A Workout Game

For me, the name of the game is fast workouts. I should say fast, effective workouts (who wants a fast workout that doesn't do crap, right?). So I am always looking for creative ways to craft superior workouts that are quick, effective and have the power to boost the metabolism for 24-48 hours.

As an added bonus I love it when they are portable (I can do it anywhere).

So here's my latest...

I call it "100 Rep Workout: The Game", and I use it when I need a very fast, very effective, and very entertaining workout.

This is actually a 300 rep workout, thus it is a semi-advanced workout, but can be modified easily by cutting the reps in half. It only uses bodyweight so you do not need any equipment.

Here is the workout:

A1) Bodyweight Squats x 100
A2) Push Ups x 50 (on your knees if you have to)
A3) Alternating Lunges x 50 (each leg)
A4) Mountain Climbers x 50
A5) Full Sit Up x 50

But that's not the game- it's just the sequence. The game is that if you have to stop for more than 1 second (a count of 1 Mississippi) or your form breaks in the slightest during any exercise you have to jump rope for 30 seconds. No jump rope? Jumping jacks with 3-5lb weights in each hand. No hand weights? Burpees for 30 seconds. Then resume the count where you left off.

You can rest 30 seconds between moves but that's it.

The best part about this entire workout is that if you do it right you'll be done with it in under 17 minutes.
That's the game - ready to play?

It's time to get your game on.

I got this idea from a really cool book called "The 100 Rep Workout". Check it out by clicking here. It features a bunch of so-called "man friendly" workouts designed to get you into shape in record time.

Dear American Airlines...

We have finally made it back to Spokane.

I couldn't have imagined it to be possible, but the trip back was even worse than the trip there (which you can read about here).

I wrote a letter to American Airlines. It's too long to post, but if you really want a taste of the nightmarish hell that the airlines put us through, just click here to download and read (Microsoft Word document format).

So what do you do after a South American triathlon?

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE END OF THIS BLOG FOR SOME HOT VOLCANIC ACTION.

Step 1: Eat a man-sized Chilean hamburger at Rap's in Pucon, Chile. Order the Italiana, which turns out to be nothing whatsoever resembling an Italian sandwich, but instead instead the entire butt of a cow served up on a huge bun, with some kind of spicy avocado sauce. BEST SERVED WITH A PISCO SOUR, OR TWO.

Step 2: Eat home-made gelato at Cassis on Fresia St. in Pucon. Also, eat a huge slice of their caramel cake (not pictured).

Step 3: Go to thermal springs. Es muy caliente...

...feed baby (note glass of wine, no self-neglect here)...

...get babies to fall asleep...

...snuggle with wife in hot springs (note sleeping babies in background)...

Step 4: Climb an active volcano via a 5 hour ascent at 4am, before flight leaves for Spokane. Check out these sweet videos:

Well, folks, so that's a wrap of the Pucon, Chile trip! Next stop: New Orleans Half-Ironman Triathlon in April. Until then, check back occasionally for training snippets and triathlon related updates. Or maybe even family pictures! Also, if you haven't gotten around to it, be sure to subscribe to the FREE nutrition, performance, fitness and wellness information at http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com.

Race Update!

Having raced what is supposedly one of the hardest Half-Ironman triathlons in the States (Wildflower), I can confidently say that this race makes the Wildflower run course look like child's play.

I'm going to make this quick, because I'm exhausted and I need to nap (post race party will go until 4am en la manana).

Jessa snapped a pic of me as I headed out to pump up the bike in transition...got to sleep in for this race with a 9am "late" start. My pre-race night's sleep is hugely enhanced by this stuff I've been taking called "Somnidren" made by a company called Millennium Sports. Breakfast was Bumblebar and banana.



The Specialized steed awaits...



I did a quick 400m warm-up in the water. It was nice to have the hotel so close to transition, as I was able to get my wetsuit on back at the hotel, and still have time to hang out with the kids...

Dad is strange:



Swim warm-up:



My swim was executed as planned, at about 29 minutes even. Halfway through the swim, you have to get out of the water and sprint for about a football field down the beach, then dive back into the water. This was in interesting twist. As usual the Blue Seventy Helix felt like a freakin' GLOVE!

There is a buoy line in the swim that you can basically follow if you stay close enough to the buoys, so I kept my head down most of the time and made good progress following a white cable. At one point, I was so focused on the cable that I swam over another competitor, literally driving my elbow into the back of his neck and forcing him under the water as I crawled over his body. Sorry dude.

The pro swim start:



The amateur swim start:



The transition chute, as expected, was exhausting, with about a 300 meter run while pushing the bike. Here I am transitioning - haven't seen results yet, but I think I came out of the water around the top 20...



The bike course was incredibly difficult. The roads are very rough, and the wind rivaled Hawaii. I was not ready for that. It was my understanding that the bike course was non-technical and a bit understated, while the run course was the real kicker. As mentioned in an earlier post, I was using a combination of GU Gel and GU Roctane, and the stomach felt very solid. But my legs were pretty smoked by the time we finished the second loop of the bike.

I really flew, however, and from what I can tell, I was 2nd place age-grouper coming off the bike with the second fastest bike split on the day...I hit about 2:23-ish on the bike by my clock, and this was with a ferocious wind coming back.

I made the mistake of ditching a pack on the last 20K of the bike and riding off the front. In retrospect, this was a mistake, because I rode solo into the toughest wind, and it really took alot out of my legs. But despite massive sweat and decent heat, zero cramping (from both bike and run) using Hammer Gel E-Caps, exactly per the recommendations from Steve Born, their supplement guru.

The run:



I headed out of transition area feeling strong. You get about 200 meters, then you run straight up the side of the hill and onto the "Peninsula" which is a series of 10-20% grades that keep coming, and coming, and coming.

Knowing that these would be a problem, I tried to conserve energy, but felt the life sucked out of me by the time I finished the first loop of the peninsula. Feeling as I did at this point, I knew accomplishing a 1:30 would be very hard.

Throughout the run, I ate the equivalent of about half a banana, and 4 electrolyte pills. My stomach felt fine, but my legs were *dead*. Running on a treadmill in snowy Spokane, WA just did not get me strong enough for this run. I must say that the Avia Bolt racing flats I was using felt VERY good, and I love these kicks for this distance or anything shorter.



I literally crawled through the last bit of the Peninsula and struggled through town to the finish line. Despite coming off the bike 1-2 minutes ahead of schedule, I ended up almost 10 minutes off my goal finish time, taking what I think was about 1:39 to run the half-marathon. Again, I have yet to see official results, but I think I finished at about a 4:36.

The run really kicked my ass. I took an entire bag of IV fluid and could barely walk back to my hotel afterwards. I'll be walking funny tomorrow, for sure.

But good news - I CLINCHED A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SLOT WITH A 2ND PLACE DIVISION FINISH!

So despite feeling like I've been run over by a train, I'm pretty happy.

This was one of the hardest races I have *ever* done, and by far, the hardest Half-Ironman on the planet. No doubt.

I've got 48 hours to recover, then it's off to climb a volcano. I've supplementing with "Recoverease" by Wicked Fast and it massively speeds up healing, so I'm not too nervous...that plus the IV and post-race massage and I should be OK.

Off to party with Pisco sours. Ciao.

Benny "Hinkley" Greenfield

Somehow they've managed to change my name. Hinkley is not my middle name. It is my mother's maiden name. But my official race title is "Benny Hinkley Greenfield".

Frankly, I think this sounds more like an African-American jazz pianist, but whatever. Check out the race number. Bacardi, baby. Bacardi Benny.

And this transition video is INSANE.

No post would be complete without a couple family shots. Here we are eating a pre-race meal of fresh lake trout and quinoa at Ecola. Highly recommend it, all organic, local stuff. Ecole.cl. Also a great hostel. I'll take the boys back here someday when they're older for a guy's trip. Incidentally, I'm climbing the active Volcano Villarca on Tuesday (the one you can see out our hotel window). I've hired a guide to take me up at 4am.

Bathtime. I have to make sure this blog stays a bit edgy.

11 hour countdown to the race!

The Day Before the Race and the Race Strategy

Today will be a day full of mandatory athlete meetings, bike check-in, pre-race massage, carbohydrate loading, and the ultimate question - to shave or not to shave? To anyone who has seen my face, I can basically grow the facial hair equivalent of a waxed cat, so this question is obviously about the legs.

Lastnight was the pre-race awards ceremony! The entire thing was in Spanish, and included live entertainment that featured Chilean traditional dancing, a magic show, some stand-up comedy, and a traditional South American baby bird beheading. Haha, no just kidding. But that would have been very cultural.

Here's a pic:

And a high-quality video...

River and Terran and I assemble my bicycle for the race. Terran is inspecting my shoe, of course, for any last minute defects. They're a good pit crew.

Ah yes, no small South American village would be complete without a firefighting station. This one features the heartwarming image of a fireman carrying a limp child from burning flames. It makes you wonder if this happens alot.

Jessa snapped this picture as I was typing this blog. Thank you spell checker.

My new habit is to walk into a cool-looking restaurant and order the most popular item on the menu. When I asked the waitress, "Que ensalada es mas popular?", I expected some kind of salad. I instead received a plate of cream and cheese with little salmon bits floating in it. It was almost like spraying Cheese Whiz onto a can of tuna. Jessa captured me on camera dutifully eating the entire plate. She did not, fortunately, capture the giant crap that emerged 2 hours later.

 

Meanwhile, Jessa fed the kids mashed up sweet potatoes and avocados, which in retrospect I should have ordered.

Remember the makeshift bed that we made the kids, out of a couch and a suitcase? Behold.

So, like I said, the race is tomorrow. 

You can visit the official race website at http://triatlon.canal13.cl.

I know this is going to be a very difficult run course, and I'm still nervous about the run since I was not able to get as much training as I would have liked under my belt, due to the IT Band injury. I'm injury-free now, but not "fit as a fiddle" for the half. I'll be happy if I can pull off a 1:27-1:29.

That being said, my plan is to swim the two lap course at a steady pace and try not to mount my bike with too much lactic acid in the system. I'm be looking for something in the 28:00-29:00 range, and would like to negative split for the second loop. 

Since I could potentially be a sitting duck on the run, if I can come out top ten age groupers in the swim, I'm pretty confident I can get off the bike in the top three to five, if not higher. I'd like to qualify for World Championships at this race, and based on last year's times, will need to bike somewhere close to a 2:20 in order to do so.

Then it's just a matter of holding a good lead off the bike. I'll probably need a good 4-5 minute lead on the next age grouper back to confidently get a division win.

Overall goal time: 4:25:00.

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Nutrition will be a couple Bumblebars and bananas (both "safe" foods, wrapped and skinned!) at around 6:30am, giving 2 and 1/2 hours for gastric emptying prior the 9am start. This will come out to about 500 calories. I'll also take 6 Enerprime, which will give me the nutrient boost of about 10 salads.

30 minutes before the race, I'll take 2 Delta-E's, a mega-dose of vitamin B, taurine, and some caffeine. 

Prior to the swim, I'll take in 100 calories of GU sport gel to boost the blood sugar.

Coming out of the water, another 100 calories of gel that will be waiting on the transition towel, along with 4-6oz water.

On the bike, I'll sport my downtube Profile Design water bottle that I've modified with a hacksaw to allow me to carry 9 gels and a tube of electrolyte capsules. I'll be taking in 1 GU gel every 20 minutes for 300 calories per hour, and will also take in 1 electrolyte cap every 20 minutes. For the gels, I'll be alternating between a carbohydrate-only gel, and a carbohydrate-branched chain amino acid/protein gel with 30mg caffeine (GU Roctane). I'll also have one CeeGees water bottle with 28oz of water for each of the 2 bike out-and-backs.

For the run, I'm not taking ANYTHING. I'll be loaded up enough from the bike that I'll be able to get by grabbing half a banana from an aid station for each 7K loop of the run. I know I'll have to put the hurt down on the run and would rather risk bonking than overloading. I will be carrying a tube of electrolytes in one hand just in case I cramp.

So that's the plan! 

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I'll blog with the official results tomorrow night.

Oh yeah, one more thing: MY PRE-RACE SONG!

Environmental Product - Brisk & Vagabond

Life from our Tiny Camera

By the way, the official triathlon website is at http://triatlon.canal13.cl/...

Other than Grandma's walker, there is nothing more fun than an empty bike case.



We decided to take a foray into the world of Chilean cuisine, which took us down this back alley...



Part II of the back alley restaurant...



And in part III, the camera battery died. What I ordered actually amounted to be 4 enormous, cast-iron bowls of Chilean grease with eggs, chicken, and beans floating around. It could have fed an entire construction crew. We knew we were in trouble when she brought 4 salads our prior to the meal. You fat American pigs...

However, we did manage to capture some video of the Chilean sunset, complete with my flawless "Spanglish"...



More later...