What the hell is going on?

First someone decides to bomb the Boston Marathon earlier this week, ricin letters sent to Obama and now a massive explosion in Texas. I'm thinking we are all looking forward to some good news and the weekend.

Last Sunday, I went for a five mile trail run on South Mountain. One way to sum it up - hills. It seemed like every turn we made, another hill was waiting for us. The trail running will help build up more ankle stability due to the fact you have to stabilize each step more because of the terrain. After I injured my ankle last October in NJ's Tough Mudder, it hasn't been right since. Therefore, I will have to work hard in getting it stabilizing well again. Click here to see the details of the run.

Monday night I got the chance to see Muse at Madison Square Garden. They played for solid 20-song set and rocked MSG - it was a good time.

With Tracy away this week, I repeated our sprint workout from two weeks ago just to try and build up some more endurance. Yesterday was tougher than the first time partly because I had to do my runs later in the day and didn't have as much energy.

Today calls for a short run in Verona Park after work followed up by a lift day tomorrow and rest on Saturday before another long run on Sunday.

Now Playing - Silverstein - With Second Chances

Say it with me now - "Fartlek"

Fartlek - which means "speed play" in Sweedish - is a training method that blends continuous training and interval training. Basically when you hear this word, prepare for a great workout.

Tracy wanted to work more on recognizing different paces and yesterday was identifying my 5k pace. The workout "only" lasted about 25 minutes, but it definitely left its mark. We started with a five minute warm up, then quickly went into a much faster pace (5k-pace) for six minutes. After the six were completed, we slowed it down to a much more manageable recovery-pace for two minutes - which happened to be the shortest two minutes of my life (and kept getting shorter). After recovery, back up to 5k-pace for four minutes; recovery for two minutes; 5k-pace for two minutes; recovery pace for two minutes; 5k-pace for two minutes; crying in the corner for two minutes. All in all, I felt good once the run was over, but drained.

Today is an off day so I'll be able to give my legs a little bit of time to rest. Friday lift, Saturday rest, and Sunday long run most likely on the trails of South Mountain Reservation.

Now Playing - White Zombie - More Human Than Human


149 Days until the Nation's Triathlon

151... And Counting

One hundred and fifty-one days out from the triathlon. We're finally experiencing some spring-like weather in the area, making outside runs much more enjoyable. This past weekend flew by and unfortunately I didn't get a chance to get out and get some miles in. Yesterday I ran a short two miles (17:32) around South Orange and everything felt good. Tracy has already warned me I'm not going to like Wednesday's workout so that should be interesting!

My workout plan for this week is looking like this:
Tuesday - Lift
Wednesday - Run
Thursday - Run
Friday - Lift
Saturday - Rest
Sunday - Run

We'll see if this week continues to go as planed.

April 15 - Muse at MSG
May 17 - Birthday at Medieval Times
May 19 - Skate and Surf
May 25 - Attack Attack! at Gramercy in NYC

Now Playing - Bring Me the Horizon - "Sleep Walking"

Song of the Week

Training is carrying on... speaking of carrying on...

This week's Song of the Week: Parkway Drive - Carrion

Feelin' It Today

Yesterday turned out to be a painful workout day. Tracy (my trainer) called for a speed workout and that's exactly what we did. After our warmup we made our way outside in the parking lot corner for the first part of our workout.  We found a slight incline and walked out about 150 meters and sprinted uphill... nine times. The reason? Speed workouts are going to help me reach a faster "race pace" and build up more endurance for the long runs. Although the workout was short, it left its mark. Moving forward I'll be including these sprints once a week.

The second part of the workout consisted on finding a "tempo" pace - the pace I'll use once a week to log a few miles while pushing my pace. This tempo pace would fall between my race pace and long-run pace. Still working on finding it and establishing it, but tempo runs will be present from now on as well!

Tomorrow I'll try to sneak in a run before Sunday's long run - stay tuned!

Now Playing -  Calvin Harris - Sweet Nothing

Weekend Recap

So this past weekend I needed to get my first long run, which in reality, wasn't too long. I went up to South Mountain Reservation and ran four miles at a very slow pace as per Tracy (my run coach). We want to establish and build upon a slow pace to help make even longer runs more enjoyable. Typically I would have tried to push a 9-min/mile pace and would have been gasping for breath at the end. This time I ran an average of 11:09 min/mile pace and felt like I could keep going for several more miles. So, mission accomplished.

This week I'll go back to lifting some weights in a full body circuit I wrote up as well as get some more miles under my legs and on the bike. Stay tuned for more details as we're only 158 days away from the triathlon!

Now Playing - Set Your Goals - Like You To Me

Song of the Week

Easter weekend was just like every other weekend... too short.


This week's Song of the Week:  Love Robot - What Lies Between Your Skin and Your Bones

Seriously give this band a listen - great music!