The Aerie
I've been chary of mentioning this year's resolution, because last year's resolution went so badly and of course it's the same one.
Well, I also don't want to mention it because it's so mundane. You can guess. Yep, I want to get in better shape.
Two years ago... or is it three? I resolved to go to the gym every day. And I made it through the entire month of January, after which I gave myself "a break" and completely lost the rhythm.
The year before last I tried to repeat. Unfortunately before February I got a wicked case of the flu which kept me out of the gym for six weeks. When I finally went back my locker rental had expired, and everything in my locker had been thrown away. Since my phone number and contact info were on my locker rental agreement I think it wouldn't have killed them to let me know they were going to discard my belongings. That annoyed me so bad I didn't go to the gym for several months.
Last year I tried again, but what with the collapse of my stupid business my heart just wasn't in it.
But now this year is looking better. I'm working steadily, I'm not broke, my locker rental is paid, and I just finished the Cold from Hell. Hopefully I can make it through January AND February without missing a day.
And I did well over the holiday break: I actually LOST five pounds over the holidays, just by eating less. Basically if I wanted to eat something tasty, I ate one bite. When I had a meal, I had one serving with no seconds. And I skipped a lot of meals, which probably isn't best but seemed to work out.
So for the past few days I've been hitting the gym, and I'm pretty satisfied. My rowing speed is way off from its records of 5000 meters in 20:00 minutes. But on the other hand I was able to run a mile. Not quickly, I had to pace myself to what was basically a trot, but I was able to run the mile.
And I've set up an exercise routine with more variety. I've been rowing for the past several years, and just slogging my way through 5K rows from 22:00 down to 20:00 across six months is no fun. So I spent my time yesterday reviewing all the equipment and building an exercise plan with as much variety and randomness as possible.
Hopefully I'll be able to stick to it - I'm planning to at least. I need to turn working out into a way of life, rather than something exceptional. Because if I don't get my health in shape, I'm going to end up on high blood pressure medicine. Or worse.
Posted by Albatross at January 4, 2005 3:42 PM