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

Cap Tex Tri Austin Texas

After the good race in St Anthony Florida I was excited to get back home and train. I was able to focus and get in a good month of workouts which made me feel good about Austin.

As the Airplane taxied to the gate and we started to get off I realized how hot and muggy it was in Texas. I have lived in Dallas before but it was a real shock to the system. I rented the car and headed to the hotel. The drive made me realize that I was already missing my family and I hope their comes a time where I can have them with me and we can do this as a family. The room that I checked into was right downtown and right next to the race. It was a 3 minute walk to transition and the race check in. Sonja, Steve and Andrea were the next to arrive and did so a few hours later. We went out for Dinner and have a Tex Mex and had a good time. John and Beth arrived later that night and by Saturday afternoon the gang was all present. We ended up having Sonja, Steve, Andrea, Anthony, Barry, Priscilla, Julie, John, Beth and Me as the racers from Practical Coaching.
We finished packet pickup and racked our bikes and chilled the rest of the day. I was able to drive an our North to Temple to see Shane and Dixie Lewis. It has been years since I saw them and so it was a real treat. They have 4 really cute kids and a great home in Texas while Shane finishes his residency.
RACE DAY:

After having a good sleep the alarm went off at 5am and we were up to go after it in Austin. I finished setting up transition in the sand pit that I was in and then headed out because they closed transition 30 minutes before the first wave went off. We sat around and watched everyone go off. The first wave was at 7am and I went off at 7:40am. This race was a deep water start so I placed myself at the front looking right at the fist orange booie. The gun went off and I was focused on starting slow and getting into a good pace. I was passed by a bunch of eager beavers and passed them all back about 500 yards down the way after they burned up. I felt great with a calm start and a good stroke. I was able to spend most of the swim by myself and was able to stick to my game plan of being calm and patient. I came out of the water as one of the faster guys in my wave and felt really good. While running to transition I did a check and really did fell good. I was fast to my bike and out on the bike course. This race was a 4 loop course and by the time I was out on it their seemed to be 2000 racers. I got caught up in the mix pretty quick and then slowed down at the end of the first loop. I knew what the other 3 were going to feel like so I kept focused on making good turns and holding good lines. This race was the first that I have ever been to where I was doing most of the passing. I was only passed a couple of dozen times. I was able to stay calm and not push too hard on the bike and finished pretty fast. I was having a lot of fun and could have stayed out for a few more laps. Into T2 was fast and I was making sure that I did not rush out onto the run coarse too fast. I wanted to make my first mile the slowest and did a good job staring out. I keep my breathing calm and felt really good thought the first half of a 2 loop course. By the time I finished the first loop I did a check and really was feeling good and strong. As Steve says"I spread the peanut butter well today". I stared the second loop and made a promise that I would push it on the last half on the down hill to the finish line. The group was cheering me in as I was pushing the last few hundred yards and was really pushing a fast pace. I finished and felt strong. I felt like it was the best race I have ever done and had no idea of my time. I raced all on perceived effort and did well judging what I had to give today.
A few minutes later I was able to pull my results and realized I had accomplished my time goal of beating a 2:30 at this race. I also had a bonus by running a sub 8 minute pace on the run course. I finished in 2:26 and took 18th in my age group and qualified for Nationals in Portland. What a great day. I am so thankful for my family for letting me do this and for letting me race. I am thankful for the friends that I am able to race with and travel with so the cost's are low and I am thankful for my Coach who keeps it real and continues to help me accomplish my goals. I love triathlons and love doing well.

BOOO YAAAAA

I love you Anne,

T

Letter to Mom and Dad

Mom and Dad,

It seems that you last email was sent on a sad day so I hope that when you receive this email you will be feeling better. I am impressed to hear about all the activity's of your calling, it is good to know that you are able to be super busy even though you could be shot any moment. I was thinking that you should play the "it might be the last time" card with everyone and see if you get some cool things. Like dad you could say "with all this fighting you might never get some Beef Jerky and you would sure love some" I bet you would get sent some Beef Jerky. I might even send you some. Mom you can tell us that the gun fire is getting really close and you would like to have some Chocolate sent to you, even thought it would be chocolate soup by the time it arrives.I am simply saying that you should not send messages that the fighting is not so bad and that you are ok but send notes that say your risking your life to serve, and you might not live another day so call me often. Then you would get a better response. We are use to being shocked by the news so your email have to have more blood and guts to get our attention. With that all being said I will get my own skype account. I will let you know when it is up and running.

Life is good, Kids have started Baseball and playing outside all the time. I love the street that we live on because of how many kids are out each night. Jackson and Josh go from home to home with the rat pack of kids to play and see what house has the best goodies and such. I am catching on so when they come to our house and give me the sad puppy dog look I tell them carrots are the only things we have in our house. One of the neighbor kids said I was not telling the truth and that he knows we have goodies. That is my war that I am dealing with. Me against the whole neighborhood kids trying to get sugar from me and my house. I will prevail and not give in, carrots FOREVER.

Lexi is amazing, she is practicing to be a stripper. Every day she thinks that clothes are bad and takes everything off and runs to where the boys are and runs around laughing. Anne get's embarrassed because a good amount of the time the boys have friends over and Lexi does not care who is around. She also feel that she can get up when she wants(which is now 6am) and screams at the top of her lungs. She is controlling when the whole house wakes up and I do not like it. I am sick of not getting to sleep on my own terms, will these kids please grow up faster.....!!!!!Work is going well, we are making our numbers and are trying hard to be successful. I think that I will have a good history to decided if I like the job after 6 months, only 3 more to go. Anne is doing well with Dwell Design and continues to find ways to make money. For example (table runners for weddings, consulting for Dave Cox on staging homes and bidding jobs associated with that, blinds, sewing, office cleaning ect.) Dwell is a very diverse company and is doing really wellHome is still for sale and we only had 5 showing in the last 12 days. Weather has been bad and so I am not concerned.

Need to get back to work,

Love T

Mothers

One day a year we have the opportunity to tell our Mother's and Wives what we think of the job they do. We tell them in the way we try to let them sleep longer. We give them presents made at home, school and Mexico or China. We make a meal or two without them, thinking the whole time that this is a nice thing to do even thought the food is sick and the whole time we are asking ourselves how this burnt something sitting at the table is considered food. I have burnt my fare share of easy to make dinners for Dads. Then the day turns into night and we seem to be ready for bed at 6pm and can't wait until we can go to work on Monday and let our Mothers or Wives get back to work. Ah yes, the joy of Mothers day. I am now positive that I can only handle this day once a year.

My Anne is the greatest mom in the most little package. She is full of heart and love for me and our kids. I have tried to run the house the way she does and failed. I have tried to cook like she does and burnt it. I have tried to love the kids and have the patience that she does and fell way short. I have tried to be kind to others the ways she is and realized that I am not that nice. I have tried to have the understanding that she does and I don't. She is quite the woman.

I love the way she keeps my home, takes care of the kids and watches over me. I want her to know on this Mother's Day that we all realize what a great woman she is. Enjoy your day it only last a few hours and know that if we could handle it more than once a year we would. If we could get the job done more often we would. You are blessed with talents that none other has and we are in awe. We miss you when your gone, we call you when we are hurt or sick and we think first of you when we want to share the moment.

Thanks for being Our Mother and Wife.

Love,

Tyler
Jackson
Josh
Lexi

Back at it again

Tonight I had the fun opportunity to get back working out and swimming after nine, yes 9 hard days of being sick. I was feeling low, out of energy a few weeks ago and decided with my new work schedule that the best thing to do was push thought it. I had a few low days and then had the damn break. I went to the doctors a few days later and we together found an ear infection and pneumonia. The doctor said sleep, rest and staying down would be the best way to get back to normal. He said I needed to stay away for 24 hours until the meds kicked in and I was no longer contagious. I took that as advice from some novice and was back at work 1 day later. I suffered the bounds of Hell for the next few days and almost 10 days later I am back on my feet feeling well enough to start working out again. HOOOORRRRAAAAAYYYYYY

I jumped in the water and did a very slow build and kept a good mellow pace. 2000 yards later I was done and feeling tired but really happy. My life seems to be getting back into balance after being in disarray for the last few weeks. Training has suffered but I am learning that I train because I want to, it is not a must. I do what I can because I am a dad of 3 and a husband that believes my wife still should come first after 10 years of marriage. I am a triathlete because I want to, not because I have to, must be, or can't live any other way. I love the sport and feel I am a better man because of what it offers me in the end of each workout and race. I feel that I can become a better dad and husband but with some huge cost involved. I thank my family for letting me play in the sandbox of this sport and realize that I still need to come home for dinner when I am called and that I always should play nice and be kind to all that I play with. I look forward to St Anthony's next week and will have such a good race because I know I am just getting started and the season is not just this race but many over the next few months.

I am thankful to Steve who knows my life and works within it trying to make me better all the while. I love the PC family of athletes and look forward to a good season with you all. I am looking forward to smores on Saturday and a good climb up city view on Sunday.

Life's good at the office, I feel that we are getting some traction that will allow us to hit the lofty goals that we committed to at the start. Each day Rusty and I are pleased with the way we are treated and helped by those at corporate and those who wear the badge of honor called support. We will make the Denver office a great success and do so at a good pace and stride that will be something we can be proud of down the road.

I miss my parents and hope that they continue to do well in a far away place. I am hoping that they get out of this mission what they need to and can come home and love us just the same. I miss them and wish they knew that they are needed here almost as much as they are in Lebanon. They do so well and feel like they are making a huge difference and I wish they saw the same results her at home. I really miss them.

Florida here we come in a 8 days with the fury only PC can bring. I look forward to the season kicking off and getting started.

Anne I love you and thank you for the time allowed to play this game,

Love you,

Tyler