My birthday is on the way. I am setting birthday resolutions but need to start them after the big day. Some Indian food followed by an ice cream cake is how I will celebrate making for one last binge.

I need to turn up my self-care a notch with more planned exercise and fewer calories. Losing some pandemic weight would be a strong start to my year. I am calling my birthday the start of the year instead of January 1st. I wasn’t vaccinated January 1st. Clients were still fearful and cautious then. Now the clinic is filled with people who are cautious and hopeful.

I might start the year five times this year. After the last year, we all deserve to start as many times as we please.

Every seat on the plane was full on my trip. The restaurants at the airport were not fully staffed and quickly became overwhelmed. The car rental place was still short-staffed with long lines. The number of people on the bus to the rental car places were limited. The line was 400 feet long to board the buses.

Mask usage was decent. Some noses popped out. Some masks were around chins longer than they should have been.

Distancing was not in effect boarding, at baggage pick-up, in the restaurants, or anywhere in any line that I saw.

I hope we get up to vaccinating 5 million people a day through April. Passing 200 million vaccinated people would be a great way to start May.

I hope we can stay cautious and be patient for a few more weeks.

On my trip to Arizona I learned that the fitness of a community is impacted by the immediately available options. I used to have the common grounds behind me in my previous house. Jogging and sprinting up 60 feet of hill was in the workout mix. I did not do it weekly but did it often. I haven’t found a hill near the current house so hill workouts are not in the mix.

We went hiking in Arizona and there were a mix of people and abilities going up the trail. They crushed it: old, young, skinny, not skinny, nimble, using a walking stick or two, tennis shoes, hiking boots.

My middle daughter crushed it. She went up and up and only had one sliding step on her descent. We were all breathing hard but not short of breath.

On the way down the mountain a family was headed up with their daughter in the lead. They were not meeting her expectations. “Are we trying to break our record?” We need to move.”

Next time we will set our record.

The ultimate value add would be a pop up when you go to schedule a flight on Daylight’s Savings Time that warns you.

“Do you really want to wake up that early on the morning clocks move ahead an hour?”

Flying out early is rough. Flying out an hour earlier than early is awful.

Approximately 40 to 50 percent of my clients have been vaccinated. Many drove ninety minutes or more to find a dose but that is how it is working in Missouri.

There is a growing, palpable, sense of relief. When a client’s family had a Covid outbreak, she was relaxed, knowing she was protected by Pfizer.

We will wear masks until case numbers drop and I am told it is safe by people I trust. I have a daughter at home that is not going to be vaccinated until testing on children is complete. I don’t want to bring the virus home to her. While mortality in her age group is extremely low, I have two clients with long-hauling Covid problems. It has not been a fun year for them.

I hope you get your dose soon.

I used to train at the best Strongman gym in the world. They had everything. They had concrete stones, granite stones, axles, logs, Hercules holds, farmers implements, frame carry implements, power stairs, harnesses, ropes, grip implements, kegs, barrels, yokes, sleds, tires, sandbags, etc.

The training group fell apart and the owner started helping high school athletes. I joined them a few times and was shaken. Kids were loading kegs that took me 3 months to learn how to load. They were carrying sandbags that were heavy and challenging. Was it something in the water? Had gravity weakened?

I think they did not know it was heavy. They would watch an old man do it. Then a senior does it. Then a junior lifts it. Then a sophomore lifts it. Then the freshman tries it and does it. Once one person could do it, the rest of the group’s expectations shifted. They expected that they could do it. Nobody told them it was heavy or challenging. Strength was contagious.

Is strength, speed, or success contagious in your training group? How can you make it more infectious?

This is my four minute mile story. I was training for my first Strongman competition. There was an event flipping three tires of ascending size. I had never flipped a tire. If you go to a tire place they will let you have a tire for free. It saves them the cost of disposing the tire. I got a buffalo tire. It was treadless sand tire. It probably was not the best choice. It had a gouge in it that I filled with epoxy.

Mike and I made attempt after attempt to flip the tire unsuccessfully. We could flip it together but not alone. One day Mike lifted the beast and got it 90% done. I flipped it 30 seconds later. Thirty seconds after that Mike flipped it twice.

Did we get stronger in two minutes? No, we learned we could flip the tire. Once we knew we could flip the tire, we could flip the tire. Some of it was motor skill and coordination and planning. Most of it was knowing it was achievable. Once we knew that, it was relatively easy.

You can’t do it until you can.

As my daughter narrows her college decision, she is moving away from the school most eager to close the deal. Daily emails and three letters a week are annoying her. It might be the constant reminder of her pending decision creating stress. It might be misgivings she is having about the school. She is now leaning towards another school. She has only had virtual visits because of New York’s and that school’s Covid precautions.

One of her friends is there after writing the $60000 letter. The financial package was $60000 off from another college over four years. She wrote a letter to the school asking for more help and they closed the gap. Not a bad accomplishment for an eighteen-year-old. I am hoping my daughter’s writing and persuasive skills are up to the task.

Fingers crossed.

After my wife reminded me that I have a number of commitments coming in the next three months, I have pushed my return to weightlifting competition to this fall. Being an adult is challenging.