Defeated

Today, I was defeated by the gym. And myself I guess.

Since learning my spring schedule, I started to plan working out in the gym on campus. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I only have an 8 am class, so this week I have worked out after those classes. Tuesday went great, for a first day. I biked for more than 30 minutes and walked on the treadmill for a little while too.

I should mention that I worked out with the Wii fit yesterday.

Today though, I didn't fare so well. I realised that the bike machine I was using on Tuesday (and today) was broken-- the resistance didn't budge when it was supposed to (on the pre-set program I selected). Also, the resistance button didn't work. So I biked for a very sad 7 minutes on resistance level 1:

Then I moved on to another bike. Most of them are run by the electricity generated by the act of pedaling. The second bike must have had a short, because the screen kept blinking on and off (it was a different bike than the one pictured above). The next bike's seat was set so high I couldn't reach the pedals. The adjustment knob was broken. I gave up on bikes and went to an elliptical-the only one left without an "Out of order" sign on it. It too was out of order because nothing I did would turn the screen on. Then I went to a treadmill. The first one didn't work. I even tried to move the belt with my feet, but no.

I finally found a machine that worked, but it was so annoyed by then that I just stopped caring about working out. So, I walked at 3.5 mph for 7 minutes and 3 minutes at 3 mph.

Not a whole lot of calories were burned.

I keep hearing that no one is paying attention to anyone else really at the gym. But I can't help but think that I looked dumb going from machine to machine, looking hopeful, but then walking off in exasperation.

I'm trying to not let today discourage me. I walk around all the time, and often in a hurry. My job requires that I stand for more than an hour at a time, and move around a lot to keep students engaged. The act of holding up and moving around a body with my proportions and weight and everything is no small feat. I have crazy strong calves. It's kind of embarrassing, because I can't really wear high boots. And I like high boots. But at any rate, just being me and putting forth some effort in keeping mobile and active rather than just sitting on the couch or lying down and watching Top Gear is something to be proud of.

I came home and had a big salad for lunch and I'm drinking unsweetened green tea. I know things need to change. I don't have all the answers and I know I will screw up at some point. I can't let this crap get me down and allow myself to give up.

I did have a look around the gym myself and spotted a bike that worked. Hopefully I'll manage to snag it in the future.

I am amazingly exhausted so I doubt this is very coherent.