(no subject)

I like my pie like I like my women...humble. So while the hotel gym sucks as much as any other hotel gym, they have arrangements whereby the parties staying therein (god I hate lawyers) may work out at two area gyms free of charge, the YMCA (sing it) and a 24/7 gym the size of a stadium called Rush. Homigod I suck. So, I know I get the fitness adoration of my nonathletic peers, and going to Rosslyn I stack up ok in the general lineup of fitness. I was noticing a strange number of really strong people in the fitness warehouse that is Gold's Clarendon.

I'm one tiny little man. Rush was huge, had 5-10 of each common machine - maybe 50 treadmills - all occupied. They had moutain-climbing, swimming - just everything. The weights and equipment were all spotless and put away in the right places. A minor convenience - the weights were color-coded. The music was even pretty good for a gym (metal, rap, madonna...what's not to like?) The 24/7 hours are a real winner - how much would that help my workout? Rush was full of fit people, insanely strong fit people. So much for american fat in flyover states! Lots of ink on the boys here, and frankly unique and interesting ink is the new cliche ink. There is nothing you can paint on your body that hasn't been done 100 times before as of today. In any case, when I work out in Rosslyn Golds every so often huge guy does bench with 3 plates on each side. Makes me feel small as I can't push 2 plates on each side (225 lbs) once. Last night I saw more than one guy pushing 4 plates on each side. That's (180 x 2) + 45. Not only that, but some of these guys doing that have long hair (pretty rare in DC Metro).

The women are smoking. Just smoking. Tons of hot incredibly fit, shiny calved women. This place was a factory of hotness of all flavors and varieties. I don't mean skinny women, though there were a lot of them too...no there was just mad hotness of all fit shapes and sizes in this place. Oh, and it's open 24/7. Wow.

I feel fit, but I feel really little compared to all the boys I saw last night. I also can't ignore the fact that with my tiny cheap messed up t-shirt I am actually the worst dressed guy in the gym. I think $50 is too much for an under-armor shirt, but I think I may pay attention to what I wear just a bit more. I was thinking about this for clubs too...do I look good in my t-shirt or tank with shorts in January? Perhaps not. That aside, I'm feeling more in touch with the difference between having a bird-like frame and some of these human monoliths I saw in masse yesterday.

VJ gave me a long list of advice for mass gain - going to look it over and revisit the food issue. I don't want a tummy, so mass gain w/o fat will be a challenge. Perhaps if I substitute tuna for chocolate. I am already experimenting with dropping the number of sets I do and upping weight. I'm still on low squat weight (3 sets of 10 at 135) since I'm still new with the balance of squats "in the bucket." Can we call that a walrus squat? It's a small little weight, but it does leave me exhausted and my muscles sore (though able to walk so obviously I can do more).

Going to Clarendon, deciding to do that more, and then hitting Rush - makes me realize it really is hard to start in a new gym. Having to figure out what is where is a pain, though you get better at equipment spotting with practice. Oi. I had no idea how comfortable I was in the gyms I used, so I want to quickly get over that 'same location addiction.'

Things to do after my serving of humble pie yesterday: 1) dress better, 2) get stronger, 3) get taller.

(no subject)

As a minor note, I'm stronger than I used to be at least. I went to the gym again, even though technically today is a down day as I've had many restaurant calories of yummy fat. I stretched, popped onto a treadmill, and tried not to gawk at all the hotties. I put the incline at 5 and ran slightly faster than 10 minute miles for 30 minutes breathing through my nose. Huh. Then I did some arm thingys I didn't get in yesterday, came back and ate utter crap. Still - I used to die trying, often failing, to run 3 10-minute miles on the machine. Now it's something I can do with relative ease. I'm proud that I've improved that much.

Did my depo today - pauses don't just weird out the deponent - they make the reporter look at you weird. I am used to being looked at weird, so this is not an issue for me at all.

No goth clubs in the area, but I kinda wanna go out and do something. Anyone wanna party in or around chattanooga tonight? Should I hit the tattoo parlor around the corner and see if I can grab a skank for the night? Oh - tattoos are so nnormal here that there are female instructors in the gym with sleeves. You can tell I'm a freak for being a) pale, and b) un-inked.

What should I do tonight? Drink alone in the dark? Watch tv? 1&2? Shop at walmart? Hit discount stores and try to find better clothes? Use up all my hotel moisturizer? Figure out more exercises to do in the 24/7 gym? Practice hitting on people in the gym to get used to what "No way, Jose" sounds like? Write motions for work? Research stocks? Play LOTR2 (most likely)? Stuff? Not stuff?

Stop typing and hit the showers boy...it's obvious you want to feel connected with your peeps and that's why you feel the need to babble incessantly on the computer, but the reality is you're not connected - you're alone in a hotel room. Get comfortable with that. Shut up and shower.