The Life of Pizza John

Here we go on the whole week in Maui.  It was a great trip and I'm looking forward to qualifying again next year. Tuesday: I arrived around 9pm and after almost 20 hours of travel, I was ready for some sleep!  I picked up my rental car and was happy the bike box fit in the back.  I'm lucky they had a hatchback where the seats folded down.  I headed to my hotel in Lahaina and checked in to the Lahaina Shores.  It wasn't the most fancy hotel, but it was super nice for the price!  I would definitely stay there again. Wednesday: The morning view from the hotel was fantastic!  The mountains made for a great sunrise. I got my bike put together and headed to Kapalua to ride the course and check in.  The packet pickup was really easy!  There was no line so it was pretty quick.  I put my race number on my bike and rode over to the trails.  It was starting to sprinkle when I got there, but I figured the trails would be ok.  Th...

This recipe feeds about 4 people with a little bit of leftovers. Cube 5 chicken breasts into small pieces and soak in the following marinade for as short as 2 hours and as long as 2 days. Marinade: 1 C Plain Nonfat Yogurt 2 TBS Lemon Juice 2 t Ground Cumin 2 t Ground Red Pepper 2 t Black Pepper 1 t Cinnamon 1 t Salt 1 inch Minced Ginger Start cooking 3 cups brown rice.  I use a rice cooker so no thinking is involved. In a big sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Once melted add garlic and jalapeno.  Cook for about two minutes, but no longer. Mix all seasonings together in a cup, then add to the pan and cook for one minute. Add tomato sauce and cook for 20 minutes, stirring constantly. While sauce is cooking, in a separate pan, cook chicken and marinade.  Cook until the chicken is not pink in the center.  Continue to stir the chicken and move it from side to side so it cooks evenly. Stir whipping cream into sauce mixture and cook for anothe...

Two years ago when I did this race, it was Hot! just like the name states.  Everyone really lucked out this year because the temperature was not bad and there was plenty of cloud coverage.  I remembered having a hard time with the swim and it was the same this year.  It seems longer than normal.  I felt pretty good during the swim, but when I got out of the water I was told there were two guys that came out over 2 minutes ahead of me!  I wasn't sure how that happened!  I was so rushed in transition that I had only taken my swim skin half off and I got on my bike with it around my waist.  I didn't realize this until I was a couple minutes in and I felt the material flapping.  I tucked it in best I could and kept going.  I was determined to catch these guys on the bike, but they were pretty far out!  But on the second lap I did it, I passed both of them and took the lead having the fastest bike split of the day by over three minutes. ...