We had a bit of snow last night. It's quite lovely out on the pistes, especially higher up. I've been out in it. And I didn't enjoy it.
Hell, it's quite a first-world problem, isn't it, not enjoying your snowboarding holiday very much? But it's a real shame, and I want to try to get to the bottom of it.
First off, I think I'm in a fairly down mood in general at the moment. So I may not be able to put as positive an attitude on as normal. Second, I'm quite lardy and unfit, which definitely isn't helping. Third, I pushed myself too far after a couple of good days and banged myself up a bit, which has made the rest of the week fundamentally more painful even when my boarding is okay.
But, fundamentally, I think this is just the wrong kind of holiday. The few days off I had between Christmas and New Year were clearly exactly what I needed, only more so. An activity holiday -- especially an expensive one, where you don't feel like you're getting value for money unless you get out there every day -- is the opposite of what my brain needs at the moment, I think.
I think I think I would enjoy snowboarding if in the right body and the right frame of mind. But it's becoming clearer by the day that there's nothing much I can do right now to make this time around more enjoyable.
Meh.
The cures for all this, unfortunately, are only things I can do between now and the next boarding holiday -- get fitter, take some relaxing holidays instead of the big group activity things, and generally take some more time to myself.
What I would love right now is a few weeks off work where I had some time and space to sort my head out. It's difficult to do that when you're travelling at 35mph1 on a plank of wood down the side of a mountain...
Anyway. I'm now in the chalet listening to the 5-star selection on my iPod and trying to cheer up a bit. And Alice's Restaurant has just rolled around, which I'm sure will help!
1I borrowed Scott's GPS on the first day, and clocked up 35.9 mph on a fairly gentle run; scary to think I snowboard faster than I normally drive...
