So today I did something I have honestly NEVER done in my life. I bought a membership to a gym. This may strike you as odd but here’s why…

• In HS I had the weight room and I ran XC track.
• In college the same as above.
• After college we had a small workout facility at our apartment building.
• Once we moved to our house we bought a treadmill and had some basic weights and plenty of room to get down to some workout DVDs. Plus there really wasn’t any great gym options nearby.

When I started my job at Hyland I gained full 24 access to their on-site gym. I was psyched about this. However I have only used the gym about 3 times in the past 4 months. Weird, right? Well, in my case… I’m either way too distracted to hit the gym while at work. I think about it and even bring my gym clothes but when the time rolls around I’m way too worried about getting an extra 45 minutes of work done and can’t tear myself away from my desk. Pathetic? Yes. You’d think I’d just hit the gym after work but honestly I’m too worried about getting to daycare to pick up Miles. I don’t want him to be the last one picked up! Silly worry? Probably yes. So I just don’t hit the work gym like I hoped. And it’s not close enough for me to drive back to at night after Miles goes to bed or on a Saturday morning.

Over the past 6 years I haven’t had much trouble motivating myself to workout at home but lately… I just can’t do it. Again I get too distracted by my work laptop or laundry or my couch.

I decided that enough was enough and I needed to find a new place to take my sweat sessions. I wanted it close to home so that I could get their relatively quickly and I wanted really flexible hours. I hit the jackpot with both goals when I found a no frills gym that is 15 minutes away and has 24 hour access. Done and done.

Today I decided to go check it out and sign up for a year if I liked it. I scored a year membership for $395 and the best part is that my employer reimburses up to $300 a year for a gym membership so I got this shiny new membership for the low price of $95! I mean, awesome right?

It’s nothing too fancy but nice enough for me to be comfortable. A variety of cardio equipmment, weight machines, free weights. There are also some 5 am classes available that I definitely plan on purchasing once I get a few weeks of working out back under my belt.

Tonight after I signed all my stuff I hit the treadmill for a 1 mile warm up, then around 30 minutes of various weightlifting and then 10 minutes on a bike to cool down. I haven’t lifted any weights since my making the cut attempt and I’m telling you, I could barely hold my apple on the drive home. I can’t imagine what washing my hair will be like tomorrow morning. However, I can’t wait to go back!

So what about you? Always have a gym membership? Never?