A little more than a year ago I was introduced to a couple books by author Michael Pollan, the Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food. I can literally say they completely changed the way I view nutrition and health. Although I’ve been a fitness and nutrition professional for 15 years nutrition was a matter of what’s necessary for body composition change and performance. His books opened my eyes to the world of Food Science. Although I’ve got a long way to go, I’m happy to say I’m a little less ignorant of the politics, science and ethics of the food industry. If you read his books, you will have a completely unique experience every time you grocery shop. If you just want a great summary here’s a video of a speech he gave to roll out In Defence of Food. Its about an hour long, but I guarantee you’ll get more satisfaction than if you watched a rerun of House

After all those months of preparation it’s finally behind me. The Broad Street Run this year was an interesting, but terrific experience. I say that because there were more than 23K other runners and it was raining. I accomplished my goal of beating my previous time from three years ago. I completed the 10-miler in 1:17:37 (1:19:59 in 2006). Although I ran into some problems with my feet around mile 6, I finished the race without compromising my plan. I ran a comfortable pace until the last 1/2 mile and stopped as planned for water throughout. I was able to manage my typical problems with cramping from fluid intake and overexertion very effectively. This experience has me reinvigorated about racing. Next up…5K in Hibernia Park on May 20th as part of the local Xterra Trail Racing Series. Hope to see you there!

I’m a bit behind in logging my workouts…Here’s to catching up!

Friday: Trail Intervals 41:30 total time; sprinted all uphill climbs

Saturday: Got up and did 5.5 miles over 43:10 incorporating the Uwchlan Trail this time.

Monday: Alternating KB Swings (53lbs) x 10 + Ab Wheel Rollout-Push-ups x 5…I did 155 total reps in 10 minutes…

Tweaked my right knee going down the stairs the other day so I pushed off my interval run to tomorrow. Instead, I got in some ‘bells and pull-ups…

53lb Kettlebell Cleans x 10 reps + 5 sets R/L w/ 15 second recoveries
Power Wheel Jack Knifes 3 sets of 15 with 30 second recoveries
25 Chin Ups chunked
35lb Turkish Get-ups 3 x 3 reps R/L

Its a celebratory day for my family as my sister and her husband welcomed their second child into the world! Congratulations to the Mastalski’s in South Jersey on their new baby boy… J.R.

I need to catch up on workout posts for a couple days. My router went down. Boy was Verizon fast in getting me a replacement.

Monday: I decided to stretch out a long run one, maybe two more times…7.5 miles in 61.5 minutes.

Tuesday: I had a business PT day, so I got in a quick interval workout after my last session. Here’s what I did:

35lb Alternating Single Arm Kettlebell Swings x 20
Bicycle Crunches with Shoulder Extension +10lbs x 20

5 Rounds or 100 reps of each

45lb Renegade Rows x 5R/L + 10 Push-ups x 3 Rounds

I got in a Strength Workout today in addition to my recovery run this morning. I’m purposefully avoiding heavy lower-body training with just 3 weeks left until my race. Instead, I’ve favored continuing my progressive “core” routine along with some Kettlebell lifts.

5 sets R/L 62 lb KB Cleans x 5 reps each; 15 sec recoveries

Ab Wheel Rollouts 21, 15, 9; 30 sec recoveries

2RM Pull-ups (35 lbs) x 6 sets; 1 minute recoveries

Turkish Get-ups (to pillar position) 35lbs x 3 reps x 2 sets R/L; 30 sec recoveries (So much for positive thinking…my left shoulder was limiting; had to cut-off my training at 2 sets here due to discomfort; I feel as if practicing the movement is helping me become more efficient and thus, I will continue to work around the pain)

Thanks to my Boot Campers for showing up on a rainy day for a Trail Run at Marsh Creek. It would’ve been impossible to get motivated to run in this weather without them! We did a little more than 4 miles.

I just came across this clip on the Paleo-Nutrition debate…Its definitely worth watching…

I put in a moderately hard training run this afternoon. 5.5 miles on my ‘A’ Route in 42 minutes flat. I was kind of surprised this morning that my shoulder was feeling better than it has in quite some time. I took a pretty hard fall on the trail yesterday and could’ve sworn I did some RC damage. Whatever happened, if I continue to feel better I’ll take it!

I’m planning on meeting my group for a weekend trail run in the morning, rain or shine. Its supposed to rain, but then again, that was the prediction for today and it turned out to be one of the nicest days of the spring so far.

I’m actually getting pretty excited about running Broad Street in a few weeks. There’s always a lot of anticipation surrounding the event that you’ve prepared long and sweat hard for. However, this year vs. three years ago my training program has me in line to achieve my objective. I’m feeling lighter, stronger and faster while previous injuries seem to be kept in check as a result of regular preventive activities. I ran my 5.5 mile B-Route today at a moderate pace, comfortably 1.5 minutes faster than a couple weeks ago; 45:40. Now to plan out the final 3 weeks of training. I’ve been thinking of skipping any additional 10+ mile efforts in favor of adding additional frequency for a couple weeks. The long distance the only injuries I’ve really suffered in the past few months, bruises and blisters. We’ll see how it goes…Any suggestions?

It was a great weekend in Plymouth Meeting for Exercise ETC’s Bootcamp Training program. I met a lot of great trainers in the Philadelphia, NJ and Delaware vicinities, and picked up a few new tricks myself from our participants. Thanks to all of you for making it a wonderful weekend!

Here’s my workout for Monday 4/6.

10 Rounds (5 each R & L) Swings; 20 sec Recoveries

Inverted Pull-ups, Feet Elevated x 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 with 20 second Recoveries

Turkish Get-ups 35lbs x 5 each R & L x 3 sets