Wednesday, November 25, 2009

happy Turkey day

In the past number of weeks we have been spending a bunch of time in the mountains soaking up the many early winter activities. I have been personally motivated to get in better shape as I approach racing in the 50-55 age group in 2011. That being said, it has been very difficult to come back from the illness I had this summer. But for the past 8 weeks I have been making slow progress. I will be racing for the first time in over a year at the huffing for stuffing 10k in Bozeman this T-Day. and then it will be back to the cabin to cook the whole T-day dinner with the help of our guest Mike Ritter, it will be also be great to have Brook and Michelle up for thanksgiving as well.

In December I will be traveling to Atlanta to race with some clients at the Carpet capital 10mile, a staple race we all used to do in my Atlanta days—I will really have to forget the times I used to run there!

I think the skate skiing the past number of weeks up at Bohart ranch has really helped my fitness. I enjoy the challenge of skate skiing the most of any other sport. There is nothing like the loggers loop to get you in Shape. There has also been some good runs, bikes and last weekend a good hike up Bridger bowl for the first turns of the year with Paul. Conditions were pretty good and the powder in the south bowl was fun! Of course those first turns were pretty ratty.



Pat Duey and Mike Ritter at Bohart ranch for early skate skiing


Sarah continues to make our new baby and we are due in a couple of short months, she continually amazes me with her energy, balancing work, motherhood and exercise—look for Sarah to come back as fast as ever after the baby is born in 2010

In other training news: Coachjays 16th annual windtraining class will again take place this January-March. We will be having class in a new location this year! Classes will be held at Sign and Design at 2625 Overland ave and space will be limited! look for details soon to sign up! the first class will be held Tuesday Jan 19th

A number of clients have had great success lately: Ray Brown after qualifying for Kona at Ironman Lousiville, does great at Kona and then raced Iromman Az this past weekend and qualified for Kona in 2010 with a PR of 11:31, and then there is Kevin Welsh who after his bike rack flew off his car on the way to Iroman AZ-- and a semi rolls over it destroying both his and his friend Sydney’s bikes, was able to successfully finish the race on a rented rig with a 10:41 time PRing by 50min! way to go kevin! Also kudos to Sydney for a fin 10:00 race finishing second in her group.

One of my new clients Matt Rosetti had a very fine breakthrough race at the Miami International race finishing second overall in the race! Matt lives and trains in NY city( not the easiest plan to train) Congrats Matt for a great race. Look for Matt on the national scene in 2010



Also congrats to Adam Weaver for a fine performance going 4:14 at 70.3 worlds in Clearwater fl., Mike Fogassey for placing first in the 55-59 age group at the fort desoto sprint in Tampa, And Anton Kort for running a fine 1:23(Pr) at the Washington dc 1/2 marathon and also thank to Anton for stopping by Billings on his way back to Bangkok and treating coach to a great dinner at Walkers! also Dan Brewer with a solid 5:23 1/2 ironman.

I also am honored to be coaching Clay Taulman who is a Major serving our country in Ramali Iraq, Clay is training for Ironman AZ next year

thats it for now

have a great Holiday

coachjay

Monday, November 23, 2009

The First Snow











Bozeman weekends over the past few weeks have bedazzled us with unexpected snowfall and a wealth of winter sports. Already, Chloe has gone sledding several times, practiced her nordic skiing, and even tested the alpine equipment once! Jay has gone on a barage of skate skiing social dates, while I have stuck to classic in the name of keeping my heart rate down. The sunshine last weekend on fresh powder at Bohart, our XC ski ranch, and the continuous flurries this weekend, gave us wonderful views.

It has really felt like a winter fest frenzy, starting with the Bozeman Ski Foundation Swap the first weekend of November, enabling us to get new used gear. The purchase I'm most excited about are the racing classic skis I inherited from ultrarunner Nikki Kimball, who just completed a victory at the Jungle Marathon in Brazil. Although the new skis require waxing (ugh), the new glide is incredible! Jay's especially excited (I think) about another skate pair, while Chloe simply sized up her ski boots.

Being 31 weeks prego, I'm staying away from signifcant vertical drops, and just trying to stay aerobically active - snowshoeing, running, and whatnot. Jay is training again - with an eye towards next spring. Our Thanksgiving looks to be quiet with just young Billings cyclist Mike Ritter visiting the cabin and Jay taking over in the kitchen (yeah!).

A shout out to clients Matt in NY who finished 3d overal at the Miami International Triathlon, Kevin Welch from Denver and Ray Brown from Atlanta, who both PR'd at Ironman Arizona this past weekend!!!! :-)