Time is running out.
The last couple of weeks have been a bust. The days that I’ve had off work have been terrible days at Whistler: low cloud, socked in, rainy and windy on the mountain. Not worth making the trek up the Sea to Sky to ski on the limited terrain that’s still available on Blackcomb.
Meanwhile in the city, the air is warmer even though the rain is still hammering down and sunny days have been few and far between. The Kits Beach pool opened on the weekend, and I chased away the ghosts of last summer with my first swim. I’ve started training for the first of the two BC GranFondos, which is coming up in about six weeks. The Grind isn’t open yet, but it’s coming soon. Even my physiotherapy is moving on: for the first time today we didn’t talk about my knees once, but focused on an old shoulder injury that’s causing problems on the road bike.
I’m both ready and not ready for Monday to come. Ready because long days on the beach, ocean swimming and bike rides on the north shore mountains aren’t that far away, and I have a whole summer of lost days to make up for. Not ready because I never know how to be, and this year it’s even harder than normal because I feel like I never really got back up to full speed and capacity.
No matter what the forecast this weekend, I want to make it back to Blackcomb one last time this season. For all that I missed there have been some amazing moments, and I’m not sure that any day will ever match the euphoria of that first day back at Whistler. The reality is that I was lucky to ski at all this season, and I do know that. Let’s hope that my Gaper Day is a good one, and that the summer that comes afterwards makes up for lost time.
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