The Life of Pizza John

Fun picture I saw in a restroom at a bike store. Cards Against Humanity with friends!  Best game ever if you have demented friends!  A day out on the boat. Relaxing at the beach.   Daria training for her Triathlon. Amy and Reubens for a day of hanging out with friends. Storm while house sitting for Clark and Jesse.   Cruising around in dads Cobra.   Daria's first day of fourth grade.   My volleyball team, Ready, Net, Go!   Daria's triathlon.   Kristen's mom visiting from Tampa.  

Kristen and I got a chance to go visit Karen and Richard in Brevard, NC.  This was a double bonus since we got some hill training in as well!  They live in a neighborhood named Conestee which had more hills than we knew what to do with!  We were also super close to Dupont State Forest which had some fun Mountain Bike trails. I got to climb Caesars Head in the rain.  I heard it was a challenging climb, but it was not as hard as the hills we experienced in Conestee.  It was sustained, but nothing too hard to handle.  There are plenty of small Highways with little traffic to bike on so it was lots of pleasant riding. I rode the Mountain Bike at Dupont a couple days and it was amazing!  Lots of flowy single track, some ups and downs and on a weekday, no one was out so I had the trail to myself! After riding for two days, there is still plenty of trails I never even saw.  I can't wait to get back there and see the rest of it.  There are other...

This race is so much fun because so many people from our club race and there is a huge support crew!  Last year, I got second overall, so I knew I really had to push myself if I wanted first this time around.  The course was great, it was organized and the volunteers seemed to know what was going on.  The ocean was calm, there wasn't much wind and the temps were not too bad in the morning.  This all made for a great tri! Swimming to the first buoy was brutal with all the other athletes.  It was crowded and everyone was fighting for that first position.  Once we made the first turn, the pack evened out and we all settled into our pace.  At the end of the swim, two others were right in front of me, but I passed them before we got out of transition which made for a really nice bike.  By the time I got to the turn around on the bike, I was ahead of the next person by a couple minutes, but I wanted to make the gap even bigger so I didn't have to kil...

What a hot day for a race.  Throw in a little wind and it was a really challenging day.  The water was surprisingly calm, but there were some strong currents to overcome.  A swim that generally takes me about 22 minutes took 26 this time around.  There was much less sea life this time around which helped with the nerves.  By the time I got on the bike, the wind was picking up a little and it made the course more challenging than last time.  By about mile 3, I was in first place and I then led for the rest of the race.  The bike is an out-and-back so half way through you get a good idea of where you stand.  I was a couple minutes ahead, but all the people behind me were in groups drafting which was kinda of a bummer.  Not to sound like a complainer, but it bothers me when I see that in a race. I got into transition with a pretty big lead which was great since I wasn't feeling all that well on the run.  The heat was getting to me and ...

This is by far the best rear carry system I have used.  It appears to be made out of a high quality plastic that flexes a little.  This is great because it flexes as you go over bumps making a smoother ride for your bottles so they are not as likely to fly out like other systems.  Other people I ride with have other systems and are constantly losing bottles, but I have not lost a single one. I have mine setup to carry 2 Co2's, 2 bottles, tube, inflator and tire iron.  It is super light and highly adjustable.  Depending on the race I do, I change it to just carry one bottle.  It also works with any seat because of their locking system and adjust-ability.  The other great part about their locking system is you don't need to worry about it getting lose and becoming limp while you ride.  I have had this issue with other rear carry systems and it's a pain to stop and fix it, plus is can scratch your bike. The last comment I have is the great custo...

Daria and I tool our yearly trip to Scottsdale to see the family and had a great time.  I even got to meet up with a Tri club for some running and a Masters swim group.  Other than working and training, we got a chance to go out on the boat and do some relaxing.  Daria just about got up on the surf board behind the boat and she got punished on the tube thanks to Grandpa.  I rode it with her for a while, but she had bigger balls than I did and I hopped off first. We then drove to Oceanside, CA to meet more of the family and take a family photo.  The surf wasn't great, but I got to get out for a couple days and catch some waves. We tried to buy a surfboard from Surf Ride, but they were total dicks so we got one from Asylum Surf instead.  We spent a day at Sea World (please don't judge me...it wasn't my decision) which was pretty cool, but you can't go without feeling super bad for the big animals in small cages. We ate some delicious food, including some a...

I keep writing down recipes I like then losing them.  Solution: Put them online where I can find them again! These make a delicious snack to satisfy my sugar cravings.  All my recipes are health and exercise friendly.  For this one in particular, I added turmeric to these treats to help reduce inflammation. 1 1/2 cups oats 1/2 cup ground flax seed 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 1/4 cup chia seeds 1 cup peanut butter 1/4 cup honey 1 teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Mix dry ingredients in bowl.  Then mix in wet ingredients.  I start off mixing with a fork, then finish them off with my hands.  Roll into balls and refrigerate.

I came into this day feeling a little tired and beat up.  Not because I trained a lot this week, but I have just been feeling off.  After winning last week, everyone on our team came up to me before the race and asked how well I thought I would do.  This made the nerves even worse, I need to figure out how to get them under control. The minute the gun went off, I was already feeling a lot better. I ran into the water and with my first dive, my goggles filled with water....I wasn't off to the best start.  I guess I need to put them on tighter next time.  I was in the lead pack again, but a little further back this time.  There were a lot of jelly fish again, but not the ones that sting.  The swim was fun, but I need to get quite a bit faster so I can lead the swim instead of hang out in the front pack. I was feeling a bit rough on the first part of the bike and I never felt great, but I ended up having a pretty good split.  There were a lot of...

It always feels great when everything comes together at a race!  I felt fresh and the conditions were great!  It was a little overcast and it was raining while we were setting up transition, but the rain stopped before the race started.  The ocean was a little choppy, but nothing too crazy.  When the gun went off we all ran into the water and before I knew it, I was in front with a couple other guys.  I just got on one of their feet and let them take control for the majority of the swim.  There were so many jelly fish and I bumped into them over the course of the whole swim.  None of them stung, but it was a little unnerving being in the water with so much sea life I could see.  It was really nice being in the front pack of the swim so I could just relax and let the others site.  When I got out of the water (22:55), I was in 4th place, but when I got onto the bike, I was in second. Gotta love those fast transitions!  Within the first 30...

This was my first time heading up to New England and it sure is beautiful!  Nice rolling green hills and amazing views.  A few of us decided to do what is called the Presidential Traverse.  It is 7 summits with almost 9000 feet of elevation gain and about 20 miles long.  The summits are named after Presidents (hence the name) and Mount Washington was the tallest.  We thought it would be fun to do on the Summer Solstice so we started at about 4am on June 21st.  The weather can change quite a bit in this region so we had plenty of water and clothes for emergencies.  We also have all the normal survival gear just in case.  I tried hiking with poles for the first time and I didn't like them at the beginning of the day, but I relied heavily on them by the end (more on this later). We started at the Appalachia parking lot and ended at Crawford Notch.  This meant we would start with Mount Madison as the first summit.  We started early with o...

I may not have qualified for Kona this year, but I got my spot to Maui!  After what ended up being an 'interesting' race, I got third in my age group.  The riding at Oak Mountain State Park is fun!  They have a lot of great single track.  Lots of easy stuff and plenty of hard riding as well.  I got up to Pelham, AL a few days early to ride the course and relax.  I was impressed they had most of the course marked two days before the race so people knew where to go.  When I rode the course a few weeks prior, I thought Boulder Ridge and West Ridge where a part of the course so I rode them and did not like them at all!  They were way too technical for a race.  Once I rode the official course, I was super please with it.  A couple technical spots, but for the most part, really fun, easy riding. The morning of the race it was pouring rain as I was setting up in Transition.  I got there early so I could get one of the end spots on a r...