In the Bitterroot Athlete Valley
May 2008

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I am sitting at the train station in downtown Chicago, 11:30 at night as I write this newsletter. It is actually a very clean city and regular looking people at the station too! A few more languages are noted in the conversations. I just saw “Wicked” at the Ford Oriental Theatre. If you don’t know the musical, it is about Glinda the good witch and Alphaba the bad witch and their story leading up to the Wizard of Oz tale. It was spec-tac-U-lar!! If you ever have the opportunity to see it, it is a must if you like the theatre.

Rock Climbers

Ahoy…Thursday, May 29th will be a Rock Climbers Social beginning at 6:30. Please come to Antara Sports for a meet and greet, adult beverages and a light dinner. We want to help you find each other for a fun summer of climbing to your heart’s desire to reach new heights with new/more friends.

Race Update

Since the last newsletter, we had the Riverbank fun run in Missoula and the Bloomsday race in Spokane. Max Stamper experienced his first fun run and ran really well. Jim and Jamie Wood and Greg Bremer all experienced their first fun runs at the Bloomsday race too. We all had such a great time that everyone agrees that we will converge in Spokane next year with an even greater Bitterroot presence. The runners that I am aware of that went to Spokane were: Stan, Jim and Jamie, Greg, Leslie and Monty, Tony and Judy, Steve and Karen and girls, and me. I am sure there were more from here. We will have to wear something to identify us and find each other. It was such an affirmative experience that it was difficult to come back to reality. The big doomsday hill was not so bad since Spokane is only at 1900 elevation. Nice hotel, good food, and friends made it a really nice excursion out of the Valley.

Antara Sports Events

Grant Kier of the Missoula Land Trust came to Antara Sports to present information about the two-day bike race, Tour of the Bitterroot. The race is Memorial weekend in Stevi and Hamilton. The road race, criterion and time trial race tour is the only one of its type in Western Montana.

May 13th, Pete Dunn, a physical therapist at Daly Hospital gave the last presentation for the season on Core Strengthening at Antara Sports. Pete demonstrated exercises and gave us insight to run better, alleviate aches and pains and to minimize injuries from the foot to the spine all with strengthening our core muscle groups. An informal group was started at the Canyons to meet Monday & Wednesday at 5:45 AM where Pete is leading these exercises. Feel free to join them any time.

Wetsuit Social

Antara Sports then hosted a wetsuit fitting social with the Zoot rep, Karlee Brandner. We all had a fun get-together. The suits are especially buoyant and very flexible. Testing the wetsuits in the pool and Lake Como have continued and suits have been ordered. We will be the Antara Sports Zoot swim team! It looks like we will have quite a group of swimmers at Lake Como the first of June. If there are more swimmers interested in wetsuits, contact me at: 363-4193 right away while I have suits to try on. A discount of 15% will be given for the next few weeks.

Swim, Kayak, Run, BBQ, Tan at Lake Como

Kayakers & Canoers: The open water swimmers will need kayak and canoe escorts to guard our crossing from stray boats. So if you have a scull or can borrow one, we welcome your paddling abilities at 9:00 AM on Saturday mornings at the lake. We will probably do some 6:00 pms during the week also, so contact the store. We will be swimming from June to mid August with a few triathlons thrown in too.

Runners: For June and July and half of August, how a bout a nice change of scenery? After our swim we will be doing a run at Como, approximately 10:00. It may be trail running down to the falls, around the lake, alongside the canal, or down the road. It is a great family beach too for all to enjoy. Please come down and enjoy beautiful Lake Como while the lake is full. Season passes are $30 or day passes, $5.00 at the Lone Pine Conoco station south of Hamilton.

Triathlons and Fun Runs on the Calendar

June has a fun run, half marathon, marathon and three triathlons. On June 7th is Hamilton’s PTA Run and the Governor’s Cup Marathon in Helena. The PTA Run is our 5.6 mile Saturday run plus a loop around McCormick Park. Antara Sports will have a special gift in the schwag bag. I know that Howard Recht is running the marathon. We wish you luck Howard! The 15th is the triathlon in Kalispell (inaugural open water), the 21st in West Yellowstone (Jeremy defending his title), and the Ironman in Coeur d’Alene on June 22nd. The Ironman is quite an inspiring triathlon to watch. The 28th is the inaugural Lolo Mountain to Meadow Trail Half Marathon. The Masters Firecracker Swim Meet in Missoula is the 20th – the 22nd. (http://www.usms.org/) (Wow…look what just came up when I was checking for the Masters swim date…see text pic, last entry)

July has a number of fun events with the triathlon in Helena, which will compete with the Missoula Marathon in on the 13th. The one mile Steve Omi Swim in Lake Coeur d’Alene on the 20th. Logger Days in Darby are the 18th & 19th and Hamilton’s Daly Days Brewfest & street dance with the Bop-a-Dips are the 25th & 26th. (http://www.explorethebitterroot.com/Events.htm)

August is a triathlon blitz every weekend including the now famous 8-hour sell-out Bitterroot Classic Triathlon in Hamilton. But, it is the one month where there are no major fun runs to be found in the area. In September, we will get back to running with Matt leading a marathon training schedule to prepare for the Tuscon Marathon, December 4th which is a Boston qualifier. It is a down-hill run at sea level. Another good marathon the same day is the Las Vegas marathon. Take your pick…run a half or a full marathon. More details to follow.

While at Crazy Mike’s Video or First Security Bank, you may have noticed the athlete pictures that Seismic Signs put up on the Antara Sports’ building. The swimmer is Kristen Weese, who holds State Masters records; Jeremy Oury, the famed “No Excuses Workout” 350+ triathlete; and Matt Guzik carrying his 2002 Olympic torch from his numerous charity raising marathon runs and his more recent “Destination Marathon” in New Zealand. So the next time you give directions to Antara Sports, you might say to turn left and park under Jeremy and Kristen’s picture on Pinckney.

Thus, May is almost over, school will be out, family, friends, and tourists will be visiting and I’ll be looking for you to stop by the store, share a story and to gear you up for all your athletic adventures. Antara Sports is also the Bitterroot Swim Team’s swimsuit provider. For practice suits, goggles, water bottles and more, come to Antara Sports where you’ll find supplements, performance apparel, shoes and lingerie that make you feel good and look great!