'And This Is Where You Start Paying ... In Sweat'

I think for the first time ever this year I had a couple of New Years Resolutions - to learn Spanish and to start getting fit.

I haven't done much about learning Spanish beyond getting hold of a Rosetta Stone language course for the computer but I have made some effort on the fitness front.

I've signed up at the local sports centre to use their fitness room and have been going twice a week or so for the last month now. I'd always had this feeling that excercise was pretty pointless (and bound to be boring) unless you were chasing a ball and competing against others but to my surprise I really look forward to and enjoy my hour and a quarter of treadmill, weights, cross-trainer and exercise cycle.

The fitness room itself is not at all what I expected - I thought it would be full of 'meatheads' lifting weights or superfit athletes on the treadmill but I'm pleased to say that isn't the case: I think they must all go to the 'rival' gym on the other side of town.

At the moment I'm probably about half way towards comfortably meeting the initial objectives set out in the programme the instructor created for me so in another month or so I guess I'll have another assessment and we'll come up with a new programme.

I can satisfy my competitive nature with twice weekly football where I find I've got more energy since I started going to the gym. Now if I could only work out how to install that language course I'd be a very happy man.