18:11 with a 5:52 pace and 2nd Place overall.

Abbe and Erica were there cheering me on at the finish! After I gave Abbe a sweaty kiss, Erica (who told me that if I didn’t win the race she wouldn’t be my friend anymore) assured me that 2nd Place was cool enough to still be friends. Whew!

This is me, spent.

Erica’s friends Grace (CPTC) came blasting in to take 1st Female, followed by Glenn who took 3rd in his age group, followed by Dani who also took her age group! What a day!


After I returned home Coach S. had me go back out for another 8-12 miles to do HR intervals! Whoa that was grueling. Thank god I ate a bagel after the 5K.

Reporting LIVE from the U.S. Open!

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My brother Jeff and I (he has been asking me to take him for the last 7 years) set off on the 7 Train around 6:15PM. We were pretty excited because we would get to see the #1 ranked men’s and women’s players.

Arriving right on time we fought our way through the slow moving crowds, grabbed some beers and found our seats. We were 5 rows behind the ref, right on the center line.


Wozniacki versus Rus started right on time. Rus looking quite young, Wozniacki could have been her coach or something. Rus held her ground for most of the first set, but then the endurance part of the game took over and Wozniacki started crushing it. She won 6-2, 6-0 graciously.

At this point the crowds started setting in and the Arthur Ashe Stadium was full. Just before the men’s match we had some celebrity sightings. Tony Bennett and Martina Navratilova were sitting up to our right. Who is the bigger star? My preference is Tony Bennett as I am a huge Sinatra fan. Crooners.


Djokovic came out looking pretty bad ass, I’m not gonna lie. He definitely looked like a force to be reckoned with. Berlocq on the other hand, did not. His plaid bathing suit bottoms and white ball cap didn’t really look very threatening.

It was at this point we realized Adrian Grenier was sitting in our section. I felt bad for him because all night, non-stop, people were taking pictures with him. He was very friendly and cordial about it though. Jeff and I were just excited that we had better seats than him.


Back to the tennis! Djokovic set it off with a fury! This guy is totally amazing to watch. He may even be a runner as his speed on the court was off the charts. Poor Berlocq got dished a 6-0, 6-0 for sets 1 and 2. The crowd was really pulling for him though and every time he did something good, we cheered.

During the last set Berlocq managed to squeeze in 2 points before Djokovic finally finished him off. It was the shortest match I had ever been too.

In other news…

I woke up to run a loop in the Park today. As I was running around there was this insane bike race going on, the World Police and Fire Games. The different pelotons kept passing me over and over again, maybe 5 or 6 times. It was really exciting.

So then, as I am rounding the south and coming up on Summer Stage I hear familiar music… it was Mary J. Blige singing ‘Just Fine’ for the Good Morning America Summer Concert Series! I got to hear some Mary J. at the end of my run, it was so cool.

Then, I am finishing up my loop right behind the Met when I come running into all these crowds and people start yelling at me, “The race is finishing, here they come!”

I pull over and look back to see a lead motorcycle whiz by followed by the lead guy who had 20 seconds on the peloton. The exciting part was the 2,3, and 4 positions full-on sprinting it out to take 2nd place! They were going so fast and I really thought a crash was inevitable, but they were no joke.

What timing I had today! Such a fantastic way to start a Friday.