certified Natural trainer

Jon,Jesse and yours truly after passing my test at the Monkey Bar Gym Madison intensive certification training this past week

I have been in Madison WI for the past week taking a Certified Natural trainer certification at the Monkey Bar Gymnasium. The MBG is a functional training center developed by Jon Hinds. Jon is about my age and a complete stud. He was a Brazilian jujitsu gold medalist in the pan am games. In this class we are learning to teach the proper progressions of running, jumping, crawling, climbing and so on. Jon believes as I do in the physical culture. I can tell you that being a Triathlete primarily in my life has not prepared me for this type of training. I completely suck at it presently. But I am challenged to get better. And as a teacher of fitness, bring my clients to a new level of physicality. There are 25 of us in class and some of these guys and girls can do stuff I could not dream of doing. Here is a video of Rick who trains in a group called the Bar-Barians in NY. Unbelievable stuff!



The Monkey Bar Gym style of training combines not only the physical skill but bundles them in a way that will challenge all levels of fitness. It also uses cycles and variety to keep everyone motivated and focused on improving. At The MBG, Yoga, skill training and Nutrition are the 3 parts of the philosophy. Check out Jon's Blog to get a feel of the enthusiasm of his passion for fitness and health.

On the nutrition side. Jon believes in at at least a 90% plant based diet(My buddy Steve I am sure will give me hell). He references the Book The china study and brought in an expert to explain the benefits of what he calls nutrient rich eating. seeing how strong Jon and Jesse are eating only plant based, I am a bit more convinced in this way of eating. The point he makes is that once you eat this way for a while( 6mo or so) you will get off the crack habit of nutrient poor foods( ie meat, dairy, refined).

I feel like I learned a lot at this class/certification and can use many of the techniques with all my clients for years to come. I did have some fun away from the 10hrs a day of instruction. I met a cool kid named Erik, who is a cyclist/nordic skier( ex rugby player) that lives in Madison. we went on a nice bike ride around Madison and even went for a roller ski. But was better was after Friday's class we yondered to an after hours keger with the bike mechanics at his bike shop(cronometer?)(super fun and good thing there were no pictures. then I wound up a the hotel bar drinking some pints with a bunch of British/Irish breeders of Clydsdale horses! really funny---That explains why when I first got to town and rode my bike around the capital that the Budweiser clydsdale rig full on with the Dolmation was going down State street! again no picture( I should really get a smart phone----NOT

here is Erik practicing our Eichens Yoga poses



here are a few more photos of the class



Monkey Bar Gym





Jon down a wall press up



the other room at Monkey Bar WI




Jesse doing a reggie pullup(super hard)

I am glad to be back home really missed my girls

Marathon in Vermont

From Sarah:

Just back from the Green Mountain Athletic Association Marathon in Lake Champlain, VT, where I took first female with a time of 3:20. It was a small race and a soft field, but a very beautiful setting with incredible fall foliage along the lakefront, with rolling mountains in the distance. Great schwag and great post-race vegie chili, too!



I was a bit nervous since I hadn't raced a marathon for nearly 7 years when I decided to jump into this one -- and another about one month ago, the inaugural Bozeman Marathon -- because my training partner, Liz Nemer, was training for Rock N Roll St. Louis. After doing so many of the long runs with Liz last summer I decided to find a race around the same time, so we could train together. Since I had a work trip to do in Burlington, this GMAA race worked out perfectly. Plus, I got to sample excellent beers from hosts Meghan & Seth's Taproom.



I'm not fast, and I'm not a super star. But it sure feels good to accomplish small goals and succeed at them. This summer and fall have been reminders of how good it feels to train, race and compete. This is true even if the training isn't perfect -- as long as you are fit and can dig in deep when the racing gets rough.

Getting off my Ass!

Well, I let myself go a bit too much and hit my drop dead weight of 170. So the buzzer went off and I started my 5 day fast/cleanse. I am writing this on day 4 so if I sound/write a bit foggy that's because I am. Just fyi in the past 4 days I have ingested 2 cups of vegetable soup and 4 glasses juice. Of course I am drinking electrolytes and taking vitamins as well but so far-- less than 1000 calories in 4 days. I have done this before to jump start my discipline, and this time is no different. It is super hard and makes you feel like you are running at the end of the Ironman. 1 day to go and my first real food with be at kindergarten lunch with Chloe at Lunch Buddies tomorrow at noon. Give me 8 grilled cheeses please! (uh o! last night Chloe came down with a fever of 102-- up all night and sick as a dog, my weekend with the kids gets a bit more complicated) The hardest part of a fast is exercise, which I have been trying to be more consistent at---but with no food it makes movement very difficult for sure-- yesterday I ran 5 miles and I swear it felt like a marathon. It is very hard to hold up your arms and you can feel the fat and muscle burning for energy due to no sugar.



My Girls Chloe and Cale during our evening wrestling match

The past month or so have been very busy with lots of work and much more kid duties. I just love taking/picking up the kids from school and doing the everyday duties they require. Starting today I have the kids for 4 days as Sarah heads east for a conference and runs a marathon. We have plans for the corn-Maze, heading to Laurel to the pumpkin patch and lots of daddy day care fun.

stepping back a few weeks, Sarah and I had a great trip down to Denver to see Further at Red Rocks. We had a great time doing the parking lot scene, taking in the great shows and during the day sweating out the toxins with some epic exercise. Friday night old clone Kevin came with us for the experience. and an experience it was. The next day,the three of us went on a mountain bike ride in Golden at Apex park. The ride was hard and we all came away with some scars to prove it. Mine was a nice half chain ring carved into my calf.

Along with my fast/cleanse I have been getting a bit more consistent exercise. I have been riding my bike more than once every couple of weeks and have enjoyed my cross bike up in Bozeman the past couple of weekends. I have also been back in the gym getting my body back from the flab that it has become.

last weekend after a great cross ride at the Bozeman creek trail, I checked out the finish of the Kona Ironman on the computer. I thought the pro race was pretty exciting especially on the womens side. Miranda Caffree trying to run down Chrissy Wellington was pretty cool. I also want to congratulate my clients Jay Preston and Mike Fogassey for excellent races in Kona. Jay met his goal of going under 10hrs going 9:58 and Mike made his dream of running down Ali drive and finishing the Hawaii Ironman! His pictures were awesome and showed the great joy of his experience great job both of you!

I always blog on some thoughts about the race and here are mine from this year

1. I wish they would go back to placing the race date on the first full moon Saturday. Recently the race has not had the severe wind that it had when that was the case. I did the race in 1995 and 1998 and on those years we had head winds that started very early on( mile 30) and again coming back. In comparison, 1998 the winning time( peter Reid) was 8:24 compared to the 8:03 this year. most of that time was on the bike were the pros were going 4:30 or under whereas in 1998 the best pro times were 4:45 or higher. In 98 there were 19 athletes under 9hrs, this year there were almost 40. In 1998 I went 9:27 and placed 46th overall and this year my 9:27 would of placed me 127th. Much of the same comparisons can be made in 1995 as well.. Almost all the best bike times have been set since the change to the date but interestingly Mark Allen and Dave Scott still hold the best run times 2:41 and 2:40 in 1989.

2. I wish they would go back to starting the age groupers and pros together--allowing for the same race conditions by all. I don't mind the pros getting the pole position but this 30min delay can mean totally different conditions for the age groupers, and not allowing an age grouper to compete for the overall. You say an age grouper can't compete for the overall? well this year you had an age grouper getting 26th overall( 11 min from the podium) and another that had the 2nd fastest run of the day, running 2:43. This all under harder conditions most likely.

3. and again I call bullshit on aero helmets-- Chrissy again wins without one and Carolyn Steffen as well. Maybe these guys could run better if they did not bake their heads in the heat!



The family at Bridger bowl during raptor fest



raptor at Raptor fest



Sarah and Cale on our hike at Bohart ranch

Last Sunday the fam went for a family Hike near Bridger bowl and took in the Raptor fest and got ready for ski season by cleaning our locker and getting our pictures for our season passes. it was a glorious fall day with the first snow of the year laying down the white stuff at the 7k high mark.



Bridger bowl in October

It is always stunning to see the mountains covering in snow with the aspen tress turning a bright yellow. I headed from Bridger bowl on my cross bike after our family event and climbed up toward Ross peak, getting up to the snow line! amazing ride and views! can't wait for the first ride on my board-- probably a split board climb/run coming soon!



The climb to Ross peak





and on the way back down-- toward the Crazy Mountains


coachjay