With hesitancy, I entered the 30,000 sq. foot facility that is Bellingham Fitness.  I know the routine of joining the gym.  Low prices and appeals such as “it’s less than a dollar a day” stand ready to attack, this time by a young fellow named Jackson.  He showed me around the facility, introduced me to rows of treadmills, elliptical machines, bikes, circuit training stations, weights, stretching areas, and more weights.  I was an easy sell; it really had nothing to do with the eucalyptus steam room.

I shelled out my money, signed and initialed the highlighted areas, and left the gym with a new Bellingham Fitness keychain card and the promise to myself that my money would be well spent.

True to my word, I returned to the gym tonight with the aim of beginning my “Novice” 5-K training.”  As today is my day one on the schedule, all I had to do was a bit of cardio.  Run/walk – that’s it.  It was really up to me to determine.  The results, however, were completely unexpected.  Maybe it’s because I work from home and don’t see a lot of people on a regular basis in Bellingham.  Maybe it’s because my television has no channels and so rented seasons of Battlestar Galactica and documentaries from Netflix have made up the majority of my viewing pleasure for years now.  Regardless of the reason, I realized that joining a gym is going to do worlds for my knowledge of pop culture, breaking news, and basketball scores.  With just one 45-minute session, I learned that Jessica Simpson broke up with that football player (I guess that’s old news, but isn’t it great that I’m catching up even on old news), Tiger Woods hired Ari Fleischer to mend his damaged image, and I even got a glimpse at which tribe was forced to go to Tribal Council tonight on Survivor (yes, this show I watch compliments of Hulu).

With this newfound link to Entertainment Tonight, I may have just found yet another reason to maintain consistency at the gym.  Gossip shows or fitting into a wedding dress…regardless of the motivator, I’m excited to continue to report the results of my 5-K Novice Training.  More to come.

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