3 Month Y Membership Plan

Monday was a late evening of work for me which pushed back my getting to the Dowd Y until 6:30 PM. Ugh, being late getting to the Dowd Y is never a good thing. Between 5 and 7:30 the parking lot is full. The overflow is full and the church overflow is full. In fact, I am surprised that I don’t see more people fighting of over few available parking spots.

Anyway, I roll in to the Y parking lot and head straight for the overflow area. Darn, it’s full. So I head back to the regular Y parking lot, and as if by some mysterious freak of nature, I am in luck and get spot right next to the door.

To get some sense of how lucky this is, I probably have a better chance of getting struck by lightning than getting a spot near one of the Y’s doors. These spots are rarely open unless you are morning rooster, or a true late night owl.

Moving along, I have been a member of the Charlotte YMCAs going on 20+ years now. Every January, I see the same thing happen.

People make their New Year’s resolution to get in shape. For the first 3 months of the year, the Dowd Y is absolutely slammed full. Waiting to workout is similar to 485 heading to Ballantyne in the evening. Not much chance of driving 70 mph is there.

As the days stretch into weeks, and the weeks stretch into months, this rush tends to abate, and life slowly returns to normal.

Yes, there are a few that make the leap to staying active but most undoubtedly fall back into their old ways.  Maybe it is the lack of making their self personally accountable. Maybe their life, family, or job pushes them to stop coming. Maybe it is just the fact that spring comes early to the Carolinas, and there is just so much more to do once it gets warm.

Who really know exactly, but  I do want to say that I appreciate all of these people that join for the first few months. They pump the extra money in to Y which leads to the purchase more and better equipment. So long after they have gone, the sweat is dropping from my forehead on to this new machine that they paid for.

So I’ll wrap up by saying thank you in advance for your 3 month YMCA contribution.

See you next year,

The Cool Down Runner