LOVELAND little tri called Lake to Lake

This race was exciting for me this year for two main reasons. One, I am able to return and race a course for the second time and second Anne was racing at this race. I was pretty certain that I would be able to see her on the course because the run was an out and back. She was the run leg of a relay and so I was hoping that it would work out.
The alarm did not even go off because I was up at 3:30am excited for the day and by 3:50 decided to get up. I nudged Anne and woke her up and we were off to a place in the Northlands called LOVELAND.
We arrived at 5:30 and Anne dropped me off at the Transition area to get my bike racked and check in. The racking was open and so I ended up being on the row with Beth which was kind of fun. I was the 3rd wave start on the swim and so I had about 45 minutes to get warmed up, get my wetsuit on and head to the water. This race brought most of the Practical Coaching kids out and so Anne and I saw friends everywhere. I love racing with friends and warming up with friends and talking about the race with friends. It was the start to a really good day.
The gun went off and I started my normal swim build and felt that I was going at a pretty good pace. I felt good and really focused on relaxing in the water and swimming calm and fast. I was able to stay away from any real water fights and so the swim was going well. I made the last turn and started to head back and off in the distance I could see the swim exit. I kept my pace the same which is hard for me to do at this point and kept telling myself that I was doing well. Out of the water I did a quick check of how I was feeling and smiled because at this point last year on the run to T1 I was dead tired. This year I did my check and ran to T1 feeling in check and proud of the swim. I even ended up beating last years time. T1 was fast, REALLY fast. I had my suit off and my helmet on and was out in :38 seconds. Past the mount line and I was off on the ride. I settled into the ride pretty quick, had little problems with getting my shoes on and I was off for a 30 mile ride. The first few climbs felt good and I kept myself focused on a good clean ride. I wanted to have plenty of energy for the run. 10 miles in I saw Troy and Chris walking back to the car and new that they had just seen Sonja. That made me excited because if I caught her we could use each other other to push the race a little faster. A few miles later a few hundred yards away I saw a familiar ride form and outfit. It was the "GOSONJA" and I was getting close. I came up on her as we started to climb and for the next 15 miles we stayed on each other and it helped. The climbs were fun because Steve has taught us to be good climbers and so we were steady and passed alot of people. The only thing more fun then picking people off was the downhill. The first one I was able to get into a full tuck position and let the "Stealth" (my bike's name) go. I had to smile as I passed in a tuck people peddling as hard as they could. I felt like I was in the mid 40mph and it was FUN. The second climb we kept the pace steady and I felt strong and as we made it to the top and then a car passed me. That is not unusual but as we stared our decent that same car decided to go slower that I wanted to so I did the only thing that I felt was right, I passed 3 bike's and that same car that passed me at the top of the hill. We were on the down side and headed back to T2 and I was feeling good. The course has rollers for the remaining portion and about half the way back I hear someone passing me. Most of the this it is a guy with a disc wheel which carries a familiar sound but this was different. I was a calm fast sound. It was Steve and he even smile, looked and gave the slight hand lift. I felt inspired and dropped a gear and pushed my pace. Off he went and then a swarm followed. Sonja was in that swam and so I jumped on. The group had 4 or 5 that were going back and forth and by the time we settled down we were back in town and almost at T2. I slowed down took off my shoes and started to focus on a good clean T2. Sonja and I bet Steve that we would have a faster T2 time than he would and so I pushed to be fast. I have to say that my shoes never went on so quick and I was off. I saw Steve lead out of T2 and off he went at blazing speed. I I did not see Sonja so I thought I was out second of the three of us. Half a mile into the run she was on me and told me to jump on. I did and held with her until we passed mile one and she looked at her watch and was mad at a 7 minute pace. She pushed on and I decided that if I wanted to have a good race I needed to let her go. So for the next mile I saw here move forward until she was out of sight. My check at mile two was good and by the time I hit the turn-a-round I was feeling really good. In fact I have never felt that strong, even thought I was having a stomach thing go on I was feeling good. The next 2 miles I saw Michelle, Beth, John, Barry, Anne, Michelle, and others. It was a party and everyone looked good so I kept it up. I ran past the point that made me stop last year and smile with sweet satisfaction. I passed the spot were I walked for the second and third time and was feeling really good. I sat down and pushed the pace for the last half mile. I came into the finish lane hearing my name yelled and that motivated me to let it go. I passed the finish line with the clock saying 2:45. That was my last years time and if I stared 8 minutes back this year that meant I was in the 2:30's and oh was I happy. I did not get to see my run time until later that day but I felt like it was my best race. Later that night I found out I ran a 45 minute 10K and could not be happier. For those that are aware of my run last year I ran a 52/10k and have never run a faster 10k ever. BOOO YAAAAA.
Anne came in looking good and I was able to cheer everyone in. The awards were fun because we had a 5 or 6 place. We went crazy and finished the Loveland Lake to Lake the only way we know how. HAPPY and LOUD.

Boo Yaaa,

Good job Anne, I love racing with you.

T

I am having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!!!!

FROM MY MIND TO YOUR EYES.

Today one of my clients called and asked if his Containers coming in from China were on schedule. I had to think for a moment of how I was going to explain my answer to him. In my mind I felt that we had everything under control so I took a deep breath and spoke clearly into the phone. "Chris your freight is OK, it has hit a little snag but don't worry the container lines know what they are doing"

He asked if they were having problems at the port because he heard that some products that were coming in from China where coming in Damaged and he wanted to make sure that his was safe. I told him that once freight makes it to the port that it is almost a Guarantee that nothing will harm the container. Why would you think that something could go wrong at the container yard?

Anyways I am told that they only allow the really good CDL drivers at the port. If you want to be concerned I said listen to this story. I told him about this other client that I have that makes special equipment kind of like play toys for the rich, this stuff is pretty fragile when put together. One day last week a forklift driver at our office missed his turn was surprised that nothing happened to this special equipment after a "LITTLE MISS HAP" Glad that this account only buys the best stuff. We were pretty concerned.

NO Chris, everything is good you can deffintly count on us. We are rock stars when it comes to shipping. Don't you loose any sleep over what we are doing for you.

Just another day in TYLERS MIND

LoL

Miss you Anne hurry home

T

Let the good times roll "Lake to Lake Triathlon"

Thursday morning I made it to Masters a little late and so I looked around for Jenna and was sad that I did not see her. She is one of the REALLY fast swimmers in the glorious lane 1 and when I did not see her I was a little disappointed, she is like morning Coffee. The workout was great, Susan gave us a really fun main set, it was 3x200 descending 6x100 first 25 fast the 75 slow, on the even numbed 100's and the opposite on the odd ones. Then to finish we did 3x200 steady. I really like swimming outside with a few people in the lane keeping me honest to my pace and times. It even started to rain and that was enough to get my day started in the right direction. In fact, it rained so hard they closed down the outside pool and we had to finish in the indoor pool and that is where I saw Jenna. She was just finishing a easy workout since she is racing in PA this weekend and we meet in the hot tub. She asked if Anne would be interested in doing the Run portion of the Lake to Lake Triathlon with her and Michelle. I said I would ask and get back to her.
When I came home she was in a hurry and I was not able to talk to her until Thursday night, on the way to swim lessons with Steve. She got all excited and asked if we could work it out with the kids because that sounds really fun. By the end of the night she had a babysitter lined up to sleep over and watch the kids so we could "RUN" off and let the good times roll at Lake to Lake. I will be racing with my wife. I am so excited that I might see her on the run course. I think that it would be totally awesome to see my wife laying it down at the same time as I am. How cool would that be. BOOOO YAAAAAA.
Needless to say I am very pumped for Lake to Lake and I think this might be the best race so far. Al least with Anne it will be the most fun.....

Love you Anne,

T

Track with the Gang

Today was a huge day for me. Steve told me to run even and fast all the way through the workout. He said keep the pace pretty similar, and then told me to run with Sonja and John. The workout was 4x(400,600,200) with 200 recoveries in the set and a 400 between the sets. The three of us talked before group 1 went off and decided that we would run around 45 seconds for our 200 pace. The first set was wicked fast and I let them go a few feet by the end of the set. Steve told us to pick up the pace on the back of the 600 so we ran it the first time in a 2:15. That is the fastest I have ever run the first set in a workout and I had to put my head down to get it done. Three more to go and each set we dropped the time down by a few seconds. On the last 600 we ran it in 2:10, which is the fastest workout I have run ever. I was able to have some for the last 200 but John took all the marbles. It was really fun to run in a pack of runners that are really good. Sonja and John have a running background and are really smooth and made me feel comfortable. I am very happy with this track workout and hope that the summer continues to go well. I am getting more comfortable with my run flats that are blazing red and really like the feeling.
Tomorrow we will head to the "Epic Ride" at 7am. 10,000+ feet of climbing and 80 miles in distance. After 6 hours I will let you know how I am feeling. Tell then train great and make it happen.
Reality check. Last year this time I was not able to run a sub :50 200 pace for more than a little bit. BOOOO YAAAAA

Love you ANNE,

T

Fathers Day in Boulder and a BBQ

This Fathers day Friends from Practical Coaching decided to volunteer at the 5430 Sprint Triathlon in Boulder Colorado while others were racing. We felt that we needed a theme and so I suggested I would wear my family Santa Suite and we could do Christmas in June. We had a pizza party to decorate additional clothing on Friday and was ready to man the best aid station know to man.

The alarm went off at 5am and we joined Andrea and Christopher and headed up to Boulder. We arrived and I put on the suit and headed into transition to bring good race cheer until I was kicked out because I was not racing. We then headed off to get our aid station on the run course ready. We had a total of 14 show up to help and even some of the racers came by after finishing and helped pass out H2o and Gatorade to racers still on the course. Jackson was the only kid helping us and he was a champ. He helped pass out Hammer Gel and Water the whole time and did not complain at all. I was very proud of my son for coming with me and staying from 7:30am to 11am passing out aid to the racers. He is such a great kid, and I will remember this Fathers day for awhile because of him being such a good sport.

I was dressed like Santa in shorts and no real belly. Jackson and I were the first people racers would see and we yelled for 3 hours straight. We yelled the loudest when we saw friends and fellow athletes come though doing a great job. I was very impressed to see Sonja taking it lighter than normal, Michelle focused and kicking some butt. Beth came though with a huge smile, along with John, and Berry. Sara looked good and was all smiles also. I was very impressed with the amount of racers that gave positive comments as they came though the aid station. And believe it or not we only had 2 grumpy racers that made some off line comment. Funny thing is I am pretty sure they were no where near the front, except for the grumpy racer award. I really enjoyed the opportunity to help and give back and when I asked Jackson what he like best he said "having people rip the Gel's out of my hand". Long story short I loved being able to give back and see a race from a different perspective. I love this sport and the friends I have made.

Anne is allowing me to have the day off and just sit on the couch and watch Golf. What a great Fathers day. Jamie and Denise are coming over for dinner and we will have a good night. I have loved this fathers day and hope all the fathers with in the reach of the blog has had a good on too.

Dad, I love you and appreciate all that you taught me going up. I love that I can teach my kids what I learned from you and hope you know that your willingness to give is being passed down from me to my son. I miss you and hope that you are feeling good about your service in Lebanon. We miss you and mom and hope for safe times. I am glad to hear of your successes with the charities and I am glad that your projects are being accepted. I miss you and look forward to a safe return.

I love you Anne,

T

Black tank top and leopard paints

Anne has the camera so I will paint a picture with my words. YA RIGHT

I was able to get Lexi out of bed this morning after doing one of my best run workouts. It was 6 miles run at Tempo and I was able to run it in 48:40. On flat ground that would be good for me but I decided to go with the single track, climb 2 miles route today and so I was in a great mood when I came home. Best tempo workout this season.

I digress sorry:

Lexi was awake and I went to get her because Anne was running around late with the boys. She needed to have her clothes changed so I found a black tank top and leopard paints. I put them on and she danced around and strutted. Now if you have not seen the Lexi strut she puts her belly way out, elbows back and high steps like a real man strut. She is a doll and looks pretty. Her hair is getting longer and longer and the curl at the bottom is staying. I am not sure when Anne will cut her hair, I hope not any time soon.

I am going to get myself a camera so I can add my own Pictures.

Nicole, your trip to Myrtle beach looks like it was a blast. I hope everyone had fun, and that Dawn and Jessica was able to get everyone excited to do the Triathlon in Vegas late this summer. Are you and Boon in? Say yes pleasessssssssssss.

Have a good Friday,

Love you Anne,

T

Race weekend at Home

This weekend was one where my mind was with those that were racing at the totally awesome Escape from Alcatraz Tri, and my Ohio Friends doing their first 70.3. I hoped that they were ready to go out strong and race well. As I write this I have only spoken to Eric and I am sad that he DNF'd. Congrats to Clint on finishing his first half with the winds and heat good job. To the San Fran group you all rock. I had fun reading what Sonja said this morning and was able to kind of put myself with them at the race. I still cant get over the pic that her Dad shot. He has such a good eye, I want him to be at every race.

Saturday=Pond....

I am glad to say that I did not get any type of ticket this weekend at the pond, but we did get a good strong talking to by the State Park Ranger for appearing that we were swimming past our permitted time. She was such a doll, I just love the Rangers at Chatfield this year.

5 islands and back, slow out fast back.

First on my own, water felt much warmer than last weekend and it felt good. CWW as swimming and had a huge orange booye for siting.
Second I was able to see Barry, Beth, John, Michelle and played around for just a second.
Third fast as a bird
Forth just the same
Fifth felt good, keep pacing strong and had a good time in the water.

Pond loop with John, Beth, Barry
Slow out fast back(John took off at the turn at a 6:00/mile pace and I tried to hang. DUH) Slowed after the first half mile and took the rest a little slower and felt really good.

SHADOW ALONE ON SUNDAY.

Buzz Buzz, Text asked if it was raining from Beth. I looked outside and sent back "no lets go". Barry, John and Beth all were waiting at 7:30am when I arrived at Deer Creek and so was the rain. It was just a drizzle and no one was wanting to call the ride. Finally the downpour started and we still debated the ride and settled on Panera and a 1 hour delay. It was a good idea because it was good weather and we were able to get a City View ride in. Barry took off at the start and John and Beth went along, I stayed at a lower pace and fell back. At the turn off John went up Deer Creek so it was just Barry, Beth and I. We decided to ride alone and since Beth had a time trial ride she took off. I set a pace that was faster than normal and decided that I wanted to catch Beth by the top. Barry was with me until the switchbacks and then the 3 of us were all by ourselves. I put my fast mix on and started to push to catch Beth. It was not until the top of the switchback that I was even able to see her. She was blazing a fast trial and I had my work cut out to catch her. A few miles to the top we were hit with a head wind and I was able to get up to her by the last mile on High Grade. We did a TT up the rest of High Grade and had fun. City View was hard but I still had legs unlike last week where my legs were jello by the time I hit CV with Steve. We pushed each other up to the top and then Beth had the great idea of going back and getting Barry. To the bottom we went and then we saw Barry flying down a hill and started the climb back up. So City View twice..Booo Yaaa. To add to the crazy mind day Beth said we needed to do Deer Creek in the big ring.

Good day, Fun weekend, Fun friends.

Date night on Saturday was most excellent with Anne, We did Shadow Mtn in the car and ate at the Bed and Breakfast at the bottom of Shadow Mtn. Fun place, good good food called Brook Forest Inn.

Anyways time to get back to work,

Tell next time,

I love you Anne
\
T

Those DAM hill repeats

The last few weeks have been crazy for Anne and Me. We have been going at lighting speed and Wednesday was no different. I had to return a rental truck that we used to bring the dining room set given to us by Anne's parents back to Uhaul by 8am in Aurora. Translation was that I had to adjust my workout to later that day. By the time I was able to get home from work and get my clothes on it was almost 6pm. The day had been cloudy and a little on the cold side so I packed rain gear and arm warmers and headed out. The workout on the schedule was a calm ride to Chatfield and then steady hill repeats on the Dam. Going from my home to Chatfield was pretty fun because it was mostly down hill. I was able to stay calm and by the time I entered the park I had my rocking music on and started my first climb. I tried to keep the same pace the whole way thought the set so I started pretty slow. I made it to the top and felt pretty good. Repeat #2-3 were just the same with my legs getting more use to the climb. Four, Five and Six were keeping me moving and the occasional rider that I was able to pass helped but I still had 4 more. The weather started to get worse and I felt like rain was going to hit me at some point of the ride. Grey clouds make the day disappear faster than normal so I keep my focus and tried to finish the ride as best as possible. Nine and Ten were great and I felt like I was steady the entire time. I did push and had a good workout and will forever love the DAM repeats at Chatfield. I did make it home and did so with no rain.

Side note, I was reading Sonja blog and saw a link to the finish line video to Cap Tex. I have to admit that I was pretty happy with my finish and so I came through the shoot a little excited. Here is the link if you want a good laugh.

Here is the link to Tyler

Anne is going to have her first swim lesson tonight with Steve and I am really excited to see her want to get better at swimming. I hope that she is able to enjoy it and have a good time.

Anne also was challenged to her first Tri from the Cleveland Gang and is wanting to get ready. The race is in August in Las Vegas and I believe that Sean and Jessica will come along with Dawn and Jady. I am not sure of the rest of the group but will check in on them to see what they are thinking. It will be fun to see Anne do her first Tri, I just need to decide if I am going to race or watch. TBD.

Rain today, Masters was warm up in the indoor pool and the main sets outside in the rain. The pool water was warm and it was really fun swimming outside.

Here is a pic from the Cap Tex Tri recon Booo Yaaaa.

I love you Anne,

T

2 Man Time Trial (ok really 1.75 Man)

This last weekend I was able to get my own ride with Steve. In speaking to him a few day's before he used terms like "Fun, good experience, Learn". Steve is my Coach and has a 20 year background in Cycling and has Iron legs that never stop or slow down. Trunk trees to be exact, big strong trunk trees. I arrived at his home a few minutes before 7am and we were rolling by 7am. He gave instructions to relax and get settled down because the ride would not really start for 15 miles and 1000+ feet of climbing. We took the next 30 minutes to visit and settle down and enjoy the nice weather that we were having. I felt good, had a good night sleep, ate a good breakfast and was really excited to be alone with Steve and have him work with me. As we started our climb he started to tell me what the days goal was. At the turn off to High Grade we would start a two man time trial where we both pulled for 2 minutes. The pace was going to be faster that I was use too and we would not stop until we had finished High Grade, City View and climbed the back side of Deer Creek. He said to put in my music and get ready because we were nearing the turn. I was slow to get my earbuds in and when I looked up he was already 20 feet ahead of me. I pushed forward and for the next 25 miles and 5000 feet did not let off of the gas. It was game on and I was going to hold on and do my part. The small grade to the switchbacks was not bad, I was able to keep the pace the same and as he pulled off the front I keep the same speed and took my turn. It was fun leading, I was cautions with pushing too hard because I new that we had a long ride ahead. The two minutes came quickly and I pulled off and just as soon as I did that Steve was pulling ahead to take his turn. We made it to the start of the switch backs in record time and I pealed off the front with a few hundred feet before the first turn. Steve started the the first right turn and put the pace at a manageable speed. I as focusing on keeping calm while I started to feel the pressure of a grade change. I made it through the first few turns and pealed off again and just as soon as Steve took over he dropped down a few gears and held the same pace at a spot that I normally take recovery on, OH WELL. The next few pulls started to help me realize that I was starting to empty a tank that was full at the start but seemed to be getting smaller at a faster speed. I focused on relaxing as best as I could while I was pushing my body further than I had on this ride. We were really flying and it was fun to be going that fast up the mountain. It would have been even more fun if I would have looked up and not on the back tire of Steve's bike for the whole time that he pulled. I ended up having to take off my sun glasses because of the amount of sweat that was falling off my body. I am not sure if he even broke a sweat but that is OK because I was dumping enough for both of us. The last turn was in sight and we were still rolling, I was glad as could be and was very proud of myself. Making it to the top of the switchbacks was a huge goal and 1 of 4 that I had to get through. The steady climb to the top was normally a good change of pace on rides in the past but today it was a spot that we pressed forward and did not let off the gas. I did well with my few turns but as we were approaching the last mile I had pushed to my limits and was not able to hold the same pace as Steve did when he pulled. He waited a few seconds and then pulled out from the back and took the lead and gave me the famous hand point to his rear tire. This meant in unspoken terms "get your butt on my tire NOW" I did the best I could and mustered enough strenght to catch back up and I think he slowed down alittle. He keep going and within a few minutes(what seemed like hours) we crested the top and was headed to the School house. We picked off a few riders as we were going and as we passed the school house saw a few more taking the normal break. Down the hill and over to city view I realized that my tank was empty and was going to have a hard time with the other two climbs. I was first to the hills leading to City View but had no fuel and slowly crept up the hill. Again Steve prompted me to get on and push forward with fuel that I did not know that I had. The climbs seemed to take longer than normal even thought the pace was faster. I guess that's what you get when you are pushing off the pain that had been building up for the last hour. Cresting the top of City View drive my heart jumped and we were off to Deer Creek. The down hill was awesome and I was game on. My legs did not hurt as much and I was able to stay right on Steve's tire. We were flying at 30+ miles an hour and I was within inches of his rear tire giving the day all that I had. We saw Michelle and Beth leading a group up the back side of CV and as I tried to give a big "BOOO YAAA" the only thing that could come out was a "BOoooo ya". On the climb up Deer Creek my legs told me I was done and Steve slowed down a few time to keep me in reach. I did crest the top of the hill and the last climb on his wheel. The day brought many surprises and in the end I have expanded my vision of abilities and have broken through another glass ceiling. Thanks for the ride and the instruction and giving a little of yourself Steve. Your impact on us all is huge and much appreciated. Today was not quite a two man time trial but I will go with a 1.75. Some day I will hold my fair share of pulling and do so at the pace we started. I leaned a lot today and am proud of myself.

Anne thanks for the time away from the family, and know that I love you all.

T