No Gain, No Pain

All right, so I am getting older now. I will be 54 this year.
I am trying to keep myself in shape, and have been doing okay
for the past several years. We like to go to our neighborhood
Lifetime Fitness outlet because it is clean, full-featured, and
is open 24-7.



(By the way, don't you just LOVE reading about all the mindless
minutiae and boring details of my exciting life?)

When we first started going, it was usually on week-ends, and
also afternoons or evenings when we got home from work. We
really enjoyed going, and we always see people we know
there...from work, from school, from church. It is very
family-oriented, friendly, and has lots of events.

As time went by, I began to find it more and more difficult to
find the time after work to get to the gym. If we were going to
do it, we would have to go right after work, because since my
bride and I don't usually get home at the same time, one of us
would have to wait for the other.

Then we get complications with dinner, and if we wait till after
dinner we didn't feel like going. It got to be too difficult to
find a consistent plan. So I found a solution...

Hey, let's get up at 3:00 AM and go!
(My bride is not keen on that, so now she goes a bit later in the
morning, or perhaps in the evenings).

I, however, have discovered that getting up early really DOES
work for me! Now, that doesn't mean I enjoy getting up at 3:00
AM several days a week, but there is that certain feeling of
accomplishment when you are walking OUT of the gym at
5:00 AM, all done with the work-out, and passing all the other
people who are just arriving to start theirs.

I have found that getting up at 3 is really no different then
getting up at 5 or 6...if you are being awakened by an alarm
when you would rather sleep, it is not pleasant regardless of
what time it is. As long as I have gotten to sleep before 10:00
PM, I am OK. The added benefit, now that it is done, I don't
have to worry about it for all the day! I can get home and
relax, maybe even take a nap.

The really cool thing about going in the middle of the night is
that rather than finding a full parking lot, and having to wait
for the machines like you do during rush hour, there is usually
NOBODY else there! It is almost spooky being in that rather
huge dark place all by myself.

There are a few other regulars who go early from time to
time...there may be one or two other people working out, but
often, there is really and truly NOBODY ELSE THERE!

After I have been there for some time, usually around 4:30 AM,
groups of people will start coming in, but for the most part, I
have the run of the place for about an hour.

But...uh oh...something else has come up now. I have lost that
social aspect that we had when going during the busy hours. I no
longer run into people that I know...in fact, I don't run into
anyone now...hardly.

When I go in the afternoon, I enjoy socializing with the people
I see, shooting the breeze, so they say. But if I am getting up
at 0-Dark-30 in the morning, the clock is ticking. I have a set
amount of time I have allotted to myself in order to not be late
getting home, taking a shower, and getting to work. It is not
happy hour.

Recall, Gentle Reader, that I mentioned that there are hundreds
of people in the gym in the afternoons, and maybe one or two or
three early in the morning. It is a different feel in the early
time, so if you see someone in an empty gym you notice them
more, and are more apt to greet them and say Hi to them. But by
mutual agreement, it really doesn't go any farther than that.

On the rare occasions where I actually DO bump into someone, I
really don't have time for more than a quick 'hello' and how ya
doing. They are, like myself, just there to get it done, and
then get the hell out of Dodge. We are not trying to be rude,
it's just that this is our own private time to work out, and I
am sure they feel the same way that I do.

I am not there to scope out the chicks, or to compare muscles
with dudes. So if you happen to see me in the gym early early in
the morning, stop by and say Howdy! But if you want to
socialize, we can do that in the afternoon when I am already
done working for the day and am more relaxed.

Peace be with you.