The Life of Pizza John

There have been lots of big changes in my life lately and I have decided to put my focus into something(s) other than triathlons.  This 'blog' was originally meant as somewhat of a personal journal.  I like to document my adventures and the fun things I do in life. I also like to keep track of the things I cook often so I don't have to write them down and keep track of them. I originally never gave out this address, but after a while decided to share it with a couple family members, then it kinda spread from there. Now, plenty of people are following it so maybe I'll work on writing a little more clearly and having more fun pictures! Alia will be documenting our new adventures so we went to the beach the other day to take some practice shots with the GoPro.  They are below. So with all that being said, onto more adventures!!!! Funny story about these sandals... They come from Hawaii and are bought in the grocery stores for pretty inexpensive and they last ...

Just some pictures to sum up some good times... Cleaning the grill I found on the side of the road! All the bald guys at Asdrubel's birthday Studying for our future Fun in Dirk's van Unofficial lunch swim! Trainer buddies! Dinner time Alia's fake birthday dinner at La Cocina (St Augustine's best restaurant) You can't tell from the picture, but we are on the same bike!  We had bike issues and had to leave one behind!

I raced the Blackwater Xterra and Florida 70.3 the last couple weekends and I'm feeling pretty beat up!  I finished 4th at the Xterra after leading out of the water and leading into the run and if I could have run well it would have been a much better race.  I wasn't in the best shape for a 70.3 so I didn't place well, but I ran a 1:30:03 which I was pretty happy about. Look at all the sweet bikes!!! Alligators?  Are you kidding me? Good times

I like to start the year off with the same race to judge where my fitness is. I was curious to see how much fitness I had lost due to taking time off while in Hawaii and while I did lose some fitness I didn't lose as much as I thought I would.  I've been working my butt off to get back in shape and it shows.  Alia and I were originally going to drive down to Clermont the morning of the race, but our friend Sue offered for us to stay at her place in Ocala so it would cut the morning drive time in half.  It was wonderful! I raced well for the level of my fitness and I finished 1st in my age group and 5th overall.  I made a mistake that I never have before which ended up costing me about 5 minutes and a much better overall placement.  I made a wrong turn on the bike!!!  I know this course so well so I have no idea what I was thinking.  Wrong turn or not, my bike and run were both slower than last year, but not by a whole lot.  I did swim faster th...

I've been really enjoying biscuits in the morning and I have gone through all kinds of recipes and this is the one I enjoy the most. I usually half the recipe which makes about 6 small biscuits. 2 Cups Flour 1 TBS Baking Powder (not expired) 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 Cup butter 3/4 Cup milk (higher percentage = better biscuits) Mix flour, baking powder and salt.  Then cut the butter into small pieces and mash it into the dry ingredients.  Once the mix is evenly chunky, add the milk and just mix until combined. Put a little flour on the counter and smash the mixture until it's about 1/2 inch thick. Fold in half and use a flour coated cup to shape/cut the biscuits. Mush the leftovers together and repeat until you have no dough left. Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes. Yum, Yum!

Lots of excitement this year in Hawaii including Kalalau, heavy surf, Secrets and lots of tasty food.  Already savoring a trip back next winter.  My Hawaii posts don't get a lot of detail for numerous reasons, but mostly because Hawaii sucks...stay away! Our Crew! Classy drinking at the food trucks New Wax! Corey's favorite toilet Winter? Why not!?! I only partially gave up running Christmas Treats Pouring one out for Toni We matched... Handstand contests...I won! Don't tell Alex this is here. 'Next Year' we will surf those waves Our campsite Hippy New Years bonfire! View from our home