Ring around the Cybex

Oh, surprise, surprise, 24 Hour Fitness sucks.  Some venues suck less than others; my particular location sucks more.  However, an old roommate clued me in a few years back (after I had already belonged for some three years on the month-to-month payment plan) that if I paid for 3 more years up front, I could get every year subsequent for $50 a year.  I knew I'd be in the area for a while, so I did.  So I'm stuck. 

But dude, $50 a year! 

As basic and grungy as it seems, sometimes it's the only way I get any exercise at all in the dark of winter.  And occasionally they have stellar group instructors who make it all better.  Eric, who used to teach spinning several years ago, was so motivational (while also tough) that you had to get to the gym an hour before class to have a hope of getting on the signup sheet - and there was still a line of wannabes at the last minute.  Eric hated the management, as most employees seem to, and went off to start his own gym that focused on spinning, kickboxing and yoga - the only group classes I've ever cared about - which, as far as I can see, is doing really well.  (I'm thrilled for him, but am too cheap to pay for coaching and clean equipment.)

And then there was Robin the Yoga Instructor, on whom I harbored a (not-so-secret) crush.  She had a way of teaching free yoga to the unwashed masses that made you feel like it was a one-on-one, twenty-dollar class, and she wrapped in little bits of inspiration and thoughtfulness that made it more, well, yoga, and less cookie cutter workout.  She left, too, but I think she's teaching somewhere else so maybe I'll find her again someday.

Anyway, a gal at run club was asking about where to swim around here, and somebody suggested the Mountain View 24 Hour. 

Everybody laughed. 

I piped up, "Yeah.  I just don't like swiming in all the Band-Aids and the hair."

The woman said, "Yeah.  I had to quit them.  I got ringworm repeatedly there off the mats."  It sounded awful.  For a year (it kept coming back) she had to change her sheets every time she slept in them, change her towels every time she used one, and drain several cans of Fast Actin' Tinactin! until it finally went away.  It sounded like a true ordeal.

Conversation turned to a discussion of various other fungal infections and skin conditions, and the group proceeded to dinner.

But man.  I haven't been to the gym in a couple months now, but...gross.  I was just usually annoyed that the spinning bikes are always falling to pieces and the treadmills are generally threadbare, and gritted my teeth and ignored the clumps of hair in the drain and the people washing their feet in the sinks and the fecal matter ringing the toilets.  I mean, we're in a first world country.  Surely it just appears gross. 

But I've developed a plantar wart on the bottom of my foot, and now I'm convinced that's where I got it.  I'm not sure whether that means I should be more conscienscious about wearing flip flops in the shower... or if I should go barefoot and do my part to spread it around.

Comments

[Angela]

Oh my heck, that sounds awful! And this is why I just want to buy a treadmill, put it in our garage and be done with it.

That ringworm story is really so, so terrible...

[Scooter]

Have you ever noticed the green film on the rubber seats of the stationary bikes at 24HR?

[TasterSpoon]

Scooter! Long time no comment!

Is it a removable film, like they care about hygiene and replace it regularly, or is it a fuzzy film made by millions of microscopic plants and animals?

I'll go find out tonight. You going to Fleet Week this weekend? Blue Angels, 3pm Sunday.

Angela, I have a spinning trainer at home and absolutely never get on. But I do go to the gym to spin. I'm not sure what's the difference. Maybe because the gym is far away from my kitchen and my couch. If you can motivate to work out at home, my hat is off to you.