Resolvers

Lucy waiting for us to remember that we resolved to make 2007 "Lucy's Year of Fitness".

It happens every year. The gym fills up right after Christmas with people we've never seen before. It's like it's a different gym. Sure, we still nod hello to the guy who looks like a short, buff version of the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz. I still get the pleasure of watching the soccer guy in the knee socks and headband run drills on the treadmill next to mine. When I can get a treadmill, that is. During January, it's not an easy task. The gym is overcrowded with these new people. Resolvers, I call them.

They come at it hard. Resolvers get on the elliptical trainers and pump their legs like they're trying to generate power for the city of Chicago, and they'll keep at it for a long, long time, longer than they're supposed to be on the cardio machines during peak hours. Resolvers take up all of the treadmills, speed-walking in their bright white cross trainers. They ride the stationary bikes like the devil himself is chasing them. "Well, I guess it's the rowing machine for me. Dammit. Resolvers on the rowing machines, too." The only area of the gym that isn't overcrowded is the free weight room, because I guess the racks of dumbbells scare them. For about five weeks out of every year, that's where you'll find Accountant Boy, Buff Lion and I. Soccer Guy? He's outside, running laps around the parking lot. No, there's no track around the perimeter of the lot. He's running in the lot, and drivers are swerving to avoid him when they come around the corner. He's a dedicated man, Soccer Guy.

Nothing against the Resolvers. I think it's great when people make an effort to change themselves, and these people are making one hell of an effort. They work really hard, I guess is what I'm saying. Too hard. Here's what happens every year. Come February, especially true this year when it happened exactly on February 1st, they give up. The gym returns to its normal state. I walked in on the first day of February this year and found every treadmill free. My favorite elliptical machines were standing idle. Nobody was doing anything misguided on the weight machines, like allowing the lat pulldown bar to hoist them up to the ceiling because they were lifting too many plates. Soccer Guy, with his terrycloth headband firmly in place, was stretching happily on the uncrowded floor behind the Stairmasters. Buff Lion and I nodded knowingly at each other at the drinking fountain. Resolver season had ended.

Why am I bringing this up? Because I am a Resolver. I made a lot of resolutions earlier this year, and seems to me that I haven't said anything about them in weeks. I've almost forgotten what they were. Funny. Looking back through my blog entries, it looks like my last resolution update was January 30th, one day before all of those enthusiastic new gym members said, "Screw it. I'm too tired. I'm going home tonight, but maybe tomorrow..."

I crashed hard in early February. "I can't keep up with all of this stuff that I said I was going to do. I wish I could just take today off from all of it." So I did. And then the next day, too, and the next after that. So I had too many balls in the air to juggle, and instead of letting one of them go so that I could easily manage the rest, I dropped all of them and walked away to have a beer. Ah, well. Never too late to pick them back up and try again.

Resolutions:

1. Fitness - I've stuck with this, with a week off here and there. Haven't lost any weight, and I'm not sure my body fat has gone down, but it's still early in the year. I keep telling myself that it might take months to see the difference. Daisy and I have started swimming together.

2. Programming - I hit a plateau, one which I created for myself. I've learned just enough to do what I need to do, and then my ambition stalled out. I'm hoping that by writing about it here, I'll goose myself back into action. My annual review is this afternoon. That ought to help motivate me.

3. Knit from Stash - This one's still going really well. I knit the Three/Five/Seven Day sweater from my oldest yarn. The big project on my needles at the moment is Starsky, which is also being knit with stash yarn. I needed a portable project, so I pulled this yarn from my stash and started making a scarf.


Will I have enough to make the scarf long enough? I don't know, because I didn't measure, and I don't care. I have two skeins of it, so it's going to be as long as two skeins will allow it to be. My secret pal Purly gave me this yarn last year. I'm just happy to see it knit up.

4. Meet other knitters - I went to that knitting group two times, then found excuses, legitimate or not, to miss it every Wednesday since then (illness, depression, frogging madness, Stitches, catch-up gym time, "don't want to miss 'Most Shocking' on CourtTV"). We'll leave this one in negative status for now.

5. Call/E-mail/Write - Also a negative, because we STILL haven't made contact with our college friends.

The roundup - two resolutions positive, one somewhat neutral depending on how I spend this afternoon and the rest of my work week, two negative. That's not too bad, considering. I'm going to keep at it.

What about you? If you've resolved to do something this year, how's it going? Tell me a success story. Not going well? Unless your resolution was "Do (x) in the first two months of 2007 or miss your chance FOREVER", it's not too late.