I can recall my high school football days, some years back, and nearing the end of summer vacation where the football team switched from doing early weekday morning exercises in the weight room and started to “officially” practice and prepare for the upcoming season. That transition was made each early August when, for two weeks, we went to football camp at the school. School hadn’t started yet, but we, the team, were there all day. Some people called it “two-a-days,” because we practiced all morning, rain or shine, then had an hour lunch break followed by another practice for three or four hours. It was hot out there. We were getting back into shape; cardio seems to quickly deteriorate when not consistently used, even as a teen. Did I mention that it was hot out there, during those two weeks? Sometimes so hot it made you vomit. Guys would get so drenched from sweat that entire jerseys would change color, even over the shoulder pads. Water breaks were given in between drills, yet never seemed to be given frequently enough. It was a cherished reward for hard work and effort. It came out of a hose and ran through a PVC pipe with a similar diameter to the garden hose, the plastic pipe had holes drilled in it every 6 or 8 inches and the water shot out from all directions, all down the length of the pipe, which was parallel to the ground about three feet above it. We would slurp it down until they turned that hose off. It wasn’t the coldest or cleanest water you’ve ever tasted, but it was gold to us. We would all frantically ingest what was probably a liter or two each break before the hose got shut off and it was time to go back to work.

After high school, I lost my appreciation for water for a while. We had discovered beer, and the way that it affected us. Mountain Dew’s just tasted so much better than water. When you did exercise (which for me was generally lifting or basketball) it just seemed “cooler” to be drinking Gatorade, which also tasted better than water. It’s no secret the healthy benefits of drinking water, the seemingly outlandish number of glasses that are always recommended for daily ingestion by the experts, and the benefits it has on your kidneys and other internal systems of the body. But when you are in your late teens and early 20’s, you are immortal, and generally drink what tastes the best with your burger, or what makes you a dancing machine at the local haunt.

Recently I have begun training at Marcello's Indianapolis Jiu Jitsu academy, and I have found a renewed appreciation for water! Jiu Jitsu is hard work, but worth the effort. I have done anything so consistently strenuous since the varsity football days in Union County, Indiana. I’m back to easily ingesting a gallon or so a day on training days, and though the water I drink now doesn’t come from a garden hose and have a yellowish look to it, it is still gold to me. My kidneys and other internal organs thank me, and they thank Marcello, for pushing me to that level.