"You work when you are tired and you play when you are hurt."

That seems to be the Monk family mantra.  Whether it was late nights studying (shout out to the Hanover Library and the MIT E52 ), long hours wasting away in a cube (shout to build 328....may it rest in peace), or painful struggles on the athletic fields (shout to Fite for breaking my nose with his boney elbow sophmore year and then Amy the trainer stuffing a cut-up tampon in my nose so I could keep playing, to Quinn for purposely throwing at me during a HS baseball game....and then giggling about it, to Drew to jumping in the middle of the IABA fight and taking a black eye home for it, to Jen for fighting through her senior soccer year with a grade 2 ankle sprain, to Bomberger for printing "Penn" between my eyes with a forehand, to Matt Clark for playing on a broken ankle and telling Duane just to wrap it up tighter, to Brown for getting knocked out during the semi-state soccer tournament and coming back in for the second half, to Wes for take a Titleist ball right on the bum and finishing the 18 holes ...wow..that was bruise, and to all the other warriors out there who we have done battle with or against, who have bled, bruised, up-chucked (I remember Aaron O'Donnell throwing me a towel during a dead ball in the 3rd quarter while playing Danville and me throwing it back to him with chunks...hey, I didn't want to come out :o), sprained, or broken; then refused to come to out or remain on the sidelines.....all for the love it.....).  I reckon this mantra has pulled me through this training as well.  

On Wednesday, lets say I "tweaked" my hamstring.  Probably a slight pull but right now I am a little paranoid that all this training could be for not with a last minute injury.  So instead of doing the, probably, smart thing and lay low or taking it easy today...the mantra and all those warriors of the past were screaming "just wrap that thing up tight and get out there."  So that is what I did.....probably not the right thing....but hey, I told you I am novice at this running game.

Anyway, it ended up fine.  With a tight wrap, I really could feel it much....just a little tight hameeee.  But otherwise during the 12 today, I felt great.  So good that I kept having to pull back on the reigns. !http://www.dargate.com/249_auction/249_images/4351.jpg!  For some reason my body and legs are wanting to go faster.  That is probably what got me in this mess in the first place.  I ran quickly on Tuesday cause I felt so good and ironically Wednesday is when that "tweak" occurred.  DumDum!  It was like a little Troll came out of the woods and sucker punched me in the back of the leg.  Stinking Troll.  "That's pretty low, mister! If I had a rubber hose, I would beat you into a..."....well, I would have beat'n that Troll.  (can anyone out there name that move....bonus points if you can)

Mike McMahan and his bicycle joined me on the trail today for 6 miles. I am pretty sure he only had to peddle 3 times.  But hey, it was great to have someone to talk to.  Dr. Jake (the dentist) also joined us for the last 4 miles.  We talked politics, economy, colts, and ideas for the evening.  After the run, Jake and I ventured to the usual Einstein Bagel.  That bacon, egg, and cheese really hits the spot after a long run.  Heck, I don't even mind their $4 OJ at that point.