I finally felt well enough to venture from my cocoon of blankets and TheraFlu to brave the wilds of the gym and pick up on Week 2 of the Couch-to-5K as well as lift. Shockingly, I was given my space to work out and return home. I guess my reputation precedes me.
Today's workout - and previous gym jaunts - take me just under an hour. One hour. I know that we have children and husbands and wives and pets and plants and scarves to knit and episodes of Law & Order to watch, but one hour isn't a huge time commitment. Trust me, when you're trying to haul ass from those 28-Days-Later zombies, you'll be thanking me. (Or screaming at me to wait up. Sorry, Zombie Chow.)
A reader (whose email I will get to, I'm not ignoring you, je promis) asked me what I listen to when I work out. The answer to that is...nothing. While it would certainly be more enjoyable to plug in and tune out, I actually prefer to concentrate on what I'm doing. The downside of that is that sometimes you're subjected to the idiocy of the chick on the treadmill next to you yapping into her cell phone or the 80's metal band turned ALL THE WAY UP so the bald guys in their Zubaz can headbang and reminisce about when they had hair.
But think about it this way: you don't get to decide who survives, post-apocalypse. Chances are it's not gonna be your BFF. It's going to be that snotty barista who always asks you pointedly 'are you sure you don't want nonfat milk?' and invites you to his warrior-poet-slam even though you're pretty sure he's even less a poet that a warrior. Trust me, the ability to tune people out will be vital.
...
And finally, because you asked: the PAW Home Game! Keep track of your workouts, hook up with people in your area, and be a general nuisance on the Post-Apocalyptic Workout Forum. Currently, ads are enabled to offset some of the small costs to upkeep this site, but supposedly there's a way to disable them when you register. Have...fun?
Sweet! Hope I was instrumental in you deciding to use freeforum.org. Course a simple google search lands them at the top of the page, too.
Jogging/running has got to be one of the most boring activities I can think of, but imagining fast zombies right on my ass certainly puts some umph in my giddyup!
Posted by: Complete Geek | January 17, 2008 at 03:14 PM
Talk to me about working out when sick. I've been battling illness since Thanksgiving and haven't returned to yoga because of it - my breathing capabilities are sorely lacking.
How do you breathe and work out at the same time?
Posted by: Green | January 18, 2008 at 02:12 PM
I saw Cloverfield on Friday and a) loved it but b) immediately said after the movie (AND THE CREDITS!) to my brother Dave "ya know maybe I should start a workout/training program not unlike what the Slackmistress is doing" since that film is like the poster child for "being cool never got anyone out of the sh*t when the monster hits nyc."
anyway I made reference to your blog on my site (sad to say it's the one people don't read as much as my MUNI death/kill/mayhem site, but it'll change...)
http://www.gregdewar.com/2008/01/cloverfield_was_actually_prett.html
Posted by: Greg | January 19, 2008 at 07:30 PM
I have to listen to music while at the gym. It's essential for me and if I can't get the right radio station tuned it, I go, like, crazy. CRAZY!
Posted by: aliastaken | January 20, 2008 at 03:54 PM
LOVE your blog!
I've been working towards my goal to not be monster food for awhile now too. Seeing Cloverfield last night inspired me...
Amid the chaos of Manhattan being destroyed by a ginormous monster, there’s a light-hearted moment where the guy holding the camera says, “Rob—man, you’re killing me with all this running.” Couldn’t blame the guy—there was a hell of a lot of running involved, not to mention over 50 flights of stairs climbed by our ill-fated heroes at one point.
Me, I would be totally screwed if a monster attacked. I would collapse around the 20th floor and shriek, “Leave me—just go on without me!! I’d rather be eaten by the monster than subject my glutes to anymore of these stairs of death…”
After I vowed to add stair climbing to my work-out regimen, my best friend emailed me a link to this blog this morning . Holy crap! Fate intended me to find it:)
I've shared the glory that is this blog with my pals over at myfooddiary.com
Cheers,
Erin
Posted by: Erin Whitcomb | January 22, 2008 at 11:37 AM