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Friday, August 8, 2014

Giving up the gym ... for now

This week, I made the decision to put my gym membership on hold.  A combination of reasons led to this decision.

No time
I've always said gym memberships are not a waste of money unless you're not using them.  And I have not been using mine. With my work and social schedule, I can't tell you the last Zumba class I went to.  And now my half-marathon training schedule will keep me out of spin.  Sigh.

Different fitness priorities
I'm training for my half-marathon, which means lots of running.  And if you know me at all, you know I'm an outdoor runner.  So I'm not even utilizing the treadmills at the gym.

Saving money
Money is kind of tight right now as I put all my extra funds into paying some things off.  I started looking at the money I was tossing at credit cards and realized it was a huge waste.  I'm ready to be done with them.  Yesterday.  So saving $30/month on my membership will help give me a little more breathing room.

I believe this is the right decision for me at the moment, but I do have a few fears about freezing my membership.  For one, we've had a mild summer so far, meaning running outside has been easy.  Now that I've given up my access to treadmills, it's likely to get ridiculously hot or rainy.   I'm also concerned that going back will be harder. I fully intend to unfreeze my membership after my half-marathon.  Hopefully I'll have some of my financial goals achieved by then as well as a handle on my schedule so I can get back to some of my favorite classes.

In the meantime, I'll need to find some alternative cross-training workouts I can do at home.  Any recommendations?

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Last week's workouts
Friday: 4-mile run
Saturday: Off.
Sunday: Off.
Monday: 4-mile run (it was a terrible run, but I did it)
Tuesday: 4-mile run with running club 
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: 3-mile run on the treadmill

I was feeling lazy on Sunday (which is supposed to be my long run day), so I pushed the run to Monday.  I won't do that again.  I also need to be a lot better about my water intake.  I'm still having trouble with it.

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3 comments:

  1. I haven't had a gym membership in over 2 years... going on 3. ANd I don't really regret it. I've been doing walking lately, just making sure I hit my 10,000 steps...

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  2. It makes sense to me that you're freezing it, for sure. And you might have different fitness priorities right now but you seem to be just generally a pretty fit person, so if they change back to the kind of priorities that require equipment you can't afford to have at home, you'll go back! :) Also, you could use it as a chance to try some cool bodyweight exercises and things that you can build lean muscle with without needing the equipment at a gym. Hell, who knows, you could reach all your fitness goals without ever needing to spend money on a gym membership again!

    Good luck on your half marathon! :)

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  3. You definitely have good reasons for giving up the gym. I think you have to do what makes sense for you, and if the gym doesn't make sense, there's no sense in spending the money.

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