Getting fit is hard!

This past couple of months has finally found some good weeks of training from the month of January with the broken rib. All is good with the new addition to our family( Cale) she is super easy and my wife is very happy about that! She sleeps a bunch and is a complete joy. we are very lucky --again. I do believe she will be very different from Chloe. its just a feeling.



Windtraining class wrapped up with a great awards party as everyone scraped for coachjay and beartooth gear-- quite the site. congrats to Pam Harder and Ali Ryan for participating in the most classes this year with 16! and a special thanks to Steve Mysee and Sign and Design for hosting this years class-- next year we will have some very special additions to class! look for announcements this fall.



Chloe and I have been going to Bozeman for here ski school while I have been skate skiing and doing some runs( with Niki Kimbal) and even some biking as the spring weather has been kicking in. Chloe graduated from Mogul mice last week and has been skiing from the top of the mountain for over a montb now! last time I was up with her she keep up with me and was skiing even black runs! at 4.5yrs! great fun! major goal= keep up with my girls as I get old- age vs kids activity curve i guess. Sarah is storming back in shape with her typical fast ramp up already running 2hrs at a time-- I think it took me 6mo to get up to a 2hr run! she just goes, goes, goes. even with last week turning 44! That was a great night out with friends.



This past weekend Rob Newsom and myself made the first pilgrimage to the mountains riding up the chief Joseph Hwy( a 13mile climb) and 3700 vertical feet for the ride. It was a great ride and the whimpy burger in Belfry was even better. Rob had the whiner burger which was very appropriate on this day!



Then there was the first downtown Billings crit in a very long time, I decided not to partake due to the ride in the morning and the course which had 4 x 180 turns, but watching was a gas. our group had a great spot at the brew pub and we made our own hot corner complete with cow bells and of course lots of beer and shouting. congrats to all that participated!

This coming week I will be going to Denver for a spring training camp with some of my clones and guests down there. I am working on a very special summer camp in Bozeman/Targee this summer starting in the middle of July, details will be coming very soon- so get ready.

I did travel to Denver a couple of weeks ago to work with some clients and found myself fighting a cold and wheezing for air as I was humbled by the altitude and fitness of the folks down there. I hope that this coming week I will be a bit better. I can tell you all that at my age and physical challenges that trying to get in shape to race full bore when I race in the 50-55age group next year is a serious challenge. I know that my illness was going take me a while to recover from( the docs said a whole year) and even though I called bullshit on that, they seem to be right this time. It has been so difficult that I have hired a coach to help me. She is a coach I met at the symposium in Colorado springs and so far she has been a tremendous help. Her name is Michelle Ford and so far she has mad some excellent calls with my training. I am making steady progress and hope to race competitively sometime this year.

My first triathlon will be in Missoula as the Grizzly Tri/ the next day I am doing the Rocky Mt Roubaix bike race. Then there is Peaks to Prairie Duathlon on April 25th and the Boise 70.3 in June we will see from there but so far I am still pretty mediocre but improving slowly.

clone report:

Sue Balter had a great 1/2 marathon in NYC, Adam Weaver places 5th in the 40-45 age in 70.3 cali oceanside, Sarah Heaton also Prs at Oceanside, Paolo Gerbasi and Dan Brewer had multiple mechanicals 7 flats between then ouch!! but had good races never the less, Todd Vrlsted had a very solid half in LV. Kevin Welsh placed 3rd overall in the lifetime indoor tri beating Tim Hola on the bike!, many clones did the shamrock run and that was a blast! great job rimrunners on a great event-- I think that is it but if I forgot someone let me know and I will include it in the next blog.

coachjay

winter/spring madness

The road to Wilsal/Clyde park from the cabin(crazy mountain stretch)the best 15miles in cycling!

The transition has begun from winter to spring! but of course in Billings/Bozeman we like to hold on to more than one or two seasons as long as possible. I have been training pretty diligently since my broken rib delay and have found my self getting into a good rhythm with my workouts-- I have been skate skiing,swimming, road biking, running,and doing bodywork on a regular basis for 16hrs a week for the past month. getting ready to toe the line in a few races this spring. being nearly 50 yrs old, having done triathlon training since 1986, having 2 young kids and a cow aortic valve provides a bunch of challenges to training and racing for me. The process is still interesting to me and with my family in full support of racing full on in 2011( when I will be racing in the 50-55) I am going through the process and see what kind of fitness I can get to this year and beyond.



the loggers loop at Bohart ranch dawn patrol

Chloe has been skiing off the top of Bridger bowl and last weekend she skied off the PK lift! awesome what the ski school did this year for her skiing. Sarah has kicked it into gear as well! I will let her tell you in her segment. I will tell you that our newest addition is a complete joy and such a good baby! she is supper easy! knock on wood!

The warm weather has finally melted the snow in Billings which has made the ridding good and a good segue to moving from indoor training to the pavement outdoors. But in Bozeman spring skiing is very epic! the skating early at Bohart ranch has been perfect and last weekend Sarah and I pulled Cale for the first time in the chariot. Its been a few years since I did this and it reminded me how hard it was!

I also joined Nikki Kimbal(3 time western states champion) for her group run on Sunday for 12miles. getting those long runs is hard for me on my creeky knees for sure. but when Niki runs 3.5hrs the day before it makes a good easy pace for my long run. My bike ride in the Sheilds valley was just the best with blue sky's open roads, no cars and yes Bald eagles!



bald eagle on my ride to Wilsal last Saturday

Many of the clones are getting ready for early season events including. Paolo Gerbasi, Dan Brewer, Sarah Heaton and Adam Weaver for the Cali 70.3, Todd V for the vegas 1/2. Kevin Welsh for the Boston Marathon and the Florida 70.3. Mike Fogassey for the Florida 70.3, Sarasota 70.3 among other events. Its going to be a busy year of training and racing!

also on the local and semi- local training front-- we are having an informal training camp in Denver from April 1st-4th. Itinerary to be posted soon. and a epic summer extreme training camp in July-- the details of this camp will also be posted soon.