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