A cold Littlefoot Tri

The weather all over the country has been unusual and Denver is no exception. The water temp going into the weekend was a cool 60 degrees but when you add rain and 38 degrees temp outside it makes for a bad swim decision. Amy D the race director made the call at 7:30am to change the swim to a 1 mile run, so the day would be a run (very wet), ride (still very wet) and just to make it fun another run (still very, very wet).
I was excited to be able to race, I love to train for racing and the season opener for me was Littlefoot.
I had a quick 25 minute warm-up and then rushed to get my racing clothes on and head over to the starting line. Anne and the kids, Beth, Keith and Nancy were all present for the start.
I wanted to take the first half of the mile run slow since is was a slight uphill climb and I know that the lead pack would take it out fast. I placed near the back and as the gun went off it was game on. Just a few minutes into the run those that started way to fast were maxing out and so my build allowed me to start to pass people pretty quickly. I started near the back but as I hit the half way mark I had passed a fair amount and I was still gaining speed. I came into T1 at 7:00 flat and sitting in 15th place from my wave of 29 and unders and the 35-39 men. I passed a few more in transition and was on my new Specialized Transition bike for the first race together. ( It has seen an AG victory in IMCDL with the first owner). It was still raining so I wanted to be cautious the first lap of a two lap course. I counted 10 ahead of me at the first turn-a-round and I was working to pick a few more off. The course is all within the park so I felt really safe and since we were the first wave I had little to worry about and was able to relax and work the bike. I was passed by two gents and passed a few myself and came into the T2 sitting 6th.




I had a fast transition and started the run feeling really strong. I took the first half out and tried to relax and run what I could hold the entire time. The week before I had a PR in SLC with a 21:10 5K. We had a bit of a climb to get to the turn-a-round and I was passed by Max (AG winner for the day) and another that I would not be able to keep with so I kept my same pace. One of the guys that passed me on the bike, I was able to re-pass in T2 was sitting on my heels keeping pace with me. I pushed the pace on the downhill past the second mile and still heard him on my back. I turned a corner where we could see the finish line and we were about 800 yards to the finish. I dropped the pace again and was running with all that I had on a cold spring day. I had to give everything that I had to keep the pace to the finish and ended up putting some time into the guy that was on my heels.



I was totally pleased with the day and my first race. I felt good about how I raced and ended up coming in 2nd place in my AG and 14th overall. I had a very fast bike split and ran faster than I ever have in a sprint.
I ended up have a 36:54 bike split 20.2 MPH on this cold day and a run of 22:21 for a total time of 1:07:22.




Next race is Pelican Fest Memorial weekend.




Thanks for coming Anne, Jackson, Josh, Lexi, Nancy, Beth and Keith. It was a great day.

Love you Anne,

T

It's been awhile

I have had so many major things hit my life over the last 90 days that trying to find a starting point to share them was getting overwhelming. I pushed it off and now that things have settled down I can start to think about it.




Today I am sitting in Salt Lake City where I will be for the next few weeks. I am on site at Miche Bag corporate offices working as a point person for Deluxe. "Deluxe" you say, yep I have accepted a job with Deluxe Media Management as the Director of Complex Supply Chain Sales. My first job is to transition the Miche Bag account over the next several months. Deluxe is a billion dollar company and I work with the consumer products division helping to bring more consumer products accounts to Deluxe. I will be traveling to Salt Lake City or Los Angles (Valencia to be exact) most every week for at least a few days for the next few years.



Last weekend Anne and her training partners Nancy and Keith ran the Colorado marathon in Ft Collins Colorado. She ran the race in 4:02:47 which is a 9:14 pace. The race started running down the canyon and it was closed to traffic so we were only able to see them starting at mile 16. Anne and Nancy ran the entire race and even ran through the aid stations. She looked great the entire day and finished very strong. I was blown away seeing her run hour after hour keeping the pace she did. Anne is so strong and as you look at some of the photos you will see what great form she has and how strong she looks after running for over 3 hours.




Jackson right now is in the middle of flag football season and is the star of the team. Last week he scored 2 of the 3 touchdowns, had an interception and a runback to the 5 yard line and was the quarterback for the other touchdown. He is one of the smallest guys on the field and with his speed and determination rocks the house each week. Right now when Jackson is not paying football you will find him playing basketball, soccer or riding his bike or scooter. Jackson loves to be in motion and has a great group of friends that he can play with in our new neighborhood.

In the month of April we celebrated being in our home for over a year. We have owned 5 homes since we have been married and rented an additional 7 homes or apartments over the 13 years that we have been married. To celebrate a year without seeing any packing boxes that either needed to be packed or unpacked is GREAT.

Josh is growing and loving every second of life that he possible can. He is currently in soccer and having fun learning that sport. Josh plays with Jackson and tries to keep up as much as possible. He too likes to play basketball, jump on the tramp and play with Jackson and Lexi. Josh is doing really well as the middle child. God gives special skills to the middle child and we are starting to see them shine.

The boss of the house is Lexi. She has an opinion and the answer (right or wrong) to everything. She loves to try to hang with her brothers and most of the time does a great job. Lexi cut her hair and looks amazing and cute. Lexi is all girl and leaning to work with her has been a struggle for me. Girls as kids are so very different than boys.

Anne, the rockstar of the family is having her breakout year. She is has come out of her shell and is taking on her fears and crushing them. Marathon last month, another triathlon this month and swimming on a regular basis. She is finding time to train, hang with girlfriends and really have fun with where she is at in life right now. I am having fun cheering her on and watching her blossom and grow. This year Anne is the rockstar of our family.

The weather is turning and this year I am excited for a couple of reasons. Last fall Anne purchased a wakeboard boat and then a few weeks later it went into storage for the winter. The water is warming up and this year it is all about boating and spending time on the water. We are very excited to head to Lake Powell for the big trips. We are excited to discover our local lakes and those within a few hours. Simply put we are excited to go boating.

My training is going well and I am figuring out how to balance all that is important to me. I am training on the road and may even have a bike in each city in the next few months, time will tell.

I am happy, healthy and inlove with my wife and kids. They are my priority and everything else is a distant second.

I feel better, I hope you do as well and I promise I will start to update more often.