Of Cyclones, Sox, and Celebrations...

This weekend was the latest in a long string of road trips and weekends spent away from home...not all that different from any other weekend away from home, and yet this one about pushed me over the edge of sanity. Can't really explain it, other than the fact that I'm the type of person who, frankly, needs some down time every now and then and, even though I just got back from an awesome and relaxing vacation, I just haven't felt like I've had a moment to myself for a long time. So, by the time I hit Friday afternoon rush hour out of the Chicagoland area AGAIN and hit the fine construction areas on I-88 AGAIN and dealt with yet another late Friday night arrival into Ames AGAIN, I was ready to scream.

At least I had a fun stop to make before I got to my parents' house...turns out my good buddy Vardo turned 30 on Friday and was celebrating at a local watering hole. I stopped by, offered to buy her a beer (which she declined due to the quantity she was working through already), bought Sparkle a beer instead, and picked up my 14-mile route that the birthday girl had so thoughtfully prepared for me. The only bummer--I got to my parents' at midnight and knew I had to get up at 6 am...after a week of not so much sleep.

I rolled out of bed not-so-bright but early Saturday morning and took off for my little jaunt--it was dark for about the first half hour or so and was cold--about 35F or so. The route Vardo put together was actually great--mostly bike paths with a few sidewalks and streets thrown in for good measure. It's funny, though...I lived in Ames for 5 years as a student and my parents have now lived there for about 5 years...yet I had no idea of the vast network of bike paths the city has. Per Vardo, there are about 20 miles of paths...who knew!!?? The run was, for the most part, really good--my IT band is feeling much better, and it didn't bug me at all on Saturday. Vardo conveniently planned a water stop at her house at about mile 8--stopped in expecting to see no one but the psychotic, spawn-of-Satan cats, but turns out Vardo had just woken up, so we chatted for a couple of minutes before I took off again. It was a pretty awesome feeling to pass the 13.1 mile mark, marking the longest I've run to date...got to 14.1 miles with a smile on my face and walked the rest of the way back to my parents' house. It was really pretty cool watching the sun rise over the eastern part of campus and around town...not so cool wishing I could be one of the early-morning tailgaters, but I worked through that.

I met the tailgating gang for a great tailgate, caught up with some friends I haven't seen for a while, found out Murray and Amy are expecting #2 in April, and, in general, was living large on Chicago-style dogs (in honor of the Sox), Polish sausage, and Janine's amazing brownies--not so good from a WW standpoint, but I justified it with the 2200 calories I had burned that morning. Then, we watched the Cyclones trounce Oklahoma State...finally getting a decent win under our belts after the past three weeks of disappointment.

I was hoping to get in a nap later in the afternoon--not so much in the cards, though, so by the time we met for dinner, I was pretty out of it. The first World Series game perked me right up, though...go go White Sox!!! After dinner, I trekked over to Vardo's 30th birthday party to continue the celebrations. I talked with her mom for the first time since college--found out she reads both Vardo's and my blogs, which is pretty cool. We also played a rousing game of "tippy cup"--one of those random drinking games you think you're done with when you graduate, and yet comes back to haunt you later in life. At one point, Vardo's dad and both were going head to head in the tippy cup competition...with Vardo looking on in disbelief. Had a great time--saw some other friends, Steve, Sondra, and Gretta, along with Sparkle and her parents.

I finally made it back to my parents' house around 11:30...only to have to get up at 7 am to get stuff ready to go for the baby shower we had for Glen and Janine. Again, great time, but by the time everyone left, I was ready to crash. Conveniently (or really, not so much), my friend Jen grabbed my car keys by accident and was about an hour into her trip to Mpls by the time I realized it...which gave me time to take a power nap while my wonderful dad hopped in his pickup and drove to meet her and retrieve my keys. I made it back to Chicago about 7:30 and was in bed by 9:30 Sunday night...but still--wicked long weekend.

I guess the main thing I learned was that, while I'll certainly miss out on things in the coming year, I can't continue to do everything I want to do and expect to not pay the price. To that end, I've made the command decision that I'm done going back for football games for the year--the two November games just aren't worth the impact to my sanity they would cause. I'll miss my friends and hanging out with my parents, Sparkle, and Vardo, but I just can't do it. The long training runs make it tough to tailgate, which, frankly, is the main reason I have season tickets...and seriously, if I have to deal with Friday afternoon rush hour to get out of town again, I'll have a melt-down.

But, as insane as this weekend was, I wouldn't have missed it for the world...good stuff, just a little too much of a good thing for my current mental state. One more weekend away from home, though (and actually only Saturday and Sunday), and I'll be in town until Thanksgiving...

Hopefully by the next update, the World Series championship will be back in Chicago...not exactly with my team, but I'm cheering hard for the Sox regardless!!!!