Tag Archives: Dad Posse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE DAY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

RACE REPORT: 066 Rev 3 SC Half Ironman

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Revolution 3, South Carolina would be the second Half Ironman I have ever attempted. It fit perfectly into my full Ironman training and also be a nice gauge to see where I was mentally and physically.

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Jim (from Dad Posse) drove the bikes down Thursday and visited family while Ed (also from Dad Posse) and I took a plane the next day. Our flight was 20 minutes late getting off the ground and we had a connecting flight in Charlotte 30 minutes after we were supposed to land. This wasn’t a good start.

I’m no aviation expert… but it seemed like our pilot gunned it the whole time as we almost made up for the lost time. Ed and I looked at each other, knowing we had less than 15 minutes to get to our plane once we hit the ground, and said “We can do this.” Ed got on his sneakers and I looked at the airport map. As we left the gate there was some old guy in a suit who was going to E33 as well, “E33? C’mon! Follow us!” as Ed and I full sprinted down the terminal. We all made the flight, but my man in the suit just walked it. Running is lame.

We took a propeller plane! too cool!

Jim and his brother Brice (also doing Rev3) picked us up and took us to a bar called Carolina Ale House in Greenville for dinner.

The next morning we all went to one of the 5,000 Waffle Houses in the area. It was to be my best meal in South Carolina. I ate so much food, knowing we would be doing test runs of the course shortly after.

We checked in at the civic center and spent some time in the expo buying things. Gotta hand it to the Rev 3 folks, its always so easy and such a pleasure to check-in.

Woo hoo, got a new Rev 3 hoodie! (Ray Bans sold separately.)

Next, we headed over to the swim course for a practice swim. It was on Lake Hartwell, a huge lake that was picture perfect. I threw on my new wetsuit (a TYR Hurricane Cat5) and jumped in. We all swam to the first buoy in kind of like a flying V formation. Brice’s friends Dave and Doug were now with us. The sun was out, we had Waffle House in our bellies, and the water was fantastic. I felt great in the water and the new suit was amazing. The only thing it was missing was an outboard engine.

Did I mention that Brice has a Ford F150 filled with bikes? Ed sat in the back and guarded them on the way to drop them at transition.

 

Back at the cars, we jumped on our bikes to make sure everything was working properly. We rode a few miles of the course before heading down to Transition to leave the bikes for the night. We then did an easy run to get our legs loosened.

Since we were all starving by now, we made our way to Logan’s Roadhouse for lunch and to watch the Clemson game. Sidenote: Clemson is 5 miles from the Rev 3 course and Jim is an Alumni. I was also following Kona very closely, especially since Coach S was racing! She did very well by the way finishing with a 10:08!

We left Logan’s and hit the local Publix food store to get some gear for the morning. Cafe Bustelo, Oatmeal, bananas, beer, and to-go cups were on the list.

After a quick rest back at the hotel we set out for our ‘pre-race’ meal… pasta! The first place we saw was an Olive Garden to which Ed, Jim and I all exclaimed ‘Noooooo!’ Passing countess steakhouses with names often ending in…’Roadhouse’ we came across a seafood place. Shrimp Scampi? Linguine White Clam Sauce? These were valid ‘pre-race’ meals. We sat down (our silverware wrapped in plastic) and saw that everything was fried! No pasta at all! Back on the road we were coming to the end of the strip, hope seeming to fade. Up ahead was ‘Tony and Charlee’s Southern Italian!’’ Jackpot! As we pulled up there was only one car in the parking lot. Perhaps the chef? Every other restaurant in town had a wait, and this place was empty, sweet!

I was elected to ‘check it out.’ As I entered, I approached the woman at the front desk and asked if they served pasta. She simply pushed a menu my way, as if pasta was some made up food group. The menu consisted of all meat dishes most of them fried. It also had Buffalo Wings! Don’t get me wrong, I love Buffalo Wings, but on an Italian menu I think not mon frere. I simply smiled at her and said, “Can I go check with my friends before sitting?” practically running out the door.

Guess where we ate dinner? Olive Garden and it was good! People were even smoking in the restaurant and I didn’t mind!

Sidenote: I am convinced people in South Carolina don’t like Italian food.

We were back at the hotel and asleep by 10PM.

RACE DAY

I naturally woke up at 5AM (cause I am weird) and queued up the Bustelo, made the guys oatmeal and put on my race numbers. I felt well rested and not nervous at all, ready to set it off.

We arrived at T1 40 minutes before my age group was to start. In T1 I ran into my friend Daniel who moved to Charlotte from NYC this year. We caught up and I introduced him to the fellas. The sun was starting to rise and the race coordinators told us we needed to get to the water.

We watched the Pros go then took our place on the beach. As the gun went off, I let a row of fast swimmers take lead. I jumped into the froth and started digging in, remembering not to overdo it at the start and get all worked up. I have done this enough times that fears of drowning are far from my thoughts. Falling into a nice rhythm and focusing on my form I made my way to the first buoy. I felt very fluid.

Moving at a steady rate, I took notice of the beautiful sunrise happening every 6 strokes. I was really enjoying myself out there and maybe should have had faster arm turnover. Even though I may not be the fastest fish in the pond, I am damn good at sighting and was precise with all my buoy turns. At one point someone was on my feet, which is normal, but this guy started climbing my body. Here I am just mindin’ my own business and this speedster is just gonna swim OVER me when there is plenty of water to swim around? Not on my watch. As his arms started pushing down on the back of my knees I gave a swift ninja kick to his chest. I wasn’t groped for the rest of the swim.

Exiting the water I was full of energy and my legs seemed to be functioning properly. I jumped into T1 (was caught by Ed who was racing the OLY) and made my way onto the bike course. Jim was right behind me and Ed snapped him in ‘speedy transition pose.’ (he was standing still, that’s why its funny.)

My legs were out of whack for like the first 10 miles. My quads were burning something fierce. Fierce! The scenery was nice and I kept wishing for the sun to come out. It did.

Once warmed up I tried to pass as many bikers as I could. By the end of it I would overtake 70 or so, but it was a slow and steady game. This is kind of my M.O. for triathlons since my swimming is slow.

There were so many cows and horses out there on the course. Well, not ‘on’ the course but in the fields around us. I kept imitating the cows (blank puzzled stares on their faces) as I passed them. “Bessy, look at them fellers. I heard about such a thing yars ago… I think theys call ‘em BI sickles.” There were also quiet a few dogs that went bat shit crazy when we rode by.

Somewhere around mile 15-20 I caught up with Daniel. We rode together for awhile before I pressed on. We both noted how windy it was! There were 30 MPH wind gusts all day. At times it felt like you weren’t moving at all.

The last 10 miles were tough. My only goal for this entire race was to ride the bike in under 3 hours so I pushed hard on the ending hills. I started thinking about Abbe and where she was in the Chicago Marathon. It was her first Marathon (and her birthday!) and I was really hoping she was having fun.

By now we were mixed in with the Olympic riders who started a few hours behind us. This helped my legs as I stopped picking people off due to not knowing which race they were in. I came in off the bike at 2:50 and was very happy.

Slapped on my sneaks and bolted out of T2. My legs were Jell-o.

Experience plays such a big role in the triathlon world. I was running 8 minute miles for the first 15 minutes, my legs burning and wonky like baby giraffe, but I knew they were reset any minute. We were running these windy switch backs, runners from both the Olympic and Half Iron all over. I like to have fun out there so I tease the volunteers asking them if I can take short cuts. Most of them, new to triathlons, assured me it was probably a bad idea and I would get in trouble. Agreed.

At mile 4 the Half Iron runners veered off to a new section of course, an out-and-back. It was here that I got my legs in full swing. I was decreasing my pace and would end up holding a steady 7 minute mile for this portion of the run. I felt good all of a sudden. I started picking off runners one at a time. We were running down a highway for this section and t was pretty dull. As mile 7 passed I kept wondering, “Where the hell is the turn around?” It soon came just past mile 8. My stomach took a turn for the worse right about now as well. I have never had stomach issues in any race. I eat burritos during marathons for god’s sake, so why now is it freaking out? Was I pregnant?

Looking back, I think I may have had way too much ‘course Gatorade.‘ As mile 10 approached I pulled over, sacrificing my pace, and started slamming water. As I walked forward, the sharp pain in my stomach slowly dissipating, I jogged. Slowly my pace picked up. Soon I was facing runners coming the other way, a few of them screaming, “Where is the turn around?” at me. I feel your pain. Then, I see Jim coming down the highway and he runs into my lane and gives me a high five while yelling, “Rocket Fuel!” This gave me a huge burst of energy and I sped forward. The last few miles would be sub7.

Sidenote: At the Fire Island Hotel they make a drink called Rocket Fuel. It’s a pina colada topped with 151. We love them, especially Jim.

At mile 11 the Halfers get mixed back in with the Oly runners. Up ahead I was like, “Is that Ed?” I yelled out to him, “Ed! You better hustle!” He laughed and turned giving me a slap on the arm, “Go Bakes!”

After a few more twists and turns I crossed the finish. My final time was 5:12, a 13 minute PR.

Sex/
Age
Age
Place
Overall
Place
 Swim
1.2M		 T1 Bike
56M		 T2 Run
13.1M		 Total
Time
M33 9
94
 43:51 2:46 2:49:33 1:34 1:35:14 5:12:58

I waited for Ed to cross, then he and I waited for Jim and then Brice. We were all successful in our own races, celebrating with a delicious ice cold beer in the warm sun.

That night we all celebrated with a big dinner followed quickly by bedtime. The next morning Jim, Ed, and I set off on our 13 hour drive back up to NYC. (we had breakfast at Waffle House again it was awesome again!)

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Am I ready for my first full Ironman? Yes. (Coach S still has me on a steady training regimen.) Is it going to hurt? Yes.

RACE REPORT: 064 Fire Island 5K: 17:52 – 2nd Place Overall

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When it rains, it pours. I mean that literally, not figuratively.

Abbe and I left work on Friday and hit the Lurr (as I like to call it), or Long Island Railroad enroute to Bay Shore for the Fire Island Ferry. The train was so preppy I couldn’t stand it. It was like an Ad for Vineyard and Vines (which I hate). I soon found out that this was also the train out to the Hamptons, hence the preppy dress.

Bunny ears!

 

After hopping off the ferry you are immediately met with peace and serenity (especially if you are from NYC) because there are no cars allowed on the island. Its just crazy cruiser bikes and walkers. ‘Margaritaville’ if you will.

We were guests of ‘Dad Posse’ Ed and his wife Annelise. This was my 3rd year going and I was very excited, it’s always a fun time. Abbe and I stopped into their house (which is next to the Fire Island Hotel where we sleep). Cocktails started flying. In attendance was the entire ‘Dad Posse’ plus families! Role Call: Ed and Annelise plus Jack, Isabelle, and ‘The Karate Kid’ or Ben; Jim and Lisa plus Josephine and Elizabeth; Mike and Kara plus Kelly and Kevin and last but not least the pups Louis and Daisy!

After a fun barbecue we were in bed by 11.

We woke up at 5:30AM since Abbe had 17 Miles queued up for her training. While she did that I went with Ed and Mike to watch Kelly, Jack and Ben play a pick-up game of baseball. It was pretty exciting, the three kids are really good and knocked in a few runs!

One of the highlights for me was the planned open water swim we normally do. Ed, Jim, Mike and I all being triathletes love this kind of stuff because you cant get this kind of training in a pool. We decided on the 1 Mile course over the half.

We set off, it was a beautiful sunny day by the way, and I focused on my form. It’s so cool swimming open water with just 3 other people because it’s very challenging trying to keep track of where we all are. On the return I noticed my hands ripping through an invisible force field or something. I later found out they were jellyfish.

The rest of the day was spent at the beach and then later, we had a Luau for Elizabeth and Isabelle who were celebrating birthdays. Hawaiian shirts, leis and coconut drink cups… it was awesome! We had tons of great food, all kind of tropical in one way or another.

Pre-race rituals…

With the anticipation of rain (and Ed being quoted as saying “No way is it going to rain.”) we all went to bed just before midnight.

RACE DAY
Sleeping in until 8AM is a treat, especially on a race day in which gun time is 10:30AM and you’re sleeping at the Start. I took a look outside and it was steadily raining. This pleased me as the last 2 years its been 90 degrees and sunny, not ideal sprinting conditions.

We made our way to Ed’s place and fueled up on coffee and bagels, taking our time since we had 2 hours to the start. Ed, Jim, Mike, Annelise, Jack and I were the ones running, everyone else would be cheering (or in the youngsters case watching movies).

As we sat their joking about how many puddles there would be the steady rain turned into a downpour. It would go on like this all day… steady rain to downpour and back.

Jim and I did a warm up run about 15 minutes before the taking our place up at the start. The rain had calmed a bit but we could see huge lake-like puddles down the course and the organizers Anthony and John DiGangi (friends of mine) we warning us to be careful. In mind I told myself I was going to have some fun and just barrel through the puddles rather than trying to run around them. Steeplechase baby!

The gun went off and we lunged forward. The first ⅛ of a mile is a straightaway and 4-5 of us took the lead. I didn’t yet feel good, but have learned a lot about myself the last few months and knew that I need a mile or two at race pace before my engine turns over.

The puddles were insane. Most of them were across the entire path, 12-20 feet long and 3-6 inches deep. It definitely slowed us down when we hit them, especially since we were all kind of looking for holes where would snap our ankle if hit wrong. I have to admit, the first few puddles I was laughing out loud yelling, “This is so awesome!”

By now, the leader Josh (a Front Runner who I befriended after the race) was slowly pulling away from us. I was now in a pack of 3 with Alex and Davis and we were all running pretty steady, hitting Mile 1 at 5:32. It had also started to rain heavy again, but the positive thing was that we were all cooled down perfectly!

At Mile 1.5 a woman yelled “You’re almost there!” and I replied, “No. We are not.” Davis laughed and we both chatted about how we hate it when uneducated spectators yell things like that. Like at Mile 18 in a Marathon, “Looking good! Almost there!” C’mon! Really!?

As Mile 2 approached I was feeling pretty fired up. I saw Josh in the distance but knew I could never catch him with a mile to go. Still, I pushed forward. At Mile 2.5 there was a woman spectator smoking a cigarette. Once again, really?!

Coming down the home stretch I knew Alex wasn’t far behind me and I had to keep up my speed. As we rounded the turn to the 50 meter straightaway finish I punched it just to be sure, coming in 2nd Place overall.

Sex/
Age		 Bib Overall Place Age
Place		 Finish
Time		 Pace/
Mile		 AG %
M33 3 2 1 17:52 5:45 72.6%

As I crossed I high-fived Anthony and John who were flanking the Finish line, then found Abbe and gave her a kiss.

As I was getting water Josh, Alex, Davis and I were all congratulating each other and laughing at the conditions. It was one of the most memorable display of sportsmanship I have seen in a long time.

Back at the finish with Abbe it was completely down-pouring. We watched Jim, Mike, Ed, Jack and Annelise come through before we all decided to take cover as we were shivering. After the awards ceremony a bunch of us headed down to the after party at Schooners Bar. Did it stop raining? No. The DiGangi’s raised over $40,000 for the ABTA!

It was a fantastic race weekend that was capped off with Abbe taking me out to a healthy celebratory dinner back in ol’ Manhattan.

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE DAY

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

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

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

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

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

I was in 141st place out of the swim.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Total time: 1:13

Penn came in 19th and I was 20th.

 

Sex/

Age

Age

Place

Overall

Place

 Swim

0.4M

 T1 Bike

12.5M

 T2 Run

4M

 Total

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

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

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

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

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

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

RACE REPORT: 057 NJ Half Marathon: 1:23:01

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Last year I ran the New Jersey Marathon. It was 90 degrees and it looked like a battlefield by the end, bodies strewn all over lawns, ambulances everywhere. This year I would opt for the Half Marathon.

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Becoming a tradition, Ed, Jim and I would spend the night at Mike’s (and Kara’s) house in Red Bank the night before the race. The infamous ‘Dad Posse’ and I were ready for some redemption after last year’s inferno.

We arrived on Saturday night in time for dinner. Mike took us to a place called Brother’s Italian in Red Bank that’s been around since the 60’s! It was amazing. Family style, it had a huge ‘cafeteria-esque’ dining room with a bar at one end and the kitchen at the other. The tables were full of families dining and most of the kids had on soccer or baseball uniforms from the afternoon’s local games. The interior walls were covered in wood paneling and all things Italian… flags, paintings, photos. Waiters were moving massive amounts of food out of the kitchen with speed and precision.

Arriving at a white and red checkered 4-top, our 80 year old server (not even kidding) presented us with the laminated menus. She was really sweet and I wanted to help her carry our plates out when they were ready. Her sweet exterior masked a tough interior, probably hardened by years of dealing with Red Bank, as she quickly got our drink order and moved on.

I ordered the lasagna for my pre-race meal. Due to the giant mass of melty cheese involved with it, it maybe wasn’t the most logical choice, but it was delicious! Mike also insisted we get the ‘cheesy bread’ as an appetizer, therefore making it official, dinner, was sponsored by cheese.

Back at Mike’s, we all wound down and were in bed around 10:30 PM.

RACE DAY

I woke up naturally (unaided by an alarm clock) at 5:30-6:00AM and could smell coffee. I had a flashback to that 80’s Folgers commercial where the mom wakes up from the coffee smell then comes downstairs and her son is home for the holidays, back from the military. That did not transpire, instead I quietly sipped coffee in the kitchen waiting for the guys to wake up.

We all fueled in our own ways. A few of the guys had bagels, or cereal. Since I was stuffed from my cheese dinner I opted for a banana. Kara had offered to drive us to the start which was a 10 minute drive. We were geared up and out the door by 7:15, excited as the weather was perfect.

After our drop-off we had a short walk along the boardwalk to the start. We discussed our goals and what our training had been the last month. Personally, my goal was to gain redemption from my ‘stomach virus run,’ aka the NYC Half Marathon a month earlier. That would mean running a sub 1:28 and not puking my guts out before the race. I was already ahead of the game with a full and happy stomach at this point.

As far as training goes I felt very confident. Coach S has had me doing roughly 2 workouts a day, 6 days a week. I have also been skateboarding to work again, so… whatever that does. She also has me doing limited speed work, so I was very excited to put the pedal to the metal and feel some burn.

I separated from the guys and jumped into the corrals. SIDENOTE: The NJ Marathon and Half Marathon do not have pace based corrals. It’s one giant corral and can be a headache. I was pretty sure I was in the front 10% – 15% of the runners and wasn’t stressing. I’m always out for a PR, but I was anticipating bumping into the slower Marathon runners who had started 30 minutes before us, so was just out for some fun.

Waiting for the start, this gal in front of me turns around and is like “Baker!” It was Elyssa and Eissa! (aka Team E) I get so excited seeing The Runner Army! We chatted and had a few laughs before setting off on our runs.

The first mile was congested, but we were moving. As I took a turn at a corner I heard “Baker! Go man!” It was Amy! Cool, I didn’t even know she was going to be there. I ran a 6:26 and felt great, so I picked it up a bit. I had some shin splints for the first 3 miles which I attributed to not warming up my legs properly. (Sorry S!)

Miles 2-4 were great as the field really opened up and I was running with just a few others and was pushing my speed. Splits 2 – 4: 6:15, 6:27, 6:16.

As we entered the bridge (the only hill) for the out and back loop consisting of miles 4-8 I saw Amy again! I remembered this part of the course from last year and knew once I got back to the bridge it was over the halfway mark.

By now I had caught up to the slower marathoners. I was flanking them on the left and it was going just fine until we hit the bridge. At this point the slower half marathoners were coming across so it was jam packed with people all the way across. I basically ran down the center line of the road. It was a lot like running head first into traffic or something. Splits 5-8: 6:12, 6:12, 6:09, 6:10.

The second half of the course is roughly straightaways. I was busy on the left again trying to push forward. I felt really good at this point and started ‘tracking down’ half marathoners. By now I was starting to catch up to some people who passed me early on and were fading. The sun was high in the sky now and the heat was on. It was here that I realized that I think I run better in the heat as opposed to a nice 45 degree running day. Strange I know.

At mile 10 the crowds started to get thick and this one guy yelled to me “There are only 4 half marathoners in front of you! You can catch them, go, go, go!” Now, I always take this kind of chatter with a grain of salt. Had this guy just strolled up to the course a few minutes ago? Was he messing with me? Perhaps he is a bad counter like me? As I looked off in the distance I did only see one guy going my pace. I kept at it, trying to muster up some more speed, but I was cooking already for 10 miles out. Splits 9 – 11: 6:14, 6:14, 6:15. (I’m so consistent! A rarity in my case.)

It was at this point that I was doing some rough ‘Baker math’ in my head which is often wrong. Last week I told Coach S I swam a 300 YD Time Trial Swim in 5:98. That’s right, in my world it take 100 seconds to equal a minute. Anyway, I had hopes of possibly making a PR on this course. Since half mary PR is 1:20 and change, I would just have to shave some time off the last few minutes. Easier said than done.

Right after mile 11 the course splits and the marathoners take a right to start another loop, while the half marathoners head left toward the boardwalk. As I made that turn it got very quiet. There were 2 guys ¼ mile in front of me and I thought “There is no way I am gonna catch them in under 2 miles!” I made an attempt at another speed push but I was pretty tapped at my 6:15 pace. Also, now that we were on the beach the sun was beating down on us.

SIDENOTE: In my history of racing I have heard some really funny cheers from people. You racers know the ones we often hear. “You look great!” “Almost there!” (at Mile 2) “Great pace!” As I was cruising down the mile 12-13 stretch this older woman yelled to me, “Keep going!” I laughed a little and yelled back “I’m gonna!”

As I came down the final stretch I picked it up a little bit and finished feeling great! Splits 11 – 13: 6:15, 6:17, 6:21 and a 0.1 blast of 5:53.

My final time was 1:23:01, my second best half marathon time. I was very happy.

Sex/
Age		 Bib Overall 

Place

 Age
Place		 Finish
Time		 Pace/
Mile		 AG %
M33 10721 17 4 01:23:01 6:15 71.39%

I immediately went down to the finish line and cheered on the rest of the runners, waiting for my gang to come through. I saw Elyssa and Eissa come through and yelled quite loudly, startling other spectators. Sorry, I was amped.

Jim, Mike, (who had a serious 20 minute PR! Congrats Mike!) and Ed all came in and we made a group decision to hit the outdoor bar at the finish. We rolled up to this packed bar and by some act of divine runner intervention a handful of seats opened up right in the front at the best spot!

We hung out celebrating in the warm weather cheering on everyone while feasting on what my Kung-Fu Master used to call ‘Magic Water’ aka Coronas. I saw Joe at one point and he came over for some high fives! Runner Army represent!

We ended the day back at Mike and Kara’s place for a backyard BBQ! Thanks again for hosting us!

Back in New York, Abbe insisted she take me out in celebration of my race. Celebrate? Me? Ok. We went to Cask and then to Penelope for some light salads. My appetite was really off after the race, but a salad was exactly what I needed!

RACE REPORT: 053 Tough Mudder

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While on the mighty facebook a few months ago, my friend Ronny from Belgium (who is a 3rd degree Judo wrestler) suggested we race the Tough Mudder in New Jersey that coming November. He sent me a link which displayed a Half Marathon distance obstacle course… fire pits, icy lakes, rope bridges and mud. Yes, yes, yes I will sign up. Within minutes I had Ed and Jim of ‘Dad Pose’ signed up as well. Little did we know…

The morning of the race (I signed us up for a 12:20 wave, thank you!) it was 38 degrees and was to warm up to 55 or so thank god. Ed picked me up at 9:45 and we then scooped up Ronny and Jim before heading out of the Lincoln Tunnel. I’m not gonna lie. I looked for all possibilities to get out of this one. You see, COLD, is my greatest weakness. (note to all opponents) SIDENOTE: Once the NYC Marathon was over I got very nervous. I knew I had this race coming up and I told myself ‘I would rather run another marathon than attempt this mayhem.’ But, we must confront our fears.

The car ride camaraderie was just what I needed. As we entered the park grounds and saw what was taking place we were all instantly excited. We had a full 360 degree view of a lot of the main obstacles and the race was crossing our path at certain points.

Gearing up I had on tri shorts, running shorts, a long sleeve tech top, racing flats, Zensah calf sleeves and bike gloves. We made our way to registration and basically signed our life away.

Waves started at 9AM so we got to see guys coming in from the race who were shivering and covered head to toe in mud.

Please remember how clean and well kept all of us look in this photo.

Lining up at the start, which was a drag race track, we had the sun shining on us but the wind was fierce. It would be our main opponent all day. A few words (including the tough Mudder motto) and we were off as a monster truck led us out.

As a Tough Mudder I pledge that…

* I understand that Tough Mudder is not a race but a challenge.

* I put teamwork and camaraderie before my course time.

* I do not whine – kids whine.

* I help my fellow Mudders complete the course.

* I overcome all fears.

We ran the length of the track and back which was maybe a mile, then veered off onto obstacle 1 of 18. It was the “Ball Shrinker” which is a rope overhead, rope below walk across a freezing lake. Ronny was in front of me (did I mention Ronny is 6’3″) so my foot rope was unreachable at times, therefore I used my upper body strength to ‘monkey bar’ it across. The water was numbing and our feet burned as we got on dry ground.

Running along the lake I knew it wasn’t long before we had to take a dip in it and really start to feel some pain.

“Walk the Plank” is where you rope walk up a wall then jump off (20 FT) into a freezing lake. I didn’t think it would be too bad, I was wrong.

Jumping off the platform and into the lake was fun, but as I hit the water my body went into shock. My strategy was to use my triathlon skills to freestyle swim across the 50 yards to the other side. After 3 head dips I became delirious from the numbness in my skull and decided I had to keep my head above water. My body was shutting down and for the first time in awhile I was deathly afraid.

Speeding forward I met the “Underwater Tunnels” which was a series of barrels you had to swim under. Once again my brain was frozen, but somehow I made it to the shore.

Running along the bank, we all talked of how our bodies burned due to the cold. THEN, we had to cross the freaking lake again! This time the water seemed warmer? I breast stroked it the whole way and may have set a world record.

Exiting the lake, we had to run maybe a mile until the next obstacle, warming us up I guess. Next, we hit the “Spider Walls” followed by the “Mud Mile.” Did I say mud? From here on out MUD would be the theme of the day.

“Mud Mile” is a series of pools that were waist high sludge mud with hills between. Think chocolate milk meets Jell-o Pudding. On the first hill I tripped and went headfirst into the mud. The guys laughed at me.

We were really having fun now and our spirits soared. The fact that our extremities were numb and burning seemed unimportant.

Next we went onto a dirt bike course which was a muddy series of ups and downs. I really can’t even begin to describe the mud. It was also very challenging to run on. You have to constantly watch how you place your feet so you don’t really twist an ankle. There were always huge holes under the mud where you would sink in, sometimes up to your waist.

Winding around and around, we arrived at “Cliffhanger” which is a huge assent up a 50 ft muddy incline. I didn’t make it on my first try and had to approach from a different angle. Luckily, the name of the game is to help fellow Mudders, so some guys (forming a human chain) grabbed me and pulled me up. SIDENOTE: Don’t wear racing flats in the mud.

Now we had to hit the “Kiss of Mud” which was a barbed wire net you had to crawl under in the mud. It was messy, but hey, it wasn’t even close to as bad as the lake jump so we were smiling.

After a quick 1 mile jog we had to go through the “Boa Constrictor Tunnels” which were 50 feet long, and 2 feet in circumference and covered with rocks and mud. Not fun.

Next we hit the “Berlin Walls” which are series of 3, 10 foot wooden walls. We nailed this. Ronny would jump up and straddle the wall, then I would go and he would pull me up, followed by Jim, then Ed. Military science at its best. Speaking of which, at this point, looking around at everyone scaling walls I couldn’t help but appreciate our U.S. Armed Forces and my friend Cory. I thought to myself “Baker, this is probably the closest you will ever be to the military, enjoy all of it!” And I did.

Another long run and then we arrived at the “Tired Yet” obstacle. A million tires on the ground that you had to run through like a football drill. I was really excited about this because I never played or tried out for football so I wanted to see what I was made of. I did well. Right after was the “Rubber Necking” obstacle. Grab a tire and run it 1/4 mile to the drop point. This was easy.

We were about halfway done the course at this point and frozen to the core, so seeing the burning fire pits ahead excited us. Remember, this whole time we were all running together as a team, that’s what Tough Mudder is all about.

Cruising up on the smoke filled area (patrolled by the local Firemen) we ran through a track laced with burning hay bails. It was really hard to see with the smoke but the heat felt so good!

Next we were back on a dirt bike course weaving along, up and down the muddy hills again. Mud, Mud, Mud, all day. Ed took a really nice digger that would later leave him with ‘Most Muddy Award.’ Really though, I’m so surprised no one twisted and ankle seriously injured themselves! We had to dip under the “Devils Beard” obstacle which was a 50 foot long rope net you had to army crawl under in the cold mud. Awesome.

After running in the mud for 2 more miles we entered the forest. It was very peaceful and for some reason there were less Mudders around. We had to leap over fallen logs (the “Log Bog Jog” obstacle) before running into a mud pit that was crazy hard to get out of! Ronny actually jumped the whole thing which the rest of us hadn’t thought about!

I really thought I wouldn’t have to get into freezing cold water again. Wow. I was wrong. After a 1 mile stint around a lake we approached the “Funky Monkey” – “Twinkle Toes” combo. Alright here it is. Greased monkey bars over a lake that have an incline, apex, then go down to a platform. Next, you walk across a thin beam to the shore. Easy right? How about being covered in mud and totally shivering cold? Exactly.

Going first, I ditched my gloves thinking that would make it easier. I made it 2 freaking rungs before falling in! Lame! I swam to the platform. Then, 2 steps into the beam I fell in! Double Lame AND I was soaked and freezing. The rest of the guys did way better than me, all of them making it across the thin beam.

Finishing that obstacle, I knew the hardest part of the day lay behind us. We had to hit some tunnels again before entering the race track where we started.

The 18th and ‘Secret’ obstacle was a bunch of electrified wires hanging down that you had to run through. Seriously! I got hit once in the right shoulder should sent a shock wave through me, but whatever, I was frozen anyway!

After that there was a half mile jog around the track to the finish! We were so excited!

Probably the hardest part of the whole day was peeling off our clothes and putting on warm replacements. Impossible! I had my socks half way on and just gave up, jamming my shoes on over them.

We grabbed our free beers and hung out by the fire pit before heading off to a diner to have a big meal. We were all Tough Mudders now and I really believe in it. Even now as I type this some 7 hours after the finish my fingers are still tingly. It was really quite a fun experience and I really enjoyed the team effort, instead of the usual ‘every man for himself’ attitude. It also hardened me up, so maybe now I won’t complain during those easy races in Central Park during the winter!

RACE REPORT: 046 Harriman Sprint Triathlon: 1:25:40

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Sex/
Age
Age
Place
Overall
Place
 Swim
0.5M		 T1 Bike
16M		 T2 Run
5K		 Total
Time
M32
4
23
 18:16 1:09 47:37 0:56 17:41 1:25:40

I was really looking forward to this weekend… a lot.

Friday after work my boss (and friend) Brian, of the Brian Goss band, was playing at the Bitter End. Erika and I were joined by the happily engaged Joey D and Melissa, along with Todd. My ‘music’ friends were there too. I used to take piano lessons and became friends with my piano teacher’s friends who are all these super talented concert musicians. Walter, Daniella and Amanda (who sings in Brian’s band) to name a few. It was a great time! We all met up with Asher and Ilka after to have some dinner which then concluded our night.

Saturday, Erika and I rode down Summer Streets (the city closes off Park Avenue top to bottom so people can run and bike). I had to muster up all of my patience while riding, as its a really chaotic scene. I’m used to riding in traffic, which may seem dangerous but is actually way more organized! Erika was right about it being very cool to see everyone out taking advantage of the event.

That afternoon, I played some tag football with Todd and Cottom as Ila watched on. Soon after I met Erika for dinner on the Upper West Side. Her friends Jen and Josh joined us at La Vela, which is a great little Italian spot. Erika and Jen were running the Bronx Half Marathon the next morning so all of us needed carbo-loading. 2 bottles of white wine was evidently a part of that race strategy.

After saying goodbye to everyone, I walked over to my friend Annie’s roof party. She had gotten engaged the night before so I wanted to pop in and say congrats! I was quite responsible and only stayed for 1 beer. I was back home and asleep by 11. However, the secret irresponsible side to that is the fact that I rode my skateboard home through Central Park at high speeds in the dark. It seems I have not yet mastered this new device.

RACE DAY

I was up at 5AM and had some Cafe Bustelo in hand by 5:05.

I rode a few blocks over to meet Ed and Jim from ‘Dad Posse’ so we could drive to the race. SIDENOTE: Ed, Jim and I all live on 83rd street just a few blocks down from each other. It’s pretty cool. After we geared up Ed’s SUV with the bikes, we took off. High fives to Ed for packing a thermos of ‘Rocket Fuel’ coffee for the 1 hour car trip! All of us were zingin’ when we got to Harriman State Park!

Walking through the parking lot we ran into my friends Cenk and Carla, who were with Nisso and Jamie. We were all super excited to be there and to race! Harriman really has a great vibe and I would recommend it to anyone.

At check-in it dawned on me (as some of the volunteers were going “Hey Lucky number 7!”) that I had a GREAT bib number! Perhaps this would help me out in the race? Or maybe I should have just bought a lottery ticket while wearing my bib number?

Ed was right next to me in transition, and as we were setting up, Amy came over to hang out! It was fun having so many friends around during the race, it was like a party.

10 minutes before the start Ed and I jumped in Lake Sebago to do some practice swimming. It’s always such a ‘refreshing’ change to swim in something other than the Hudson River. I also helped zip up the wetsuit of a 70 year old man. I looked at Ed and we both smiled and were like “Thats bad ass.” He would later win an award for his age group, of course.

Wave 1 (me) lined up on the beach and prepared for the attack. I was going to try a new approach. Since I’m a slow swimmer, the longer I can ‘run’ into the water the better off I will be. As soon as the gun sounded, I took off, running like a crazy baboon through knee deep water. Finesse, it was not.

Diving in and beginning my swim I was immediately reminded of the kelp that rises from the bottom eerily. If you didn’t already know this about me, I love horror movies, therefore I had visions of Jason Vorhees popping out of the kelp and pulling me under during the entire swim. It may have helped my time.

The course was an out-and-back 1/2 mile, and as we rounded the buoy to return to shore, I got into the zone. It was a great feeling, one I wished I had felt from the start of the swim.

Nearing the shore my heart-rate began to spike as I got excited to jump on my bike. Ever since I rode to meet the guys earlier I had been jonesing for some bike-time. Running out of the water, and nearly falling on my face because my legs were in ‘swim mode’ , I noticed all my friends were around me! You couldn’t plan it if you tried! Jim, Amy and I all popped out of the water together and ran into transition teasing each other, it was awesome!



You can see Jim and I were laughing about something, Amy is in the background in blue.

Transition always feels like an eternity to me, even though I’m pretty good about getting in and out in about a minute.

Jumping onto ‘Andraste’ and taking off, I would soon come to remember just how difficult this bike course is.

The first few miles are basically uphill. It’s really hard combination (swim-to-uphill-biking) because all you want to do is push, but your legs aren’t warmed up yet.

The easiest part of the course is the big bomb drop hill in the beginning. You seriously spin out your lowest gear for 10 minutes while tucked in aero. People were clocking 40+ MPH. Then, you get to the bottom. This is when the pain starts.

Confronted with a 180 degree turn around, you are forced to slow down to a crawl. Now you have to go back up that wonderful downhill you were so happy to bomb through. It’s not the same track, so you don’t see oncoming bikers, but it runs parallel.

It reminded me a lot of the Rev 3 Quassy bike course, just in a smaller scale. It’s a very technical ride with lots of ups and downs, along with wild turns. There were a few moments I jumped out of aero in fear as I was careening around a bend, not knowing what lay ahead. This is, of course, also what I look forward to anytime I ride a bike.

I was playing leapfrog with 2 or 3 really strong riders. It was killing me to keep up with them, but I did my best to trail them until the end.


Carla took all of the photos, thanks!!! Even though this one is blurry I still think it’s really cool.

Cruising down into transition, I could see a few runners out on the course already which pissed me off. Throwing my bike onto the rack and putting my flats on (no socks) I shot out of transition in a fury. SIDENOTE: I will never wear socks again! It was amazing running without them.

Once again, the first 1/2 mile is all uphill and my calves were ON FIRE! I thought they were going to pop out of my legs. Gross.

Once we got onto level ground they cooled off and I started increasing my pace big time. I picked off the 2 guys I was biking with earlier, and then set my sights on a guy 200 meters in front of me. This is my favorite part of any triathlon… the chase!

As I hit the turnaround, I could see that guy, plus one more that were in my range. We smiled at each other and saluted.

It was at this moment I realized that I felt amazing. It was one of those running moments where it all just clicked in and came together. I smiled big and kicked it up a notch.

1 mile to go I saw Jim coming the other way! Go Jim!

Coming down the home stretch I passed my targeted guy (saying hello and nodding) making my way towards the next fellow. As I passed him, I could start to see the finish come into sight and was half excited and half disappointed that it would be over. I looked to try and catch one more guy but he was too far ahead for me to bridge the gap.

Blazing through the finish I saw that my time was 1:25 and change. I was happy because I knew I had bested my previous time by a good 4 minutes.

I walked over to get some water and congratulated a few of the first guys in. They were all super cool, each of us trading pieces of our race.

Not wanting to miss any action, I hightailed it over to the finish line to wait for my friends to come through! It was then I saw Ed coming off the bike course. He didn’t see me, so I ran over to transition and gave him a shout.

At that moment Jim came bounding down the run course cruising through the finish! He also ran over to Ed, pacing him onto the run course.

Amy came in shortly after and I cheered her on, urging her to sprint it out, in which she did. Then came Cenk, followed by Ed and then finally Nisso.


We had a great cheering section and it was so fun being right at the finish chute. We all had a few laughs and watched the awards before taking off.

Once again Ed gets props. Getting to his car he pulls out a mini cooler with 3 ice cold beers inside! We cracked ’em and had a toast to our great races!

—

This race marks my 1 year anniversary of triathlons! It’s funny to look back at last year’s race to compare and contrast. I’ve improved in many areas, BUT, I’m still slow as molasses in the water!

RACE REPORT: 045 Fire Island 5K: 17:54 – 2nd Place

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Sex/
Age		 Bib Overall

Place

 Age
Place		 Finish
Time		 Pace/
Mile		 AG %
M32 2 2 1 17:54 5:46 72.2 %

The “Battle for Fire Island” is what I’m calling this weekend’s race. Why? I had won this race randomly last year which was great, but the amount of pressure I felt coming back to defend my title was ridiculous!

Erika and I left Friday afternoon, set to arrive around 7PM. It’s really quite fun getting out to Fire Island, especially the ferry ride. This is a picture of some guy sleeping on the van ride that reminded me of ‘Weekend at Bernie’s.’

It was a “Dad Posse” weekend if you will. Ed has a hotel out there (insert plug)… The Fire Island Hotel, which is the hub of the race every year. It’s also a really fun laid back hotel right on the beach complete with a tiki bar.

The gang for the weekend was ROLE CALL: Ed and Annelise (Jack, Isabelle, and Ben); Jim and Lisa (Josephine and Elizabeth); Mike and Kara (Kelly and Kevin); and finally Todd and Ila. (AND Louie and Bella… see photo)

After checking into our room, Erika and I hit the tiki bar ‘Hurricanes’ and had some pina coladas and apps before heading over to Ed’s house which is right next to the hotel. At ‘Hurricanes’ a big group of gals came in… a bachelorette party. While they were contemplating what shots to take I realized that I recognized one of the girls. I looked over and simultaneously we both said each others names laughing. It was Amanda, Ed’s niece who I had run a few races with over the winter. Erika and I spent the rest of the night over at Ed’s socializing and catching up.

Saturday morning Erika took off for a 4 mile run (she wouldn’t be racing Sunday) and Ed, Mike, Jim and I went over to the bay for a 1/2 mile open water swim. Wow! Amazing and I really needed it. As Ed was saying, there is something very natural about swimming in open water. We also needed the training as the Harriman Sprint Triathlon is the following weekend.

The rest of the day we all congregated on the beach. It was a beautiful day. Frankie showed up to hang for a little while followed by Todd. Ila had to bail on the trip as she was sick unfortunately. We built giant sandcastles, played football in the ocean, and body surfed. It was awesome. I was in some serious need of beach time and this was doing the trick.

We had a huge feast at Ed and Annelise’s house that night in preparation for the race. We carbo-loaded on beers and had birthday cake and cookies in celebration of a few of the youngsters’ birthdays. We all crashed between 11:30 and midnight I think.

RACE DAY

We were all up around 9AM Sunday. The race didn’t start ’til 10:30 AM which is cool on the sleep tip, but very scary on the heat factor.

Ed’s house is basically right in front of the start line. It’s so cool because you can literally hang out there having coffee and bananas (which is what I was doing in fact) up until like 5 minutes to gun time, then you just walk out his front door.

There were 2 waves this year as the race has almost doubled in size! It’s put on by Anthony and John DiGangi who I have become friends with over the last year as they do a lot of the local NYRR races and triathlons. The 5K’s purpose is to raise money and awareness for the American Brain Tumor Association.

“In 2006, Rose DiGangi was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma, a malignant Brain Tumor. After a courageous battle, Rose passed away on October 20th, 2007. In her memory, the DiGangi Family will continue to raise awareness and support for Brain Tumor Research.”

A few minutes to 10:30AM those of us in wave 1 walked out to the start line. I said hi to some of the guys from last year. It’s a pretty friendly race.

SIDENOTE: 30 seconds to the start the clouds dissipated and the sun blazed high and strong. Wonderful. It was now 85 degrees and climbing.


Just like last year, I hung one row back, trying to be discreet. The gun went off and it was a mad dash to take lead. I was boxed in right away but we weren’t going too fast so I just pushed through the crowd and took off. I was half thinking that this technique will either benefit me or cost me a good race time.

Half a mile into the race I was like “Wow, this is hard being in the lead and not knowing whats going on behind me!” Most of you runners out there will agree, chasing people down and passing them in a race is very fulfilling and gives you something to focus on. Here I was just running as hard as I could with no end in sight! At certain points where there were crowds I yelled “How far back is #2?”

1.5 – 2 miles in is where it started to really get hard. My legs got heavy and I was overheating. It’s a 5K so it’s not like there are aid stations around every corner, but when I did see one, i grabbed water dumped it straight on my head. It was so hot and I was so delirious I was teetering on walking and/or calling it quits.

At this point I could feel someone catching me. He slowly approached and we joked around for a bit, me asking him “Hey man isn’t the race over yet?” His response was “No way man, 1 mile to go.” We ran together for a little while but as we neared the 3/4 mile to go area he picked up the pace and I’m pretty sure I slowed mine down. I kept him in my sights but I couldn’t muster up any more effort. For the first time ever I thought about running straight to the medical tent!

I rounded the corner to the finish line and just tried to hold onto the pace I was working with and try and muster up a smile! Erika was there and gave me a big kiss! I quickly left her heading straight for the water area. I took a big bottle of water and dumped it straight onto my head. As I looked up I saw Kevin and Isabelle laughing at me as I did this. Trying to explain a near death run in a lava field to 7 year-olds is difficult.

I walked over to the shaded tent where all the early runners were convening. I found the number one guy and congratulated him. His name was Sebastian and he was an 18 year old track runner from Bay Shore. He starts college at Albany in the Fall and has a good future in running if you ask me!

Jim came in shortly after followed by Mike, Todd, and then Ed and Jack. We were all exhausted and the general consensus across the board was that it was brutally hot!

The gals came and joined us in the shade once all of our runners were in.

The fundraiser after party is really fun. Heineken beer, hamburgers, silent auctions, a band… We all hung around re-carbing with some beers (all the money spent went to the ABTA so we weren’t drinking in vain.)

Around noon, we all gathered around as the DiGangi’s started the awards ceremony. It was really inspiring as there were runners as young as 13 clocking times like 25:14 and guys in their 60’s matching it.



Of our group 3 of us got medals! Jack came in 2nd in the 12-14 age group, Jim 3rd in the 40-49 age group, and me for second overall. Go Team!

We hung around the after party for awhile then headed to the pool. Erika, Todd, and I left on a 2:50 ferry back to the mainland as we were all so tired.

It was a great weekend and we all killed it out there under those rough weather conditions!

Big ‘ups’ to the Eschmann’s for once again being fantastic hosts. Thanks!

RACE REPORT: 032 Colon Cancer Challenge 4M: 23:28 12th Place

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Sex/
Age		 Bib Overall

Place

 Gender

Place

 Age
Place		 Finish
Time		 Pace/
Mile		 AG %
M32 39 12 12 2 23:28 5:52 72.3 %

After Sunday’s NYC Half Mary I had no intentions of running before the Colon Cancer Challenge 4M this weekend. I did bike once or twice during the week, but I basically took it easy.

This race means a lot to me as my Mom was diagnosed with Colon Cancer when I was 14. She had a real rough time with it and almost didn’t make it through. Because of her experience she has become a nurse in order to help others with similar ailments. Pretty admirable. Go Mom!

My Friday night was actually quite fun. Erika brought me to her friend Chris’s birthday party in Hell’s Kitchen. I got to meet a lot of her close friends and every one of them was great! A very fun group. At 8 we split up and I headed to Tribeca to hang out with Ahern and Robin. It was her father’s girlfriend Susan’s birthday party at a really nice Italian restaurant. Soon after that I was back on the move heading to the NYU area to meet backup with Erika and 2 more of her friends. I love sporadic nights like that where you kinda bop all over town.

Saturday I went to Todd’s and we did Triple Homicides in the pool. It was awesome and thoroughly painful. My heart rate might get going harder in the pool that in any running race for sure!

That night I made my staple pre-race meal of Shrimp Scampi for Erika and I. It was evidently pretty good (so I’m told).

RACE DAY

I woke up early on race day and set off in search of 2 things… coffee and bananas! After acquiring said fuel sources I walked over to Central Park to find ‘Dad Posse’. Last year the Colon Cancer Run was when all of us first met, so this was our friendship anniversary run. While waiting for them my coworker Kathy jumps in front of me. Hi! She and her husband were running it too so we chatted a bit.

SIDENOTE: it was freaking cold out! Last week it was 65 degrees during the Half Mary, not today. But, I’m tough… so…

With 15 minutes to go I jumped in my corral. It was sparsely populated with speedsters and I was like ‘Whoa. I better keep up with these mama-jamas.” I had my foot on the start mat which is a rarity. The gun fired and we were off, blazing a path up Central Park.

I was in the front group of runners and we were hauling. Slowly the faster people pulled away until we were all running single file. We hit Mile 1 at 5:35 and I was feeling very good.

At Mile 2 we were clocked at 11: 45. I was maybe 20 guys back from the lead but there was no way I could take a win here as the leaders were cruising way too fast.

Mile 3 came up quick and I was still in good shape. I think the fact that I ran a Half Mary last weekend tricked my body into being fine for a 4 miler. I am also a different person when running in a race. I barrel through any pain I might have just to hang onto the lead pack in hopes of a win. As we rounded the corner to the finish I picked up the pace and rocked a mild sprint passing a bunch of runners. The first place female was right behind me so as I was crossing they had a finish line banner out on the right (for her) which I actually contemplated running through.

Time: 23:28 AND I came in 12th Place! Too cool! I also got another plaque which is awesome because Ive never won anything in a NY Road Runner race ever!

RACE REPORT: 027 Run for Haiti 4M: 29:45

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6921

Sex/
Age		 Bib Overall

Place

 Gender

Place

 Age
Place		 Finish
Time		 Pace/
Mile		 AG %
M32 6921 840 743 156 29:45 7:26 57.0 %

There wasn’t supposed to be a race on February 20th, 2010. It was supposed to be an ordinary day in Central Park, nothing special… until the devastating earthquake that destroyed Haiti last month.

NYRR came up with an idea to raise money for Haiti by way of a 4 mile race in central park where regular race entry would be $40.00 instead of the usual $15-20. They also noted that this race would count as a double qualifier for the 2011 NYC Marathon. Needless to say, everyone came out for this one.

—

My Friday night was actually quite fun.

Before I went out I made (from scratch) some Shrimp Fra Dialvo. Those of you who keep up with my posts know that this is a staple for me before a race introduced by my friend Ahern last summer. It turned out awesome. I wolfed it down and hit the subways.

My piano teacher (and good friend) Sugar has been producing this show called the Nouveau Classical Project (nouveauclassical.org). The concept is… classical music is dead. Young people are uninspired to listen to or understand what it is. Sugar’s idea is to merge cutting edge fashion designers and fine artists with a series of classical pieces and have a show. I have been to almost all of them (one of my paintings was even in the first!) and have never been disappointed.

This NCP took place in Tribeca and featured 5 performances of which my friends Amanda, Walter, Kiersten, Nolan, and of course Sugar played in. It was sold out. It rocked. Everyone was amazing and I will never be unimpressed by any of their performances.

After the reception I joined a group of the musicians at an italian restaurant for a few beers and pasta… carbo loading. I left at 12 and crashed (bedtime) shortly after.

RACE DAY

I awoke at 630AM and began fueling with Cafe Bustelo. Based on my 2 pasta dinners I had the night before I wasn’t hungry. Grabbed two bananas anyway, and headed out.

Rolled into Central Park at 830 and headed to the bandshell to meet the ‘dad posse’ minus Mike, plus Annelise and Lisa. I had wolfed down the bananas by the time I arrived. One of my coworkers often calls me a monkey for my affinity toward this divine fruit. I don’t mind.

We headed out to the corrals realizing there actually were no corrals that it was indeed as I dubbed it a ‘Sh&t Show.’ We made our way to the back of the line which turned out to be the 11 minute milers. I stood there with the gang thinking… ‘well, you just gotta pick your battles and i guess today isn’t that day. lets just have some fun.’

The gun went off and it seriously took 10 minutes before we had moved. I made friends with this really sweet girl named Stephanie next to us and we started the run together. She told me she didn’t make NYC Marathon 2010 because she did all of her 9 races and forgot to volunteer so they denied her entry! Anyone able to pull any strings? After running with her for a little while we lost each other at which point I decided to start barreling down the right side.

I crossed Mile 1 at 23:15 or something which was a total PR.

It was actually a lot of fun running with the group. Once you accept the fact that it isnt going to be a banner day in the personal record books it turns into a pure love of the sport.

At Mile 2.5 we were rounding CP and starting to head south. It was then that I decided I needed (just for me) to turn up the heat. I started sprinting up the hills (like we did a few Tuesdays ago with SS in the Hill Diggers night!) and what do you know, it worked!

I was really cookin now and really having a great time. As we turned toward the finish I picked up the pace and was doing well until out of nowhere super-tall-lanky-guy cuts right in front of me without looking! I slammed on the brakes (all Top Gun style) and may have actually burned rubber as he sped by. Not cool buddy. You just messed with the wrong guy. Hahaha, I’m kidding, or am I?

So of course my mission now was to beat him, duh.

I bolted left and started (carefully) bobbing and weaving gaining speed. Right before the finish I cut right and jumped in front of him boxing him out and beating him. C’mon, it’s the little things in life that matter people! Anyway, I guess I’m competitive after all and maybe a touch obsessive.

Never have I been to a race in Central Park so ridiculously crowded (9421 runners). It didn’t matter though, as it was for Haiti. I think the race raised over $400K which for one morning in CP is amazing.

I waited for ‘Dad Posse’ + wives and anyone else I might find (Erika, TK) finishing the run. Based on my starting right before the walkers corral I figured Erika and TK were done already.

As I sat watching the runners, who comes by but my new friend Stephanie! We high fived and said a few words as she took off for water. Seconds later Ed came in followed by Lisa and Annelise. Jim had already finished and was waiting for us by baggage.

What a beautiful day. Sometimes you have to put aside your competitive drive and just be a part of the collective, working together for one concept. I like that. Runners get it. (I’m a triathlete too so I gotta give shouts to them to as they are a part of this as well)

It takes heart to get up early and do a 4 mile race, and I’m not even talking to you my runner compadres as we do this crap every morning. I’m talking about the rookies out there today, props to you folks for coming out and killing it. I hope you all get the running bug and come join us in the Park every weekend, it will change your life.