The Beast Sleeps

This post is for Nate Galpin. Nate lives in Sun Valley, Idaho and every summer when we go to visit, Nate asks me if Jarred has as much energy throughout the rest of the year as he does while he's in Sun Valley. Nate, an incredible athlete himself, finds it hard to keep up with Jarred during the summer months we spend in Idaho.

I admit, I can't even begin to keep up with Jarred and I consider myself an active person. Jarred has an infinite amount of energy that seems to increase if he's doing something he likes. This fall he and Nate rode in the Bend Big Fat Tour, an three day mountain bike ride through the hills around Bend. They rode 50 miles their first day, 70 their second and 20 their third. Jarred actually said he was tired after the ride, although I couldn't tell.

I really love the fact that Jarred is a go-go person, he's motivational and his desire to go has led us to have some great outdoor adventures and I've learned to really push my endurance level. But sometime in late fall when the biking slows down and kayaking hasn't quite picked up, Jarred starts to get restless. He starts planning bike rides for the following year, this year he asked me if I wanted to do so many rides that I quit saying yes, figuring every weekend I wasn't at a horse show would be filled with biking. Following the restless period, Jarred begins his hibernation mode. This year, he started off with an increased consumption of ice cream and beer. Once he built up his winter fat layer, Jarred was ready to bed down for what he likes to call the low point in his year. At this point, grouchiness sets in (from lack of exercise) as well as a desire to spend copious amounts of time on the computer or watching Netflix.

So Nate, yes, Jarred does slow down, but when he does it gets ugly and I yearn for the days when we can get outside and the Beast wakes up.