St Anthonys weekend

I drove from NC to Orlando yesterday in order to spend the evening and morning with my 9-months pregnant sister, her hubbie, and their adorable 2.5 year old daughter, to whom I am known as Da Godfather. We had a rocking time telling stories about financial armegeddon, the curiosity of what sex their new baby will turn out to be (they have opted to be surprised), and other myriad topics. Today my mother (Nanna to the little one), Cate and I played in the backyard pool for close to an hour and talked about bugs, and where bugs come from, and swimming, and why splashing is so fun.

After that I hit the road to St Pete.

It is a good time to race St Anthonys; the race is sort of gigantic but I exercise caution on the roads and enjoy seeing a lot of friends we've gotten to know over the years here. Ten years ago I placed 3rd overall in the amateur race to future pro Brian Fleischmann and Jacksonville legend Dan Domingo. Nine years ago I placed 2nd to Dan in a 1 hour 57 minute battle that came down to a 15 second kick in the last half mile, and in 2003 I took 5th overall to a handful of future pros and amateur world champions. With the level of competition these days among the amateur elite the opportunity to repeat that sort of race is slim, unless I quit my day job (ha ha) and train 2x the amount I am doing now (which I'm not interested in).

However I am looking forward to one of my last big battles royale in the M35-39 category, as many of us are in our second decade of racing against each other, and the shit talk knows no end. I am hoping to come near the 2:00 flat mark with something like a 19 / 1:00 / 40 + transitions.

It is hard to believe that next year I will be moving onward to the first official old guy category - I think I may qualify for movie ticket discounts and get a seat at the front of the bus as well.

If you read Bri's blog you know that our good friend Wendy Johnson of St Pete passed away this week after a battle with melanoma. Wendy changed my life permanently and for the better by putting me in touch with my future wife and your favorite blogger Bri. I will hope to see Wendy again in whatever life may wait us after this one and thank her again for her kindness. She and her husband Al were at our wedding and we were able to thank her properly. My thoughts are with her and Al in this time of grief.