The "...you're not very flexible..." observation comment by the PT while manipulating my feet rolled-off my back as I kind of, sort of knew and dismissed as a given. However, the one assessment exercise caused some concern was: simply standing on one foot then the other. The right foot was no problem as the ankle fought back to stand firm. When I stood solely on the left foot, I became the falling-over drunk at a road side sobriety test. "I'm not going to make it!" I yelped after a few seco... Read Full Story

If I only owned a pair of the X-ray glasses, the kind you find in the back of comic book, then I wouldn't need to visit the doctor today for "My Left Foot", unlike the movie. With the exception of the Gaspin' In the Aspen Trail Run 15K, I've mostly been off my feet. I've been cycling and swimming, to get over the fear factor, I even had my first open-water swim in wet suit last week which left me confident as the wet suit will prevent me from drowning. On Friday and Saturday though, I bega... Read Full Story

"Don't you just love racing early in the morning than having the rest of the day and night to goof around?" I told McIntire who nodded in agreement. After the race for a post-race breakfast, an impromptu decision was made to stop by Brandy's Restaurant and Bakery which so happened to be featured on the Food Networks' "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" hosted by Guy Fieri. With sweet potato, french fries on the menu, we quickly switched to lunch for their amazing sandwiches, fries and a post-rac... Read Full Story

My night's sleep was broken by an urgent bark by Milo, my former running partner and an old mountain dog, who immediately had to go outside non-stop from 2:30 a.m until the sun broke. Sensing the old dog's determination to repeat this pattern throughout the night, I flipped on NPR, hoping the soothing news reports would calmly put me back to asleep upon the couch where I could easily rise to open and close the sliding, glass door until the morning sun breaks. At one point, the newsreporte... Read Full Story

Gaspin’ in the Aspen is what I’ll be doing tomorrow at the 15k Gaspin’ in the Aspen Trail Run. Truly, this is a beautiful trail race among pine, roaming elk and of course, Aspen groves where between breaths you could lose yourself in the beauty or being caught-up in the race – just ask my wife, who along with three others, were concentrating so hard on racing that they missed the trail markers and went off course for 4 miles only to have to hitch hike a ride back to the start. I, too, had a m... Read Full Story

My body is rejecting me. My body is rejecting my “conscious being” and hating all that I’m doing to make it better, stronger and capable. Wow, how deep is that? These apparent aches and pains are part of the body’s civil war causing unrest in my brain with my conscious self trying to battle back.“Oh sure, Body you may have won a battle or two but you will not win the war!” The mind exclaims after having been bed ridden for the past two days with a splitting headache - evidence of the civil wa... Read Full Story

With the Mountain Man Triathlon only six weeks away, I decided to get fitted for a wet suit today. Little did I realize that wet suits allow very little air to escape. After eating a three bean burrito imagine my surprise when...The Running Bob Read Full Story

(a commentary video is at the bottom of this post)With past marathons completed and months of training of leading to the Starter’s pistol “pop” of the San Diego Rock-n-Roll Marathon, I had a race day strategy and a mental arsenal to overcome the wall and just about any unforeseen problem thrown at me. After the Starter’s pistol “Crack!” was replaced with a roar of applause and cheer by runners and spectators, what I wasn’t prepared for was the adrenalin pumping through my veins replacing my ... Read Full Story

Typically, we fly to the city two days prior to the race in order to avoid the craziness associated with packet pick-up and get a full days rest in prior to the race. Instead, the current economic depression caused us to save money where possible such as shopping for cheaper air fare and hotel rates. Booking well in advance of the race, I scored a hotel deal yet had to carefully plan our air travel such there was enough time for packet pick-up, an early lunch and dinner in order for full nigh... Read Full Story

After my sixteen, committee member meeting (those who showed of twenty-two), the sixty-seven year-old now turned sixty-eight year old runner, who kicked my ass on a trail last year, inquired if I was planning to run the 10k this week-end. Initially, I declined because I needed to recover from this week-end's marathon. However, I took the bait. We spoke about this last week-end's marathon and his upcoming senior, "National Invitational Only Race". Yep, my adrenalin was getting the best of m... Read Full Story