Amenities

The reason I changed gyms was for the amenities. In this case a swimming pool, hot tub, steam room and sauna. I'm a huge fan of saunas. Most days I don't have time to change into my swim suit and enjoy these amenities, but today being Saturday I had all the time I wanted.

I learned today that the treadmill will automatically stop at 1 hr 5 minutes. That is a 1 hr work out with a 5 minute cool down and if you aren't paying attention, it just slows down and stops. What a surprise to me to discover that I'd been on it that long.

That is what a good book does for me at the gym. I'm currently reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett on a recommendation from my daughter and I absolutely love it. (Soon to be a movie, how's that for a debut novel?)

After my time on the treadmill I put on my bathing suit and went first to the sauna. They have put a new thermometer in there and it was reading somewhere around 190. That was the first time I felt the tops of my ears getting kind of hot.

Then I rinsed in the shower by the pool and sat in the hot tub, it was barely at 100, it's usually at 104 or so. But it still felt very good.

Then it was on to the steam room. The steam room is a little bit tricky. Unlike the sauna where you can see how crowded it is through the window, the steam room is well, steamy. So when you walk in it takes a minute to see where people are sitting and where the open space is. And then because I hadn't been in the steam room for months, I had to learn how to breathe in there all over again. The others sit relaxed while I sit and pant and breath through my mouth. But I survived.

After I had showered and dressed I went into the shower area to retrieve my bathing suit and there were two women, looked liked a mother and daughter, they were fully clothed and did not speak English. It appeared they were asking me how to use the shower.

Really, how to use a shower? Well I humored them and stepped into the shower and showed them the pump for the shampoo and pretended to put it my hair and then I showed them the other pump and pretended to put it on my arms. I then stepped to the side and reached in and turned the water on. I think this met with their satisfaction.

I walked away thinking I really must have been on candid camera just then.

My daughter coined the term "gym drama" to describe the happenings of the recognizable strangers you see at the gym on a regular basis.

I have created my list of sauna etiquette, but so far the gym has yet to ask my opinion on it. If I ruled the sauna these would be my rules:

• No talking on your cell phone
• If you must listen to music turn down the volume
• Don't dump your water bottle over your head when you are sitting next to me
• Be gentle with the door opening and closing, don't throw it wide open and let the draft of cold air in
• Be cautious when talking about your ex girlfriend, because I find it awkward when you show up with her 3 months later and you have talked about her to total strangers
• No shaving

Happy exercising to all!