A pre-season day in the life of

The team got into Jackson, MS yesterday morning for our last pre-season trip of 2008. It's a good feeling to get this trip started not only because soon we'll be able to spend more time in our homes in Chicago, but also that it means we're closing in on opening day. On top of that, the people of Jackson are always extremely hospitable, which makes this week more enjoyable.

So I've gone over my schedule for a normal day during the season, but I've had some interest shown on the normal day during pre-season. I figured today would be a good day to do one...

6:30am - Hotel clock alarm goes off (Apparently the previous guest needed to be up early)
6:45am - Hotel clock alarm goes off again (Must have hit snooze the first time)
7:00am - Hotel clock alarm goes off again (Must have hit snooze again...) This time I make sure to turn the alarm off
7:10am - Cell phone alarm goes off
7:15am - Cell phone alarm goes off again (Yep - hit snooze the first time)
7:20am - Roll out of bed and throw on some shorts and a shirt and head down for team breakfast in the hotel restaurant
7:22am - Get back in the elevator and go up to the room to get my breakfast coupon that I forgot so I can eat
8:00am - Finish breakfast (Omelette, yogurt, fruit, oj and a glass of water) and go back upstairs
8:10am - Get our practice gear for the first training session and get heels taped in the training room
8:30am - Back in the room reading the USA today and attempting to get a few words in the crossword puzzle
8:45am - Change into practice gear, tape toes and get everything ready for practice
8:50am - Go downstairs to drive to training
9:00am - Leave hotel for training field
9:15am - Arrive at field and start warming up
11:15am - Practice concludes and we head back to the hotel
11:30am - Arrive at hotel, go upstairs to get cleaned up and ready for lunch
11:40am - Return gear to Charles, the best equipment manager in the league
12:00pm - Meet up with other guys in the hall and decide where to go for lunch
12:15pm - Walk a few blocks to a sandwich shop
1:15pm - Walk back from lunch to hotel
1:30pm - Back in bed (hotels don't give you many other options for relaxing) to watch some tv, read and check email - that usually leads to a nap, but being the 2nd day of the trip, I may tough it out today and stay awake
2:00pm - Write blog...
2:15 - Watch some tv and catch up on the NCAA basketball tournament - doing very well to stay awake
2:45 - Realizing just how tough I am by not napping
3:00 - Asleep...
3:30 - Phone alarm goes off, get up and rush to get taped for practice
3:45 - Continue to get ready for practice in the room
3:50 - Downstairs to catch a van to practice
4:00 - Leave for practice
4:15 - Arrive at the field and play 5 v 2 before training starts
7:00 - Leave field after practice and head back to the hotel
7:15 - Arrive at hotel, clean up and return gear to the equipment room
7:30 - Downstairs for dinner in the hotel restaurant
8:30 - Done with dinner and back upstairs to check and see if I am getting a massage tonight - I'm not
9:00 - Hang out with a few teammates
10:00 - Exhausted and in bed and finally done with this ridiculous blog entry

So there's a day in the life of a pro soccer player during pre-season. Most days are very similar to that, although I/we attempt to make them different depending on the opportunities we have.