Saturday, September 29th, Citizens Bank Park, the last Spartan Race of the year for my racing team, The Uptown Gentlefriends.  John, Mike, and I decide on a gentlemanly agreement to not assist one another, rather we will compete to the best of our abilities (in the past we have tried to stick together based on difficulty/danger).  Now I have to say this is probably a bit of a joke, especially between John and Mike.  They generally leave me in the dust within 15 minutes, I cry mercy, and wave them off.  They just perform at a higher level than I.  Simple fact.  Even still, I was going to do my best to put on a show.  I trained my ass off this year.  I put the work in.  And now it was time to collect on that investment.

I arrived nice and early with my family to register and get my oldest son Giovanni signed up for his first race ever, a half mile Spartan Kids obstacle course. I am beside myself with pride.  More on that later.  Our heat begins at 11:00 and the kids go off at 12:00, so I am highly motivated to complete the course in an hour.  Just in time to cheer him on.  The last time I did a course like this I clocked in around 1 hour 20 minutes.  I am confident I can get it done.  Why not?

We line up, the announcer gets us pumped up, and we are off!  First up is a series of concourse ramps with bungee mazes and O-U-T walls.  No biggy.  Mike and John are right with me.  Now we move onto the fun stuff.  Stairs, stairs, and more stairs.  John and Mike pass me pretty quickly.  Shit, here we go.  Actually, I felt fine strength-wise, but I’m just not a very coordinated stair climber.  Something I will rectify for next season.

Next up we hit a nice series of obstacles: 25lb ball slam, O-U-T walls, more damn stairs, and the Hercules hoist.  Mike and I had an earlier conversation on our unpredictable success rate with this particular obstacle.  As luck would have it we dive in right next to each other and both complete it flawlessly. We yell “AROO” as we sometimes do. I have no idea where John is, which is not looking good for me already.  Back to the stairs for a bit, and then the monkey bars.  I know for a fact this particular set has some tricky spots to mess everyone up.  I fly across with no drama.  I didn’t know it at the time, but John slipped, had to do his burpees, and I passed him.

We may have done more stairs, then the rowing machines. 500m in 2 minutes.  Killed this previously, and it wasn’t a problem again.  At this point I see John and Mike.  It’s basically a tie!  First water station is ahead, pffft, I ain’t got time for water.  I’m now feeling more comfortable with the course and I’m sprinting every damn chance I get.  I know for a fact I pass both my teammates here, but doubt it will last.  Honestly I’m thinking more about completing in an hour to see my boy race.  More concourses with bungee mazes, a few 6 ft walls, and more sprinting past everyone.  I’m slaying every dragon in my path.  Now we need to do two concourse ramps worth of Hobie-Bands.  I am loving this.  The thousands upon thousands of jump rope reps over the past few months are about to disappoint all those around me.  I get to the top and still no sign of John or Mike. Wow, I think I may have a sizable lead!  More stairs, then a series of 8 ft walls.  Ok, I’m coming back down to earth.  I’ve never completed these on my own; I’ve always had my team or other Spartans boost me over.  I look around and no one seems too friendly, and they are all just standing around.  No one wants to go.  Fuck it, I sprint in, grab the top of the wall, and pull myself up and over.  Holy shit.  I do it again 3 more times, on my own.  Still no sign of the Gentlefriends.  Hello adrenaline, nice to meet you.

The course now leads us out of the stadium and I know exactly the hell that is waiting for me.  Spear toss, my feared nemesis the rope-climb, and the atlas carry.  I’m 33% on the spear toss, which is actually good, but I’m feeling major pressure.  On one hand, if I miss I will have to take the burpee penalty and Mike and John will most likely pass me.  On the other hand, if I nail it, they might miss and I’ll open a huge lead.  I think this is about halfway through the course, so I actually allow myself a few sips from the chalice of glory.  I launch a deadly toss.  Beautiful, level, powerful.  It skips 2 inches off the top. 30 god damn burpees.  I get it done ASAP, and move onto my most feared obstacle, the rope climb.  I have never ever ever even come close to completing this, and it embarrasses the shit out of me.  I’m a grown man… technically.  I raise children, I pay bills and stuff, but I can’t climb a rope?  As I get close, the volunteer yells, “Women – ropes with knots; Men – grab a rope with no knots!”  What???  Fine.  I grab a rope, take a mental second to remember my training, my improvement, and all my hours at physical therapy.  I climb up about 1/4 of the way and think, “Hey that’s not too bad if I fail now, but let’s keep going.” Then I’m 1/2 way up, then 3/4.  Am I finally going to conquer this?  Two more pulls.  I ring the bell at the top as loud as I possibly can, letting my competition know I came to play.  I hear a few cheers.  Oh hello again adrenaline.  Then, out of nowhere, I hear John… “Whoa, Chris!!!”  He’s genuinely surprised and proud.  I am genuinely happy to hear him say that and sad that he caught up.  I start to ease my way down and disaster strikes.  I lose all grip strength and slip.  I grab on the best I can with my left hand, but I end up sliding down about halfway and fall safely into a hay bale.  No time to lose, John has caught up so I sprint to the atlas carry, but something is seriously wrong.  My hands are on god damn fire!  I look at them and there are massive blisters everywhere within seconds.  Oh my god, the pain is immense.  I get to the atlas carry and try to pick up the stone, but I’m having a hard time because my hands are shaking.  They won’t stop shaking.  I finally lift the stone and carry it across the course.  It could have been made of magma.  Now I’m starting to lose it, I seriously almost cry.  John runs over to check on me, but I wave him off to keep our gentlemanly agreement intact.  The burning!  I hear a volunteer telling me he’s calling for medical assistance.  I must have looked terrible.  I say no and belt out my burpees to prove to him I’m OK.  Medical assistance means I’m out of the race.  Hell no.  I somehow pick the stone back up, scream something obscene, and carry it back across the course.  John is gone and I never see him again.  It made sense at the time but I tell myself to sprint and the pain will go away…

Jump rope next.  Felt like I was using Satan’s tail, but whatever.  Sandbag carry through bleachers, no problem.  I would have sprinted if I didn’t get stuck behind a slow group.  Then Jerry-Can carry.  This was the worst for me.  The grip was just unforgiving.  My hands starting shaking uncontrollably again and I’m forced to stop a few times.  So disappointing.

The last stretch was a ton of stairs.  Great.  I really want to sprint now.  Opportunity given and taken.  Then we get into the locker room for hand-release pushups, which I think I do well until the beautiful baby across from me knocks them out like an animal.  I fully understand at this point I’m not winning but I will continue to push to see my son’s race.  More stairs.  I love it.  Somehow the burn in my legs and lungs is like sweet relief.  Then I hear an announcement that the kid’s race is pushed back to 12:50.  I’m mad because now my tired body has an excuse to go over an hour.  I’m happy I won’t miss it, but still I wished I hadn’t heard that…

Now I’m out on the field.  The finish line is right there.  Box jumps.  I rule at these. I knock em out, and as soon as I’m about to move on Mike shows up.  I smack him on the ass (because that’s what you do when you look upon this mammal) and he looks surprised.  We nod.  Full confirmation that Spartachris is taking care of business.  Next were a few walls.  My hands were calming, so no problems.  Next was my other nemesis the traverse wall.  I just can’t figure this obstacle out, but if I can rise to the challenge, I beat Mike.  I try my best, but fail.  I don’t waste any time, I just get right into the burpees.  Right around #20 I see Mike ring the bell.  Game over for me.  I climb the cargo net, then blast through the gladiators.  I yell something unacceptable at them partially because of my hands, partially because they weren't hitting anyone hard, but mostly because I came so close to shocking my mates and came up short.

No time to really dwell on anything. My only priority is to get to my son and see his race. I find them quickly, and go over the mantra I taught Giovanni earlier that week, “The secret to racing is NEVER GIVE UP!”  He yells it and gives me thumbs up.  They run, he finishes, gets his medal, and gives me a huge hug.  We compare medals and take a few photos.  Mike nudges me and asks, “How proud are you?”  I seriously choke back some tears.  Giovanni is a sensitive guy.  I won’t/can’t shield him from adversity, but I can set a good example for him, and try to teach him how to deal with it.  He keeps smiling and we keep hugging.  Amazing.

So the smoke clears and John finishes in 1:01, Mike is 7 minutes behind that, and I am 1 minute behind Mike.  I get some huge compliments from my teammates.  They are equally surprised and impressed with my improvement.  I honestly don’t think they thought I could compete. I am really proud and I’m loving the comradery, but I feel like I’m just getting started.

So what do I take from this?  1 - I love my little boy and I’m beyond proud of him.  2 – Conquered a few obstacles that I couldn't handle in the past.  3 – I still have two fingertips with absolutely no feeling. That’s not really great, but it is freaky baby.  4 – I made a game of it with runners beyond my abilities.  5 – I fell short more than a few times, yet I saw massive improvement.

But that is exactly what this journey for the past two years has been… A giant pile of disappointment with a very few sweet victories.  A view from the back, sometimes from the front.

Christopher Lucania

Finished my 5th Spartan Race of 2013 today. Today was a relatively simple course, I only say simple because last week was the Spartan World Championship in Killington VT. That race was the hardest and most brutal challenge that I’ve ever done. Today’s Spartan Sprint at Citizens Bank Park was literally a walk in the park! Now, with every Spartan Race I’ve done, from the Sprints to the Super to the Beast, I’ve always stuck with my team. However, today was the day that we unleashed hell on both the course and each other. Today was a competition between Mike, Chris and myself. The prize would be bragging rights. I’m going to do a play by play from my point of view.



Our heat started at 11 AM. We lined up on the starting grid and the countdown started, GO!!! I started off with a slow jog, slow and steady wins the race. Mike and Chris did the same. First up were the cords along up and down the ramps at CBP. Over and under a countless number of a tangled mess of bungee cords while making your way to the upper deck. At this point we’re all racing together, Chris and Mike passed me. Once we got to the top we started running stairs and across the upper deck bleachers. This is where I took the lead, they may have taken a wrong turn and I was really good on the steps. I was moving well and had a pretty good lead at this point while going through the concourses and opened it up even more when tackling the 25lb slam ball and going through the O-U-T (over, under, through) walls. Again, more steps, more running. I really opened it up. The Hercules hoist, lifting a large cement stone to the top of a pulley and then slowly back down, Chris was right next to me. Next up, monkey bars, was moving really good though them, however, the monkey bars are designed to be tough, I went reaching for the next bar but it was maybe 3 or 4 inches higher than what it should have been, I missed it and fell, 30 burpees! I start them immediately, around burpee 15 I see Mike easily make it though then I see Chris easily make it though. I’m now in 3rd.

Immediately after were the rowing machines. 500m in 2 minutes. No problem. I quickly found a free machine (right next to Chris). Didn’t see Mike (must have been doing it already). I begin rowing and Chris finishes his as I’m doing mine. Aroo. I got it and moved on, water station, had a cup of water, Mike was there also with water. Chris must have kept going, didn’t see him. Up next was a 6 ft wall. No challenge for Mike and I. More running to the top and more of those bungee cords. And then the Hobie band. A rubber band we put around our ankles and then we have to go up 2 more ramps with this band. Mike is in sight but it’s tough to move with this band. More running through the concourses and up and down the stands. I could be wrong but I think the 7 and 8 foot walls were after this. Mike was right in front of me and he gets over both walls before me but I’m not far behind. No sign of Chris, we must have passed him at this point.

Not sure if there are more obstacles in between but I finally catch up with Mike again at the next water station. Had a couple of cups and the spear throw is next. I GOT IT! I had a perfect throw and it stuck, I throw up my arms, pure adrenaline took over at this point. I take off, I look back and I see Mike miss the spear toss! He had to do burpees. This was my chance to open it up but it’s time for the rope climb. I quickly grabbed a rope and began pulling myself up. I don’t want to say it was easy but to be honest I don’t know how I did it but I made it to the top and slapped that bell. Still pumped up from the spear toss. I lower myself off the rope and look back for Mike and I see Chris on the rope right as he’s about to hit the bell!!! He must have been so far ahead of us and I caught up with him. He was exhausted as he fell off the rope but sprinted to the next obstacle, the Atlas Carry, I slowly jog.

The Atlas Carry is a large cement stone that you pick up off the ground and bring it from one side to the other and do 5 burpees. Chris was already on the other side and then I got to the other side and he was in pain. I asked if he needed any help and said his hands were hurting him, possibly from the rope climb just before that. I do my burpees and move on, asking him again if he needed help. He waved me off. At this point I was locked in and nothing was going to slow me down. I had the lead, Chris was in second and Mike in third. 40 jump ropes next with a big heavy rope. Done. Sandbags up and down the bleachers. Done. 2 giant water jugs up and down the bleachers. Done. I was moving as fast as I could.

Easily running through more bleachers, more steps, more concourses, down into the locker room. 20 hand release pushups. Easily done. Running outside onto the field, the race is almost over. 20 box jumps. Not easy but finished pretty quickly (fell and almost hurt myself due to going too fast). Military walls next, 4 5’ in succession which I easily leaped over. Sprinting around the warning track now, my sister, Giovanni and my Dad cheering me on, I see Mike’s brother cheering me on. Traverse wall next. I leaped up onto the wall, I moved quickly but took my time (does that make sense?). I slammed that bell at the end. Cargo net. the camera man was right there but I got up and over that so quickly that he might not have gotten the picture off. At that point it was just the gladiators. I was in a full sprint, throwing my arms in the air trying to egg on the gladiators. Still nothing but pure adrenaline after that spear toss. The gladiators hit me like a bunch of girls (nothing like those physical freaks at Killington). From what I hear Mike passed Chris on the field coming to the finish line. It was a close race!

Final results are:
Me: 1:01:42
Mike: 1:08:37
Chris: 1:09:44

My sister, The Eiffel Terror, who is this month’s and the first featured Atlantic Coast Roller Girl, will appear in her home debut bout on September 7th, 2013.

The Eiffel Terror  #5’ 11” Not only can she booty block like a pro but The Eiffel Terror will win any after party with her karaoke moves... she is an all-around asset to the team both on an off the track. She brings positive attitude, hard work and a passion for derby- all attributes that have led her to become a fierce competitor in a very short time. From working the bake sale to killing power jams and RULING the karaoke after parties, we are lucky to have our 5'11 Eiffel Terror! Read what she has to say about her roller derby experience... Read More

For information, time, directions on her home debut bout, click the flyer below to transport to the ACRG site or RSVP on their Facebook event page. I’m proud of my little sis and can hardly wait to see her destroy the other girls. To see YOU there would make it an even more incredible event!

My birthday is fast approaching and it’s not too late to get me a gift. I love gifts? Here’s my Amazon wish list to give you a few ideas:
http://amzn.com/w/27PH5G82GZRW

Or if you just want to get me beer that’s cool too.

My latest painting sold in the opening hours of the 24 hour EPIC art event known as Art All Night. The last few paintings I’ve made had sold almost immediately in each exhibit they’ve been in. I’m truly fortunate that there are some folks out there that appreciate my work. Thank you!!!

Lora’s Dream is the new painting that I did for Art All Night 2013. It’s based on a painting by Eyvind Earle but done in this year’s Art All Night color, cyan. It will be on display at Art All Night with over a thousand other works. Art All Night starts Saturday June 15th at 3 and ends June 16th at 3. See you there!

Art All Night 2013, New Jersey’s EPIC 24 hour arts event, will be THIS weekend. It’s amazing!!! Over 1,000 pieces of art, over 2 dozen musical performers, interactive events, food, master classes, a kids zone, even a film festival AND MORE!!!! All squeezed into 24 hours. It’s so amazing. I will be there the entire 24 hours. Hope to see you all there! Watch their FACEBOOK page for the latest updates and fun stuff!!!

TOMORROW!!! Trenton Punk Rock Flea Market 2.0 at the Trenton Social!

Here’s a board that I have up on Pintrest. I photograph different beers that I drink, I try to do them all in the same spot. Follow it!

My favorite band just released a new video from their 2012 album “Bloom” and it’s happens to be my favorite track off that album and my favorite track of that year. Awesome. To make it even better, directed by one of my favorite music video directors: Eric Wareheim, it’s awesome!

New exhibit coming up at Artworks! Opening reception next Friday, March 1st. See you there!



March 1 – March 31, 2013
Reception: March 1, 4 – 7pm

An exhibition of new student paintings entitled Control, Alt, Delete is being presented at Artworks Trenton from Friday, March 1 to Sunday, March 31, 2013.  The exhibition will include paintings and sculptures produced by the twenty-eight students currently enrolled in Advanced Painting at TCNJ. In conjunction with the opening, there will be an artist reception and discussion of the works by the students and faculty on March 1, from 4-7:00PM.  Music will be provided by AMP’d, TCNJ’s student electronic music group.

Control, Alt, Delete takes its theme from the new and varied ways that contemporary painting is influenced by digital media. Led by Professor Greg Thielker, students in the Advanced Painting classes at the College of New Jersey use this theme to create paintings that are based on digital sources, filters, and tools along with traditional techniques. Rather than spelling the irrelevance of painting as contemporary art medium, these influences have served to reinvigorate the paintings in this exhibition with new colors, techniques, and sources.  Students have used the flexibility of paint to make reference to the blur of photography, pixilation of low-res imagery, and even the colors of infrared cameras.  Paintings in the exhibition function as exploration of the digital sources and reinterpretation by the artists. The title of the exhibit is a reference to the ability to interrupt processes on the computer, effectively freezing a way of looking.  Painting can be this interrupted moment, allowing us to consider the complex visual dynamics at work in the digital realm.

For more information on TCNJ’s Department of Art and Art History or Professor Thielker, please visit http://www.tcnj.edu/~art/

This year was more difficult than in year past and it hurt me to leave out a lot of great albums. With that being said here’s my personal favorite albums of 2012.

1. Beach House - Bloom
2. A Place to Bury Strangers - Worship
3. Goat - World Music
4. Santigold - Master of My Make-Believe
5. The Soft Moon - Zeros
6. Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror
7. Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
8. Lower Dens - Nootropics
9. Crystal Castles - (III)
10. Emeralds - Just To Feel Anything
11. Shackleton - The Drawbar Organ/Music for the Quiet Hour
12. Memory Tapes - Grace/Confusion
13. Mi Ami - Decade
14. Peaking Lights - Lucifer
15. The xx - Coexist
16. Swans - The Seer
17. Dan Deacon - America
18. Animal Collective - Centipede Hz
19. Teeel - University Heights
20. Skeleton Lipstick - Glows Then Melts
21. Merchandise - Children of Desire
22. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Mature Themes
23. Grizzly Bear - Shields
24. Andy Stott - Luxury Problems
25. Om - Advaitic Songs
26. oOoOO - Our Loving Is Hurting Us
27. Dead Can Dance - Anastasis
28. Panabrite - The Baroque Album
29. Chromatics - Kill For Love
30. Nite Jewel - One Second of Love
31. Soil Creep - Small Death
32. jj - High Summer
33. Purity Ring - Shrines
34. Alexander Tucker - Third Mouth
35. Cold Specks - I Predict A Graceful Explusion
36. Holy Other - Held
37. Lorn - Ask The Dust
38. Yeasayer - Fragrant World
39. Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
40. How to Dress Well - Total Loss
41. Raime - Quarter Turns Over A Living Line
42. Bat for Lashes - The Haunted Man
43. Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do
44. Jessie Ware - Devotion
45. Grimes - Visions
46. Tim Hecker & Daniel Lopatin - Instrumental Tourist
47. Cat Power - Sun
48. Scott Walker - Bish Bosch
49. Demdike Stare - Elemental
50. X-TG - Desertshore/The Final Report

Took this awesome panoramic photo on the field at M&T Bank Stadium during the Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl celebration.

Over the weekend we had a friendly co-ed game of flag football. My father wore the #5 Joe Flacco jersey and was the quarterback. I think Flacco saw this video and was inspired. Would he have gotten the MVP if he hadn’t of seen it?



Pump fake. Scramble to the right. Throw to the left. Pass complete.

The Baltimore Ravens have won the Super Bowl!!!!



I will definitely be going to the parade tomorrow to celebrate with the team!

One of my favorite songs of 2012 just got a video...

1: Artist: Beach House Track: Wishes Album: Bloom


2: Artist: Santigold Track: The Keepers Album: Master of My Make-Believe


3: Artist: Bat For Lashes Track: Laura Album: The Haunted Man


4: Artist: A Place To Bury Strangers Track: And I’m Up Album: Worship


5: Artist: Frank Ocean Track: Pyramids Album: Born To Die