Bleah?

Of course, I'm in the situation where a cute stranger has to touch my feet, my knees and he gets to check out all the bruises I acquire from climbing sloppily (on occasion). I mention cute boy doctor because I went to pay him a visit today for my follow up appointment - I say my foot doesn't hurt, he says great, go to physical therapy for your knees. So, I'll be going to physical therapy 3 - 4 times a week and I'm going to start running again. I asked if he thought I might still make the half marathon in January (and I think it's slightly unreasonable to hope for the full without injuring myself again), and he seemed sort of whatever about it. I believe he wanted me to not run until I had a month of physical therapy for the knees behind me. However, 10 weeks of training just wouldn't be enough for me to get in running condition.

Motivation will definitely be harder to come by. The weather is starting to cool now (last night got in to the 30s). I suspect the day time will still be quite nice, but I realize that if I'm not able to run until 5:30 or 6:00 most days, it's going to be colder and windier. Running on the river on Friday was actually quite breezy too, and it was only like 60 degrees. I'm going to try to run on the gravel path on the Potomac consistently, at least until the knees are stronger. Obviously I'll need to do some pavement training, but it can come later. The problem with winter and no snow, for me, is that I like to ski. If it's cold and I can't play in the snow, then I pretty much just want to hibernate in my awesome sleeping bag throughout the winter. Obviously, that has it's draw backs. Last night I read my most recent Rock & Ice issue and came across an article about getting psyched on what you do. The writer explained that he loves climbing, but once late summer hits, motivation sort of fails and progression stops. Another climber suggested he was just not passionate about climbing and that explained his lack of motivation. The writer disagreed (thankfully) and so do I. I'm passionate about most of the things I do - be in horse back riding or running or climbing...but desire to do those things is so strongly tied to the balance of my life and my world. So, the writer suggested the simplest of things: do other stuff. For him it was cooking crazy, complicated dinners for friends. I might try my hand at that. Consider this an invitation for dinner: polenta, white lasagna, ricotta and spinach stuffed shells, orange spiced tofu, chocolate tiramisu with sliced strawberries, English fools...anybody? I have a sense that I may dig my way out of my little rut if I mix things up a little. I should probably also start yoga at Dupont.

And for my weekend report out: I'd gotten sort of excited about having a nothing weekend. Camping didn't pan out (with the dog in my care) and so I opted to stay in. Except it didn't really happen like that since lately I'm not capable of sitting at home doing nothing for more than two hours. I trained myself to that and now I'm complaining about it. I haven't had a lazy day in a long time, but it's pretty cool, really. Friday I went for my short run, which felt pretty much good. I also went to REI, saw Burn After Reading and ate at a terrible diner in Arlington with a girlfriend. That night didn't end until around 2:00 AM.

I actually managed to sleep until 11 the next morning, which is amazing. The day was gorgeous. I took Melman for a long walk along the river and (very clearly against his wishes) laid in the grass for an hour while he stood around uncomfortably. I don't think he even knows how to sun bathe. I did some work from the apartment in the afternoon, watched crappy Saturday afternoon TV, and went on to Pentagon City Mall in the early evening I don't understand how the mall works as it was insanely packed. It felt like Christmas shopping already. A friend reminded me that if zombie movies had taught him anything, it was that malls are full of potential weapons. I had to stifle my imagination. From the mall, I went on to Georgetown to hang out with my brother and his wife, and their school mates. I let go of feeling lame for not working out on Saturday after I spent 2 and half hours dancing my ass off at Third Edition and Paper Moon.

I ended up getting in bed at 3:00, but I was awake and (not) very chipper Sunday at 8. We went out to Crescent Rock in WV and climbed for a couple hours. The day was fantastic: it was easy to warm up and the hike out was definitely a work out. I have new found respect for the pack carriers! As far as the actual climbing went: I got to be the first one up all day, which is interesting but makes things more challenging for me! My first climb was good (although as is the norm, it's a climb that scares me all the way till the end and only after I've sent it do I breathe again), and the other routes were only eh. The pizza route was still a pain in the ass and I'm thoroughly annoyed that I haven't sent it clean yet - although I got a good piece of beta to just ignore the pizza hold and lay back on the hold that's directly left of the pizza. I did the lay back the second time around and it felt SOOOO much better. I need to figure out how to climb lay backs better, as it's not something I've done much and apparently it doesn't really exist in the gym. I did the 5.8 and the 5.9 variation of the route, and although the 5.9 presents a different set of challenges and scares me a lot at the top third, it's awesome and I'd rather climb it any day over the 8. Next time I go out to Crescent, I'm taking a machete and I'm going to town on the damn briers. It's all quite overgrown.

I'm off dog duty after I pay an afternoon visit to Melman - I'm going to take a short run after work and then head to the grocery store for some real food. And, the best part of my day will likely be getting in my own bed for the evening!!! I'll have slept in my own bed only 12 nights by the 31st of October between Denver, San Antonio and dog sitting. I can't believe October is almost over (or the year, even).