Bob the runner

  I'm finally back at it! I completed the Arches half marathon in Moab Utah last weekend. This was my first race since September 2019. A tough course (942 feet of climbing) with a 15mph headwind the last 6 miles but so thrilled to be able to race again and finish state number 24. Also really enjoyed all there is to see in Moab (Arches National Park, Dead Horse Point State Park, etc.).                          

Hard to believe but another decade  (the 20's)  has arrived.    2020 sounds like some distant year in the future, not the year we have just entered.  I suppose this means I am getting old.  Especially when I can say things like I remember back in the 70's I graduated high school.  Wow that was 50 years ago! 2019 in typical fashion went by too fast.  I learned a bunch and accomplished pretty much all of my goals for the year thanks to dedication to my goals and the help of my new coach called Tridot.  Tridot is an online coaching system that maps out all my workouts based on regular assessments and my upcoming goals.  For the most part it was easy to learn the Tridot jargon and I jumped in with both feet.   The program kept me injury free and well prepared for all my events.  The toughest part was learning to run at a zone 2 HR pace.  I didn't know it was possible to run that slow but over time learned to enjoy the easy runs. Overall I swam/bike/ran a total of 3,187.5

Wow, one week ago today I experienced one of the highlights of my life by joining the Ironman ranks by completing the Ironman 70.3 race in Atlantic City NJ!  This also makes the 23rd US state that I have run at least a half marathon in. When I turned 60 earlier this year it just seemed natural to set a crazy goal.  60 is just a number but to help remember this milestone I decided to step it up and attempt an Ironman 70.3.  This race totals  70.3 miles broken down by a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride and 13.1 mile run.  I knew it would take a bunch of training and preparation but also knew finishing the race would make it all worthwhile.  After a bunch of research I chose the Ironman 70.3 in Atlantic City NJ.  Below is my race report.  Warning, it is a bit long! Pre-race: Pre-race time was filled with lots of anxiety in many areas.  Rumors about the swim course had me thinking about things like: I've never swam in salt water.  Will it make me sick?  Will it be different

Joking around with my better half before the race Its always fun at these event to run into friends On Sunday,  I completed my second triathlon of the year.  The event was called TriBoulder and was held at Boulder Reservoir in Boulder Colorado.  This was an olympic distance triathlon which  included just under a 1 mile swim, 26.4 mile bike ride and 6.2 mile run.  This race also offered a Long Course (Ironman 70.3 distance), Sprint course and Aquabike (swim and bike only). We lucked out with the weather as the morning started out about 63 degrees and warmed up to the low/mid 70s for the run.  The sun was beating down pretty good on the run but the temps were definitely not terrible. My goals for the race were: Finish the race Beat the TriDot expectations for me and find out my fitness level Test my nutrition plan Do my best and have fun Overall I was satisfied with my performance.  I always wish I was faster but was the best me I could be for the day.  I accomplis

I really struggled with whether or not to write this race report.  I have bounced into embarrassment, frustration and other emotions.  Eventually I decided for the report so I can reflect on the event and put it behind me.  I had no control over the bad parts but am just not happy with my results.  Yes they could have been worse but I had high expectations with all the training I've been doing and with my new Cervelo P2 triathlon bike. Last Saturday I completed my first triathlon of the year.  This Sprint triathlon was held in Loveland at the High School with the swim held in Loveland Lake.  Last year I did the Olympic distance and was so impressed with the event that I decided to do the Sprint this year.  For me, there was anxiety leading up to the triathlon as the weather forecast was predicting rain and high 40 degree weather.  I could handle the cooler weather but racing my new bike in the rain made me a bit nervous. We decided to go up a day early and spend the nig

Oregon is one of those US states I probably would not have visited without my goal of running a half marathon in all 50 states.  Not that I have anything against Oregon, it's just that it's up in the left corner of the US and until recently I  didn't know anyone that lived in Oregon.  Anyhow, last Friday, Julie and I flew into Portland and then drove our rental car to the Fairfield Inn in Lake Oswego.  I learned the proper way to pronounce it is Os-we-go.  For some reason I want to pronounce it Os-way-go.  This hotel was comfortable and convenient since packet pickup was held there. Around 4pm, we headed down to packet pickup.  Packet pickup was small but they gave me my bib, running shirt and answered all my questions about the race.  One other cool thing is they were giving away race shirts from previous years.  I grabbed one and Julie found a couple as well.  They didn't care that she wasn't running this race as their only goal seemed to be finding someo