The Gym

I managed to find my way back to the gym Wednesday. The weather here was cold and sour. I was not very motivated to run outside. I guess that my body and mind have not yet acclimated to the frigid wind that accompanies winter.

Yes, it is November in Athens. A month which is similar to March. A mixture of nice sunny days, which are cold in the morning and pleasant by afternoon. A cold spell hit us this week, but we are likely to experience some more good weather next week...60's, I hear.

While at the gym, I mindlessly hopped aboard the treadmill to pound away the time. As I was running, in-place, I thought how odd this whole experience is. Although I have done it many times before, it had been a while and seemed foreign. The machine that I had hoped to use was broken, and all of the other cool, new, heavy duty treadmills were occupied by walkers and joggers. I am a serious athlete. I want to use serious equipment. Yet I was forced to succumb to use the piddly, smaller, older, sorry treadmill. The one that looks like the gym purchased on sale for $ 12.99 from some back-woods yard sale.

So there I was, knocking out the miles, on this happless machine....and I felt inferior as I looked around me....the other joggers and walkers towering above me on their bigger, fancier, cooler treadmills. I tried not to notice. I attempted to distract myself by viewing the tv. Unfortunately, I only had two TVs to chose from. One was tuned to some sports talk show, and the other one had the news on. Both TVs were absent of volume. My focus wained. I looked around the room....trying not to make eye contact for fear of being labeled a starer. But this is nearly impossible because the other workout machines are all on top of each other, staring at me.

After 20 minutes on the treadmill, paying my dues, I jumped off. Have you ever noticed that those first few steps on solid ground feel so weird? I felt as if I was floating, or that if I so desired, I could do the moon-walk better than Michael Jackson. Ahh, the gym. Good for the mind? Good for the body. - KENT