how anger makes you faster

I don't know what it is but I've pretty much converted to a treadmill runner in the last two weeks. I think I've run outside only two out of eight runs in that time. Yeah, it's cold but that only matters for about a block. And now it's snowing again, a lot this time, and that could matter a lot. But I just get used to the in-out-done of the gym. No coming back to work to collect my stuff, no traffic lights, no helicopter exhaust. Then again, out on the trail you don't have to deal with any RUDE BITCHES except Michelle, if you're lucky enough to have her company.

So anyone who's ever belonged to a gym has a passing familiarity with the cardio signup. You sign up for a half hour slot on a specific machine and then when your time comes, you get the machine. Right? So I sign up for a treadmill, number 3 to be exact, because I like that one. It doesn't squeak or rock. You can see your feet reflected in the window. It's not on the end. It's not directly in view of the creepy dude in the office across the street who likes to watch the girls on the treadmills. And I sign up for a 7:30 spot because that is the first time-slot available even though I got to the gym at 6:15. It's these damn membership drives. Bring a friend! Such is life.

So at 6:15 I take the stupid "dance class" with the lunatic Latina sexpot who makes us all gyrate like strippers and pretends that it's salsa. At 7:00 I do a round of weight machines. At 7:30, I get a drink of water, stretch and wait for #3 to vacate. She doesn't. At 7:35, I hop onto the broken treadmill next to her (maybe if enough people join this week they'll fix it) and I ask her if she's almost done. She lifts up her magazine to check the digital readout and says "I still have one more mile." And I say, nicely, reasonably, "There's a sign up for the machines." And she looks at me like I'm crazy and says, "Can't you use one of those?" It's true there are three other treadmills empty at the moment, though only one of them is unassigned on the sheet. "I'm sort of attached to this one," I say. "Well," she huffs, sneering, "it's gonna be like five more minutes."

What is that? I understand wanting to finish your run, and that's why I didn't bother you until 7:35. And could I use another treadmill? Sure. And of course I do, because it's already 7:40 and I'd like to eat dinner at some point. But there's a signup sheet for a reason and the reason is that IT"S NOT YOUR @#!#@!# TREADMILL. And the considerate thing to do in such a situation would be for YOU to get on a different machine.

Okay, sorry. I'm done. That's not a flattering picture of myself I just painted. But I can be petty and small. And that's why I ran two 8:30s followed by a 9:30. Which is pretty much like the wind, for me.