Travel.....

After hearing that the morning plane didn't get out yesterday, I spent most of the night laying awake listening to the heater, cycle and recycle then dragged myself out of bed at 5m to see if I could fly standby on the early flight from Gunni this morning.
It would make for a llooooooong day but I fiqured extra time at an airport was better than the alterntaive options if weather way laid the Gunnison flight.
I had a smooth ez flight from Gunnison and an equally smooth ez flight from Denver to LAX. 2 melatonin even though it was 9am, had me sleeping the entire way.
Since then I've had 7 hours to kill at LAX. BORING...but on the plus side Ive bugged Brian with useless calls, walked around outside in the SUNSHINE! sat outside in the SUNSHINE and done over an hour of yoga and pilates in a sunny walkway..... I know I am that person. But I feel good for it. Its not like anyone knows me anyway.
Okay only about 14 hours left to go.
yipee.

what?

Over the weekend we stayed with our friend Lisa Lieb in Durango. I got an email from her today with the crazy but true story of how her place nearly caught on fire last night.
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/08/news080128_2.htm

The gas line to the heater broke with the force of the ice and snow.
The awesome news is thats shes aok and so luckily is her home. Its so crazy though for many reasons. Her Dad was plowing and saw the flames and luckily caught it in time, her dog barked at her for 15 min b4 the fire.

I wake up several times a week and lie there listening to our heater for abnormalities... weird I know but at 3 am in the morning. Plus legitmiately we have had out heat go out 3 times this winter due to blowing snow/ snow stuck in the intake pipe and too much snow around the circulation vent.

It might pay to check your own roof? pipes? etc...

cheers
Jenny

Anaerobic on the snow

This weekend makes it 3 weeks in a row racing. I am starting to feel pretty comfortable redlining in 10 degrees and 8000 feet. Jenny and I drove to Durango for a winter triathlon yesterday. To our surprise it was 30 degrees clear and sunny. We won't see weather like that till April here in Gunnison. Despite a small field the competition was tough for both of us. I had to battle with Ben Sontagg, the German that has won 2 world championships. Ben is living in Durango and racing bikes at Fort Lewis. Spencer Powlison showed up as well. He had a strong showing at the world cup opener in France a week ago. Jenny had strong XTERRA athletes Lisa Lieb and Kate Chapman who are very capable skiers. Molly Hummel was also in attendance, a pro road and mountain cyclist who is a competitive Nordic racer as well.
I took out the run pretty fast to test my body and see what Ben and Spencer had to offer. I put about 10 seconds on Ben but lost it in transition to the bike. Spencer was arriving in transition as Ben and I were off riding. I was able to keep Ben at 45 seconds and put time on Spencer through the bike. Once on skis Ben showed everyone why he has won the world championships twice. Ben put nearly 4 minutes on me in the 7K skate! I felt pressure to keep him from lapping me on the 3 lap ski course. I was psyched to get such high level competition 2 weeks from nationals. I still need work on the bike and ski in order to have a shot at a national championship.
Jenny had strong runners at the start but she was in control by transition leading the women's field. She opened up gap on the bike and skied home for a comfortable win. Not bad for her first winter triathlon and very little Nordic experience.

http://www.insidetri.com/portal/news/news.asp?item=111874

After a night in Durango we returned to Gunnison for the Kenny Mac Nordic race at Hartman's Rocks. We were too late for the 15/30K skate races but made the start of the Super XC race. This event included a 250 foot climb up Kill Hill, a short flat recovery for about 2 minutes, another steep climb up 100 feet then a 250 foot plunge down the technical Notch and Collarbone Alley to the finish. There were wax less skis, wax able skis with skins and no skins and AT skis with skins. I opted for the wax able skis with skins and kept the skins on the whole time. We started with a lemonds start (run to the skis) and I had a lead with another skier hot on my tails. It was Rebecca Dussault, one of the US Olympians from Torino. She had wax ables without skins. I pulled away and had about 30 seconds by the top of the climb. By the time we hit the notch she has closed it to around 10 seconds. I took conservative lines and skied powder. Rebecca crashed twice but was back in contention by the flats coming into the finish. I just managed to hold off Rebecca by less than 3 seconds. It was nearly a photo finish. Jenny took some pictures during the race, she isn't a fan of downhill skiing and someone had to look after Max. Jenny is off to Australia Thursday and I am looking forward to my last preparation race prior to winter triathlon nationals, the Alley Loop 21K skate race Saturday the second. Hope everyone is enjoying their winter. Feel free to comment on our blog, we would like some feedback. Later-B-man

Training indoors

Today marks the 6th day in the past week that I have ridden either the spin bike or the trainer. This is more because of convience than anything else. . So in order to keep my sanity I thought I'd start a wee list of things I'd enjoy more than training inside.
1. Clean my bike w/ a toothbrush.
2. Unpack the car after a long road trip.
3. Take the recycles to the recycle center.
4. Change over tires filled with Stans solution.
5. Fold the washing. ...... .

6.......I think its time tomorrow to get outside.
cheers
Jen

He's Back

.... and we thought perhaps he was just taking a break?
Despite a pair of 26er wheels still in our spare room it seems that 08 is going to be the year of the 29er for one www.cabinracing.blog.com. If you have a few minutes and want to be carried out of winter to catch up on some good racing/ alot of racing/ did someone say race/ wheres the race....(actually Cabin and Max-well dog seem to have a common trait... did someone say car ride?) Kiwi style click the link to Mark Leishmans new site.

cheers

15.8

Degrees that is and it feels amazing! so I just shovelled a pathway to the snookums and chickems chicken shed. aka compost bin. Without any gloves and hat I might add.
Last week I felt so guilty (seems I did alot of feeling guilty last week!) about putting compost in the trash bin, but I couldn't face clearing the way to the coop.
Having the Max -well dog is why the compost heap is in the coop in the first place, accessible compost is a favorite thing.

Brian raced in his debut Randonee races over the weekend and came home buzzing. Day one at snowmass had 5900ft of climbing and apparently some super sketchy descending too. He has an informal invite to Randonee World Champs now. ' Who does one race at something and gets invited to the Worlds team?! Seriously.

Its good though I am psyched for him and it does seem all the cost of equipment was justified.

I guess Saturday was a rough introduction with skins not sticking, which he likened to having a mechanical in a short track race. But he recovered somewhat and finished 9th. Then yesterday - at Sunlight ski area in spite of losing a ski at transition one and falling out of the top ten he climbed up and finished 3rd. Thirty seconds back from the winner and multi time national champion Ethan Passant.

My weekend was mellow and really fun. I had dinner w/ Betsy and friends on Sat night, only drank one glass of wine as it was too cold to walk home ( one way to be moderate eh?) Heaps of riding the trainer which as you know I hate, a good snowshoe hike with Max -well dog, and another good skate ski with Max-well dog.
Max really is the best training partner as he is always excited to go and doesn't care where, how or even why.

cheers
Jen

What I learned today.

This is for real at 6am and the actual temp at Sunrise was -37F. I did learn though that -40 F is the temp where Celsius and Fahrenheit meet.
See there is an exciting discovery in every day.

Whats the plus side of such a ludicrously cold day?

Brian benefited as Pat his mum and I went shopping and found boots on sale in his size.

I went swimming. I didn't go snowshoeing. Blew it off and had a bath. I know... I know the type A piece of me feels guilty. The type B feels like ... whatever. It was too cold.

08 so far....

Wow. 08 is flying along.
Brian has big plans for this winter and they are coming up fast and furious.
He wanted to get into Randonee racing http://www.cosmicski.com/ Uphill downhill skiing. The mountain bike cross country version of ski racing. It seems to be taylor made to his set of skills. With his alpine and tele racing background and his liking to go uphill and suffer what could be more suited?
Getting the gear together has been a 6 month project. Thanks heaps to Pete Swenson, Traab skis, Mona Merrill, Rock and Roll sports and Dave MO, Dynafit skis, Mike Kaz and Leki poles, Team Salomon Crested Butte ( Wick, Sully, Jon and Jari). Without all your help none of the equipment would be possible.
I shall bite my tongue over the cost of it all... lets just say it was a little more than the proposed investment.

But my blue fit over cost aside.... the first events are this weekend in Snow mass and Sunlight/ Glenwood springs and Brian is psyched.

From there Brian moves into winter tri racing with hopefully 4 events on his calender.
the Durango winter tri next weekend.
the US and Pan American championships in Bend, Oregon Feb 9.
The World Winter Tri Championships (somewhere in Germany.... on Feb 23rd).
and the Xterra Winter World Championships Multi sport festival in Ogden, Utah on March 8.

As for me.
Things are really great.
I have been personal training quite a few clients. I am running a Jan special at Colorado Fitness. I wanted to increase my client base and provide a way for people to be motivated during the 'oh so tropical month of Jan' Everyone is very different and I love the stimulation of working with my clients.
Its Challenging too as I find myself living in 2 worlds. With my cycling and triathlon and my personal training and I really enjoy them both. That's life for us all right... balancing our work, personal lives, passions and commitments. So its keeping me busy.

Along with work I've been planning my year of racing.

I am going to Australia on Jan 31st for 3 1/2 weeks to visit my sister and train. Yeah... am very excited to spend some time with Rachael my sis. ( plus the riding ain't so hot in Gunnison right now) so I am going to transition from the skis and snowshoes to the bike and running shoes. Thanks Brian, Brian's parents and air miles. Fingers crossed my whitey whitey body can handle the climate change. Theres always swimming, to cool off. I've been commited to swimming, and each time I get to the pool in -20 weather I think about how good its going to be to swim outside in Aus.
Ive signed up for a marathon MTB race down there called the Otway Odessey http://www.rapidascent.com.au/ also on Feb the 23rd. Hopefully 3 weeks on the bike will prepare me enough to 'handle the event'.

more later.

Jen

another day in paradise

The official temp at sunrise was -31. ie ie iee. Good times.

I drove to meet a client at the gym at 7am. Thank goodness for a block heater in the Mazda.

The d.o.g.g ran off yesterday and got into trash which meant big double fat boy and a leash law to enforce. Leash Law's are much fun 4 x during the night as the D. O.G.G had to empty his body of trash. Balaclava/Gloves/ Socks/ Pants/Boots/ Coat all to stand outside with the dog. Anyone want a dog? He might even be free?

Winter Tri Season

There are a couple of Articles recently posted on the Inside Triathlon website about Winter triathlon.

http://www.insidetri.com/portal/news/news.asp?item=111696

Like this one that shows Brian racing last year.

Winter Triathlon Training and Racing, Part OneThis report filed - January 7, 2008By Kevin Konczak, Gemini Multisport Bri has talked me into giving the Durango Winter tri a go . http://www.durangowintertriathlon.com. As I told Ann my coach it should be worth a piece of cake or something for me. A good excuse to visit Durango for the weekend. And if I can do the event you can too.... hopefully we'll see some of you there.

Skate skiing anyone?

The Crested Butte Nordic center is fantastic right now, miles and miles of track like this. We skied there yesterday and it was so great. Brian won the Classic Nordic race in the morning. I went to CB with Paul, Brian's dad in the afternoon for some awesome skating.
Then today we hit Hartman's (gunnisonnordic.net) also freshly groomed after the snow fall and skated again.
Life is pretty good.

Give the dog a job

We've been talking about the weather alot lately. But Holie Molie. It really is snowy and extreme this year. Snow snow snow one day followed by a clear night and negative temps the next. It makes life interesting. I'm glad I've lived here for a while ... several years ago there is no way I'd have wanted a winter like this... I'd probably be long back on the West Coast of NZ by now. (with wet shoes and gumboots lining the door).

But instead I'm skiing my merry way through town every couple of days and testing my skills on the snow bike ... corners are especially hair raising.

I found a job for Max. Had to bring him home and drop him off after a while as the trash hadn't been picked up yet from Tuesday. He thought that was the best thing ever a trash tour of town. I was going to lose a body part with him stopping abruptly at the good dog smells. Not ideal on ski's.

Here is a view of town from the College side hill. 'Ken, Sandi and Colin' ... thought of you guys here.

cheers
Jen

B'Man returns-The Heat Is On!

Yeah, the heater works. Wasn't expecting to have the repair man return 3 times to get the job done right! It is 30 now, nearly summer in Gunny standards, and we have gotten about 5 inches of new snow by noon. Jenny, Max and I are planning a 4 hour nordic tour and maybe some snow biking into the night. Heading to Boulder Monday night for a buyer's guide photo shoot with Inside Triathlon Tuesday afternoon. What a task it has been trying to round up 08 gear with it being early January. Thanks to Zack Vestal, Shimano, Smith Optics and Salomon for getting product out early for this. Snowshoe, Nordic, Randonee and Winter Triathlon racing coming soon. It's training time. See you soon.

B-man

We have

NO heat, we have... NO Heat....
Happy Happy Joy Joy....
Does anyone know how to unstuck the pressure valve in a gas furnace? Should be a fun weekend while the new part gets ordered. Living in close quarters w/ the oil filled heater, while the other one blows under the sink at the pipes.
Steve R if you read this you might not want to come visit us this weekend ( ha ha..).
Oh well might be good for the fitness if home is less appealing than usual.

B'man Blogs

Another day in our frozen paradise we like to call Gunrock. Jenny and I awoke at 6 am to find the heat out and our livingroom was 48. After work the car wouldn't start at my work after a night of arctic cold. I had to get it jumped. When I returned home it was 46 and I had to ride the trainer with a long sleeve, booties and long finger gloves! I went to work at 1 and found out we are losing an employee at my work. By 5 pm I had a very positive phone conversation with a potential sponsor for Jenny and I for 2008. So the day wasn't all lost. Got the car running after a jump, the heat is back on in our cabin and it's above 0 outside. Life is good. Get out there and enjoy the winter whatever the temperature may be. Happy Holidays.

B-man

Happy New Year Dressing

My sister sent a text on new Years eve saying how it was 41 degrees Celsius at her place in Aus that day.
Not to be outdone I switched the thermometer to Celsius on New years morning and saw a lovely -33C.
And we were headed out for our annual New Year days ski tour. Yippee.(to tell the truth I did question going but if you know Carol Quinn, Brian Smith, and the 12 other hard core Gunny/CB crowd... this is their idea of the best fun and games)
While dressing I thought of those paper dress up cutouts I used to have when I was growing up. We should make a dress the Jenny Doll. I still haven't grown all the way up but now I get to play w/ real clothing! And I wore alot of clothes on this day.

The ski was amazing. It was a trail break for a good 6 hours of the ski. The batteries went flat after an hour so no photos sadly. I turned at Swampy pass as I am fighting a cold and didn't want to overdo it. ( 5 hours seemed enough to me... I did over do it a bit). The hardcore group made it back at 8 hours for Brian and 9 for Carol. Wow.

Hope your New Year is a good one.