The Day after Christmas

All is well in the Walton home the day after Christmas. We are at Keystone for the day and I am in the car with Lexi as she takes her nap. Anne, Jackson, Josh are on the mountain with John and Jens family and Paul's Family. They are having a great time. Anne is doing better on her 2ND day skiing and Josh is as well. Lexi was cold today so we were only able to make 2 runs before we hit the lodge for lunch and then the car for nap time.

Christmas day was one of the better Christmas days that I have had in a few years. The kids were excited about Santa Clause and were really kind to each other the past few week. We had a good time opening presents and Anne totally hooked me up with a new Ipod and clothes. We had the family over for a brunch and just hanging out. Paul, R & H, J & J all came over for some part of the day. We ate well, played games and because the boys were given Nintendo DS's we did not see them for over 4 hours while they played with cousins. The day was very mellow and really fun, I relaxed and found great peace in my home while we had 20+ running and playing. I love the holidays!!!
Christmas night Anne and I have a weird tradition of going out for Chinese food and getting out of the home. We have done it every year since we were married and now we have friends and family join us.

On Christmas Eve we went to J & J home for dinner and program. We had a very special call from my Mom and Dad who woke up at 3am in Lebanon to call us all and wish us a merry Christmas. That call was bitter sweet since it was so nice to talk to them and bitter because I really missed them this year. As a huge family we had so much going on and they would have had a blast being around. They get home in September if you talk to my Mom and November if you talk to my Dad. What ever time it is, they will be home for the holidays next year.

Christmas Eve I had a 10 mile run to get done. I got a crazy idea of having everyone join me and ride bikes or run with me on the 2ND half of the run which was all down hill. We ended up having Paul run, Anne pull Lexi and Josh's BFF Libby in the Burley. Jenn, Hayley, Andrew, Parker, Becca, Jackson, Josh and Max all were on bikes. We had a blast and I was able to get a good workout in. The run was from 85 in Castle Rock to My home in HR. 10.80 miles and I did it with an average HR of 154, it was an LSD run and I did good and felt great. After that we went to the Rec center for swimming, rock climbing, and playing around. The day was busy and really fun.

If you could not tell by the flavor of the post it has been a pretty good few days, take a look as some of the Christmas video I put on my blog under Christmas.

Tell next time,

Love you Anne,

T

Little update on my Journey

This weekend was one filled with some great stuff, I want to take you for a little ride so sit back and read on:

Friday 7:45- Troy and Sonja, Michelle and Michael, Jordan and Amy and Paul B and I took off for a day of skiing at Vail for the first time as a group. This was one of the best days I have had on the slopes, we had great skiers and great people and the snow was awesome. The day ended way too quick and we were on our way home left to reflect on the sweet turns, great powder and fun, fun company.

Friday 7:00pm Anne decides that her cold is getting worse and decides to cancel on her long training run for tomorrow. We were going to run 43 miles that day as a family, (Anne 15.2 and me 26.6).

Saturday 8:00am I was a little sad with the way the day started being without Anne but put my game face on, kissed the kids and left at 9am to meet the group.

History- August 2007 I started to train for St George Marathon and on my 24 mile long run I was forced to stop at 18 due to IT band problems and spent the next 2 months getting back to being able to run 6 miles. Fast forward 14 months of training and working on form it was time to start thinking about going long again. Part of the Practical Coaching group is going very long and so we are invited to help out. Saturday the 20Th of December they wanted to run from Highlands Ranch to Pearl Street Boulder a total of 46.6 miles. The longest I have done since 2007 was 16 but I said it's time to get that monkey off my back and I was in for 26.6 (Over Marathon distance).

Saturday 10:10 I pick up Steve, Sonja and Tony at Morrison and E470. We have a climb right off the bat and I decided that yesterdays big powder day was going to make today just a little harder. The weather was 21 degrees when I started and so I was dressed warm. We started a pace line and did not talk much for the first 8 miles.

11:30 ish. We pick up 3 more runners Keith, Nicole and Beth and they mix up the group and so conversation came back and so did the smiles. I was at 7.5 miles and starting to hurt a bit in the legs and I new that I was running a high HR so on a huge hill I took to walking to bring my HR down and take a break. Beth notices me break and takes a turn around and at that moment she became my guide for the rest of the day. I hit my first low as I was climbing and started to doubt the distance for the day at this point. I was being dumpy and the pain was getting worse. I tried to get back to center and continue on and did so pretty fast. We finished the hill and had a flat few miles before we started to drop into Boulder.

16 miles- After catching back up to the group and leaving early out of the stop I took off to get a few moments to myself to bring back happy Tyler. It did not take them long to catch me and after running with them for a few miles we hit another big hill and I took to the back again. And you know what, so did Beth. She circled around and started asking for the " how bad is it report". I tried to make it sound really bad but by the time I was finished she started to laugh. She said I am running to well to be that bad so get up. She talked me into relaxing and getting my breathing back to my stomach and we hit mile 18.5 going down hill. That is my longest run that I have every had and kept running.

Last aid station 21 mile ish?- We picked up John, I put on another set of layers and off we went. We were just a few minutes behind the large group and I new that I was going to finish my day. At mile 23 I hit my biggest low and when I told Beth that I was really down she went into this long speech about the fact that I could not be low because of all the things I was. She talked about Anne, family, work, friends and who I am. I broke into tears hearing he talk about me this way, what a great friend she is. We keep on going and I kept lifting my feet and keeping my head up and soon we stopped climbing. We made it to the last hill of the day and then it was all down hill.

26 miles- I did not have time to enjoy the fact that I ran for 26 miles and before long I was past 26.2 the official Marathon Distance. Off in the distance I could see the group and I was filled with emotion as I ran the last 1/2 mile.

500 yards to Pearl Street- We pass the group that had finished just a few minutes before and was cheered to the end. No finish shoot, no medal, not even a bottle of water just a victory for me to enjoy. Normal people on the mall passing us did not understand what I had just done, but I did. I ran 26.58 miles on a day that was 22 degrees. It was just a training run, not for a particular race of anything just for that fact that it was out their to be done. The monkey was taken off my back and place on the next soul to battle with. Today was my day and I did it.

26.58- Hugs, cheers, tears, wonderful comments that I will kept for life, all in a days training run. My journey will go on and I look forward to the next challenge, it is kind of funny that it just happened to be the very next day. I called Anne just as soon as I could warm up and in her "no voice" said how proud of me she was. My day was complete.

Sunday- 5am wake up for long swim workout.

6:13am- The 5000 meter non-stop swim started. That is 3.1 Miles or a 5K swim. I started slow and realized my legs were not going to be much help on this swim. I had Steve and Tony in my lane and we as a lane pulled each other along. 1:38 minutes later I was done with swimming the longest I have ever swam non stop in a pool. I was able to relax and settle in and have a great time. I even shut my mind down a little and just swam.

The weekend was huge. The weekend was what I needed because I can now run long anywhere, anytime. I can swim long if I want to and yes, I do want to more times than not. I am on a Journey and loving it. I am not sure where I will go next, just check back and see.

Love you Anne,


T

Sorry no Pic, but I might have some video later so check back soon.

Family day skiing at Keystone

Our Day at Keystone, Colorado

This year we wanted to get Josh skiing on his own. It is our goal to be able to ski as a family all together in a few years and so I am the teacher as the kids get old enough to learn. The fact of the matter is Anne has never gone skiing with me and has only skied a few times in her life. Lexi is two and has a tough time keeping her gloves on and staying warm. So our goal of family skiing is pretty lofty in my opinion. We decided to move forward with our goals even though this year will be pretty hard and maybe not so much fun. Jackson gave his skis to Josh and was able to get a new pair. Anne was hooked up with a gentle used set from Jordan and Amy. http://www.milehighathletic.com/ If anyone needs great gear at a really good price check them out.

I decided that we could let Lexi play on the hill as I worked with Josh and Anne. We went to Keystone and rode the Gondola up to where the Magic carpet training run is, it is also close to where the family gets together to eat lunch. I took only snow boots and made plans to work with Josh and Lexi all day.

Anne put on her skis and took a few turns, she rocked and was on her own by the end of the first run. I would see her making great turns and doing well as she passed me throughout the day. It was really fun to see her do so well, so fast. Josh also decided that he wanted to try hard. His BFF Libby has a year of skiing on him so he worked as hard as he could to learn fast and go with Libby. Jackson took off with his cousins and is getting very independent on the slopes.

By the time lunch came Josh was done with the magic carpet and was ready to go on the beginner ski lift with Mom. He was making good turns, getting better at stopping and not falling down after every turn. Lexi was having fun running down the ski run with me as Josh made his turns.

After Lunch the group that went for the day stayed on the same run and everyone was yelling at each other as they went down. The run was short so you would get a lot of cheering on each run. John my brother took Lexi down a few times on his skis and she had a blast. Josh was finally able to go with Libby and he tried to not fall and keep up with her. Anne is ready to get off the beginner hill and ski the mountain. Lexi will get skis next time we go up and I will also take my skis so I can keep up with Josh. Lexi took a nap in the car at the end of the day and woke up as the kids finished their day and came back to the cars. The ride home was really slow by fun since this is the first time that Anne came with me. Here is a pic of the mountain and the family group that was up that day. We still were missing 4 cousins and 2 parents so our group can get pretty big and crazy.

Proud of you Anne,

T

Back row left to right

Anne, Claire, Rob, Parker, Andrew, John, Sam, Hayley

Front row left to right

Thomas, Bella, Josh, BFF Libby, Becca, Jackson

Missing

Max, Kristin, Rachel, Danny, Brynn, Jennifer

Mom and Josh and BFF Libby coming off the Gondola after a great day sking. Everyone smiling at 4:30pm good times.

Snow+Run=Fun

Wake up to Snow and a very cold day
Not in the mood to run 6 miles with 2 tempo pick-ups go back to bed
Long 2 hour drive to work
Long morning at work
Left work early, day is getting better
Toll road home saves 1.5 hours from morning drive time
Day is getting much better
Anne is home and says its OK to go Run
I get excited to run in 16deg weather, snow is still falling
Day is turning out to be really an OK day
I get bundled up and head out to run
Snow is still falling, no tracks on the sidewalk
Breathing hard, good traction, getting a smile on my face which is mostly covered
Pace is good,
Hit the main road, car lights looking at the crazy guy running at night while it is cold and snowing Really feeling good about the day
3 miles down, feeling good, start first tempo pick-up
1/2 mile later let off the gas and laugh because I am having way too much fun
Getting dark, car lights look at me more and more
Feeling calm, feeling warm, feeling happy, loving Anne's Ipod and selected playlist
5 miles down hit the gas again, look at watch, sub 7 BOO YAAAA
No tracks on my path, getting really dark, feeling totally alive
Make the last turn to home and let the gas off do a little skip and a jump feeling good
Warm down the rest of the way home
Walk in the house, Anne and kids are good
Snow stops falling
Day ends great
First run in the snow, dark, alone ROCKED
Big Booo Yaaaaa

Thanks Anne,

T

My Thanksgiving weekend

It is Sunday morning and I am sitting in the Lazy boy chair with my feet up typing on the keys of my laptop. Snow is falling just outside my window, Anne is putting lights on the Christmas tree and the kids for some unknown reason are playing quietly in another room. I will find out the reason later for quite play, I hope the clean-up will not take too long.

This weekend was great for me, when I was a child we would have very large groups at our home for Thanksgiving and I really enjoyed all the activities that we did. I was very excited for this year because Anne and I were able to host the Dinner and day at our home. In the end we had a blast and I am glad that we had such a fun time. But before I tell about the great Turkey day I need to start at the beginning, so here is my Thanksgiving weekend story.

We spent Wednesday night trying on Josh and Jackson's new skis, even Lexi felt that she would give it a try. They had fun walking around the living room and said the skis would work great and they would be ready to go on Friday.

Thanksgiving morning started for me with a run to the race site where I would meet Anne and the kids. Anne would take Jackson and go and register and the rest of us would get ready for the race to start. This was Jackson's first 5K and the first time that Anne would run the race and not hang with the kids (it was my turn). I bundled up Lexi and put her in the Burley with Josh and we headed for the start. Jackson was excited to race and so we told Mom good luck and headed to the back of the race start where most strollers were and Anne went to the Front. Jackson and Josh started running and did really well the whole race, Lexi even spent some time running with the boys. We ended up crossing the finish line with Both Josh and Jackson running in a full sprint and came in at 49:42. Anne had a great race and PR at a 23:47. She said that she gave it her all, she did not get to warm up so the first mile hurt pretty bad but she still was able to run negitive splits.

Broom Hockey came next at the church with the kids and after an hour of running we cleaned up and headed home to get ready for dinner. Three tables held the 22 people that came for dinner at our home. We had an adults table, teen table and little kids. The dinner was beyond great, the food seemed to taste the best it ever has. We had two 15lb Turkeys one cooked in the oven and one on the grill that was smoked with hickory chips. We had all the traditional items and was able to fill our plates full with just a small samples of each item.

After dinner was spent playing Wii, Lego's, watching football and just visiting. We spent some time saying what we were thankful for and typed an email to my parents who are serving a mission in Lebanon. The day seemed to fly by and our home held together very well. Anne is the best host and we had simply a wonderful time.

Friday the boys and I went skiing with all the cousins to Keystone. The snow is a little week for this time of year but with a season pass given to them from Papa and Nana for Christmas who cares. This year Jackson can go without me and after a few runs found some cousins to go with and was gone. Josh is learning this year and spent the entire day getting use to his new skis between my legs holding onto my poles. Being able to ski with a large family group is great, the kids break up not by age or sex but by ability and so it is fun to see the groups take off with a 9 year old and a 15 year old holding their own.

For us the fun kept rolling into Saturday, when Anne and I started the day with a PC Group run of 10 miles bright and early. It had snowed the night before so the trail that we ran on was covered with snow as well as the trees and everything else. We had a blast running together, Anne is such a great runner and has always been. Now that I enjoy running it is fun to go together. Hayley watched the kids, we appreciate that she would get up so early to come and babysit. We rushed home to get ready for our annual tree cutting adventure and let me tell you with 4 cars full of people it was a real adventure. The question posed for the day is, why take 4 hours to do something when you can stretch it out to 8? We were going to leave at 10:30am from Johns home. We arrived at 10:40am, I forgot the permit and headed back home. We did get off just after 11:15 and then proceeded to stop 3 time or was it 25 times for gas, food and getting lost on this simple hour and a half drive to Buffalo Creek. We arrived all together, the kids did not care because they were able to ride in different cars with cousins and had fun. We started a fire, found a sledding hill and played for 3 hours. Somewhere in that time we were able to go and cut down a Christmas tree. We arrived home in the dark and I felt that the day was WONDERFUL. Our family is crazy different but the kids (cousins) do not care about different personalities and so the theme of the day was "let it roll".

The kids and Mom have now put all the lights on the tree, the snow is still falling down only harder now. I am ready to get a glass of hot chocolate and continue enjoying this wonderful Sunday. I am taking a rest day from my workouts and will more than likely eat more than I should. I will find some reason to take a nap later, I think I feel a headache coming on fast :). I do want to say that I love my family, this weekend as hard as it was to get ready for and as fast as it went by, I would do it a hundred times over. My kids had a blast, they know that we love them and they certainly know that they have a family that loves them. My brothers and sisters treat my kids so kindly, and when everything is boiled down we simply have a blast. A huge group and we keep wanting to get together, time and time again. I missed my parents this weekend, I know that they are loving what they are able to do and I am proud of them but I still miss them. They leave such a big hole when they go that is only filled back up when they return so I am eager to have next October come when they get home.

It is REALLY snowing hard so I guess I will add snow blowing to my days activities.

Anne, you are the best. I really loved spending so much time with you this weekend and I am glad that you do not get board of me. Tell next time,

I love you Anne,

T

Quick work trip to Lake Powell with the Boys

Aramark decided to add more slips for boat owners this year and so My Dad and Partners decided to upgrade the slip so the boat needed to be moved before the end of November. When my Dad and Mom are on Missions we are asked to take care of the boat and make sure it is used. John, Rob and I made plans to go down but Rob had something come up that caused him to stay home.

John came with Parker and Andrew and I took Jackson and Josh and we all jumped in Johns car and headed down. I was raised having to make quick "work trips" to Lake Powell and found the work to be little and the fun to be great. I loved going down as a kid and wanted to make sure my boys had the same experience. We took off Friday afternoon and made plans to come home when the work was done. The drive down was great and even Josh did well. He told Mom on the phone at 10:30pm that I told him he could stay up as long as he wanted. He felt that was a pretty cool thing.

We woke up to a cold November morning at Lake Powell with no one is site. It is very different at low season at the lake. We started the engines and pulled up anchor (not really, just untied the lines) and headed Summer Place 2 to its new home.

We ran the wire to keep the Crows away, ran a new water line, re-tied the anchor lines and attached the power. The boat looks great in its new home, Slot P-13. The boys were able to play in the water, play at the shoreline and make one goodies run to the store. We had a great breakfast John style (pancakes with chocolate chips, hash browns, oranges, and ham). We cleaned up and were on the road by 2pm on Saturday.

I had to do some work and so I thought I would tell you about our little trip as we were finishing it up. We are past Grand Junction and not quite to Eagle so some where in the middle. We are out of the Canyon because I am no longer feeling sick and trying to watch the turns the car is making.

The boys are all playing together with some form of Electronics and having a good time. Did you know that Gameboy DS have Bluetooth and you can play games together wireless? Go figure, when I was a kid we settled for 20 versions of "John Jacob Jinkley Hymer Schmidt".

Good times, I hope that the woman had a good time with girls only for a few days.

Love you Anne,

T

A run in the park, until it was dark

Today was fun it started when I walked out the door
I decided I wanted a group run to start a 4
I made many calls, some good, some not
I even told one person to get off the pot.

Work seemed to rush by like the speed of light
I was running with friend's before it was night
Wash park was central and easy for all
I was excited we were going to have a ball.

We stared slow with Annie in Tow
5 of us made quite the show
We even had some a comment that caused us to think
"Body guards for Sonja" made us blink
I almost tripped and laughed a ton
hurry up the run was almost done

Troy was a champ, Barry and Annie too
I loved running in my new shoes
We picked it up twice and stayed together
7 minute miles seemed to last forever "NOT"

The sky was yellow, red and warm
the end was near and I was torn
I wanted to run longer and have it stay great
but I had to get home and not be TOOO late

The Run in the park was in shorts and a tee
It made me giddy and laugh Heee Heee
In November it was almost 80 degrees
More days like this I beg you please

A run in the park
Until it was dark

I hope you can come next time Anne,

T

Garmin Forerunner 305 at Costco for $159.99

This weekend we saw the Garmin Forerunner 305 for sale for $199.99 at Costco in Park Meadows. Anne then grabbed the coupon book and saw an additional discount for $40.00 if ordered online. Just an FYI if you are looking for a GPS unit that does really well I would go with this one. I have loved mine this season and give it two thumbs up. The website link is below, oh Ya your welcome Costco.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11239292&search=garmin%20305&Mo=0&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=5000043&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=garmin%20305&Ntt=garmin%20305&No=0&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

Thanks Anne,

T

Finding fun in strange places

This week I had plans to spend the first half of the week in Salt Lake City for work. I have a handful of clients in and around Salt Lake and family as well so going out each quarter is the norm now. I usually look forward to going and having a good time, but it seemed like this trip was going to be so/so. I had planned on going on a really fun run on Monday afternoon after an easy client meeting for lunch. I had big plans to run on a fun single track on the ridge line of the valley. The client meeting ended up not being easy and took 2 hours longer than planned and all 4 people that I tried to get to join me for the run canceled. I was late and on my own for my workout on Monday. I thought about just blowing it off and watching tv or something lazy as I left our AFC office in SLC heading to the hotel.

I arrived and checked into the hotel at 4:30pm and had dinner plans at 6:30pm with family which allowed me to get in a good 1.5 hour run. The weather in SLC was raining and cold all day and by 4pm it was turning grey. In my room I unpacked and put my cold weather running gear on and realized that I left gloves, MP3, and a good hat at home. I my mind I had switched from questionable to dead set on some type of run, even if I left from the hotel and ran a city sidewalk route. I finished getting ready and looked at the clock, 4:47pm "not what I wanted to see". I made the decision that I was running from the hotel. As I approached the lobby I received some funny looks, the kind that fuel workouts to be better than normal.

It was cold, it was grey and I was ready to get it done. I felt excited to run on tired legs, the cold weather encouraged me focus and make it a good run. I started out slow and at the first light took a left and headed north for 3 miles. I was running on the side walk, on a busy street in the middle of Salt lake city and I know for sure most of the drivers passing me took a second look at the crazy runner. The sidewalk was covered with fallen leaves from trees that had been around for 30+ years. It was cold, wet and seeing my breath let me know it was game on. The work out was a LSD run with pick-ups on the top of each mile for 2 minutes. I felt great the first mile and when I hit the top I pick up the pace. It was fun to put some effort into my run, it was like I was at track again but the surroundings were much different. I was loving the speed and felt great and had a good time running fast again. I did the same at mile 2 and 3 and then made my turn to head west. It was getting dark now and I made the decision to head back to the hotel. State Street was the next main road and I turn left and headed south passing mile 5. The traffic was really busy and I was feeling wonderful. I relaxed and ran the last few miles back to the hotel really loving the choice of routes. I was feeling a high that was much needed and wanted to run longer but new dinner was around the corner. I slowed down and ran a cool down the last quarter mile and really relished the looks as I came into the hotel out of the dark after a great run.

Dinner turned out to be awesome and I loved just relaxing and enjoying the night. I had a twinge of excitement as I looked back and thought about how I found my fun running at such a strange time and place. I am excited to go and do it again soon.

I miss you and love you Anne,

T

Striking Gold in Colorado

I know that every-so-often you hear of people striking gold and getting rich, well this weekend we did just that. It started with a birthday party for Jackson with 21 of his friends, family and neighbors. We had a great time and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves. Jackson said that "This was one of the best birthday partys I ever had". Job well done Mom.

The next night was Halloween and this year we had Harry Potter, Batman, and the most beatiful Butterfly I have ever seen. Josh and Jackson came home with 7 and 9 pounds of candy respectivly. They decided that selling the candy for $1.00 per pound was more fun then eating it. I guess we will be saved from finding half eaten candy and wrappers around for the next three months.

The Colorado trail was our next challenge. Beth put together a trial run that went 3 segments and totalled 41 miles if you ran all 3. I took the first leg which was 16.5 miles and started the day with 20+ other crazy kids at 7am. Anne made plans to see us at the end with the kids and then switch and run segment 2. I felt great the first 6 miles as we ran up Waterton Canyon and did really well the first 2 miles of the Colorado trail single track. I tried to stay with the lead group as they continued to climb to the top of the mountain. I was behind 7 or 8 other runners and as they would run and then walk up steep parts and then start running again it would nearly break me trying to keep up. I finially decided that if I was to enjoy the next 8 miles I was going to have to slow it down. Barry stayed with me and we slowed it down and made our way to the top. As the trail leveled off we hit the sun and had a great 7 miles down to the end of segment one. Barry paced us really well and I finished strong and in really good spirits. We heard cheering as we were coming down and I hoped that it was our group. I was kind of emotional as I ran the last mile feeling great about what I was able to do. Jackson ran up the trail and caught us as we were on our last few turns and ran with us to the group. I loved it and want to do a repeat when time allows.

Anne, Michele, Andrea, Julie and Nicole started the second segment and looked great. Andrea, Julie and Nicole had done the first segment so they split up a few minutes into the run. This was Anne's longest run ever and to do it as a trail run was super cool. She looked great coming in and really enjoyed the 11.6 miles she ran. I was able to get a very cool shot of her and Michele running in.

The weather made the weekend perfect. It was fun to be out on Halloween and be in a light jacket. It was fun to run in shorts and tee shirts. We really did strike gold this weekend and it proves again that Colorado is really the best place to live.

Tell next time,

Love you Anne,

T

PS if your interested this is what the Garmin said of the Colorado trail.

Tyler: 16.26 miles - 3:32 hours - 13:05 pace - Average HR 159 - Total Ascent 3946 ft - Total Descent 3240ft

Anne: 11.4 miles - 2:47 hours - 14:40 pace - Total Ascent 3224ft - Total Descent 1588ft

A little closer to home maybe too close

I am a huge fan of the TV show "The Biggest Looser". Each week I sit and watch the struggles of people loosing weight and making life changes. It shows them struggle with working out, changing diets and learning about the new life they are trying to create. The contestants talk about their motivation for life change (started by weight loss) and most of the answers center around family. I want to be around longer, or to see a wedding, or the grandchildren grow up. I want to spend more time with my kids and have the energy to play with them. I want to be a better spouse and so on and so on. It is very interesting to hear them talk about where they came from and what decisions they made that caused them to enter the ever growing club of obesity.

This last week I was asked by Slim4Life to be a part of a photo and video shoot for their upcoming marketing season. Each year they ask some of the clients that made their weight loss goals to be a part of the year's ad campaign. Two years ago I was asked and was happy to participate- I even made it into some of the commercials that aired on TV. My before and after picture was also put up in each center with a testimonial. They decided to add to the campaign this year those that have kept the weight off for a longer period of time and that is why I was asked. On April 26, 2006 I joined Slim4Life at 232 lbs. By July I was down to 181 and hit my goal that I made in April. Today I weigh 170lbs and have kept the weight off for over 2 years, and did so by learning about food and exercise and making a huge life change. I am not sure if anything will happen or maybe you will see me on TV again this fall and winter. I really am not so concerned about that. I really appreciated the help I got and will be a huge advocate for them as long as Slim4Life continues to help people change their life.

The biggest looser only scratches the surface on the downside of eating wrong, not exercising and taking care of one's body for life. The obesity rate continues to climb in America and so does the troubles that follow in its wake. The problems that I hear and see have been a warning to me but until this week never really hit home. On Monday of this week my Dad had his first heart attack and then went straight into a Triple Bypass Surgery to help him survive. He did well and seems to be on the road to recovery - a very long, hard road. It has been made mention that he will need to make some pretty big life changes so that he will be able to have a good chance to stick around a little longer. I hope for the best for him and feel that I can help best by being some type of example. I have made many changes and continue to try to make many more. I would like to be as healthy as I possibly can. I want the energy to play with my kids and not just watch. I want to see them grow old and do so not from the Lazy-z-boy recliner holding some type of processed food. I want to live and enjoy life and I now realize that it takes a constant effort. I want to be the winner of my battles and hope that I can get everyone possible to join in.

I still go to Slim4life because they hold me accountable to my weight. I train and exercise with Practical Coaching because they keep me fit. Anne helps me continue to learn about eating healthy and practices what she preaches. She supports me taking the time away from family to stay fit. This year we are trying to involve the kids more in my workouts. Yes we have started to make the changes that were necessary for my survival. I love my Dad and will hope and pray for the best for him - he has a lot of life yet to live and I am certain that he can do it if he wants.

I will not win the Title of "The Biggest Looser" but I have gained a new life and will fight every day to keep it. I love my family and hope that I can continue to live this life and stay away from the challenges that are associated with living overweight.

Tyler

PS...

This is a photo provided by Slim4Life and shot for the 2009 ad campaign.

Love the before and After

Thanks Dayln

Season of LSD will be a challenge for me

This off season I will be doing a lot of Long Slow Distance work so that I can get a better base built for next year season. After meeting with Steve and getting the goals for next year set up we spent a fair amount of time talking about how to make me a better endurance athlete. He believes in the LSD approach and talked about having that be a big part of the next 4 months for me. Saturday I had my first chance to give this approach a try. John M said he had a similar workout and would run with me. We decided to run Waterton canyon to the Colorado trail and then run that for a few miles. I wore a Garmin and set an alarm to go off when I exceeded 150bpm. We took off very easy and hearing the beeping would tell us that I needed to slow down. John HR was about 20 beats below mine but was still in the range of what he needed to be doing as well.

I feel that I need to let you know some other facts about my running so you will know why I am so happy. First, I have only run beyond 14 mile 4 times in my life. I ended up having problems last time I put distance on and ended getting hurt. Second I am not one that is able to run slow, I have always trained at a pretty high HR so to keep it 20-35 beats below what I normally train at will be a huge challenge. Last I really never run past 2 hours at a time, long runs are also new.

John was very patient with me and spent the whole time talking so that I could work on keeping my HR down. It was a challenge because in my HR range was a pace of about 12 minute miles. After Slowing down and even walking a good portion of the Colorado trail we made it to the 8 mile mark. I felt really good and my body was not hurting at all. We turned around and started our way back down. I ended up having to slow down to 13min miles then 14min miles and even mixed in a few mile of walk then run, walk then run. John stayed with me the whole time and even seemed like he enjoyed the slow run. The final stats came in at 3:27 in time. 16 miles in distance and a average pace if 13+. My average HR for the run was 146 (perfect) it will be a great challenge to do this all season.

As I am writing this my legs feel good, I have had a few hours think about what this LSD will be able to do for me and my training and I am very excited. I think in the long run it will pay off big and I am willing to give it a try.

Tell next time, happy training and if you see a very slow guy on the trail stop and say hi to me I will be the one trying to keep the HR alarm from beeping.

I love you Anne,

T

Pictures from San Francisco

Here is the plane shot at the start of the trip. We took up a whole row except for one poor business guy that had to sit next to us. We had a great plane ride and the kids had fun looking out the windows and playing with the toys that Anne packed for them. Josh was surprised and given a Gameboy for the trip which he really liked.
When we went for our epic day of bike riding we stopped on the Golden Gate Bridge in the middle and took this shot. The day was very sunny as was the whole trip. We had 2 mountain bikes, one Burley, for food and gear and 2 kids and we also had a "ride along" attached to the other bike so the boys could switch and ride with us. What a great day.

This is Josh and Mom leading the ride near the park. Josh was just telling us how fun he was having on the "ride along". Looks like we will be getting one at home for the extended rides as a family.

Here is Jackson's and Josh sitting at pier 39 looking at Alcatraz in the background. I hope to return some day for that race.

Everyone needs a pier shot, here is ours. As is said in the original post I loved this trip and really look forward to having more of them in the future. I really love my family and liked this time with them.

check out the video

Check out the Age Group Nationals Video clip to see Jenna on her bike, Beth in T2 (no voice so you can be happy Beth) and Julie with the vocals at the end. Glad to see PC getting some visibility.
http://www.endurancefilms.com/TheCompany/OurSponsors/NAGCHIGHLIGHT.aspx

T

Finding myself in San Francisco

January 1997 Anne and I went to San Francisco for our honeymoon. I returned again just last week and was found. I have been feeling a bit off center the last few weeks. I had surgery and stopped training, started weight loss and had a really hard few weeks at work. 6am came on Wednesday and I turned my phone off and went on a family vacation that I did not plan or put together (the first in a very long while). Traveling with 5 (3 of which are under 8) makes for some patient people, good planning and some smiles. The trip was really fun and rather then giving a huge trip report I will say this; Batteries are full, kids are great and I love my wife more then I ever have before. The 3 best parts of this trip for me were:
1. 20 miles on a bike with a burley and 2 kids and gear going over the Golden Gate bridge, and really seeing some of the best parts of San Fran.
2. Kids running down the streets, falling, getting up and running again. Not a lot of flat ground where we stayed.
3. Falling in love with my family all over again, and again and again.
4. Doing thing the Anne and Tyler way and loving it!!!!!

Anne is staying a few extra days to hang with family while I get back to work. The kids and Anne ended up getting sick but I have to say I love that place and look forward to having a reason to go back again.

Love you Anne,
Thanks for planning such a great trip.

T

Nationals race recap

We had to rack our bikes and check them in the night before the race so we were able to sleep in a little longer on Saturday morning. We were on the road by 5am after getting up at 4:45 am. The race site was 35 minutes away and we were pretty quiet as a group the whole drive to the parking lot. We jumped on the bus and were off to the race site. Setting up transition was very smooth and I was off to see the start of Barry and others before I went off with my wave. The National Anthem was great and the first few waves were off in 4 minute delays. I then headed up to the tent were I had stashed my transition bag and stuff for the day. I went on a trail run for warm up and was pretty sweaty when I came back to put on my wet suit. I took my time and walked down the ramp to the water which was really low this year and staged myself with the rest of the blue swim caps.

We were ushered out on to the boat doc and lined up with someone yelling 90 seconds. At 1 minute we were allowed to jump in the water and hang on to the edge. The blow horn went off and the race was on. We only had 45 guys in our wave and so not much water fighting was going on for position. I started out strong with a medium build to race pace. I found some feet to follow for a while until my pace increased and I made a pass. I did have someone on my feet the whole race, he even let me know by slapping my toes about 50 times. I have never had someone draft off of me so I thought it was kind of cool. The swim was fast for me I came out of the water in 23:54 which was a PR. I felt good running up the swim ramp to T1 and had a smooth transition. I was on my bike and settled in for the 2 loop course that has very little flat areas. I fought hard to get up to pace and effort as soon as I could. I had a few guy from my age group pass me and I found one to jump onto and hang with the whole time. I was a better climber and he was a little stronger and pushed pass me on the flats before the next climb. I think we played cat and mouse a little too much and if you pull my results you will see a 2:00 penalty. The guy I was racing with was also hit with a 2min penalty. I am pretty sure that we worked it a little too much. I was able to see Sonja, Jenna, and a few other on the bike course and it was fun to yell some words of encouragement. The guys that I was racing with at this invite only race were great, I was moving at a good pace both up and down on my bike and I was getting passed by others often. I was impressed because I turned in a good bike time and still I was getting rocked. I finished the 2 laps not remembering to pull my feet out of my shoes. I had a very short window to pull them out and get ready for T2 and was glad that I made it. My bike time ended up a 1:08:51 which was 21.7 MPH. Again the course was not flat and so I would say that my bike was a huge PR. T2 was slow for me, I decided to open a water bottle and take a swig before I headed out onto the run.

We had a climb right at the start of the run and so I took it pretty slow. The run course was an out and back with 4 good hills to climb each way. At mile one I was feeling good and by mile 2 I pushed my pace up. I was strong on the climb up the hills and was sitting forward on the downhills. At the turn around I had not been passed by anyone in my age group for awhile and I was feeling really good. I climbed to the top of the hill which was mile 4 and then turned it up a notch again. I was really proud that I was able to push a little faster and just past mile 5 Sonja passed me. She was flying and so I settled down and jumped on to her pace. It took me a while to get the speed up but I was able to keep her in sight most of the last mile. The last 800 meters was a turn back to the Transition and the finish shoot. We had a pretty good downhill and as I make another turn at 600 meters I was passed by someone in my age group really flying. I did not want to be passed by him so I jumped on and held stride with him 3 steps back. We had to make a right turn to the finish shoot which was 200 meters to the finish line. I decided that I would make my move at that last turn and kick it all the way to the finish line. He heard me coming and by the time I passed him he was in a full kick with me. We crossed the line right at the same time and the results show us at a tie if I did not get my penalty. I blew up the last 50 feet and just about passed out at the end. I was able to get to a chair and calm down and a few minutes later I was able to get up and go and cheer the rest of the group in. I finished my run in 47:02 and was very pleased with the race. My official time was 2:24:23 and if you take the 2min penalty off I was a 2:22:23 which is a huge PR for me. I was really pleased with the day and left everything I had on the course. I could have not given any more and really felt happy.

Thanks so much Steve and Andrea from PC and the rest of the group for helping me make my first Nationals such a great race. I really love the sport and can even say I am looking forward to next year. I am thankful to my family for letting me go and I hope some day we can afford to have you all come watch. For those that qualified for Worlds great job I am proud to say that I train with you.
I look forward to the off season and the opportunity to build a better, faster Tyler. Now on to the off season where we build strength, make changes and spend much needed time with the family. I am looking forward to this time and wish everyone good luck.

Love you Anne,

T

Pics have been provided by the best in the business Eric Willis. Thanks for making the weekend one we will remember forever.

Nationals in Portland OR. Let the game begin!!!!!!

I am in my final hours before I leave for Portland for my first ever "A" race. It was in July that I raced last and I am really ready to go. This is the first year that I have been given speed work on my schedule and I have had a great time with it. I feel good, I feel fast and most of all I feel ready. I am excited to step on the line and let the cards fall where they may.

We have a great group going and I am very excited to see how everyone will do. I even believe that we will see some PC kids get an invite to Worlds in Australia next year and that would be awesome.

I have worked hard and my family has supported me all along the way. I will be thinking of them a lot as I am away and really look forward to having good results.

Lets the game begin,

BOOO YAAAA

Love you Anne,

T

Family day at the Miller Farm

A flyer came in the mail that caught Anne's eye and she held it aside to talk to me about. Miller farms in Longmont has ride, bike tractors, mazes, food, and wagon rides to the crops where you are allowed to pick your own. We both liked the idea and decided that we would go on the weekend.

When we arrived after a short 1 hour drive from Denver we were impressed with what we saw. We paid and the kids were off in all different directions. After playing for an hour or so we jumped on the trailer full of hay to sit on and took off with about 20 other people. The first stop was to Corn on the cob, broccoli, turnips, string beans and cabbage. We took about 30 minutes at the first stop and for the first time my kids picked real food. Not from the veggie section at King Soopers but from the earth where you are bound to get a little dirty. The next stop was for potato's, peppers, pumpkins, Basil, and tomatoes. The last stop was for carrots, onions, Indian corn and eggplant.

By the time we arrived back we were dirty, sun burned and full of good food to eat. The kids had a great time as did Anne and I. We ended the day by hitting Cracker Barrel for dinner for some breakfast for dinner. It took all day but was really fun and I was glad that we were able to go. I would recommend this to anyone.

Fun,

Love you Anne,

T

The summer ends with a splash

By the time 8pm rolled around I wondered why I was even going at all. We had made plans to head to Lake Powell as a family at 5pm and Anne was running late at work. By the time 8pm had arrived I was ready to stay home for the weekend. Then she walked through the door and the look on her face of “get me the heck out of here” told me to jump up and get rolling. We were loaded and in the car in 15 minutes (I had done most of the packing between 5-8pm) and were off. Lake Powell is a 7.5 hour drive from Denver and we were on the road excited for the trip and the much needed break. It took us a few minutes to relax and get into trip mode but we did and the real trip started around Vail pass. The kids were sleeping and I was able to spend a few hours talking to my best friend while I drive. I love to talk and drive for the fact that I am able to do something and still focus on the conversation, we can talk for hours on end and I love it.

After a good nights rest in Grand Junction we pulled into the Bullfrog valley just before noon on Thursday. We had the boat unpacked and were swimming within the hour. Jackson and Josh both were happy to go off the slide on the boat and Lexi was just as excited to jump in the water and be held by her dad. Time at the lake seems to slow way down and you really get 2 hours of fun for every real hour on the clock. The sun was hot and the day just seemed to slow down to the pace where your batteries get charged. Later in the day the heat started to cool off and we were excited for the arrival of Tyler and Liz. They left SLC around Noon and so we expected to see them around 6-7pm. I had a 6 mile run with a few speed miles in the mix and I headed out around 6pm. I wanted to run where I never had before so I stared to head for the road that leads out of Bullfrog. I saw 8 vehicles the entire run and every one of them gave me plenty of room. I really enjoyed the hour run and cool down and chasing the sunset home.

The next morning we took of on the boat for a long ride into some canyon away from people, we spent most of the day on the boat or in the water and by the time the night came we were tired. I realized that day how much I love this place. I have been going to Lake Powell with my family since I can remember and I am thrilled that I am able to take my family and have such a great place to stay. I am very thankful to my parents for allowing us to use the houseboat and ski boat, it makes it possible to afford such a fun trip.

Saturday was much of the same, we went on the boat and pulled the tube and banana. This year Josh and Jackson went on the kneeboard for the first time and Liz skied for the first time. Anne and I wake boarded and skied and by the time the day ended we were tired and sore. Sunday marked the day of departure and so after a morning on the beach we started to make our way home. The entire trip home all of us were wishing that we could have stayed a few more days.
Lake Powell is a magical spot, everyone who had been there knows what I mean. It seems to mend and fix what is broken, maybe it’s in the water or the sun. Or maybe it’s in the smile on the faces of my kids letting me know that life could not get any better. I am not really sure nor do I really care, I just love Lake Powell. To those that have been I would recommend getting back soon and for those who have been deprived find a way to make it to this magical spot, I promise you that you will not be disappointed.