The last time we trained for a late spring marathon, we did a lot of treadmill running. It is a little hard to get my wussy butt out in the cold to run sometimes.
However, this year I have been better than I ever have before as far as toughing out the cold. When it is icy and snowy though, it’s just hard to be productive running, so we did our long run on Saturday on the good old LA Fitness Treadmills. We were scheduled for a 12 miler, but ended up only doing 10 because we were cutting it close on time with our post run plans. (Having brunch and planning a biking adventure for late September with good friends) I have to say if we had been training for our first or second marathon, I would have been too anal to not finish those last two miles. However, ever since we ran the Monumental with essentially no training, I have learned to love not worrying about missing a workout out or cutting it short from time to time.
Ok, my point to this blog was this though… as we were running our 10, I couldn’t help but think all of the things that drive me crazy about the gym. Not to be negative, but I have to vent here…. here are some things that you shouldn’t do if you don’t want to be one of those annoying people at the gym:
1. Loud talking on your cell phone or to your friend on the treadmill/elliptical beside you.
Yesterday, the ladies on the two treadmills next to me talked the entire 45 minutes they were on the treadmill. Knowing I was going to be on there for at least an hour and a half I almost asked them how long they were planning on being there, (so I could move to another treadmill if need be!) as soon as their conversation began, because it was loud and obnoxious from the start. Instead I just turned my music up WAY too loud and tried to zone them out and be polite…. it was hard, and I didn’t completely succeed on the polite part without a few dirty “please quiet down” looks.
2. Weight Machine Hogging.
You know who I’m talking about. The people who sit on the machine or “guard” it in between sets. Come on people, this is not your private gym, we rotate here! I actually had a guy walk up to me one day when I started a set and tell me, he wasn’t done yet but I could have it when he was done. What did I say? “Oh really? I’m not either, you can work your next set as soon as I’m done with this one.”
3. Holding on the the treadmill
Ok, unless you have balance problems or some disability where you can not run or walk on the treadmill without holding on… don’t do it! You don’t have to be a personal trainer to know that you are cutting down the workload by a ton if you hold on. Oh, and it’s especially annoying when people crank up the incline and do it! Come on people.
4. People who are lifting way too much weight than they should be and have bad form.
They are usually the meat head guys who hog the free weight area, and look at you like you don’t belong in that part of the gym, because you are not one of them….
5. Gum Chompers at the gym.
Gross. There is a guy who is always chomping at my gym, and he just happens to always be there when I am, so I try to strategically place myself on a treadmill that doesn’t face the direction he is. I know that’s a little crazy on my part.
6. Girls who wear a lot of makeup and dress slutty.
Honestly, I don’t want to look like a sloppy mess at the gym, but you know what I mean. You know the girl I’m talking about.
7. The out of shape Trainer.
The other day when I was leaving the gym, two of the personal trainers were sitting in their little area talking…. the girl trainer was eating Spicy Cheetos. That’s right, SPICY CHEETOS! The guy trainer she was talking with was not the picture of health, it looked like I could or should train him. On another note about trainers, I have also seen a trainer actually talking on their cell phone in the middle of a training session. Unless his wife was going into labor, there is no excuse for this!
OK, enough complaining. I don’t want my blog to be negative, so this will be my one and only negative post. I will try at least. Chances are if you think your gym behavior might be annoying to the person on the treadmill beside you, it probably is. 