Ten oh five on a Saturday morning, and it looks like Dave isn\u2019t going to show up. I\u2019m standing in a parking lot with three other guys. A Crossfit gym, a \u201cbox\u201d somewhere in Seattle. At least it\u2019s trying to be a nice day. The rain is down to just a few drops and the sun occasional peeks from behind bored gray clouds.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re all pacing, geared up and ready to get in there and wreck our bodies. Me, I ran here from my house, just a mile or so away. On one of my first days at the gym, Dave said \u201cwe don\u2019t do the same workout twice. That\u2019s the problem with runners\u2014always doing the same thing, over and over again, their bodies adapt.\u201d I wish. I\u2019d love to adapt enough to survive the half marathon I signed up for next month.<\/p>\n
One of the guys says, \u201cHad to wake him, last week. I showed up at nine, had to bang on the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
I furrow my brow. \u201cWait, does Dave live here?\u201d<\/p>\n
The guy nods, and the other two guys look up, paying attention. \u201cYeah. He moved out of his old place a few months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
I think about why I\u2019m here. I\u2019m getting old, getting fat, need a shock to my system. The good life has made me comfortable, I could say, if I was given to that sort of musing. Maybe I should live in a gym too. Nothing to do all day but pick up heavy weights, cleaning up after every class. Arms like a gorilla. Calves like tree trunks.<\/p>\n
One guy checks his watch a few times. I\u2019m tempted to go up to the door, cup my hands against the glare and peer in. What am I going to see? A guy in sleeping bag, laid out next to a\u00a0pile of dumb bells, his dog curled up at his feet?<\/p>\n
Another guy says, \u201cI saw him after the last class, yesterday. He was heading to a bar with my roommate.\u201d<\/p>\n
We all chuckle. As if that explains everything. I can\u2019t imagine what a 6 foot, 250 pound guy with 5% body fat has to drink to get too drunk to be up by ten in the morning. He\u2019s not paying for drinks with the money I\u2019ve given him\u2014I used a Groupon.<\/p>\n
Ten past ten. Our pacing has slowed a little bit. By now we would have been through our warm-ups. Dave would have given the Crossfit vets their Workout-of-the-Day, and they\u2019d be doing some preliminary exercises. Us newbies would be picking up an empty barbell and putting it back down again. Concentrating on form. Dave would be adjusting his glasses, telling his dog she\u2019s a good girl for staying out of the way. I\u2019d be thinking about that stupid half marathon, and how losing ten pounds would sure help a lot.<\/p>\n
A car drives by the parking lot entrance, and we all turn to look. And then I realize I\u2019m sort of hoping he doesn\u2019t show. I want to work out, I want to feel the burn, I want to be a little bit proud of myself. I also want to, well, not.<\/p>\n
“God damn it,” the guy, the one who said he\u2019d woken Dave up last week, mutters to humself. Then he smiles \u201cWell, I guess I can always come back at noon.\u201d He turns and wanders towards his car.<\/p>\n
The other guy, the one with the roommate says, \u201cAlright fellas.\u201d He looks at his watch, smiles, shakes his head, and walks off too.<\/p>\n
Me and the only other one remaining stand there for a few seconds. A moral victory. When Dave\u2019s timing us on burpees and Russian kettle-bells, he never shouts. His voice is loud above the heavy metal blasting from the speakers, but he\u2019s not screaming. You got this, he says. 15 more seconds, he says. You can do this, reach in. Last Thursday, when he did that, even though I was whipped, I managed a few more reps. Felt it all day Friday, but it felt good too.<\/p>\n
I want to wait this out, but I don\u2019t. I want to be here when he shows up, forgive him for being, despite a 400 pound bench press, only human. But I want to go home, have a Saturday, do nothing. My wife\u2019s working, won\u2019t be home until 5, so I mean: really do nothing.<\/p>\n
I take a deep breath, look the other fella in the eye. \u201cMonday, I guess.\u201d He just smiles, nods, turns and walks to his car.<\/p>\n
I decide to compromise. I ran here, so I\u2019ll run back home too. I\u2019m hoping Dave doesn\u2019t have a hang over. But just in case, I\u2019ll commiserate. I stop at the 7-11 on my \u00a0way, grab a bag of onion potato chips and two Cokes. I plop in front of the TV, and before too long I\u2019m sugar-and-grease queasy. A different kind of work out<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ten oh five on a Saturday morning, and it looks like Dave isn\u2019t going to show up. I\u2019m standing in a parking lot with three other guys. A Crossfit gym, a \u201cbox\u201d somewhere in Seattle. At least it\u2019s trying to be a nice day. The rain is down to just a few drops and the … <\/p>\n