Upcoming Multisport Extreme Camp July 21-25

Coach Jay’s Multi-Sport Extreme Camp is a fun filled week July 21-25, 2010 with training and races to meet every multi-sport athlete's interests. Training activities include open water lake swimming, single track and fire road mountain bike trails, road bike course through epic canyons, wild life, the grassy mountain tops and wildflower-covered fields of the Bangtail Ridge and both on and off road running trails through the hills.(Check out "important documents" section of this blog for full camp info).

spring racing/ summer planning

chloe this morning with dad in the 4 wheeler( out of the picture dad with his bailys and coffee traveler mug). at the top of Nixon peak 1+ miles from the cabin

Been pretty lazy entering blogs lately, no excuses -- Well, yes, of course, there are excuses, I am old, tired, busy, have a cow valve etc. I remember driving to the State Time TT one time with some friends and on the 1-hr drive we came up with 82 excuses on why we would do poorly in the race --- not the best positive psychology but I believe we all go through it in our little brains -- but now that I am up at the cabin, I have finally found a good place to write and catch up. It must be the mountain air, quiet, and the beautiful view up here.

I have been making steady progress with my fitness, even though I am often impatient and unhappy with the numbers that my 49-year-old body can produce. I am coming to grips with that reality and trying to keep it real with where I am now.

The Peaks to Prairie Duathlon in Late April was of course hard (9-mile run/42-mile bike) and this year was even more challenging with 30-40 mile per hour cross winds. I ran 57 high and felt ok with that even though I was a bit over my target HR plan. The bike was good for the first 10-15 miles and at that point I caught a youngster that was at the front of the race in the Duathlon, a 17-18-yr-old Eija. I went by him and then the winds hit and I found myself fighting it pretty bad, not being able to stay aero for a good 15 miles; Eija, however, didn't seem to have the same problem. He ended up riding away from me and won the race (Congrats to the flat belly! He showed some real guts and talent) and of course I showed a huge gut bomb after but hung on for second. Power numbers were pretty poor on the ride with an average of 240 when I expected to ave 260 or so. ccrtiming



coachjay on the bike at peaks from my truck with the wife driving--yikes! out of picture the mean ass 40mile an hour cross winds!

May brought some cool clone news with Dr. Adam Weaver qualifying again for Hawaii at the St. George Ironman, placing 5th in his age group with a 10:15 time on a by all accounts a brutal course! Adam would have qualified at 70.3 California after an additional roll down from another age group, which just goes to show you to never leave the awards too early! Congrats to Adam on your stellar performances! Also this month, Major Clay Taulman found out that he was selected to go to Hawaii as well -- Clay is totally stoked! After 28 months in combat he is ready for a totally different kind of combat-- the Kona lava fields!-- This weekend Mike Fogassey and Kevin Welsh will be competing at 70.3 florida---race fast guys! Also just found out that Pam Rogan from Atlanta placed 3rd overall in the Peachtree City Tri this weekend. Great going Pam -- Pam has been with coachjay for over 10yrs!

Last weekend, Sarah, Cale and myself made the trip to the Rev 3 Knoxville Tri. I needed to get to race that was bigger than what we have here in Montana. I have to say that Rev 3 series puts some serious funds and organization into their events--first class all the way. The course was very difficult, especially on the bike, but the days before we were a bit leery of swimming in the Tennessee river -- on Friday there was debris floating everywhere, water snakes and even a dead body was pulled out that morning! Yikes!

Knoxville was pretty cool and I had a great time bonding with Little Cale as I rested and tapered. Sarah and I had some nice walks and a fun date night out on the town, checked out some live music and some great food. We hooked up with the Team Trakkers crowd, Michelle ford, Sonja, Tony and others from Denver. It was also great to see some folks from Atlanta, Matt Rose and the Team Dynamo crowd including Betty and Hilton! what a great group that Matt has put together at Dynamo. I also ran into Andre Micelli from Atlanta



coachjay and Hilton Kort before the Rev 3 knoxville

Race day was perfect--cool and calm waters. I was mixed into the 40-age group and a couple of other groups as well and started in the next to last wave--which of course stresses me since I saw myself having to weave through the masses the whole time. But as it turned out, it was not too bad. I had a pretty smooth trip on the swim coming out in around 19 min; it's strange having the swim be my best sport right now! Maybe because it's hard to keep my old body up with its own weight?--The swim was a bit fast since more than half was down current(however the water was pretty still) unlike my horrible transitions up in Missoula, I was pretty solid on this day getting out on the bike without any mishaps. Immediately, I was battling with the eventual winner in the 40-45 group and I was not too smart by going a little too deep early to keep pace. About 15 miles in, I let him go as my back started to tighten up from throwing down a bit too many watts. I went steady to the finish not knowing were I stood in my group. It turns out that I have 280 watts for 1hr 7min and 133hr average which I am happy with and show some good progress from previous TTs. I got to the run and made sure I didn't bust out too fast since my running has been my weakest sport for some time now. I felt ok through 3-4miles then the long slog back my hips where in near spasm as I waddled in for my 2:12 finish and around a 42 min 10k which is not great and I definitely need to improve on for sure. At the finish I thought boy-- 2x that distance is going to hurt! rev3

It turned out that I won my group pretty easily but I knew the competition was not that great and that I still have a long way to go-- but my progress is encouraging and if I keep improving I may not be too bad at Boise. Congrats to Hilton Kort for placing 1st in his age, Matt for winning the 1/2 and Betty's team for winning the Aquabike.

Sarah and Cale met me at the finish which was great (Sarah has posted to this blog with pictures). After a little less of a gut bomb than last race-- the fam rolled down to the river for a mothers day brunch at Calhouns! Great BBQ and I proceeded to finish a whole rack of ribs-- just about the best tasting food I have had in a long time! and of course a few very large Pale Ales. All in all a great trip-- now its back to training.

Just got back from my run here in Bozeman and, after a pretty crappy 12 miles with the HR not very high, walking up my road to the cabin I saw the highest HR of the day when momma bear and 2 cubs made me know that I was not welcome that close--HR 140(PAST LACTATE BALANCE POINT!)



our Horse creek neighbors, momma and one of her cubs taking a look


Will try to post more often-- unless I am too lazy, tired, busy, old, etc.........

coachjay

May 15 At the Mountains

Here for another weekend binge of training at our Bozeman Mountain House. The weather's sparkling and the Bridger Ridge is still snow-covered and dazzling in the sun. Jay and Chloe just took the 4-wheeler to the top of Mountain Nixon for an early morning view, while I am preparing for the first of two long runs scheduled with ultraunning powerhouse Nikki Kimball.

Jay's gearing up for Boise 70.3 so will have a 2-hour run & 1-hour spin today, and a 3-hour ride tomorrow....Stay tuned for details on our upcoming July Multisport Extreme Camp!

Jay Wins Age Group

Coach Jay had a fantastic come back from mystery virus and heart surgery Sunday at Rev 3 in Knoxville. With a time of 2:12 for the hilly, Olympic-distance race, he won the male 45-49 age group amidst a field of top-age-groupers from around the country. Matty Reed and Julie Dibens won the male and female pro fields, respectively. Way to go Jay!!!!


















We also had the privelege of catching Coach Matt Rose from Atlanta with his pants down! He got 2nd overall in the Rev3 Half Ironman, aka "Half Rev." Great job, Matt!

Rev3 Knoxville

What a race folks! This was premiere race organization-hosted by IM Pro Heather Golnick and the Revolution 3 Triathlon Series. Lots of pros fielded the Olympic Distance, with Matt Reed winning and Chris Lieto tied for 2nd. Boston's Dede Grosbier came in 6th and Natasha Badman was even in the mix. Local elites from Denver Michelle Ford and Sonia Weik finishing a guestimated 4th and 5th in the Elite Amateur wave!! And hats off to yours truly, Coach Jay, for finishing very strong in the Men's 45-49 Wave (results TBA SOON)!

The 1-mile swim was in the Tennessee River, 40 km bike around hilly Knoxville, and the 10 km run through the U Tenn Greenway along the river and canal, finishing at the glorious World's Fair Park!!

Grizzly Tri Weekend

It was quite a fun weekend up in Missoula, MT with an elite field at the Grizzly sprint triathlon put on by Team Stampede and the University of Montana. Jay raced extremely well for his first time back in over a year - setting swim splits for each 100 in the pool swim at 1:20 average! He crushed his wave (elite masters) on the bike and only got passed in the final 10 seconds of the run by another masters who was not in his age group. Congratulations to Jay on an age-group win!!!


As if that wasn't studly enough, Jay raced AGAIN the next day at the super hard Frenchtown Roubaix 45 mile bike race on gravel roads. He was one of the only individual competitors going up against teams from Bozeman, Missoula and Helena. Again, he showed incredible prowess for racing on tired legs -- and after a year of injury and illness. Yeah Jay!

Oh, I forgot to mention that it was windy and gray in the morning, causing all of Jay's fellow bike racing friends to wimp out, making him the only studly one of the bunch. That's a dig for you, Rob Newsome and Mike Ritter!

Ritter, Ali Ryan, and Greg Benjaman were among the clones who also raced Grizzly. Ritter -- competing in his first triathlon ever -- had an outstanding success with a 1:20 time for the 1,000 yd swim, 20 km bike, and 5 km trail run. Mike's hooked now! Also competing were pros Lindsey Corbin, who smashed the women's field, and Matt Seeley.

Missoula offered plenty of post-race hulllabaloo with beers at the Kettlehouse and dinner at Ciao Mambo Saturday, followed by the Yonder Mt String Band for the cool young 'uns in the crowd. Pre-race pancakes at Paul's House of Pancakes were a must before the bike race.

Chloe spent many fun hours on the Merry Go Round and Children's Museum with her new best friend Axl.

racing again!

A new baby, the change of seasons and trying to find new fitness after a disastrous 2009 was kicked off this weekend in Missoula with my first Triathlon in nearly 2years. It has been a slow steady grind of training as I try to be patient with my progress. Last week in Denver I had a hard 17hrs of Training in 6 days with some hard work at Altitude. Kevin, Adam, Michelle, Clay and myself participated in some long swims, mountain rides,TT work, bodywork and runs. It was much better for me than a few weeks ago but I am still humbled by how far I have to go to be competitive. Kevin was a great host and he is showing some great progress himself. Our ride on Saturday was the epic shadow mtn loop with 6k of climbing in gale force winds! It was also great to lactate test some new folks and do a few bike fits as well.

I was a bit nervous leading into the double race weekend( grizzly tri/rocky mountain roubaix bike race) first I had not raced in so long and second I was feeling horrible mid week. I stayed as positive as I could and toed the line in the grizzly triathlon at 1pm on Saturday. The Grizzly Triathlon is a 1k pool swim/12.5 bike/5k run. believe it or not it is the largest tri in the state with 500 participants. I has a really good field with folks like Ben Hoffman, Matt Seeley and Linsey Corbin all participating.

Sarah and Cale were there for support as Chloe had a play date with Sarah's friend Kara and her 4yr old Axle. Chloe had a blast and is fast friends with Axle. Anyway I had been doing a bunch of swimming of late and was anxious to find out how I would do in the swim. Each lane has 4 swimmers and I would be placed in the Elite masters wave by my submitted time of 13min. I started in the 3 spot and after the start I knew that I would need to be smart here. after a 300 I new the first 100 was too fast and as it turned out it was a 1:09! Yikes. I did show some old man savy by letting the 4th guy go by and then settled into his draft for the rest of the way. My splits settled at 1:19-1:21 per 100 for the remainder. However when the dude in front of me was pulled out they told me I had another 2 laps---wait a minute I said-- I was following this guy! it turned out they pulled us 50 early so my time of 2:36 was really around 13:10-15 or so. I am pleased with that right now.

My transitions really sucked and you could tell it had been a while for sure. getting the speed suit off, getting into the shoes, all really slow. On the bike I felt like I had pretty good legs but in retrospect I went a bit hard pushing my HR to nearly 150 which is high for me. but I did blow by my wave and by the turn around I had a pretty good lead in my wave. Then I had to run--- not quite there on the run yet. I felt pretty good for the first mile or so but then there is this monster off road hill that I think may have toasted me. I kind of stumbled in and was passed by the 40-45 winner in the last 400. all in all I was pretty pleased with my time of 1:06 and change and winning the 45-49 age group. Although I still have a long way to go to be competitive in a bigger race with more competition. Staying patient is hard for me but I am taking one workout at a time and just trying to make slow progress. great time after the race as we went to the brew pub, the kettle house where they make my favorite brew( cold smoke ale) then on to dinner at ciao mambo with Nash, Mike, Carissa, the kids, becka., had a great time! was a bit bummed that we missed the yonder mountain sting band playing a the wilma that eve but the kids and my endurance made that difficult.



the next day it was off the the rocky mountain roubaix road race where 1/2 the 40miles is on dirt and gravel roads to simulate the cobbles. I knew it would be a difficult double but I did toe the line not like anyone else from billings. very disappointed that the Billings cycling community has no presence at these very cool/competitive races. I only hope that someday we can come with numbers to these events. After a pretty pedestrian first 10miles the race went ballistic with the first assent. Staying in touch there was hard on my legs but then the descent was crazy on the loose gravel and 40 riders getting sideways! I was doing fine until I was real sideways due to a real flat. got the wheel car fairly quick but the chase was very hard with no help and even though I got within sight it was not going to happen this day. the rest of the race I spent helping some of the 1,2,3 group that had flatted get back in touch and eventually I hooked up with some of the dropped masters group and road in with them, besting them on the hill climb finish. a good day of hard miles and some fun as well. will defently try to do this double again next year!