Best Albums of 2012

To celebrate the New Year, here's my list of best albums from 2012. In descending order:

Fiona Apple: Idlers Wheel
Ceremony: Zoo
Garbage: Not Your Kind of People
Cloud Nothings: Attack on Memory
Beach House: Bloom
Sleigh Bells: Reign of Terror
Air: Le Voyage Dans La Lune
OFF!: s/t
Jack White: Blunderbuss
The Holograms: s/t
Paul Banks: Banks
Syntax Error: Friendship Loyalty Computers (I guess 2012, don't quote me)
First Aid Kit: The Lion's Roar
The Orwells: Remember When
The Hives: Lex Hives
The Men: Open Your Heart
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti: Mature Themes
Norah Jones: Little Broken Hearts
Band of Skulls: Sweet Sour
Thee Oh Sees/Total Control: Split
Nick Waterhouse: Time's All Gone
Crystal Castles: III
Porcelain Raft: Strange Weekend
of Montreal: Daughter of Cloud
Dr. Dog: Be the Void
Frankie Rose: Interstellar
Deep Sea Arcade: Outlands

Be safe! Be happy! Cheers!

Last Post of the Year

Happy New Year's Eve! I'm off to my father's to get in one last workout of the year for him. Zim is going to join me as well. I'd love to go for a run later on, but I'm weary of running outside with freezing temperatures and what that brings with that - ICE. I really don't want to start 2013 with a broken bone. Anyways...here's my last few workouts for this year:

Friday: 30 minutes of jump rope and boxing

Saturday: 50 minutes of jump rope and boxing again. Incorporated the speed bag in, and did an extra round on the heavy bag. Finished with abs.

Sunday: After I watched Chelsea take 3 points away from Everton, I decided it was a Gym day! Zim was helping a friend move, so I got bored and decided to get a workout in. I did a 1/2 hour on the elliptical, and decided to work on legs. Worked on the leg machines for about 20 minutes. Finished with a 1/2 mile run on the treadmill and about 5 minutes of abs.

Playlist: Deep Sea Arcade
Ariel Pink
Of montreal
Nick Waterhouse

The Holidays are Almost Over

Christmas has come and gone and 2013 is almost at our doorsteps! I've still managed to find time to work out but not so much blogging lately. I hope to be back to it more come January. At least all the cooking, cleaning, wrapping, and shopping is over. I've been trying to catch up with family and friends in the past couple of weeks too. Tis the season!

Anybody get anything good for Christmas or the holidays? I got some nice loot. I got an IPad2, brand new Lonsdale boxing gloves, and some cash from my parents. My in-laws got me a Chelsea practice jersey, an Under Armor half zip, and running gloves that are super warm. Zim got me a Chelsea FC team signed starting line-up vs Barcelona Champions League photo and a signed Juan Mata photo!!! Soo awesome!!! Was totally surprised!!! He also got me a couple of local company tee shirts and a Lonsdale gym bag. I made out like a bandit!

Tomorrow's my last full day of work, then Zim and I have vacation for a week. We're hoping to go to New York City for a day and catch a play and some dinner. Anyways, work out wrap up thus far:

Wednesday: After laying around watching Chelsea win over Norwich in the morning, I waited for Zim to come home to do P90X shoulder and arms. We followed it up with abs.

Thursday: light arms and legs workout with my father for an hour. Afterwards, I ran a chilly and windy 4 mile run. The wind was brutal today. Would take your breath right out of you.

After showering up, Zim and I saw Django Unchained tonight. I thought it was excellent. It felt like a true spaghetti western in how the story and events flowed. Very well acted as well. LOVED Leonardo DiCaprio and Sam Jackson. Lots of blood and violence, but what else do you expect out of Tarantino?

Night folks!

Christmas Time

Merry Christmas!!!

I sneaked in a 4 mile run this morning to burn off the seven fishes we had on Christmas Eve. Sooo good! Happy holidays!!

The Workout Week

Here's been my week:

Monday: An elliptical gym day with an upper body strength workout. Then Zim and I were off to Philly to watch WWE Raw. Had a bunch of fun!

Tuesday: 4 mile run. Just made it to the car in time to beat the the rain.

Wednesday: P90X back and bicep followed by a 2 mile run.

Today: A quick race pace 3 mile run followed by boxing at the PAL gym. A nice hour long workout of various bags and a couple rounds on the pads in the ring.

FINALLY done all my wrapping and gift buying! Only 5 more days left! Happy holidays!

Wacky Wednesday

Double arm workout.

Train my dad with upper body, then P90X arms and shoulders. Woo.

Btw..can't comment on the Blogger Ap on the IPhone. Stupid.

Hump Day

Short but sweet:

Monday: 4 mile run followed by P90X chest and back.

Tuesday: 3.5 mile run followed by Insanity Cardio Interval.

Time for bed!

100-30-20

Workout of the day:
100 jump rope
30 crunches
20 push-ups

x 8

Crunches: standard, elbow to raised knee, open the gate, tic tocs, in & outs, bicycle, superman crunches, and legs up crunches.

Push-ups: standard, military, wide, diamond, super military, switch w/ 1 arm out/elbow out, super wide, max rep knuckles forward.

Finish w/ 100 consecutive jump rope
Done!

Bloggidy Blog

Yay the weekend's here! Got a couple light workouts in.

Thursday: Insanity: Balance & Core. Haven't done that one in a long while. Not too intense but gets the job done.

Friday: Boxing.
5 min jump rope
1 round shadow boxing
5 rounds heavy bag
1 round calisthenics
1 round abs

Done!

I'll do a workout of the day later this morning.

Chelsea had a great match but unfortunately Juventus won their match so they got knocked out of the Champions League. Oh well. They play Sunderland today and hopefully continue on their winning streak.

Biting My Nails

I was still sore as hell today. I decided on no strength training and just to run. I ran 4 1/2 miles in a little under 34 minutes. I ended with about 10 minutes of abs.

Watching Chelsea's most likely early exit in the Champions League. They are murdering on the pitch now 6-1, but needed Juventus to lose. Juventus is up 1-0. Less that 20 minutes to see their fate.

Playlist: MGMT: Celebration

70 Degrees in December???

Philly got awful close to hitting 70 degrees. Nuts! I even saw a bee on Monday. Damn you bees!!!

I haven't been blogging as much as I'd want to lately, but tis the season! I hope to be back on track after the holidays. I still get my workouts in though.

Yesterday, I was going to take the day off since I had that 5 miler on Sunday, but I didn't. I went to the gym and did a 1/2 hour on the elliptical and worked on upper body. I guess I worked out harder than I thought coz my arms were pretty sore this morning.

Today, I did P90X Core Synergistics, which I haven't done in over a year with Zim and then we ran 2 plus miles afterwards. Core wasn't too crazy, but I sweat my butt off. Then I felt I had to take advantage of the unseasonably nice weather and ran a slower paced jog.

Off to bed!

Brian's Run 5 miler

Sunday at 1pm, the gang and I, ran Brian's Run. It was a 5 mile run, which I swear was all uphill. It was a pretty tough race with over 900 runners. I came in at 42:08. Not my best time, but had fun running it!

Burn Off the Bird 5K

Saturday morning at 9am was Phoenixville's annual 5K, Burn Off the Bird. Zim, his mom and I headed to the race after 8am. We met more of Zim's family there and our good friend Brian. It was windy out with temperatures hovering around 40 degrees. Pretty chilly. About 200 runners showed up all bundled up. I've run this race before, and it's full of hills. It's a challenging course.

We all lined up and the bell went off I saw Zim and Brian take off like jack rabbits per usual. I got about 40 seconds into my run when my phone popped out of my pocket and hit the ground. Luckily I have a good case! I scooped up my phone and almost got run over by 10 runners. I got back into the run and felt good. Zim finished 1st in our little group at 22:38 and running on a bad leg. Not bad at all! He came in 4th in his age group as well. I came in next at 24:53. I medaled, coming in 1st in my age group. Woot! Brian came in at 26 minutes and Zim's mom at 41:20. Cathy took off at least 3 minutes from her last 5K. REALLY awesome!

We all had a blast and will do it again next year!

Getting back to the workouts, I took Sunday off and got back into the swing of things today. I ran 4 miles, worked in upper body with P90X chest & back, and finished with some abs. Tough. Shouldn't have had those last two drinks! Oh well!

Playlist: Brown Bird

Warrior Training

Last night I tried Warrior Training at the Dojo. It went really well. It consisted of an intense warm-up, followed by stretching. Then we did of metabolic interval training. Five stations were set up. The first station involved a small medicine ball while doing pretty much a mason twist as fast as you can. The 2nd was pushing a 35 pound weight 30 feet while in bear crawl position. 3rd was sprinting knees up through an agility ladder. 4th was doing a 30 foot sprint while a partner held you back by some resistance with a rope. Last we're push-ups. We went thru these for 30 seconds each, with 30 second breaks in between. Then we went thru them again for 1 minute followed by a 10 second break. Pretty damn tough. We ended with a "hurricane". 30 second sprint with resistance, followed by laying down and meeting your leg with you hands holding a medicine ball (crunch) 30 times, followed by 30 mason twists as fast as you can. Repeat 2 more times. TOUGH.

It was a different and fun workout which I'm interested in trying again. It reminded me of the cardio and plyo parts of P90X, Insanity, Asylum, and Cross-Fit.

Today I went for a nice 4.65 run in over 38 minutes. Nice workout before turkey time! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving Eve

One of my favorite days of the year!! I worked in the morning and came home to run 3.15 miles in a little over 25 minutes. I wanted to get a run in this nice weather before the cold air rolls in on Saturday. At 6pm Zim and I (plus a few of our friends) are going to my friend Paul's Dojo to try the "Training For Warriors" program. Tonight is a free introduction running from 6-7:30. Seems pretty interesting. Even nicer to see and support Paul Jackson! Hope I work up a good sweat and receive a butt kicking! Then I'll ruin it all with some beers and vodka later tonight!

Yesterday Chelsea looked quite piss poor and tried a defensive strategy that they've really never done before. Well, it didn't work and Chelsea went down 3-0 to Juventus. They need to win their next Champions league match and need Shakhtar Donetsk to win their match against Juventus. So they still have a chance to move out of their table, they just need the stars to align a little bit. In the wake of this month's skid downwards, Chelsea dismissed head manager Roberto Di Matteo and replaced him with Rafa Benitez. I find this very unfair to RDM, the man came in as an interim coach more than halfway thru the season last year and helped to find a broken team some new light. As an interim manager he won the FA Cup and the MUCH MUCH coveted Champions League of Europe trophy last year. Quite impressive. Chelsea in the month of November has hit a bad streak of a few matches and MAY be out of the Champion's league. They are sitting in 3rd place in the premiership and still can go through the group stage if all goes right in the next Champion's matches. I just think it's too soon. He should have been given until January or if they were eliminated from the Champions League. I'm totally disgusted with this revolving door of coaches. Just my rant of the day. Sunday's match against Man City will be interesting. Hopefully Rafa can improve Torres's level of play and confidence like he did in Liverpool. Oh the drama!

Get Your Game Face On

Get ready to burn off that turkey!!!

Boring Old Tuesday

Today was definately an elliptical day. I'm actually not that sore from yesterday but I didn't want to do a tough workout. I did a half hour on the elliptical, then about 25 minutes of leg work on the machines, and finished with abs. Worked out for a little over an hour.

Juventus v Chelsea is on right now so I'm cutting it short. Go Blues!!!

Presents!!!

I bought these gals about 2 weeks ago. Neon pink Brooks Pure Cadence. So far, so good! I've tallied close to 30 miles on them so far and I really like them. They're lightweight, cushiony and flexible. They have less cushion them my other pairs, but they still feel good. The soles have a curvature to fall with your natural stride. Neat. Overall I'd give an 8.5 out of 10.

Playing Catch Up

Let's finish last week's workouts:

Thursday: 2 and a 1/2 mile run. I was fasting for my blood work appointment, so I really didn't wanna overdo it.

Friday: 2 mile run followed by a light boxing workout.

Saturday: It was beautiful and hovering
around 50 degrees so I went for a run. I watched the first half of the West Brom v Chelsea match, and just had that "feeling" of a lost, but had my fingers crossed for a draw. Glad I ran. They lost 2-1. They lucked out with loses by Everton and Man U. The boys have a tough test tomorrow playing Juventus in Italy. I digress...I ran 5 plus miles and finished with some ab work. Nice workout.

Sunday: I normally take off but decided on a 45 minute boxing routine.

5 minute jump rope
1 round speed bag
1 round shadow boxing
4 rounds heavy bag
1 round calisthenics
1 round sit ups and push ups
Cool down

Monday (today): I wanted to work on running hills so I ran the Valley Forge loop. 5 miles of rolling paved trail. And hills, don't forget them! I ended up running 5 and 1/4 in about 45 minutes. TOUGH run. Damn you Sunday night vodka! Afterwards did P90X chest, shoulders, and triceps. Upped some of my weights, and wow, my arms are spent. Gonna be sore tomorrow!

Playlist: TalkSport talk radio

Early Week Butt Whoopin'

Sunday I did take the day off to rest up and give my body a chance to heal up. It was nice.

Monday it was back to getting my butt back in gear. I worked out with Zim to do a P90X strength workout that I've never tried before, Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps. Absolutely KICKED my ass. Slow motion push-ups, Pike presses, Floor Flys, Two Speed push-ups, etc. Moves I never really done before. Halfway through, my body wanted to quit, but I pushed on through. TOUGH. To end I ran four and a 1/4 miles. SPENT!!!

Tuesday I woke up a bit sore. Not can't get outta bed sore, but that good sore. I decided to make it a gym day since it was off and on raining all morning/afternoon. I did 35 minutes on the elliptical and worked on legs in the machines. I ended with abs. Nice workout.

Today was a pretty nice day out, with a bit of a nip in the air, right around 50 degrees. After work I started with a 4 mile plus run at a 8 minute pace. Then I did upper body strength training again with Zim. We did P90X back and biceps. Lotsa pull-ups, curls, etc. I hung pretty well but started fading at the end. That run took it outta me. I pushed on and finished. DONE!

No idea what to do tomorrow. I'm getting blood work in the late morning, so I might just run or box. Oh decisions, decisions!! Zim and I did register for the Phoenixville Burn Off the Bird 5K for next Saturday. LOVE doing Turkey Trots with friends and family! So much fun! My first 5K was 4 years ago at the very first Burn Off the Bird. After I finished I was hooked!! Look for your local run and give it a whirl!

Playlist: Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam, The Clash: London Calling, Social Distortion: s/t.

Jeffersonville 5K

I woke up at 7am and decided to do the 5K. It was the 2012 Mission 1 at the Reformed Church of the Ascension. All proceeds went towards the local food bank and the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Great causes to run for!

Zim joined me on the run. We registered around 8:30am and the race promptly started at 9am. Zim and I talked to a couple different runners and took our places at the start line. There were altogether 20 runners in the race. It was cloudy out with some sprinkles of rain around. Bang!

Zim jumped out front first and never looked back. I stayed in the number 2 position until about a minute left in the race. It was a nice course that had some nice slowly elevated stretches. A bit more hilly than I expected. I got overtaken with about a tenth of a mile left and came in behind Cheryl by 3 seconds at 23:21 in 3rd place overall. Not too bad. I think I might have beat my personal record too.

Altogether Zim came in 1st at 22:02, Cheryl at 23:18, and me 23:21. I got 1st in my age group as well. I had a bunch of fun and glad my money went towards good things!

Get Yer Freak On Friday

Ah Friday!!! *Sigh* It's been a long week at work. Here's my workout recap.

Tuesday I went for a 5 and a 1/4 mile run in Valley Forge Park and went to my dad's house to train him on legs and abs. My run was good. Felt nice to run in the chilly weather with not a whole lotta people around.

Wednesday, Zim and I tried Asylum: Speed and Agility DVD. Pretty ass kicking. At one point I was down on my knees with my head down pouring sweat, trying to catch my breath. There was a lot of agility ladder work. It was different and I'm more than happy to switch my workout up during the week. I'm looking forward in trying it again, since I'll know the moves a bit better. Did pop my ankle out during the end, but I popped it back into place about 10 minutes later. Not fun.

Thursday, I went for a 3 and 1/4 run around the neighborhood and then did P90X shoulders and arms with Zim. I was tired, but still managed to pull off 21 and 18 pound weights through most of the exercises.

Today, Friday, I decided to rest. Zim and I saw Skyfall, which was FANTASTIC!! I'm planning on doing a 5K tomorrow in Jeffersonville, PA. The proceeds are supposed to go to Hurricane Sandy victims and the local food bank. Nice causes. I hope it's not too cold!

Monday Rundown

I decided to sleep in a bit and take Sunday off after I saw Social D rock the Electric Factory Saturday night. Fun show! Was super happy to hear "Cold Feelings". Did have a workout later when I went to my parents to train my dad. We did shoulders, biceps, triceps. I was pulling 20 pound weights. Pretty tough.

Today I waited till the temperature to rise a bit and the vodka to wear off, and went for a 4 and 1/2 mile run. Had a good run at an 8 and 1/2 minute pace. I came home and did the P90X chest and back. DONE!!

Election Day tomorrow and a legs workout!

Playlist: Paul Banks: Banks

Trail Bound

Wednesday I decided to go to my gym and give the good old elliptical a go. I did about 35 minutes while listening to TalkSport on my IPhone. All the cable was out there, which really didn't bother me. After I did a nice 25 minute leg workout with the extension, calf, and abductor machines. I finished with abs and came home to listen to the Chelsea v Man United Capital one cup match. What a frickin' match! And Chelsea prevailed in the end, thanks to Eden Hazard's penalty kick to send it into extra time. Great match, great win for the Blues 5-4.

Thursday was just a pure running day. I had a full morning of work, meetings, and errands. I also trained my father in between all the chaos. We did legs and abs. He did great as always. After I got home, I threw on my Brooks and headed to the trail. I had a nice run at around an 8 minute pace. Felt good!

Friday, I was going to take the day off, but decided last minute to get a 35 minute boxing workout in. Started with 5 minutes of jump rope, 1 round shadow boxing, 5 on the heavy bag, and ended with a 3 minute cardio drill. I showered up and headed to the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville for the First Friday horror flick, The Return of the Living Dead. Great fun flick that I haven't seen in years. Good times!!

Today I headed out for a run through Valley Forge Park around 9am. It was chilly out with the temperature hovering around 40 degrees. Had a nice 5+ mile run in about 43 minutes. I was running again at an 8 minute mile. Showered up, ran into work, and came home to watch the 1-1 draw of Swansea v CFC. Tough to get 3 points in Wales, but it was Chelsea's points to lose. Oh well. Later tonight I'll be in Philly to see Social Distortion play. Should be a blast!

Playlist: Air: Le Voyage Dans Le Lune
Social Distortion: Prison Bound

After the Storm

Although hurricane Sandy or cyclone, whatever it's technical name is, has still not completely passed yet, it's more or less done. It's still rainy and a little windy out there, but not too bad. Luckily we did not lose power at my house. The lights flickered a few times, but never went out. I got antsy this late morning and went for a run around the neighborhood to see what damages occurred. I broke out my track pants, rain jacket, and hat for the rain. My development wasn't bad at all. A few downed tree limbs, a lot of water moving around, but nothing major. Zim did see some fallen trees and downed powerlines around us on his way to work this morning though. I ran to the dog park/trailhead and was amazed that it wasn't washed away. The path was still runnable as far as I could see. It started to rain a bit harder so I made my way back. Ran over 3 and 1/4 miles in around 32 minutes. Still wanted to get more of a workout in, so I decided on upper body strength. I did the P90X shoulders, biceps, triceps workout. Kicked my butt since I was still pretty sore from yesterday.

Monday the weather started out rainy and altogether crappy, but it was better than I expected it to be. The hurricane's eye was supposed to make landfall around 5-7pm. No one really knew. Most places were closed, and I didn't want to be "that" person to show up to my gym, so I decided to do Insanity: Max Interval Circuit. (By the way, if you did go to your gym, awesome! I just didn't want to make someone have to stay at their job for my benefit. I would have went around 11:30am) Anyways...it's been over a month that I've done Max Interval Circuit. TOUGH! Those full body drills KILLED me! But in that good way. Nothing like being on your hands and knees, panting, feeling spent, with sweat pouring off of you. After Insanity, I finished with about 10-15 minutes of ab work. I showered up and braved the conditions to make it into work. It wasn't that bad. Luckily I got out early before it started to really pour and the winds started whipping.

Sunday I took the day off and more or less finished preparing everything for the hurricane. Fun, fun.  I watched Chelsea get cheated out of a 2-2 draw due to bad refereeing. That's what happens when you play Man United. Chelsea gets 2 red cards, Torres's was just ridiculous, and they get an offsides goal. Sooo frustrating. I hate losing, but if it's fair, it's fair. This was just disgusting.

Saturday, I wasn't sure what Sandy was going to bring so I went for a 4 and 1/2 miles plus run on the trail. Had a decent pace too. Ran it under 38 minutes. I think everyone and their mother's were out getting their last runs in. There were a ton of bikes. And a ton of bikers who don't understand sharing the trail. Is it that hard to move to the side if you're stopped? There was a group of about 12 bikers that literally took up the whole trail other than maybe a foot and a half. Ridiculous. I did have a really good run though. Ran with my Brooks ASRs, think my other Brooks are about done. Time to get a new pair soon!

Happy trails! Hope everyone is safe and their home's didn't get damaged or flooded.

Friday Woo-Hoo!!

Yay the weekend's here! And hurricane Sandy is right behind it. It looks like we might get hammered Monday. I hope it just goes out to sea. Guess we'll have a better idea in a few days.

Workouts. Thursday I did legs and abs with my dad. My legs were pretty shot from Wednesday's run. Today, Zim and I did this workout of the day:

20 body squats
15 push-ups
20 legs up crunches
10 shoulder presses (15 pound weights)
20 twist crunches
10 shoulder flys/curl-up-hammer down

Repeat X 2

Finish with 100 mason twists

DONE!!!

Playlist: Ratatat: Classics

Wednesday Bang Up

I woke up a bit sore from the past couple days. Plus migraines decided to visit me again today on this beautiful Wednesday afternoon. My thermometer in my car read 75 degrees at 1:30 today. After work I decided to go for a run. Ran 6.25 miles in 53 minutes plus. Man my legs are feelin' it now! Afterwards I did about 15 minutes of abs. Wish I could sleep in past 8am tomorrow but I'm training my father in the AM. Gonna be an early night for me tonight!

Playlist: TalkSport and Fiona Apple

Yup, It's Tuesday

I've never been a fan of Tuesdays. It's like Monday again, but more boring. No weekend talk, just groan "Is it Friday yet?". Here's my week thus far.

Sunday I had to work, so I took the day off from a workout to rest up. I got home, grabbed some food with Zim, drank beer, and watched football. Not too bad.

Monday late morning I started my first workout of the week. I started with a 4 mile run. It's still been real nice and warm out. And my migraines haven't lifted. Oh well. It was a beautiful morning for a run, so I took advantage of it. After I can home to do a P90X chest and back workout.  Still not using a chair for the pull-ups and not using any knees for push-ups. Love the push-ups. Standard, military, wide-front, diamond, and my least favorite...dive bombers. Thoses suckers are a bitch. I finished with a 10-15 minute ab workout with Zim.

Today, Tuesday I went to train my father in the late morning. We did shoulders, biceps, triceps, and a few back moves mixed in. I lifted with him, but was only using 10 pounds. I didn't want to over do it with my arms. Felt good though. I came home and wanted to do some cardio, so I boxed. 5 minutes jump rope, 1 round shadow boxing, 5 on the heavy bag, and I ended with two, 2 minute drills. I started with jumping jacks (15 sec), heels up (15), mountain climbers (15), heismans (15), next football thinking skills (30) and ended with 20 burpees. It actually took like 2 and 1/2 minutes.

I showered up and watched Chelsea FC play Shakhtar Donetsk. Shakhtar is a tough Ukrainian squad and playing at their stadium is even tougher. The Blues were more or less dominated my them. Chelsea had a few opportunies they didn't finish, but Shakhtar deserved those needed 3 points. Going to be a tough week for the boys, Man United on Sunday and United again for the Capital One Cup.

Another Week Wrap-Up

Was another beautiful and warm week in October. Almost the end of and we're still seeing temperatures in the 70s. Crazy! As nice as the weather's been, the flux of temperature has triggered my seasonal migraines. Not fun. I'll just step outside for a minute, and I can already feel my head starting to hurt. Oh well, I just have to deal with it.

Soo...getting back to my workouts this week. Tuesday, I just did straight cardio. Ran a nice 5 miles plus on the trails. My head didn't bother me too bad afterwards. Wednesday, I ab libbed the legs part of the P90X legs and back disk, and then finished with a 2 mile run. Thursday, Zim and I did biceps and back. I upped my weights this time too. I moved from 15 pounds to 18 pounds. Felt good! I'm still not using a chair on the pull-ups as well.  I feel like I get so much more out of pull-ups now. Friday, Zim and I did 5 rounds of 20 burpees, 25 medicine ball squats, 15 push-ups, 20 lunges, and 8-10 shoulder fly/upward row/shoulder presses. TOUGH workout. My shoulders are still a bit sore even today. The whole workout took us about 45 minutes. Saturday, Zim and I ran in Valley Forge Park for a nice 3 and 1/2 mile run. The weather was beautiful out, but my headaches were not so beautiful.

I also had my first week in training my father. It went well. He did great! I'll be training him twice a week now. Hope he sticks with it!

Workout Stuffies

Sorry that I haven't update in over a week. I been busy as heck, but I'm still getting my workout in about 6 times a week.

I have been able to do 2 chin-up on my own and now only use the assistance cables. No more chair for me. Quite happy about that.

After a normal gym/elliptical workout, I did upper body strength training. I finished with abs. Later after work I went to my father's house to start him on a training program. We started with shoulder, bicep, triceps after an extended warm-up. My dad's 66, and has heart issues. He did great! And I got another workout in too!! I'm going to be training him twice a week. Happy he's trying to get back in shape.

Playlist: Ladytron: Velocifero

Wrapping up the Week

Tuesday - An elliptical and leg workout day at the gym. It was a pretty rainy, crappy day out, so I decided to stay inside.

Wednesday - Zim and I did the P90X back and bicep. It's been awhile since I did this. I did find out that I can do a couple of chin-ups with no assistance. I haven't been using a chair anymore either. I've been using the elastic assistant band, which is giving me a much better workout. I went for about a 2 mile run afterwards. Pretty tough.

Thursday- Man, I woke up sore. Upping my weights yesterday sure made a difference. After I got my Jeep back from getting work done on it, I went for a 4 and 1/2 mile run in the gross and soupy air. It was humid out. The last mile was the toughest. My body was still banged up from the upper body training but I pushed through. I finished with about 5 minutes of ab work.

Friday - I was going to take off, but decided to work out with Zim. We did back and legs P90X workout. A bit tough to get through be we did it, and finished off with about 10 minutes of abs.

Saturday - Again I was gonna to take the day off, but woke up around 7, and decided to join Zim and Novia on a 8am run. We did a slower paced 4 mile run, while passing a 10 pound sandbag off to someone after every mile. I took mile 2. Good workout!

After my run I came home to see Chelsea FC beat Norwich 4-1, and take another 3 points to stay on top of the table. Nice win boys! Later this afternoon Zim and I will do some Oktoberfest tailgating in Chester before the Union v Revolution match tonight. Good times!!!

Wild in the Streets, Runnin' Runnin'

I woke up to a beautiful sunny Monday morning. A perfect morning for a run. I ran about 5 and 1/4 miles in Valley Forge Park. It took a little less than 45 minutes. Also my first long run without music. My IPhone wasn't ITunes updated and decided not to work for me. It was actually quite pleasant running without music. Think I kept a better pace and felt more in tune with my body.

After I got home I did about 15-20 minutes of push-ups and pull-ups. Military, wide-front, and decline push-ups. Reverse grip, chin-ups, wide-front, and switch grip pull-ups.

DONE.

Working Out for the Weekend

Yesterday, Friday, I wanted to keep my workout kinda light. So after work, I threw on my t-shirt and shorts and headed down my basement. It was going to be a boxing day. This is how it went:

5 minutes jump rope
1 round shadow boxing
5 rounds heavy bag
1 round push-ups and crunches
Finish with a 2 mile run.

Altogether I worked out for about 50 minutes. Then I rewarded myself for all that work with a Victory Hop Devil. Love that beer.

Today I woke up early to watch the Chelsea FC v Arsenal match. Chelsea looked real good and won 2-1. Good match. Arsenal nearly leveled it a few times, but Cech saved the day. After the match I went into work for a little while and came home to work out. I decided to exercise with Zim. Here's the workout he wrote out:

Start with a 2 mile run

50 body squats
20 push-ups
2 minutes of plank
50 lunges
20 burpees
50 crunches
Repeat 2 more times = 3 rounds

1 mile run

Tough ass workout. Kicked my ass a bit, but we both got through it. Now to enjoy the rest of my Saturday!

Also congrats to Jon on his 5K. Smashed his time today!!! Team KASA!!!!

Thursday double workout

Today I woke up feeling a bit drained. The weather is a bit cooler, it's getting darker earlier, and it was a somewhat dreary day.

I bucked up and started an upper body workout, P90X chest and back. It's pretty much different push-ups and pull-ups split up in 4 exercises in 3 rounds. Then repeat. There's standard, military, diamond, decline, wide front and dive bomber push-ups. My favorite are the decline push-ups. I put my feet up on the 1st or 2nd step, and go into my push-up. The pull-ups consisted of wide front, reverse grip, chin-up, and closed grip. Throw in some dumb bells and that the workout.

I waited for an hour to go for my run coz I got super excited that my vanity license plate in the mail today. Yes, it might be Chelsea FC related. Plus Zim got home from work, so I talked to him a bit. Anyways...I headed to the park for a 5 plus mile run. Wasn't too bad out and the rain held off.

DONE.

Ate a big chef salad and headed to the boxing gym. Watched two 10+ year old kids spar. One of the kids is an absolute tank. Can take a punch, never panics, and just keeps coming forward throwing punches. He'll be real interesting to see in about 5 years if he stays with the program. Just needs to move those hands quicker.

Playlist: Talk Sport - Talk Radio

Tuesday & Wednesday

Tuesday I waited around all morning for an appointment at my house, for a guy that never showed up. A home appraisal that I needed done for tax reasons. He forgot about the appointment and rescheduled for later in the day. Grrr. Sulking angrily around the house and after watching entirely too many Roseanne episodes for my liking, I went for a trail run. I nice run. I ran about 5 and 1/2 miles in 47 minutes or so. Felt great. I listened to my Iphone Talk Sport radio ap. Good stuff. A mile left in my run I ran into a deer. Not literally. About 10 feet away. Pretty cool. Afterwards I did about 5 minutes of ab work. Finished up right before the Capital One Cup match of Chelsea FC v Wolves. Chelsea stomped Wolves 6-1.

Today, work was a bitch and a half. Lottery a**holes were in full effect. *Sigh* Anyways, after a good nap, I did the P90X DVD of legs and back which was about a half hour and I followed it up by less than a 2 mile run. Altogether about an hour and 15 minute workout. Kick ass.

Met up with Zim and my father for the Nationals v. Phillies game. Second to last game of the season. Took my dad to the Xfinity Live Center to eat at the Broad Street Bullies Pub. Good stuff! Beautiful night for a game, and the rain held off this close to the end. Too bad for the loss.

Playlist: Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel... great album

Zombie Mud Run

Last Saturday morning Zim and I met up with Jon in Sinking Spring, PA for the Zombie Mud Run. Our heat was non-competitive at 10:30. With your registration package you get a flag/health belt. It has 3 Velcro flags that can be yanked off by zombies. If you finish the race with at least 1 flag, you have survived. If you don't you have died. Either way runners get medals at the end. You also can sign up as zombie and see how many "human" flags you can collect. Pretty cool.

There were a bunch of walls to climb, mud to crawl through, and zombies to avoid. It was much harder than I thought. When you have to sprint and spin past zombies, it takes the wind out of you. Plus there's strategy to think about. Keep with a decent size group or press your luck with a partner. Zim and I did both, and it worked for the majority of the race.

I thoroughly enjoyed the mud, but some of the obstacles where a bit dangerous. Just having wet hands and feet and having to climb big wooden ladders with a 3 foot gap in it makes me nervous. Especially with no one around supervising. Alot people just ran right by not even attempting. I guess I'm showing my age.

The zombies were all pretty fun. You had slow ones, guys crawling on the ground and ones that chase you. You had to watch out for zombies hiding and jumping out at you to take one of your flags. The outfits and make-up were great! Next year, I would rather be a zombie than a runner.

With about 5-10 minutes before we finished the race I lost all my flags. :( it's kinda disheartening. I just ran as a decoy so Zim could finish the race as a survivor. The second to last zombie in the race got his flag. That just sucked. We finished the race after 38 minutes.

Altogether it was a fun time! And you got a free beer! Woo!

Sunday Stroll

We drove home from the shore around 10am. We got home around 12. I went for a 4 and 1/2 mile trail run while listening to the Ravens v Eagles game. What an ugly game. At least the Eagles pulled it out. Was a beautiful day for a run in the woods.

Today I did shoulders, biceps, triceps for about a half hour. I ran a little over a mile after, then continued to do about 10 minutes of abs.

Word.

Playlist: Holograms: s/t

Updates

Apologies for the lack of updates. Zim and I were supposed to fly to London for a week on 9/12. The day of our departure I was called informing me that our flight was delayed due to technical issues. I was giving 3 options: a cancellation and full refund, fly with another airline, or fly out sometime on Friday (no time given)

Seeing that airfare was close to a grand a person on other airlines for a flight out, and that close to half our vacation would be cancelled, we chose to cancel the trip. Sucked. We attempted to rebook and still problems occurred. *Sigh*

We did go to Ocean City, NJ for the weekend. I signed us both up for a 5K for Saturday called Run For the Art of It. Did GREAT! Zim got a medal for 1st in his age division at 21:14 and 8th overall. I got 2nd in my age group at 24:30. Not bad for 4 Sly Fix 113 IPAs the night before.

To the Gym!!!

A repeat of yesterday's beautiful weather, I REALLY wanted to go for a long run again. I decided to save my legs and knees a bit and head to my gym. I did about 35 minutes on the elliptical at a nice pace. I was coming in around an 8:15 mile. Next, lower body strength training. I used my usual 5-6 machines but in different order. I did skip the leg curls and extension machines. My quads are still pretty tight. I finished of with about 8 minutes of ab work.

DONE!!

Playlist: Sex Pistols: Don't Mind the Bollocks..., Sheryl Crow: Greatest Hits

Monday Monday

After a much needed rest from Saturday's killer workout, I took Sunday off. My legs were pretty spent. Today, my legs still sore, I awoke to a BEAUTIFUL Monday morning. 68 degrees and sunny at 9:30am. Legs still shaky I went for a 4.25 mile run. Sooo nice out. Such an enjoyable run. Took me a little over 35 minutes.

After I got home I started on a P90x inspired workout, shoulders, biceps, and triceps for about 25 minutes. I ended my workout with 100 twist/regular crunches and a handful of other ab exercises.

DONE!!!

Playlist: Animal Collective

Spartan!!!

While the Novia and Jon were in New Jersey running the 11 mile Super Spartan, Zim and I did the Workout Of The Day: The Spartan 1500.

Here's the Spartan 1500:
100 Burpees
100 Pull-ups
100 Box Jumps
100 Medicine Ball Squat Throws
100 Jumping Jacks
100 Brazilian Ab Twists
100 Body Squats
100 Side Kicks
100 Jumping Lunges
100 Biceps Curls (I used 5 lbs)
100 Tricep Overhead Extensions (5 lbs)
100 Frog Jumps
100 Push Ups
100 Squat Jumps
300 Crunches

An hour and a half later...DONE!!!

My legs are gonna feel it tomorrow.

As for the Super Spartan, Jon said it was 11 miles, double the Pennsylvania Sprint hill climbs, but some really nice trails to run. Also there's a 15 foot cliff jump into water and swimming involved. Jon came in a 3 and 1/2 hours. Crazy! I know Zim's kicking himself today for skipping the run today.

Playlist: Division of Laura Lee: Violence is Timeless; Das Not Compute

Rest of the Week

Wednesday - P90X shoulders, biceps, triceps. Followed by a 2 mile run.

Thursday - 4.5 mile run. Started run with 30 burpees, ended it will 30 burpees. Humid out again.

Friday - Light workout:
5 minute jump rope
1 round shadow boxing
5 rounds heavy bag
End with 5 minutes of abs:
25 twist crunches
25 regular crunches
100 bicycle crunches
Repeat

DONE!!!

Tear It Up Tuesday

I woke up to on and off drizzle a little before 7am. I went into work at 8, and it the rain seemed to hold off. It was pretty humid out and the skies looked threatening all morning and continued into the afternoon. After work I came home, ate a Greek yogurt, and gave some time for my stomach digest by watching the news and the weather channel. They still called for pop up showers. I grabbed my Brooks sneakers and jumped into my Jeep to sneak in a run. As soon as I left my driveway it started to drizzle again. I said, "Screw it" and headed over to the park to get my run on. By the time I parked it was drizzling a little harder. I decided to save my Ipod from the rain and ran with no music. My first mile the skies opened up to a nice, actually refreshing shower. By mile 2 the rain had more or less subsided. I was just going to run 3 miles, but I pushed it to 4, coz I felt pretty good. By mile 3 the sun came out along with the humidity. It wasn't terrible, but it sure wasn't comfortable. I'm guessing I ran the 4 miles in about 35 minutes give or take. I didn't have the Ipod, so no timer.

After the run I headed down my basement for some boxing. I walked out my punches for a round, then beat up the heavybag for 4 rounds. I ended with abs:

25 twist crunches
25 crunches
250 bicycle crunches

Repeat 2 more times.

Done!

Good cardio workout!

Playlist: Blitz: The Best Of

Last week's post titles were all takes on The Smiths songs.

This Charming Gal

This is the short version of my Labor Weekend workouts:

Friday: P90X Legs and back. I've never done that DVD workout. Pretty good. It was about an hour long and had some really good moves in it. You end up doing a boatload of pull-ups too.

Saturday: Valley Forge Park Run. I ran up and down Mount Joy and ran another extra mile or so on the pavement. Altogether, my ran was a little over 5 and 1/4 miles. Not too bad. My foot felt pretty good too. Still sore, but DEFINATELY much better. The boys ran Mount Joy twice. Nuts.

Playlist: Alkaline Trio: Shuffle

Monday/today: Gym day!!! The standard Monday. I was going to go for a long run but it's been pouring since Saturday. So it was off to the elliptical for me. I did 40 minutes at 10 resistance. Next upper body strength training, and finished with about 8 minutes of ab work.

Playlist: MGMT, Miike Snow

DONE!!

Supposed to rain here for the next few days, so I doubt I'll be getting a run in soon. Looks like another gym day tomorrow. Oh well.

Runners Of The World Unite

Although I didn't end up working out with Zim and Novia, I did my own little workout:

100 jump rope
25 push-ups
25 twist crunches
200 jump rope
25 push-ups
300 bicycle crunches
300 jump rope
25 push-ups
50 twist crunches/50 regular crunches
300 jump rope
300 bicycle crunches
25 push-ups
100 jump rope
50 twist crunches/50 regular crunches
25 push-up

Run 3 miles.

DONE!

It took about 55 minutes.

Playlist: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: shuffle

Run Around the Fountain

I FINALLY scratched that itch. I ran today. Zim and I went for a nice run after an upper body workout. We did the P90X shoulders, biceps, and triceps. I did quite well and actually bumped up a bunch of shoulder and bicep to 18 lb weights on the second time around. After about a half hour plus of strength training I decided to bite the bullet and give my toe/foot a test run. It felt good. We ran about a mile and a half at a decent pace. Maybe about a 9 minute mile. I did not want to push it. But my foot felt real good. It's a little bit sore right now, but tomorrow morning will be the test.

Tomorrow's workout I'm looking forward to. Zim wrote out a session consisting of jumping rope, push-ups, and crunches. I saw the list the other day when I was at the computer, and it looked pretty intense. I'll write more about when I actually do it.

Tonight's Union match...Eh, *shakes head*. We lost a point in the 4th minute of extra time in the 2nd half. Terrible. We really needed 3 points.

Any guesses about the titles??

Playlist: Ceremony: Ipod shuffle

Badfoot Strikes Again

Sunday I ended up taking the day off from working out. My foot needed a break and Zim and I had tickets to a 1:30 Phillies game. Beautiful day for a Phillies game. The game really didn't open up till the 5th inning. We got to see a sweep of the Nationals and Cliff Lee's first home win.

Monday, my toe is much better but still sore. I played it safe and did 35 minutes on the elliptical at the gym. Following my cardio, upper body strength. Same workout, different order. I started with free weights. Shoulder presses, hammer curls, upright rows, static arm curls. Then I moved to lat pull-downs and sit down chest presses. Next, assisted pull-ups and dips. I finished with sit down rows and tricep pull downs. I had the weights more or less the same as usual with exception of the lat pull downs. I stayed at 55lbs, 3 x of 10 reps. I finished the workout with 8 minutes up abs. Been adding a bunch of twist crunches in with the routine.

Today (Tuesday), I was REALLY aching to start running again. This has been the best my toe has felt since I banged it all up. It was a pretty nice morning once the rain cleared out. I decided to not push my luck and go to my gym. I again did 35 minutes, but I changed it up on the resistances. I'd run 2 minutes on resistance 10, the next minute on 9 resistance. Repeat that for 30 minutes. Add another 5 minutes for a cool down. Next, the usual, lower body strength training. I started with the standing calf raise. I had to be pretty careful on this machine, so I didn't overload pressure on my bad foot. Then I continued to the seated leg press, leg extension/flexion, and took a break working on abs on the standing leg raise. I ended with leg abduction/adduction and lying down glute press. I ended with 100 crunches, half with twist, half regular.

DONE!

Tomorrow Zim and I will be at the Union v Crew match. Let's see if we get the much needed 3 points.

Playlist: Black Flag: Shuffle; Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Devil's Tattoo

Heaven Knows I Can't Run Now

After all the fun on Wednesday, Thursday it ended. I wish I had a better story. Enjoying my morning coffee later than usual, nursing a slight hangover, my finest of feline's decides to scratch the couch. By instinct, I get up and angrily stomp over to my cat in 4 steps. At step four I smash my middle toe to HIGH HELL. I jam it bad. I thought I broke it. I guess I didn't. I can put weight on it, flex, and walk on it. All in PAIN though. I'm bruised pretty well. Almost looks like a broke a blood vessel. No fun.

I still managed to work out Thursday. I pimped out the elliptical. I did 30 minutes and did some ab work. Friday I did a quick boxing session after work. 5 minutes jump rope/running in place with high knees. 1 round shadow boxing, 4 heavy bag, and finish off with 4 minutes of abs. Toe still in pain, but getting better.

Saturday was good. Made it to the gym for the 2nd half of the Swansea v West Ham match. Man Swansea is on FIRE!!! Did 45 minutes on the elliptical and rocked it. Went on to 20 minutes of lower body weight training, and finished with 10 minutes of ab work.

DONE!

Playlist: Ravonettes: Whip It On, Slayer: Divine Intervention

Titles this week have a pattern! Try to figure it out, I might have a prize!!

From Xfinity Center and Beyond

After a bitch of a day at work, I was more than happy to go for a run later in the afternoon. Zim and I ran over 3 miles just enjoying the sunshine and nice temperature. After the first mile we both did 50 body squats. At mile 2, I did 20 lunges. About 3/4 of the last mile left I borrowed Zim's 5 lb vest he was running with and gave it a whirl. It felt like running with a flack jacket. We both stretched out and headed home.

Next up boxing. It's been a little while since a boxing workout. I did one round shadow boxing and the next 4 rounds pounding the heavy bag. I was actually quite spent. I finished with 10 minutes of abs.

DONE.

I ended my session just in time to watch Chelsea v Reading. Reading looked pretty good against the brutal boys of Stoke earlier in the week. The Blues looked steady and stellar, but let in 2 goals by the end of the half. One a brillant header and the other a nice free kick, flubbed by Cech. Oh well, these things happen. Chelsea won a PK earlier with Hazard getting taken down in the box. Super Frank Lampard drilled in the PK goal. The Blues equalized in the second half, with a goal by Cahill. After the Cahill goal, I was in the car listening on the radio. I was headed to the Reds v Phils game with my buddy Lou. I heard the offsides Torres goal and the nail in the coffin, goal 4, by Ivanovic. I guess those Champions League chants bit the Royals in the ass in the end. Lou got to see me act like a madwoman listening to the match in my Jeep.

I took Lou to the Xfinity Live Center for dinner at the Victory Beer Hall. Good beer, decent food. I had a turkey burger, Lou a big weiner (haha). Then we headed to Citizen's Bank Park for the Phillies game. A pitcher's game. Phils barely put up a few hits, but it was a beautiful night out. Had a bunch of fun. And yes, the stadium is most definately not sold out. Nicely filled throughout. Not a sellout by far.

Playlist: The Clash: Super Black Market Clash; Circle Jerks: Golden Showers of Hits

The Rest is Over

After Saturday's 9K, Zim and I chilled out and got dinner at Phoenixville's Sly Fox Brewery. I ordered a picture of Royal Weisse with our dinners, and enjoyed it immensely. I also enjoyed a couple vodka drinks at home as well. When I woke up Sunday morning, I surprisingly wasn't as sore as I thought I'd be. I still took a rest day.

Monday was back in workout mode. I took it light, just doing 30 minutes on the elliptical and not going crazy. I did do some upper body strength training, about 25 minutes. The normal routine, pull-ups, dips, seated chest press, lat pull-down, seated rows, and free weight work. I ended with 5-7 minutes of abs. Altogether, I took it light on the cardio, but had a decent strength training session.

Tuesday morning I woke up and was so STOKED to go for a run outside. The weather was beautiful. Sunny and mid-70s. Soooo nice out. I put on my running shoes and ran for a bit over 40 minutes for a little over 4.75 miles. My legs felt pretty good too. I ran at an 8:30 pace. I got home and decided to work on lower body. Here's the workout:

35 body squats
35 lunges
35 box jumps
25 push-ups
35 twist crunches
35 weighted calf raises (40lb)
35 burpees

Repeat 2 more times decreasing the reps by 5. (with exception of push-ups, they stayed at 25)

DONE!

I drank some light chocolate Power Core and took a shower.

Tomorrow might be a short workout. I have work in the early AM, the Chelsea match is on at 2:45pm, and one of my buddies and I are going to the Reds v Phils game. Gonna be a busy day. I haven't been to a baseball game since late May/early June. Should be a fun time. I'm hoping we get down there early enough, so we can go to the Xfinity Live Center. Also should be interesting to see how many fans are still showing up to the games.

Playlist: The Clash: London's Calling; The Clash: s/t

Mount Cuckoo 15K

I woke up to my alarm at 5am on Saturday morning. I scarfed down my usual breakfast of egg whites, turkey and turkey sausage on a slice of wheat bread, and got dressed. In a few hours I was going to be running in my first 15K. I was getting a bit excited and reluctant at the same time. I went into the mindset of I was just going to go on a real tough Saturday morning run with the boys. 6am rolled around and Zim, Novia, and I gathered our gear and started driving towards Adamstown, PA.

We arrived at the race around 7am and met up with Jon. All 4 of us shot the shit and started warming up. There were a little under a hundred runners. The race took place at Stoudtburg Village, which is a beautiful little German Bavarian village full of shops and pubs. I'd love to go up there around Christmas time to see it all lit up at night. Stoudt Brewery was also right around corner. Everyone started to line up around 8am for the start of the race. And by 8:15am the Cuckoo Run started. The first mile was on the road, I felt good. The next 2 or 3 were all trail. The trail wasn't too bad. Not super rocky or muddy from last night's downpours. I ran about 11-12 minute miles on the trail. I'm just not fast at all on trails. The next 4-5 miles were all road. This made me extremely happy. I made up my time on the road, running about 8 minute miles. Plus there was a lot of downhill running. Then I hit the longest driveway in Berks County, PA. Of course it was long and winding. And on a steady incline. At the top of the driveway was water and beer. I drank one beer (like 8 ounces) and made my way back down the driveway. Miles 6-8 were trail. And almost unmarked. Another runner and I helped to put the race path sign back up. It would have been really easy to run off course if you didn't see the sign. The trail got a little more hazardous. Some mud, more rocks, exposed roots, downed trees, and now I was descending down the mountain. I ran slower in fear of slipping in the mud and tripping on the rocks. I was closer to a 12 minute pace. The last mile was road. I was quite happy when my feet hit the pavement. I still had a decent amount of gas in the tank, and ran close to an 8 minute mile at the end. Another female runner and I were duking it out at the finish which really helped to push me to go faster. I beat her out by a stride and came in at 1 hour and 42 minutes, more or less on the dot. After finishing they award you with a handmade wooden whistle. Sweet!! And it had cuckoos on it.

I was quite surprised how well my legs felt. That Mount Joy training REALLY helped out. Believe me, I was pretty damn beat, but my legs weren't absolutely dead. I felt like I could have ran another mile or 2 if the race was longer. I drank down a bunch of water and sipped on the free beer they handed out. My appetite was ravenous so I chowed down on a bratwartz and some German potato salad. I was so hungry that I dropped my brat in the grass and still ate it. 5 second rule!!

I finished last out of the group, but I was figuring on that. I'm just really not a speedy trail runner. I enjoy running trails, but I don't enjoy them so much when running for time. Zim came in first in the group at 1 hour 23 minutes, Jon was next at 1 hour 26 minutes, and Novia was an hour and 33 minutes. Don't quote me on these exact times. I was still running at the time and trying to remember what the guys told me. Altogether I had a lot of fun on this run. There was a lot comradery between all the runners. Everyone helped out in figuring out the course directions, which mile you were on and encouraged each other to keep pushing on. Also super happy with the Brooks ASRs. They helped a bunch from the countless times I almost rolled my ankle. And they felt wonderful on that last mile of plodding my tired feet on the pavement. Good times!

Playlist: The Spinnerettes

Last Days of Training

Wednesday Zim and I hit up Mount Joy in Valley Forge Park for some last minute trail/pavement running. Plus we wanted to break in our new Brooks ASRs. We headed out around 2:30pm and it started to get quite dreary out. We started with a 1/2 mile of pavement and went right into 2.5+ miles into trail. A few minutes into the trail the skies opened up. It was kinda refreshing, but I felt I had to be even more careful not to slip. It rained for a good 5-10 minutes. I also ran with a water bottle belt for the first time. Not really a fan. I felt like it was about to fall off half the time and it moved around a little too much for my liking. It got frustrating. This run I did better on Mt. Joy than the first time I ran it, but I started losing confidence in the Cuckoo 15K. I feel my trail running pace is too slow and I'm too paranoid that I'm going to trip and fall. Plus the humidity after the rain had my struggling to catch my breath. And the humidity wasn't all that bad. Soon we came back up and down the mountain on to the pavement again. My legs were a bit tired, but I felt I got my regular pace back and some confidence. We ran about 2 and 1/2 miles on the pavement and made it back to the car. We ran a little less than 6 miles. I was pretty tired, but not spent. We ran for an hour. I've ran a lot longer before, but not with trail included. I saw that my pace wasn't all that bad, and that gave me a bit of a boost. I'm still quite anxious though. I wish I had another week to train for this. 

One thing that I was delighted about during my run, were the new Brooks ASR9s. They were totally worth the $120. They grabbed well to the rocks and gravel terrain. I barely felt any slippage. My ankle rolled at least once and was stabilized in less than a second. I could feel the terrain, but there was enough cushion to make my feet comfortable. On the pavement, they felt even better. Very cushiony. I felt like I was running in my Brooks Ravenna 3s. So far I'm more than happy with my purchase.

Thursday I went for a short 3 and a 1/4 mile run around my neighborhood. I ran in the ASRs to break them in a little more. My feet feel pretty good, and the tendinitis pain in my foot has been very little. I did upper body strength training with free weights right after. 30 minutes of shoulders, biceps, and triceps. And then I finished with 10 minutes of ab work.

Today, Friday, I took the day off. Probably best to give my body a good rest before tomorrow's 15K. Wish me luck!

Playlist: Foo Fighters shuffle

New Kicks By Brooks

My new pair of running/trail shoes arrived in the mail today. I ordered the new Brooks Adrenaline ASR 9s. For my next race on Saturday, I'm going to be running on half pavement/half trail for 9 miles. My Adidas Thrashers have been pretty damn good on the trail, but I'd like some extra cushioning for that longer pavement run. I do highly recommend Adidas Thrashers for an inexpensive trail shoe. Only $65 on Zappos.

I'm happy that I turned Zim and my friends on to Brooks sneakers. They are great running shoes. Zim actually was the one who told me about the Brooks ASRs. His trail sneakers are more or less minimus, so he REALLY needed a little more padding on this next race. We have yet to try them out, but tomorrow we're going to hit the pavement and dirt, to see how they feel.

Speaking of the next race....TEAM K.A.S.A. (with the exception of Dell) is running the MOUNT CUCKOO 15K on Saturday. The race is in Adamstown, PA right near Stoudts Brewery. Mmm beer. Here's the description of the course via the Uberendurancesports website:

"Race starts at Stoudtsburg village. Mile 1 is road with the second half already climbing up to Mount Cuckoo. Mile 2 continues to climb to the top of Mount cuckoo starting out as a wide gravel road turning into single track and getting increasingly more technical (translation more rocks and roots). Mile 3 continues on top of Mount Cuckoo featuring very runnable single track trail. You hit the 1st aidstation before you decent Mount cuckoo on the other site with more difficult single track. Mile 4 & 5 flat and down hill road section. Time for the road runners to catch up or build a cushion. Mile 5.5 features the steppest and longest driveway in Berks county leading up to the Alpine lodge where the Rehydration challange will take place. Now concentrate, since some of you might now loose their sense of direction. 3 Miles of trail are ahead of you heading up and down Mount cuckoo. Final mile is Road and downhill, sprint to the finish line and pass as many members of the opposing team as possible. Do it 1 more time for a total of a 30K if you feel really cuckoo that day."

Well I'm definately not running the 30K. This is gonna be a challenge. I've never run more than 5 miles in a competitive race. Or have done a beer challenge in a race either. And there's a mountain involved. I know I have the endurance for 9 miles, but it's gonna be pretty damn tough. And I hope a hell of a lot of fun!!!

Anyways....workout today. 32 minutes elliptical. 17 minutes on the treadmill on a decent incline. Lower body strength training. Felt good today. My left quad doesn't feel tight anymore. Stoked for the run with Zim tomorrow.

Playlist: David Bowie:Best of, MGMT: Congratulations

Hero Rush PA

Knowing that I had my first obstacle race, I took Friday off from working out to give my body a nice break. I set my alarm for 5am Saturday morning, and Zim, Dell, and I were on the road by 6am. HERO RUSH race was at Skrimish USA paintball in Albrightsville, PA. It took us about an hour and 45 minutes to get there. We were parked and registered a little after 8am. In our race packet we got a map of the course. It was 3 and 1/2 miles long with 19 obstactles.

We watched the 8:30am competitive wave run, which was pretty small. I'd guess less than 25 people. Our wave was at 9:30am, and was one of the largest. We were told we'd be broken into smaller waves, 10 minutes apart from the previous wave. TEAM K.A.S.A ended up being in the 9:40am wave. The siren blared and it was down the pole to start the race. We ran about a 1/4 mile till we hit the 2nd obstacle, "Forcible Fury" which were windows and a few set of doors held with different levels of bungee cords strengths that you had to get through. Then some more running. Next was "Crowd Control" which were a bunch of tires hanging in your path and on the floor of a tight hallway. Pretty easy. Then my ankle popped outta place for a minute, but I popped it back in. This is common for me. Then I took a nice spill, tripping over my feet or a root. Who knows, but I popped back up and kept running. After that fun, was a tire pull and then run to "Hoarder's Hell" where you had to climb a ladder into a smoke filled room and find the stairs. We had to wait about 8 minutes to even get on the ladder. Once in the room, smoke is EVERYWHERE. You can't see a damn thing. I ended finding the railing, then Zim came back and took my had to find the stairs. Pretty crazy. A quarter done!

Next up was "Entanglement" which were big pipes with bungee cords littered throughout to impede your way. Tougher than I thought. We did have to wait a few minutes for the pipes to clear before we could make our way through. Next CPR. 30 chest pumps on a dummy. "Mazed and Confused" was next on the list. Crawl hands and knees in a dark maze. Not too bad. Then it was off to run through the "Mud Pits". I love running through mud. I don't know why, I just do. Thought I might lose a sneaker only once. It was dirty, stinky, and messy. I enjoyed it. Then a nice deal of trail running to "Baywatch" where you were waist deep in a lake making your way to the other side of the trail. Halfway done!

Next up, "River Rescue" which was manuevering your way in a rocky ass creekbed and under a bridge. Not too bad, but REAL easy to lose your footing. Some more running, and then we stumbled upon the rope wall. It was about 12 to 15 feet. Pretty easy to get up. Getting down, FREAKED me the hell out. I thought there'd be an incline or a rope. Nope, just straight down on ladder like slats. No hay, just the hard ground and some mud. I did it though, thanks to Zim and another female runner. And then I jumped back into the run. A decent stretch of trail running too. Next up, "Hazmat Zone". Swim/walk through gelatin like liquid and swim underneath barrels. Next up, more stinky pipe crawls. After that, a rope climb and a rope descend. I tried 3 times to climb the rope and failed. Zim on the other hand killed the climb. He just didn't have anyone to lend him a hand on getting to the platform. I ended up climbing the ladder. The rope descend was 3 fire hoses. 2 up top for your arms, one for your feet to walk down. I chafted and bruised my arms pretty bad on this. I got most of the way down and jumped off about 3 feet up. My underarms were killing me. This was another obstacle that we both waited a good 5 minutes or so to do. Almost there!!

Next up was "Stretcher Evac", where Zim and I had to carry 2 tires on a stretcher over walls and through big pipes. Pretty easy. Next was "Basement Entrapped" where you had to crawl up about 10 feet through a pipe with water pouring down on you. I picked the toughest one by accident. I had to put my feet in stirrups to pull myself up. Once I knew what I should be doing, I flew through. At the top to the platform, you went down a slide into about 3 feet of water. Next was wading through water while kids blasted fire hoses at you. That was a lot of fun. Those kids loved it! Then a quick run over fire flames and there....the FINISH LINE! It took Zim and I an hour 21 minutes to complete it. Not too bad for my first obstactle race and we lost at least 10 plus minutes on waiting at obstacles. Dell ran it in an hour and a minute, which is awesome! They give you a medal for completing the race and a free t-shirt.

I ended up finishing 447 overall. I'm not sure how many people there were, but it was over a thousand. 122nd overall in women. And 68th in the age group of 25-34. Not bad. And thanks again for Zim staying with me. It really helped. We celebrated with a change of dry clothes, some beers and some grub. HERO RUSH was an awesome time! A challenging course, with a good amount of running and interesting obstacles. And your registration money goes to a GREAT cause. I'd definately want to do this race again next year!

I took Sunday off from working out. I'm a bit banged up and bruised. Monday I went to the gym to do the elliptical for a 1/2 hour, strength train for 25 minutes, and do some abs for 5 minutes. It was a struggle. I'm still recovering. I'll leave you with this pretty picture of my rope burn and bruises on my right arm.

Thursday Evening Run in the Park

I decided to get one more good workout in before Saturday morning's Hero Rush race. Zim and I started out with some core work. We followed the core Rush Fit workout DVD. Pretty decent. Different exercises from P90X and Insanity. Almost like a nice middle ground. It last about 30 minutes.  Next we met up with Novia for a three mile run at Valley Forge Park. Perfect evening for a run. A cool low 80s temperature and dry. Zim went for a harder run, running with a 10 pound weighted vest on. After our first mile we all did 25 body squats. After mile 2 we stopped and did 25 lunges. After a foot race at the end between Novia and I, we did 25 burpees. Novia won. We stretched out and headed back home.

I showered up and I'm now watching the Steelers v Eagles per season game. Looking forward to the return of the NFL.

Playlist: None

Short But Sweet

Here's Tuesday and Wednesday in a nutshell:

Tuesday: I was quite sore from all the strength training in the last couple of days. I decided on cardio and tried to be light on my feet. Boxing it is! Here goes:

5 minutes jump rope warm-up
1 round shadow boxing
4 rounds heavy bag punching
1 round calisthenics
5-10 minutes of ab work

Workout time: 40 minutes

I showered up, and went to the boxing gym to help out the kids.

Wednesday: I decided to work out before my 8am shift. I wanted to go out to dinner with Zim after our tough ass day at work. We had 4 plus orders to put away. I knew I'd probably want a beer and a delicious salad at Rock Bottom in KOP after all the chaos of the day. I woke up at 5:50am and had my running clothes on ready to go by 6:15am.

26 minutes running 3.15 miles
25 Bulgarian bag presses
25 regular push-ups
25 twist crunches
25 body squats
25 burpees

DONE

Showered and was off to work. REALLY happy I worked out early. Enjoyed dinner with Zim, those beers, and having a vodka now. This is my last night before the race to blow off some steam and have a few drinks. Three more days to go till HERO RUSH. Going to work out tomorrow evening and then take Friday off to let my body rest for Saturday's insanity. Gonna be a blast!!!

Playlist: Division of Laura Lee: Black City (Tuesday)
Franz Ferdinand: Tonight (Wednesday)

5 Days Till Hero Rush!!!

I started my Monday, sore and tired. My work schedule is screwy this week because of summer vacations, so I'm working more or less all week. I could use the money. Anyways...I got into work at 9am and was glad I didn't get an early morning workout in. My whole body was sore. It was the good sore though, no pain really. I decided to workout after my shift and after a Wegman's sushi take-out dinner. I broke my workout clothes on and went to the paved trail around 7pm.

The trail was a bit busy with bikes, and the weather was a lot less humid than this afternoon. I ended up run 4.35 miles in 37 minutes. Not bad. My foot was sore, but it felt decent. I came home and did upper body strength training with free weights. I did 4 rounds of shoulders, biceps, and triceps. First round was shoulder presses (15lb,10), static arm curl (15lb,16), and tricep kickbacks (9lb,10). Repeat. Second was fisherman's presses (15, 10) curls/hammers (15,15), and tricep switch grips kickbacks (9,10). Repeat. Third was upright row (15,10), cohen curls (15,10), 20 dips. Repeat. Fourth round, straight arm presses, (6lb,10), in & out curls (15,10), and lying down tricep press (12,10). Repeat. I ended it was 20 overhead presses and 10 upright rows with the 26lb bulgarian bag.

DONE.

I'm gonna feel it tomorrow. I'm trying to get all the hard workouts out of the way for the week to feel good for the HERO RUSH obstactle race on Saturday morning. No early morning workout for me tomorrow. I didn't get done till 8:20pm.

Playlist: Division of Laura Lee: Das Not Compute, Funeral Dress: Totally Dressed

The Weekend

A quick wrap-up:

Friday: I took the day off. A recovery day from the trail run the day before. Saw Poltergeist later that night for Phoenixville's Friday Fright Fest. Good stuff. Went to bed late. The movie let out after midnight.

Saturday: A Beach Body DVD. Insanity: Interval Max Cardio. Pretty tough workout. I've never done this one before. Started it at 6am. I was pouring sweat by 6:30am, and jumped into the shower by 7:05. The workout was 55 minutes long. Kicked my ass pretty well. Got to work by 8am, and started my workday refreshed and ready.

Sunday: Zim and I did the WOD (Workout Of the Day) Here goes:

100 body squats
55 push-ups: 26 regular/29 knees
2 1/2 mins, 1 minute planks
100 jumping lunges
50 burpees
25 max pull-up (chair asst)
50 twist crunches/50 crunches
1 plus miles

DONE

I'll be feeling it tomorrow for sure.

Playlist: Sleeper Agent

Bournelyf 5K Trail Run

I cowboyed up this morning and decided to give the Bournelyf run a go. It started at 7pm, so I felt like a couch potato waiting around, not working out. After I got my errands done in the morning I literally watched TV for 4 hours. Mostly Olympics though.

Zim and I got to Rustin High School in West Chester, PA a little before 6pm. It was $20 and the money went to the Bournelyf special needs kids' camp. Great cause and even better program. A decent amount of people showed up. I'd say more than 100 runners. One thing that I didn't know about the race was that it was 90% a trail run. I was sporting my cushy Brooks sneakers made for feet hitting the pavement. I woulda broke my Adidas trail sneaks if I woulda known. And I probably wouldn't have been slipping as much. But honestly it wasn't that much.

The trail circled around the Rustin High School campus grounds in the fields. They have a boatload of property out there. Pretty hilly and pretty tough. You're doing a decent amount of uphill running on some nice steady upgrades. It wasn't Mount Joy running. But it was definately challenging to just keep running. I didn't stop at all. But I wanted too. I think that's when all my training kicks in. In the last mile of the run, the path converges with folks doing the 2 mile fun walk. It was pretty awesome to see how much fun the camp kids were having. Big smiles everywhere. The race ends at the football stadium, finishing with one lap around the track. God I was tired. I saw Zim was already done as I started for the track. He crushed the race, coming in at 21:40!!! He took 2 minutes off his best pavement 5K!!! Kick ass!!! I crossed the finish line at 26:02 and guzzled down some water. Not too bad for running on a recovering foot, having some stomach issues earlier in the day, and it being a trail run. I can't complain.

I scarfed down a banana while Zim ate a bagel as we took a breather and talked to another runner. Then I spotted our friend Finn, who showed up to watch us run. Pretty awesome he came out to watch us race. Thanks dude! The awards ceremony started and my name got called for 10th woman overall. I won a $25 Giant gift card and a message from kids at the camp. Awesome!! Wasn't expecting that.

Glad I made the race. Had a blast!!!!

Playlist: Division of Laura Lee: Violence is Timeless

SPI Belt

I get down the shore last weekend and my mom hands me this package.

"What's this??"
"I'd thought you'd wanna try it out." my mom says.
"Well what is it??"
"It's a item belt." say mom.
"Okay" I say with a sour face.
"It's for running. I got you it in blue." she says.

Sweet, I think, now what the hell is this...

I got a SPI Belt. First reaction, I thought it was crap. My mom mentioned QVC to me when explaining the device. The contraption is a snap belt with a zipper pocket that I KNOW can hold a phone. And probably a credit card and a key.

I first used it on a beach run in Ocean City, NJ last weekend. Super comfy and roomy. I use my phone a lot coz of the G3 to track my distance and time on RUNKEEPER. Anyways...really liked the SPI Belt. Couldn't even tell it was there. Not bouncing around at all. I took it for a 5 mile run earlier this week and had no problems as well. It's a good investment for $20 if you're not into carrying your music device, or car key, or ID. Real easy to run with as well.

Here's the website:
http://store.spibelt.com/category-s/2.htm