2021 seems to be the place where 2020 stored its momentum while it was having a nervous breakdown. Given the shit show of 2020, I’m pleasantly (and unpleasantly) surprised to see we’re actually halfway through March already! When I looked at the calendar this weekend and realized St. Patrick’s Day was almost here, I thought back to last year. No, I didn’t participate in any green-beer reverie (I hate beer and crowds). COVID was already beginning to shut down the world–though we had no idea to what extent.
St. Patrick’s Day was the last day I worked out at a gym.
At my gym. At my now-defunct gym where I was a member for three or so years. It was a structured boot camp gym that I went to almost every day. A year ago today, I can tell you I think I was in the best shape of my life! But more importantly–and something I think I miss just as much as the workout–is the tribe of friends I made there. We built a solid little community, and I looked forward to seeing them when I went to work out. People’s schedules always varied, so I’d get to see different people every day. It was always a fun surprise!
That time I broke Dan with my unbridled strength.
Certainly, it’s no news the last year has been more isolating, but the one-two punch of losing my gym and my daily friends–all of whom inspired me to workout harder–was a loss that’s harder to quantify. The impacts of COVID were accompanied by its own kind of grief. Besides the sad loss of life, we’ve all lost so many things that come with…living. Our homes bore the brunt of existence with little options for getting out–particularly during Chicago’s unrelenting winter. But with spring, comes the promise of returning to a life that feels a little more normal–a little more social.
As I settle into a new house with room for a fitness area in the basement, the memories of working out with my friends every day return to me often. When I’m working out, I think back to our communal, good-natured workouts, and it still pushes me to work harder. (I’ve got to work off the COVID 19 (lbs.)!
Though we may not be working out together again, I have hope we can raise a glass together sometime this year! To my boot camp buddies!
That time I broke the resistance band before Shelley and Dana could subdue me!