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The gym
Standing at the treadmill snorting and groaning.
Do you know the feeling when you are standing in the changing area in the gym before a work out and just can’t decide which t-shirt to wear? Or even worse, when you can’t decide whether to wear the white or black hair band? I don’t! I’m usually too focused on convincing myself that the pain in my left foot that oddly enough started about 3 seconds after I entered the changing area isn’t in fact real. However, I do know the feeling standing on the treadmill, being sweaty, smelly and just generally feeling disgusting, looking around the room and thinking that everyone around seems soooooo much taller, thinner, prettier, less sweaty and definitely less smelly! Unfair? Like, hell yeah!
I sometimes wonder what even got me to the gym to perform this torture-like activity. How could I ever think that leaving my nice warm living room to walk to the gym in the rain was a good idea? I mean, standing there at the treadmill snorting and groaning, thinking you’ll die, for what? To tell your friends? Because in that case you should probably leave out the bit where you thought you were going to die! Or is it to impress a guy? In which case you should probably leave out both the part about snorting and groaning as well as the part about dying.
I won’t call myself an expert on the topic but I’m pretty sure I speak for more than a few girls when I’m saying that we go to gym without even knowing why! I mean, what ever happened to the good old fashion “go for a run outside” kind of thing? The kind of exercise you could do on your own without having 20 people staring at you. Here in Ireland I actually think I know what happened: The rain happened! Because there is only one thing that is worse than getting out of the nice and warm living room to walk to the bus stop in the rain and that is to actually go for a run in the rain…
The rain I unfortunately cannot do anything about, so I guess I’m stuck in the gym! However, the good news is that eventually (even though it might not seem like it at the time) it’ll get easier to go to the gym because you’ll eventually get in better shape (even thought it might not seem like it at the time). The bad news though is that the other people in the gym will still be there. So if you – like me – the second you step on the treadmill think that everyone around you are thinner, taller, smarter, has less pimples, has feet that smell less, boyfriends that are hotter and mothers that would never ask them to take out the trash or clean the dishes after dinner, then you’re probably right! Because all the sweaty, smelly and tired people around you definitely have perfect lives.
No, I’m just joking, my point is just that we are all the same no matter which t-shirt or hair band we wear, we’re all exhausted and desperately trying to catch our breath. In fact, I would even go as far as to say, that if the person next to you is actually still looking good after 20 minutes in the gym then they are just not pushing themselves hard enough! You know, you’ll always find someone in the gym of whom you’re jealous – someone that’s skinnier, someone with nicer hair or someone who can run forever without getting tired. And do you know why that is good even though it might be difficult to see? Because otherwise you wouldn’t have anything to aim for!
By: Susannah Keller Finn
