Seat Warmers

Today dawned...well, actually it dawned about 25 minutes into my interval workout on the elliptical this morning. So I guess today pre-dawned colder than it's been all winter! My car told me it was 7 degrees at 6:15 this morning when I started for the gym. I am personally offended by such temperatures and am strongly opposed to them. I am also strongly opposed to sitting on cold leather car seats in thin workout pants for any length of time. Needless to say, this morning's trek to the gym was chilly, at least until my seat warmers kicked in about 2 seconds before I parked.

Training in the gym is an interesting study in motivation, efficiency, and frankly, humanity. Some days, it is ridiculously difficult to get myself to the gym. Other days, I'm super stoked to spend an hour or more in the cardio cinema. I find this is directly related to whether the gym is playing Rumor Has It (possibly the worst movie ever) for the billionth time, or if Avatar/Lord of the Rings/Star Wars/Inception is showing. (I am an incurable sci-fi/fantasy nerd. Now you know my shame.)

As for studying humanity, people watching at the gym is unparalleled. New Year's Day, for example, I was in the cardio cinema once again. I was joined by possibly the most eclectic sampling of gym goers I have ever seen. On the stationary bikes in front of me, a group of what looked like kids in their late-teens or early twenties, just chillin'. Not actually biking, definitely not breaking a sweat, but just loving Transformers 2. Also on one of the stationary bikes, a woman wearing, I kid you not, a full-length fur coat and giant Jackie-O sunglasses in the pitch-dark cardio cinema. She later decided to join me on the treadmills (right next to me though every other treadmill in the room was also available) for a stroll (and stroll is being generous) in her giant coat o' awesomeness and sunglasses. I think the fur coat was probably a little matted on the right side because I propelled such large amounts of sweat onto it. And she may or may not have had to squeegee her sunglasses. In a word? Unforgettable. Probably for her, too.