Bob the runner

Wow, I sure am a bit slow writing up the  Loveland Lake to Lake  race report!  I really enjoyed this race.  Loveland High School is a perfect race venue, the race was challenging and well organized and also had the best after race food.    This was my first Olympic distance triathlon of 2018. 1500 meter swim (just under a mile), 30 mile bike and 10k (6.2 miles) run.  I met some of my goals including to enjoy the experience. Thanks to my better half ( Julie Cole )  for taking the photos and supporting me on my crazy adventures.  Since Loveland Colorado is a little over an hour drive time, we decided to spend the night at a hotel there.  It was nice being able to sleep in a little later before heading over to the race venue.  Transition opened at 5am and that is about the time we arrived.  I found a primo spot in transition, close to the bike exit and among the intense athletes, and proceeded to setup my equipment.  Once transition was setup, I put my wetsuit on and we

On Saturday 2 June, I completed my first triathlon of 2018, the Colorado Sprint Triathlon at Boulder Reservoir.    Overall the triathlon went well but as usual I am left with areas of dis-satisfaction and thoughts of how to improve.   My friend, Jeff Nielsen and I rode together to this event and arrived early enough to get a good transition spot.  The weather was perfect (low 60s) other than a fair amount of wind on the bike.   Transition.  I selected a spot near the bike exit.  This limits the amount of running in bike shoes and time pushing the bike.  Of course this makes the swim-to-bike and bike-to-run slightly longer but I think the logic is good. Pre-race.  With transition already setup, I picked up my timing chip, got body marked, and stood in line for the porta-potties.  Also took the time to familiarize myself with how to get to my transition spot from the water and when coming in from the bike ride. Once the open water warm-up area opened, I lub

When they say everything is bigger in Texas, believe them!  On my birthday this year I ran the Aramco Houston Half marathon in Houston Texas and it was huge.  The expo was huge, the race was huge and the finish area was huge.  This was the 19th state I've completed a half marathon in and was by far the huge-est race I've run in.  This race was especially fun for me since Julie (my wife), Tyler (stepson) and Abbey (Ty's girlfriend) were there to cheer me on.  It was so cool that they made signs for me and were along the course at different spots to cheer me on. We stayed in a condo in the same building where Tyler and Abbey live.  The picture above is the view from their condo.  Incredible view of the city of Houston for sure!   The Expo was held at the George R Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston.  As I already said, both the convention center and the Expo were huge.  There were over 100 vendors there offering all kinds of running goodies.  Person

31 December 2017 As   look back over my goals for 2017, I am quite pleased.   I accomplished most of my goals, experienced a few new things, and ran/bike/swam a total of 2,569 miles.  This was over 100 miles more than last year!   In spite of battling knee tendinitis and bursitis, I completed 4 half marathons in 2017 and ran 126 times (106 hours) for a total distance of 622 miles.  I received 3 rather painful knee shots and worked really hard on improving my running form to hopefully cure the knee pain. The verdict is still out.  I started the year off in January with the Big Beach Half Marathon in Gulf Shores Alabama.  Next was the rather rainy Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach Virginia in March.  Third was the Wallis Sands Half marathon in Rye NH in May.  My final Half Marathon was on Thanksgiving day in Atlanta Georgia.  These four races make 18 states that I have completed at least a half marathon in.  Only 32 states left to go!! During the summer months my focus we

Proud finisher of state number 18! Today I feel really thankful, not only because of the Thanksgiving holiday but because I was able to run 13.1 miles in Georgia and check state number 18 off!  I've suffered from knee tendinitis and bursitis lately and had serious doubts about running this distance. I don't know how many more of these half marathons I can do but I'm not quitting since my 50 state goal is not complete yet. Race morning we über'd to Georgia State Stadium (previously Turner field) arriving around 6am. It was a little chilly (41 degrees) to stand around but perfect running weather.  From registration to the finish area, this race was done right. They had an area set up with heaters for the runners to hang out in before the race. There were some vendors giving out freebies and plenty of porta potties. Along the course there were more cops and volunteers than I have seem at any other race.  Around 715am we lined up in our running waves and wer