Rah Rah Grumble Grumble

Congratulations to new running fanatic Meg, who completed her race in a respectable time, while raising more than $1200 for charity. Now “ga ga for running,” she’s tackling a, gulp, 15K run in less than two weeks. (Actually that sounds like a good goal time: 15K in less than two weeks. I might be able to make that!).

Just as she’s going “ga ga,” though, I’m slacking (you can actually see how badly by checking out my always fascinating running blog). The combination of darkness, cold, and wet weather (or even the threat of wet weather) has me cowering indoors reverting to the doughy and slovenly mess I was until about 8 months ago. I’m determined to slow or halt the process by joining the University of Toronto’s Athletic Centre, which has a nifty 200m indoor track, as well as treadmills, weights, and stationary bikes. Now, I don’t see this as “joining a gym,” exactly. You see, I’ve always hated the idea of joining a gym. And I visited one literally right next to my office, thinking it would be impossible to shirk my responsibilities with exercise so close to work, but you know what? I hate the smell of profit, especially when it’s at the expense of other people’s insecurities. I find the majority of these places seedy in the extreme. The Athletic Centre is a bit different. They are primarily there for the students of the university, whose tuition fees include free membership. I like them because they offer memberships to the community at fair prices, and run lots of inexpensive athletic programmes for children. Plus, well, they have an actual track, which I prefer to running on a treadmill.

My plan is to sign up for three or four months, until it is warm, bright, and dry enough to run outside again. If I pick up a wicked weightlifting habit in the meantime, all the better.