Routine...

I have made a decision. Earth shattering news, I know, but I have made one. My tax return is being invested in my health and I will be buying some personal training sessions. I've talked with Justin (whom I can now officially call my trainer) and settled on sixteen half-hour sessions. Holy crap what am I getting in to?

Ever since Fit Andrew joined the gym, we tend to go at the same time. It's nice to have extra motivation in the form of a buddy, even if we do nothing together while at the gym. When we enter tonight, Skinny Matt is in the office. I stop in and chat for few minutes because I haven't seen him in weeks and we fondly reminisce about when I first joined.

When I enter the cardio room, Grant is wrapping up a training session with Justin. I pop over, say hi, and then get up on the elliptical. Believe it or not (but believe it, because I'm telling you) there is quite a degree of variance between elliptical machines. The machines I usually use are both occupied so I have to make do with this new one. This machine has my arms moving similarly to jogging, with alternating arm and leg swings (left with right; natural movement, basically). I don't know what's going on but I am overcome with a wave of motivation and I kick it into high gear. Quite possibly it's listening to Imagine Dragons that has me ferociously ellipting (yes, I'm still trying to figure it out) away. Grant joins me near the halfway point of my fifteen minutes and we chat. By the end of my fifteen minutes, I've gone a full mile. This usually takes me twenty minutes.

Grant decides he'll join me for a swim, which is a wonderful way to end the workout. I stick mostly to freestyle, really digging the new pair of goggles I bought yesterday. At the conclusion of the swim, we head to the steam room. Honestly, this has become my favorite post-workout ritual. Yes, steam rooms are weird and you should still be careful when searching for images of a steam room, but they are also amazingly relaxing. And Grant brags about how long he can stay in the steam room. I can only manage five minutes before I need to leave, but he's convinced he can stay for ten or fifteen. We discover that he can't.

Upstairs, the amazing Carla makes us some delicious protein shakes. This isn't something I get often, but it's pleasantly cold and tastes really good with the frozen fruit. Makes for a good meal replacement. The problem is, I tend to be a guzzler and drink it way too fast. 

Keep an eye out for my first personal training post. It'll hopefully be up in a week. And with it will come my pre-training measurements with a promise of post-training updated measurements! And probably photos. And everyone should check out the Imagine Dragons album. It's pretty awesome.