Ten Things I Learned from Gymuary

Well, it's the final day of Gymuary, and I still have bronchitis. That sort of knocks my big 5K running goal finale on the head…but no matter. Maybe I'll do that on March 1. Get it? 3.1 miles on 3/1?

I wouldn't quite call Gymuary an epic failure, despite the fact that I fell flagrantly short of my goal. Thirteen days out of thirty-one! Not even a fifty percent completion rate. Stupid blizzards. Stupid dangerously low temperatures. Stupid bronchitis. Stupid injury…oh wait, that one was my fault. But onward! To assure myself that the experiment was not a complete flop, here are ten things I learned from this first month of Discipline Year:

1. January is poor month to pick if you're looking to go to the gym every day in New England.
2. I like Zumba! And it's okay to look a sweaty clod while learning something new.
3. The busy, walk-signless street that I cross to get to my gym, the one which gives me disproportionate anxiety when I haven't been out of the house enough, loses much of its scariness after a few days' exposure (hermitic writer alert).
4. Locker 118 sucks. Request a different one when they hand you that key.
5. I am not immune to the Katie Perry virus. Teenage Dream in now on my running shortlist.
6. I can run as fast or faster than nearly all the dudes in my gym, if not for long distances.
7. I need to listen to my body more, and less to my adrenal glands. Not all twinges are the sensation of normal, spirited exertion.
8. It's okay to give up on Revolved Triangle pose. Some things aren't meant to be.
9. You can indeed go to gym dressed like a total schlub and no one will look at you funny.
10. A more reasonable goal would have been, "I will go to the gym every day I am physically able." That one I would have met!

So tomorrow kicks off Face-Off February, the dreaded month of no-makeup. Swing by and see what I look like, all naked up in the face!