Wednesday, December 11, 2013

A Lot of Music and Not A Lot of Running

Pretty much all my posts this week have been about music. It's Christmas time which means amateur musicians are working hard to entertain their community groups. I'm working hard for our Church programs. A lot has been going on musically for me, but not a lot athletically.

Until today.

Yesterday I went to a small gym, Vision Quest, and got a free one-week pass. We'll see how I like it.

So far, I'm not super impressed. The man who showed me around was very nice, but then he stressed me out talking about how much I could save if I signed up today. Finally I left with my pass and not having signed up. I love a good deal. But I think I love a good fit better. He asked me what I thought a good fit was. I said I didn't know, but I would know at the end of my week trial.

After hearing the benefits of membership, I only noticed two things. First, it is cheap, only $20 per month. Second, you get 2 free personal training sessions at the start and then 1 each month after that. I think that is cool.

Today I woke up at 5:15 and headed to the gym. All the treadmills were full. Ummm, that's why I wanted to go to the gym. So I did the elliptical for 20 minutes until I had a good workout (it's OK, I do like the elliptical) and the treadmills cleared out a bit. Then I ran a mile and came home.

So what I didn't like today was that there were about 10 treadmills and they were full and 20 ellipticals and there were 3 people on them. Obviously, they need more treadmills and less ellipticals or I won't be a happy gym-goer. I noticed that the cardio machines, though very well maintained, were old. They were the same models I used at USU in 2006, which they have gradually been replacing since 2010. Not a big deal, but kind of ridiculous since I'd used those same machines 7 years ago. The final thing was the cleanliness factor. The room seemed like it needed a good scrubbing and paint job, especially the window I ran in front of. I only noticed one other person using the cleaner on their machine when they were done (I did, too). Is that too snooty of me? Those are the things I did not like about my Vision Quest experience today.

There are a few other things I don't like about the gym. One, it is small and there are no classes. I would like to go to a spin or yoga or strength class. Two, there is no pool, and I enjoy lap swimming which means I would have to pay for another pass to a pool. Three, the parking lot shares with too many other things and between the coffee shop, gas station, day care center, fast food place, and gym, it gets crazy. Four, are free personal training sessions too good to be true? I believe that you get what you pay for.

There are still 6 days left of my trial and I am going to take full advantage of it. However, I don't think I'll be signing on. The low price isn't enough to change my mind about the other things.

Today's workout
20 minutes, elliptical
1 mile run, 10:45
core

Do you go to a gym? What do or don't you like about it?

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