Replying to Jonesing to ski

Last season was supposed to be my biggest season to date. I had just bought a brand new ski set up, some sick new outerwear, and a trip to Utah in January planned. For a kid on the East coast, this was exciting stuff. At the end of the 06/07 season I had been working on a bunch of new tricks, and was confident that I'd have them down when the snow fell again in the fall.. Funny thing though... On my second day of this supposed "epic" season, I blew out my ACL.

My season ended with 1 full day, and 1/2 a run under my belt. I wanted to have the surgery done at home cuz a surgeon there works with the US Ski Team and I trusted him to do a great job, so I put it off and finished up my semester at college. Then I moved back home for the summer, and went under the knife on June 5th. Everything went really well, and I was back on my feet in a pretty short amount of time. I took my rehab pretty seriously, but due to the restrictions on what I was able to do, and the fact that I still partied and ate like I was 100% healthy, I gained a bunch of weight. I'm in terrible shape, though my leg/knee is strong, and getting stronger.

So here I am, unable to sleep with a nice cold breeze blowing in my apartment window. It smells like late fall. I can almost hear the leaves crunching outside. My still-brand-new skis sit in the corner of my room looking lonely, and I strapped my boots on because I miss the way they feel. I've watched every ski movie in my collection this week, and have been having a ton of skiing dreams. Doc says the ligament should be strong enough for me to ski by mid December, so I'm ordering a pass as soon as I get paid this week. I know my knee's not strong enough yet, and I'm in such bad shape, skiing the way I'm used to would kick my ass. But I wont let that happen. Workout routine, and diet start tomorrow. I'm getting my ass back into shape so I can be myself again. It's bad enough having to wait through the summer months just to ski again, but as of today it's been 8 and a half months since I've made a turn. It's such a strange feeling when the thing you love to do the most is gone. Skiing is such a huge part of who I am, it's been tough being away from it.

I can't wait to ski.