Day 77: The Gym

I don't know what most people bring with them when they go to the gym but it seems that every time I go my gym bag is super heavy. It is like I am going on a mini backpacking trip. Let me analyze this. The things I absolutely have to bring with me include my bus card, my gym card, a lock for the locker, a water bottle and my gym shoes. In Sweden you are not allowed to work out in shoes you walk in from the street wearing. You actually have to have "gym shoes". I can understand it. With the long winter here and the muddy, slushy, gravel-y sidewalks one walks through, the gym floors would become disgusting pretty quickly if everyone wore the shoes they came in wearing. So anyway, you would think that these items would not make a bag so heavy, right?

Well, then if you add in flip-flops for the shower, two towels (one for showering and one for using in the sauna), toiletries, lip balm, your id and bank card (just in case) and a change of clothing, there is another five to ten pounds added to the overall weight. I put my backpack on to leave and it feels like I am wearing a sack of weights. Normally I only shower at the gym if I go to swim and today I just walkjogged (yes, one word) on the treadmill. However, in planning my gym visit this morning I thought that taking in a hot sauna would be a nice thing to do on an overcast morning. By the time I finished my workout however, I was too hot, even with my cool-down, to even think about a sauna so I merely grabbed my backpack from my locker and lugged it back home.

The best part of today's adventure is that I went to the gym. My workout is getting a little easier each time, which is always a good feeling. Getting in a good workout always makes he rest of my day just ease on by like a smooth, sailing ship on calm water. And given that my commute to and from the gym takes thirty to forty minutes round trip I consider the hauling of my gym bag and extra workout. So it's a win-win.