A Small Return To Routine

The gym that Hubby Tony and I belong to was shut down last March. It opened up again in mid-June, but neither one of us was ready to return. We kept exercising the option of freezing our membership for 30 days. The past few weeks have seen fewer Covid cases, and Tony and I made the decision to activate the membership again.  It went live on the 15th, but after so much time away I was out of the habit of going. It wasn't until I realized that one of my assignments today was right next to a branch of the gym I decided it was time to get there.  

It's not like I've been sitting around doing nothing. My phone step counter tells me I average a little over 12,000 steps a day, but those steps aren't intense enough to raise my heart rate to an aerobic level. I was also looking to do something different than walking. A stationary bike sounded like a nice change of pace.

After hearing about a gym in Illinois that had a huge Covid breakout over the summer I almost changed my plans, but then I learned that the CDC concluded there was no mask wearing, the transmission happened during group classes, and the room had bad ventilation. My gym mandates masks, I wasn't going to a class, and the high-ceiling room is quite airy. In my mind there was little to be concerned about.

The location I went to isn't the closest one to my house, but it only took about 15 minutes to get there. I left my coat in the car so I wouldn't have to use the locker room, grabbed my water bottle, put on my mask, and hustled into the building.

The first thing I noticed is that there was only one way to enter. I'm sure that was so the front desk could control the number of people coming in, because the County mandates a 50% building capacity. This morning there were far fewer than that. All were following instructions and wearing a mask. It felt very safe. The treadmills, bikes, and rowing machines were six feet apart. Stands holding sanitary wipes were everywhere. Even though there wasn't enough foot traffic to get the room dirty, I saw employees continually cleaning and vacuuming.

I picked out a bike, and even though it didn't look dirty I wiped it down before I started. My 30 minute ride was enough to get me nice and winded. After I got off I wiped the bike down again, then stopped by the locker room to use the bathroom and wash my hands.

Since my first trip was so successful I will certainly try again. Next time I might even use some weight machines to start getting my flabby muscles back into shape.

Five years ago: (Try To) Do Something Good