Disclaimer: This blog post has absolutely nothing to do with
swimming, cycling, running, triathlon, or anything health and fitness related.
I have not made an attempt to exercise vigorously in nearly ten days.
Last Wednesday I got on a bus to New York to spend a week
with Annie and go to the Electric Zoo music festival. It was three days of
blast-you- face-off-awesome electronic dance music (EDM). The party was on
Randall’s Island, giving the event a very wild, secluded feeling, and more
importantly, it didn’t feel like we were in the city.
Every day we had to go through some security checks before
entering. The guards made us open our bags, looked around inside, and let us
pass when they didn’t see any illegal substance, outside food or drink etc.
They failed miserably. Each day Annie and I brought in some bootlegged snacks
so we wouldn’t have to buy a $6 slice of (bad) pizza or an $8 (puny) meatball
sandwich. I know, sounds like we were a couple of serious badasses, but believe
me, trail mix and oreos were not the craziest substances that people were
bringing in.
The music and light shows were incredible. On the first day,
Pretty Lights was epic and put on a great show. This first day was fun, and
Annie and I got to enjoy some lesser known artists, but the event was
definitely stacked for bigger names on Saturday and Sunday, which became very
apparent on day two. Highlight of Saturday was Rusko, no questions asked. His
beats are just way too good, and we managed to push our way to the front for
his set, making the experience that much more epic. We also got to see Steve
Aoki, who has come to Albany before and consistently puts on a great show.
During his set, I managed to convince a couple of huge bros that they were too
big and strong not to help me crowd surf, which resulted in about a minute of
the most amazing view of the show and an enormous pain in my neck and back the
following morning… pretty sure I landed on my head.
On Sunday, the lineup was definitely my favorite, with a
couple of personal favorites like Excision and Flux Pavillion during the day,
and the most amazing performance I have ever witnessed at the end of the night-
Skrillex. I know it seems lame for me to say that my favorite show was the biggest
star of the festival since most EDM lovers pride themselves on their “unique”
taste in music and being fans of the most unknown artists, but let’s be real,
Skrillex is huge for a reason. Song after song was everything I came for, and
every huge bass drop just felt like a bomb of adrenaline in my face. Despite
three days of nonstop partying, I couldn’t feel an ounce of fatigue, it was
that good. After the show Annie and I skipped and hopped back to her home,
making only one (critical) stop at the Gemini Diner for some much needed
nourishment.
I know the point of this blog is to document my training and
racing experiences in an attempt to make it to Kona, but having fun in other
ways is just as important to the longevity of any career. I can honestly say
that nobody enjoys training and racing more than I do, but even I can’t try to
stay in peak fitness year-round. Letting your mind and body recover from a
season of 3,159 cumulative training miles (I keep a very detailed log) is the
only way to go from one season to another fresh and able to improve from year
to year. It seems like two steps forward and one step back, but believe me, it
beats trying to take five steps forward and crashing. The last three weeks has
been exactly what I needed, leaving me hungry for training mileage and
competition. The next three months I will be training for the OUC half marathon
on December 1st in an attempt to clean up my weaker running leg in
triathlon. Today is my last day of goofing off in New York with Annie, see you
all back on the roads and trails tomorrow when training begins again!
