A kick in the Ass from Ken

As i mentioned the other day I haven't been running much. In my mind I had valid excuses for slacking off on my training. That was until Ken called me yesterday. He asked if Bib had kidnapped me. Ken had a real nice way of giving me a kick in the ass, a much needed motivational speech. The thing with running is that if you run all of the time, the training is actually fun, but once you take a break starting up can be brutal. The fear of the brutal return can actually make you stay away longer making your return that much tougher and eventually quitting for good seems like a good idea. I may have been headed down that path until Ken reached out to me. Thanks Ken!!

So there I was today, a week removed from being the Modern Day Warrior slugging out six brutal miles in 90 degree heat. Actually my legs felt pretty good and my wind wasn't terrible, but it was brutal. It took a lot out of me. I ran slower than I have all year. You could have timed my two laps around Mines Falls with a calendar. But the important thing is that I was out there training again.

I have the district tournament for my tennis team this weekend and after that I can really focus on running. I have stopped playing hoop at the gym and I feel fresher already. The ankle feels better everyday I don't play hoop. I didn't stop hoop on purpose, I've just been buried at work so something had to give. It is actually working out well, I think my body needed a rest. I'll talk to ya soon...Ross

Song of the day- Sullivan Street by the Counting Crows!!

Update from the "Modern Day Warrior"

It's been a while since my last post which by now you know that means I haven't run in a while. Yes, I am concerned, very concerned about falling behind in my training and yes my focus has been everywhere except the marathon. The last two weeks I have been playing a ton of tennis. I played in the best local tournament I've ever been a part of. Check out www.danaball.org . My friend John runs the tourney and he does an amazing job.

Last weekend was the singles tournament. In the first round I had to play a very good young player from Londonderry. On my entry form I listed my name as "The Modern Day Warrior"! Okay I stole that from my favorite wrestler as a kid, Kerry Von Erich from the totally dysfunctional Von Erich family. In tennis I think of my self as a warrior because I don't have the skills to beat a lot of people, but i refuse to be out hustled or out worked. Sure enough this match was perfect for me, a young player with more skill against my hustle and experience. As always I started of slow and was down 4-1 in the first set. Then I found a game plan and worked it nicely to take a 5-4 lead. Normally young players crumble when losing a lead like this, but to this kids credit he fought back and won the set 7-5. I lost the second set 6-3. Every time I had a chance to break this kid down he hit a huge shot. I've never seen anything like it. I kept waiting for him to shit his pants and fold and he never did. This kid is obviously tournament tough.

This weekend was the doubles tournament. This is what I live for. I can play doubles with anyone at this tournament. I played with my buddy Rob, he is as steady as they come. We rolled through our first round and then had to play the # 3 ranked 4.5 player in New England. Keep in mind that Rob and I are only 4.0 level players. We really needed to play at a high level to compete and we did. We had an absolute war yesterday. Rob and I both played exceptionally well. We ended up losing 7-5, 6-2 but we gained a lot of respect out there. Nobody watching gave us a chance and we represented well.

So that's it, I've been playing a ton of tennis, we have the district tournament next weekend from my team. But honestly, the Dana Ball is my Superbowl. That's what i get pumped to play. Now that it is over I can start running again. I hope I haven't fallen to far behind. ..Talk to you soon..ross

Weekend Recap

I'm not sure where to start. It's been a busy few days. I played hoop at the gym on Thursday at lunch. I almost got in a fist fight because this asshole kept hammering me. He finally tossed me into a wall and that was it, I snapped. We had words and had to be separated. Bottom line, this guys a fucking prick, but I had a good workout.

On Thursday night I played tennis, didn't play great but had another good workout. I really need to get my serve going, it has been very inconsistent as of late.

On Friday, I was tired and hungover from a late night of tennis. I managed to make it to the gym and played hoop to sweat out my booze.

I did not run one of my scheduled runs during the week, way to busy at work. Totally unacceptable, but just couldn't find the time. On Saturday I ran 3 miles and everything felt great. It was quick and easy.

Yesterday I ran 9 miles. I ran through Saugus and Wakefield. This 9 miles was brutal, a lot tougher than any run at Mines Falls. It was all pavement with a lot of hills. I felt worse yesterday than I did when I ran the half marathon. My wind was fine, but my legs were killing me. Surprisingly my ankle felt pretty good, but the rest of me was dying. I think running on Saturday didn't help my legs on Sunday. When I ran the half marathon I had several days off before that and my legs were fresh. I'll need to remember that.

My legs felt like rubber today, I left the house this morning determined not to play hoop to give my my body a rest. I went to the gym to lift a little, and sure enough the hoop gang was down a player and they found me. I played for an hour, but honestly I didn't play hard, I couldn't.

This week I'm scheduled to run two 3 milers, a 5 and a 6 on the weekend. I am also involved in a singles tennis tournament so I have to plan my running in order to allow myself to have fresh legs for that. I'm not much of a singles player and will most likely get my ass kicked anyway, but I'd like to be able to compete on fresh legs. I'll keep you posted...ross

Great eight!!

I blew off my Tuesday run, I had played hoop earlier in the day and I just didn't feel like I had the legs for it. I think my hoop days are coming to an end, at least on days that I am scheduled to run. I don't want to quit playing hoops because the guys I play with are terrific people and we have a ton of fun, and for the first time in a decade my jump shot shows signs of returning to form. (Stu, you definitely couldn't check me right now!!)

I ran eight miles last night, legs felt great and the wind was fine too. My ankle gave me a lot of trouble, it was tight the first mile as always then loosened up. Somewhere around mile six it began to throb pretty bad and by the time I finished I had shooting pains in the ankle. I limped the last half of a mile. I spent the night pounding Motrin and beers with a bag of ice on my ankle. I have a few days off now, hopefully it will heal up a bit. If it doesn't, I'll need to see a doctor because there is now way I can run a full 26 with the pain I finished with last night.

That's all for now, heading on vacation, I'll check back Monday...ross

Another day in the woods

I ran 3 miles at Mine Falls yesterday. It was slow as hell, but I don't care. My legs were heavy as hell after running 5 on Sunday and then playing hoop 2 hours before yesterdays run. I'm starting to think that I may have to stop playing hoop, for one thing it's not helping my ankle and it definitely takes some energy out of my legs. Maybe I'll just play hoop on my non-running days.

I spoke to my three teammates yesterday, and so far it's all good. I'm a little worried about Bib, He has set himself up to bust his ass the next couple of weeks and I'm afraid he might get injured. Rest is key for recovery and can't be ignored. I have another 3 miler scheduled for today, I'll keep you posted on how that goes..ross

A Beautiful Day in Bridgewater

I'm Back!!! I have returned from the world of indifference that I had spent the month of June in. I woke up with an edge this morning. Today was the target day for the official training program to begin. 18 weeks until the big day, time to stop fucking around! My program called for a 3 mile run today, but I needed to do 5 today because getting time to run later on this week may be an issue. I'm on vacation later in the week, so I'm front loading this weeks running.

There was one thing I needed to do before I got my run in today. I had promised myself I wasn't going to do this, but I just had to go for it. I called Bib's house. I asked him if he was ready to start his program and he through some shit answer out. He wished me luck on today's run and said " it's a beautiful day for it". That's when I said "It's a beautiful day in Bridgewater too". Next thing I know Bib says "you got me, I'll go running today". That made my day. I haven't spoken to him since, not sure how it went, but it's a start and that's all that matters. Carpe Diem Pappy!!

My five mile run went well, very well! After not running much in the last month, I felt good, wind was fine and legs were strong. The only issue was my left ankle. It's been bothering me on and off for a while. Today it felt like I was running on a raw piece of steak! I've been dealing with this gimpy ankle for 20 years, I'm hoping this will pass as it normally does. The ankle may end up being one of my biggest obstacles in this journey. Besides for the ankle, the run was great, it felt great to be back out there with a purpose, I'm ready to start kicking ass again.

I'm going to get going, but I want to thank my friend Ken, he has been such a source of motivation and support. It really helps me to know he is kicking the shit out of his training in the Florida heat. Ken, your the balls..tnx Ross!!

Song of the day...Don't stop believin' by Journey