Anchors Away

We seem to be traveling more and more for business in our household.  That is the nature of the beast for Stephanie and I, and we’re okay with it.  Since dad’s passing we have developed a pretty good system between her company and mine when it comes to when we can travel and when we can’t.  Kyle does very well when one of us is absent and looks forward to travel surprises, but both of us would prefer to be there to see all the new things he comes up with on a day-to-day basis.  Plus no matter how many Hilton points we acquire in a week, there is nothing like our own bed!

This week it was my turn to be gone part of the week on a rather quick in state business trip.  I was pleasantly surprised that the hotel was located within a quiet professional center that had miles and miles of sidewalks for me to run on.  I always look forward to running in new places as it seems to me that the miles pass faster as I see new things with each step.  It also reminds me on just how easy it is to be a runner.  All you have to pack is a set of running clothes and shoes – super easy!  I tell myself that after Ironman I will just be a runner since it’s so much easy to do.  We'll see.

I had the pleasure of finally meeting in person Ken Johnson from New York, who is a guy like me – father, husband, business man, and triathlete.  Ken and I are part of a Facebook group of people entered in Ironman Florida 2013.  Through the myriad of messages and postings over the past few months, Ken and I discovered that he was going to be in town on vacation this week and that he and I would be able to get in a training ride on my turf.  Ken and I enjoyed a good 41 miles on the Van Fleet Trail here in Central Florida this week and I appreciate Ken not laughing too hard at this Florida Native.  See, we are experiencing a rather odd climate pattern this “Spring” in that it was 80 degrees here last week and now it’s in the 40’s and 50’s again.  During our ride through the shady Preservation and Reserve, it never got out of the 50’s which means to a Floridian like me, things like “Tundra”, “Frigid Waste Land”, “Frostbit Toes”, etc.  So while Ken was able to hammer on with ease, my frozen and frost bit fingers and toes caused me great discomfort.  All in all, it was nice to have met Ken and I look forward to seeing him again at Ironman Florida 70.3 and Ironman Florida 140.6!  As you may recall, I also had the pleasure of meeting John Turner from Tennessee at Disney last month.  John is also a part of the Facebook group and is just another example of the great people you meet on this journey!

Speaking of journeys, while it’s a brisk 45 degrees here in Florida today, our Spring Break starts today at 5:00pm!  With the house sitter in place, we are headed to Miami with the family to board a ship and set sail to the Caribbean for a week.  My plan is to eat better on this cruise than on past voyages and get in a run or trainer ride every day.  Wish me luck …..

I am fairly certain that our foyer will look like this very soon