There's one downside about working out at the gym: I've become a wuss about running in the cold.
It wasn't always this way.
A couple years ago it didn't matter if the temperature outside was twenty below zero. I'd just put on an extra sweatshirt and head outside at 5:00 a.m. and run, run, run.
Then to accommodate a new work schedule and other demands on my time, I started working out at the gym during lunch. It was convenient, but because I was running indoors, I lost the ability to shrug off cold temperatures.
Until this weekend.
Since I had about 10 days off, I needed to run. Sure, I can miss a day here or there and not have it be a big deal. But I can't miss 10 days in a row.
I'd go crazy.
While the gym is conveniently located close to my place of employment, its many locations are NOT convenient from my home. So driving to the closest gym every day wasn't an option.
And by my second day off, I was pacing the living room, looking out at the snow, trying to find the courage to go running.
Then Marathon Girl walked by.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I need to go running," I said.
"Well, why don't you go?"
"It's cold outside."
Marathon Girl gave me one of those "This is the ‘man' I've married?" looks. That look alone should have been enough to get me out the door. But sometimes, when I really don't want to do something, I dig in my heels and become really stubborn.
I dug in my heels.
"It's below freezing outside," I said.
Marathon Girl just stared at me.
"It's way below freezing," I said.
Marathon Girl just stared at me.
"I could die from exposure and then you'd be a widow with three point five kids to raise."
Marathon Girl just stares at me.
I finally get the message. She's been walking everyday in the cold, hoping to get this baby out of her with no luck. Why am I being such a wuss?
So I tucked my tail between my legs and went running.
I came back 40 minutes later, sweating and feeling great.
"You survived," Marathon Girl said.
I smiled. "Not only did I survive, but it was great to breathe in the cold, winter air."
Marathon Girl just smiled and returned to her book.
I'm a gym wuss no more.