A weekend of good training

Saturday I had a swim and run workout in Chatfield. I had sent my broken wetsuit to Desoto on Thursday so I was swimming at the pond just in trunks. As I was getting started I had the enjoyment of watching Tony trying to put his wetsuit back on after a run. He had a swim-run-swim-run workout and struggled to the point of laughter trying to get his wetsuit back on for the second leg.
I jumped in and got the workout done, It was a little later in the morning so I rushed to get it done before the pond closed. After the swim I quickly ran to the car, changed and was about to start on my run workout when Rob ran by the car. He waited and we ran the swim pond loop together talking and having a good time. This was the first time that I was able to hang with Rob and it was really fun to hear about him and what he is doing. We ran well together and had FUN. After the first loop he was done with his workout so I went it alone on the second. I pushed the pace and felt good and ran the second 6 minutes faster than the first. The sun was out and it was a hot fun day. I felt good about the credits going into the bank, at the end I was tired but in one of the really good ways.
I found the family at the outdoor pool and we swam for a while. We came home and I was able to go on a date with my fun wife. It was a good evening and I felt like a recharge happened.
Sunday we had a bunch of work to get done on the house and so I had a late workout. I decided to leave from my home to get the distance needed for the day. I was blown away by the amount of people in Chatfield and Deercreek at 11am. It was crazy busy, fun to be out since we usually ride early and alone. I was able to meet and talk to other riders as I climbed for the day. I pushed hard and steady up Deercreek before the down poor hit. I turned at the school house and made my way home. I arrived 55 miles later and 3.5 hours into a good workout. I pushed up to School house faster than I have all season and feel good about the month of June so far. I was able to see Tony again, (he was mending a tire on his last few miles) and I was able to see Rob just as I was at Deercreek and Wads. It is fun to see the gang since I do not train much with them anymore even if it is for a glimpse.
Here is to more good workouts, and success for the year.

T

My kids trip to Moab or mine?

Kids- We were able to get out of school early on Friday and the other kids in my class were jealous and that was fun. The car was packed so we just jumped in and went for a really long ride. We had dinner in the car (that does not happen very often so it was cool) DS, movies and of course plenty of fighting. Lexi hit me so I hit Josh and then they both hit me since I was in the middle.
We made it to Moab, Utah at dark, there was a pool, mini golf, a play ground and we were able to make friend's faster than Dad was able to put up the tents. First night was crazy, Josh would not leave me alone and kept bothering me even though we had our own kids tent. It may have rained a bit but no real big deal. The next day was fun and we went to Arches National Park. We hiked, climbed on the rocks, did some of the Junior Ranger's program jobs. We had lunch in the park, that was really fun. Dinner was during a huge rain storm. We all climbed in Mom and Dad's tent and played Uno for a long time. The rain stopped and we started to play again and did until we were tired. Their was this huge pool left in the road so we rode our bikes and had a blast until our lips turned blue. The next day Mom and Dad said they were really tired and wanted to go home (loossserrrressss). We went back to the park and climbed up to a really cool arch. Dad was really nervous when we got close to the sides and yelled a few times. I was surprised that he had kept his manners this long in a trip, he usually blows much earlier. I guess we just did not push as hard as we should. The ride home was fun we went to the Dinosaur museum and it was really cool. Dad fell asleep in the chair during the movie, I hope I do not turn that lame!!! We got home and cleaned up. I asked if we could go again to Moab and Arches next week, Mom said "well see" dad said "nope, but maybe next year". I had a good time and I am glad that we had a fun Memorial Day trip to Moab even if we only lasted 3 days 2 nights.

Dad- I hurried home and helped Anne pack the truck to it's limits with almost everything in our house. We checked the weather once more and it got worse from the last 20 times that we checked it. We decided that we needed to go anyway and it would be fun. We arrived to Moab without much problem except that the rain had just started to down poor and we were getting wet. I liked the KOA, it was just outside of town and it looked pretty all around us so we felt good about the choice. The kids did not go to sleep until 10pm and it rained all night. I had a leak in the tent and stayed wet the entire night. The kids were very kind and started to get up at 6:30am. So much for sleeping in!!!! We cooked breakfast, packed the car and headed to Arches. We hiked, had fun, took a long hike and then it started to rain really bad on us so we headed home to the tent. Anne read in the park that it was the desert and on average it rained 9 inches a year. That night as we ran home we beat the hail but landed smack dab in the down pour. It lasted for 1 hours and everything was wet by the end and it was getting dark. We moved the tent to higher ground, had another sleepless night and woke to a windy cold morning. Anne and I made the decision that we were done, we packed up and headed to the park for one last hike. We did the loop to Delicate Arch and the kids were awesome. The camera was left in safe in the car so we do not have a pic but it was really, really neat. The drive home was good and I slept for 9 hours that night. The next day the kids asked if we could go again and they were surprised that we said the weather was bad, they did not even notice and had a blast. The kids helped clean up and so I guess we will do it again.

Loved Arches, Anne and kids had fun for their first time and I would like to go again when we have time to check out other sights. I love my family and will always keep trying to give them experiences like this one even if they do not realize how crappy it was for Anne and I.

Love you Anne,

T

Success at Littlefoot Triathlon

I decided last minute that I wanted to do the Littlefoot Triathlon on May 17th 2009 in Morrison Colorado. I had plans to ride with friends but after talking to Anne I went and signed up and started to get pretty excited. The distance was was a sprint with a normal swim (750M) long bike (15M) and long run (4M).
The day started at 5am and I was off to Morrison, I was racing solo but was really excited to hear and see Annie, Troy and Sonja cheering me on. 7:20am was the first wave and I as I walked into the cold 55 degree water the day started with a brrrrrrrr cold. I took it out slow and found some feet to follow the second half of the swim.
Out of the water Sonja told me I was close to the lead pack and I felt a surge that I have never felt before in a race. I was not sure what to do because I have never been close to the lead or the front runners of a race so I smiled and keep up the effort. I took the bike slow on the first of 2 laps, I had not done any recon on the course and felt that I would learn the course and then press hard on the second lap. The course was 2 loops with plenty of areas to mark your progress. It was also on the technical side and I came out of arrow in a few areas to make the turns. Passing the first lap I realized the I was sitting in 7th or 8th place and ramped it up a couple of gears. I passed a few guy and came into T2 sitting 6th in my wave. The first 2 guys were well past me but I had a few in my sights. The wave start was for men 39 and under and so I felt I was doing pretty good for my age group. I took the first part of a 2 loop run course mellow and started to pick it up after the turn around. I had 2 guys in my sights and I was able to get past 1 of them. I started lap 2 with some power in my legs and after hearing Sonja and Troy yelling like total rock stars I push it as hard as I could. I came into the last mile feeling like it was my fastest and and had a HUGE smile running into the finish shoot.
This was a totally fun course and I will add it to my next year schedule. The race was safe, fun and very cool to push the early season effort.
Since I never have had this happen I feel that I am able to blog about it and have that be ok. I have waited around for almost every awards ceremony to see my fellow friend take the podium and celebrate their success. Today I was my turn.......Yep 3rd place in my age group and 7th age group male overall. I had a great day and really feel good about it. So yep, I feel that the year is off to a good start and I am feeling good about that. Sometime you just have to throw in the mix a little FUN and today was not just a little it was a whole bucket full.

Thanks for letting me go and have fun Anne,

Thanks for coming and cheering Wieck Family.

Boooo Yaaaaa

T

PS here are the stats.

TYLER WALTON
Swim 13:23.6 T1 0:48.4 Bike 44:42.0 Speed 20.1 T2 0:54 Run 23:47.8 Total 1:23:36.1

A good miss and a good workout

The last few months have been a challenge for me to string together a good set of workouts. I have been able to keep up on most but I have had a challenge trying to be on my game consistently. This week it happened, back to back good workouts and it looks like I have more to come.

It started by looking at my May calendar and seeing the distance shrink and the variety of what I like in workouts starting to appear. Tuesday I had a personal track workout with 16x400 as the main workout. I live 1.5 miles away from a good track and headed there in the morning. I felt good, decided to do the workout without my Ipod toed the line and started my first set. The pace was written at a 10K pace but I ended up missing and rolling in on my 5K pace. The same problem happened rep 2-4 so I decided to go keep the change and see what the last 4 would feel like. Each set I felt better and better, my mind became clearer and the stresses of the world left for awhile and I was able to focus on my workout and push myself. I remember this time last year that I was having the same challenges. Soon I was done with 12 and keeping myself within 3 seconds of my starting lap. I finished strong with the last 3 being the fastest on the day. I ran slow home and started the day feeling great with a good workout under my belt.

The very next day was TT for 2 hours, 1.5 sub R/P with 10 :30 pickups. BOOOO YAAAAA. I started from home and headed south. They finally paved the road over Daniels Park to Castle Rock so I headed that direction. I did my warm up and then settled down into my 1.5 hr effort at sub Race Pace. I climbed harder than normal, I pushed the downhills a little faster then I usually do and 40 minutes later I was at RT 85. I was going to do an out and back but missed on my timing so I took a left and headed to Chatfield. I was on flats, in arrow and pushing like it was race day plus a little. The time flew by, so did the morning traffic which was very cool to me this day. I keep interjecting my 30 seconds of pickups, some on the flats, some on the hills. I took a right on Highlands Ranch Pkwy and headed back through HR to home. I had a few good climbs to finish up the ride and did so with a good solid effort. I felt good mentally and was proud of the workout.

I love the spring when the weather is nice in the AM and you can get a good workout in before the day starts. For the second day in a row I was able to put work aside and concentrate on what I enjoy as my hobby and it felt great.

Tonight is a group run at Chatfield,

Love you Anne,

T