35 and counting

35 years old started out with an early AM ride trying to beat the storm that was headed to Denver and would eventually drop a small blanket of spring snow later in the day. I was able to ride with my training partners and friends and we really had a blast. I enjoyed the warm weather at the start and as we started to climb it was fun to be in the mountains seeing snow all around and working to get to the top. The ride for the day was a loop on Wadsworth; a small 4 mile out and back warm-up and then we would head up to climb up to City View road. This is a road that is 3500 feet from the valley floor and has a very spectacular view of the Denver city. Before you get to this view and this road you need to make the climb up Deer Creek road and then up to the School house. The speed up to the switchbacks slow was slow and we were all visiting and when we arrived at the turn off to get to school house Beth decided it was time to get our workout in. We were able to keep a good enough pace for the next 3 miles to catch some of the riders that passed us while we were in our chillaxen pace. One rider (Wearing pink gloves) did not like the fact that we made this move and by the time we hit the switch backs he passed us back again and so I decided since I was leading that I would hold onto his wheel. I dropped it a gear and we were climbing and increasing the speed at the same time and I was approaching my top end. It is early in the season and I really have only started to do high end training over the last two weeks and was not really prepared to push to this level on this day but remember I am now 35 and have to show that I am not getting old often and in what Anne would say "a very stupid manner". I held on to his wheel and heard that this chap in pink gloves was maxing out by his breathing and so I wanted to push past him hard and fast enough that the statement would read "THOU SHALT NOT FOLLOW OR YOU WILL DIE". As I made the move and hit the next turn I was on my own and was alone taking personal inventory. In that inventory I realized I grabbed a box of "stupid" from the shelf and not "smart" and allowed myself to blow up. Not that blowing up is bad except I was only half the way up and only a third of the way done with the ride to the timing and location was not ideal. I slowed down so my HR could come back from the boiling red point where smart people do not go in the middle of a training ride and went into the "try to recover mode". I kept things rolling and within half a mile Sonja, Beth and John came rolling by without pulling the "your an idiot and if it was not your birthday we would leave you" banner out for all to see. Sonja kept a great pace and soon she was gone, soon Beth was gone and yes soon was John. I made it to the top of School house, not in the best shape but I did make it. The few climbs up to City View Road were harder than I have ever, possibly because I had cement for legs and they were done. I rest of the ride was fun, it was mostly down hill and I love to bomb the downhill.
I learned today that I do have a max and this will always win over my ego!!!! I am sure that I will try to prove this theory wrong again sometime when the memory of today has warn off. This is a bit of who I am, I am not proud of this but I has helped me in times past as well.

A quick lunch with the gang and then off to meet the family.

In the pool at 24 Hr is where the kids were swimming. The water felt great and it was fun to see Lexi swim on her own. She is getting better, almost to the point where we will feel good about her able to re-act somewhat if a problem were ever to occur. Again, I should have kept that one in my mind, but really I think we all look at the risk of life and we are glad when our kids make it to the next stage of whatever (Swimming in this story) and can lower the risk for a problem to occur. Josh and Jackson's swimming is greatly improving since the stroke classes and they should become pretty good after their first season of swim team this year.

The rain started shortly after this and we spent the remainder of the day indoors. We had Rusty and Holly over for dinner and the kids as usual had a blast. Anne made German Chocolate Cake with Mint Chocolate ice cream for desert. This is the only time I like to eat this desert and I love it greatly each year.

Happy birthday to me, I am now 35 and feeling just a little old. I am not sure why of these feeling but I do feel just a pinch old. I will try to beat it out of me with this weeks training, I only have a few weeks until Rev3 in Knoxville, my first Olymipic Triathlon of the year.

Love you Anne,

T

What is in your Workout?

This last weekend I was able to spend a lot of time outside with ride/run workouts. We even had breakfast on the patio at TNT in Morrison to rub it in a little. I was able to get my first burn on the top of my head and shoulders and it felt great. The sun beating down on us was a welcomed event and I was able to pause and remember why I put up with the winters here in Colorado.
We were able to run from the Morrison Conoco gas station to Alameda and over to Red Rocks. We ran the stairs along with several hundred other runners. We were going up and and over and then down the other side, we ran them in a 2x2 fashion and by the 3rd one I was ready to head towards town. We found a fun single track to run on to get us out of the park and after a few really fun minutes we were in Morrison.
I have been working on my Heart Rate and most of my published workouts give me a detailed goal within the workout. This is new for me and I have enjoyed the change and the challenge that each workout gives. I am able to focus on what I need to get done within the workout and focus on that goal as well as getting the event done. This type of training has allowed me to really enjoy the workouts over the last 2 months which is a mental bonus beyond the joy of exercising. In fact, I believe for me that having several goals that I can accomplish/or get close to, within a workout allows me to have several successes and not just a pass/fail feeling.
I had a tempo run last week that was very specific. I has a 30 min warm-up not to exceed 155BPM. I then had 7x3:00 efforts holding a 175BPM then a 2:00 recovery after each effort. We wanted to see how quick I could recover and if I was able to know and hold the 175BPM. I have to say that it took me 4 efforts to get to know what the felt effort was to match up what the HR monitor was telling me. I ended the workout with a 20 minute slow cool down and at the end I felt better than I remember feeling on a 7 mile run for the fact that I felt good for 9 different reasons. I also was able to learn more about my body in a hard effort and what I can do to get the most out of it. For me the goal of this year is getting stronger, better looking and faster at Olympic distance triathlons. I have also added that I want to experience a more broad range of endurance sports like Xterra, Road Bike Racing and Ultra running. I am starting later this year on my build but my first "A" race is not until June. I am pretty sure that I am putting in the effort in the gym to get stronger and I am signed up for a Road race this weekend and an Xterra in August. However I am very concerned about the getting better looking part. Swimming with my kids last week they were on the edge and I was in the water and they looked down and said "Dad, Your bald spot looks like a heart, a big one". So I am balding, but it is with heart. So much for the looking better part!!! Sorry Anne.
Keep training. Find a reason to workout and when you do make sure that you have a goal beyond just finishing the workout it will be a lot more fun!
See you all at the starting line.

Love you Anne,

T

Hello again, it's been some time

Hello again,

It has been awhile since we last spoke, I am worried that you may feel that I don't love you anymore. That is as far from the truth as it possibly can be. I have been very busy over the last few weeks and I have so much to tell you. I want to give you the full details but it would require a fire, glass of sweet red wine and some time. We can get to that later but for now how about a snappy summary.

-First left past Kansas:
We moved away from the rental into a home. Yep it really worked out, I love it, the kids love it and Anne really loves it so we are very excited. The new home is kind of cool because I can streatch my arms all the way out and not touch walls, kids or other items that would make me feel confined. We closed on a super snowy Friday a week earlier than planned and needed to get everything moved in by Sunday night since I was traveling on Monday for the next 8 days. I called on freinds and family and you all came. You did not comment about how the rental looked, you just grabbed boxes and stuff and did not stop for 2 days. I LOVE YOU ALL.

-Can I get a bungy cord please
I had my RMSS training camp in Moab, Utah 2 weekends ago and was very excited for this adventure. I have never trained with Cat riders and was excited for the challenge. I can sum up the weekend this way....I went all out on the warm-up ride and lasted just a bit. The snow and rain caused me to have a few conversations with the man upstairs as I was about to fall over frozen. I watched from the Sag car as they rocked a ride that has snow, rain and 80 miles all in the title. I had a fun riding up a mountain until my tire slipped on the snow and I had to turn around to be safe. I really just needed a bungy cord and I could have kept up with the group the entire weekend. Maybe next year I will bring one.
I watched Beth rock a 12 hour Adventure race, Cried watching Sonja run, run, run, run, run, run, run and then run some more. Yep this girl did 100 miles running race in 22 hours. Check out the post
-Training
I am training hard now and the season is about to start and I am really feeling good about my year. I hired a new coach, (Coach Beth) and have loved the last 6 weeks of training that she has given me. I am going to try to do more this year on less, better training and I think it's going to work.
-The Love of my Life
Anne is the rock in our family and keeps me grounded in all the really matters. Her desire for the Kids, me and our family to have good balance is amazing. I find more each day how I really found my perfect mate. Cheers perfect mate, raise you glass high to celebrate the success of our 3 year goal. You amaze me and keep me wanting to be a better man.
-Kids
Lexi is really the boss of the house. She is smart, pretty and 3
Josh just turned 7 and is really getting good at being a 7 year old so early in the year. I love his spirit and drive, I love to watch him because he has a lot of me in him. His smile if captured correctly is the best I have ever seen.
Jackson is keeping us busy trying to stay ahead of us as the smart, kind boy in the family. He loves to tend, workout with Dad and play with his new friends in the new neighborhood. He loves his own clean room and that he is able to keep his half of the bathroom clean. (Josh just cant quite get being clean yet, maybe when he is 8)
-Work
Work is really at a great place right now. I think that I will be working in the new Supply Chain Division this year and will continue to take care of my current wonderful accounts.

Love you Anne,

T

Booo Yaaaa