340 – Opening Salvo

For a warm weather athlete, this is a disheartening thing to wake up to.

Winter fired its opening salvo overnight.

Nothing punctuates the end of my season quite like the first serious snowfall. I woke up to it this morning, and while it’s pretty to look at, my heart sank anyway. My winter athlete friends will scoff, but for me, snow represents everything I don’t like about being outside. It’s cold, and wet, and slippery. It makes everything dirty (not in a good way) and difficult to use.

Winter has become a season of can’t, for me. I can’t get out on my bikes like I want. I can’t go for a run or even a drive without additional time and clothing and preparation. I can’t wear shorts. I can’t wash my car. Can’t can’t can’t.

It’s only just started, but I already miss my bikes, and I miss the woods, and sticky, hard-packed singletrack trails, and hammering up hills. I miss sweating in the sun, and cold water bottles on hot days.

Ooo! Snow waffles!

But what about winter fun, you say. What about skiing, and snowboarding, and snowmen and snowball fights and snow angels and snow-whatever-the-heck-else-you-sick-people-like?

No. Just no. Cold and wet and slippery, and I can’t afford any more sports, anyway.

But enough moping. What winter does represent is a chance to train, and to learn new things. Like the magazine they gave you in the dentist’s chair as a kid, I’m hoping that I can work hard enough, and stay busy enough, to make this winter go quickly. And if I do, maybe I can at least salvage, from my least favorite season, the positive note of starting next season lighter, and stronger, and better than ever.