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I’m sort of back into running. Hopefully that “sort of” will soon be eliminated, but I still have to work out the timing within my family’s schedule of when I’ll be able to leave for an hour, exercise, then get back home, shower and not miss out on this life I’m in.
The effort to raise my heart rate and push my muscles is in no way a New Year’s Resolution; I refuse to make myself a list that will soon hold record of all things I didn’t accomplish. More, this push to get healthy is from eating delicious homemade food for two months and my guts saying, “ENOUGH.” And my muscles telling me that they don’t want to be squishy anymore. They briefly enjoyed a life of ever-so-slight tone and they want it back.
Plus, my sister-in-law suggested Hubby and I run a 10k with her in April, and a sweet girl I know asked me to join her in a 10k around the same time. I might be doing a lot of public running that month and I want to enjoy the race instead of bending over at the waist mid-run and desperately gasping for air.
But here’s something I’ve thought a lot about as I re-entered the exercise arena: Gym Etiquette.
Why is it that people don’t say hello to each other in the gym? I don’t think it’s just me people look past. We’re all huffing, red-faced with sweaty hair and stuck running less than two feet away from each other on the treadmill for a good thirty minutes, but we act as if we’re in the room alone. I feel running and sweating next to people should create a camaraderie, an intimacy, where we all nod to each other with a, “Yeah, working out is AWESOME,” but there is none of that. Maybe it’s out of politeness, like, I know you look crazy and you don’t want your closest friends to see you like that, so I’ll pretend I don’t? Whatever the cause, it makes me uncomfortable. I like to say Hi to people.
And then there are those fortunate few who have somebody to work out with and therefore get to converse while on the ellipticals, but when nobody else is talking (since each of us is pretending to be in the room alone, you know), we ALL HEAR their conversation. Even when I try to politely not be an eavesdropper there is no other sound for my ears to land on, and so I hear all about Sweet Sixteen parties and dropping off their kids at school. It’s awkward. Then of course I have to walk by them as I leave and pretend I don’t see them.
But if we lived in the world where Erin’s Rules reigned, I would give each of them a high five for making it through school drop-off that morning before we finished with a round of “Yeah, working out is AWESOME.”
Erin Fox is a weekly columnist for the Augusta Gazette and a busy mother and wife. Her popular blog - erin’s little corner of the world - is at http://erinslittlecorner.com.
I’m sort of back into running. Hopefully that “sort of” will soon be eliminated, but I still have to work out the timing within my family’s schedule of when I’ll be able to leave for an hour, exercise, then get back home, shower and not miss out on this life I’m in.
The effort to raise my heart rate and push my muscles is in no way a New Year’s Resolution; I refuse to make myself a list that will soon hold record of all things I didn’t accomplish. More, this push to get healthy is from eating delicious homemade food for two months and my guts saying, “ENOUGH.” And my muscles telling me that they don’t want to be squishy anymore. They briefly enjoyed a life of ever-so-slight tone and they want it back.
Plus, my sister-in-law suggested Hubby and I run a 10k with her in April, and a sweet girl I know asked me to join her in a 10k around the same time. I might be doing a lot of public running that month and I want to enjoy the race instead of bending over at the waist mid-run and desperately gasping for air.
But here’s something I’ve thought a lot about as I re-entered the exercise arena: Gym Etiquette.
Why is it that people don’t say hello to each other in the gym? I don’t think it’s just me people look past. We’re all huffing, red-faced with sweaty hair and stuck running less than two feet away from each other on the treadmill for a good thirty minutes, but we act as if we’re in the room alone. I feel running and sweating next to people should create a camaraderie, an intimacy, where we all nod to each other with a, “Yeah, working out is AWESOME,” but there is none of that. Maybe it’s out of politeness, like, I know you look crazy and you don’t want your closest friends to see you like that, so I’ll pretend I don’t? Whatever the cause, it makes me uncomfortable. I like to say Hi to people.
And then there are those fortunate few who have somebody to work out with and therefore get to converse while on the ellipticals, but when nobody else is talking (since each of us is pretending to be in the room alone, you know), we ALL HEAR their conversation. Even when I try to politely not be an eavesdropper there is no other sound for my ears to land on, and so I hear all about Sweet Sixteen parties and dropping off their kids at school. It’s awkward. Then of course I have to walk by them as I leave and pretend I don’t see them.
But if we lived in the world where Erin’s Rules reigned, I would give each of them a high five for making it through school drop-off that morning before we finished with a round of “Yeah, working out is AWESOME.”
Erin Fox is a weekly columnist for the Augusta Gazette and a busy mother and wife. Her popular blog - erin’s little corner of the world - is at http://erinslittlecorner.com.
