To the Gym!

I got a gym membership recently.  So far I've made pretty good use of it, but it is more on the expensive end as far as gyms in this town go.  I pay about fifty dollars a month for my membership.  It's one of two places in town with a track and a pool.  I need that track if I want to keep up with my running throughout the winter and then I can swim on my off days.  All in all I think it's worth it, as long as I can stay motivated to keep going.

The first day I went I was really nervous, and not about normal stuff either.  Like, you'd think I would be nervous to run in front of people, especially those going faster than me.  But no.  Instead I was nervous that I would use the wrong locker or grab a towel I wasn't supposed to use or just go against proper gym etiquette in general.  Sometimes my brain over thinks things and then I get way too worked up.  It didn't help that the first time I went, I ended up getting sick.  Lesson learned: never go swimming shortly after consuming spicy food and a lot of lettuce.  Thank god I got over the nervous feeling because now I feel right at home there.  Maybe one day I'll even get the courage to take a spin class or even use the lifting equipment.  For now I'll take the safe, less anxiety provoking path and stick to the track and pool.

I like exercising.  I like the feeling of accomplishment that comes with it and the adrenaline rush I get afterword.  A friend told me a couple years ago that she was going to run in the Boston marathon.  She didn't run much then and neither did I, but I told her I would run with her.  Now, I don't think I'll ever actually make it to the Boston marathon.  You have to have a qualifying time that is pretty intense, but I do think it's possible that I will run a marathon some day.  Hopefully in the next couple years.  There is a half marathon race that I can run in the fall.  My original plan was to do it this spring, but I stopped running as soon as it got cold.  First off it gets really cold out and secondly running on ice makes my muscles sore.  Hence the heated, indoor gym membership.  But seriously there is no better feeling then when I finish running what I had planned on running for that day.  It's the best sense of accomplishment I have found in anything so far.  I've adopted the song "Go the Distance" from Hercules as my motto.  And sometimes I just imagine how good it will feel to be able to say that I am a marathon finisher.  I still have a long way to go though.

I'm Back!!!

I have not blogged regularly in years... the reason being I have not had a functioning computer in years.  But now I do, so I really can't use that excuse anymore.  Technology really is great, isn't it?  My new toy is half computer/ half tablet- an Asus Transformer Book.  And even though I'm not quite sure how to use it yet and have only played around with it for the last thirty minutes or so, I've decided I love it.  Now I have a place to work on my stories, play games, and of course, get back into blogging.

Last year my new year's resolution was to write more so I decided that I would do a journal entry in my paper journal every day... I'm going to be honest with you.  That last until about April, but I kind of kept with it and wrote more last year then I have in a long time.  I even finished a story about an imaginary friend that I started writing about five years ago.  I come up with all these fun stories and characters in my head but sometimes just have a hard time with the actual writing part.

So which is better- blogging or journaling?  For me it's hard to say.

Blogging there's always the possibility that someone will read it and comment on it, which is always fun and exciting.  It's more like a two part conversation instead of just private reflection.  Ever since I took a creative class, I've been kind of obsessed with the conversation side of writing.  Anytime anyone mentions they write a story, I ask to read it and in turn ask them to read my stuff.  A keyboard is super convenient and faster too.  My fingers can keep up with my thoughts and writer's cramp can be a thing of the past.

But I've loved journaling since I was a little girl.  It's a nice private place to relieve stress and vent, and there is something almost magical about a blank page filling up with words out of my own head and the contact between actual pen and paper.  I also really like the smell of ink on paper.  And as dorky as this may sound, getting a new journal and finding one that fits my personity is always exciting.  In fact, when we went to the renaissance fair this summer I picked up a nice pink, leather one with a fairy on the cover.  I'm excited to write in it as soon as I fill up the one I'm currently writing in.  I've actually never filled one up before.  I always get new ones as gifts or because I see one I like and want to write in it straight away, leaving my old one half empty.  But this time I am determined and I'm pretty  close too.  More then three-fourths of the way in fact.

Maybe one is not any better than the other.  And I certainly don't think choosing to write one way means giving up another.  It's not like I'm going to blog about stuff that's too personal or private and it's unlikely that I hand my journal over to somebody to read something in there either.  Is there room to blog and private journal while keeping up with both?  Is there time along with enough ideas to go around?  Well, at least I certainly hope so.