"Who's a fanatic?"

Thursday, September 08, 2011


My knee was still a little sore from my last run and so I was looking for something to do without impact…which pretty much left cycling on this particular night. It had been raining off and on, but the roads were reasonably dry though the skies looked menacing. I quickly changed and headed for my bike and arrived there just in time to watch the skies open up. I stood and watched the landscape guy across the street continue on through the deluge. I almost decided that if he could, so could I, but with further contemplation, decided it was time for a night off. I spoke to John later about my decision and that I’d purposely decided against the trainer, as well. “I can’t even think about riding the bike inside at this time of the year. I’d rather do nothing than do that. Besides…I don’t want to be a fanatic,” I concluded. There was a pause and a snort on the other end. “Seriously dude…you’re already a fanatic whether you took a night off or not.”

And I know he’s right. I worried throughout the night that I would suddenly gain back the 30 pounds I’d lost if I didn’t go out and do something…fast. Later that night, I considered going up to the track and doing some bleacher work. Right…my knee was hurting and I was thinking of bleacher work? Seriously…I do have a problem. So…I made myself do nothing.

I did take the time to do most of the packing for the camping trip with the girls. They pretty much show up and count on me to have gotten everything we will need for the trip. I do help them with their clothing because I want to be certain they have what they’ll need…no cotton, warm stuff, and rain gear. As every good backpacker knows…cotton kills…and we don’t bring it into the mountains. Which isn’t entirely true. I always bring a cotton t-shirt to sleep in, but I would never take it climbing. Once wet, it stays wet and if it’s on your body, it wicks body heat away and can lead to hypothermia in cool conditions…like the ones we will likely experience over the weekend.

I head into this weekend with some trepidation. We’ll be climbing Giant Mt., which is a vertical climb of over 3,000 feet and the descent could be tough on a torn meniscus. This is a warm-up with the true test coming in two weeks when John, Paul and I climb between three and five peaks with total elevation gains of probably 10,000 feet. If I make it through that week, I’ll be happy and ready to succumb to the knife and get my knee back so I can run or do whatever I want to do once again.