James D. McCurdy

The last three weeks have been a whirl wind.  Vicky arrived on July 28th, the evening of Nashville’s Music City Triathlon, in which I was third overall. It was a downtown venue with plenty of hills on the run.  A quick aside:  despite a mere third, two press releases followed.  One in the Tennessean, where I was mentioned only in passing.   And one that was produced by the UTM sports department.

Ok, back to July 28th…  I spent that afternoon with Joseph, Natalie, and Christine in Nashville.  It’s always great to catch up with three of my favorite peeps.  They’re such well rounded people.  Highlights included:  Christine giving me a deep tissue massage, which was awesome.  She does a great job (wish she could start her own practice; I would be a regular client.).  And we ate some delicious Mexican food before I departed for the airport. 

Vicky’s flight was scheduled to arrive at 6:58pm from PA.  However, the flight continued to be delayed and rescheduled.  She finally arrived at around 12:45 Monday morning.  We arrived in Dyer by 4am. 

Vicky and I spent the next few days relaxing then made the move to Auburn.  We spent about a week living with our friends the Flessner’s.  They were kind hosts, and Chelsea is an excellent cook.  I raced at Mt. Lakes last weekend in Guntersville, AL, where I was second overall, and still bested by Andrew Hodges.  Vicky was kind enough to accompany me on the journey.  She even got a little driving experience.

School begins this week, so we’re busy stocking up on school supplies.  We’ve been getting the apartment fitted out.  Despite having five bikes, we’ve still got plenty of space for other stuff.

I’ve had some nice workouts since arriving in Auburn.  My body had long ago adapted to heat and humidity in Hong Kong, but I wasn’t sure how it would handle the increased cycling and running.  Thankfully, I’m finally starting to adjust.  I’m listening to my coach.  I’m putting forth a lot of effort, and getting plenty of rest, so we’ll see.  As long as I can avoid injury, I should pull off some nice races this fall.  Perhaps next year could be a break-through year. 

Biking has been my biggest challenge, as I was only on the bike four or five hours a week in Hong Kong.  Since repatriating, I’ve been hitting around double that.  Except for the first ten minutes it takes to get out of Auburn’s completely unjustified snarl of traffic, the riding is quite acceptable.  The surface quality is a bit lack-luster, but the routes are challenging and scenic.

Amateur US Nationals is next weekend in Tuscaloosa.  I’m dreaming of a top ten finish.  Keep a look-out.

Jay