Exercise

I’m trying to exercise more. I was on a pretty good role for awhile but it’s far too easy to fall off the wagon and far too hard to climb back on! I am inspired, however, each morning by two elderly Elks members in particular.

Aptly named for a couple of 80 year olds, one is Frank and the other is Dale. Frank and Dale come to the Beaverton Elks lodge (where I’m living in the rig) each morning, 6 days a week at 6:15. Like good Christian men, they rest on the Lord’s day. I would imagine that if the lodge gym, located in the basement, were open any earlier, they would be there. Either way, they race each other every day to see who can be at the door to the gym right at 615AM when the automatic locks disengage and their passkey’s will open the door. They then race down to the basement (at a slow, intentional pace) and take turns signing into the gym logbook. Some days Frank squeezes by and signs his name first, other days it’s Dale. It is pretty awesome and trivial but it makes me smile. Over the past 4 weeks I have (unintentionally) entered this race with them. As I need to be at work at 7am and the gym has showers – which by the way is a key feature instead of showering in the tiny RV box shower – I find myself waiting outside the door too. I very respectfully will sign my name 3rd. As I rush through my morning shower and am on my way to leave I pass the gym and see Dale and Frank working out. Frank sits on the exercise bike which was probably new in 1972 and reads his morning devotional and prays while he bikes. Dale goes through some interesting calesthetic exercises as a warm up aka Richard Simmons style before grabbing some 20lb hand weights and swinging them forward and backwards.

This would be an innocent picture enough except that each day, without fail, they ask me some variation of the theme “why aren’t you working out?” and it makes me feel judged. It’s usually innocent enough with a comment to the effect of “I guess there’s no need to keep the bike warm for ya…” followed by a wave and a smile. Sure I need to fight traffic and get to work, but these 80 year olds have lived through the great depression and are here, faithfully, pumping iron while I hardly glance at the treadmill. It makes me feel a tad guilty.

Guilty enough to start working out though? Hmm I’ll need to think more about that before I commit to a regular working out schedule. ;)