To be or not to be?

Finding a buyer for our home was more difficult this time than it ever has been. Anne has always made her homes look wonderful and buyers have come pretty quickly. The effort that we had to go through to get a contract shows how tough the market really is right now.
We went to closing knowing that the buyer was having challenges with his buyer and if that deal went south so did ours. In good faith we moved out, made repairs and incurred substantial costs only to realize that the day of closing came and went. We were told that deals are harder to get through right now and waiting a few days would make sense BUT we need to prepare to decide if we want to stay in our rental and re-market our home or move back. I am not sure how many people like to pay rent and a mortgage on an empty house so I believe that we will be moving again sooner than we planned and not where we planned.
Life's like a dance, sometimes you lead and sometimes you .........get beat down by the girls boyfriend whom you clearly did not know and who at the time would love to kick your butt. (I am not sure Garth Brooks sang it this way or not!)
Anyways the adventure continues on and we will see if it was to be or not to be?

Love you Anne,

Tyler

MOOOVVING

When we received the offer on our home we were give only 21 days to closing. We hurried and found a rental home in the area we wanted to move to and were allowed to start to take our stuff over weeks before we moved in. I remember saying that this move will be ok, I will take a load over every day since the house is only 10 minutes from my office and I live 45 minutes away from there and we really don't have that much stuff. The first few load in the car were ok, Anne would take some, clean, pack, load and we did this process every day. Some times I would allow myself to kind of think that this is not really fun. I remember the last move when the hired movers showed up and it went kinda smooth. I was unloading my 8th truck load and realized that I have officially moved over to the DARK I am not really liking this attitude. I suppressed those feeling and forced myself with the help of treats and food that I should not really eat that all was going to be ok. This last weekend we officially moved out and as I look back at this process these are the weekend warrior lessons that were learned and comments that were seared into my Mellon.
1. Moving regardless how hard you try does not = FUN
2. All the offers to help move from friends and family were something that I should have YELLED "YES AT THE TOP OF MY VOICE" when they were offered.
3. Trying to do all that you normally did when you were not moving is NOT possible while you are moving (training, eating well, sleeping, staying clean and not sweaty all day long).
4. Did I say take the offers to help when they are offered, having to call last minute is not really fun since the people you are calling have to drop what they are doing and come and help and would have loved to plan for it if I would have said "yes" weeks ago when they first offered. (Is this sentence too long, I think it makes sense, try to read it like a song or a really long painfully funny poem).
5 That kids can make friends (best friends Lexi tells us) within 30 seconds of telling said new best friend your name!!!
6. That regardless of how bad I break that my wonderful wife will stay as even and level headed as possible.
7. Every rental I have ever moved into I say as I am cleaning that this is the most disgusting I have ever seen a home and I am moving into it.
8. "Dad, are we done yet, I mean like can we go back to our old home and play with our old friends?"
9. A garage is really meant to store everything but cars, they belong out on the driveway.
10. Do I really have that much stuff, I thought we gave a lot away!
11. Why is my bike getting dust on it.
12. Always turn off your water main when you leave your house vacant, because the call that your basement is flooding from the almost new owners the day before closing is not really fun to deal with!!!
13. If all has been delayed in the process should I be alarmed when the day of closing I receive a call from my realtor that we are having a few "speed bumps and it might take a few days to sort out". Breath.....Smile.......Really breath it is going to be ok............

Keep smiling,

T

Race Report for Loveland Lake to Lake

Leading up to this race was life as normal which is untypical for me the day before a race. I had a long day working on Friday, home fast to help with the kids and then off to bed by 9pm. I was not able to settle down and pack for the trek up to Loveland until 8pm. I only forgot my race belt but was offered a spare by Beth (thanks). I love this race and was pretty excited to do it for the 3rd year in a row. Last year I was able to put together a good race because I had a "rabbit " on the course a head of me named Sonja. She helped me run the fastest 10K ever that day and when we saw that this year the roles were reversed it was game on!!!! Sonja and I and Beth and I put a bet together for T1 time and T2 time combined for all out bragging rights. Jayde West from Las Vegas was up seeing family and decided to race with me and so we made plans to meet at 4am and caravan together. Jayde raced sick and gave it all he did but ended up heading home early and I was sad not to see him more on the day.






I arrive on time and was ready to go by the time Practical Coaching was taking pictures and heading into the H2o for warm up. I had talked to Coach Steve the night before and told him I was not holding back and was going to try to push the entire race to get a spot for Nationals. I was able to qualify last year and wanted to do it again.

I was the first wave in the H2O and took it easy the first 250 yards. The Wave had Elites and 34 & Under all together and it was brutal. I have never been beat-up at much on a swim as I was this day. I ramped up hard and let the day begin.

Sonja had not caught me yet but and since this course was an out and back I new that she was getting close. I was feeling REALLY good on the first 3 miles and then started to deal with cramp at the start of 4. Just then I saw Sonja and yelled "you better come and get me" and then put my head down and ran as fast as I possible could to make her work for it. She is normally able to run 30 seconds or more faster than me per mile and so I was able to keep her off my heals until mile 5 when she caught me. I again gave the best surge I had and sent her on her way feeling good that I fought a good fight. I did not think much about my side ache the last mile in but instead felt really proud of my effort. I finished with the Kids in Toe and it was a great day.

Since I was the first group off I was able to check my time coming across the mat and saw that I took 2 minutes off of my time last year. What a great feeling and I am glad that I am able to still see a drop. Thanks to all that helped to make the day great. Thanks to Anne for coming and yelling and bringing the kids. You are such a great friend and I love you!!!! I ended up taking 11th in my age group and qualified for Nationals in August in Alabama.

The Kids had fun dancing to the musice and playing as they did awards and we all rested on the hill side. Love you guys.

Boo Yaaa,

T

Fun news and the Kids Tri in Highlands Ranch

Balance Rock in Arches National Park, Moab Utah


My little girl playing at the KOA in Moab, Utah

Change is good when you desires are good. Anne and I have been trying to find ways over the last year to simplify our life, reduce our finical foot print and really work on what is important to us. We sold our cars for smaller, less expensive ones. We changed other small things over the last year and have been really excited to finish the job with selling our home. Trying to sell in today's market is hard and so Anne went to work making the home beautiful. We priced it to what we felt the market would accept, reduced it twice over 6 weeks of no showings and finally started to get some showings. We had a few offers 40-60K less then the current price and started to get discouraged but held strong. On Monday we were presented with 2 offers in the same day. We worked with them on counters and settled and signed a contract the next day. The family needed a home quick so we are closing in 19 days, we had the inspection today and things look good. This last move will allow us to move closer to my work, have over 8 hours of drive time back. We are looking in areas that meet the needs of our family and it looks like we are headed to "A" town, Northern Aurora. This will allow us to finish a goal we had started to work on over a year ago and I could not be more excited for this to happen. We will rent a home until we can find one that we want to live in for a long time. We have a chance to be picky and so we will. We will miss our friends and family that we have in Littleton but feel that this will be a really good chance for us to blossom. Booo Yaaaaa.

The Triathlon season started this last weekend for Jackson and Josh in Highlands Ranch at the Kids Tri. Jackson was sick last year and had no energy to do much more than survive the race and was really excited to rock the house this time. Josh felt his new shoes would really make him fast and so both were excited as we loaded the bikes and started to drive over. Jackson and Josh were able to get transition set up and were feeling pretty good about the day. Here is Jackson, Josh and Robert a good friend before the race.

The swim was fast and both boys rocked the entire race. Anne and Lexi were in charge of pictures and did a great job. The race went by pretty fast and both the boys where really happy at the end. They have been talking all week about the next race in July and how excited they are to try to get faster and do a better job. It is fun to see them grow and do something that they really love.

Love you Anne,

T

A weekend of good training

Saturday I had a swim and run workout in Chatfield. I had sent my broken wetsuit to Desoto on Thursday so I was swimming at the pond just in trunks. As I was getting started I had the enjoyment of watching Tony trying to put his wetsuit back on after a run. He had a swim-run-swim-run workout and struggled to the point of laughter trying to get his wetsuit back on for the second leg.
I jumped in and got the workout done, It was a little later in the morning so I rushed to get it done before the pond closed. After the swim I quickly ran to the car, changed and was about to start on my run workout when Rob ran by the car. He waited and we ran the swim pond loop together talking and having a good time. This was the first time that I was able to hang with Rob and it was really fun to hear about him and what he is doing. We ran well together and had FUN. After the first loop he was done with his workout so I went it alone on the second. I pushed the pace and felt good and ran the second 6 minutes faster than the first. The sun was out and it was a hot fun day. I felt good about the credits going into the bank, at the end I was tired but in one of the really good ways.
I found the family at the outdoor pool and we swam for a while. We came home and I was able to go on a date with my fun wife. It was a good evening and I felt like a recharge happened.
Sunday we had a bunch of work to get done on the house and so I had a late workout. I decided to leave from my home to get the distance needed for the day. I was blown away by the amount of people in Chatfield and Deercreek at 11am. It was crazy busy, fun to be out since we usually ride early and alone. I was able to meet and talk to other riders as I climbed for the day. I pushed hard and steady up Deercreek before the down poor hit. I turned at the school house and made my way home. I arrived 55 miles later and 3.5 hours into a good workout. I pushed up to School house faster than I have all season and feel good about the month of June so far. I was able to see Tony again, (he was mending a tire on his last few miles) and I was able to see Rob just as I was at Deercreek and Wads. It is fun to see the gang since I do not train much with them anymore even if it is for a glimpse.
Here is to more good workouts, and success for the year.

T

My kids trip to Moab or mine?

Kids- We were able to get out of school early on Friday and the other kids in my class were jealous and that was fun. The car was packed so we just jumped in and went for a really long ride. We had dinner in the car (that does not happen very often so it was cool) DS, movies and of course plenty of fighting. Lexi hit me so I hit Josh and then they both hit me since I was in the middle.
We made it to Moab, Utah at dark, there was a pool, mini golf, a play ground and we were able to make friend's faster than Dad was able to put up the tents. First night was crazy, Josh would not leave me alone and kept bothering me even though we had our own kids tent. It may have rained a bit but no real big deal. The next day was fun and we went to Arches National Park. We hiked, climbed on the rocks, did some of the Junior Ranger's program jobs. We had lunch in the park, that was really fun. Dinner was during a huge rain storm. We all climbed in Mom and Dad's tent and played Uno for a long time. The rain stopped and we started to play again and did until we were tired. Their was this huge pool left in the road so we rode our bikes and had a blast until our lips turned blue. The next day Mom and Dad said they were really tired and wanted to go home (loossserrrressss). We went back to the park and climbed up to a really cool arch. Dad was really nervous when we got close to the sides and yelled a few times. I was surprised that he had kept his manners this long in a trip, he usually blows much earlier. I guess we just did not push as hard as we should. The ride home was fun we went to the Dinosaur museum and it was really cool. Dad fell asleep in the chair during the movie, I hope I do not turn that lame!!! We got home and cleaned up. I asked if we could go again to Moab and Arches next week, Mom said "well see" dad said "nope, but maybe next year". I had a good time and I am glad that we had a fun Memorial Day trip to Moab even if we only lasted 3 days 2 nights.

Dad- I hurried home and helped Anne pack the truck to it's limits with almost everything in our house. We checked the weather once more and it got worse from the last 20 times that we checked it. We decided that we needed to go anyway and it would be fun. We arrived to Moab without much problem except that the rain had just started to down poor and we were getting wet. I liked the KOA, it was just outside of town and it looked pretty all around us so we felt good about the choice. The kids did not go to sleep until 10pm and it rained all night. I had a leak in the tent and stayed wet the entire night. The kids were very kind and started to get up at 6:30am. So much for sleeping in!!!! We cooked breakfast, packed the car and headed to Arches. We hiked, had fun, took a long hike and then it started to rain really bad on us so we headed home to the tent. Anne read in the park that it was the desert and on average it rained 9 inches a year. That night as we ran home we beat the hail but landed smack dab in the down pour. It lasted for 1 hours and everything was wet by the end and it was getting dark. We moved the tent to higher ground, had another sleepless night and woke to a windy cold morning. Anne and I made the decision that we were done, we packed up and headed to the park for one last hike. We did the loop to Delicate Arch and the kids were awesome. The camera was left in safe in the car so we do not have a pic but it was really, really neat. The drive home was good and I slept for 9 hours that night. The next day the kids asked if we could go again and they were surprised that we said the weather was bad, they did not even notice and had a blast. The kids helped clean up and so I guess we will do it again.

Loved Arches, Anne and kids had fun for their first time and I would like to go again when we have time to check out other sights. I love my family and will always keep trying to give them experiences like this one even if they do not realize how crappy it was for Anne and I.

Love you Anne,

T

Success at Littlefoot Triathlon

I decided last minute that I wanted to do the Littlefoot Triathlon on May 17th 2009 in Morrison Colorado. I had plans to ride with friends but after talking to Anne I went and signed up and started to get pretty excited. The distance was was a sprint with a normal swim (750M) long bike (15M) and long run (4M).
The day started at 5am and I was off to Morrison, I was racing solo but was really excited to hear and see Annie, Troy and Sonja cheering me on. 7:20am was the first wave and I as I walked into the cold 55 degree water the day started with a brrrrrrrr cold. I took it out slow and found some feet to follow the second half of the swim.
Out of the water Sonja told me I was close to the lead pack and I felt a surge that I have never felt before in a race. I was not sure what to do because I have never been close to the lead or the front runners of a race so I smiled and keep up the effort. I took the bike slow on the first of 2 laps, I had not done any recon on the course and felt that I would learn the course and then press hard on the second lap. The course was 2 loops with plenty of areas to mark your progress. It was also on the technical side and I came out of arrow in a few areas to make the turns. Passing the first lap I realized the I was sitting in 7th or 8th place and ramped it up a couple of gears. I passed a few guy and came into T2 sitting 6th in my wave. The first 2 guys were well past me but I had a few in my sights. The wave start was for men 39 and under and so I felt I was doing pretty good for my age group. I took the first part of a 2 loop run course mellow and started to pick it up after the turn around. I had 2 guys in my sights and I was able to get past 1 of them. I started lap 2 with some power in my legs and after hearing Sonja and Troy yelling like total rock stars I push it as hard as I could. I came into the last mile feeling like it was my fastest and and had a HUGE smile running into the finish shoot.
This was a totally fun course and I will add it to my next year schedule. The race was safe, fun and very cool to push the early season effort.
Since I never have had this happen I feel that I am able to blog about it and have that be ok. I have waited around for almost every awards ceremony to see my fellow friend take the podium and celebrate their success. Today I was my turn.......Yep 3rd place in my age group and 7th age group male overall. I had a great day and really feel good about it. So yep, I feel that the year is off to a good start and I am feeling good about that. Sometime you just have to throw in the mix a little FUN and today was not just a little it was a whole bucket full.

Thanks for letting me go and have fun Anne,

Thanks for coming and cheering Wieck Family.

Boooo Yaaaaa

T

PS here are the stats.

TYLER WALTON
Swim 13:23.6 T1 0:48.4 Bike 44:42.0 Speed 20.1 T2 0:54 Run 23:47.8 Total 1:23:36.1