Orderly retreat amidst the hordes

It was leg day at the gym for me. Since it had been too long since I last did leg presses (the holidays, illness, and so forth getting in the way), I took the weight down from last month's personal best of 880 lbs. to 860 lbs., 5 sets times 18 reps plus a lot of warmup Went okay, but I'm hobbling a bit today.

January 10 to February 15 is high season at the gym, as hordes of out-of-shape newbies turn up to work off their holiday binges. 90% of these people will fail to be motivated enough to stay the course and make the gym a regular part of their routine. Since I've been going to this gym for over 5 years now, I'm a certified old-timer -- and it's now clear why people are a bit standoffish with you until you've been going for a few months. It's not worth investing a lot of effort to get to know people who are going to stop coming for some pathetic reason like illness or a new bf, or a demanding period at their workplace. But we still have to put up with the newbies until they lose interest, and since they often keep their gym memberships active for months longer than they attend, they are an essential part of gym finances which allow lower fees for people who actually use it.

Happy Birthday, Mike!

Happy Birthday to mike_norcal!

We have reservations at a small Italian place nearby to celebrate in company with excessor. Not that Mike wants anyone to notice he's getting older, since he's still a teenager at heart.