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Monthly Archives: May 2012

RACE REPORT: 074 Reach the Beach: 26:09 (hours)

Posted on May 23, 2012 by admin Posted in All, Fitness, Race Reports, Running 4 Comments

The Reach the Beach relay is a 200 Mile (36 leg) race across the state of Massachusetts. Each team is comprised of up to 12 people who run constantly until you ‘reach the beach’ 200 miles later. You don’t sleep, you just run, eat, and use the bathroom.

This race is particularly monumental to me because last year on the day I was supposed to leave for it, I received a call telling me my father was dying and that I needed to get to him immediately to say goodbye. Instead of racing, I was a part of the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life.

They say time heals all, and while that may be true I have learned (in this last year) that our time is limited, so you must embrace every moment of every day. I could think of nothing more fitting then to do what I love most right now, to run all night.

Our super start team, Team Honey Badger, left Thursday afternoon in a 2 van caraVAN (see what I did there? Clever right?) towards New Haven. Team Roll Call Go! Alamar, Maura, Elyssa, Neal, Allen, Abbe, Robin, Patricio, and me!

After spending a few hours in rush hour we finally parked in New Haven, aka Neal’s turf. He went to grad school here and has a pulse on the scene. What scene are we talking about exactly… Pizza! “I’m going to take you to the best pizza restaurant ever.” To which I replied in my snotty New York voice, “Um, I rarely eat pizza outside of NYC.”

If there were a pizza scale, lets say it was 1 to 10 (10 being supreme-o) Pizza Moderna was an 11. We had a fried clam pizza along with the Italian bomb and the veggie bomb. I think I had like 3 huge slices! We had a few pitchers of beer which Maura entertained us with stories of her doing hard time. I’ve known Maura for awhile so having a convict on my team didn’t really bother me.

Back on the road we arrived at the start (Fitchburg, MA… home of the corn dog) by 11PM.

RACE DAY(s)

Abbe, Elyssa, Robin and I got up early and went to the local grocer to get supplies. “Hmmmmm.” you ask. “What does on need on a 200 mile race across a U.S. State?” We picked up bananas, apples, water, Gatorade, Peanut M&Ms, granola bars, peanut butter, bread, grapes, sliced turkey, ice, almonds, and some Coca Cola. These are all things we split between the 2 vans to aid our team once the race began.

I misspelled the team name.

After we checked in and took a few team photos it was time for Allen to set it off. Our start time was at noon. SIDENOTE: They started the teams based on speed in order for everyone to end up at the beach at roughly the same time. If you started at 9AM you were a slower paced team then someone starting at 2PM.

It was a beautiful day, but it was getting hot.

Allen and 10 others started the 12 Noon wave by charging up a serious uphill.

Van 1 (Abbe, Robin, Patricio and myself) ran to the van and started toward the first transition point. Allen came blasting through and Abbe lay in wait. As he hit her with the slap bracelet baton she took off. It would go something like this for 36 legs.

My first leg started at 3PM and I was so excited to finally be running. We had made a ‘Kill Chart’ so keep track of people we passed during each leg and so I was secretly eyeing up my targets before Patricio arrived to tag me in. He hit me with the baton and off I went. We had no intention (as a team) of trying to place, we were just out for the love of the game, so Kills were everything.

By Mile 1 I had 3 kills under my belt but I was hurting bad. I was holding a 6:15 pace but needed to slow it up so I dropped my speed. I turned onto a dirt road and thought, “This, is awesome!” Basically, I imagined myself in the Duke’s of Hazzard blasting down the road, but with Newtons instead of a Dodge Charger.

Other vans with funny names were driving by constantly cheering us on. This would happen the whole entire race and I thought it was so cool!

Van 1 was waiting at Mile 3 to dish me some water which I needed bad. I had passed another 3 people (innocent older mom-like runners) and was ready to be done running.

7.2 Miles @ 6:30 pace = Kills 8

After Leg 1 our van decided to go in search of real food, like burritos. We ended up in Worchester (secretly pronounced Wooster and NOT home of Worcestershire sauce to our dismay) at Tortilla Sam’s. Tortilla Sam was selling burritos for like a buck fifty! A smart person running a 200 mile relay who was at the beginning of the race, might have questioned these outrageous prices and worried about food poisoning or even sudden death, but not Team Honey Badger. I had a veggie burrito and got a rice and black bean to go. All of us also had coffee.

We picked up Van 2 at their last transition and Allen began his second run. It was now after 6:30PM and so the rule was to have a reflective vest, 2 blinky lights and a head lamp on. We looked like crazed miner-crossing guards being chased by non-existent zombie school children.

By the time it was my turn to run again it was 3 hours later. This was the norm for everyone. It was also 9:15 PM and pitch black. I had my reflective gear on (Thanks Claire!) and was actually kind of scared to run in the dark with all this crap on me. Little did I know this run would be one of my most memorable and fun runs to date.

I started off on the shoulder of a highway cooking down a hill against traffic. Not so cool right? Then, I (and I say I because in a race like this there aren’t any other runners around) turn onto a back country road. It was very dark.

I was flanked by thick forest, my head lamp creating a sort of ‘bubble’ of light around me as I ran into nothingness. All I could hear was my footfall, my heavy breath and the crickets emanating from the left and right. It was cold now so every time I exhaled a sort of steamy fog passed into my light bubble for a second.

I felt an intense fear, as if I were going to be attacked from any side by an unseen foe. Then, I laughed a bit and thought, “Wow. If my Dad could see me now. He would think this was possibly the coolest thing ever.” And it was.

Me, and the street, nothing else. It was the purest form of running I had ever experienced. I couldn’t tell how fast I was going because I couldn’t see things passing me by. I could hear my breathing and footfall and ran to that as if it were music.

A few miles in I saw some blinky lights, meaning, targets were up ahead. I sped up and passed one or two runners. Then, a few more. As I came into transition like a bat out of hell I had been running a 6:14 pace and not even known it.

6 Miles @ 6:14 pace = Kills 12

Our van was now half way done our part in the relay. We went on a quest for coffee. I was in the way back having a semi-heart attack and cleaning my body with baby wipes. The cool thing about running in the dark? No sunscreen!

As Abbe pulled us up to the drive-thru Burger King, she order coffee then Patricio goes, “1 Large Fry.” I sat there for a second thinking, “Damn it Patricio.” “Make that 2 Large Fries!”

I housed them and loved every minute of it.

We parked at the transition area where we were to meet Van 2, 2 hours from then. We all tried to relax and maybe sleep but it seemed impossible. 2 hours is not a lot of time to try and get some z’s either. The temperature was now nearing 45 degrees.

Leg three approached and it was nearing 1AM. Allen geared up and waited for Neal at the transition. Even though it was late, it was still the same giant runner party at transition!

As Allen finished his 3rd leg he blasted past 3 people to make his kills for that leg 14, a team record! He was on a mission.

It was getting really hard to get aid to our runner due to the darkness. We had a hard time finding out which runner was ours and they, in turn, had a hard time figuring out what van we were!

Abbe, Robin and finally Patricio finished up as I waited in the cold to start my 3rd leg. It was now 3:15AM!

I tried setting it off as I did the run before, but I was starting to feel fatigued from running and lack of sleep. I did however manage to pass an Ultra Team runner girl (an Ultra Team was a team of 6 people who were most likely fast) that had passed Abbe. Abbe had been talking about it so I figured I would avenge her being a ‘kill.’

This run was almost as cool as the other night run accept I was exhausted. It also took place on major roads with cars, so the whole spooky aspect wasn’t really there.

4.2 Miles @ 6:20 pace = Kills 10

As our 3rd leg came to a close all of us were really wiped out. We were delirious. Immediately we drove to our last transition start to try and sleep before Van 2 made their way to us.

We did actually manage to get somewhere between 20-60 minutes worth of sleep. It helped me tremendously. As I woke to the sun at 6AM I felt not great, but good. I walked over to some local moms selling coffee and BSed with them for awhile. The volunteers and helpers in this race were so wonderful!

The rest of the gang woke up and were a bit groggy. Allen got ready for his 4th and final leg and went to meet Neal.

It was kind of refreshing to be out of the darkness and into the light. I feel like we had made it.

The only unfortunate thing about the light is that it gets hot fast.

During Robin’s last run Allen and I were waiting to give her water we we started chatting with a few other teams. They actually thought we were an Ultra Team! We told them no way and they insisted, saying that they started at 9AM as opposed to our 12 Noon and so we had made up 3 hours. I’m not going to try and be modest here, because this is a team race, but we felt pretty bad ass. A few other teams after said the same thing and thats when we started doing some quick math. “Did we have a shot at placing?” We had been running for fun this whole time, not knowing if we stood a chance at a decent finish time.

As I started my last run I was far from excited. It was 75 degrees and sunny and I was very tired. Mainly, my legs felt trashed.

My leg was a straight shot down a highway, so exciting. I wanted to quit and walk so very badly but I just kept going. I took it mile by mile. Abbe saved me when at mile 3 she busted out some Coca Cola for me. I chugged a few ounces and kept going, the heat bearing down on me.

Finally, I rounded a corner and came into transition, finishing my end of the race.

6.5 Miles @ 6:35 pace = Kills 2

Exhausted and hungry, our van decided we needed a proper breakfast. We hit Old Country Buffet. As far as NY Times food rating go, it would have been sub par, but I’ll tell you what… that food was fantastic! Bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, fruit, coffee and for dessert a Raspberry Lemonade Icee!

We headed to the finish after that so we could rendezvous with the gang.

We chatted with Jess for a bit, who was on the New Balance Team before heading to the beach to run in with Neal. As he round the corner we all gathered around him and ran into the finish chute, all nine of us triumphant! I have never crossed the finish as a team before and it was quite cool.

Next? What a silly question… the beer tent! We all threw back 1 or 2 delicious cold ones before heading to the beach for a group picture.

200 Miles = 26:09 Hours. 20th overall and 5th in our division!

That night we went out for an early dinner. The last time I stayed up all night was 15 years ago so I was basically a mess. Half of us went to sleep at 8PM. We slept a full 10 hours and I felt so refreshed in the morning.

Total Kills = 133

Thanks to Captain E for setting up this race and thanks to my amazing teammates! All 8 of you are truly Beyond Defeat.

To those of you who think this race might be easy… it is far from it.

—

After traveling back I headed down to DC to be with my 6 brothers and my bonus mom (step-mom.) The following day, on the one year anniversary of my father’s death, we drank Johnny Walker Black scotch around his grave site telling happy stories about him and what he meant to each of us.

The people we surround ourselves with are a direct reflection of who we are and what we represent. I am honored to have these friends and family in my life. Keep running.

 

 

200 Miles Reach the Beach Team Honeybadger

New York I Love You

Posted on May 16, 2012 by admin Posted in All, Biathlon, Fitness, Race Reports, Running, Swimming, Triathlon 5 Comments

I am going to start doing a series of posts on my experiences here in New York City and this is numero one. Dig it.

—

One of the things that makes New York great is the ability to do anything. Do you like to sew? There are classes and talks on sewing. Maybe you like to collect butterflies. Yes, there is a butterfly collector meet-up.

When my friend Elizabeth asked if I wanted to go see Chrissie Wellington speak this week I thought, “Oh man, Triathlon Nerd Meet-up.” “Hell yes I want to go!” For those of you who have no idea who Chrissie Wellington is, I’m going to slap you. Seriously though, the gal won the Ironman World Championships 4 times.

What would I wear? A running outfit? Perhaps a Rev 3 visor? My wetsuit minus the goggles and pee? (people were actually wearing these things by the way.)

I get out of work at 5 and the event started at 7… what to do, what to do?

Abbe invited me to be her guest at a wine tasting downtown that started at 5:30. Perfect!

I arrived at the very dark and sleek venue and met some of her colleagues before getting started on my Vouvray wine experience. We started with the drier wines, moving down the spectrum to some sweeter ones One of them literally tasted like you were biting into a crisp green apple. Amazing.

All of this was happening while we were being served some spectacular hors d’oeuvres. My favorite were the lamb tacos, which were no taco at all mind you. It was more like spicy lamb wrapped in puff pastry heaven.

At 6:30 I left the gals and headed uptown to see Chrissie. I blasted north on the Subway, arriving promptly at 7. Timing is everything.

As I was entering I saw my friend Josh! Josh is a speedy runner (Homeslice just ran a 2:38 in the Dirty Jersey Marathon coming in 3rd overall) who runs for the Front Runners team. Shorty after that I found Elizabeth and we took our seats.

John Korff, the man who’s company puts on the NYC Tri and Ironman NY was our MC.

Chrissie was really fun to listen to. She gave a lot of great pieces of advice, most of which I have heard over the years from others, including my Coach. What was so captivating about her though was how she used Ironman as a vehicle to a larger world stage. Now that she is known for her athletic achievements she can pick and choose her charities and foundations, raising awareness and money.

The other thing that resonated was, she said she always wanted to run a race and give it all physically and emotionally. It resonated because I think I actually did that for the first time a few weeks ago at the Kentucky Derby Marathon.

Everyone stuck around to get their books signed, but I departed, mainly because the line was insane and I was starving!

Walking home in the cool spring air after a talk like that made me want to run.

Where else can you go from a fancy wine tasting to an Ironman talk?! I love you New York!

 

Chrissie Wellington NYC Wine

RACE REPORT: 073 The Kentucky Derby Marathon – 2:54:04

Posted on May 2, 2012 by admin Posted in All, Fitness, Race Reports, Running 17 Comments

It’s funny how plans can change. Sometimes maybe it’s better to not even have a plan, or a goal for that matter.

Boston was supposed to be my PR marathon and 2 weeks later, The Kentucky Derby Marathon was to be a fun run if you will. That all changed when Boston, or Mother Nature, kicked my ass. I was so bummed and worn out that I wasn’t even into running Kentucky, just come and cheer on Abbe and Katie.

Arriving in Louisville Thursday night we immediately went to ‘Joe’s Old as Dirt’ to meet Katie, Dr. Jordan, her brother Chris and parents Clay and Linda. They were already into some beers so we naturally followed.

We stayed at Katie and Dr. J’s that night and in the morning went on a ‘shake out run.’ Katie showed us around her town, it was really pretty and smelled so fresh, especially compared to NYC.

The weather report said we were going to have great temperatures (55-65 degrees) but thunderstorms in the morning. Not good.

After our run we headed to the Expo to get our bibs. We then went to BBC Brewery to have a hearty lunch. Abbe’s folks Linda and Dave arrived and joined the party. I tried to eat smart and had a rice and bean burrito and an ESB. So far so good…

Pre-race dinner was at this really cool place called Bello Rosso. It looked like someone’s house. Well, actually it was a house, it just looked like a family still lived there with tables sprinkled throughout. Way artsy. I had the lasagna. I normally don’t get lasagna out because I make a pretty serious homemade lasagna which is my Mom’s recipe which in turn is our family friend Debbie’s (she Italian) recipe. What I’m trying to say is that Debbie’s recipe kicks ass so why risk eating a lower grade lasagna. I chose to because our waiter said it was good. It showed up and was roughly 3 servings worth of lasagna. Was it good? Yes. Would it feed an entire starving family? True. I ate maybe 1/3rd of it before feeling like I was going to give birth to a lasagna baby. We will come back to this topic in the Race Day section of our story.

The weather report had also been updated constantly all day and it now looked like 20% chance of thunderstorms. That means no rain in my book. The race was on!

I slept from 10-1 that night and then just lay awake wishing for sleep. I even put on my iPhone App that makes ambient noise to see if it would help. It only helped Abbe stay asleep.

RACE DAY

I woke up at 6AM and was not even the slightest bit hungry. In fact, I was full and still pregnant with my lasagna baby. I did manage to force down an apple. (I love apples.)

Abbe and I were picked up by Katie and Dr. J at 6:45. It was clear skies and 45 degrees. Had it been raining it would have been horrible. Dr. J dropped us off a block from the corrals and Katie, Abbe and I made our way over. We had 30 minutes to spare which is plenty in a race where there wasn’t high security staging areas… I’m talking to you Boston.

We hugged and wished each other well before departing for corrals. Up in my corral I found it really fascinating from a sociological stand point. All the local speedsters knew each other, just like the New York scene! People were high fiving and yelling to each other, very cool Kentucky.

I saw the Start mat but chose to hang back and play ‘Dark Horse’ this go around. I still wasn’t even sure what was going to happen and after Boston I had been kind of doubting myself. “Had I lost it? Am I slowing down?”

The gun went off and we pushed forward down the main streets of Louisville in a tight pack. My music was off and I was doing systems checks left and right. (Think Top Gun) “How are the legs? Am I hungry? Do I have any tightness left from Boston? Is my heart beating? Did I bring my free beer ticket for the end of the race?”

After over a mile of straightaway we cut south and then back west the way we had come. Remember, I was running with Half Marathoners too, so there was no easy way to tell who to pace with.

Miles 1-3: 6:25, 6:28, 6:23

I was going way too fast. I thought about where I needed to be and that was in the 6:45 range in order to break 3. I thought about Boston and how that was my ‘plan’ because that’s what speed I train at. I was mentally limiting myself. I was telling myself I wasn’t capable of anything but a slight sub3. I was playing it safe.

“I’m going to set it the fuck off.”

I said that out loud by the way. My legs felt awesome and I started speeding up faster, passing more people.

Miles 4-6: 6:24, 6:22, 6:20

We were now running due south towards Iroquois Park. I substituted Iroquois Park with the Red Mountain from IMAZ and then it all became familiar. The crowds were great and the kids were so cute high fiving us. What a nice break from the loud  Boston crowds.

At Mile 8 we turned into Churchill Downs! We ran under into the tunnel and then out onto the outfield. There were horses warming up (or doing whatever it is horses do a week before a race. Tapering?) It was a definite highlight of the run.

As soon as we came back onto the course they split the Half Marathoners, who started the return, and the Marathoners who continued south. It emptied out and the only guy in front of me was like 100 yards up. Seriously? Where is everyone.We were running on a street lined neighborhood street and I was loving it. I even had a snack, that’s right a Vanilla Gu! What a delicious treat at 8:30 in the morning.

Mile 7-9: 6:23, 6:25, 6:24

Just past Mile 9 was our cheer squad consisting of Dr. J, Linda 1, Linda 2, Dave, Clay, Chris, Kristin, and Adam complete with signs and making some serious noise! It was awesome!

My goal at this point was actually to just hold my 6:23 average pace as long as I could and I was doing okay! Then… well then came Iroquois Park.

Miles 11-15 were the turnaround location and also wound through a hilly (yet scenic) park. It begins with a dramatic winding uphill for, oh say 1/2 a mile and then thrashes your legs with ups and downs, lefts and rights over the next 3 miles. It was very wooded and at this point I had no one visible for in front of me or behind me. At times I often wondered if I was even going the right way. Perhaps I was supposed to turn around somewhere and head back?

I also held off the urge to pee. Those trees were calling my name man, “C’mon Baker, take a break, no one is around.” At Mile 14 I kinda figured we were looping back around and just tried to maintain some speed. I used the downhills to my advantage even though I knew I would pay for it later.

Miles 10-14: 6:30, 6:30, 6:46, 6:31

I was never so happy to leave the wilderness. Back at the entrance I saw the bulk of the marathoners entering the park as I left it. People cheered me on. I blasted back down onto the street and plunged forward, my body slowly adjusting to not climbing hills anymore. It felt good but I knew I had a ways to go.

These miles were easy as I knew the course and I had everyone coming at me wishing me luck and telling me stuff like, “You’re in 4th place.” I saw Abbe coming up and we high fived and smiled! Then, I passed our cheer squad again, this time they were ready with the cameras! One thing that was difficult was wishing people good luck back. I was exhausted and every 5 feet someone yelled, “Good pace.” “Great work you’re killing it!” and so forth. Most of the time I simply waved or nodded to them but I really wanted to yell back.

I saw Katie cruising up around Mile 19 and guess what we did? That’s right, we high fived!

Miles 15-19: 6:29, 6:19, 6:37, 6:24, 6:39

It was also right around this point that we temporarily merged (2 miles) back into the back portion of the Half Marathon pathway. Not a good logistical decision. It was like entering the freeway doing 80 and up ahead was stand still traffic. I did my best to be polite and bob and weave past people on the right side. It was actually kind of fun.

Some runner also yelled, “Go KE!” which is the abbreviated name of my team Kompetitive Edge. This guy knew the team for sure and I thought that was quite cool.

At Mile 20ish the Marathoners split right onto an open roadway. It was me and one other guy wearing orange who was way ahead of me. I ate my second and last Gu. Things started to get rough right around here. I was by myself with little or no crowds, the sun was rising, and it was the last 6 miles of a marathon (duh). I just focused my eyes on the orange of the guy in front of me and kept moving.

I started doing the math in my head here and got really emotional at the prospect of a PR. I told myself to cool it and stay focused, I could get all weepy when I got my ice cold beer at the finish.

Whoever said there were no hills at the end of this course is the biggest ass. I turned a cornier at Mile 22 and was confronted with a serious uphill. Then, at the top (being excited to be done with the hill) I saw the next hill, even bigger, up ahead! I tried my best to just swing my arms and get through them and I did. I didn’t walk at all during this marathon, not even at aid stations.

At the end of Mile 24 I was a mess and fading.

Miles 20-24: 6:39, 6:42, 6:55, 7:10, 7:19

Something came over me at the start of Mile 25. I got like a second wind or something and really dug down deep. We turned the last left and there was this immense straight-away (not too dissimilar to Boston) and I just punched it. I swung around like a bat out of hell, scaring a few Half Mary walkers and jammed through the Finish line feeling triumphant.

Miles 25-26: 6:58, 6:59

I finished with a 4 minute PR in 2:54:04! It was also 29 minutes faster than my Boston Marathon 2 weeks earlier.

Sex/
Age
Bib Overall Place Age
Place
Finish
Time
Pace/
Mile
AG %
M34 128 13 3 2:54:04 6:35 71.00%

After the finish I walked back to Mile 25 to cheer on Abbe and Katie. I found a really great spot and cheered everyone along. When Abbe showed up I jumped in and ran with her asking how she was and giving her the rest of the lay of the land. I dipped out and made my way back to the Finish to find her.

At the end of the run we all met up. Abbe and Katie both PR’d! Congrats gals, you did so great! We had a few beers before heading out in search of worthy food.

That night we all celebrated with some Kentucky BBQ and some bourbon! It was well deserved.

—

Thanks to my sponsor Kompetitive Edge!
Thanks to our hosts Katie and Dr. J and the whole cheer squad!

What did I learn in today’s episode? Stop limiting yourself to your safety zone. Set it off!

  • RACE REPORT: NYC Marathon – 3:09:25
  • RACE REPORT: 158 NYC Marathon – 2:58:30
  • RACE REPORT: 157 The Boston Marathon – 3:00:00
  • VIRTUAL RACE REPORT: 156 #TCSNYCMarathon – 3:13:44
  • VIRTUAL RACE REPORT: 155 NYC Duathlon – 2:06:13
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