I’ve been thinking a lot about “gym behavior”. That whole “being private in public” thing that happens at a gym. I’m not really a gym girl – I like to run outside, and get the sense of movement<\/i>, of actually going<\/i> somewhere – but it’s finally cold here … so I’m gym-ming it up on a daily basis. I love the sense of everyone there, in their own Idahos, doing whatever it is they do to work out, and we’re all there together, but we might as well all be alone. I find gyms intimidating – but once I realized that nobody even sees me<\/i> … I can deal with it, and go off into MY own Idaho, and it’s quite relaxing. Then there’s locker room behavior, and casual nakedness in front of strangers, and just doing the things that normally you do only in front of your own mirror, or your husband … slapping on deodorant, for example … and wandering around in stages of undress, while chatting on your cell phone, meeting up with friends later, talking to your boyfriend about the Thai food you’re gonna pick up on your way home … all of that locker room stuff. Again, since we’re ALL doing it at the same time there’s something really anonymous about it … and it COULD lead to total cacophony … but the way I experience it is: I zone OUT. I am in my own Idaho. I do my gym thing. I sweat it up. I sauna it up. I chat on my phone. I slap on the deodorant. I bullshit with the guy waiting in line with me for the weights. I move on. It’s almost like we’re all in a collective trance<\/i>. And since it’s winter the windows totally steam up. So I’m on the treadmill, and I know that outside is 41st Street, and the new NY Times building going up across the way, and passersby rush along, bundled up in snorkle coats, and there’s the nutso blinking neon a block away in Times Square… but I can’t see any of it. Due to the FOG, the body heat, the condensation on the windows.<\/p>\n
I look forward to going into that collective trance on a daily basis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’ve been thinking a lot about “gym behavior”. That whole “being private in public” thing that happens at a gym. I’m not really a gym girl – I like to run outside, and get the sense of movement, of actually … Continue reading