James D. McCurdy

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks.  Vicky and I drove to St. Petersburg, FL on Friday the 23rd for St. Anthony’s Triathlon — what would have been my first triathlon of the year.  But I got food poisoning from one of the many things I ate while on said trip.  I started vomiting at 22:00.  Every single time I thought to myself:  ”this will be over by morning; I’ll still be able to race…”  But at 04:00, while heaving the half bottle of Gatorade (you guys should sponsor me) I had managed to down over a nauseous fifteen minute period, it began to dawn on me:  ”I may not be able to race on a completely empty, cramped stomach…”

Nevertheless, Vicky drove me to the race site.  I put on my man face (and tights) and made my way to transition.  I was going to race no matter what.  But within 100 yards of the car, it quickly became apparent that I was through.  As the waves lapped against the beach, and the wind blew salty sea breezes through my hair, I was leaned, and at one point prostrate, beneath a palm tree heaving with all my might.

Fortunately I got my bike out of transition before race start.  Then, while I lay in the back of the car vomiting in plastic grocery sacks, Vicky drove us the nine hours back to Auburn.  Plug for Vicky:  don’t know what I would have done without her on this trip. I was completely incapacitated.

By 16:00 I was dehydrated and unable to keep anything down.  At the suggestion of my medical advisor (Aunt Kay), I went to the ER for an IV (a story by its self).  They had me in a room within an hour, which must be a record.  I got seen prior to about three patients complaining of chest pains, at least two children requiring stitches, and one boy with a fish hook stuck in his foot.

Also bizarre:  Talladega (NASCAR) was blaring from three flat screen TV’s in the waiting rooms.  Everyone was going wild, even the kid with the fish hook in his foot was yelling for “Jr.”

Summed up, that was the worst race day experience I’ve ever had…  Worse than flatting two years in a row at Chattanooga (cursed)…  Worse than being knocked unconscious and scraped up road-racing… and even worse than the Rebel Man Triathlon in Ole Miss, which was bad for many reasons…

On a positive note:  I’m still alive and kickin’… driving up to Knoxville for REV 3 triathlon this weekend.  It’s the first in a series of three (Olympic, Half IM, and Full IM).  I’m registered for the Half and have considered the Full.  Only time will tell.  Training is pretty good — if anything I’m under-trained.  But overall I’m healthy.

Additionally, I finished the Spring semester with two finals today.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo,

Jay

Spring has arrived in Auburn! I saw my legs today for the first time in over two months. No more leg- or arm- warmers, no more tights; it’s on.

I’ve spent the last four weeks trying to get some research started – wrong time of year to do that. And I’ve trained harder and longer this winter than in winter’s past.

I guess my life’s a mix and match between grad-school and training. My boss says “everyone’s got dragons to slay,” but none of us grad students quite know what that means. I think it means something about taking care of business so that we can have extracurricular activities.

So I’m slayin’ some dragons. This week we’re applying spring preemergence trials. Preemergence herbicides prevent germinated seedlings from becoming full sized plants – usually weeds in lawns. One can quite literally smell dinitroanaline herbicides all around town. It’s a wonder there’s not an activist student union against herbicide application on campus. There are huge movements throughout the nation (and globe) against such intense management practices. A couple of interesting reads (and websites) are Turf Wars, the Daily Green, Less Lawn, and LawnReform.org

Slayin' Some Dragons

It’s complicated, but my project lies along the same line.  It revolves around the idea that not all weeds are bad, particularly leguminous weeds such as the clovers (Trifolium spp). When it comes to purposefully including legumes in lawns, there’s a lot of good ideas floating around but very little data, especially in warm-season turf…

So we’re looking to change that by quantifying carbon and nitrogen sequestration within these systems and comparing them with mono-stands of turf.

At least that’s the plan.

For now, I’m “in clover,” which basically means good pasture.

Jay

I’m off work on Sunday mornings.  After six days of waking up before five o’clock, I usually manage to sleep-in until six thirty or seven.  I make pancakes on Sundays.  Mom used to make pancakes every Sunday morning.  She’d make half chocolate chip, half blue berry.  I’m partial to the blue berry.  Well, blue berries are expensive in Hong Kong, and the ones available at the Wellcome Market aren’t real quality.  Instead I’ve started making apple pancakes.  I heat up my skillet, throw a little oil in the pan, then soften a usually half rotten, week old apple.  While my batter is cooking on one side, I toss in a few chunks of apple.  Add a few tablespoons of peanut butter, some of my Grandmother’s strawberry jam, a cup of coffee, and Voila! 

Read the rest of this entry »

Duathlon that is.  I “did a du” this morning and won my age group.  I might have won the overall, but I left before results were posted for all of the heats.

This was my second multi-sport event in Hong Kong.  The first was the OSIM Olympic Triathlon.  Both were multiple-loop courses. 

Read the rest of this entry »

An early morning is normal for most any race day.  Today was no exception.  I was up at 3:15.  I ate some breakfast, drank some coffee, and assembled my gear.  I had to take a taxi to Tai Po Market railway station in order to catch a shuttle (at 4:45) down to Lantau Island.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ahhh!  I’ve taken the afternoon quite easy.  A quick trip to the “Wellcome” mart (not miss-spelled) yielded some chicken breasts and fresh veggies.  It’s so hard to find quality chicken in Shueng Shui.  Don’t even ask about steak – nothing but fat and grizzle.  I’ve just finished my meal and sat to write a few words about the past week. 

Read the rest of this entry »

I went to a party at Jimmy Crossett’s house last night, ate some burgers, drank some beer, and recounted stories of both glory and shame.

Read the rest of this entry »

On Sunday, I’m moving to Hong Kong to work at the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club, a 36 hole, private golf facility. 

A bit more about where I’ll be living:  Hong Kong is located just south of the Tropic of Cancer on similar latitudes as Havana.  The country is a peninsula that protrudes from southeastern China into the South China Sea.  Kowloon and the New Territories (where I will be living) make up the peninsula, while south of the mainland is Hong Kong Island. 

I will be the club’s first Research Superintendent.  My assignment:  to identify preferable grasses and cultural practices for use at the club. Managing the club’s 10+ acres of turf nursery is also among my duties. For this task, I may be quite useful.  Something you many not know about me:  I grew up on a sod farm (McCurdy Farms, Dyer, TN), and I recently earned my Masters of Plant Science degree (specifically, turfgrass weed ecophysiology). 

I learned a ton while completing my masters at the University of Tennessee, and even more on the family farm.  But, it’s time to try something new and adventurous. 

My goals are very simple; enjoy living abroad and experience new and exciting things.  Although, I will miss my friends and especially my family, I will be in touch and easily reached by phone.  Yes, there are phones and the internet in China, and no, I’m not a communist, nor do I have plans to become one.  

Other:  Last weekend I qualified for the International Triathlon Union Amateur World Championship, to be held in Australia next September.  Getting faster and stronger will also be important.  The biggest obstacle I face is working too much (always the case).  I expect early mornings and long days, but think that I can “adapt and overcome” almost any obstacle.  Hell, I haven’t swum (I think this is the correct verb) in a pool but once since mid-May.  Instead, I’ve been doing laps in our pond.

To all of you, keep in touch, and COME SEE ME!