When I got up this morning I knew that I needed to run. I would have loved to have gone to the park, but it was raining and was supposed to rain all day. My next choice was at the gym. However, I didn’t feel like fighting over the treadmills at Club Fitness. Everybody and their mama is always at the $10 gym. So, I decided to go to the less crowded YMCA.  I didn’t even call for backup support, I just went at it alone.

After an embarrassing 15 minute disaster of getting my Master lock stuck in the locker and having to get the maintenance GUY come in the women’s locker room and help me remove it, I really felt like going home before I even got started.  But, I was already there, and decided not the let my frustrations become an excuse not to workout. I pumped myself up to go run on the treadmill. It was indeed the complete opposite of Club Fitness. There was absolutely no one on the weight machines, the treadmills or the ellipticals. I had to look around and wondered if it was closed or something. I didn’t feel like fighting the crowd but jeez, I didn’t really want to run totally alone either.  I guess you can’t be too picky. A few minutes into my warm-up walk an old guy came in and got on the treadmill next to me. I felt relieved that I wasn’t in there by myself anymore, but I thought, hmm that’s funny, it’s 20 free treadmills and he got on the one right next to me? I kind of chuckled, because I guess everybody prefers to feel like they’re not doing it alone.  I ran three-minute and five-minute intervals along with Week 4 of my Couch to 5K podcast. I finished up 2 miles and worked up a good dripping sweat, you know, the gross kind that makes you feel like you accomplished something.

Since I was at the YMCA I decided to use the amenities available. I had planned ahead and packed my swimsuit in my gym bag.  I changed into my swimsuit grabbed some water dumbbells and swam, floated and frolicked in the pool. I swam to the deep end and back a few times. Then I decided to get in the whirlpool jacuzzi. I saw a carmel-coated sexy piece of eye candy with an amazing six-pack come out of the steam room. “Dang, I should’ve gone in the steam room first,” I said laughing to myself.  I noticed the whirlpool didn’t have any bubbles. Like a damsel in distress I asked Mr. Caramel to help me turn on the bubbles. He went over and pushed the bubble button for me, and then he went back into the steam room. It would have been too obvious at that point for me to get out and follow him.  I didn’t wanna be the weird the stalker chick at the pool.  So, I soaked in the hot tub and the warm power jets felt so good against my back and relaxed all my tight muscles from my run earlier.  I was in the relaxation zone and soon forgot all about him. When I was getting out of the whirlpool, Mr. Caramel was leaving the steam room and I saw him go into the sauna. I would’ve liked to sit next to him in the sauna, and maybe strike up a conversation, but sometimes the sauna feels too much like I’m being baked alive inside an oven, so I made my final stop in steam room. It was so refreshing and relaxing too, I felt like I was going to fall asleep. Not a muscle in my body was tense, I was completely de-stressed. I felt like I had been to the spa!  It was a fantastic way to spend an afternoon.

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