[nycfem]

Today I did 1 hr 15 min on the Arc Trainer, Level 7, Interval program. I watched "I'm having their baby." It sounds cheesy but I'm finding the show pretty gripping. I mean, think about it! Someone else is potentially having someone else's baby and they can decide to back out at the last minute. It's worth enduring extra cardio agony to make it through that crucial "Will you sign the papers?" hospital scene.

Then I did 45 minutes of weights, core, and yoga.

Gym interaction during the non-TV part of my work-out:

Older fit white man, not a regular, lays beside the "balance pad," a blue foam square used for certain exercises.

I walk up to him and say, "Are you using that?"

He says, "Yes."

I say, "Can I have it when you're done? I'll be right over here." I point to a mat nearby.

He says, "How much are you going to pay me?"

I force a laugh and walk away.

Out of the corner of my eye I watch to see if he is really using that foam blue square. Hmmm... not that I can see.

About ten minutes later, he shouts to me, "I'm done!" and zings it at me like a Frisbee. I catch it.

There are, perhaps, undercurrents of passive aggressive feelings on both sides in this interaction, but there's nothing like having an awkward, adrenaline inducing gym interaction to process while doing some end-of-work-out stretching.