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Tag Archives: Danny Lyu

RACE REPORT: 012 The Boilermaker 15K: 59:23

Posted on July 12, 2009 by admin Posted in All, Race Reports, Running 1 Comment

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Sex/
Age
 
 
Bib
 
 
State
 
Overall
Place
 
Gender
Place
 
Age
Place
 
Finish
Time
 
Pace/
Mile
 
 
AG %
M31 816 NY 355/10584 329 33 59:23 6:23 69.4 %

Where do I begin?

This weekend was to mark my second running of the fabled Boilermaker 15K in Utica, New York.

Danny, Anna, her Aunt Essie and I rode up Saturday morning making few stops and getting to Utica in nearly 4 hours. Anna’s Mom’s side of the family is from here and that night there was a decoy party for her Grandma Ruth. Sunday after the race the siblings had arranged a large surprise party at a local restaurant so we had to convince her that this night was her actual birthday party.

We were staying at the Hotel Utica which is quite a cool place. It reminds me of prohibition era NYC. (i say that like I lived that era… i did not, but I am a history buff). After checking in we had a few drinks with Uncle Josh, his wife Katherine, Sasha and Max. SIDENOTE: Anna’s family is awesome and I know a lot of them quite well. They welcome all people into their homes and it is always a pleasure spending time with them. Next, we went to Grandma Ruth’s house for a delicious meal orchestrated by Uncle Josh. As a gift I had brought Grandma Ruth Champagne Truffles from Teuscher Chocolates which I believe are the best things in the world. I think she liked them. If you ever need to bribe me for anything these would do the trick.

The following morning Anna, Danny and I awoke at roughly 6:30AM to gear up for the race. I brought my own Cafe Bustelo to brew in the room which I did. Its really the best coffee ever and a race ritual.

We all parted ways at the start and made our ways to our respective corrals. I happened to be in the orange corral. With 15 minutes to spare I was fidgeting with my ipod when all of a sudden my friend Kevin Masse appeared! We were both totally shocked that we A, were running the same race outside of NYC and B, standing next to each other in a crowd of 11,000 people. Earth gets smaller and smaller it seems. We gave each other a little fist pound as the gun sounded and we were off.

Boilermaker is a really fun time even though there are some grueling hills. The entire town comes out and they have bands and all kinds of craziness. Aside from all the chaos, there is just a totally positive vibe coursing through the air. Its awesome. I like positivity they say.

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Miles 1, 2 and 3 happened rather easily. As we made our way up ‘Heartbreak Hill’ (which is a winding path up a golf coarse) I had a little acid indigestion. I attributed this to me not eating my standard banana or two pre race. Stupid Baker, very stupid. So! I started hitting the water stations like crazy. This alleviated the issue and by mile 7 I was cooking. Along the way I saw… Role Call! Uncle David, Gibby, Dave, Anna, Grandma Ruth, Bev, Uncle Stevie and a few others. My friend Raina was there at mile 8 cheering her other friends but I didnt see her.

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I got in the habit, starting at mile 7 or so, of clapping at the crowd and yelling and then they would all cheer back. It really fuels you and totally rules out the possibility of me stopping to take a walk break. As we came close to the 9 mile mark I saw that I was still in contention for breaking a 60 minute 15K so I started really pushing myself. As we came down the final stretch I was flying but was in total overload. I crossed at 59:40 but would later learn my chip time was 59:23. I had done it! I broke the 60 minute mark. I had also shaved 11 minutes off my time of 1:10 from last year.

When you finish the race they corral you in to the backyard of the Saranac Brewery. What does that even mean?! It means free beer all day. Questions? Yes, we had beer starting at 9AM. Yes, it goes down easy. Yes, its hydrating. I was actually drinking a gatorade when I found Kevin. We did some high five action and then he said ‘um where is your beer?!’ Peer pressure, I tell you. After having a beer with Kevin we split to find our respective friends.

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Danny and Anna came in and met me and we all did some more high fives, then got more beer. and more beer. and more beer. There are bands playing so we watched them and then found a spot on the lawn to sit. They did and F15 fly over which totally kicked ass Top Gun style. ‘Maverick!… You can be my wingman anytime.’

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At around 11 we made our way to the Hotel Utica to change for Grandma Ruth’s party.

It was a fantastic surprise. There were 80-100 of her friends and family at a classy Italian restaurant. A few of the siblings made speeches and we ate some amazing italian food. It was basically a flawless good time. We all left at 4 and caught a nap back the hotel. It was so needed. We then headed over to Aunt Tracy and Quinn’s house… aka… the afterparty.

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They have a litter of 5 week old boxer puppies! (if anyone wants one they have 4-5 left for sale) and they are so cute!

We stayed there til 11 or so and then went to bed as we had to drive back the following morning.

We had a quaint breakfast with Dave and Gibby at our board meeting oak table basked in morning light and then made our way back to my Rome. We will be back next year and for many years to come Im sure. Thanks to all the great hospitality we received while visiting!

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15K 59:23 Anna Knoebel Lyu baker beer Boilermaker Danny Lyu Kevin Masse Run Utica

RACE REPORT: 010 Park to Park 2 Mile Swim

Posted on June 14, 2009 by admin Posted in All, Race Reports, Swimming 2 Comments

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 Time Distance Place
01:19:54 2 Miles
127

I woke up Sunday not knowing whether the Park to Park 2 Mile Hudson
River Swim would take place as the night before there were
thunderstorms. Their website said it was on, so I mentally started
prepping myself.

I had Todd and Ila over for breakfast on my roof as the start of the
race was 11:45. I made us bacon and eggs with strawberries and bagels
on the side with… of course… Cafe Bustelo! Come to think of it
Cafe Bustelo should sponsor me.

This race was the final qualifier to make the Liberty Island Swim.
Todd was already in and our plan was that he would swim in front of me
and I was to draft him to increase my speed. Plan in order we set out
to the start at the new Harlem Piers Park on 125th and the water. We
checked in and surveyed the water. The current was definitely still
moving out to sea (the opposite direction we needed to be going) and
we were all little worried the Ebb wouldn’t cease in time. We geared
up and Ila set out to the finish with ours tuff. She is our number one
supporter and we totally love having her cheer us on.

While we were waiting to set off who shows up? Danny! He was on a run
and spotted us. What a small world NYC can be at times!

We were now lined up in race number order ready to enter the water. I
had made friends with all my surrounding swimmers and we were
exchanging stories. The sun was out and it was going to be a beautiful
swim. I jumped in the soup second! it was an honor. We all swam out a
bit and once all 200 of us were in it they sounded the gun. Todd and I
began our mission.

This was my second open water swim and the difference between this one
and the first was night and day. I was really having fun splashing
around out there. The other thing that was weird was that I had no
concern that we were attempting a 2 mile swim, the same (more or less)
distance used in the Ironman Triathlon which is my end goal in 2
years.

My goggles were acting up which was quite annoying. We took little 5
second breaks here and there for Todd to correct my form and tell me
to get moving, he was in full coach form. I was plugging away as hard
as I could and wasn’t really tired. It was a great feeling mixed with
disappointment as well. Even though I wasn’t tired, I wasn’t utilizing
my full potential (as Todd would discuss with me after the race). This
messes with my competitive nature because out on a bike or running I
can really excel, but I’m still a rookie out here in open water.

As we neared the finish Todd went ahead to finish in style with a
sprint. As I came in after my hands hit sand, yes a beach, in
Manhattan! As I got my feet I fell over a little. It’s a very funny
feeling ending a long swim… it’s like… you stand up and are
instantly drunk for like 60 seconds. Then, your muscles and
equilibrium come back to you, its all quite silly as you can see from
the pictures.

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Ila took some shots of us and we made our way to the sun drenched
grass and change and regroup. I knew I hadn’t made the Liberty Island
Swim, but that was okay as we just accomplished a 2 Mile open water
battle. Todd tried to see if there was another way to get me in the
Liberty, but we found out you have to be elite because of the currents
and I wasn’t there yet.

The three of us set out in search of food. We remembered that Dinosaur
BBQ was back by the start and made our way in that direction. I have
never been to Dinosaur, but let me tell you BBQ lovers, go there! It
was fantastic and more reasonably priced then the other Manhattan BBQ
locations. We were so hungry; we ate everything on our plates! It was
then that the sleepiness started to set in and to quote Todd, “Thank
you ribs.”

We took a cab back downtown and parted ways.

I showered and then hopped on my bike to go to Central Park to meet up
with Ben and Tess. It was 5 PM by now and I was very late. I lasted
another few hours and then couldn’t fight off my sleepiness anymore.

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2 Miles baker Danny Lyu Hudson River Ila Doyle NYC open water Park to Park Swim Todd Doyle
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