What Ever Happened to Will Power?

If I had been given a sticky bun for every conversation I have had over the last couple of years about weight and lack of exercise, I would be a very fat boy indeed. I don't know whether it is an age thing, but the will power that even amazed me at times, seems to have disappeared. The ability to get up early morning after early morning and toodle off to the gym - or out on the road for a walk (I draw the line at running!), seems to have left.

I made some rash promises towards the end of last year about losing weight. The only thing I achieved was not to put any more on! Well, it's a start, but it's not enough.

So, annual medical examination completed for another year and an endorsement that I might make it through to the next one, left me feeling mildly elated - except for the warnings yet again on weight and exercise. Too much of one it seems, and not enough of the other.

And then someone sent me this stark warning:

 
Well, when put like that even I get the message!!

Hence given that this is the week of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Autumnal Equinox, or whatever - I have decided that I cannot put it off any longer. It is time to start a new trend in Resolutions. Out with the "New Year Resolution" stuff and in with the "Autumn Ambition".

With "No time like the present..", and "Today is the first day of the rest of your life ..." dreadful stuff ringing in the ears, I lumbered off this morning to tackle Bowen Road, forgetting just how long it was going to take me to get there in the first place ... but I made it. And that, really, was where the trouble began ...

The first part of the walk was rather ordinary, except for the overpowering smell of dog urine that filled the nostrils - but it it did make one walk a bit faster! (The dog walkers - not, I suspect usually the owners of the dogs - had done a decent job of cleaning up the really nasty stuff - but doggy pee is pretty potent too!)

And so to Bowen Road. I was being overtaken by everyone, all shapes and sizes, all ages, all nationalities. Just as well the dog that passed me didn't think I was walking slowly enough to be mistaken for a tree or lamp post - although he did slow down and look! Everyone was running, and then success ... I passed a rather elderly couple walking, appropriately dressed like me in exercise clothes. "So it's going quite well", I thought to myself - until I realised they were walking in the opposite direction to me. Ah well; next I passed a gentleman and we exchanged pleasantries, but I expect he was intending to remain seated on his bench in the shade a while longer.

To my credit, I wasn't actually overtaken by anyone who was walking (does everyone run on Bowen Road? There were no "Runners Only" signs that I could see - or "Minimum Speed"). And then I started to meet people coming from the opposite direction who were also walking. Now what was all that about, I thought. Was I supposed to start walking from the Stubbs Road end - while the runners did it in reverse? But what would be the point of doing that - after all I was taking a great deal of comfort from the fact that I was walking towards the Adventist Heart hospital - not walking away from it!

So it was, 6.3kms later, and triumphant it was time to return home. I waited a few minutes for one of Hong Kong's finest red taxis to pick up a rejuvenated, adrenalin pumped soul, determined to repeat the exercise again very soon. And then a few more minutes - and then some more, wondering why I was unable to attract a passing glance from even the scruffiest looking "For Hire" driver. Of course, triumphant I may have been but I realised I probably looked as if I had been dragged through a hedge backwards in the rain, and probably smelled as if I had done the whole journey by sewer, so I understood the reluctance.

Maybe it will rain tomorrow (it certainly is raining now) and I won't be able to repeat the experience, but maybe, just maybe I have caught up with the elusive Will Power. I rather hope so, but only time will tell!

Comments

[Paul]

It's more fun in groups - try this one: http://www.meetup.com/hongkonghikinggroup/
(quick easy registration required)

Several hikes of all levels every week.

[David Eldon]

Thank you for the information. Looks seriously interesting, but for the time being I am going to have to stick with a 6 a.m. regime-not so much fun, I am sure, but effective for my current purpose.

[Robert]

Having known the relative(ly slim-line) youth......., words fail me!!!!!! Will Power you have in abundance, mi amigo! You just need to have a good reason to apply it! No doubt you've pinned up the excellent cartoon on your shaving mirror?!

[Robert]

Forgot to mention, you were a founder member of the RAK Hash House Harriers! Probably not a prominent part of your c/v!!?

[wzwz13]

Salute Mr Eldon..its never too late to start...I started mine when I touched the half century mark recently...the yearly ramadan helps.. shed 5kgs...try fasting once a week or once a month...it helps:)Adios