Going to the gym is rough enough, add a heat wave and
you are one brave soul. Now try schlepping your gym bag, the baby bag and the
baby carrier across the parking lot...I actually tried convincing myself that
all this heavy lifting meant I could skip arm workouts today. It's pretty bad
when you're already sweating before you even put on your sports bra. But no
matter the excuses my mind was coming up with this time, I pulled my hair into
a pony, grabbed my water bottle and got my butt out of the locker room.
The
main fitness center was pretty quiet today, no afternoon cardio classes, (thank god, i
thought to myself). Maybe I could actually get in that light jog I had planned
on doing during my last visit. There were two other ladies on the tread mills,
so I hopped on one in between both of them. These machines ask your weight,
your age, how long you plan on working out ... gosh, I wasn't prepared for all
of this.
Let's see, I looked over my shoulder and made sure no one was sneaking
a peak as I typed in my weight and age. Then I tried to sneak in my own peak at
my neighbors treadmill to see how long she was planning on working out. Because
I'm a girl and girls are nosy and competitive. Then I saw that she had already
been on the treadmill for 42 minutes! I was not ready for that type of
commitment. And she was running! Had she been running that entire time? What
speed is she going? Is she gonna judge me and my 4.0 speed with an uncommitted
20 minutes? Ok, game on!
I popped up on the treadmill and hit the up button
until I reached a 4.8 speed and started my little jog. I can do this, I can
keep up with Legs to my left. I hit one minute, two minutes, five minutes and
started closing in on ten minutes. My legs started burning, my face was flushed and I probably sounded like a horse in heat trying to catch my breath and then
I made the awful decision of looking over at the mirror. Bad choice! If you
think you look a hot mess, I am fairly certain that you do, indeed, look a hot
mess. I turned away from the mirror and tried checking out Legs to my left without actually turning my head to the left. She was closing in on 60 minutes
of running at a 6.0+ speed and her sweat sort of sparkled on her forehead. Like
really!?! Why does she get to look so cute while shes running and I'm over here
working with flushed cheeks,a faucet of sweat running down my face and the
breathing situation of a smoker?
But I had to get real with myself. I'm willing
to bet that this wasn't Legs to my left's first time at the rodeo. She more
than likely has trained weeks, months, if not years and built up an endurance
to run long distance. As a girl, I feel like I am always comparing myself to my
peers around me and the person who happens to be running alongside of me at the
gym spares no expense to my comparative nature. It gets the best of us
sometimes.
But if we aren't careful, it can really get in the way of our own
progress. As cool as it would be to just throw on a pair of sneakers, hit the
track, and run 5 miles without a blink, in reality, I am my own person and I am
working out at my own pace and building up my own endurance.
So maybe in a few weeks, I'll be that chic on the
treadmill running a committed full hour at a 6.0 speed, but until then, I'll
remain thighs to the right sporting a confident smile.
~ Amanda P.
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