Hello, potential employer

Dear potential employer,

You are most likely here because I sent you my resume, and you decided I was worth at least a second glance so you plugged my obnoxious Italian last name into Google. Welcome to my blog.

Brandy and Lizzie

This is my life outside of work. I like to run, bike and swim. I enjoy cooking. I enjoy wine. I have two aging-yet-obnoxious greyhounds, Lizzie and Brandy. I love them dearly. You'll also see me talking about Flower. She's my bike.

I earned my 70.3 triathlon title (half iron distance) in July, after training for a year. I'm contemplating going for the full Ironman next year. It's a big decision. I'm a slowpoke, I'll never win anything, but I enjoy the competitive nature of races and triathlons. My next race is the Wine Glass Marathon Oct. 6 in Corning. I'm one of "those people", the back of my Honda Fit is now up to six oval stickers.


Think of this blog as a notebook I've kept since 2010. I keep it for me, but I let everyone read it. It's a first draft on life, which means it's far from perfect. You'll find typos , unfinished posts and bizarre autocorrects. You'll find long rambles with no real point. I write here purely for the joy of writing.

The Twitter account embedded on the page is my personal account. I keep a professional account @JessicaAlaimo.

Sometimes, I focus on good practices on my blog. I get the most page views from social media, and people are most likely to click from Facebook or Twitter around 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., so I'll schedule my posts then. Sometimes I'll write search engine friendly headlines and use lots of brand names to drive Google traffic. Sometimes I won't. It depends on the day. Since June 2011 I've gotten at least 1,500 hits each month. I've topped 3,000 every month since May 2013. My top Google search terms are "oolong tea", "Flying Pig Marathon" and "spin playlist."

Feel free to poke around. Here a few fun posts to get you started:

• I'm really proud of this post I did about my recent century ride. Getting laid off was tough, and sometimes it takes a true challenge to get you back on the right track. 
• Here's the post I did about my layoff. It explains where I am in my career and why I think journalists are important. 
• Here's my report on the Musselman half iron-distance race. Part 1, part 2 and part 3. 
• Right before I left Newark, Ohio we were hit with the derecho of 2012, followed by a 5-day power outage. I "blogged" the entire thing by writing everything out on paper then typing it out when the lights came on. The journey included some minor Facebook withdrawal, tolerating country music to get news, and a bike trip through a drive-thru liquor store. 
• My reflections on the Boston Marathon bombings. 
• My write-up of the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati.

Thanks for looking me up, and I look forward to speaking with you!

Jessica Alaimo