Just. Out. of. Reach.

My toes, that is.

When I was younger (like middle school) I was very athletic and therefore strong and flexible. I could sit on the floor, legs out to the side in a near split, arms out to the side grabbing toes and lean forward and put my face on the floor.

That is no small feat for someone who is 5'9".

I came home from the gym the other night and was stretching and realized that the flexibility of my youth is no longer with us. I sat on the floor with legs stretched out in front of me, feet together, and reached for my toes. No dice. I could barely reach my ankles.

Fritha has never been able to touch her toes, so she wouldnt find this odd. But I usedacould stretch my fingers past my feet and rest my wrists on my toes.

In the days since, I've dedicated a portion of my evening (while watching tv, obvi) to stretching. I can now almost get my fingertips to my toes. I think maybe I could lunge forward and tickle my toes for a second, but I couldnt hold that position.

So that's my goal. To touch my toes.

It's good to have goals, right?!

No Naked Ladies!

I have this recurring issue with my gym: there is excessive nudity in the locker room. Yes, I understand the purpose of a locker room and that nudity is inherent in that, but I often fall victim to FLAGRANT nudity in the worst ways.

Until today!

I worked late (major event next week; lots to do) and then went to the gym. I got there 8:30pm-ish and was alone in the locker room. While changing, another girl came in, quickly changed her shoes and then left. NO NUDITY!

I worked out (worked out hard, actually...ended up VERY sweaty and gross. it was great!) then returned to the locker room to change and leave. Still alone. Still no nudity. Also, there was no one in there to judge me for a) stinking to high heaven or b) putting on a hot pink t-shirt with my bright orange shorts for the trip home.

On a related note: I was so disgusting when I left the gym that I was afraid I couldnt get on the bus, for fear of offending...well...everyone. Now, given that homeless people are sometimes on my bus, imagine the kind of smell it would take to really be inappropriate for the bus. Yeah.

So I walked home. Now, my office is only 2 miles or so from my house and on nice evenings (like tonight) I often walk home anyway. But when you walk home out of civic duty and love for your fellow man, rather than choice, it changes things. Also, let's remember that I was (by this point) a hot, sweaty mess wearing a hot pink "Sanitary Fish Market" t-shirt and bright orange Virginia Tech shorts. With a bright red face and post-workout hair. Awesome.

I like to think it was a safety technic: you're less likely to get accosted if you look like a color-blind sweatbag who's probably street-rat crazy.

Things I Hate, Part 2

I like my gym. It's not too fancy, not too yuppy, not too many gym rats, but not too many loiterers, either. It's between my office and my apartment, offers some pretty good people watching from the windows (I can see out, but they can't see in. It's a win-win.) and it's pretty cheap. I've been going there for years.

BUT.

There is one thing about the gym that I REALLY hate: the naked people.

There are too many women hanging out in the locker room naked. I am aware that the primary functions of a gym locker room are for women to change clothes and for women to temporarily store their change of clothes.

I also understand that showering after working out is a relatively normal and hygienic activity. I prefer to go home sweaty, I find the smell keeps the weirdos on the bus away. To each his own.

However, if you're going to shower at the gym (or any shared space), rules of common decency dictate that you be fully naked for ONLY the necessary periods of time. Unfortunately some of the women at my gym do not follow this life rule.

- There's the pregnant lady who clearly chose her just-below-the-lowslung-jeans-waistband tattoo design WAY before she was pregnant. It has since stretched. I know this because she spent extensive time naked in the locker room.
- Then there's the chick who took her towel into the shower area and after her shower, wrapped the towel around her hair and walked back to her locker completely bare-ass naked. Upon arriving at her locker, she proceeded to take the towel off her head, fluff her hair, then toss the towel on the bench while she lotioned up. Naked. With her foot up on the bench, creating a genuine full-on crotch shot.
- Then there are the multitudes of women who leave the shower area, with the towel wrapped around them properly, only to drop it to the ground when they arrive at their lockers. Wouldn't be a problem if they swiftly put clothes on or if they faced the lockers. They never do.

These women are probably lovely women, but their extensive semi-public nudity weirds me out. I never know where to look! I don't want them to think I'm staring at them, but sometimes I am staring! Like when the pregnant/tattooed lady is naked. Or when the naked woman happens to be old. Or just, staring in general, out of confusion.

I've taken to hitting the gym a little later than the main after-work rush, to reduce my naked-encounter quotient. It's working so far, but the other shoe's gonna drop any day now.