The Gym: an American Horror Story

I am deathly afraid of "the gym."  I don't know if it's the mirrors or the purposeful people with their purposeful sweat gleaming on their purposeful brows or maybe it's just the smell.  I get very, very intimidated by anything that even remotely resembles a gym & just thinking about it now is making me a little queasy & a lot twitchy, in fact I'm having trouble thinking of another commonplace thing or place that scares me more.  Sad to say, but 100+ gone & I still struggle to feel like I belong in a traditional gym setting.

I found myself longing for the closet "fitness center" of my prior hotel running adventure when this weekend's accommodations were complete with mirrors, sweaty towel bin & two treadmills...one of which was occupied.   It was a mini-gym.  Blarg.

I stood with my hand on the door knob for about a minute trying to psych myself up.  Doesn't seem like a long time?  Try it...on a windowed door...where a stranger can see your creepy reflection in a ridiculous amount of mirrors.  Awkward.

It could have been a victimless crime.  The continental breakfast was open & there were newspapers laid out.  I could have sipped some coffee in solitude, sat for an appropriate amount of time, gone into the pool area to splash a little strategic water on myself & viola...Dave wouldn't know & I wouldn't be terrified. 

OR I could suck it up, open the door & run next to a man that looked to be about my age while watching the Today Show.  Blast you, Matt Lauer & your impish grin.  I had to go in.  Just as I took a deep breath to open the door, I noticed something.  My running mate was running in his swim trunks.  This wasn't some hardcore athlete that was going to judge me.  This was a dad on the Great American Wild West Vacation just trying to squeeze in a little moment of self-improvement between Mt. Rushmore & Wall Drug Fudge (more on that in a second).  The "gym" may be scary, but the people in it are just trying to do something good for themselves.  I plodded out my run, we exchanged a little small talk & we both went about our vacations feeling just a little bit better for having accomplished something good.

I'm HOPING the "good" that I did equals a wash in my overall healthy living karma for the weekend.  Grab & go, snack=y vacation foods were my Everest this weekend...& rather than climb over the obstacle I sat down at base camp & enjoyed the fudge.  Mmmmmm....fudge.  Thankfully, Dave & I blasted through all of it in two days, so there's none lingering around to be a temptation later in the week.  Vacation Sara is so thoughtful.