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Sunday Confessional: Winter Happy Place

Sunday, February 5th, 2012

It is time for a little Sunday confesional.

I’m not always a relaxed, joking ball of fun. Sometimes I’m a depressed, aggressive jerk.

Winter can suck REALLY hard if you let it. In Boston, this winter has been REALLY mild. Definitely the least amount of snow we’ve had in 5 years, which is a big transition especially after we got walloped with storm after storm last year with no thaw between. I’ve only had to break out the snow shovel ONCE this winter. And it is FEBRUARY already. Unheard of!

Some triathletes love it and bundle up and head out for a rare January outdoor bike ride, but I hate it. Winter is ski season, and snow is kinda important for that sport. Between the cold, the dark, lots of time indoors on the trainer and swinging around the kettlebell, I managed get myself into a major funk a few weeks ago.

It was more than just a bad mood, but I hesitate to call it a full-on depression. It had gone on for more than a week, I was irritable, wanted to sleep all day and kept snapping at Sam. Not at all my usually relaxed self. There was no clear cause to my mood, but even I was recognizing that I was impossible to be around, which made me annoyed and frustrated, which made the whole situation even worse. I just wanted to curl up in a ball, hibernate under some heavy blankets and not come out until Spring. I wasn’t about to go see a therapist or get doped up on anti-depression meds, because I knew exactly what I needed. TO BE OUTSIDE! IN THE SUNSHINE!

Easy enough cure, right?

Thankfully, New Hampshire has gotten more snow than Boston, so Sam and I immediately booked a trip to get the hell outta dodge and spend the weekend on the slopes. A few trips down the mountain zig zagging between snow covered pine trees and I was back to normal. More than a week’s worth of depression – cured in a few minutes. Hooray for nature!

Snow covered trees make me happy.

 

I’m smiling underneath the face mask. Trust me.

Normally my “happy place” is descending down a hill at +40mph on my bike, running through ragged trails or floating in the middle of Walden Pond and staring at the clouds, but snow covered mountains are my “Winter Happy Place.”

Question: What places make you the happiest and can immediately break your emotional funk? Do they change change depending on the season?

Category : Triathlon

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