Welcome Back Students... not really.

As most of us in Tallahassee have figured out from driving around town in the last week... the students are back.  Gone are the slow, lazy days of summertime traffic.

We have new neighbors this year.  Last year was 4 goons (granted they were quiet all year till their end of year bonfire), this year 4 co-eds.  At first it started out ok.  The co-eds and their families spent last weekend moving them in, and last week was quiet.  One day some rice krispy treats and chocolate cookies turned up on our front porch with the names of the girls next door.  Ok, that was nice of them, so Sat pm, Sissy and I took over some cheese and crackers, etc. to them as a little housewarming present.

Before we knock on the door, I see lots of hippy things on their door-stoop.  Not jugding, whatever you like is cool.  First things first, one girl opens the door, and I can't tell if she is wearing a bra/panties or bikini.  I'm trying like all get out to avert my eyes and not be a perv.  So she invites us in and tells her roommates that the neighbors are here.  In walks another girl in a similar setup.  I just keep telling myself -- face and eyes, look at their faces and eyes.  Don't be that old perv guy who everbody avoids.  Other two roomies are wearing regular clothes.  They are nice, so we chitchat for a minute and get out before it gets weird (ok, weirder than it was).  We leave and Sissy is teasing me and I have big smile frozen on my face for about 10 minutes.

Fast-forward.

1AM Sat/Sun.  Our dogs start barking like crazy.  Wake me up from a deep sleep.  I have never heard them bark like this and every instinct is telling me that somebody was trying to get in the rear (sliding glass) door.  The dogs sleep downstairs in the room where that door is, and we leave the back yard lighgt on all the time.

Put on my glasses, boxers, and grab my shotgun, and check the house then go downstairs.  The sliding-glass door appears ok, and the dogs have calmed down some, but not a lot.  They keep looking out-back and want to go, so I open the door and they take off outside, around the corner ofthe house (away from the co-ed neighbors) barking like mad.  I race off after them, pissed as hell (we previously had someone break into Sissy's car here at the hosue before). 

I take about three steps and out of the corner of my eye, notice candles and noise from the other side of the yard.  A lightbulb goes off-- shit, the girls are having a party.  Here I am in my boxers and a shotgun, dogs barking, looking like a total tool.  So I race back inside and call the dogs in.

I settle back down and peek out the front windows -- cars are parked up and down, both sides of the street.  Kids are walking around, etc.... I am thinking -- block party?  WTF.  Turns out the kids are getting into their cars and driving off.  Po-po had busted up the party.  Thank you po-po, seriously.  I don't have any problem with parties, especially quiet ones, but that was lot of cars outside.  I remember being young and stupid and in college, and even then knew that once critical mass was reached, the po-po were not far behind.  Sissy even commented that someone was in our driveway, but by then I was going back to sleep and didn't even care.

So Sat am, I wake up, let the dogs out and start watching weather channel.  A minute later Sissy says, "Jason, Sally is out in the front yard."  WTF?  I walk out the front door and there Sally is -- at the road, sniffing beer bottles scattered up and down the road everywhere.  Look over to the side of the house, and our gate is wide open.  Double-WTF!!!!  I get the dogs (Herschel and Conner were out as well) in the back yard again, shut the gate, and then all the dots are connected.....

Last night, a underage kid ran from the po-po, jumped the neighbors fence into out back yard, ran by our sliding glass door, set the dogs off, then ran around the house and opened the gate and hid in our side yard until the cops left, then walked back up to the road. 

Oh hell no!!!  That is wrong on so many levels.
1.  Someone broke into Sissy's car in our carport a month or two ago, and bums used to sleep in the ravine behind us and come up to the house when Sissy was younger.  Because of that, I'm a little proactive when it comes to people being in our yard in the middle of the night.
2.  When the kid jumped the fence, he bent it some. 
3.  It looks like he tried to jump into our other neighbors yard but couldn't do it -- bent that fence some.
4.  Left our gate open, dogs got out (thankfully not lost, killed, etc. -- or that would have been very, very bad).
5.  Hiding out around my truck (see post #1). 
6.  Glass bottles littering the street of a residential neighborhood, where kids play and our neighbors walk their dogs.

Now I don't necessarily blame the girls, I have had parties get out of hand before.  So they may get a bit of free pass on this one since they are new neighbors -- haven't decided that yet.  But they are still going to get a bit of a come to Jesus talk.  If for no other reason than to make sure that 2-6 above don't happen again.  That shit ain't cool.

Don't call it a comeback....

I haven't posted here in quite a while.  Partly busy, partly just too lazy to write progress reports of training.  I'm sitting here on a Sunday night recovering from my ride today, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106564923, and subsequent brick, http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106564947 and started reviewing my old blogs.  Made me remember how much I enjoyed writing them, and how much one can forget.  So I figured it would be nice to recap the last couple of months.

Befoer I do, if you ever want to check out my Garmin stuff -- http://connect.garmin.com/explore?owner=jmh321

I think my biking has gotten stronger -- scratch that -- I know that I am stronger and faster than ever before.  Part of that is just having another year under my belt.  A lot is training and group rides that absolutely kick my ass.  Part is -- and I have had to learn to appreciate this -- taking mental comfort in physical discomfort. 

Swimming is better as well.  Times are a little bit faster, but I can tell that I am swimming more efficiently.  And I know that if I push it I am a lot faster than before.

Running has been intersting.  I have been doing a lot of shorter bricks, so I am pretty used to getting off the bike and going (still gotta work on pacing).  Did a lot of aqua jogging.  This seems to be helping as well.  Since spraining my ankle the week before Gulf Coast, this has been the trickiest part.  The coaches have slowly been building my mileage.  Working on different race efforts.  Some days I am fried on the run, and other days I feel pretty good.

I have learned that I naturally jog around 78-80, and would say running at a good clip is about 85.  Only way I can hit 90 is to turn my feel over so much that I have no push off. 

I think I have again turned the corner and am getting under 200.  Before I sprained my ankle I was 193 or so, but in the 6 weeks after Gulf Coast (no real exercise, just a mid-season recovery period) I blew up to 205.  So it has taken me a while to reign in my eating and to get my weight back under control.  Last time I weighed myself (Friday), I was 197, which I was for most of last week.  I know I won't be at my goal weight for IMFL, but I still think I can be at a pretty good spot. 

For example, I raced Augusta at 202 last year, and have another 6 weeks going into Augusta this year.  So if I can stay focused I think I can go into Augusta around 190 this year.  Let me tell you that 12 lb difference from last year would be HUGE, especially on the run.  And if I can keep that up, I can maybe be 183 or so going into IMFL.  If I can do that, and stay injury-free...  then I think I have a chance of throwing down a nice race at IMFL.  Weather permitting, of course.

Other notable things:
1.  Malissa's Ride.  90 mile bike ride to Dothan and 5k Sat, then bike 90 miles back Sun.  http://connect.garmin.com/activity/101451452 -- Bike to Dothan
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/101451452 -- 5k
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/101451914 -- Bike Back

2.  Garmin updated their 310xt with a swim mode.  I won't bother telling you how to turn on the swim mode -- but this is how it works.  I did the swim across the lake with the gps in my swim cap.  I did the trip around the lake on a sup with the garmin in my pocket.  Still neat.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106564793 -- swim
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106564828 -- SUP

3.  The more I think about it, I will probably skip Hammerhead and Beach Blast and just race Augusta and IMFL.  Still 50/50 on this, but would rather train for the two biggies than race right now.  Quality over fun.  Of course I could change my mind tomorrow.  I just don't want the races to take away from training.  Of course, I also may have (or I should say get) to to back to North Carolina the weekend of Beach Blast.  Sissy's sister/niece is getting married and we just got the invite in the mail.  So maybe some more hillwork is in my future.

Ok, that is enough for now.  Gotta get some sleep, maybe watch Tru Blood.