Gym People

Ah. Gym people. That doesn’t always bring the freshest picture to the front of your mind, but let me explain. I am a gym goer. I am addicted. I need the gym. I am not all ‘rexi’ about it, but I tend to get very grumpy if I can’t make it to the gym. Life as an intern, however, is a tad bit busy. The last thing I want to do when I get off work at (hopefully) 5:30 is go to the gym. Instead, I roll my rear end out of bed at just shy of 5am, pour some coffee into my oh-so-wonderful travel mug from Costco (shameless plug. It really is amazing. It stays warm, in my car, in the cold, until I drink it at 630am), and head to the gym. Yes, this may seem counterintuitive to some, but it is easier to just roll and go in the AM than to motivate and go at the end of the day. Plus, it is SOOOOO easy to talk myself out of going by the time 6pm rolls around. As a side note, I am very glad our gym doesn’t open until 5am or else I would find myself getting there earlier and earlier every day. Sick. Back to the point.

Gym people. They are the sweaty equivalent to “old men friends at Panera.” They are the people you see there every day; they don’t exist outside of the gym to you. And you to them. My gym people are the following

-“The two early guys.” They don’t work out together. One is short and fat; the other is tall and skinny. At 5:01am you can see them lifting heavy. Really? No warm up people? Come on!

-“The stretcher.” She is short, mid 60s. Runs. Every day. For about 3 minutes; then stretches. Then on again. For 2 minutes. Then stretches. This is pretty much the routine every morning. One day, however, she talked to me! (insert jaw drop). Gym people aren’t supposed to have voices.

-“The pusher.” Deep down at heart, I am work-out competitive. You know the feeling. Someone gets on the stair climber next to you, and you bump up your speed. And let go of the handrails. This girl stirs that in me for some reason. Funny thing is, she used to belong to 24-Hour as well. Whenever I am near her, I feel that I have to work out better than she does, which is tough because she is skinny and very fit

-“The long shower-er.” This may be TMI, so if that bugs you, avert your eyes…now. I have never been someone who doddles (sp?) in the shower. I go in with a specific task and get it done. From end of workout to out the door – with shower, blow dry/curl hair (naturally curly, so easy), “makeup” (read: mascara) – it takes me max 25 minutes. Max. This girl will be in the shower that entire time. Who can enjoy a 25 minute shower at the gym? It isn’t dirty or anything and they are private stalls, but still. A shower at the gym can only be so good

-“The invisible lady.” I really didn’t think she existed until just yesterday. Every day I walk into the women’s locker room (practically the first person mind you) to find some clothes hanging on the wall hooks. 90% of the time it is some skirt and some sort of top. Pretty typical 2 week-ish rotation (not that I am recording or anything. Way too little for me to even imagine wearing. When I leave about 1.5 hours later, they are still hanging there. I thought it was an employee or something. Finally, however, I saw her! No talking mind you. She exists!

And those, ladies & gentlemen, are my gym people. We are like a little dysfunctional family all going to the gym together way too early in the morning