The Cute Butt Strategy: How To Run Your Fastest Race Ever

May 15, 2012 By Joel Runyon 15 Comments

Ever get stuck at a certain pace while racing?

You see great progress over a few races and then you even out. You begin to start running the same times over and over and over again. You’re stuck. You hit a lull in your progress.

Some of it is physical – sure, you can only get so fast so quick, but some of it is mental as well.

If you’ve ever run with a running group, you’ll often see the same groups of people run with each other – even when on person consistently improves, they run in similar relative positions because that’s what they’ve become accustomed to. So even while they’ll improving, it would appear that they’re plateauing. Not because they’re not faster, but because they’ve hit a mental plateau of how fast they think they should be going.

There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level.” – Bruce Lee, Then Die

It can be tempting to stay at your level, at that plateau, but you have to go beyond it, to improve, to get better and to do the impossible.

It’s easy to say behind the computer, but the tough part is doing it in the midst of the race. When you’re racing, you need a way to push beyond your plateaus, you need a strategy.

Fortunately, there’s a way to break through. If you want to keep passing people, push yourself and run your fastest race ever – there’s a solution – the cute butt strategy.

How To Use The Cute Butt Strategy

Before you get all caught up in the name, the cute butt strategy is pretty straightforward and it’s almost exactly what it sounds like.

Find a cute butt of a fellow athlete that’s ahead of you.
Give yourself 100 yards to catch up to them.
Catch up to them before the 100 yards is up.
Maintain that pace while catching your breath.
Find another cute butt ahead of you and repeat.

Although it’s fairly simple, there are a few caveats you should keep in mind:

Don’t let anyone you’ve passed pass you. That sort of defeats the point.
Don’t stare or drool or make comments. It’s plain rude and will mostly distract you from the goal – catching them.
Know your pacing. You want to go beyond your limits, but you don’t want to wind yourself within the first 1/10th of the race and have to walk the rest of it. Go out at your regular pace and implement the strategy once you hit the halfway mark. Start earlier in future races if you need to ramp it up a notch.

Even if you’re not a terribly competitive person, you can use this strategy to create a game with yourself, push yourself and even run a faster time than you thought possible.

Why The Cute Butt Strategy Works

It’s easy to have heart the last 100 yards, it’s hard to have heart throughout the whole race – Matt Soules, 3x Ironman – Impossible TRI

You can use this with trees, telephone polls or people with less-than-cute butts. Whether you’re running a 5k, a marathon, or a triathlon, the point is the same. It’s easy to sprint like a madman the last 100 yards of anything. It’s hard to do push yourself the entire race. The cute butt strategy gives you those “last 100 yards” moments several times throughout the race so you’re actually racing the entire time.

Unless you’re an elite athlete, the only competition in most races is yourself, but it’s hard to have perspective in a lot of races unless you have a hologram of your pace time next to you like a mario kart character or the girl in this video.

The cute butt strategy gives you external motivation to pick up your pace. It gives you outward motivations to do better than you’ve done and push beyond your plateaus. You compete against others to help you compete agains yourself better.

Give the cute butt strategy a try. It might just help you run your fastest race ever.

*This is a variation of the tree counting method.. David also calls this “catch and release.”

**I may or may not have used this in actual race conditions. Results may vary based on the butt cuteness index of your respective race. Let me know your results.

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Reader Ryan Gautsch ran the Cincinati marathon in his Impossible shirt. In addition to running 26.2 miles, he also beat 12 kenyans, and decided to start a rivalry with the ridiculously photogenic meme guy. BOOM.

Got an Impossible Shirt? Do something impossible and take a photo and we’ll feature it in our impossible gallery.

photo credit: jacsonquerubin cc

Filed Under: Adventures, Fitness, Life, Personal Development, Races, Triathlons

The Women’s Guide To Triathlon

May 7, 2012 By Joel Runyon 9 Comments

Today is the first ever guest blog post here at the Blog of Impossible Things. We don’t do these often (read never), but today’s post is special.

As I went to put together Impossible TRI, I realized that I could speak a lot to triathlon from the men’s side of the world, but there was still 50% of our audience that’d I’d be forgetting to address – all the women reading this who want to run a triathlon. So, while writing it, I asked Susan to step in on behalf of the women triathletes and tell it like is – no excuses allowed. With Susan’s regular columns at Competitor.com and No Meat Athlete as well as an Ironman and dozens and dozens of triathlon races under her belt, I knew she knew her stuff.

We decided her advice shouldn’t just be relegated to the triathlon guide, so I asked her again to step up and write a guest post – just for the girls.

So, ladies, if you want to do a triathlon, but think you’re a little intimidated by the prospect of jumping into such a testosterone-drenched sport – Susan’s here to kick your butt.

Take it away Susan!

***

It’s Ladies Night at The Blog of Impossible Things!

I’ve kicked Joel out and taken over today with my feminine wiles (contrary to what my habits of peeing in bushes and blowing snot rockets may have you believe, I do have feminine wiles). I recently had the delightful opportunity to work with Joel on Impossible TRI, and upon the release of the book, both of us heard the same thing from many women:

A lot of y’all are scared of triathlon!

What gives, girls? Look, I know the sport seems intimidating. If you go to any triathlon, it’s a real sausage fest – there are far more men in the sport than women. But that doesn’t mean women can’t do it. Women can, and should, be a part of the triathlon community. Listen, we were built for the pain of childbirth…surely we can handle a little swim/bike/run, right?

I’d like to help you get started. In addition to my contributions to Impossible TRI, Joel has asked me to share a few tips for women looking to get started in the sport:

“Shrink and Pink”…

Because triathlon is still a relatively new sport, manufacturers are still learning a lot of things – specifically, that making triathlon gear for women is more than just making men’s gear in a smaller size and dying it pink. Though our gear looks identical, my partner, Neil, and I can’t exactly swap bike shorts without consequence. Eliminating the ick factor (dude, his sweaty balls were in there), Neil’s gear is constructed for men. It won’t work for my – ahem – delicate flower.

Female-specific bike shorts have a chick-friendly chamois (the padded part), a wider cut in the hips and thighs, and bigger leg openings. There’s also female-specific triathlon suits (with built in sport bras), goggles (made to fit our smaller eye sockets), bike seats, and more. When purchasing triathlon clothing and gear, search for female-specific options.

…But Don’t Go Lady-Crazy

Just because there’s female specific options doesn’t mean you have to purchase them. For example, when it comes time to purchase a bike, don’t let anyone pigeonhole you to the “women’s-specific” options. My first bike wasn’t women’s-specific; my current bike (a triathlon bike) is. There is a wide variety of bike sizes and geometry available for riders, and a good bike salesperson should be more interested in getting you on a bike that fits you and your budget, even if it is a so-called “men’s” bike.

Find Your Girls…

If the thought of sharing a swim, bike, or run course with a bunch of aggressive, Type-A males intimidates you, consider women-only events until you feel more comfortable in the sport. SheROX, See Jane Run, and Athleta Iron Girl are just a few race organizations who put on triathlons specifically for females. Many bike shops and triathlon clubs have organized group rides and runs for females only, for those afraid of not being able to keep up with the guys.

…But Don’t Shy Away From The Guys!

For the longest time, I put off participating in my triathlon team’s co-ed group rides because I was scared. The rides were mostly attended by faster guys, and I worried I wouldn’t be able to hold my own with them. One day, on a promise from one of the guys that they wouldn’t leave me behind, I headed out on my first group ride and was instantly hooked. Even though the guys were faster than me, they motivated me so much that I wanted to stay with them, so I worked harder. Those guys knew how to push buttons I never knew existed. As a result, I became a much faster rider – and got a new set of big brothers in the process.

Most Importantly:

Though most guys are really cool and welcoming of women in the sport, some guys in this sport fear getting “chicked,” tri-slang for “beat by a girl.” This paranoia about being beat by the “weaker sex” causes some guys to live up to their anatomical namesake – yup, they can be real dicks.

I once did a triathlon where I ran alongside such a dick for a little bit. He was full of smack talk, and it was kind of intimidating at first. Eventually, though, his jokes about my running skirt and pink sports bra became annoying, and I decided to run harder just to teach him a lesson. I soon dropped him, and hit the turnaround of the run course long before he did. When our paths crossed again, he was struggling. I just smiled and waved as I dashed off toward the finish line.

The moral of the story? Don’t let the dicks intimidate you. If (actually, when) you beat those jerks, just smile and wave.

After all, it isn’t ladylike to gloat.

It’s time to stop being so scared of triathlon. Put on your big-girl pants and come join me at the races! Impossible TRI has training plans for girls (and guys) as well as interviews with myself and 4x Ironman and 15x 1/2 Ironman Hailey Manning. Got more lady-specific questions as you get started? You can always shoot them my way via Twitter (@SusanLacke).

Filed Under: Fitness, The Impossible, Triathlons, Writing Tagged With: triathlon guide, womens guide to triathlon, womens triathlon

Why Racing A Triathlon Is The Perfect Fitness Goal

April 17, 2012 By Joel Runyon 5 Comments

Most people are not very good at setting fitness goals. They try one thing after another, get distracted and end up frustrated and annoyed that they started yet another thing, but didn’t finish it. My buddy Vic wrote a great post on how to finally achieve your fitness goals. You should take 5 minutes to read it all here but the three main points are

Set A Deadline
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
Use Social Pressure

Time. Money. People. The Trifecta of motivation. And that’s exactly why running a triathlon is the perfect goal to get back into shape – it encompasses all three perfectly.

You’ll Have a Solid Countdown

As soon as you sign up for that race, that race date is ingrained in your head. You know when it is and exactly how long you have to get ready for it.

Hit “signup” and the countdown begins immedately. Better start now.

You’re Invested In It

Once you put down the $60-$100 for a race, you’re committed. I don’t make a habit of wasting money. If I put money down on something, I’m going to go do it – whether or not it’s pretty is a whole different story – but it’s going to be done no matter what.

Once you have money on the line – you become more invested in the race emotionally because you’ve already invested financially in it. It’s not brain science, but it works.

If you’ve ever played poker with fake chips, you’ll notice the difference. When you’re just screwing around with friends, people tend to care less, take bigger bets and not consider the consequences of their actions – because there’s no real chance of losing any actual money. When there’s real money on the line, you take more time to think things through, evaluate your decisions and play for keeps.

Put your chips in the game. Sign up for a race. Stop talking and start playing for keeps.

People Will Be Watching

Want to back out of the race? Have fun explaining that to your friends who came out to watch you.
Puking up a long? There will be spectators.
Sweat more than should be humanly possible? Smile for the camera.

Your friends will be there. So will a lot of random people you don’t. They all get to see you in your spandex making the occasional unflattering face. Of course, it doesn’t really matter when you cross that finish line, everyone – even the 85 year old man who’s breathing so hard he sounds like he’s going to die or the middle-aged woman who walked most of the race – gets cheered for and congratulated. Because they did it. They signed up, committed, followed-through and finished.

If you think running a triathlon is hard, try explaining why you signed up for a race, told everyone you were going to do it, then showed up and quit or backed out altogether..

Peer pressure is an incredible thing – use it for good.

One More Thing

Also, the whole drowning* thing is a pretty big incentive. Knowing that when the day comes, you’re going to have to figure out how to swim 600m in open water one way or another is a great incentive to get in the pool, practice and get better. Don’t drown. It’s completely overrated.

—

Fortunately, you don’t have to be superman to run a triathlon (in fact, I’m not even sure how good he is with water). You can do it in 3 months with the right training and motivation. But, the very first step I tell anyone is to sign up for your race – because once you do – there’s no turning back. With the right training, you can run your first triathlon in just 3 months. If you’d like to learn more, visit Impossible TRI.

*You won’t actually drown – there will be plenty of lifeguards and buoys to save you if you have trouble .

photo credit: Mariano Kamp

Filed Under: Impossible Things, The Impossible, Triathlons Tagged With: perfect goal, Triathlon, triathlon racing

5 Common Beginner Triathlon Myths

February 23, 2012 By Joel Runyon 8 Comments

Beginner triathlete training for your first ever triathlon? Check out ImpossibleTRI and run your first triathlon in 3 months.

I’m back from the land of Target (aka Targetopolis aka Minneapolis) and things went really well. I’ll do a full write up soon but as I was talking to the Target Triathlon club, I ran into a bunch of first-time triathletes who wanted to do their first race but had questions about it (as do most people when they try out anything new).

Interestingly enough, as they asked questions, I noticed that a lot of their concerns and misconceptions were the exact same ones that I had when I was starting out. While they can be scary and hold you back from actually doing a triathlon, once you get over that and do your first one, you begin to realize that what you think, is a lot different than reality. Unfortunately, those thoughts sometimes keep you back from acting so today I want to bust up 5 common beginner triathlon myths.

Myth #1 I need a lot of really expensive gear to run a triathlon.

The truth – you can spend as much money as you want on triathlon. Like most activities, you can spend thousands and thousands on shiny, new, expensive gear if you want. But you don’t have to. In fact, when you’re starting out – you shouldn’t. You can do a triathlon on a budget. It’s nice to have nice things, but you don’t need to spend 10 grand to get started on your first race. You can get started on your first race with stuff you probably have in your garage – a bike, a helmet, compression shorts, and a good pair of running shoes. If you don’t have a bike, you can borrow or rent one. I did my first race on my brothers borrowed mountain bike and while it wasn’t the best idea ever, it definitely was possible.

Myth #2 I need to look like Lance Armstrong to run a triathlon.

Triathletes are all tall, chiseled, muscly demi-gods who think nothing of running impromptu marathons and swimming across any body of water they happen to come across. Not true. Most triathletes look a lot like you and me. They’re young, old, fat, skinny and everything in between. I guarantee you’ll never forget the first time that you see a 70-year old running by you or when a 250 pound clydesdale zips past you on a bike. Triathlon is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation and people of all shapes, sizes and ages show up to race – not just Lance Armstron and his friends.

Myth #3 The Swim Leg of The Triathlon is The Single Most Terrifying Thing Imaginable

The swim is the number one source of terror when I talk to new triathletes. Most people without a swimming backgorund are perfectly confident that they’ll survive the bike and run, even if it’s painful. I had the same attitude. My thoughts towards the triathlon was something like this:

If I get tired while running, I can walk. If I get tired while biking, I can coast. If I get tired while swimming….I drown. Crap.

It’s true, the swim can be tough, but it’s not the worst thing in the world. Yes, it can be easy to panic when you’re in a body of water and surrounded by lots of people, but the biggest obstacle is in your head. If you start to worry or panic, stop, tread water, take a few deep breaths, relax and swim at the pace you know you can swim at. On sprint races, most people finish the swim portion in 10-15 minutes, but usually no longer than 20 minutes – which makes it the shortest leg of the entire race by far. It can be scary, but if you slow down, breathe and The swim is the shortest leg of the entire race and once you get out of the water, you’ve got a It can be scary, but if you slow down, breathe and keep your mental focus, you’ll do much, much better.

Myth #4 You Have To Train For Years To Do A Triathlon

But most triathletes train for years for races, right? Not really. Most sprint races you can train for in 3 months (or 12 weeks). Sure, if you want to do an Ironman and have been sitting on the couch for the last 5 years, you’ll need to spend more time so you don’t hurt yourself, but if you want to do your first race, if you have 12 weeks, you’ll have enough time to get ready!

Myth#5 Triathlons are Impossible For Me

This is what I used to think and what a lot of people tell me. Sure, other people can do it, but not me. I don’t know anyone who’s done a triathlon. I don’t know how to do a triathlon. I barely even know the three sports a triathlon consists of! Other people can it, but not me.

Bullsh*t.

Just because you haven’t done something before, doesn’t mean you can’t go out and do it.

The only way you ever push your limits is by attempting stuff you’ve never done before. There’s no good reason not. In fact, the only way triathlons (or anything) remain impossible are if you let it.

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Still have some questions about Triathlon? Impossible TRI is a 3 month training program designed to get you across that finish line and smash any remaining myths that might still be lingering. Find out more here.

Filed Under: Fitness, Impossible Things, Personal Development, Triathlons

3 Short Embarrassing Racing Stories

February 2, 2012 By Joel Runyon 4 Comments

Over the last few years, racing has become one of my favorite things to do. It’s competitive, it’s active, it’s fun and every once in a while, you come away from an event with an embarrassing story or two. For some reason, this happens to me more often than not when I race. Here’s a few you may or may not have heard before.

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Race: Tri Indy

This was my second triathlon ever. At this point, I didn’t have cycling shoes and was wearing my running shoes on the bike section. This saved me tons of time on the second transition (I was like top 10 T2 times, because I didn’t have to change shoes from biking to running), but it led to situations like this one.

I made it out of the swim fine and was about 4 miles into the bike, gunning it as fast as I could on my bike (I wasn’t going very fast, but I was trying). A bunch of pros zipped by me and I kept pedaling, determined to try and keep up, but I felt a tug on my foot. I looked down and saw that my shoelaces had wrapped around the pedal and my foot was stuck. I couldn’t pedal anymore because my shoelaces were out of room, so I did my best to coast to the side of the road. I tried to stand up, but ended up falling to the ground in slow-motion as my foot was still stuck to my pedal.

I sat on my butt in the gravel on the side of the road as I tried to untangle my shoe my shoe from the whole mess while everyone zipped by me, looking back with a questioning “what-the-heck-are-you-doing” look. It took a minute or so, but I finally was able to free my foot, fix my laces and tuck them away so it wouldn’t happen again. Then I tried to nonchalantly jump back on my bike in the midst of a bunch of riders and act like nothing ever happened.

Lesson Learned: Tie your shoes. Get the laces out of the way or get cycling cleats!

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Race: Indy Monumental Half-Marathon

I made it through the first half of the race pretty well. Feeling good. This was my first race farther than a 10k, so I knew from here on out, it was mostly uncharted territory. My IT band was hurting, but by the time I hit the 10 mile marker, I knew I could finish. Just a 5k left. Totally doable.

I got to mile 12 or so and started striding it out. I felt good and I wasn’t going to look tired as I finished out my first half marathon! I needed to look good for the finish photos!

I hit mile 13 and I was almost there. I could taste it. There was about 100 yards in front of me before we turned the corner for the finish. As I turned the corner, I could hear the crowd start cheering really loud. Definitely more loud than they had been before. Obviously, I assumed they were cheering for me. I was a little confused, finishing a half marathon in a blistering 2 hour + half marathon pace was not a feat impressive enough for a collective cheer rousing, but I didn’t argue and smiled at all the nice people who were being so much more excited to see me finish my half-marathon than the people ahead of and behind me. Thanks so much for cheering for me!

They weren’t.

As it turns out, I was able to run my first half marathon in the same amount of time that some people can run a full marathon. The winner of the marathon, Leonard Muchero, was rounding the bend with a police escort right after I had. I just about realized that was what was happening when he kicked right on past me across the finish line..

Shoot.

As it stood, I still beat him by a few minutes according to the timing chips (he started about 3 minutes before me), but that doesn’t do much to soothe my ego or keep from me looking like a wide-eyed and thankful idiot smiling at all the people who I thought were rooting for me.

Lesson Learned: Kenyans are much, much faster than me.

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Race: Miami Half-Ironman

I jumped out of the Atlantic ocean and was running through Bayfront Park to our transition area. I briefly considered stopping and posing like Michael Westen since I was in the area, but I quickly realized that I’m running a race and there’s no time for that.

I make it to my transition and reach for my new jersey (mistake #1 – don’t try anything new on race day!).

I go to throw my jersey on and start to grab my helmet when I look down.

Uh oh.

I think I put it on inside-out (I didn’t actually, but my heart was racing and my brain wasn’t working).

Not sure, and unconvinced that I wanted to ride 56 miles with an inside-out jersey, I pulled it off, flipped it inside-out again and threw back on.

Nope.

Now I definitely had it on wrong. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I pulled it back off, flipped it around to the right side this time.

Do I have it on right now? Still not entirely sure, but pissed that I spent so much time in T1, and ready to move on with rest of my race, I said screw it, and threw my bike helmet on. I grabbed my bike and jogged to the bike-out exit, pretending like I didn’t just forget how to dress myself.

Lesson learned: Know how to dress yourself – it helps.

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~~I know what it’s like to try new things and look stupid. It happens a lot, but it’s a terrible reason to not try something. I’m trying to do something about that.~~

Later this month, we’re releasing Impossible Tri over at Impossible HQ. It’s a triathlon guide that’s designed to get you to do your first triathlon in 3-6 months, no matter your background. It’s a combination of my on-the-ground perspective and practical lessons learned from my mistakes (to remove all of your excuses from not doing one – if I can do one, you can do one), and expertise from professional triathletes to plot out the training course (so you’ll know exactly what to do and how to do it). If you’re interested, you can sign up for more information about the impossible triathlon guide here.

And, if you have any questions/concerns about triathlons, leave them in the comments. I’ll be including a comprehensive FAQ in the guide that aims to answer literally every single question you have about triathlon. No question is too dumb (I guaranteed you I’ve asked worse), so ask away – do your worst.

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Want to have your own embarrassing triathlon stories? Pick up a copy of Impossible TRI, start training and run your first triathlon in 3 months.

Filed Under: Adventures, Good Stories, Life, Triathlons

5 Ways To Be Healthier Today, Tomorrow, and The Day After That

January 27, 2012 By Joel Runyon 17 Comments

…and the day after that, and the day after that, and…well you get the picture. Want to start being healthier? It’s pretty simple.

Drink More Water

Get a pitcher of water. Drink it. Fill it back up. Drink it again. Repeat. Do this as much as you can. You’d be surprised at what common problems (headaches, colds, etc) are caused by people simply not drinking enough water. Drink a half-gallon extra of water a day and tell me you don’t feel better.

Move Often

Get up and move every 30-60 minutes. Do something. Anything.

Stretch.
Walk.
Do Jumping Jacks
Pushups
Take the stairs
Stretch some more.

Whatever you have to do to move, do it. Get up and move around. Sitting all the time is dangerous to your health.

Eat Paleo

Try it. Just try it. Give it a week and see how you feel. If you don’t know what paleo is, he-who-shall-not-be-named wrote a good beginner’s guide to paleo that you can use to brush up on the specifics.

The cliff-notes version is this: Meats, eggs, fruits, nuts, vegetables. If you still need help, here’s a quick rundown of paleo-approved foods.

(My favorite part was “It’s probably a rock”)

If you don’t think those food groups give you a lot of options, you’re wrong. Just check Rob Wolff’s food matrix for a bunch of options. Mix and match those and you’ll have a heck of a hard time repeating the same meals twice on the paleo diet.

Procrastinate Differently

Every time you go to refresh your email. Do 10 pushups. Checking your Facebook? Do a handstand. Every time you check twitter, do a 30 second plank instead. If you’re procrastinating, you might as well be productive in some way, shape or form! In fact, you’ll start building other, more useful habits while making sure you do #2 on this list (move often) more often.

Confuse Yourself

Routines are good. They help you get in a rhythm and get things done. But you can get stuck in them too and that prevents growth. Every once in a while, confuse yourself. Shake up your routine – workout or otherwise. Do something completely different. Adapt. Your body can’t just coast on autopilot, you’ll push yourself out of your comfort zone and you’ll get stronger.

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If 5 ways is too many for you (God forbid you get *too* healthy), Jeff has got you covered for getting in shape in just 2 steps :).

If you need some help getting + staying healthy (or doing something else involving endurance, adventure and giving back) in February, join the February 30-day challenge coming up in the League. This month, Josh & Tristan are going to be heading it up and we’ll be adding in a buddy system to make sure you stay on track and accountable. Check it out. BOOM.

photo credit

Filed Under: Personal Development, Triathlons

5 Reasons You Should Do A Triathlon This Year

January 7, 2012 By Joel Runyon 24 Comments

You should do a triathlon this year. That’s my professional opinion. Sure, we’re a few days late in to your new years resolutions, but you should do it anyways. Add it to your list and make it happen. This year. 2012. Do it.

Why Should You Do A Triathlon?

Personally, triathlon has been one of the most helpful things I’ve ever done and I’m not exaggerating when I say that. It’s what started me on this impossible journey and the one activity that’s shown me there’s always something beyond what your own personal limitations tell you is possible.

The first time I dipped my toes in the water of my first race, I had no idea what I was doing. But, I did it anyways and it’s the thing that’s changed the way I think about what’s possible and what’s not. I might be a little biased, but I really do think you should do it this year. Here’s 5 good reasons why:

You Probably Haven’t Done A Triathlon Before

Have you? Didn’t think so.

If you’ve done one already, can you go farther?

There’s Someone Worse Looking Than You Doing One

There’s this stereotype that the only people who do triathlons are tall, young, strong, people will hairless chests and shaved legs on $5,000 bikes with more money than God and a body to match. Triathlons are only meant for people who rival Lance Armstrong, Michael Phelps and Zeus.

Not true.

I told you who I saw doing a triathlon, you wouldn’t believe me, but I’m gonna try anyways. Some of the people I distinctly remember seeing at a race.

A 250 pound 40+ year old woman in a one-piece (for the entire race!).
An 80 year very hairy man, wheezing throughout his running portion, sounding like he was going to die any second, and embarassing people decades younger than him.
A 6 year old kid (Dang. What was I doing at 6 years old? Watching bad cartoons?)

That’s just a few of the people I’ve seen (and that’s not even including the 52 year old woman who peed herself in the middle of the race). So if you’re worried about looking bad in your spandex – DON’T – so is EVERYONE else. Everyone else is entirely way too concerned with how they look in spandex or the fact that they’re about to drown that they don’t have the time or energy to notice you in a field of athletes who are all wearing the same type of outfit.

It’s Multifunctional (and entertaining)

This is actually the reason I started doing triathlon. When I finished competing in team sports, I knew I had to do something to stay competitive, challenge myself and keep in shape. Otherwise, I knew I would balloon up and channel all my energy into watching whatever new show was on TV – not a good option.

At first thought I should do a marathon (everyone does marathons, right?), but I brushed that off immediately because I knew I sucked at running and 26.2 miles was way too long of a distance to do something I sucked at (oops). So, being the bright person that I am, I decided to do a triathlon instead. Of course, in triathlon I knew I sucked at running, biking AND swimming, but I figured if I had to suck during the entirety of an activity, the least I could do was switch up the types of activities in which I was sucking at – if for no other reason than it would keep me from getting bored.

And it works. Triathlons are much more interesting than marathons because you’re always doing something different. But triathlons have another side effect to this multi-functional training as well. In addition to keeping you entertained throughout the race, having to do different movements means you have to have your whole body in shape. You can’t just focus on your legs and forget your arms, or you’ll drown during the swim. If all you do is swim, then you’ll end up swearing more than usual when you do brick workouts and have to start running after you get off your bike. Triathlon forces you to get your whole body in shape…which leads us to the next point.

There’s Someone Better Looking Than You Doing One

Eye candy. There I said.

If you were concerned from earlier about being in the midst of a bunch of scary looking people in spandex, don’t worry, there are good looking triathletes. Actually loads of ‘em.

Swim, Bike, Run.

Do all of that, you’re going to look pretty good if you keep it up. I’ll be the first to admit that some endurance athletes tend to look a little emaciated and aren’t necessarily the best reflection of healthy out there, but triathletes are different. When you have to exercise your whole body, your whole body gets in shape.

I’m a huge fan of functional fitness – the idea that purpose of fitness is to be allow you to do things, not just look good. When you’re functionally fit, you’re not only going to be able to do lots of things, but you’re going to look good – even if it’s not the skinny, skinny, skinny pictures that the models in the magazines say you should be (you shouldn’t). So it should go without saying that if you’re going to have to test your limits and do something you’ve never done before, it helps to be surrounded by some functionally fit eye candy to keep you motivated to keep going.

(And no, I’m not contradicting myself by saying there are good looking and normal looking people that run triathlons. Most people are normal, so there’s people that fall on either side of the spectrum. If you actually go to a race, you’ll be surprised at the wide variety of people that compete).

It’s Not Impossible

It really is not. It’s one of the fastest growing sports in the US and there’s a reason why. You can do it – if you want to. Lots of other people: older, fatter, more ignorant, less skilled, hairier people have done it.

When I started, I didn’t know anything about triathlons. I didn’t know anyone who did triathlons. Heck, I didn’t even know what all activities a triathlon consisted of. I thought it was impossible that I’d ever find out any of the answers to those questions and But I jumped in and I did it.

Why?

Because I wanted to do it and I got tired of assuming it was impossible without every trying it.

One More Reason

Maybe those 5 reasons still aren’t good enough for you. You’re still not convinced. You still have questions. You still have doubts. You’re still not sure you can do it. I still think you can.

So I’m writing a guide for you.

The first ever Impossible HQ guide – Impossible Tri. It’s designed to get you off your butt, decimate any and all excuses you might have for not running a triathlon, get you over your fear of committment to doing one and have you sign up for and complete your first triathlon in the next 6 months. You probably can do in less time, but just in case you need the time, you got six months.

Unlike most products, this is going to be based around action. DOING SOMETHING and making the next few seemingly impossible things you do, a little less impossible starting with a triathlon. In fact, I’m going to try and actively discourage people who won’t take action from even reading it. Vicarious living and inspirational cocaine is one of the most dangerous drugs to get hooked on and I’m doing what I can to prevent you from just getting hooked on reading about other people’s stories and move you to writing your own.

That’s about all I’ll say on it for now, since I need to put my head in the sand and get to work, but if you have any questions on a triathlon, why you should do it, or things you’re confused on, let me know in the comments or in the league. Not only will I incorporate them into the guide, but I’m bringing in real people and stories, just like me and you to show that running a triathlon isn’t impossible along with triathlete experts to shatter any excuses you might have into tiny little pieces. BOOM.

Commit to it. Do a triathlon in 2012.

–

If you really want to do a triathlon, Impossible TRI is now here. You could be running your first triathlon in just 3 months. You just have to decide to do it. Sign up here.

Filed Under: Blogging, Business, Fitness, Good Stories, Impossible Profile, Triathlons

Bouncing Back & Setting PRs

August 19, 2011 By Joel Runyon 18 Comments

Me & Johnny B Truant Before The Race

The Sylvania Triathlon

After my last race, I needed to bounce back in a big way. I was disappointed because I knew I could do better than I had. And I knew that I was stepping it up in a big way this week. I was doing my first Olympic distance race of the year and I was meeting Johnny B Truant for the race as well. We’ve been talking back and forth about doing a race together, and finally found a good one, so I had to make sure old man Truant didn’t beat me.

We got to the race at about 6:30am and I found Johnny right off the bat. Amazing how well you can spot people from their twitter profile. After we got our stuff in the transition area ready, we headed down to the beach for the start of the race.

SWIM (.9 miles)

We were both in the last wave of swimmers. This didn’t mean much other than we got to wait around a while and got to hear the mini-canon go off every time a wave started. No matter how much we tried to predict it, we still almost crapped our spandex every time it went off. It was LOUD. Our wave came up and we jumped in. I always get caught up in the flurry of kicking, pushing, and grabbing and try to swim faster than I really should, so I tried to focus on swimming at my pace. Otherwise, when I let others push me faster than I should go, I end up in the middle of the lake with nothing left. I’m not a great swimmer, but I can can swim 400m in about 8 minutes, so I tried to use that as my marker. I reached the first 400 at about 7:30 and was pretty happy with that as I tried to maintain that pace.

I got around to the the halfway mark at about 15 minutes – right about where I expected to be. I made the turn and started to round the corner to come back, I looked up and realized I still had a full half mile to swim. “It’s already half-way over”, I said to myself, trying to convince myself that the end of the swim meant I could rest (Ha!). I was getting fairly tired and alternated the last half between freestyle and breast stroke in an attempt to just keep moving, finish the thing, and get out of the water.

Swimming/Drowning

I finally got to the shore and ran a short little run along the beach to the first transition area as I looked down at my watch.

SWIM – 33:29

Transition #1

Helmet? Check!

As I got to the transition area, I saw Johnny up ahead – he looked like he had beat me out of the water by about 30 seconds. He was trying to actually beat me! I wasn’t going to let that happen. I ran into T1 and grabbed my stuff. After struggling with my shoes, I threw my helmet on, grabbed my Camelbak and jumped on my bike and I was off.

T#1 TIME – 2:13

BIKE (26 miles)

Transitioning

I jumped on the bike and started pedaling. I’ve had trouble with my bike lately. It’s a decent road bike for the $150 I paid for it, but it’s been showing it’s worth lately. Last race, I was stuck all in second gear ALL RACE. I wasn’t too excited to have that happen again, so I fiddled around with the tension levers to get the bike in the right gear and let it be as I hoped it wouldn’t drop down.

The one good part of being towards the middle of the pack of the last wave of swimmers is that you don’t have anywhere to move but up, because there aren’t many people behind you. I quickly caught up to a group of bikers and played leapfrog back and forth with them for a good 6-8 miles. After a little bit of that, I decided I had enough and broke away from them, looking for the next pack of bikers.

I caught a few small groups of riders, but eventually outpaced them and found myself alone. I wasn’t far ahead of people as much as I was just at a completely different pace than everyone else. About an hour or so in, around mile 18 I guessed, I took a hammer gel and kept pushing away. The camelbak added some extra weight to my back, but more than made up for it in keeping me hydrated. I don’t think I fully realized how little water I’ve been drinking on the bike parts of the race. It’s really amazing that even though my legs were tiring out and I was getting sick of being in the saddle (what cyclists call the bike seat), I felt really good.

As we pulled up on miles 25-26, things started to get crowded again. It seemed like everyone in front of me had started coasting and everyone in back of me decided to finish the bike strong so we ended up with a good sized group all coming to the transition area together.

As we came in, the volunteers were screaming at us to slow down. Apparently the transition area was slick and a rider had bit it pretty hard a few minutes earlier. I slowed down, and jumped off as I ran my bike into transition.

BIKE TIME – 1:23:42

T#2

T2 is always pretty straightforward. Unfortunately, my place in my bike rack was taken by other bikes who had been left carelessly by owners who were in a hurry (I can’t really blame them). I had two move two bikes out of the way, so I could actually rack my own, which slowed me down by about 45 seconds – a lot more than I would have liked. Shaking it off, I dropped my helmet and Camelbak, switched out my shoes and took off.

T#2 TIME – 1:44

RUN (6.2 Miles)

I looked down at my watch – almost 2 hours exactly. Holy Crap! I’ll run this thing under 3 if I can just hold a 10 minute pace for 6 miles. Cake. Let’s do this.

Every time I get off my bike and try to run, my legs feel worthless. However, I felt pretty good from the bike having stayed well hydrated and determined that I was going to simply pound out the first mile at a 10 minute pace and then see if I could pick it up from there. I don’t know what I had in me, but as I finished the first mile in 8:30. At that point, I knew I felt better than I usually did, so I started picking out people, using them as targets and passing them one by one. I knew I was going to finish under 3 hours. So I kept pushing and never really slowed down. I downed two gel packs in the 6 miles, and felt really good. As I passed the 6 mile marker and headed for that last .2, I kicked it up a notch and sprinted the last few tenths of a mile as i crossed the finish line in full stride.

Finishing Strong

Run Time – 51:50 (8:21/mile pace)

Overall Time – 2:52:56

2:52:56!

Why Under 3 Hours is a Big Deal

I ran the Chicago Triathlon last year. I “did” finish, but I almost died at the end. The day was hot (90 degrees), the race actually ran out of water, I lost/broke three (3) methods of timing and it was the farthest distance that I’d ever run up to that point.

I finished in 3:26:35 and wanted to die. I was so dehydrated and my electrolytes were so messed up that for a week after the race, that everytime I stood up or laid down quickly, the world started spinning. Makes you want to do it again, huh?

This year I finished in 3:26:35. Over 33 minutes faster than last year.

OVER 33 MINUTES FASTER

Crap. This doesn’t really speak as to how great I am now, as much as it speaks to how bad I USED to be. I’ve done a ton of races between last year and now and it’s fun to see how far I’ve come. I’m not a pro by any mean – you can tell that pretty quickly by my bike, my shoes and my time, I know. But, when you think about what can happen in a year and how far you can go, it’s pretty impressive.

Not only that, but it was actually my fastest timed 10k I’ve run…ever! Sure, I’ve only done one other timed 10k, but this time was still 2 minutes faster than that race, even after biking 26 miles and swimming almost a full mile. I’ll take it!

I’m not done by any means. I still got beat by a lot of people. A lot of people. I can still go faster. A lot faster. But, I finished this race strong and I still had a lot left. I’m glad I still have more races on the agenda. I can push myself farther. I can do something else. I can keep seeing what ELSE is possible. 30 minutes better is a good motivator. What else can I do?

Cooling Down

Some Thank Yous

Most impossible things are hard to do alone. I appreciate these guys for helping me out:

Daniel Haley found out that I was racing in Sylvania, and offered to host me AND my brother at his house all the way out in freaking Ohio. I mentioned something about the race, and he invited me AND my brother to stay in his house, sleep in his bed, eat his food, into his house, and generally get to hang out with his awesome family. Check out Daniel’s site. Thanks Daniel!

Johnny B Truant for coming out all the way from Cleveland to race me. We weren’t really ‘racing’ against each other, and we honestly didn’t see each other during the race at all, but it was fun to do it with someone else and have a good thought-provoking chat after the race. Johnny killed it in his first event too! Read Johnny’s Killer Blog. Thanks Johnny!

Seth Haley for taking the best triathlon photos I have up till now (and he wasn’t even trying to shoot photos). Seth & Daniel are working on super secret video project and we shot some footage the day before (which may or may not involve me doing some sweet parkour moves). Seth decided to bring the camera to the race to get some more footage, and ended up taking all the photos you see here from “stills” that he took from the video he shot. Needless to say I can’t wait to see what the actual video footage looks like. Check out Seth’s site here. Thanks Seth!

UPDATE: Johnny also would like me to point out that it was raining the entire time. Something I apparently forgot to mention. To be fair, between the water, rain and sweat, I was soaked basically the entire time, the water was just coming from different sources. Still, it makes Seth & Daniel’s time filming & shooting in the rain that much more impressive.

Seth, Harmony, Daniel, Me and Jason

Filed Under: Adventures, Impossible Things, Photo Essays, Races, The Impossible, Triathlons Tagged With: daniel haley, elite endeavors, johnny b truant, ohio triathlon, olympic triathlon, Race Recap, seth haley, sylvania triathlon, Triathlon PR

Are You Really Going To Let That Stop You?

August 12, 2011 By Joel Runyon 23 Comments

I’m working on some pretty big things behind the scenes lately. They’re not quite ready to share, but sometimes when working on projects, I start and stop and start again, but little things come up that threaten to stop them from happening. This is one of those little things.

***

The site keeps getting bigger and bigger and a few months back I began brainstorming an idea for scaling the site and it’s functions. I had a specific idea in mind to reach more people and was really pumped about it.

I had the concept mapped out, the design mocked up and the people lined up to do the work.

And then I ran into an insurmountable hurdle…The biggest death knell to any online project.

The domain name was taken.

Not only that, on top of that, it didn’t expire for a whole year!

I stopped dead in my tracks.

It was going to be a year until I could do anything with my great, fantastical, mindblowing, impossible idea. Suck, suck, suck suck. O well, I guess that’s the end of that. I was just about ready to package up all the work I had done up to this point and mail it back to myself in a year until my alter ego slapped me upside the face:

ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO LET THAT STOP YOU?

Are you really going to let that stop you? A domain name. A freaking domain name? If your idea is as good as you think it is, you should be able to do it on www.thisdomainsucks.com and it wouldn’t matter as long as you build it. Stop whining about how someone bought a $7 domain name before you. They didn’t even take your idea. They’re just putzing around doing nothing with it. Why are you letting them stop you? Do what you want, build it and worry about the domain name later.

Delicious launched on De.licio.us

Twitter launched on Twttr.com

Bit.ly launched on Lybya’s domain extension.

They all seemed to do okay.

You know why? They didn’t care about the domain as much as they cared about starting.

So I decided to check. Sure enough .Net and .Org were available. Immediately, my whining kicking in:

But I don’t WANNNTT a .Net or .Org. They’re not as cool as the others. I want a .Com. People will like it better. It will be so much more popular if it’s a .Com

Once again my alter ego jumped in and slapped me in the face:

If you don’t want to do the work, don’t do the work. But please stop complaining.

Leo built the best blog on the internet on a ZenHabits DOT NET. JD was one of the top 25 blogs this year on GetRichSlowly DOT ORG. Your domain name matters a whole lot less than your willingness to do the hard work day after day.

I needed to face the facts. The domain name might be 1% of the project’s success – maybe less. The hard work it was going to be responsible for at least 99% of the projects success. I was using the 1%, as an excuse not to do the 99%. I didn’t want to take the blame for letting the 1% stop me, so I was making it out to be some impossible task that would put a stop to the whole project when it was barely an obstacle to begin with.

***

This happens a ton. The things that stop up sometimes are pretty laughable.

You probably have something amazing in your head waiting for you to do it. But something so small it’s laughable is stopping you from doing it. Not because it’s impossible to solve (it’s actually probably pretty easy to work around), but because you’re scared to do the work.

Let the squatters take their .Com. Let the people setting up trip lines, try and trip you up. There’s going to be a ton of little stuff that tries to stop you before you even start. If you’re going to build something, build it. Build it in spite of everything wanting you to fail and just see if it works. And if you want to give up, then give up. But don’t think for a second that you did so because what you were after was truly impossible.

As for me, I’m going to keep building and I’m not going to let the 1% stop me.

***

Race Update: I’m running the Sylvania Triathlon with Johnny B Truant this Sunday in Sylvania, OH. It’s my first olympic distance of the year and should be a good metric as I get ready for Chicago in a couple weeks and the Miami Half-Ironman later this fall. Should be fun .

{Photo Credit}

Filed Under: Business, Impossible Things, The Impossible, Triathlons Tagged With: are you really going to let that stop you?, dont stop, keep going, really?

The Upside To Disappointment

August 9, 2011 By Joel Runyon 19 Comments

Every once in a while, I’ll have a race that doesn’t go as planned. This race this past weekend was one of those.

I woke up late for the race.

I didn’t have directions to it.

My bike got stuck in 2nd gear for half the race.

I didn’t run a decent pace at all.

At the end, I crossed the finish line, looked at the time and shook my head in disgust.

I was disappointed.

I was disappointed that my time was slower than I wanted it to be.

I was disappointed that I wasn’t in as good as shape as I should have been.

I was disappointed that my $150 bike is beginning to have outlasted its usefulness.

Then I realized.

I’d done this race faster than a lot of other races.

I went out and did this race on an impulse.

I finished this race and wasn’t half dead (unlike some races).

I would have never been disappointed with this outcome last year.

Regrouping and Reframing

Last year.

Last year, I didn’t even know it if it was possible to something like a triathlon. Now I’m disappointed that I didn’t do as well as I should have.

Being disappointed can be a good thing. Being disappointed every now and then means you’ve raised the bar. Being disappointed means it’s no longer good enough to “just” do what you’ve done before. Just finishing some of the races isn’t the goal anymore. It’s getting a PR, placing in your age group. Doing a longer distance than you’ve ever done before. It means you’ve conquered things that used to be impossible and made them sure things. Now you’re moving beyond those sure things and into something unknown again. Being disappointed means you’re growing.

Last year I was happy to get past the swim portion of a sprint triathlon and not drown. This year, I’m running a half-ironman and running sprint triathlons on a whim.

Past actions are never an excuse for future apathy. It doesn’t mean you should stop pushing your limits and going further than you’ve gone before. You should keep going further. I’m in decent shape, but I’m not really where I want to be and there isn’t really a good excuse other than I need to train more. That’s not acceptable and I’m going to do it and keep getting better. But, it is encouraging to know that even when I am disappointed in how I do, the long term trend of the path I’m on is generally going in the right direction. I just need to keep going.

So right now, it’s time for a long run.

What about you? Everyone gets disappointed at some point. What are ou working towards and what are you disappointed in? How are you getting better in spite of your disappointment?

Filed Under: Blogging, Impossible Things, Races, The Impossible, Triathlons Tagged With: disappointment, keep going, Triathlon