Bob's Running the Honolulu Marathon Sunday - Sat., Dec. 10, 2016

Bob's already asleep and has the alarm set for 3:30 am. Our hotel is directly across the street from the shuttle buses to the marathon start point. Bob and his Hawaiian running buddy, Mike, plan to start running at 5:00 am with 30,000 other marathoners. You do realize 30,000 people is a pretty good-sized city in and of itself. That's a lot of runners!

All of Bob's gear is laid out for morning

Go, Bob, go! Bob and Mike plan to walk a lot of the route. It depends on how Mike's plantar fasciitis is doing. Bob hopes they finish by 11 am because that's when rain is forecast to come in. 

If you want to track Bob's progress and see how he's doing,  go to Athlete Tracking - Honolulu Marathon  (http://www.honolulumarathon.org/athlete-tracking/) and enter his bib number: 11742. Right now it's about 72 degrees with 87% humidity in Waikiki, so they could have a cool morning for the race.

Yesterday, I went with Bob to the Honolulu Convention Center where he picked up his race packet. We walked the convention floor and looked at all the products. Bob bought his marathon shirt there. It's a gorgeous shirt this year.

Antherium and red torch ginger

Bob picking up his packet

Hawaiian quilts

After the Expo, we went to a pre-race, carbo-load dinner at Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant with 80+ running friends, some from Hawaii and some from the Mainland.

Bob's running buddy, Mike, and
his wife, Rosemary

Buca di Beppo's decor is "fill the walls and every nook, cranny and alcove" with as much memorabilia as possible. Somehow it works. You always find something new to read or look at.

Mike, Lisa and Rosemary

Nelly, another running friend, and Mike

Nelly and Mike

Group photo

Another group photo

Best of luck to all the runners in the marathon on Sunday! 

Wish Bob Well for the Tacoma Marathon on Sunday with Update (May 1) - Sat., Apr. 30, 2016

Bob has had a busy trip to Washington/Oregon. After his seminar ended on Thursday, he walked around downtown Seattle.

On Friday, he drove to Portland to spend time with my mom. He bought her a bouquet of roses and took her out to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes (a salad/pasta/baked potato bar restaurant). They spent a lot of time talking.

Roses from Bob to Mom

Back at Mom's house they watched a beautiful rainbow over the golf course that lasted quite a while, and then it rained.

Rainbow over the golf course

Friday evening they watched the Portland Trailblazers on TV. (Blazers won the first round!! Yay!)

Saturday morning, Mom made breakfast for Bob, they talked some more and went for a walk around her neighborhood. Bob drove mom around and then headed out. He took Michael (our son) out to lunch at Village Inn. They got all caught up on what's new. Michael  has been in his job for 12 years already. Wow.

Michael at Village Inn this morning

After lunch Bob headed north to Tacoma, Washington, where he will run the Tacoma Marathon Sunday morning. The weather is expected to be cool early in the day with a high of 73. Do well on your marathon, Bob! He figures it will take him about 6-7 hours. Ugh...I can't even imagine being out there that long.

He will have just enough time to go back to his room, shower, then catch his flight home at Sea-Tac airport. I will pick him up in San Antonio at 11:10 p.m. He's going to be exhausted!!

I just finished up my three-day work week. Now I'll have four days off. Life is good.

UPDATE: Bob started the Tacoma Marathon in Gig Harbor, Washington, this morning and finished in 6+ hours in Tacoma, as he had planned. He had time for his shower, return of his rental car at Sea-Tac, and made it on his flight. His plane should be headed into Denver currently where he will change planes and be home in San Antonio on schedule.

Congratulations, Bob!!

Bob's Austin Mararthon Run - Sunday, February 14, 2016

Today was not a typical Valentine's Day. We were up at 4:30 a.m. I drove us to Austin so Bob could run the Austin Marathon. At 5:00 a.m. we left San Antonio for the 1-1/2 hour drive north. Thankfully, there was little traffic.

Humidity in the form of fog settled over the freeway from time to time, but didn't limit highway visibility. However, the fog floated around the lights creating an eerie feel in the early morning hours.

Bob was at the start line at 6:30 a.m., and was on the course at 7:01 a.m. He expected to take the full allotted seven hours to finish the 26.2 miles. I was worried about him the week before the race because his atrial fibrillation (a. fib.) was acting up and he wasn't feeling well.

The morning of the race, I asked him how he was feeling. He said he felt nervous, but couldn't tell if it was from the excitement about the race or if it was his a. fib.

We were both a bit worried that the weather would be hot and humid (80 degrees), but that was not the case. Starting temperature was 57 degrees and humid, but a little later the wind picked up and dried him out. The day stayed cloudy until almost 2:00 p.m. As he was coming down the road for the last mile or so, the sun came out. I don't think the temperature got much over 70.

After I dropped Bob off early in the morning, I headed to IHOP for breakfast since I hadn't eaten yet and was pretty hungry. Bob had eaten a bowl of oatmeal in the car while I drove.

With the whole day ahead of me, I decided to head to Mount Bonnell. I had a general idea of where it was, but I didn't know the exact freeway exit. As I was heading north on I-35 to Hwy 183, a gorgeous sunrise was happening. It was so pretty I didn't want to miss it. I pulled off onto the shoulder of Hwy. 183 and snapped a couple of photos. I was a little too late to catch the sun when it was bright red as it first rose over the horizon.

Sunrise over east Austin

From Hwy. 183, I headed south on MoPac and soon realized many of the exits in the area of Mt. Bonnell were closed due to the marathon. When I finally found an exit (I think it was Cesar Chavez) that was open, I took it. Well, wouldn't you know it, it was the marathon route and only one lane was open. Thankfully, I was early enough and the runners were just starting to round the bend onto the road. I kept driving on the road. Then I started seeing signs "Road Closed Ahead." Uh-oh. I was fortunate to make it through before the runners.

Side roads were barricaded and I wasn't sure what to do. I stopped to ask locals sitting alongside the road in lawn chairs how to get to Mt. Bonnell. They gave me good directions and I found my way to Covert Park at the top of Mt. Bonnell.

This is my stair-stepper exercise this morning!

View of Lake Austin from Covert Park

Mt. Bonnell stone

The flower in the photo below is the Bracted Twistflower. (Sorry for the poor quality, the photo was under glass and had a lot of glare.) According to the informational sign, "The bracted twistflower is a rare annual plant that is native to the Edwards Plateau (the Texas Hill Country). When in full bloom, bracted twistflower is impressively beautiful with vibrantly colored lavender-purple flowers. The plants are normally 1-3 feet tall but can reach a height of five feet under optimal conditions ... Bracted twistflower grows in a variety of habitats in juniper-oak woodlands on rocky limestone slopes and on terraces between such slopes, often above permanent flowing water."

Bracted Twistflower

View from a neighborhood atop Mt. Bonnell

When I finished driving through the beautiful homes atop Mt. Bonnell, I headed down (away from the marathon route).

The road down to Lake Austin from Mount Bonnell.

Along Lake Austin are some amazing homes. I didn't stop to take photos of them.

I worked my way over to MoPac and took it south not realizing it didn't hook up to I-35. When MoPac stopped at a traffic light on Slaughter, I took Slaughter east to I-35. I ended up at the exit just south of Austin's Lone Star Carefree RV Resort, one of Travelers World's sister parks in Texas. Having never seen the park, I stopped in for a tour.

At  the front desk I met John and Debra who, coincidentally, were headed to Travelers World for three nights as soon as they got off work. It's a small world. Anyway, John was nice enough to drive me around the park in the golf cart and I was able to see another Carefree property.

From there, I drove north one exit and stopped in at H-E-B (local Texas grocery store chain) to buy some snacks. I wanted to spend my day at McKinney Falls State Park reading and hanging out in nature.

When I got to the park, the Visitor Center where I was hoping to spend some time, was closed. In fact most of the main part of the park was closed due to damage from floods earlier in the year. The Upper Falls and most of the trails were closed as well. Lower Falls was open and the campground was open. I didn't go to Lower Falls as I figured it would be crowded.

Instead I headed to a quiet parking lot near the dining hall. I read my "Entertainment Weekly" magazine and ate some Valentine sugar cookies. As I was reading, I heard a tap, tap, tap and looked up to see a male cardinal attacking the rear-view mirror on my car. Apparently the bird in the mirror was invading his territory! My nature moments today included Mr. Cardinal looking in my windows and putting on a defensive display trying to chase himself away in my rear-view mirror! It was quite comical.

Must get that bird!

A moment of relative quiet

More attacks

Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear.
How about objects ON the mirror?

He's looking in my front windshield.
Looks like the mirror got the better of him.

As I was reading and watching the cardinal come back to fight the mirror, I also kept an eye on where Bob was in the marathon. You see marathon runners tie a chip on their shoelace and as they run, their chip is tracked as they cross different checkpoints. I looked up his bib number online and was able to track where he was on the course. Bob was doing very well!

In the morning he hadn't been sure if he would do the half or full marathon, but when I checked around 10:30 a.m., he was at 13.1 miles heading toward 18 miles and his pace had been pretty steady at 15.11-minute miles. There was an estimated finish time online. Pretty cool. That made it easy for me to know approximately when he'd cross the finish line.

I napped for a little while in the car, watched the cardinal and read some more. When it was 1-1/2 hours before Bob was due to finish, I stopped at H-E-B again to buy a turkey sandwich for lunch, and headed north on I-35 into downtown Austin. Once I found a place to park, I headed to the finish line, then started walking along the course until I found Bob. He was just coming out of the University of Texas.

Eve and Bob in front of the University of TX
Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium

Bob introduced me to Eve. He had spent the last 13 miles walking with her.

Eve and Bob

Bob and Eve crossing the finish line together

He looks pretty happy to be finished!

Congratulations, Bob, you did a great job on the marathon today!

We headed home, but made one stop at Camping World. For Valentine's Day Bob gave me a gift card to Camping World. I had fun shopping.

At home, we had leftovers (from our Valentine's Dinner at Olive Garden last night) while we watched "60 Minutes."

Travel Bug out.

UPDATED: Bob and Lisa Finished Rock 'n Roll Marathon - Sunday, Dec. 6, 2015

Bob is on the San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Marathon course right now. He passed mile 14-1/2 and is coming up on 22 miles. Also running the marathon are Lisa from our RV park and Amanda ran the 1/2 marathon. The marathon route passes by our RV park twice during the race!

Here are photos from earlier:

Bob at 14-1/2 miles

Lisa at 14-1/2 miles

Goofy coming up on 22 miles

Lisa coming up on 22 miles - her husband
Joe is running with her for a bit

Rock 'n' roll band playing outside Travelers World RV Resort

Time for me to meet Bob at the 22-mile mark with an orange, sunscreen, and a towel.

Will update this after the marathon.  Go Bob and Lisa! Good job, Amanda! (She finished the 1/2 marathon earlier.)

UPDATE: Bob made it to the 22-mile mark and wasn't doing well. I walked to the bench under a bridge where he was in the shade. He ate an orange, then asked to lie down on the bench with his head in my lap for five minutes. His stomach, back, knees and feet were bothering him.

He rested, then asked me to walk the last 4.2 miles with him. I told him piece of cake, but I needed to go back to the 5th wheel and put away his support bag. He said he'd keep walking and I could catch up with him. Easier said than done! I went back to the 5th wheel, changed into a cooler, white shirt, grabbed my fanny pack, water, sunscreen, and a Mountain Dew he requested from our refrigerator.

I figure I was about ten minutes behind him. It took me over a mile to catch up with him and I had to run part of it. You all know how much I love running - not! But we walked the last 2-1/2 miles together.

Bob crossing the finish line.

See the big smile and the finishers medallion?

I wasn't able to catch Lisa crossing the Finish Line, but she and Joe waited for Bob to finish. Congratulations to Bob and Lisa! Great job. Did I mention it's Lisa's first full marathon? This is Bob's 35th marathon.

Thank you so much for driving us all back, Joe! When we got home Bob crashed, then took a shower, and is now sleeping.

I can't imagine running that far, but I'm so proud of Bob, Lisa, Amanda and all the other marathoners out there. It's truly a commitment to train for, and finish, a marathon.

Way to go! See below for a message from Bob:

Bob says he was very motivated and touched by all the support of everyone who came out to cheer for him and Lisa. Congratulations to Lisa on her first marathon. Bob also says he's at home and a full recovery is expected.

 Travel Bug out.

Bob, Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Man - Sun., Dec. 7, 2014

If you think you've had a tough day, you could be like Bob, out running the San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Marathon today. That's 26.2 miles on hard concrete or asphalt. Think of the pounding your feet and knees take. Ouch!

Bob has been running marathons for eight years and has run about 34 of them. He started running marathons in Honolulu, Hawaii, in honor of memories of his dad running marathons. To train, he joined a Team in Training group in Washington state when we lived in the Tacoma area.

Bob finishing his first marathon in Honolulu, Hawaii (2006)

Finisher's tent (feels good to sit down!)

Finisher's T-shirt

Bob by fish mosaic at Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu (2006)

Over the years, Bob has run in many different locations either training for marathons or running in them. His favorite training runs were done along rivers in Austria and Germany.

In early 2007 we moved to Makakilo on Oahu, Hawaii. Bob joined a running group called Runner's HI. He ran with them religiously and we became part of the Runner's HI ohana (family). During the five years we lived in Hawaii, we traveled to Maui, the Big Island, and Kauai on numerous occasions where Bob completed marathons with his friends. He loves the sound of the ocean and tropical scenery.

Runner's HI ohana, Honolulu, Hawaii (Bob and I in back row)

Big Island marathon in 2008. (6 hrs, 33 min., 21 secs)

Eugene, Oregon marathon

Bob finishing the Eugene marathon

Kauai marathon registration display

Setting up for Kauai marathon first aid - Bob hamming it up.

Not only does Bob like to run marathons...he became a Marathon Maniac. In order to become a Marathon Maniac, you have to complete one of the levels. I think Bob has made it to the Silver Level, but you can go up even more levels to the Titanium Level. Me, I think they're crazy. But to each their own. I'll stick to walking, thank you.

Some of the Marathon Maniacs of Hawaii

Hilo Marathon finish, March 2009

Dinner at Cafe Pesto in Hilo, HI - March 2009

Kona, HI Marathon finisher (2009)

Maui Oceanfront Marathon - January 2009

Maui Oceanfront Marathon - January 2009

Kauai Marathon - Sept. 2010

Back to today's marathon. Estimate is that 25,000 people entered the marathon in one of its forms: Kid's Race, 5K, 10K, Half-Marathon, Bike Ride, Wheelchair Race. About 3,500    signed up for the full marathon and 14,000 signed up for the half marathon. All 50 states were represented and people came from 13 countries. Twenty-six live bands performed along the route.

The race went past Travelers World RV Resort...twice. What a wonderful group of people at Travelers World. We had many people out cheering for Bob at both places as he passed the park. Bob said it means so much to him to have that much support. He was so pleased. Thank you to everyone who came out to cheer for him and give him High 5's!

Here are some photos from today's San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Marathon...

Betty Ann, Marlene, Rod, Jocelyne, Newt, Steve and ?

A group of Rock 'n' Roll Marathon runners

Travelers World RV Resort is on the marathon route.

Pretty stylish ladies!

Terry cheering on the runners.

Pam, Bob E., Brenda, Ralph, Terry, Jocelyne, Lincoln and Chloe

Superwoman

Bob crossing the San Antonio River bridge

Bob coming up on Travelers World

Loved this girl and her sign!

Bob with 4-1/2 miles left to go.

Soon he'll be crossing the finish line. The end.

Bob finished the marathon (26.2 miles) in 6 hours, 35 minutes, 34 seconds! Way to go, Bob. Yayyyyy!

Bob with his bling

The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon medal.

Now for some Papa John's Pizza and beer!