Make-up Fitness...

I love Saturdays. Since my daughter left for college last summer, they have become my zen days with my husband. We typically start the day sharing a shower, and then head off on adventures....a trip to Chick Ruth's in Annapolis, perusing the Farmer's Markets in DC or the Portrait Gallery on 7th, or simply catching a matinee movie at the local theater. This past month we've added in a joint trip to the gym as a prequel to the above.

So yesterday morning, as we discussed our Saturday adventure, we decided to keep up the tradition we had started when I began the blog four weeks before, and hit the gym first before heading out to look for bathing suits for our upcoming cruise. While not one of our more cultural adventures, we were excited about the idea that we were close enough to our vacation to start thinking about packing and prepping for the trip, and this excitement provided the backdrop for a a fun filled day of preparations.

Somewhere between heading out for the day and arriving at our gym; however, Chuck and I got into a small marital spat. Our disagreements are few and far between, but when we have one, we both tend to dig our heels in. I am more verbally combative, and Chuck is coolly logical until I push his buttons enough to make him pop. This morning I managed to push his buttons right about the time we were walking into the gym, and he finally reacted by saying he didn't want to go to the gym anymore. That wouldn't do! I had to make my goal of four days a week. This was the last day in week four, and I wasn't going to fail, because of an argument, so I started bickering with him about going to the gym. I'm sure by this point he agreed to go with me simply to settle me down, since we were standing smack dab in the middle of the Bloom parking lot. Needless to say, we headed inside and Chuck reverted to his cool demeanor, and I decided I would out-freeze him.

We jumped on neighboring treadmills and proceeded to tune each other out. He immediately started a brisk run, and I pushed right into a brisk walk.  With each lap I walked, I felt the tension ease. After the first mile, I was already feeling bad about how we had let our morning get away from us. As we neared the end of our cardio-routine, Chuck reached over and grabbed my hand. We smiled at each other, held hands for a minute longer and mouthed our apologies to each other. As simple as that, two miles on the treadmill, and the anger was gone.

The rest of the work-out went amazingly well. I increased my weights on two exercises and added reps to my Ab routine. I felt relaxed, empowered and excited for the rest of my day. My joint shower and Saturday adventure was back on track. Make-up fitness had turned out to be a the perfect pre-quel for the day.