Had his Phil of me ...

This weekend's trip to Boston/Franklin Park for the small meet was made more enjoyable and fun with the triumphant return of Phil to our traveling party. On many levels, I loved this.

Remember, Phil and I coached together for 17 years -- that's a long time, a lot of years, and they went by really quickly. You don't do something that long with the same person without having a strong connection and bond.

It was great to talk sports non-stop with Phil. But even better was trotting out a new chorus of BAD PUNS on Phil, since I do not see him on a daily basis for 9 months as we once did. The current team and Chuck generally tune me out when I start going on and on with my ridiculously idiotic puns. Some (Vess?) just roll their eyes and mumble something about their "bitter old man" of a coach.

Ah, but not Phil. He throws things, hits me and generally reacts strongly.

Which, of course, makes it all the more fun.

I will not torture you all with this weekend's puns (although all agreed that my "Craig's List" line was by far the best ... you had to be there). Let's just say that my old buddy had his "Phil" of me by the end of the two-day trip.

The great news is, I didn't scare him off too much. He may be riding shotgun in the van for our next trip -- down to Paul Short at Lehigh.

Other weekend highlights, in no particular order:

-- The post-race family feed at the DiFrancescos lake house in OTIS in the Berkshires was fantastic. Thank you VERY MUCH to them for that! Our bus driver, Bob, decided to take the most scenic and curvy route home, through the Berkshires and Taconic foothills. Not bad for a Sunday drive in the family minivan, but a bit harrowing in a 56-passenger coach bus.

-- I have to take at least partial credit for this: Phil is now a "texter"! When we went out to lunch last week, he showed me his new Verizon Wireless phone. Pretty fancy, with a keyboard and everything. When I mentioned he should text with such a keyboard, he went home, got himself signed up for the texting plan ... and now he's a texter like me!

-- Many of you know I'm a big fan of deep-water (pool) running. Well, I'm here to tell you it works! Will Griffin rehabbed his Achilles injury by hammering in the pool for the past month or so -- at times up to 2 hours a day. His coming out party at Franklin Park was pretty impressive, and it was due in large part to the hard work he put in the pool. Nicely done, Will!

-- For the men: Tuesday's workout will be "extended strides" at FDR. Please bring cars. Thank you and see you then.

-- Wednesday's workout will be mile repeats for the women at the Farm Lane Trail. Coach Horton and I will each have vans. All others (men) are welcome for another distance day before Thursday's hill/fartlek/1ks at Bowdoin.

That's all for now.