A few things!!!!

Me: Work has been very challenging the last few months and at the point that I thought that things would be smoothing out it changed and got harder. I enjoy working in the environment that I am in and have worked really hard at changing how I look at it "who moved my cheese". I have been a bit down and to this end I am making a change and should be feeling better really soon.

After the Rage I was home for a week while Anne and the kids went to see family and work on Liz's home. I realized the simple things that happen in a given week are what I miss the most when it is gone. I love my little Lexi and hanging out with her is one of my top 10 joys.

Some days it is important to know that you just have to wear shades. At Josh's birthday party Lexi keep it very cool.

Jackson worked very hard on his Pinewood derby car at the Blue and Gold banquet his car raced really well. He would take 2nd or 3rd most of the time and had a blast. I was working in LA that night and I am sad that I missed it but the photos and video made me feel better.

We decided to drive to Las Vegas to race in Mid April and the boys stayed with me most of the time and were great. They rocked out to music, video and playing the DS's together. These guy rock and were really fun to travel with. We rented a home and had a good time with all the parents and kids that stayed with us. The race was good and we had a good time.

I like racing but most of all I like racing with my Peeps. It was awesome to race with such a large group and most everyone had a good race. This is a picture of the big group doing recon the day before the race. Good job everyone.

While the big group did recon Michael Ford, John M and I took the kids to see Hoover Damn. We had a really good time. The kids were excited to see the huge damn since seeing it on the movie Transformers.

I am a pretty lucky guy to have what I do. I am not sure if I make that known enough so I thought that I would end with that. I love my family, I really love my family.

Love you Anne,

T

Rage in the Sage 70.3 race report

This last weekend in Las Vegas kicked of the 2009 triathlon season with a great opener. This is the start of my 3rd season in triathlon and I wanted to get is started with a 1/2 Ironman. Las Vegas was the stage and we had 14 Practical Coaching friends toe the line. The weather once we hit Nevada on Thursday tell we left on Sunday was sunny, hot and enjoyable. A few of us rented a home and we brought our family's. We piled into 4 cars and headed down in a caravan that stayed together.

On Friday we spent some time looking at the course, going to the Hoover Damn, Pasta and Chicken and oh yes the pool and hot tub for the kids were Fridays highlights.

Saturday morning I awoke after a really good sleep and loaded up on 2 eggs and some turkey sausage. I packed shot blocks, hammer gel, perpetuem in 2 bottles, salt tabs and put on my Garmin for the first time in a race.

I was able to get racked in a good spot and settled into race mode for the 20 minutes before I had to start. I was able to see Eric B for the first time in over a year and was pleased to see him racing along with his friends and family. This was also a first for Anne and I since she was racing this day as well.

Everyone that was doing the 70.3 started the same wave (this is not common when you have more than one event running in the same day). I positioned myself in the middle and took a deep breath as the first line took a dive into the 59 degree water. 1.2 miles of swimming was ahead of me and I was pretty jazzed and ready for the day. I did not realize that the water was going to be so cold and it took me more time then I anticipated for my face to get numb and allow my body to relax and get into a smooth flow. The swim was good, I keep a really calm pace and was proud of the effort that I was giving knowing that I had a very long day ahead of me on a very, very hard course. I approached the finish feeling really good and made my way to T1 to get ready for the bike. There was a good steady climb out of T1 to the road and by the time that I made it to the top I was excited to be on my bike and ready to push a good steady pace. I had my watch on and wanted to maintain a HR under 165 for the first half of the bike. The climbs were good and I was able to get into a really steady groove. The bike course was an out and back so 22 miles into the ride I was able to see the leaders starting to head back. As I approached the turn-a-round I saw Steve, Anthony, Nicole H, Keith and Sonja and was able to give smiles and cheers to each of them. The lift that I got from that seems to help me and I love to see friends on the course. On the return of the bike around mile 45 I stared to get sore in my back, knees and arms. I had some things done to my bike last week and did not get much time dialing the fit in and paid the price on the last 25% of the bike course. The last few miles to the end felt good and I was able to get focused on the run.
T2 was quick and I was out and ready to attach 13.1 mile of running on a very, very hard course. Miles 1.3-3.6 were all up hill and it was not easy. I picked a pace after settling down and was cheered on by Andrea finishing up her race. Just past mile 1 I started to climb and slowed down to keep my HR below 175. I kept checking it every 500 yards and was doing good. The last bit was hard and I decided to walk the last 200 yards of the climb. Once on top we had a smooth run through tunnels overlooking Lake Mead and it was very pretty. I believe that we went through 5 tunnels and with the weather so hot it was a great rest from the sun. At mile 6 I started to feel burned out and spent some time walking to give my body a rest, I may have pushed too hard on the day and was now paying a price for that error. The good thing about mile 9-11 was it was all down hill, the bad thing was I was pretty spent and it did not seem to make me feel any better or allow me to go faster. I wanted to finish the day strong and be able to stay out of the med tent so I continued to take things slow, (that means walking again) for mile 12. PC friend Michelle and Beth jumped in the Tahoe and found me at this point and received a very sad I am fine and leave me alone I need to get into the finish and be done with the day.
That time came and the last bit of the race I ran in feeling good. I had friends, family and spectators cheering me in. Jackson and Josh ran through the shoot along with Preston and Logan West with me and the race came to an end. 6:10+ for the day and I have to say I was pretty pleased with what I was able to get done. The human body can get so worn down on race day but my soul seems to get a charge. I was not first, closer to last in my age group but feel motivated to keep exercising, pushing and getting ready for the next race. I look back a few days later and I already miss the thrill of racing and can't wait for the rush to come again.


Anne did very well in her race. She did not put her face in the water during the swim and decided to take a slow swim but be very aggressive on the bike and run. I have been told that she looked great and did a super job. She liked the race and is excited to work on getting over the fear of open water this summer. I love the fact that she is joining me on the journey side by side. Jackson and Josh both told me how excited they are for their races this summer and so I have to end saying that I am a pretty lucky, and a very happy man.

Big BOOOO YAAAAA

Love you Anne,

T

Josh's first Blog post

Josh knows how to ride his bike. He even crashes sometimes. He likes to ride his bike. He likes his bike. Josh likes Dad and his family so much. My teddy bears are hugging me. I like my huggy bears. They like me. I hope we get a new house with a golf course and it will feel fun to be in our new house. I have fun with Lexi even sometimes she gets hurt and sometimes I get in trouble because I hurt Lexi. But I like my Dad so much. Mom helps me be a good person. I try to be a good person and Mom is a nice Mom because she helps me when I feel sad and I need help. Jackson is a good person, he keeps his room clean and he is nice to me becuase he sometimes plays with me. And he's really nice. And Daddy goes to work sometimes and he stays with us sometimes. I like Jackson, I like Dad, I like Mom, I like Me, I like Lexi, I like Grandma and Grandpa. They are the best people ever. I like Molly the dog, she is black. I will come to your house some time, it will feel fun to be with you Grandma, Grandpa, Molly, David. Andrew and Parker are coming here to night. I like them. They will have fun with me so much fun, fun, fun, fun Andrew and Parker. I like them.

By,

Josh