Market: New York

Athlete: Nick Fincher (Pimco)

Although my Decathlon experience to date has been brief, it has left a lasting impression. What has inspired me most is the enthusiasm behind the Decathlon’s mission: raising money for children whose needs could not be more immediate. After getting an initial taste of the comradery and energy at last year’s team competition, I couldn’t wait to compete in this year’s main event.

Football was an early conduit for my competitive drive, as its intensity and grittiness had me from the start. Through the years, my coaches’ channeled this passion for the game, eventually leading to a full scholarship to play at Purdue University. Unfortunately, my collegiate career was filled with more character building moments than athletic achievements, as multiple major knee injuries left me having more experience in the operating room than on the field. In the (almost) decade since, I’ve dropped from my playing weight and stayed active through personal training, lifting and running a few races, most notably the 2013 NYC marathon. Though, it wasn’t until competing and fundraising with colleagues for the Decathlon last year that I found an outlet for that fire that still burned within.

But it almost didn’t happen. When Peter Prinstein approached me last April about leading PIMCO’s efforts in the Team Decathlon, I was intrigued but hesitated to commit. I felt I was already spreading myself too thin elsewhere. When I wasn’t at work, I was attending classes or hitting the books to prep for business school finals and the upcoming CFA exam. What’s more, a humbling spring workout on the East River Track made me question my ability to seriously compete. What changed my mind was realizing the Decathlon was bigger than an athletic competition. After visiting Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s website and reading personal accounts of children whose lives had been saved because of treatments paid for by fundraising events like the Decathlon, I decided to sign-up. However, given my pedestrian performance on the track, I decided to focus my efforts on the strength events, and chose the bench press as my premier event with a goal of 20 reps.

20 reps typically wouldn’t be a problem, but after having undergoing surgery on my shoulder a year before, it sure seemed like a stretch. I viewed the Decathlon as the perfect opportunity to get back to an acceptable level of strength, and for the next ten weeks, lifting became an outlet from long days at work and the wormholes of academia. I was no stranger to the gym, but it had become a secondary priority in the past six months – and it showed. I started working out three days a week, and after finishing school, it immediately grew to five. After taking the CFA exam, the Decathlon was a week out and I felt much better about my chances.

On event day, the environment was electric: energy was high, competitive juices were flowing and the weather was perfect. Before I knew it, several events had passed and I was next up on the bench press. Full of excitement, I took a few deep breaths and got under the bar, squeezed my back together and started, moving the bar as fast as I could. I hit 10 reps quickly…then 15, and finally hit 19, where I paused, took another deep breath and belted out another 5 reps. The feeling of blowing past my goal was euphoric – and I couldn’t wait to get back at it again.

Bring it.
Nick