Bob the runner

Enjoying pizza after the stroke and stride! This was my third stroke and stride this year.  I did the long course (1500 meter swim and 5K run) for the second week in a row.  My goal going into this event was to get more open water swimming time without the wetsuit and to try and improve upon my time from last week.  I also wanted to try out Hammer Endurolytes to see if they would help prevent leg cramps.  I took 3 about 30 minutes before the swim and 3 afterwards. I registered at the event and paid the $28 and received lucky number 113.  The weather was perfect and I heard the water was 2 degrees warmer (72) than last week (yippee!).  I was hoping this made a difference since I froze in the water last week.  I forgot my towel but was able to setup my transition area with my mini-towel from the Lookout Mountain Tri.  The only real use for the towel is to wipe off your feet after running up from the beach so this was not a show-stopper.  Once my transition area was se

As many of you know I am planning to participate in the USA Triathlon age group nationals in August in Omaha Nebraska.  I qualified and will be participating in the olympic distance (1500 meter swim, 40K bike, and 10K run) triathlon competing against the best triathletes in the country.  For those that don't know metric distances: (1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run).  The top 18 finishers in each age group qualify for team USA and get to compete in the Triathlon worlds next year in the Netherlands.  I have little to no chance of making team USA but thought it would be fun to do the event and maybe learn something from some of the best triathletes in the USA. The lake water in Nebraska in August is warm (low 80s) and therefore the wetsuit will not be permitted.  Before this stroke and stride I had never participated in an event without the wetsuit.  The wetsuit is quite buoyant and gives you a sense of safety and also makes the swim easier since it  keeps your core u

1st in my age group!! If there was ever a perfect Triathlon day, this was it!  Yep that's me on the top step of the podium. My hope for this Sprint Triathlon was to improve on my TriBoulder times from last year. Specifically I wanted to improve my swim time, reduce transition times, average 20mph on the bike, and improve my run time.  I've trained hard and was hoping it would all come together in this race. My dream was to finish under 1:40.  I never imagined I would accomplish all my goals, take first in my age group, and have Chris and Keira there to celebrate my success. As I said, it was a perfect day.  Here's transition..  Look close and see the yellow flag.. Julie had to work on Sunday but she drove down to Boulder Reservoir with me in the wee hours of the morning. It was fun to have her there with me as I setup and scoped things out.  This event was also fun because there were about 8 other Arvada Tri Club members competing in the triat

When I signed up for this Triathlon I knew it would be tough. Then again I said to myself "how tough can a 525 yard swin, 10 mile bike ride and 5K run be"?  I said this without considering the elevation being over 7000 feet.  Needless to say it was really tough! Dig Deep Sports ran the event and did a great job. The communication before the race was great and packet pickup was easy. Packet Pickup was held at Runners High running store in Golden. The owner of the store was my dental hygienist before she became store owner. It was great to see Deb and catch up with her.  The packet was kinda light as it pretty much contained the race shirt, race number tags, and a couple discount coupons. It also showed our start time. My start time was 810am.  Hanging our with Jeff and his daughter after the race. On Saturday, we arrived at the Mount Vernon Country Club around 630am and there was plenty of parking close to transition.  We pulled in next to my buddy Jeff Neilsen so

Last Thursday I participated in my first multi-sport event of the season.  The event is called the Boulder Stroke and Stride and is put on by Without Limits Productions.  The event is scheduled pretty much weekly between June 2 and August 4th and provides swimming and 5K running options.  The swim is in Boulder Reservoir and the run is an out and back course along the Dam.  I chose to do the short course which is a 750 meter (1/2 mile) swim followed by a 5K run.  My goals for this event were: Get back into my wetsuit in an organized event Test out my Garmin 910XT in multisport mode Get some open water swim time with other people kicking and splashing around me Work on transition from wetsuit to running gear See how I do running after swimming  I decided to not register until last minute so arrived at the event at 430pm when registration opened.  Bottom line I arrived way too early since the swim didn't start until about 605pm.  The registration process was simple and

Have you ever been to the Kentucky Derby?  It is probably the most famous of all the horse races and if you haven't been I'm sure you've heard of it. They call it the fastest two minutes in sports.  Each year it kicks off the journey to the elusive triple crown and is an event people all over America schedule to watch.  They dress up, wear fancy hats, place bets and gather to watch horses make history.  When I heard there was a Kentucky Derby half marathon where you get to run on the infield of Churchill Downs, it was an easy choice for my Kentucky race. I don't know if my eyes will ever grace the track during the actual Derby so I thought this would come a close second.  We arrived in Kentucky on Thursday and drove to our condo that was booked through Homeaway. The condo was in downtown Louisville and a short walk to where the race would start. We have learned that we enjoy staying at a condo or house instead of hotels and the price is usually cheaper o

It feels sooooooo very good to be back running half marathons!   That's me in the Bronco Orange shoes!     The HHI (Hilton Head Island) trip was an interesting one. The race was held on the 13th of February, South Carolina was my 13th state running a half or full marathon in, and I was running 13.1 miles.  Definitely a 13 themed race but luckily not of the bad luck kind. I was thrilled with my finish time and we had a blast.  We flew into Savannah Georgia on Thursday and drove roughly an hour to Hilton Head Island. We rented a condo through Homeaway and everything went smoothly picking up the keys and getting into the condo. The condo was in Seaside villas near Coligny circle and had a great beach view from the balcony. The condo was not fancy but was great for Julie and me. We cooked most of our meals there and were able to relax and unwind from our busy lives for a few days. Also being able to walk down the stairs and pretty much right onto the beach was a wonderfu