A Different Kind of Workout

Most of the time I like to write these posts about how training is going or the most recent races I have participated in.  Last weekend I didn't give much of that a thought as I traveled to Columbus, Ohio to visit my brother.  I was slowly recovering from the relay race the weekend before and was little worried as to how I was going to fit in marathon training while out there.  I decided to say screw it and not run and allow my legs some time to recover and just enjoy myself.  It's not like I was going to be sitting on my ass all weekend.  We had some golf planned and were then attending a three day rock festival known as Rock on the Range.  It was going to be a much different weekend of workouts for me.

Aside from running and triathlon one of my other longstanding passions is music.  I listen to it all the time.  Running, while in the car, sitting around at night. I probably buy at least a CD a week.  And I have my brother to thank for influencing my tastes.  We've listened to rock since we were kids and he even took me to my first Ozzfest shortly after I graduated high school.  We used to go to concerts all the time when he lived in Iowa so I was really looking forward getting to see over forty bands with him again, a bunch of which I had not had the privelage of seeing yet.

The first day of the concert began with an early morning round of golf, which was unfortunately shortened to 9 holes due to some lingering fog.  It was probably a good thing because I broke my 3 iron and was shooting like crap.  Once we got that out of the way it was on to the concert venue where we tailgated for a bit before starting a night of rock infused fun.

Ready to Rock!

The day opened with a couple of bands on the main stage that I had never seen before.  Love and Death and the Hollywood Undead both put on good shows.  We headed over to the side stage for most of the rest of the night.  I was looking forward to watching In Flames.  They were one of the first bands I listened to when I first started running to lose some weight so many years ago.  They've released a few more albums since then, all of which make it into a normal rotation on my running playlists.  We got right down in front for them and the show did not disappoint.  Afterward, we headed back to the main stage to watch Korn cap off the night.  I've seen them a few times, yet their show never fails to deliver.

In Flames!

After one exhausting first day, it was hard to think we had to do this another couple of days.  I woke up a little sore and tired, but after a few morning wakeup beers was ready to do it again.  The second day was probably my favorite of the three.  It was busy day, with a lot of back and forth between the main stage and the side stages.  Pop Evil started on the main, then over to Young Guns on the side, both bands I started listening to this winter/spring.  Back to the main for All that Remains, which is always in my running playlists. Then back to the side for Otherwise, who was a staple of marathon training last fall. Halestorm on the main, Red Line Chemistry on the side, Bullet for my Valentine on the main, Black Veil Brides on the side, and Papa Roach on the main. After a quick bite to eat it was back up front for Three Days Grace, who was employing an inordinate amount of pyrotechnics for such a hot day.

Up next was Stone Sour, who we made sure to get as close to the stage as we could.  They were one of the first bands I listened to when I started training to race.  I can vividly remember runs where I listened to their entire first album.  I've seen them before, and Corey Taylor always puts on a great show.  That night was no exception.  Smashing Pumpkins wrapped up the second night, but we were so tired that we actually left a bit early before they wrapped up their set.

Stone Sour

Day three rolled around, and despite being exhausted and sore, I was still ready for a good day of music. Sick Puppies opened the day, followed by Sevendust.  I took my first shot ever at crowd surfing during their set, and it was more fun than I would have imagined. 

1st time crowd surfing

Red was next on the side stage and then Thousand Foot Krutch, whom I did some more surfing for.  Back to the main for Skillet. 

Skillet raising up their strings

Then I got up nice and close for Volbeat, who has been one of my favorites since hearing Still Counting several years ago and at the top of my list for "Need to see" bands during this concert.  Needless to say they played a fantastic set and I had a ton of fun just a few rows back.  After that I scrambled over to the side stage to watch David Draiman's Device.

It was time for some old school rock after that.  Bush played, followed by Alice in Chains.  I was surprised at how old Jerry Cantrell looked and how great of a show they still managed to put on.  I went crowd surfing again during Rooster and Man in the Box, during which I got dropped hard on my head.  Had bruises all along my shoulders the next day, but it was worth it.  Soundgarden wrapped up the evening of nostalgic rock and capped off a great three days of music.

So the weekend was a ton of fun.  I was sore in places I usually don't get sore when running.  A good core and upper body workout.  My brother and I are already looking forward to next year's version of the concert.  It took me a little while to detox and get back into running this week.  My legs were experiencing all sorts of odd pains, but I managed to get in a decent long run yesterday and feel like I should be able to be back on track this week.  Just in time for Dam to Dam on Saturday.