Rambling From Separation Saturday

Everyone survive the weekend?

I have been raised in the South for my entire life, I have had a permanent mailing address in only three states: Alabama, Georgia, or Missouri (I have traveled throughout the US and Europe, but only had permanent housing in the South). Because of this blessing, I spend my Saturdays getting ready for Auburn football, watching Auburn football, and then recovering from Auburn football. I bleed orange and blue. I make no apologies for it, it is just a matter of life for my family (my wife graduated from Wyoming and has become accustomed to the Saturday schedule).

This weekend was a little different than weekends in the past. I took Morgan to "MyGym" on Saturday for a play date with Daddy. I was dressed in the appropriate Auburn attire and Morgan wore her University of Wyoming t-shirt (her Auburn cheerleader outfit was being washed and dried in time for the early afternoon kick-off). We had a great time playing on the mats, swinging on the swings and climbing the rope! (Mommy used this time to go shopping for some Fall clothes at every consignment shop between Lawrenceville and Downtown Atlanta.)

After MyGym, Morgan and I headed home. Morgan needed a nap and ESPN GameDay was starting any minute. I got Morgan home, carried her upstairs into her crib, and plopped down on the couch to listen to Lee "the communist" Corso and bunch talk trash against MY Auburn Tigers. Thankfully, "the Communist" chose LSU to win the Auburn game - it never fails that he picks Auburn to win and we lose. Did I mention that I am totally superstitious when it come to Auburn football?.

By superstitious I mean that I wear the same shirt, shoes, pants, socks, and yes even boxers all season long IF we are successful for the first game. Last year Morgan was born on Auburn's first game (I spent most of the game in the NICU watching my angel's breath rate above 150 and heart rate fluctuate from 135-185). Needless to say, I am glad that Auburn did not beat Georgia Tech that night. If so, there was a good chance that I would feel compelled to spend the remaining Saturdays at the hospital during game time!

This Saturday's game routine was going to be a little different for me. I am running a 10K (6.2 mile) race at the end of the month and have not run the mileage to see how my body reacts to it. So at 1:45 PM I left my house ready to tackle the 6 miles to my dad's house. Here are the problems that occurred along the run: (1) running outside is WAY different than running on the treadmill in the basement of my office building; (2) I stopped sweating about half way through my run - which means I did an awful job calculating my water intake prior to the run; and (3) 6.2 miles is really a long way for someone that has not completed that distance in a number of years! I end up having to walk about 2 of the 6 miles. I arrive at my dad’s house at 3:15 for a 3:45 kick-off, at least I was smart enough to pack my “game clothes” and have my wife bring them with her (she had the sense to drive).

So now I know how my body reacts to running 6.2 miles in the middle of the afternoon, without a water bottle and without any liquid in my body at all – it doesn’t like it! The “run” took a little more than an hour to complete. I think I probably stopped sweating about 25-30 minutes into the run. But of course after my “cool down” shower, my sweat glands go into over drive to make up for the dysfunction earlier and I sweated for the rest of the afternoon in my Auburn t-shirt, my Auburn polo shirt, my orange and blue boxers, and my burnt orange pants! (I may be sweaty, but I sure looked good!)

As I asked earlier, everyone else survive their weekend?