humbled, scared and excited

A huge shout out to all of you that sent me just nice responses to my last post(vision quest). I am very humbled by them. When we made this decision, my hope was to inspire others that have been knocked down. If I could help just one person fight back and live a better life, it would be well worth this journey. In just a short couple of weeks, I have received many notes from folks all over the country that have had heart surgery or some other trying circumstance that has affected them or someone close to them. These responses really give me strength. Thank you! My story has been posted to Northwestern medical centers web site and soon there will be a spot on USAT's as well. With more to follow soon.

I have to say that I am pretty nervous about putting this goal out there. It certainly has no guarantees of success. I know how hard this is. It reminds me of the pressure I felt when my parents came to the Hawaii Ironman in 1995. My father is a golf pro and for some reason I was never able to deal with that pressure in Golf. I often tell folks that I like Triathlon because it is primarily a lot of hard work. It is very much harder to choke in Triathlon than at the Game of Golf. In the 1995 Ironman I remember having a pretty good day and as I came down alii Drive on the run, my dad shouted at me, "come on Jay, your only 40min behind Mark Allen, go, go, go!" I went on to finish 52nd overall that year and podium ed in my age group for the first time.

For this quest I am having to work hard on staying focused one day at a time and trying not to get ahead of myself or worry about the outside. To stay aware of my body and it's limitations and continue to make safe improvements along the way.

The training of course has its ups and downs. some days are good and some are not. I know this is the case with anyone, even folks that don't have my challenges. But so far I am staying focused and being smart with the work that needs to be done. I broke out the Altitude tent(which I have never really used. and I am logging 13-16hrs a week as of now.

a couple of weekends ago brought 30inches of the white stuff to the Bridger Bowl area and redlodge, so the skiing was tremendous. At the cabin it was necessary to break out all the snow vehicles, you know the plow truck, the ATV and the snowmobile( yes they are finally back!. lots of fun and activities as the Browns made the trip up. Matt and I made the Nixon peak skin and ski at dusk! epic. We did the family ski with the Browns at Bridger on Sunday and that was loads of fun as Chloe had her first big powder day! Its hard for a small 5yr old to go through 20inches of powder! funny to see, but she had a blast. Cale was on Sarah's back in the backpack and she was just a trooper, never peeped and I think she even got a couple of naps in! pretty cool. I can't wait until my girls are kicking our butts on the slopes.

This coming weekend Sarah and I are heading to Denver for another couple of Furthur shows at Broomfield Co. And since getting back I have to say these shows where epic! Sue, Paul, Pam and on Saturday my brother Brian, Kevin Welsh and Charo saw what every one including me have been raving about. Certainly Further is the best Dead band since Jerry's death. along with great set lists( check out furthur's web site and a cool intimate venue, at the end of every show Phil Lesh does a Donor rap. Phil had a Liver transplant a number of years ago, which saved his life. Phil talks about a young boy named Cody who told his mom that if anything happens to him, I want to be a organ donor. This is very dear to me since I have a Heart root and valve donated by someone. I am in the process of finding out who's heart part I have inside of me.

On Saturday morning Sarah and I took Adam Weaver up to Eldora for a Skate ski. Great terrain with some real good hills at 9k feet. I think Adam got a great taste of what I say is the best conditioning sport out there.



Adam and Sarah skate skiing at Eldora

Saturday afternoon took Sarah and I for a long run at the boulder reservoir. I had only gone about 1.5hrs for a long run to this point but we ended up logging almost 2.5hrs which was a nice confidence booster for my run endurance. after our workouts both days we had fun eating/drinking in Boulder with foods and atmosphere we don't much of Billings, very cool.

we even went to the parking lot scene on Sunday before our flight back and sold our extra beer and booze like true dead heads. Sarah definitely took charge here shouting out "cheap local beer and whiskey here!" we ended up selling it all!

This week has starting out with good weather so I went outside for a ride! the Pryor loop, thank god,it's been a bunch of indoor riding so far this year. hoping for more good weather to log those outdoor miles.



2011 coachjay's windtraining class