Gym-watching

What’s your favorite part about a run? The run itself, I mean, not the awesome feeling from the endorphins afterward or the great health results. I’m talking about the select distance your legs and feet take you on a given day.

My favorite part is being so close to the surroundings. I love to look around while I run, taking in all of the details of the road, land, houses, all of the small details you miss when you drive by. The other week, I discovered a little house tucked into the woods off the road, something I would have never seen driving by. You also notice the little inclines and declines on the road or path, and how long they last sometimes.

I have to be honest, with this being my favorite part, it makes me loath running on a treadmill that much more. Don’t get my wrong, I appreciate and respect the treadmill, it helps me continue running when it’s too late to get outside and when the weather is awful. But with the unchanging speed (unless you do it manually) and scenery, running long distances on the ‘mill can get pretty boring (even with the tv right in front of you). So, you have to make sure you set yourself up, before you embark on your mechanized journey.

Make sure you choose a treadmill positioned in an area where you can see as much of the gym as possible, that’s the best way to set yourself up to overcome ‘mill boredom. I prefer to choose one overlooking the weight-lifting area, but not for the reason you’d think! I would like to thank the following people for helping me get through a handful of miles on the treadmill…

I have learned that, of all of the guys and ladies you see in that area, only a few really know what they are doing. For instance, the other day I watched two different guys go about their workouts. One swaggered out to the area dressed head to toe in Under Armor, pulled on his gloves, cracked his neck and went for the curl bar. The other walked up in a t-shirt and shorts, turned his cap backward and hit play on his MP3 player, then picked up a set of free weights and found a bench. (Please note, I am not dissing branded athletic wear, I own my fair share, plus some. Just trying to paint the best picture for you!)

Lifter #1 curled the bar twice, stopped, looked at himself in the mirror then around the gym. Curled the bar again, adjusted, curled a fourth time, looked around and talked to his neighbor. In the course of 10 minutes, he completed six curls and four scans of the gym (including an awkward eye-lock with yours truly on the treadmill). Lifter #2, on the other hand, finished three sets of 15 curls in the same amount of time and moved on to the next exercise. Obviously, #1 did something as he was well built, but definitely did not add to his muscle mass that night. I was able to complete more than a mile in that time.

Another evening, as I embarked on a quick two miles before our weekly ab-wrenching pilates classes (observations on this to come later) I noticed a young woman, not unlike myself, on the leg press. I say not unlike myself, because I am never certain about what I’m doing when on a machine that depends on weight. She walked around the machine for about five minutes, gathering and adding weight to each side until she had reached an amount she was comfortable with. She looked around the gym uncertainly and sat down, positioning her legs on the flat surface of the press. I watched as she flexed and pushed and continued to watch as nothing happened. She looked around again, confused as to what was wrong and, I assume, wondering if anyone had seen. (Again, please note that I am drawing my assumption of her thoughts from my own experience. If I had done this, I would have scanned the gym to see if anyone had seen my apparent lack of knowledge on this machine.) She got up and walked around the machine again, finally stopping in front of the instructions. She read for a minute, then repositioned herself in the seat, reaching for the safety release handle to her left. She flexed again, released the weight and began her exercise. Three presses in, she locked it, got up, removed weight and sat back down to complete her exercise. She got me through a mile and a half.

Finally, I would like to extend a huge thank you to the man in red pants from the other week, stretching against one of the weight machines not far ahead of my treadmill. As he pulled his foot up, touching his toes to the back of his head, I knew I was going to get through a great run that night. I continued to trot along, watching this inhuman man stretching, contorting his body in a way that I (and most women) envied. When he wrapped his leg around his neck, I felt compelled to draw the attention of my treadmill neighbor to him, only to find that she too had been watching in awe for the past 10 minutes. This man, coupled with the man doing extreme, upside-down pull-ups (there are no words), allowed me to complete five glorious miles.

Thank you to all of the gymies out there, who help me to continue at that same constant pace for miles, without succumbing to the boredom of the unchanging surroundings. I hope that, when I endeavor to work out with weights, only curling a few times before looking around uncertainly or get on a machine I have no clue how to work and spend more time figuring out, that I too, can get you through the long minutes on the treadmill.