March 7, 2011
I devoted 3 hours to my gym workout this past Saturday. Only 45 minutes involved exercising.
This was my timetable:
10:00 am. Begin search through house for gym shoes. After checking bedroom closet, gym bag, kitchen closet and home office, I find them under the living room sofa. I remind myself to check there first as the sofa is always my initial stop after a visit to the gym.
10:15 am. Wearing my sneakers, I next prepare the most essential item to a successful gym routine: my Walkman MP3 player. This is a new addition to my repertoire. My daughter Molly gave it to me and it really helps the time pass on the treadmill. Molly programmed some music for me but I needed to download some new tunes. I tried to follow the directions for downloading songs but ended up calling Molly in North Carolina for help. She straightened me out. I tried again but still no luck. I called Molly again, frustrated and angry. Molly responded, “You have got to calm down and listen to me.” I was dumbfounded: that was MY line, frequently applied during Molly’s teen years.
I finally got a new play list added after 30 minutes of back and forth with Molly.
10:45 am. Since I am at the computer, I check e-mails and play a game or two of Spider Solitaire. I consider playing Spider Solitaire part of my fitness program as it keeps my mind active and this is important to fend off memory loss as I get older. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. It has nothing to do with putting off going to the gym.
11:00 am. Leave house to get in car. Notice dog has no water in his dish. Return to house to fill dish with water. Exit to garage.
11:05 am Return to kitchen to get car keys left near sink. (I am obviously not playing enough Spider Solitaire). Get distracted by roving band of stinkbugs. Kill them by flushing them down toilet. Worry I am creating a super strain of stinkbugs in the septic tank who are all plotting to come get me while I nap on the sofa.
11:15 am Depart for gym.
11:30 am Arrive at gym and begin workout. Molly has put together a training schedule to prepare me for a 5K run in April. She is running a half-marathon at the same event. I am doing this as a Mother-Daughter project. I think shopping together might have been a better choice.
12 :15 pm Finish running 2 miles and complete some strengthening exercises. In locker room, I weigh in. Am shocked at added pounds. Clearly, my MP3 player is heavier than it looks.
12:20 pm. Begin search for my clothes as I cannot remember which locker I put them in. Definitely need to augment Spider Solitaire with Sudoku puzzles for memory enhancement.
12:25 pm After opening a dozen lockers, I find my stuff.
12:35 pm Leave gym, stopping on way out to ask manager why there is no recycling program for all the empty plastic water bottles. No good answer.
12:50 pm. Arrive home. Go to living room. Make a mental note I have placed my gym shoes underneath the sofa.
1:00 pm. Begin Sudoku puzzle to help me remember where I put my MP3 player.