Last year when I started taking mid-day breaks from sitting to get some exercise, I played it safe. I did cardio. Those treadmills are trusty; as long as you don't slide off, you can get in and get out without being noticed much. After a few months I even started to consider myself a runner. I could get five miles in on a lunch break and feel pretty awesome about it. Headphones in, miles logged and back to the office.
Well one way to get noticed is to leave the gym headed for the emergency room. The first week in March of this year yanked me out of the safety of land-o-cardio and vulnerably exposed me to a group of total strangers. I did 4 miles on the elliptical, then rowed for 10 minutes. In the locker room something felt off, I wasn't coming down from the exercise high. My chest was pounding and I didn't have the energy to put my shirt on. I sat on the bench and asked the first person that walked in to take my pulse. The look on her face is something that I will never forget, sheer concern sprinkled in with a little fear. The hour the ensued had me half naked on a yoga mat, eating orange slices and refusing to go to the hospital. There were a lot of people that came through the locker room in that hour. A lot of people that deeply cared for a total stranger.
The next week when I returned to the gym with a heart monitor on and instructions not to run anymore, I needed to figure out what my new normal would be. Well if you can't hang in the comfort of cardio, where else do you turn, but weights. People that lift are different than people that do cardio, they talk. They do this thing called resting in between sets so they converse. It was a very foreign concept to me. But when you head from the gym to the ER and then return with a heart monitor and a new found desire to lift weight, conversations get started.
People that workout at noon are a weird mix of young professionals that have found a hip work environment that encourages exercise mid-day and retired people. There isn't much in between. You may find your odd waitress that works nights, but that's really the exception to the rule. Those that have departed the working world know everyone's name, their profession, their relationship status and just enough about your personal life to make solid conversation in the locker room. Those of us still employed are more there to motivate, encourage growth and celebrate successes.
My core people know that I am comfortable at a pulse of 120 and when it creeps to 130, I need a rest and a few minutes to recalibrate. It got back up to 170 once and boy did they rally around me. It is really amazing what you can experience when you allow total strangers to become part of your support network. My friends and family aren't with me when I am exercising, now one of the more vulnerable activities in my life, but my gym community is. They know my limits, know when to challenge me, know when to push me to rest and know when to be concerned.
Experiencing a cardiac event at the age of 37 has changed my perspective on life in so many ways. It has also exposed me to a community of amazing people that I would have otherwise never known. Not only do they spot me when I bench, but they ask me what I'm growing this week and what veggies I have for sale. I'm hitting the gym with a bag of beets for my retired friend Pam who wants to support my market garden concept. Overhearing a conversation about someone having trouble gaining weight and thinking about incorporating Hamburger Helper into his diet lead me to some solid shaming and lecturing about sodium consumption. Not to mention the Mountain Dew, but I have to be careful how much I judge...The bottom line is that he heard me, cared what I had to say and truly took my opinion to heart.
I took an order just today in the locker room. Full nude, confirming one pound of carrots and two bunches of kale. So tomorrow I guess I'm hitting the gym with tri-colored carrots and some russian red kale.