Day 51: Rusty Nuts

I used to belong to Equinox. I liked that they had Q-tips and razors. I liked that it was on my block. When I was sick, I'd lounge about in their eucalyptus scented steam room for hours, gumming up the place with my germs, hoping to leach out whatever ailed me, and then hightail it out of there before anyone could identify me. From time to time, I bought the "I'm Worth It" January pack of 10 training sessions. Eventually though, the "frugalista" in me took charge and ended the frivolous six years of blood letting into Equinox's golden cup.

Now I work out at the tiny, packed gym in my building which is free with my exorbitant monthly rent. Yippee!! The gym of course has treadmills and an elliptical machine, both of which I'm of course now using regularly. There are also bikes and a stepper - so 1985! How do you use one of those without putting a florescent headband and matching leg warmers on? There's a decent collection of newish free weights and clean, new mats for stretching... but the machines, which I've never looked at up close before tonight, are simply horrific! They look like they were probably purchased at auction from some dead grandpa's home gym in Florida. They're decrepit. The nuts and bolts are all rusted over. The rubber hand grips are all thoroughly eroded or missing. The pins on the levers you use to adjust the seat to your size are all threaded and stuck in the "giant man" position. I am 5'1". There is just so much propping up one can do!

I really hope I'm not going to have to rejoin Equinox, though I'm sure they'd be thrilled to have their best paying customer back... The thing is, I'm starting my official Half-Marathon training this week (OK, I'm starting a week early, but I just wanted to get a head start!) and, in addition to days off, we also have days that are fully dedicated to strengthening and stretching. Today was just such a day and I did my best with the 6 machines in my gym, and I stretched a lot, but the equipment seemed kind of limited. I know I don't need to worry about this yet. My building's gym is adequate for the level I'm at now; but I'm projecting forward, as I'm want to do! What will I do when I need more of a challenge?

I spent an hour doing my work. I wrote my reps down like a proper gym rat and made a very sophisticated ranking system (hard, medium and easy) so I'll know how to adjust the weights and reps the next time. I'm pushing 20 lbs on some things, and 70 lbs on others. I don't know if I'm doing what I'm supposed to do but I'm so excited I don't have to this again tomorrow. Tomorrow I get to run again. 3 miles! Gotta squeeze it in before work so... talk to you in a few hours.

And I promise, in the next week, I'm going to talk to you all about something called the "fat blanket" and the "artificial fever." Y'all aren't ready. I'm studying some new books on running and it's fascinating! Something to look forward to... Night!