Da gym

Shortly after arriving here in C-ville, I learned that those attending the course and their spouses get free FREE! access to the local Gold's Gym. Nice, very nice. I like the idea. But completely intimidated about actually going. I can't remember the last time I was in a gym with weights and cardio equipment and locker rooms and aerobicizing, muscle-bound, thong-showing, George Hamilton-tanned college girls.

Well, yesterday I went.

Some background on how I got there. The school has many courses going on at once (as I assume other schools do too). In attendance at one of the 2-week courses is a fellow soldier Jack Bauer met in Iraq, and who is still deployed. He was sent from Iraq to attend this course and is going back the day after it ends. That soldier's wife came to town for the week. A wise woman, she has been here before, knew to take advantage of the Gold's Gym. And she was kind enough to no-pressure me into checking it out with her. I took it as a sign that I really needed to get structured workouts again. (My yoga and pilates videos sit unopened here.)

So off to the gym I went to do BodyPump. Not that bad actually. All of the moves are based on free weightlifting, which I did as an undergrad for crew (yeah, I lifted in the same gym with the same weight coaches as PAC-10 football players), so the moves were all familiar to me. I kept the weights light so I could get familiar with the routine AND be able to walk today, which I can do.

Not bad at all. I think I might go back tomorrow for more torture.

And, yeah, that's not me in the picture. Not me even after 1,000 BodyPump classes.