13.1 – BEYOND DEFEAT

RACE REPORT: Manhattan Half Marathon – 1:28:21

Posted on January 27, 2015 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running Leave a comment

I normally don’t like to pay money to run around my backyard, but since my Aunt Marge (in charge), cousin Cat and Charla were coming in for the race, I was game.

They all converged on my apartment around 6:30AM. We had some coffee, formulated a game plan and were out the door by 7. They got to meet the Gotham City Runner crew, those that were racing anyway, at the start. The weather was great. During my warm up this gal screams “BAKER!” and nearly gave me a heart attack. It was my friend Rachel, also running the race. Right after that I ran into Abbe who was just running around the Park to get in her miles.

As I was stretching before heading to my corral, my old running friend Rowland popped up! We became friends because we run the exact same pace. Seriously people. During 3 of the 4 NYC Marathons I have run, around mile 3 I always look over and there he is, hitting the same numbers. This even happened randomly in Boston 2012.

He and one of his friends (I think he said his name was Doug) and I entered our extremely packed Blue Corral a few minutes from start time. I had run 8 miles the day before (and have been running 6 days a week) and wasn’t really sure how I wanted to handle this race. While chatting with Rowland he said, “I would be happy with anything under 1:30.” Hmmmm… I thought. “Yea me too.” And with that we were off. It took us 20-30 seconds just to hit the start mat, that’s how packed it was!

My legs felt pretty heavy, so I just kept a pace I liked. As we rounded the bottom of the Park things were still pretty congested. It wasn’t until we were up past Cat Hill that it opened a bit. I looked to my right and there was Rowland and Doug. For the rest of the race, the three of us acted as team, running in V Formation. We ramped our pace from 7:15 to around a 6:40 at times, passing people like F-15s.

At Engineer’s Gate I saw Uncle John cheering and gave him a shout.

Then, barreling down Harlem Hill we saw Abbe coming the other way and gave a shout. I looked over at the guys and said, “That’s the Mrs.” At the top of Harlem Hill we were kind of murmuring how we were disappointed we had to come back around and run it again.

We also saw Craig who was snapping photos for GCR!

I had no watch on, so I was just running to run. It was great. As we hit the 6 mile mark back at the start the clock read 40:xx.

By now my heavy legs no longer felt heavy. This whole running 6 days a week thing has been strange and exciting for me. I have only ever run 3 days a week with my highest mileage being in the 35 mile range. I would be at 45 miles this week after completing the Half and my legs have never felt better (overall, not in current race time). There hasn’t even been the slightest hint of pain or injury. Enough! Back to the race.

Miles 8, 9 and 10 happened to go by pretty quickly. The sun was out and it was a beautiful day! We were taking turns leading and following each other and by now aside from a cheer when we ascended a hill, there was zero talking. I was having a blast.

At the last mile we all fell apart a bit. I was feeling really good so I started pulling away. I had 7 or 8 minutes left to get in under 1:30 and my mind was spinning. By now we were catching up with the back of the race so there was a lot of ‘bobbin and weavin’ going on. I ended up finishing in 1:28 and change.

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M36	122	130	17	1:28:21	6:45	67.86%

I found Craig, who was now at the finish taking pictures and hung with him before setting out to find my family. Uncle John, cousin Gillian, Dave and Lindsey were all cheering about 100 meters from the finish. Right as I found them Aunt Margie cruised by on her way to a sub 2 finish, followed by Cat! This was Cat’s first Half Marathon and I was very proud of her for not only completing the course, but also finishing in a very respectable time! Shortly after Dave’s wife Charla finished. That was our cue to head back to my place where Abbe was making a breakfast pizza. Whaaaat? Yes, pizza for breakfast, try it sometime.

After showering we all went down to Kinsale to celebrate. It was a great finish to the week. Congrats to all!

RACE REPORT: 102 Boston Run to Remember Half Marathon – 1:22:45

Posted on May 31, 2014 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 1 Comment

Abs n I caught a late afternoon train on Friday, barreling due north towards Boston. I love train rides. You can bring your own food and beer, plus the odds of a crash are pretty low. There is also something timelessly romantic about train travel.

Arriving in Beantown we noted that it was a bit cooler than our weather apps had let on. This would be helpful for Sunday.

Abbe works in the food industry so she is always looking for cool places to go. She heard of this place Uni, where head chef Tony Messina set up an intimate sashimi bar.

We sat at the sashimi bar where Tony himself was at work. He had a small, but expert team, of people preparing sashimi at lightening speed and accuracy. It was great to watch.

We had the chef’s tasting menu, on his recommendation. Being a traditionalist, I have to admit that I was skeptical at first. As the first amuse arrived, a non-alcoholic tomato water martini with caper berry, my skepticism was swept away. For the rest of the night, dish after dish, I was blown away by Tony’s combinations. One of my favorites was the Smoked Uni Spoon (Sea Urchin, Maine) Quail Egg Yolk, Osetra Caviar, Chives. Without going through each of the 15 dishes I will let the photos speak for themselves. It is rare that I am totally amazed by a restaurant, but it is as if Tony has invented a new way to view food. I highly recommend stopping in.

Back at the hotel we met up with Jessica, one of Abbe’s best friends who had flown in from North Carolina for the race for some cocktails.

On Saturday we first walked to the expo, which is in the same venue as the Boston Marathon, to pick up our bibs.

Since we had all day in Boston we played tourists. We all love history and so we decided to walk the Freedom Trail. It was awesome, not only historically, but also as a great way to see the city. Some highlights were seeing Paul Revere’s home and the Old North Church. We even had lunch at the Green Dragon, a place where Paul himself hung out plotting against the British.

We lounged around Boston Common for awhile before heading to Cheers for a drink. My Dad loved that show and watched it all the time when I was a little kid, and so it was a bit nostalgic.

We decided to go chill back at the hotel until dinner. I have a hard time ‘chilling’ so I went to the hotel pool and did laps. I got in about 3/4 of a mile before my time ran out and I needed to get ready for dinner.

Our next food adventure was at Scampo in the Liberty Hotel. Italian (of course) as we had to carbo load! We once again got to meet the chef and some menu advice. The highlight of the night was mozzerella with king crab, cocktail avocado & green mustard oil. It was nuts! I choose garlic and anchovy pizza as my main and was not disappointed at all. Once again, I highly recommend stopping by Scampo if you are in Boston.

RACE DAY

Woke up quick, at about noon…

I was really up at 6AM, after a night of weird race dreams where I was late to the start. Our hotel practically overlooked the start so we had loads of time to get there. Still full from the dinner before (a great sign on race day) I housed a banana and cup of coffee and was ready to go.

Weather could not have been more perfect. 55 degrees, overcast with a light breeze.

There were no corrals at this thing so I just stood around at the front. The Boston Police had their pipes band there and they did a rendition of Amazing Grace that brought chills up my spine. Run to Remember is a tribute to all fallen police officers. I had a few friends who work for the NYPD back home and so this tribute race felt right.

The gun went off and we blasted into a speedy frenzy. I was running naked again (no watch) and so just ran at what I felt a reasonable pace. I had no expectations going into this thing. The only thing I wanted to happen was to not have a ‘bad’ race.

At mile two the clock said 12:10 which means I was going way too fast.

We were running through the historic downtown area and it was very cool passing all the monuments. Miles 2.5-4 had this crazy straightaway stretch. I just put my head down and ran. By now we were in single line race formation and spaced out around 15 feet apart.

We hooked a right and cruised over a bridge toward MIT for the 5 mile out-n-back along the river. Once over the bridge runners took a right, ran for a mile then turned around headed back toward the bridge but kept going another 1.5-2 miles to another turnaround point. At the first turnaround I was exhausted (similar to Brooklyn the week before) but saw that there were not that many runners in front of me. Cool!

As we headed back toward the bridge I got to see Abs and we gave each other a wave!

Past the bridge we ran past around 2 squad cars, all flashing their lights with the officers in front, representing all the districts on Boston Proper. I gave salutes to all.

Finally, we reached the last turn around point. It was here that somehow, someway out of nowhere a new surge of energy came my way. I started passing people with renewed zest! That’s right, I had zest! I even saw Abbe again!

The miles were ticking off quick. Soon, I was crossing Harvard Bridge back to Boston.

My nutrition was spot on too. I didn’t even have any Gu. So meaning, my meal the night before of garlic and anchovy pizza was perfect.

I rocked through the last 2 to 3 miles and it was kind of a blur. I was using my old mantra, “There is no pain, only glory” and it seemed to do the trick. I was overriding all thoughts of fatigue.

The last straight away back over the bridge is a doozy. It seems like 1/4 of a mile but it is actually closer to a mile.

I finished in 1:22:45, which was 1 second faster than the Brooklyn Half last weekend! How weird is that!

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M36	793	24	8	1:22:45	6:19	73%

I grabbed my medal and then went to watch Abs finish. While doing so I heard, “Chris?” It was a former coworker from Rolex who happened to have family running too. Small world!

Abbe, Jess and I hit the hotel to shower and prepare for lunch at the Barking Crab.

What is the Barking Crab? Only my favorite place in Boston, that’s all. Seafood meets outdoor bar meets dive bar meets beer equals fun. I housed a set of crab legs and a few beers in celebration of being 1 second faster than the weekend before. I’m kidding, I celebrate any race just because it’s a celebration of being alive.

We hopped a late afternoon train outta there back to mighty Gotham.

RACE REPORT: 101 Brooklyn Half Marathon – 1:22:46

Posted on May 18, 2014 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 1 Comment

I like being sporadic. I think we all need to be more sporadic. I decided last minute to pop a train down to my alma mater (MICA) and hang with my friends Alex and Will for something called Artwalk. It’s a blast. Just envision the largest art opening you can, paired with food and booze campus-wide. If you are a creative, it will inspire you tenfold.

But where was Abbe during all of these adventures?! She is in Chicago for work so she is missing out on Brooklyn/Baltimore things. I hear it’s warm there right now.

I crashed at Alex and Lisa’s and got to spend some time with my godson Jackson and his new baby brother.

Friday I departed on an early afternoon train, excited and dreading the prospect of running a half marathon the next day. The distance and race in general didn’t scare me, the logistics of getting there did!

Back on Manhattan soil, I met my cousins for happy hour instead of going home and resting. We only stayed out til 9:30. I decided at 10PM that I needed carbs, so I made some Mac-n-Cheese and not even the Kraft brand, some random bodega brand! Was it still amazingly tasty? You bet.

RACE DAY

After a horrible night’s sleep and a dream in which I showed up like an hour late to a race I decided to get this party started. Waking up for a Half Marathon at 5AM ain’t pretty, but at least it wasn’t an Ironman.

I was in a cab headed down Park Ave by 5:30. I love my neighborhood early on weekends, it’s so peaceful. It’s like the calm before the storm, that storm which is New York City.

I had a thermos of coffee that I was sipping on in the cab which in retrospect I will never do again. I was quite gassy and so I gave my driver a nice tip. “Don’t ever pick up someone wearing a race bib!” No seriously, I tipped in cash, runners are nice.

Sam rolled up on me as we neared the security gates. We were not looking forward to the security screening but it was pretty smooth. Probably like 5 times faster than getting screened at the airport.

We were supposed to meet the team (Gotham City Runners) but we were a little late. I did run into Tara, Kate and Jonathan warming up. We found Maura soon after. I also ran into my friend Patricia, running her first big race since being a mom!

I jumped in my corral and waited. We had 20 minutes to go so I just kinda spaced out for a bit.

As it got closer they moved us around this bend (that messed up a lot of people who started timing it from here) and down to the start line. I was about 50 feet back from the start and kind of thought it was close enough. I wasn’t feeling particularly competitive for some reason.

I saw my friend Alex who happened to be next to me. He and I have been running similar paces for the last 4 years and always finish close together. We chatted for a bit as the race was delayed. I told him I would be happy with a 1:25. Oh, and big ups to the National Anthem performer. He was awesome and I got goosebumps at one point. Well done.

Finally we were off.

It was a bit of a speedy cluster for the first mile going down the narrow roadway. I imagined it must have felt like this if you were Luke’s crew doing the final Death Star run. If anyone tripped up it would have been a domino effect disaster.

Photo credit: Ben Ko (thanks Ben!)

I saw a lot of friends and teammates as we looped up around Grand Army Plaza and came back down along the Park.

I was running naked (no Garmin) and so had no idea what my pace was. I love doing races like this as you tend to not focus on pace, but feel. I was feeling sluggish, or at least I felt that way. Based on the timing clocks I thought I must be running 6:30’s or something close. Not a PR day.

We entered Prospect Park after mile 3. I was still feeling heavy. The route was starting to thin out now and it was much easier to run tangents.

The one thing I don’t like about running Prospect Park is simply that I am not familiar with it. I could probably draw Central Park’s elevation profile by heart if I had to or run it blindfolded. Something about not knowing the turns messed me up.

We exited after Mile 6 and headed out onto Ocean Parkway. From here it was a straight shot down to Coney Island. It is also unshaded, so can get treacherous as the sun gets higher.

As I was cruisin down Ocean I was feeling a bit winded and was like, “Where the hell is the Mile 7 marker!” As soon as I thought about it I saw it, but no, it was Mile 8! This happens every now and again where I miss a marker and it is such a great feeling! I actually got kinda fired up and increased my speed.

I started slowing passing people and my mind and my body kind of separated from each other. My legs just went.

This race picture was a mystery to me, then I remembered seeing Dougie and running over to high five him! All caught on camera!

The miles ticked off really quickly now. At Mile 11 the clock said like 1:09 or something. Doing some quick math (something I am not good at) I thought, “Hey, I’m not doing quite as bad as I thought!”

As we neared the finish on teh boardwalk I saw my friend Alex up ahead! As I cruised up along side, with 100M to go I waved and said, “C’mon! Let’s go!” and we sprinted.

I ran a 1:22:46! I was very happy as I hadn’t run a good Half in awhile. We (Alex and I) high fived and then moved on to get water.

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M36	406	246	43	1:22:46	6:20	72.43%

Then, I hear from the sidelines, “Hey Baker!” It was my friends Mandy and Gabe! They were headed out to cheer on some friends who were running. Great to see you both!

I chilled out in the parking lot outside of the finish basking in the sun barefoot for a little while.

Abbe called me and said I was a metronome. This confused me because I thought I started off bad and finished faster. She sent me my splits and sure enough I was running super consistent withing 2-3 seconds! Strange indeed.

Next up… Peggy O’Neils for the after party. Holy smokes! When I got there it was just me, Sam her boyfriend, Daniel and Leslie but within 30 minutes the place was packed!

Not only did our whole team takeover an are outside, but almost all the other local teams did as well. It was a giant runner party complete with a live cover band! Score!

Doug and Danika popped over to say hi early on. Danika ran a great race!

So many people came by it’s hard to keep straight. I hung out with Beganics and Katie, Eissa and Nick, the whole Gotham Team (and Susan) and so many more. I even found Patricio!

We all hung out for quite some time. At 11 my cousins showed up and revealed an interesting fact. They said that when they got off the train they could smell us, like all 20,000 of us, sweaty and taking over Coney Island. We just didn’t realize it because we were part of it.

At noon we went in search of Nathan’s Hot Dogs. It wasn’t hard as we were right next to Nathan’s BUT the line was insane.

Maura and I decided to leave everyone as we couldn’t handle the line. Walking to the subway she said, “Baker, you look hungry, shouldn’t we get something to eat?” Good call. We went in search of a place with no line and came up very successful. Unfortunately our friends thought we had left and so they dipped as well. Sorry Bojana, Brian and Jodi!

My cousins found us again and we hopped around Coney. I told them that it was a New Yorker’s duty to ride the Cyclone at least once if you live here. We did just that and it was just as awesome as it has been since 1927!

Back to Peggy’s for one last drink and then we headed out. We were not only celebrating the race, but Maura had PR’d so we were being extra festive.

What a day! Congrats to all my friends and teammates who ran!

RACE REPORT: 096 Staten Island Half Marathon – 01:27:33

Posted on October 15, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 2 Comments

I signed up for the Staten Island Half Marathon once I started running again. I had 6 weeks to go from zero miles to a marathon so this race fit right in. My friend Stephan was running it too and it would be his first Half Marathon. I knew we would be celebrating after.

I was worried on Thursday as my legs had not fully recovered from that Sunday’s Marathon. I even went out that morning with Abbe and took like 5 strides before going back inside. Luckily Friday was the magic day. My quads and calves were all healed and I executed a nice 4 miler.

The night before the race Abbe and I stayed in and rested. It had been a busy week AND we had to wake up at 5AM to catch the Staten Island Ferry. Ew.

We watched Ironman Kona LIVE and cheered on our peeps!

RACE DAY

When I woke up at 5AM I was well rested and ready to go. A little Cafe Bustelo and a Clif Bar for fuel. I also need to thank Amy Freeze (our local meteorologist/runner) who was out covering the race. Watching her report she noted that even though it was 55 degrees, it was very windy out there and chilly. Had I not seen that I wouldn’t have brought my windbreaker and would have been frozen!

We popped a cab down the FDR to the Staten Island Ferry and met Stephan and Amanda. The place was jumpin, but nothing like NYC Marathon race day. We piled on the 7:30AM ferry and made our way to the new world. Unlike the rainy forecast from earlier in the week, we had a beautiful sunrise casting some amazing light on Lady L.

I slammed down a bottle of Gen UCANN while on the ferry.

Stephan and I parted with the gals who were on cheer patrol and made our way to the corrals. It was very windy and very chilly. I knew that once I got running I would warm up, but until then I was happy to have my windbreaker (the same one from the Connemarathon).

I was right up front within the first 20 people or so. I placed myself to the left as I wanted people to be able to pass me if I couldn’t kick my initial speed up. After a brief delay we were off.

We were running fast as hell and I was able to hang on like my old self. We wound our way east before turning and heading west toward the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. At mile 1 I eased up on the throttle as if I were a plane that just hit 10,000 feet after takeoff. People passed me, but I just smiled and kept a good rhythm.

I was running without a Garmin and just feeling it all. My knee felt great and my engines were good. The sun was shining and I started heating up. I pulled off the windbreaker and bunched it into a bundle the size of a baseball. It’s an awesome jacket.

The first 3 miles ticked off quickly. I have no idea what my pace was. Maybe 7:30’s? At mile 4 I was feeling great and my old competitive side popped in and I decided to fire it a up a bit. Why not?

Miles 5-7 I was steadily passing people and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. I could feel my quads and calves starting to burn, but I kinda liked it. You go so long without having that familiar running pain you almost welcome it when you can run again.

At this one aid station I heard the ladies yell to the gal right behind me, “You’re 1st female!” “Um, no she isn’t.” I thought. Why would they misinform her like that? I felt it my duty to fix the situation. I slowed down a bit and as she came up along side I said, “You’re in 3rd, the number 2 is just 20-30 seconds up and wearing all black!” She thanked me and proceeded forward. My work was done here. She would go on to take 2nd in the race.

Before the turnaround we saw the leaders come through. 2 guys were way out in front. Cassidy, a local guy (who is a pretty stand up guy) ended up winning it in 1:07. Nice work!

On the way back there was a headwind. Me and a bunch of the local racers (Whippets, Harriers, and North Brooklyn) were working together in a tight flying V. It helped out so much. The minute you tried to leave the pack it was like a blast of air slowing you down. We could also see everyone trailing us. In the mix I saw Erin and my friend Jim, hey guys!

Miles 5-9 are also very uneventful as far as a course goes. Its just a boring open highway. The only saving grace was this DJ under an overpass blasting some tunes. As I happen to be going by he was playing Kiss, ‘Back in the New York Groove’ and it felt really appropriate and made me smile.

By now the miles WERE NOT ticking off quickly. I was getting hot and had to dump some water on my head at an aid station. I had switched on my ipod at this point to try and get me through the final painful miles.

One thing that kept me entertained was the soon to be 3rd place female. Out of nowhere she comes blasting past me in red Newtons, almost like dancing to whatever was on her headphones. She was pretty awesome. The two of us overtook the 3rd place female, hence she became 3rd, and pretty much leapfrogged the last few miles.

The course itself is actually quite hilly, and the last mile or so is a doozy of an uphill. Thank god you then get a flat break followed by a downhill to the Finish. I blazed down the hill and made a left to the end when I noticed this dude trying to sprint ahead of me! Not today buddy. I kicked it up a bit more and blasted ahead, coming in at 1:27:33!

Sex/ Age	Bib	Overall Place	Age Place	Finish Time	Pace/ Mile	AG %
M35	123	144	21	1:27:33	6:40	68.16%

Filtering into the finish line festival I noticed this awesome band playing Bruce Springsteen (so well in fact) that I thought it might have been him. I looked for Abbe and Amanda, but I couldn’t find them. I grabbed a slice of pizza and checked out the band. They were playing a great selection of cover songs and were really good.

After 30 minutes or so I went to watch for Stephan to finish. I found and congratulated him and then we were spotted by the gals.

Back to NYC! We hopped on the ferry and had celebratory beers procured by the gals! Thanks!

Once we were back on the other island we hit one of our favorite spots, Fraunces Tavern, for some food. We spent the rest of the day out with friends all over the city celebrating since Stephan rocked his first Half Marathon!

Disclaimer: I should have been wearing my team gear ( Kompetitive Edge ) but I haven’t done laundry since last weekend’s Wineglass Marathon so my kit was dirty!

NYC Half: DNS aka Cheer Squadron

Posted on March 22, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 4 Comments

My Spring race schedule is a pretty simple formula… 2 Half Marys, a Full Mary followed another 2 Half Marys, with 2 weeks between each. A marathon sandwich if you will.

I ran the first of these in Tampa at the Gasparilla Distance Classic. I had a nagging knee pain in my left knee but I decided to just run through the pain. Upon our return I decided I better figure out this knee thing.

After some self diagnosis and help from my Sports Med friend Mary, we decided it was probably Runner’s Knee or tendonitis. I iced it and stretched a lot. Just to be clear, it only hurts when I go down stairs, squad, push off for a run or lunge left. Normal day-to-day activities feel normal. The problem with this is that my normal day-to-day activities are about to switch into triathlon training hyper drive as the Spring is near.

A painful decision was made not to run the NYC Half (my favorite Half Mary EVER) and try and heal up for the Connemarathon in Ireland.

RACE DAY

Abs and I met up with Susan, Dan, Ali, Brian, Jess and Lora at Engineers Gate to form Cheer Squadron A. Very elite, we even had cowbells and a foam finger from a Yankees game. Although I was somewhat sad that I was not racing, part of me was happy because it was like 25 degrees which is out of my comfort zone.

I saw many a friend running and destroying the course, which to a New Yorker is his or her back freakin yard what! Erica, Maura, Bojana, Ben, Josh K (demon of speed), Kevin (also a demon of speed), Kelly, Eliz, Eissa and probably a few others that I can’t remember. Way to go team, many a PR was had!

This last week I have been trying new techniques like heating my knee and oh, seeing a sports med doctor! Josh K recommended this guy and since Josh is a pretty serious runner I went.

Guess what? Heating the knee was bad idea. I have bursitis, which to me is better than having Runner’s Knee because its a bit more controllable. “Hey Baker, what the hell is bursitis? Are you going to need a robotic knee with an ipod adapter and built in water reservoir?” I wish kid, I wish. I hate carrying my iPod. Between our bone and our tendons are bursa, which reduce friction between the two. My bursa is irritated and pissed off and needs to be iced. Basic treatment (which all athletes know) is RICE… Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

I am very relieved to have some sort of pinpoint on my wonky knee. I also think I know what caused it. A week or so before the Gasparilla Half I was running the bridal path (Kel, remember I met up with you for a few miles) and rolled my ankle. Rather than stop I just ran through the pain. Now, because I was being tough and stubborn I have to suffer, lesson learned.

I have 2 weeks to the Connemarathon and my knee is already almost pain free. This doesn’t mean I’m going to run it, I’m just being hopeful.

As you can imagine I have been very depressed the last 4 weeks and in a funk. To know that running will only agitate your injury makes you crazy. I live to be active, to run, bike, swim, skateboard and really just bounce around all over. It really just goes back to one of my philosophys of why I run. I run to feel alive and because I can. I run for charities to run for those who cannot run. Not that I AM one of the people who cannot run I realize just how much we must cherish our health and the ability to move gracefully across this Earth, with speed, determination and heart.

Go run, because you can.

To Garmin, or NOT to Garmin… that is the question

Posted on February 21, 2013 by admin

Posted in All, Running 7 Comments

This Sunday marks the start of the Spring racing season for me and I cannot tell you how excited I am. The doldrums of Winter are finally dissipating to make way for warmer weather and better outdoor conditions.

I will be racing the Gasparilla Half Marathon in Tampa under a sunny sky with temps in the low 80s. The question I have been toying with is… should I go raw and not wear my Garmin?

Last October I went without my Garmin at Grete’s Gallop and came within seconds of my Half Mary PR. Perhaps having a Garmin would have made me push harder?

I leave it to you , the readers, to help me make the decision.

Garmin or no Garmin?

RACE REPORT: 055 NYC Half Marathon

Posted on March 22, 2011 by admin

Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 15 Comments

The NYC Half Marathon is one of my favorite races. Home turf… good distance… and you get to run down the middle of Times Square without any tourists in your way! Last year I PR’d with a 1:20: 48 and this year I wanted to break that number (at least by a couple seconds).

—

Wednesday before the race was set off with me having a voracious bout of food poisoning or some sort of stomach flu. I staying home from work and tried not to die. I couldn’t drink water (and keep it down) until 7PM. I love water.

You have never felt more alive and happy than you do the day after food poisoning. I may as well have been in the NYC version of The Sound of Music while walking to work Thursday. Lookout Julie Andrews!

Thursday was also St. Patrick’s Day, which happens to be my favorite holiday ever. Our office sits on 5th Avenue so I get front row seats to the parade every year which delights me to no end. After work Abbe and I had planned to find a quiet bar to have a drink, then get some sushi. This is also her favorite holiday as well.

What say you?! No Irish Pub?!

NYC St. Patrick’s Day Explained: From noon until midnight my lovely town gets invaded by people from New Jersey (I’m from NJ so I can say that), Long Island and other strange places. These people disrespect my town and the holiday by being complete drunken morons, peeing on the streets and annoying me. It becomes impossible to enter ANY irish pub because they are packed. I spend a lot of my normal calendar year frequenting irish pubs anyway, so it doesn’t bother me to go experience a different food culture on this holiday.

Friday was 70 and sunny, strictly amazing. For lunch I wolfed down an entire fresh cut turkey sub (and a pickle) that upset my stomach big time! I wasn’t over my stomach flu from Wednesday and this set it off again.

That night I met Abbe and her parents for a drink before heading to my friend Colette’s birthday party. She had booked the entire roofdeck of the hotel ink48! It sits on the water and has fantastic views of the city. She totally lucked out with the weather! There were some 150 people dancing and socializing until 11PM, a great party. At 10, I left to meet Abbe and Erica Sara in Hell’s Kitchen to discuss the race game plan as far as cheering goes.

Saturday (per Coach Sonja’s instructions) I did ‘Race Pace Intervals’ around the Park to get my system rev-ed up for Sunday. It was a beautiful morning and I felt awesome. I had not eaten anything since Friday at lunch because my stomach was all wonky, but I was doing just fine.

Later, I biked down to meet my friend Brian at the East 6th Street Track and train his 10 year old daughter. She wants to make the track team, so we went over some basic stuff like form, and how to do quick bursts. I also taught her race strategy and the concept of ‘Running Through the Pain.’ I am really excited to see how she does.

That night me and Abbe, her parents, and friends Jason, Jordan and Katie (who is running the Half Mary too) met at Bar Baresco to have pre-race dinner. My tummy was feeling okay at this point so I had some pasta to get my carbo-load on. The food was actually quite fantastic. Seeing as how all of us were waking up early, whether it be to race or spectate, we took off at 10 to get some rest.

RACE DAY

Waking up at 6AM, I had severe indigestion and heartburn. Aimlessly wandering around my apartment I finally got some coffee going. Juts as it started to percolate and the aroma entered the air I got very nauseous and ran to the bathroom. I was very sick and (without going into to many details) I basically emptied my stomach… dinner, water, vitamins, a necklace I thought I had lost…

Afterword, I was really shaky and extremely worried about racing. As Abbe was sipping her Cafe Bustelo, I secretly wanted her to say, “No way mister, you aren’t racing now!” and then I would go back to bed and happily sleep until noon. Instead she said, “I bet a good run will knock that flu right out of you!” and with that we set off to the start.

We met Katie on 3rd and 83rd and walked north, my request was that we find me some bananas STAT!

At my baggage truck I finished eating my single banana and got ready, helping the gals with their pins and bibs. Just then, a woman came up and asked if we were ‘running the marathon’ today and before I could think of something witty to say my gaze went past her to the sealed up UPS baggage truck ready to take off! I booked over to the driver and begged him to wait! Running back and jamming all my crap into my bag then sprinting back I handed it to him thanking him dearly! I honestly have no idea what I would do being left with a full backpack? Cry?

I said goodbye to them and ran up to my corral as it was closing. Weaving into the crowd and moving towards the front it had the usual smell of Ben Gay and farts. Normally I run into some of the Runner Army, but today I saw no familiar faces. After a few words from the usual crew and the National Anthem we prepared for flight.

As we started the race it was pretty packed up front. It always amazes me at a race of this caliber how long it takes for the lead corral to thin out and get situated. In my head I knew I had to break a 6:11 pace in order to beat last years time. This would continue to haunt me all day.

SIDENOTE: When I start a run I know within the first mile or so if it’s going to be good or bad. Today was going to be bad and probably not my day to PR. I would love to hear a few other runner’s opinions on this.

The bottom half of the Park was lined with cheering spectators, making the pain ease up a little and my spirits soar.

Moving up the West Side I started having to deal with all the hills. The plus side, was that I only had to deal with them one time. I saw Erica Sara, Jess and Tavia cheering me on at 86th Street which rocked, especially because it was right before the mighty Harlem Hill.

Speaking of which, I moved up the first half of the hill rather smoothly, keeping my form in tact and anticipating a quick descent. We were all in single file by this point in the race so there was a lot of leapfrog passing going on. Using the downhill to my advantage I just let go (keeping control) and barreled forward. At the bottom I made my decision to have my first drink of the race. “Martini, dry please.” All they had was Gatorade neat. I took it anyway and chased it with a water.

Running up the second half of Harlem Hill wasn’t as pleasant (if you would call the first have pleasant?) at all. It was during these moments I started to have doubts about even finishing the run. This put a dreadful fear into my mind because I never think like this (ONE) and (TWO) I had like 9 more miles of this monkey business left. Mile splits thus far: 6:19, 6:01, 6:04, 6:20.

One thing that lifted my spirits was knowing that the hardest part of the course by far had just passed. That got me thinking about a song by GH and I thought to myself, as the pain in my legs, stomach and core were knocking around, ‘All things must pass…’

Somewhere around 86th Street on the East I heard (as I was passing some volunteers) “Goooooo Baker!” It was Kelly! Then, in the 60’s I saw Susan, who actually yelled at me, but I needed it. Go Runner Army! We are everywhere…

SIDENOTE: I had pulled down my calf sleeves as my legs were hot. I soon realized I looked like I was part of the cast from Flashdance and freaked out a little.

As I made the turn onto 7th Avenue and out of the Park I felt a huge sense of relief, knowing that I was ⅔’s of the way through the race. Miles 5-8 were as follows 6:07, 6:36, 6:34, 6:25… definitely slowing down.

My favorite part of this race is being able to run through Times Square, so I was trying to ignore my body’s signals that death was near, and really take it all in. These 2 miles are also downhill so I was trying to make up for lost time by crushing it. Perhaps not the best idea, but neither is puking before a half mary. As I turned right onto 42nd Street I was actually hungry and took that as a good sign! I hadn’t had an appetite for a few days! Woo hoo, it’s goo time! I bit into my ‘Espresso Love’ Gu and was far from in love with it. It did, however, fill up my stomach with some sort of synthetic nutrient that was going to propel me though the next 3 miles. Mile splits: 5:46, 6:02.

Turning onto the West Side Highway we were confronted with a bone chilling wind. I tried to stay to the right as the runners around me were passing. This would normally aggravate me, but I was not concerned with my time at this point, I was busy just pushing forward. These next 2 miles would be my worst with splits of 7:16 and 7:33.

I saw Lady Southpaw and her band somewhere along the road and she gave me a shout out which was awesome. Then, I saw Maura and Brian at their ‘High Five Station!’ Totally cool guys, seriously!

A few runners were encouraging me to push on (remember, all of us were familiar with one another from running in the same pack for so long.)

I don’t know what happened to me on the last mile but I decided I was going to pick it up and finish this thing. I straightened my posture, took a deep breath and quickened my pace.

Cruising into the finish I saw Eliz shouting at me and a few others! I crossed with a time of 1:27:35 which is actually my 3rd best time out of 6 half marys.

Sex/
Age

Bib

Overall

Place

Age
Place

Finish
Time

Pace/
Mile

AG %

M33

228

558

100

01:27:25

6:41

67.86 %

I got my medal and silver superhero cape and pressed forward to get my bag. I ran into my running pals Robert and Antonio who had fantastic races and both PR’d. Congrats fellas!

My next mission was coffee. With that in hand I stood and cheered at the finish waiting for Abbe and Katie. They both finished in just over 2 hours! Fantastic! After we all headed uptown and had a huge breakfast. That wasn’t the real party though…

After cleaning up, all of us went to watch the College Basketball games and have some beers and hearty food. There were 20 of us, including my little brother Jeff and his girlfriend (fiance) who had gotten engaged the night before! Congrats you two!

Although I was bummed out I didn’t PR my half mary time, I was happy to have finished after such a rough start. My stomach flu was totally kicked from my system too! Running cures everything!

PS= Thanks to EVERYONE who came out and cheered us on. I heard my name many times and if I didn’t shout you out here on the report it’s only because I was delirious when I saw you!

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!