Friday, February 8, 2013

My Wife Made Me Go To The Gym

Yes folks that actually happened.  Not in the ‘I don’t wanna go’ dragging my heels kind of way, but indeed she was the one that suggested going to the gym yesterday!  I had planned to just stay home and do nothing since I was there the night before (Wednesday) and on Monday night.

It seems to me that she may be flipping the switch here, and I think it’s fantastic!

So What do I do when I go to the gym when I really had no desire to go?  Why, try to run my fastest 5k since the summer of course.  I did a few push ups and some ab work and then set the treadmill for 9mph and hopped on.  A pace of 9mph gets you finished 5k in just over 21 minutes, pretty quick really.  And actually I was doing quite fine at that speed if my right ankle would have just been quiet and got with the program the rest of me was on.  But play through the pain, it builds character.

I didn’t want to be over 21 minutes, so with a lap and a half to go I sped up to 9.2, then with one lap to go 9.5 and with half a lap to go 10mph.  I was trucking along just fine, 0.1 miles to go (5k is about 3.14 miles) and… lights out.  The treadmill completely shut off.  Not just started to slow down as it has done to me so many times before, but totally shut off.  The belt stopped in less than two strides, so I nearly slammed myself into the console.  Ugh.  Why can these treadmills not keep up with me?  I moved to another machine and completed my run. 20:50 for 5k, pretty good.

From there I hopped on one of the spin bikes and did another 5k.  Well according to the bikes console it was 5 miles, but I did it in just under 15 minutes and really, that’s totally unlikely.  I’m annoyed that these spin bikes are not accurate.  Amber is experiencing the same things with them over at the Y and I just tell her to pick a machine or two that you use consistently so you can compare apples to apples.  A best time on one machine and a worst time on a different one a day later can totally be the fault of the machine itself and nothing to do with you.  Treadmills, when they work, seem to be immune from this wild variation, but ellipticals and bikes are all over the place.

6 comments:

  1. Cue the music for 'Another one bites the dust" by Queen. :-) Are you keeping track of treadmills that you annihilate...like a notch on your gym belt or something?

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    1. It's happening often enough that I added it to my tracker on the upper right hand side

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  2. I think Amber is a person who will keep surprising you, over and over. Quite a nice trait, I think. :D

    Yes, sometimes I don't actually feel like getting to the gym, but when I get there I remember, "Oh, my playground!" and I play with the best. I like working out by people like you, although I'm pretty certain I fall off the end of the treadmill at 9mph.

    Thanks for the award. I'll look over the details this weekend.

    :-) Marion

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    1. I agree totally with both comments. Amber does surprise me often, and there are days when I am nodding off behind the wheel on the way to the gym from work, but 5 minutes in I'm bouncing off the walls there!

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  3. That's why I run outside - I cannot do the dreadmill. At all. Great job on your run! BTW - what did Amber do at the gym?

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    1. I would prefer to run outside no doubt! Thanks! Amber went to her dad's house and ran on his home treadmill he has there.

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