Powderhound/colorado

The last few weeks have been very busy! This time of year is real crazy in the fitness business (the resolutionites you know) and with a new baby Cale born at the same time it has certainly been a whirlwind of activity. Per usual we have been hanging tough and getting r done! Sarah has been amazing juggling the kids and work while I have been working long hours and not able to help much. It was great that my mom came in for 3 weeks and was a big help around the house and with the baby while Sarah is recovering from surgery.



Daddy and baby Cale

This year’s windtraining class has been very well attended and is coming in very handy this year, since Billings is having its longest snow pack in years. Indoor riding has been the norm lately.
Chloe and I had a great trip together to Bozeman for her ski lesson—she graduated out of Mogul Mice!—and had some great daddy/daughter time—she says that Cale will become part of the family when she can talk. She is now adapting to the new addition better and better.



2010 windtraining class at Sign and Design-- yes that is snow falling

On my training since breaking a couple of ribs near xmas it has been difficult to do very much- I have been suffering through some workouts but the breathing has been difficult and the pain pretty severe. However I did cowboy up and participated in the Powder hound winter tri (5krun/10kbike/5k skate ski) the event took place at Homestake lodge near Butte. The event was put on by the Tritons tri club from Bozeman and it was upped to the regional USAT championship. A great event and very difficult! My mom and Chloe took the trip to our cabin and on to the remote location at Homestake, which was hairy for my mother for sure! But we persevered and a good time.



coachjay struggling in the snow on the bike at the powderhound tri

In the race, I was sucking wind from the beginning (near7000ft) the run was up hill in deep snow and I was relegated to walking the hills on the second loop. The bike was brutal to keep upright with the soft snow and the tracks on the second loop. I was humbled as the winner of the race lapped me and I was girled—I did manage to pass 2 girls after the run-- I don’t know if my tires where at the wrong pressure or that I am just unfit. The winning guy was running his bike up the hills so maybe I just need to get in shape to do that! Anyway I did have the 7th fastest ski and actually passed some folks there—Kind of weird that the ski would be my best sport in this event. Great event though and thanks to Art, Greg B and all the Tritons for putting this on.

The Results:

# NAME TOWN BIB RUN T1 BIKE T2 SKI Total
1 Alex Lussier Bozeman 218 0:25:33 0:00:15 0:37:11 0:01:43 0:16:49 1:21:31
2 John Curry Bozeman 219 0:26:12 0:00:59 0:42:52 0:01:56 0:19:11 1:31:10
3 James Fields Missoula 220 0:29:42 0:00:33 0:42:40 0:00:19 0:18:38 1:31:52
4 Cory Soulliard Hamilton 233 0:26:57 0:01:04 0:44:49 0:01:53 0:20:47 1:35:30
5 Greg Wirth Helena 201 0:25:30 0:00:54 0:50:55 0:02:14 0:21:28 1:41:01
6 Cale Hofferber Bozeman 203 0:29:25 0:00:29 0:54:56 0:01:43 0:22:16 1:48:49
7 Russ Gates Helena 223 0:30:22 0:01:05 0:47:58 0:02:24 0:27:40 1:49:29
8 L. Evan Emory Bozeman 234 0:31:47 0:00:35 0:56:15 0:02:39 0:20:14 1:51:30
9 Laurie Thatcher Bozeman 230 0:30:33 0:01:00 0:56:52 0:02:51 0:22:42 1:53:58
10 Eric Makus Helena 229 0:28:14 0:00:47 0:54:20 0:01:58 0:33:43 1:59:02
11 Jay Marschall Billings 224 0:32:50 0:01:29 1:02:20 0:02:34 0:22:11 2:01:24
12 Matthew Thomsen Bozeman 231 0:32:41 0:01:41 1:03:17 0:02:51 0:24:03 2:04:33
13 Meghan Trainor Helena 228 0:31:52 0:00:47 1:02:31 0:06:36 0:23:50 2:05:36
14 Marisa Sowles Hamilton 232 0:34:05 0:00:47 1:08:37 0:02:11 0:21:36 2:07:16
15 Marta Fisher Helena 221 0:29:47 0:00:45 1:05:53 0:01:47 0:32:13 2:10:25
16 Becky Hochstein Bozeman 235 0:36:18 0:01:02 1:13:28 0:02:25 0:24:43 2:17:56
17 Robin Innes Missoula 222 0:37:48 0:00:52 1:09:49 0:05:11 0:31:26 2:25:06
18 Tony Thatcher Bozeman 236 0:39:37 0:01:48 1:14:25 0:03:58 0:25:53 2:25:41
19 Julie Ahern Butte 202 0:36:44 0:01:27 1:27:00 0:06:22 0:26:43 2:38:16
20 Meg Sarnecki Missoula 216 0:43:02 0:02:32 1:25:57 0:03:03 0:30:22 2:44:56
21 Ann Gilbert Helena 226 0:44:23 0:01:06 1:24:27 0:02:27 0:36:03 2:48:26
22 James Innes Missoula 217 0:39:48 0:05:25 1:26:05 0:04:33 0:35:05 2:50:56
23 Karen Powell Helena 227 0:41:44 0:01:19
24 Jennifer Griggs Helena 225 0:46:05 0:01:04


Yesterday I was able to ride outdoors for 3hrs with Kevin welsh and some of his crew in Denver. It was great to get outdoors on the bike and do some miles. I also did some testing with Adam Weaver and a swim workout with those guys in the early morning, boy that extra 2000ft makes swimming harder. Adam will be competing in the St George Ironman this spring which will be the hardest course on the schedule of Ironman’s this year. His fitness is right on track to have a great race in May. A good dinner and time with Kevin that night! Thanks Kev!
I then made the trip down to the USAT Art & science symposium in Colorado Springs. There is a bunch of educational talks with a couple of great keynote addresses including Johan Bruyneel. And Blind climber of Everest Erik Weihenmayer
Here are the symposium topics and speakers:


Blog 21310

Johan Bruyneel signing his book for coach Sydney Cornell from the Parker tri-team


2010 Art and Science Symposium Schedule
Thursday February 11, 2010 4:00pm - 6:00pm
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm Registration & Packet Pick-Up
LOCATION - Broadmoor Hall Foyer
Friday February 12, 2010 7:30am - 7:00pm
7:30 am - 8:00 am Breakfast and Packet Pick-Up
8:00 am - 8:15 am Welcome
Mike Reilly-Emcee and Skip Gilbert, USAT CEO/Executive Director
8:30 am - 9:45 am Morning General Session
Linking Coaches with Events and Race Directors
Bill Burke, Ben Elder
Broadmoor Hall B
10:00am- 11:00am Morning Breakout Session I
Everything You Need to Know About Insurance Following the Functional Path to Building the Complete Triathlete
ESIX- Mike Price Vern Gambetta
Broadmoor Hall E Broadmoor Hall F
11:15-12:15pm Maximizing Your Income as a Triathlon Coach Nutrition for Junior Triathletes
Ben Greenfield Jennifer Hutchison, RD, USAT LIII Coach
Broadmoor Hall E Broadmoor Hall F
12:15pm-1:15pm Lunch
Broadmoor Hall B
1:30pm-2:45pm Women Specific Nutrition Winter Triathlon: What, When, Where, Why, How?
Alicia Kendig, Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics Tim Crowley, BS, CSCS, Pes, USAT LIII Coach
Broadmoor Hall E Broadmoor Hall F
3:00pm-5:00pm Johan Bruyneel
2009 Tour de France Team Astana Manager
Broadmoor Hall A
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm Book Signing/Reception with Special Guest Johan Bruyneel
Saturday February 13, 2010 6:30am - 4:45pm

6:30 am - 7:30 am Fun Run/Walk
Sponsored by SweatVac- led by Olympian Barb Lindquist
8:00 am - 8:45 am Breakfast
Broadmoor Hall B
9:00 am - 10:30 am Keynote
Erik Weihenmayer
First Blind Man to Summit Mount Everest
Broadmoor Hall A
10:45 am - 12:00 pm Morning General Session
Youth Specific: Training, Appropriate Distances, Race Course Set Up
JJ Johnson, Penni Bengston, Boris Robinson
Broadmoor Hall A
12:00pm-1:00pm Lunch
Broadmoor Hall B
1:15 pm - 2:15 pm Afternoon Breakout Session I
Essentials of a Great Ironman Training Program Beyond the Core-Training from the Ground Up
Mark Allen Vern Gambetta
Broadmoor Hall E Broadmoor Hall F
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm Afternoon Breakout Session II
Using Technology for Running Periodization for the Junior Athlete
Stephen McGregor, PhD. Istvan Balyi
Broadmoor Hall E Broadmoor Hall F
3:45 pm - 4:45 pm Afternoon Breakout Session III
Stress Based Periodization Yoga for Triathletes
Joe Friel Sage Rountree, PhD, Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher
Broadmoor Hall E Broadmoor Hall F
Sunday February 14, 2010 7:30am - 1:00pm
7:30 am - 8:00 am Breakfast
Broadmoor Hall B
8:00 am - 9:00 am Keynote
Sue Enquist
Director of Major Gifts-UCLA Athletics
Broadmoor Hall DE
9:15 am - 10:15 am Morning Breakout Session I
Cycling Interval Training Training the Paratriathlete
Stephen McGregor, PhD. Andy MacDonald
Broadmoor Hall C Broadmoor Hall F
10:30 am - 11:45 am Morning Breakout Session II
Development Pathway Options The Triathlon Swim-Improving
for the High School/Collegiate Triathlete Technique and Training with Power
Andy Schmitz, USAT Junior National Team Coach, USAT LII Coach Tim Crowley, BS, CSCS, Pes, USAT LIII Coach
Broadmoor Hall F Broadmoor Hall C
11:45am - 12:00 pm Wrap Up and Door Prizes
Broadmoor Hall DE
12:00pm - 1:00 pm Lunch
Broadmoor Hall B


Johan Bruyneel’s talk was good not great—he talked mostly about the tours with Lance and was very guarded and would rarely reference Contador at all. He did give a Nugget that Lance would be doing the Ironman in 2011 and is planning on a top 5 there. Later had a fun dinner and drinks with some folks from the Parker tri-club and swim coach in Cali-- and watched the Winter Olympics. I have to say some of the talks have been a bit of a bore and a bit basic-- but I did take a few things with me to try out on the clones!

I did like Johan’s ingredients for success and here they are!
1. Follow your heart but bring your head
2. Open and willing to learn
3. Always be creating
4. Surround yourself with talent
5. Communicate and confide
6. Give ownership, acknowledge, and encourage
7. Manage people not Tasks
8. Constantly evaluate and be innovative
9. Learn from losing
10. belief

Erik Weihenmayer however was very inspirational and had a great presentation on his life and achieving many adventures even though he is blind. Great sense of humor and a great speaker on overcoming obstacles. I love his quote from Helen Keller about reaching the summit of Everest:” the greatest things in life are not seen or touched but are felt from the heart”
This morning I woke up early and did a swim in an outdoor lap pool with Olympian victor Plata and fellow Montanaian Anne Gilbert. That was cool especially after the swim, sitting in the hot tub with Victor and talking about the Olympic experience and how he did not get to participate in the opening ceremonies! Also about team tactics in ITU racing. He was a real down to earth good guy. Looking forward to the rest of the lectures and returning home soon to see my girls.



coachjay

Powder Hound Triathlon

Sister Bonding Time

Chloe has taken to her new baby sister like glue. She grew up dramatically the day we took Cale home. Cale continues to sleep and eat well...gaining little pudgy cheeks like Jay had when he was a baby! She loves to go for walks with mom in the baby bjorn.

Baby Cale comes home!

Saturday evening, Jay and Chloe returned from skiing to pick me and Cale up from the hospital. What a wonderful occasion! We arrived safely home to lots of hugs and smiles. Chloe was ecstatic! Even baby Cale had a nice night sleeping in her borrowed bassinet!

New family member --Cale!

This morning at 8am Sarah and I( mostly sarah) brought a new little girl into the world, Her name is Cale, born at St V's by C-section. She came out 6lbs 4 oz and is 19 inches tall, almost the exact same stats as our first born(chloe)Both baby and mom are doing great! we are very excited to have our new family member and chloe is supper excited to have a baby sister! check out the first pictures

/>

happy 2010

Thank the lord 2009 is over! And Happy 2010 to you all. I often would tell my friends how great our life was in Montana, and this is still true, but now I may not gloat as much out loud since this past year was riddled with a horrible illness and other issues that made life a bit troubling this past year. But now we are in 2010, and with the birth of our second child in just a couple of weeks, we cannot imagine what could be a better start to the new year!

Just last month, I decided to race for the first time in over a year (more than 8 mo. longer than anytime in the past 22 years). My first race, the Thanksgiving Day Huffing for Stuffing 10k in Bozeman, was a bit of a disaster as I completely blew after 3 miles. The next event was a low key 5k in Billings and this was just a bit better -- blowing up a little less and averaging 6:25 per mile after going out at 6:05 for the first mile. Then, later in December, I took a trip to Atlanta to work with some clients and ran the Carpet Capital 10-miler in Dalton, Ga. At the event, I was determined not to try to run like I was 35 years old. (I ran 58 min. in Dalton in 1997) but I did want to do what I am capable of doing now. I stuck to my plan (going out at 6:39) and actually beat my goal of running 6:45 per mile and ran 1:06 (6:40 per mile) placing 2nd in my age group. I was very pleased with the result since in the past 3 months, even though I had been training pretty diligently, I had seen very few results and I had gotten pretty frustrated. Ray Brown had a solid run too, meeting his goal of 8:30 per mile and Sarah Heaton also had a fine run, placing 2nd in her age group with a 1:21. And then there was Saul Raisin who was the crowd favorite (hometown boy) who did an impressive 1:27. Sarah, Saul and I went to breakfast in Dalton for lots of stories and laughs.



coachjay at the Dalton 10 miler

The day following the race I had a night out with the ”Dude” (Bruce Erskine) and after a late night out in Vinings, I was determined to go mountain biking the next day. Even though it was wet, I finally found a guy to play with — Jervey — the first guy who sponsored me at Vinings Schwinn in Atlanta - who has a place up in Suches, GA. Thanks to Clay Rucker, for getting me a rig to ride, I went up and thoroughly got worked by Jervey on his slippery, leaf ridden, log strewn terrain. I was not used to that kind of mountain bike riding for sure. It was a great day. Thanks to Tammy and Ray Brown for all their hospitality.



sunset from the cabin's porch

So, this past week, we have spent nearly 10 days up at the Bozeman cabin. I had planned on hitting the snow for workouts every day for at least 2 hrs. The weather was perfect with 25-30 degree highs, a bit of new snow, perfect for Nordic skiing all week. But 2009 gave me on more hit. Only 2 days after we arrived, I went for a skate ski at Bohart Ranch and blew through my normal 10k loop in a good time of 56 min when, at the end of my run, I spaced out coming down the hill and in the flat light hit the classic tracks and did a Bang/Bang fall burying my elbow in my side damaging my ribs in a bad way. It knocked the wind out of me and I knew it would not be good for the rest of the week. Seeing as I set a goal -- I would trudge forward with my plan for training.
. The Kosners came up (Steve, Margaret, and Eileen) and I managed a classic/skate ski and a 1 hr run with Steve the next day (even though the hike at the end of the run to the top of the mountain I had to do on the snowmobile).



getting some help to the top of Nixon peak

The girls had a blast playing tons of games, doing arts and crafts and of course sledding on the many hills at the cabin.



Chloe and Eileen having fun at the cabin

But during all the training since my fall, I was in serious pain and as Dr. Margaret Kosnar said, [you can do anything as long as] “it doesn’t make it worse.” But of course it did. And on the next day, I tried to run with Nikki Kimball (4-time Western States 100 winner) and after 30 min I was unable to continue. So I took 4 days off and worked on programs and watched movies, I have to admit, I was getting a bit of cabin fever for sure.

Yesterday I snowshoed to the top of Nixon peak which is always epic!



Snow shoe summit of Nixon and look toward the Crazy mountains

Today I skated and without using my arms (poling) much, I was good for 1.5 hrs which was quite a relief. I am writing this blog at Bridger Bowl as Chloe is taking her first ski school class here (Mogul Mites).

Chloe has been the best and is a dare devil when it comes to sledding! She goes full blast! She loves the snow.

Sarah is always amazing me with being 9 mo. pregnant and walking the dogs up to 700 vertical ft. to Nixon every morning. Only 2 weeks away and most don’t even know she is pregnant! She has gained only a little more than the last one -- 12 pounds. The baby looks good and we can't wait for the surprise to see if it is a brother or sister for Chloe.

I thought you guys would like to see a pic of one of my new clients Major Clay Taulman. Clay is on tour in Ramadi, Iraq and is training for Ironman AZ this year. He sent this picture of his new tri bike!



Clay and his Tri-bike

On the Billing front -- this year's Windtraining class has 25 folks registered so far and I will only accept another 5-8 folks. So if you want to be in this year's class, you had better get your application to me ASAP. The forms are on this blog and class starts Jan 19th. Also look for some exciting Gym Jay news as well as a coachjay training camp in Bozeman some time in June -- details to follow. Also, don't forget to join me for the powerder Hound triathlon on Jan 31st at Homestake Lodge in Butte, MT. check out the details at: http://bozemantritons.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/2010-powder-hound-winter-triathlon/

look forward to seeing you this coming year

coachjay

Christmas and New Year's

We are hunkered down in our lovely Bridger Canyon cabin for the week, enjoying a respite from work responsibilities, and a bit of quiet before a new life enters our world. We are expecting either a boy or a girl on Jan 14! The weather here is crisp, bright, bluebird and snow-covered - perfect for XC skiing and snowshoing. The views are spectacular and we are still indulging in holiday feasts and visitors.

My brother came for a week of Yellowstone, where we saw wolves, elk and bison, and then skiied the Bozeman golf course and climbed Mt. Nixon in Battle Ridge. The Kosnars came for 2 days of skiing and hiking and playing (their daughter Eileen is Chloe's age). And Chloe is learning to ice skate!