It was a whole new locker room adventure

I experienced a whole new locker room tonight. And I didn't like it.

Apparently they're replacing the flooring in the locker room I usually use at the YMCA, so I had two options. Use the "family locker room" where mom's can take their little kids or the "women's fitness center." Since I really didn't want to deal with little kids running around as I was changing, I headed down the hall by the rest of the women.

It's an odd locker room. All sorts of separate rooms. One of those places where if you're not comfortable with your body, you could do your entire workout and never leave the confines of the locker room. And the area where the lockers are? Tiny. The lockers are short. There's this crazy, sloping bench in the middle of the aisle. And the aisle itself? Not very wide.

Since there weren't many people in the locker room when I got to the gym, I didn't have to many problems. I changed. I headed upstairs, snagged a treadmill and logged 3 miles.

Afterwards? It was a problem.

I went back down to change and gather my stuff right around the same time a swim aerobics class was finishing up. So there were a ton of the people in the locker room. First it was me and two other girls my age fighting for room in the skinny aisle made skinner by that crazy bench. Then thrown in two older women who smelled like chlorine? It was tight. I just wanted to grab my gym bag, my clothes, my coat, hat and mittens and run. Run away and find a corner where I could change in peace.

Instead I picked up my bag and moved farther down the aisle to where no one else was. And waited. And waited some more, glancing at the clock, counting down the precious minutes I had to get my butt home and in my recliner before night two with Jack Bauer.

Eventually the first two girls left and the other two women headed towards the showers. Me? I grabbed my bag, dumped it on the curvy bench and threw on my clothes and coat as fast as I could.

I miss my old locker room. When can I go back?

Don't mess with Jack

Jack's back. So good. And Tony? Apparently he's not dead.

Can't wait for part two tomorrow!

Resolutions are made to be broken

Is it the end of January yet? You know the time of year when everybody who made resolutions begin to give up on them?

Not that I want to give up on my resolutions. I just want a few others to. Mainly some of those folks who made the resolution to lose weight, get fit, go to the gym, etc. And more specifically those who are making the trek to the gym in the evening, after work.

Because there should not have been THAT many people at the YMCA when I strolled in at 6:30 p.m. tonight. Seriously. I walked in, expecting to have my pick of treadmills with the fancy TVs attached to them.

Instead? Every single treadmill was taken! All full. There was one lonely treadmill left, one those crazy ones that you can do the super steep inclines on. The ones I normally stay away from. Because this runner? She likes flat. Not hilly.

But since it was the only one open and I wanted to go in, get my run in and get out of there, I took it. And didn't really like it. No TV on the treadmill. No TV in sight of the treadmill. Just a window to look out, which wasn't much since, oh yeah, it was dark out.

But I got my 3 miles in.

And now, since I'm an evil person apparently, I'm crossing my fingers some of those resolutions people made start getting broken.

Mr. Treadmill - Long time no see.

I've been avoiding lacing up my running shoes, putting one foot in front of the other and going for a run for almost a month now. Avoiding it like the plague. Finding every excuse to avoid the treadmill and log some miles.

Blame it on December I guess.

But tonight I decided to stop avoiding the treadmill and just do it. (I didn't intentionally mean to sound like a Nike commercial. Really.)

So tonight after work I headed over to the YMCA, laced up my shoes and stepped on the treadmill. And with my iPod playing some tunes and the Duke vs. Davidson basketball game on the TV in front of me, I ran. The basketball game kept me entertained. Made the 2.5 miles I covered go just a tiny bit faster.

But still. It was hard. I need to build the endurance back up. The fist mile always seems to go OK. But after that I start feeling it in my legs. And it starts to feel like if I don't stop for a 20 second breather, my legs are just going to die. Not fun.

So I'll tackle the treadmill again tomorrow. And I'll start being more consistent with getting in my runs. And hopefully over time it will start to get easier. Because this runner? She knows it's all about the baby steps right now.

I was attacked. And now I smell like chlorine.

One more day. That's what I had left to be productive before heading back into work Tuesday for my first five-day work week since before Thanksgiving.

I ran some errands in the morning. Ventured over to the outlet mall to pick up a new pair of jeans. I own one pair and yesterday I discovered they had gotten a hole in them. Not a hole in the knee or some other hole-appropriate area. No. A hole in a not-so-appropriate spot. So they needed to be replaced.

When I got back to my apartment I was sitting in my living room, watching Days of Our Lives and munching on a sandwich for lunch. And the Christmas tree was staring at me. One of those looks like, "Ha, ha ha. I'm still standing." Remember, I toyed with taking down the Christmas tree yesterday, but decided to head over to the YMCA instead.

But today? The tree didn't scare me. After I finished my sandwich, I dug out the boxes for the ornaments and the tree and got to work on tackling that fake piece of pine. The branches, they were a bit scratchy. But the ornaments? They were vicious. One angel even attacked me. She looked so calm and sweet, playing her violin. But I went to take her off the tree branch and BAM! She bite me! I looked down and my finger was bleeding. OK, maybe it wasn't bleeding that much. But still, have you ever heard of an angel drawing blood?

I kept on tackling the tree though. And eventually all of the ornaments were wrapped and put away and the tree was shoved back in its box. The outside Christmas lights were taken down and Christmas has left my apartment.

Feeling good about conquering the tree, I looked at the clock. It was still early. And remember, I was on this tree-tackling high and was in one of those moods where I feel like I could do anything I wanted to.

So I packed my gym bag, dug out my swimming suit, swim cap and goggles and headed over to the YMCA. Today, I would make friends with the pool again. The pool that I haven't visited since July. I admit, the pool? It looked a bit intimidating. But lucky for me, there weren't many people there. Just me, some women doing water walking and an older guy swimming laps.

I got ready, jumped in and took off swimming. It all seemed to come back naturally. Like I never abandoned the pool in the first place. Going in, I wasn't sure how far I was going to swim. Initially I decided on doing 800 yards since it's been a while. But the first 100 felt good. I rested a bit, avoiding eye contact with the quasi-creepy older guy, and set off for my second 100. Repeat. All of sudden I was at 800 yards and I still felt good. So I kept going. Grabbed a kick board around 1,000 yards and used that for a bit before a short cool down.

In all, I did 1,200 yards in about 30 minutes. Not bad. It felt good being back in the pool I had forgotten how much I like it. Yes, at times it was hard tonight, but I was expecting that since I hadn't touched water in over 5 months.

Overall, I'd say it's been a pretty productive day. Seriously. I tackled a Christmas tree and survived an attack by a vicious ornament and now I smell like chlorine. Not a bad day off.

The guilt got to me

The plan was to get up early today, start in on some cleaning and head over to the Y for a spin class early this afternoon.

That didn't happen. Mostly due to the not rolling out of bed until late morning. Which I guess is OK. So I got up late. I still could have made to the spin class, but I decided not to go. I putzed around for a bit, thought about taking down my Christmas tree and ultimately ended up reading in my recliner for a bit.

Then I started to feel guilty.

I looked at the clock.

3:15 p.m. There was still time to get to the YMCA and sneak in some kind of workout before closed at 5.

So that's what I did. I changed into some gym clothes, braved the ice covered roads and went to the YMCA. I ended up doing 50 minutes - 14 miles - on the bike, thinking it was kind of like the spin class I skipped earlier.

Now it's time to settle in, do my laundry and go back to reading my book. After I make a plan of attack for tomorrow. Which may include a run and dipping my toes in the pool for the first time in forever.

A triathlon of the indoor variety

I haven't put a toe in the swimming pool since I finished the Danskin Triathlon back in July.

I'm not sure why. I guess the pool and I were taking a break. But the break ended up being an extended break. One of the five-month variety. I've kept up with the bike. And while I haven't run as much as I would like, I have been known to log a few miles on the treadmill every so often.

In other words, I've been slacking a bit.

That didn't stop me from signing up for an indoor triathlon at the YMCA. You're probably saying, you've got time to get ready. Yeah. Not really. It's in 15 days. Two weeks people. Not a lot of time to train. Or build my swim endurance back up.

But I'm still doing it. Mainly to gauge where I'm at. And to force me to get my behind back in the pool. And to get me back in the gym-going habit. Because I need something to work towards. Yes, the High Cliff Triathlon is out there. But that's in June. Months away.

So I'll do the indoor tri in two weeks. See how it goes. And then I'll sign up for the next one the YMCA's having in March. And when I finish the one in March, I'll be able to see what kind of progress I've actually made once I get back into a routine. The routine that I lost sometime back in July.

Resolutions. Resolutions.

I hope everyone had a good New Year's. I spent mine celebrating with a good friend and a bunch of other folks in a bar downtown here in the City on the Water.

I'm ready to put 2008 behind me and move on. Because 2009? It's got to be better than last year. Don't get me wrong. 2008 wasn't an awful year, it was one of those in-between years. The whole Monster in my head? Although he technically appeared at the end of 2007, he was there during a good chunk of 2008 and when I did finally get him to leave, he left some baggage behind. So 2008? Not the greatest year. But not the best either.

But 2009? It's going to be good. I hope. And since 2009 is already over 14 hours old, I guess I better make some resolutions. Goals. Things to work towards. Some Monster related. Some not.

I give you, my resolutions for 2009:

• Be happy. Like I said 2008 wasn't my best year. I struggled. Maybe not outwardly, but inside I wasn't as happy as I normally am. Things bugged me. Monster related things. But this year? I left the Monster with the 2008 calendar when I threw it out. No more Monster. He won't get me down this year. Neither will the side effects he brought along. So this year I resolve to be happy. Happy with my job, my friends, my family and the life I'm living. The one I'm living without the Monster.
• The pesky weight. I know. I know. Everyone says it. I'm going to lose weight. But I am. Because when I finally was able to get the Monster to leave? He managed to leave behind some baggage. About 3o pounds worth. And this year? I'll be shedding that extra weight. Because even though the Monster thinks I want it, I don't.
• To regain my fitness. Before the Monster I was in the best shape I've ever been in my life. I had just run my first half marathon. I felt good and thought I looked good. Then the Monster came. Overstayed his welcome and took my fitness with him when he got booted out of my head. I struggled in 2008. Running became hard. A chore. It wasn't much fun. Yes, I biked more and started to swim. But in a way it was because I thought I had to just to combat the nasty side effects of the Monster. I want to change that. This year I want to start running again because I enjoy it. I want to swim and bike because I like to. And I want to cross the finish line of a half marathon again. And triathlon No. 2 is already penciled onto the calendar. In ink.
• Books. Yes. It's a resolution I have every year. But I'm aiming for 40 books again this year. But I might mix it up a bit this year. While compiling the list of what I read during 2008 I noticed that I spent my time reading a lot of newer stuff. This year I'm going to add some classics to the list. And while it might end up making me miss my goal of 40 books, I'd be OK with that. I'm starting out with one of those lengthy ones: Gone with the Wind, all 1,024 pages of it. This could take a while.
• Pick up a new hobby. Well maybe not new, but one that I've abandoned the past few years. I used to scrapbook. A lot. But then I moved to the City on the Water and my supplies went untouched. I want to pull out the papers and scissors and pictures again and start catching up on documenting the memories I've collected over the years.

That's it. Like I said, I know a lot of my resolutions have to due with the Monster. But he's played a big role in my life the last 14 months or so. And I'm at the point where I'm ready to be rid of him. I admit, I'm sure there will be times during the year where he makes a reappearance. And I guess he came come and visit. Briefly. There are no prolonged visits by the Monster allowed in 2009.