Friday, February 12, 2010

The Gym Junkie: Welcome to my world

I took swimming lessons when I was 23. I knew how to swim but I had no clue about how to do it well. I remember the first class. My legs were unshaven and purple from the cold. Sheesh - no towel big enough to hide those goosebumps. But I stuck to it and found I just loved swimming. For the past 26 years now I have organized my life around time for a workout. I am buff, albeit a bit creaky these days.

Where I live now I am a member of a wonderful facility that opens at 5:00 a.m. Typically I am up at 4:15, before the birds. Two ibuprofen and a cup of coffee later (oh, don't forget feeding the cat) I am out the door and off to the gym. 6 days a week. On the 7th day there is rest, except that the stupid cat still wants his breakfast at 4:15 so he positions himself at the top of the stairs, where he gets maximum echo and knows he is out of range of having a stuffed animal biffed at him, and yowls. So usually I get up anyway. I still have 2 ibuprofen and a cup of coffee. These days strictly decaf.

It used to be I just swam, day in and day out. I had sticky hair (everywhere), a signature scent of chlorine, and obvious goggle eyes for at least an hour afterwards. Very attactive, oui? This is still my favorite sport but after tendonitis in my left shoulder about 5 years ago, "friends" suggested "weight bearing" activities. So I began trying out other options: stability ball, pilates, step classes, lifting weights, elliptical machines, treadmill, spinning (well, you get the picture). I thought by this time in life I'd have found my inner child. Instead I found my inner core. Menapause is obviously the new adolescence. I turned into a gym junkie.

Over the years I've met some great people, quite a few weirdos, a few bitches, some hot guys, some old guys that zoom and others that are quite fabulous. We've shared laughs, told stories, crabbed about just about anything you can imagine,and gossiped incessantly - what a great bunch. In this blog I'm going to share with you some of my favorite adventures - I hope you enjoy!

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