Bob the runner

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 ...

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 offe...

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...

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...

This trip was another first for us (Julie and me) since we've never been to New Hampshire before. My only real expectations for the trip were to experience a new part of the country and hopefully complete the half marathon in about 2 hours.  Not only were both accomplished but now I can also pinpoint New Hampshire on a map of the USA!  The trip was really fun and I can now officially claim to having completed at least a half marathon in 17 states. We flew into Boston on Friday and drove about 90 minutes to Rye New Hampshire. Once we were outta the city (Boston) and the tunnels, the views were fantastic in spite of the rain. Rye is right on the Atlantic coast and there were great views of the ocean and New England style houses. In Rye we stayed at the Rosewood inn. It was an adequate hotel with terrific customer service.  Saturday morning we went to packet pickup at a running store in Portsmouth NH. The race packet was really basic and only included the rac...