Overheard In The Locker Room...

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Forget coffeeshops, forget airplane terminals, forget park benches. If you want to do some quality people watching, go to the locker room of your local gym. 

I was in there last week, changing clothes, and a woman, mid 50's, was on the bench next to me, talking into her cell phone. She was no nonsense in her tone. 

"No. No. It has to ship by 3 today. Today. Call Mark and he'll give you what you need. (Pause) I don't care about that. Tell Leslie we're moving it forward. And three o'clock. Okay. I'm on my way in." 

Nothing unusual about that conversation except for the fact that the woman was stark naked as she had it. With one foot up on the bench. Facing me. 

She hung up the phone and looked over at me. "Ha ha! Wonder what they'd think if they knew I just had that conversation with them while I was naked!" 

I held eye contact. Really, really strong, steady eye contact. "I know, funny," I said. 

"Well," she said (that one foot still up on the bench), "I figure men over the years have called in often enough from the golf course that I can afford one or two calls in from the gym."

"Uh-huh, right," I said.

She then proceeded to have a 5-minute conversation with me about the role of men/women in business and her company in particular. All the while, her towel was on the bench beside her and her clothes in the open locker next to her. I had to wonder if it crossed her mind why, during the course of our conversation, I never once blinked. Lovely conversation though. Smart woman with a lot to say. 

Then there was the knee-high conversation. This is a favorite of mine. I was in the locker room right after a swim class let out and a swarm of older woman--70's and 80's--flooded the locker room. They were talking about shopping online and one woman held their rapt attention as she informed them how to score some quality knee-high stockings. 

"You go to this site and you can buy 5, 20, 50--however many you want--and the price is nothing! It's maybe sixty-four cents a pair! I bought 100 and just had them delivered to my house."

"And you used the internet-thingee to buy them?" asked one woman.

"Yes, yes. All on the computer. My son showed me how. And the knee-highs were sixty-four cents!"

Her enthusiasm was contagious. Even I started to get a little excited about the knee-high deals to be found online. 

Once this new cat book is complete, I may just have to write a book of locker room stories. Not the racy stuff, but the everyday conversations overheard in the gym. Good stuff.

Cheers,

Dena 

The Smug Marrieds Guide To Marathon Running

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This weekend marks Blair's debut as a marathoner. He's running Grandfather Mountain, a race which boasts the tag line, "One of America's Toughest Marathons."

You wouldn't catch me running this race on a dare. The course begins at 3,333 feet and climbs to an elevation of 4,279 feet. Up, up, up, ow, ow, ow. But Blair insists he's going to be a "one and done" marathoner, so his rationale is why not make it count?

Observing Blair over the last 16 weeks, I've been amused by the differences in how we approach our training. So here for your reading pleasure, I offer...

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Running Diaries: Missing My Stride

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No one ever said running was easy. I not only get that, I embrace it. It's one of the many things I love about running--that dig-deep-gut-it-out-get-it-done feeling that comes with pushing myself through a really hard workout. 

But something's wrong. I've been struggling with my runs lately, even the easy recovery runs. Where normally I loosen up and hit my stride within the first mile, lately my legs stay weighted throughout the entire run. My lungs are fine but my ankles, of all odd things, are killing me. Both of them. They're stiff and inflexible and ache with each step. 

There are a few different things that could be affecting my running: 

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More Beach Time Fantasy vs. Reality

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In my last post I wrote about how I dreamed my life at the beach would unfold versus what usually happens. I've been at the beach condo for not quite two days now... how are things measuring up? 

DAY 1

As expected, life--and me--are perfect. I wake up early Sunday morning, brew some (decaf) coffee and do a brief meditation before breakfast. I eat a light breakfast of cottage cheese and berries then head out to the beach for a 2-hour walk. (Confession: It would have been closer to a 90-minute walk except I pulled a Dena and walked past my condo, not realizing it until I was another 15 minutes down the beach.) 

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