Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Gym Rat (warning: cynical content!)

Yes, I think I can officially start calling myself a "gym rat". There are some upsides to being a gym rat though...it never rains in the gym, you don't get frozen fingers and toes in the gym, and there's generally a bunch of people around for motivation - a handful of ripped athletes that you want to be like, and a whole bunch of others that serve as a warning of what you'll look like should you stop exercising. I also figure I'm saving huge amounts of time by just not having to "layer-up" each time I work out.

I'm mainly there to lift weights and swim, however I have been known to hit the treadmill occasionally. Mundane but effective for helping to increase my running cadence. I'm hoping to grow some upper body muscles to balance myself out a bit better, as right now I have Popeye legs and Olive Oyl arms. I'm still fairly strong though and can crank out five pull-ups despite my scrawny appearance and incessant whining anytime I have to lift something heavy. My goal is to get back up to my upper body strength of my rockcliming days when I could do 15 pullups and hang off a couple of granules of sand with my pinky.

There are some things I WON'T do in the gym though..such as go to a spin class.... Now I'll go to a spin class at a BIKE SHOP or jump on the trainer at home occasionally...but, at the gym, ugh, I just can't bring myself to do it. Watching the soccer-moms coming out of spin class with their pristine, not-a-speck-of-dirt-on-'em, shiny new Sidi's is like some form of sacrilege to me...utterly shameful, and I just can't be a part of it. Its like some form of wanna-be biking and the thought of it makes me shudder. What's worse is nearly everyone I see in the locker room ASSUMES that I'm going to spin class (despite clearly not being dressed for it) and asks me all kinds of questions about it...sigh...

Anywho...sold the Turner - Yay! One less bike to fall on my car now that I have to park in the garage because its damb cold and frosty in the morning. We're finishing up mapping and course layout for our GAOC meet this weekend, but of course we waited until the last minute and now we're scrambling to get it all done. Come out and see us because it will suck to do all this work and have no one show up because its cold and windy outside.

3 comments:

Christopher Averett said...

yoou should give a spin class a shot. not all classes are classes are filled with pristine sidis. ask around at a cyclocross race this fall to see if you can find a class or a studio that a few cyclist train at. i think you'll be happy with the cardio and core workout you get.

Unknown said...

Darnit! I'm sorry to miss the O-meet but family obligations prevail.
You've inspired me to try pull-ups again. Maybe one day I'll be able to eke some out.

Namrita O'Dea said...

i'm impressed...i can't even do ONE pullup. hmmmph.