going down the gym...

So. I would use this space to recap Idol last night - Grand Ol' Opry night, with musical mentor Randy Travis. However, I only caught the last half hour (with the triumphant return of Anoop Dawg! Yesss!) because I was At The Gym. I know that most people do this on a regular basis. I even used to do it on a fairly regular basis - although I went to "Club Fitness" at the Morton Grove Community Center. It's a little room with about 4 treadmills, some stairmasters and ellipticals and when I would do my thing (about once a week) I would find myself in the company of the typical residents of our little Village (read, I was the youngest person in the room, and also usually the only girl.) I stopped going a while ago, I don't even remember when. Maybe in the fall? I don't know. I walk every day, from Union Station down here to the office, and I run around like a nutcase when I am here anyway, so I figured you know? This is enough.

But my friends are members at Lifetime (a behemoth facility right off the expressway in Niles, kinda near Old Orchard) and asked me to come on one of their free passes. So I went. And dumplings, it was HUGE. Like a big, intimidating Fortress of Health. It has a restaurant, and two swimming pools, a salon, and an entire upper floor full of machines of all kinds. There's also gyms to do stuff in (basketball or whatever) a weight room, places to stretch and be massaged, day care... It was weird though because the parking lot was PACKED but when we got inside, I was like "where is everybody" because it didn't feel crowded at all. Usually I am a little self-conscious about working out in front of all these crazy buff fitness freaks, but it was a really unstressful environment.

However, I had not been on a piece of equipment for many many months and I was afraid of killing myself. Oh, and my typical workout, minus strecthing, was never longer than 25 or so minutes. My friends told me, cheerfully, that they usually spend a whole hour working out. I have a sort of love/hate thing with fitness regimes. I always HATED gym class, because I was never any good at anything, and I stuck out like a sore, uncoordinated thumb because I could never play basketball/volleyball/baseball - I mean, take your pick, I sort of stunk at all of them. And having to do this daily and being graded on it? Always bothered me. But now it's cool because I don't have to play any of those stupid sadistic games if I don't want to. I can get on my elliptical machine and nobody will be there grading me or laughing at me, whatever. Although, I did get giggled at a little when I fell off the treadmill. I've never used one before and you know... but I got the hang of it and - I felt great when I was finished! Wheeeee! So thanks, girls, for bringing me. I may return to my old pals at the park district and see if I can get a routine going before I venture into membership at an actual Fitness Establishment...