Closing down the season is always hard, especially if you have to walk away from a project you know you can do.

Our sending season in the Northwest—a relatively short weather window in the fall—was slammed shut last week with the arrival of large coastal storms and several inches of rain. And despite my constant insistence that you should learn to climb your projects in every condition, even soaking wet, I just couldn’t quite hold on this year. (Plus the weather was expected to be dangerously bad, and I don’t every play fast and loose with safety.)

So, I didn’t send. Sure, I was a little bit pissed and cursed the gods for a day or two; I’d just trained an entire year to do a route and fell because a key hold was too wet to move off of. Naturally, I was bummed, but I still learned a thing or two. And that is the point of this week’s post.

This is a great time to reflect on the year. Look back at your progress, your training, and make some (mental or literal) notes about how to tweak or recalibrate moving forward.

Also, the long season starts to take its toll on us physically and mentally. We’re broken and exhausted and badly need rest. It a well-earned time to rest and recover.

Perhaps you started to play with next season’s project(s) at the end of this season, so you can put one in the Project Hopper to inspire you through the long winter months ahead.

I took an opportunity to get psyched by going to visit my brother down in the desert for his birthday and do a little bouldering. I’ll be training power all winter and wanted to get inspired. Have to nurture the spark.

If you’re done with sport season, you get to start eating again! I’m proud to say, I’ve already put on 10 lbs. of training weight in a 2-week period coming back to the all-American diet—burgers, hot dogs, pizza, ice cream, candy, and cocoa puffs.

True, my body is rejecting all these foods and I feel terrible, but it was a fun reward before the stomach aches started.

The season can also put a strain on relationships. We spend a lot of time training or at the crag and not as much time with our sweetie or our friends. It’s great to make plans to see friends and family again.

There are (tummy aches aside) a lot of great things that come around when the sending season ends. Though you might be missing the crag and the chance to send your final project of the season, notice the benefits of coming inside for the winter—there is just as much to love indoors as out.

I was in denial that the season was over. But with the fall project harvest coming to a close, it’s time to go back inside for the winter and prepare. It’ll be there, waiting for you next year.