Once again I come back from a good climbing trip (same with Gibraltar, same with Caithness) in good spirits and good climbing fitness and the fucking punterflu. Caithness I caught it off Geoff, but Gibraltar I was virtually living on sunshine and fresh fruit, whilst Cornwall, despite a couple of days raving, the last few days were an intensely rewarding mixture of exercise, fresh sea air, and lots of sleep. It doesn't make any sense and it means instead of carrying on with my good form and good climbing, I've been a bit wiped out, not badly so but enough to miss the good weather last weekend and feeling I have to crawl my way back into things. I've started doing that with two short TCA sessions and an even shorter run (mostly to use the standard DVT-derived chest-wrenching exhaustion after 10 mins try to clear my lungs), all of which have been "okay".
My body is very slowly getting back to normal, but my mind is still ailing: The combination of this abrupt end to a good climbing period, an even more abrupt change to cold dark autumn, a poor autumn forecast, ponderings on whether I am staying in Glasgow or moving back South, and a cancellation of a potential trip abroad has made me feel detatched and distant from the climber's path in a surprisingly short period of time. Faffing around waiting for a cold to settle with no significant exploration planned and no obvious inspirations to follow due to time and weather doesn't feel right to me. I think I am also suffering from SAD a bit these days, I never used to but then spending more time in the frozen and dark wasteland that is Scotland might have some effect.
Anyway the plan is: Keep active and keep training while my cold is recovering, look for any opportunities to get to my remaining Scottish inspirations, be aware of suitable transitions into more wintery climbing (sandstone, gritstone, short technical routes), and try to get a trip abroad organised ASAP. And try to get some power back into my blood....
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