I am now starting the second week of Phase 2. I can see the muscle confusion concept really working here; everything is new and different which has absolutely destroying me (in a good way!). In phase 1 my pushup count was getting quite high, but with these new kins of pushups it’s like I am starting over. But 10 hard ones is just as good as 20 easy ones (if not better, perhaps?).

I’ve also been tackling the nutrition plan. I went through phase 1 (high protein and high fiber) with no problems after the first few days of getting used to it. I should be in phase 2, but haven’t gotten around to seeing what I need do for it yet. So I’ve been just basically doing phase 1 diet, but with a little more carbs and a little less protein, which I think is the jist of phase 2 anyway. I should get on that.

So here are the 2010 Amazing Feats:

1. Finish the Pacific Crest Olympic Triathlon in the top 10 of my division: Will this be impossible? Maybe. Will it be fun to try? Hells yes. My time last year was 3:02 (26th place). The top 10 time was about 2:49. If I can just do everything a bit faster—a couple of minutes here on the swim, a couple of minutes there on the bike, a minute off each transition and a few off the run—then this should maybe be doable. The field last year was 42 people in my division, so to be able to say I was faster than 32 other dudes would be pretty sweet.

2. Finish the Deschutes Dash in the top 5 of my division: I honestly don’t think this is possible. So why put it as a Feat? Because if I were to put one crazy-ass thing on here that somehow came true, this is the one I would want. Last year’s time was about 2:42, good for 14th. To get in the top 5 last year I would have needed to get 2:22. This would take significant improvement, especially on that brutal bike leg. I would need a 20 minute improvement over a shorter time than the PCOT, versus a 12 minute improvement over a longer tiem to reach Feat #1. So it’s a bit of setting my self up to fail, yes. But you know what, if I fail this and only get top 8 or something, that will still be a pretty damn good day.

3. Run a mile in six minutes: This would be 36 seconds faster than the fastest I have ever ran in my life. Do I have those 36 seconds in me? Not yet. But I think I might be able to find them somewhere.

4.Run 10K under 45 minutes: I will need to be able to do this (and probably more) to get my tri goals. I would need to take 4 minutes off my previous best (and 2009 Feat-accomplishing!) time, which I think is tough but within the outer realm of possibility.

5. Complete a half marathon: Because I should have done it last year. How lame that I didn’t do it. Time to get it done. I might schedule this for Q1 before the triathlons start.

6. Complete a marathon: Because I am an idiot. This would be about 14 miles longer than I have ever ran in my life. But I always toy with the idea of doing an Ironman one day when the kids aren’t so kid-like, so if that’s ever going to happen I should start working on the pieces now. I will probably schedule this one for the autumn, after I am doing with the tris.

7. Do the P90X Fitness Program twice: Once in Q1, then again in Q4. I’ve already started the first time and am having a blast with it. Hopefully this strength training transfers over to my triathlon performance. I threw the Q4 one in there to make sure I was doing something those last three months instead of slacking off.

8. Improve 75% of my Q1 P90X Fit Test results by 50%: I was shocked at how lame some of my fit test results were. I’m hoping the P90x lives up to the hype and gets me in the best shape of my life. If so, then this should be doable (but barely- no way my flexibility or pull ups improve by that much). This is just for the exercises, not the body measurements.

9. Complete the P90X Yoga without stopping: I am very inflexible and have very poor balance. This video is yoga on crack. You can see the challenge. I’ve done the video twice now and both times have had to take frequent breaks. I really dig the video and will probably keep doing it even after the Q1 P90X and into tri training, as it takes a ton of strength to do these moves and will hopefully improve my flexibility and core. Plus dudes who do yoga are hella hardcore. Right? Right? I don’t have to do it good, or pretty. I just have to be able to keep doing it for the whole video.

10. Complete the P90X Ab Ripper X video without stopping: The 16 minute video has about 350 reps, all one right after another, 25 reps of each exercise. Again, I have to take frequent breaks during the video, sometimes only getting in 10 or 15 reps of a certain move. If I can get this one done then my abs will be basically made out of wood.

11. Do 100 push ups: Right now I can do about 20. That sucks. Every man should be able to say he was able to do 100 push ups in a row once. The P90X is push up heavy, so that should give me a good foundation to go after this one once Q1 P90X ends and I am doing all triathlon training.

Rather than do a full day by day review of each workout (which from previous experience I know I will eventually start to slack on), I am instead going to tweet each workout and then post the week’s tweets here. If I can’t be lazy physically anymore, at least I can be lazy on my blogging:

Got a headstart on his resolutions by starting P90X today. Chest/Back + Ab Ripper X. It almost killed me. So that means its working, right? 9:09 AM Dec 29th, 2009 from TweetDeck

Just did P90X Week1/Day2- Plyometrics. Lesson learned: jumping in the house at 5:30am is loud. Will do this one in the garage next time. 7:02 AM Dec 30th, 2009 from TweetDeck

P90X- Wk 1/Day3- Arms/Shoulders/Ab Ripper X-a more fun workout, but then again, no pullups or jumping, so it certainly couldn’t be less fun. 7:30 AM Dec 31st, 2009 from TweetDeck

#P90X- Wk1/Day4- #YogaX- My first time doing yoga ever. I am both inspired and very, very, very frightened. 8:26 PM Jan 1st from TweetDeck

#P90X- Wk1 Day5- Legs/Back/Ab Ripper X- More pull ups? I thought I was done! C’mon, Tony! (I say “C’mon, Tony!” about 9x a workout, BTW). 7:39 AM Jan 2nd from TweetDeck

#P90X- Wk1 Day 6- Kenpo X- Awesome workout. My right hand stance punches/kicks are deadly. From the left I couldn’t stop an angry kitten. 9:36PM Jan 3rd from TweetDeck

FEATS ACCOMPLISHED
1. Place in the top half of my division for the Deschutes Dash Triathlon: This was my main goal, the one I built all the other feats around to help me accomplish. In 2008 I finished 25th out of 25 in my division. This year, I knocked 25 minutes off my time, which got me in 13th out of 29 in my division.
2. Do three triathlons: Barring injury or family emergency, this is one I was going to do no matter what, but is still quite the accomplishment consider I have never done more than one tri in a year. By scheduling a tri for the end of August I was able to keep my fitness longer than I did last year, when I completely shut it down after the DD (more on that below).
3. Run a 7:00 mile: When I set this goal I was sure there was no way I would get close to it. Honestly, I figured if it got me doing some speed work it would help me in my race, and I had to set some goal time, so why not pick something completely unrealistic? Imagine my surprise when I not only smashed it by 20 seconds, but did it just two days after accomplishing my Deschutes Dash feat! I’m sure some coaches would say it means I didn’t leave enough on the race course, if I had that much energy to do this two days later, but I choose to see it as proof that I am a stupendous badass.
4. Run 10K under 50:00: Speaking of, I accomplished this goal during the Portland Tri, which means I had a faster 10K time after doing the swim and bike then I had when I did a 10K race back in March. That’s friggin’ awesome.
5. Complete the duathlon under 1:10:00: This was totally thanks to Mary for lending me her sweet TT bike. Thanks, Mary, I couldn’t have done this one without you.

FEATS FAILED
1. Run a half-marathon: This was weak sauce on my part. There was a race after the Portland Tri that I could have done, but I was having a little sciatica pain that made running not much fun. But I think I could have still rallied and done this one. This was the only one that I am really disappointed in not doing.
2. Do 100 push ups in a row: hahahahahahahahha!
3. Do 15 pull ups: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH! For both the push ups and pull ups, I was making progress on this but had to shut down gym sessions when I started ramping up tri workouts. I could have still done push ups and pull ups at home, but I slacked, particularly on the push ups. The push up feat seems like is still in the realm of possibility. As for the pull ups, I never got more than 5 or 6, so I don’t think 15 is possible. Maybe 10?
4. Bench press my body weight 10 times: I was making good progress on this, doing a great workout program that was getting me there. If I gave this the whole year I think I could have done it, but like I said, I chose to cut out gym sessions to get in my tri-specific workouts. Definitely in the realm of possibility, but I don’t think I will revisit it on my new feats. Maybe sometime down the road.
5. Swim 30 laps in 25 minutes: This averages to :50 a lap, which I can do for about a lap. I wanted to join Bend Swim Masters, which I think will help my time, but I think this is another that is completely unrealistic no mater how much I train. Next time I think I would approach this goal as a “shave x% off my first time of the year” to make it more reasonable. Then I would totally tank that first time, so that I know I could accomplish the improvement.
6. Land a 360 degree jump on the snowboard: This is a confidence issue. Every time I try to hit a jump I speed check at the last second, going off sideways and leaving me unable to stick my landings. Even if I were to overcome the confidence issue, I don’t know if I have the natural agility to do this. But it sure would be fun to do it!

Where does that leave us? On the one hand, I accomplished less than half of my goals. On the other, better hand, I accomplished all of my important goals: the triathlon goals (the goals I paid money for!), my #1 goal of the DD time, plus I was able to crack out a faster mile time than I was even able to do in high school. The goals I didn’t accomplish, with the exception of the half-marathon, were either unrealistically conceived (swimming goal) or unrelated to my core triathlon goals (snowboarding and strength goals). That said, I like the idea of having non-race goals as part of the list to add variety and things to accomplish once tri season is over.

Lessons learned- again this year I basically stopped working out after my last race. My last race was later in the year, but still, I should have been working out right up until the end of the year. It needs to be a daily habit. This year I will create goals that will keep me working out after the triathlon season wraps up.  I had strength goals I could have done, but I think its important to schedule those goals for certain times of the year so I don’t try to do everything at once in the spring and then get burnt out like I did. I also learned the benefit of having good equipment: bike, I’m looking at you. Finally, as diligent as I was in my training, I was a pretty big slacker on nutrition. I did pretty well at tracking what I ate, which helped me cut out junk food and eat more fruit. But lord knows I didn’t have any plan beyond “hungry? eat an apple”. That will be key to hitting the next level in 2010.

So, all in all, I accomplished what I set out to do, which is to get in the best shape I have ever been in. Was it my best possible shape? No, or at least I hope not; I think I’ve got significant upside if I can plan things properly, sort out my nutrition and show stronger discipline in my training. While I reached my peak for the Deschutes Dash, I let myself go this last quarter and am actually slightly heavier than this time last year and about 15 pounds over my race weight. Yikes! Maybe the new goal should be less about the best possible shape at one moment, but a consistent good shape by the end of the year.

The other feat I completed at this race was to do three triathlons this year. Whew, to go from 1 to 3 was a big leap, but now that I’ve done it I can’t imagine only doing one race a year ever again. Once a month, though, that sounds about right.

We’re gonna be dropped into Portland, dressed as triathletes. We’re gonna be doing one thing and one thing only… beating other triathletes. Members of the nationalist socialist party conquered Europe through endurance, speed, strength, and vigor. And that’s exactly what we’re gonna do to them. We will be cruel to the other triathletes and through our cruelty they will know who we are. They will find the evidence of our cruelty in the flabby, tired, cramping bodies of their brothers we leave behind us and the triathletes will not be able to help themselves from imagining the cruelty their brothers endured at our hands, at our running shoes, and the wheels of our bikes. And the triathletes will be sicken by us, the triathletes will talk about us and the triathletes will fear us. Triathletes ain’t got no humanity! They need to be destroyed. Each and every man under my command owes me one hundred bike helmets… and I want my bike helmets!

Needless to say, I was very inspired by both watching Inglorious Basterds on opening day and my great result at the Deschutes Dash in anticipation of my last race, the Portland Triathlon. I came into it feeling relaxed, and while not at my peak fitness, I’ve still been working out enough that it would be a good race. A tasty Chipotle lunch and sushi dinner the night before ensured I would have enough rice in my system to run at least five races, assuming rice is a vital component for running a race.

Swim- 1.5 K
The swim was held in the Williamette River in downtown Portland, which while not the cleanest body of water in the world, was still very swimmable. We checked it out the day before, and with all the boats the water was wavy gravy, but at 7:30am on a Sunday and no boats the water was like glass with the current never being a factor. It was a straight out and back course, which allowed me to not worry about sighting and turning too much, and while it looked a little intimidating from shore, once I got going I was able to get into my groove fairly easy. The start of the swim was havok, with everyone starting in a straight line off the dock rather than as a more spread out group like my other races, and the end of the swim was even worse, with everyone having to climb up into the same 10-foot wide spot on the pier, but all in all it was a good swim with my best 1.5K time (outside of the down-current Deschutes Dash swims, which would be comparing apples to oranges that are floating down a rushing river).

Transition 1
No problems, wetsuit came off, shoes came on. Could be faster, and something to practice for next year to start getting my time down to a more competitive level. Second best T1 time ever, though, which was great especially considering where my bike was parked..

Bike- 40K
A very unique course, with lots of twists and turns over three laps through the West Hills. I paid the price by not having driven the course beforehand, so the first lap was just trying to figure out where to go. Then at the end of the first lap my tire changing kit and one of my bottles fell off the bike, so I spent the second lap all pissed off and not thinking about the race, and the begining of the third lap seeing if I could find them again. The rest of the third lap, I finally got around to racing, but by then the damage was done. I think I could have done much better on this one, but I still passed a bunch of riders (got my 100 bike helmets!) and got my second best time of all my races, which is I did not know until just now and makes me feel a lot better about my bike split. Dang, a bit better luck and preparation and I am going to kill it next time!

Transition 2
Got those sweet no-tie shoe laces for my shoes, and this was the first time I got to try them. I usually try not to use equipment right out of the box for the first time ever at a race, but desperate times call for desperate men. Didn’t help much, as my time was slow compared to my Dash times, but oh well, at least my shoes didn’t fall off during the run.

Run- 10K
Because of the so-so bike ride, I came out of transition determined to make something happen. I had the advantage of having run the course many times when I lived in Portland, as it was the same loop I would run at lunch. The loop is a beautiful run over the Hawthorne Bridge, along the river on the east side and down the floating walkway, back over the Steel Bridge and down the other side of the river through Waterfront Park. With that, I was able to gauge much better than in previous races how much further I had to run, and therefore how hard I could run before I passed out. In the first loop I had a sub 25 minute time, which put me on pace to meet my sub 50 minute 10K time, so during the second loop I gave it my all, particularly through the last stretch through Waterfront Park. During that last 2 minutes, I honestly don’t think I have ever run as hard ever in my life. I was by myself as I approached the finish line, and the crowd was loving my effort and gave me a great cheer. Even the announcer broke from the script of reading the name and and time of the finisher to say “Look at the guy go!” which felt really good. Anyway, I finished super strong and with a full minute under my goal time, and a whopping four minutes under my previous best run time from this year’s Deschutes Dash. Wahoo!

Here’s a link to my division’s times, and here’s my splits (slightly unofficial, as my swim time and T1 got combined, so that’s off my stop watch):

OVERALL- 2:55:22
Swim- 0:34:09
T1- 0:03:26
Bike- 1:26:06
T2- 0:02:43
Run- 0:48:55

All in all, it was a great race, and a great finish to the season. My time was my best non-Deschutes Dash time and my second best time overall, and although it was ten minutes off this year’s DD time the differences in the swim course account for that, so it was all good. I placed 26/33 in my division, which was a bit of a disappointment, but I had a fun, got two feats under my belt and completed my first travel race.

Can I take a day off from training now? Please?

I let Jess go first, then started 15 seconds or so behind her, with Rob right behind me. I needed to get a 00:01:45 lap for four laps to do it, and when I saw that after the first lap I was at only 00:01:30 I thought I might be on to something. The second lap was ten seconds slower, the third lap was the same as the second, so I am heading into the last lap with about a 25 second cushion. I hammered down on the last lap, trying to catch Jess, and crossed the finish line in a swift 00:06:36! Hot dang, two feats in three days! The kid is on a roll! Jess and Rob also smashed thier times, with Jess getting about 00:06:42 (her goal was 00:07:30) and Rob banging out a 00:07:02 (with a goal time of 8 minutes). Good job, Funning Group!

Swim- 1.5K
An easy downhill swim, but the extra training this year in the pool coupled with a wetsuit with sleeves to keep me more comfortable, a couple of extra practice river swims, an open water tri swim at the Pacific Crest Olympic Triathlon (PCOT) to work the kinks out, and a river that felt like it was flowing like a bat out of hell helped me shave a huge 2.5 minutes off my time from last year. I started in the front of my wave and got passed by a bunch of swimmers in the first few minutes, but by the first bridge I found my pace and was able to keep up with the pack. I had a pink swim cap, which looked even sissier on me than the words “pink swim cap” would usually connote, but hey, I work with what I got.

Transition 1
I had a great transition, getting my wetsuit off in record time with a technique I picked up from Rob. I was a little slow getting my socks and shoes on, so made a game time decision to ride without gloves rather than bothering to put them on. My bike was set up right next to the Bike Out, so I was able to get out easy. All in all, my T1 time was nearly three minutes faster than last year, which means I was able to cut my T1 in half. Those are free minutes you don’t have to work hard to get, so that’s huge. Frick yeah!

Bike- 40K
My Favorite Mary let me borrow The Monarch for the race again, and again The Monarch was not interested in going slow. The day before the race I dropped some coin to get it fitted to me, and it was worth every penny. Every stroke felt like I was maximizing my power, my lungs felt less constricted, and my control of the bike on the downhill felt solid. Uphill, The Monarch and I started picking off bunnies almost from the get go, with maximum bunny pickage happening on the four big climbs. Need a rabbit’s foot? I got about a hundred. Once I hit the top, I saw an apparition of Mary, Obi Wan Kenobi-style, telling me no brakes. Well, when the spirit of your still-living bike racing friend tells you not to use your brakes, you damn well don’t use your brakes. I held on to my aeros and peddled harder than I’ve ever peddled, flying past other riders like they were going the other direction. Absolutely incredible. Thanks to all those stupid indoor bike sessions over the winter and The Monarch, I was able to take a wacky 14 minutes off my time from last year.

Transition 2
I don’t remember this being a slow transition, but it was only 3 seconds faster than last year, and for how close I was to the Bike In and Run Out compared to last year that seems a little weak sauce. Aw well, it’s only one minutes in 160 minute race, and it was faster than most people in my division, so no worries.

Run- 10K
By this time, it was ungodly hot out, and the one thing the Dash is a little weak on compared to the PCOT is aid stations, with only 4 compared to the 6 or 7 the PCOT had, and no sprinklers to run through to cool down. That said, I had the advantage over my run on the PCOT of having run the course about 3 times a week for the last 6 months, knowing every twist, turn and distance to the next aid station there, so I was able to manage. Had a quick pee break on the run; it would be great to be able to eliminate pee breaks from the race, but with all the liquid I consume during the triathlon I’m not sure how (other than pissing myself, which hardcore racers are said to do, but I don’t think I’m quite there yet. I’ll save that for next year, working title The Year of Pissing Myself- bookmark that blog now!). But other than that, it was a good, strong run, with a great fast burst the last quarter mile to finish like a rock star 5.5 minutes faster than last year and a couple of minutes faster than the PCOT run time.

Here’s a link to my division’s times, and here’s my times:

OVERALL- 2:42:42
Swim- 0:18:44
T1- 0:02:40
Bike- 1:27:08
T2- 0:01:18
Run- 0:52:50

Overall, I took 25 minutes off from last year, finishing 13th out of 29th in my division. Last year I finished 25th out of 25th. Obviously a huge improvement, and exactly the time I was hoping for. I felt incredible finishing this race and immediately wanted to go back out there and race some more (to be fair, this feeling subsided after a minute or so, but still!). I can’t wait to build on this race and am already thinking about Deschutes Dash 2010!

Before the race with my Partners In Vigor

It was about this time we heard someone yell “Release the hounds!” that we knew it was time to start running.

I’m the one with the pink swim cap

I’m the one kicking the other swimmers in the face

I see you girls checkin’ out my trunks, I see you girls checkin’ out the front of my trunks, I see you girls lookin’ at my junk then checkin’ out my rump then back to my sugar lumps, while I shake yeah I shake it all up, you probably think that my pants have the mumps, it’s just my sugar lump bump-ba-bump.

Oh hey, s’up?

Arms in, knees high, perfect form

Arms flailing, feet dragging, not technically any form at all

One last shot of my rump for the ladies

Done and done!

Fill it up again! Fill it up again! Once it hits your lips, it’s so good!

Thug hug for the big winners

The Partners In Vigor, post-vigoring

Bike- 0:39:51
Run- 0:25:10
Total Time- 1:05:01
Appoximate bike split (up/down)- 28:02/12:14

Swim- 1.5K
Okay, this could have gone better. I did say hardly. The route was a diamond shape of three floats that went out clockwise into the middle of the lake. I was mad pumped while we were waiting on the boat ramp; in fact, I was hoping an innocent brown bear would be swimming by during the race so that I would have the chance to wrestle it in a watery brawl to the death. Instead, after about 50 yards of swimming my goggles started to leak. Ugh. That took the bear wrestling right out of me. I stopped to readjust, swam a bit, stopped to readjust, swam some more, and stopped to adjust one more time. I also got wildly off course during the first leg, having to make a pretty large course correction once I passed the first buoy. After that I fell into a slow grove, and had no other problems other than seeing a bunch of people from waves that started behind me catch up and pass me. Booooo.

Transition 1
Usually when I get out of the water I am woozy, but this time I was clear thinking and methodical. No problems here.

Bike- 40K
This is where it became a race. My friend Mary lent me her sweet Kestrel Talon TT bike, with Zipp aero wheels and aero bars and Shimano Ultratega gears and most importantly, a cute butterfly on embroidered on the seat. Hmmm. That won’t do. Ah, here we go, it’s not just any butterfly, it’s the Monarch, the king of the butterflies. Yes, much better. Anyway, once I got on the Monarch I started passing kids like a 9th grade English teacher who just doesn’t care anymore. I passed probably a good 150-200 people, including most of the swimmers who passed me and most of the slower duathlon racers, who all started at the same time as I started the swim. No doubt, this was the first time in a tri I was truly racing, not just biking. It was exhilarating; perhaps too much so, as I was having so much fun passing people I probably left a little too much on the bike and not enough for the run. Or did I?

Transition 2
Awesome transition. Lost a minute hitting the bathroom, but couldn’t get myself to pee in the lake during the swim. I choose dignity.

Run
Turns out I had just enough energy for the run, but it was close. No sprinting the last quarter-mile for me. By this time it was blazing hot, so it became a game of “when the hell is the next aid station?” Fortunately, they was one every mile, plus residents had set up sprinklers along the route to cool runners off. I am happy to say I didn’t walk, and that I started off strong in the run without any of the wobbly bike legs you can sometimes get if you haven’t done your brick workouts (thanks, weekly du series!). I didn’t pass a lot of runners, but I did pass a lot of walkers, so a pass is a pass.

Here’s a link to the results for the race, and here’s my times:
OVERALL- 3:02:47
Swim- 0:35:08
T1- 5:09
Bike- 1:24:40
T2- 2:43
Run- 0:55:07

Overall, it was a great performance at a great race. I’m definitely stronger than I was at the Dash last year, so hopefully over the next four weeks I will be able to improve even more and crush my Dash time this year. Good times!

At T2, giving the ladies some eye candy

Oh hey, s’up?

Not pictured: my cape

The big winners

OH YA WE GONNA DRANK

A little postrace flexing, just to let ‘em know (let who know what, I am not sure)

]]> http://ayearofamazingfeats.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/race-results-pacific-crest-olympic-triathlon/feed/ 3 Nick At T2, giving the ladies some eye candy IMG_8898 IMG_8915 IMG_8925 IMG_8921 IMG_8926