Skip to main content

Oh, How I Hate the Gym


I hate gyms. I really do. And I always have. My first time in a gym was on October 31st in 2003. Gold's Gym in Provo. I thought that if I just went in, maybe it would not be so bad, and I could convince myself to join. The second I walked in, I realized it was a mistake. No way was I going to stay in that place longer than I absolutely had to. But it was too late. One of the sleek bodybuilding employees had already eyed a potential new customer and I could not escape his claws. I don't remember the details of our conversation because all I could think was: "I wanna get out of here. How am I gonna get out of here? Let me out of here!"

Finally, I made it out. And I did not set foot into another gym for 7 years.

Let me digress here for a minute. As an exchange student in high school, my "sister" Andee and I had sleep overs every single night. I loved everything about our sleep overs except this one poster she had in her room. It was disgusting. To me.


The above picture does not really do it justice but it is the best I could find. Andee's guy (I have to admit) had a cuter face. But he also had his pants lower. Way lower. Oh, and they were unzipped. I think. It does not even matter... You get the idea. We had endless debates over this guy. She loved him. All our other girl friends loved him. I hated him. I am not into guys that are into themselves and into their muscles. It does not even look good. At all. Their body image is screaming: "I spend all my free time in a little cubicle looking at myself in the mirror."

I ended up marrying a skinny endurance runner who I can almost beat in arm wrestling. I like it that way. End of digression.

Actually,

End of post as well. The title was going to be "Oh, how I hate/love the gym" but I changed it. Because I can do that. It is my blog and I can do whatever I want with it. I love freedom!

So, my next post will just be titled "Oh, how I love the gym". Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I will just write about a totally different topic. Who knows?


Comments

Nate + Carlee said…
No, Sarah you LOVE the gym. You LOVE it. Deep down inside I know you do. I saw how much you LOVED spin. What could be better than riding a fake bike (that's nothing like a real bike) in a small dark room with no ventilation? Just be grateful you didn't get the guy that makes you get off your bike and do squats. Really. However, it IS nice for those of us that are too wimpy to bike outside when it gets cold. This post totally cracked me up though because I had the same experience when I went into that 9th East gym the first time too, and "thunder" as I affectionately called him told me that "hummus beans" were very nutritious. Hmmmm. Also, I have to agree that I find the skinny endurance runners more attractive as well. Bulging muscles gross me out. Wow that was LONG! Sorry. I should have just called you back like a good friend would...miss you!
December 01, 2010
kar jar said…
Yep, a fellow grad student asked if my wife would be able to beat me up if we got in a fist fight, so the closest we could get to that was an arm wrestle. For the record, "almost beat" still implies losing. I had more at stake, so I had more adrenaline flowing (whew!). In any case, I went and admired my muscles in front of the mirror for a couple hours afterwards. :)
December 01, 2010
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I am so lucky

I feel the need to write. My thoughts are all jumbled. Can I make sense of them on paper? Writin g gives me perspective and makes it easier to let go. Last weekend I was very frustrated, mad, self-centered, unhappy , wallowing in self-pity. This weekend I was more balanced, a little more patient, trying to be less selfish, happy . How did it happen? I have had to deal with myself for almost 30 years now and, luckily, have figured out a few things on the way. Like how to feel at peace with myself , my family , my life . It shouldn't be complicated to be happy in my circumstances. I realize that. But sometimes it still is. Sometimes being a mom and wife doesn't come easy to me. Sometimes I think everyone would be better off if I wasn't a mom and wife. Sometimes I wish it was easier to just take off and do nothing but swimbikeruneatsleep for a week or two. It's not helping that my German teammates are doing just that. Right now. On a beautiful island. In the warm...
10 comments
Read more

Feat of Fortitude - Half Triathlon

The alarm went off way too soon on Sunday morning. 4 am? Really? Well, it was time to move my butt out of bed for Feat of Fortitude Part II: the Mountain Man Half Triathlon . Why did I choose to run a Half Marathon one day and do a Half Triathlon the next? Because the prize for the fastest combined time of these events was free entries to both events next year! Considering our financial situation, I had to give it a shot. I knew I was not going to have enough time on race morning but I just could not handle the thought of waking up at 3:30 am. And I paid for it. I forgot to tape a couple of GUs onto my bike. Lesson #1 : No matter how early the race starts, I need to be there at least 2 hours early . Most people don't need that much time but I do. I always have. I like to get a good spot, set everything up perfectly, take my bike for a little spin (when allowed), run, stretch, chat, etc. Those might be my favorite 2 hours of race day! The swim was great! I was loving it...
5 comments
Read more

NO Race Report: IRONMAN LAKE TAHOE 2014

This is how gorgeous it COULD have been...  I wake up at 3:30 and I smell smoke .  Inside the house through closed windows.  CRAP!  No need to even take a peek through the blinds.  I knew there was a good chance this would happen after seeing the smoke roll back in the night before but I was hoping for the best... only to wake up to the worst.  Thursday , when we rolled into town, the air was terrible.  Like the-minute-I-got-out-of-my-car-I-got-a-headache terrible. But there was hope because, hey, winds change and firefighters are hard at work and there were more than two days left before the race!  This is what Thursday evening looked like down by the lake:  I didn't do much that night. Just a a very easy little jog along the beach to shake out the legs after a day of driving. And super short swim because I couldn't wait any longer to swim in that beautiful lake !!! But then, of course, I got wimpy again...
5 comments
Read more