Now that school has started, we have to get to the rec center earlier, since Michael has to make up the time he misses for classes. So today we got there at 6:15 (AM) and I was stunned to discover that the place was PACKED. Normally there are a handful of people on the track, and sometimes it’s just Michael and me. Today there were 10 to 15 people running. Most of the machines I could see were busy as well.

So the question is: Will I ever see any of those people again?

I’m betting no.

I don’t mean the regulars of course. I know I’ll see the woman who does triathalons. And the older man who walks on the track. And the woman who looks like a secretary but I know she isn’t. And the guy who has got to be ex-army, who runs and runs and runs and then lifts when it seems like he should just collapse. Then there’s the sweaty man who looks like he has stepped out of the pool when he steps off the stair master. And the cute college student with the dark hair pulled into a pony tail on the top of her head and who always has the treadmill at the highest incline. Those people I know I’ll see again. These are the people I see every day. I know they’ll be back.

It’s the others I’m talking about.

The cute couples who ran a couple laps together and then left. The girls with the dark, dark tans and the tight, tight shorts and the stretchy tops. Or the guy waring chucks with dress socks. Those are the people I’ll never see again.

It’s the others I’m not sure about. The women who come in pairs, wearing baggy t-shirts and cut-off sweats and the guys who run for 15 minutes and then go and lift. They look serious. But will they keep up with it?

Probably not. At least not in the morning. Because there’s too much to do at night: parties and classes and studying that will keep them up late and the alarm will go off and they’ll think–just this once I’ll sleep in, and then the next thing you know it’s Thanksgiving and they’ve been rolling out of bed just a few minutes before classes (assuming they’ve been going to classes at all).

But we’ll see.

I’m laying odds, however, that tomorrow morning the place will be mostly dead again. Fall fest is tonight, and it’s the night for partying. Which is how it happens. Skip one day and with every day that follows it becomes easier and easier to come up with an excuse for sleeping in.