Take time with a wounded hand...

...or wounded knee, if you're Adam Tenerowicz, or myself for that matter. A-Ten is stopping and going through his runs this week with a come-and-go case of ITBS and I'm working on ridding myself of some good 'ol fashioned patellar tendinitis. Needless to say, it made for an interesting run this morning as MacKay had to jump in his car immediately upon our return to the parking lot in order pick up our hobbling, red-headed friend on the side of the road. Five words of wisdom for one of Blackstone's finest, who is undoubtedly reading this entry: heat, ibuprofen, run, ice, REPEAT. Problem solved.

As for my own lower leg problems, they've been pretty persistent for the better part of three or four days now, but I'm happy to report that I may finally have the problems licked. On top of the aforementioned tendinitis - likely caused by a beat-up, worn-down pair of Reebok Road Lite III's that I've been doing quite a bit of running in - I've been experiencing a bit of pressure on a bunion that's developing on my left foot. In a rare moment of innovative ingenuity, however, I cut a hole in the hot spot on my shoe before I headed out the door, and that seemed to do the trick. As for the tendinitis, I put in a shoe order today with my good friend and former roommate, Sean "Mr. Reebok" McKeon, and I should have a new pair of Road Lite's by the weekend to cushion my landings. In the meantime, ice and ibuprofen seem to be keeping the problem at bay (take note of that last sentence, Mr. Tenerowicz).

In terms of running, nothing too interesting to report. As previously mentioned, I ran this morning with 2/3 of my West Hill homies, Adam and MacKay, and we had a good run on the roads through Uxbridge, Upton and beyond - well, for the first 45 minutes anyway until A-Ten's knee shit out on him. My legs were a bit tired, which was expected, but overall I recovered fairly quickly from last night's workout at Reggie - which went pretty well, considering half the battle was running, around, behind, and in some cases through the 30-40 or so other people that were also inhabiting the track. Such is life on Tuesday night though. As for the workout itself, Kevin had us start off with a mile in 4:44, then drop to three sets of 3 x 400m with 90 sec rest between reps and 5 minutes between sets, with the first set being run in 62-63, the second in 68-69, then back to 62-63 for the third set. Ryan and I swapped leads pretty effectively throughout and Mark had a good workout himself running off our pace. I cooled down with current Stonehill studs T$mith and Timmy Cataggio, who looked pretty good doing their repeat K's - a staple of the KcoachB's indoor diet for distance runners. Watch out for these cats!

Jumping around even more, the listing found below this paragraph is a little piece I stole from a message board post on former Haverford runner Brandon Rowe's website. The list itself originated from a recent American Express advertisement found in Sports Illustrated and ESPN the magazine, but its an eye-opening little exercise that will get some wheels turning in the ol' noggin, which is never a bad thing. I filled in the list below with my own answers, but I suggest you give it a whirl for yourself when you get a chance. Heck, post it in the comments section below this entry if you're so inclined.

Childhood ambition: To start at point guard for the Celtics.
First job: Deli slave at Derrico's Market.
Last purchase: Powerbar, some tapioca pudding and a cup of tea from the White Hen.
Indulgence: Dessert of any kind.
Fondest memory: Sitting on the porch with my grandfather, just talking and watching the cars go by.
Soundtrack: Garden State or Forrest Gump.
Retreat: Barnes & Noble.
Wildest dream: Winning the Boston Marathon.
Proudest moment: Giving the eulogies at my grandfather and grandmother's funerals.
Biggest challenge: Patience.
Alarm clock: Usually I'm awake before it goes off, but I set it as a precaution anyway.
Perfect day: Early long run on the trails, followed by a big brunch and a whole lotta relaxing.
Favorite movie: Forrest Gump.
Inspiration: My grandfather.
My life: Ain't all that bad, really, but I'm constantly trying to improve it.

Pretty cool, eh? Well, it's now 11:58 and I've got to publish this post quickly to accomplish my goal of a daily entry. Before I bounce, however, here's today's quote of the day - I'm gonna try to make this a regular feature of this blog. Enjoy!

Success is living up to your potential. That's all. Wake up with a smile and go after life...Live it, enjoy it, taste it, smell it, feel it.
-Joe Kapp

That's it for now. Until next time, take it easy.