Running Over Western Avenue: My First Visit to the Fitness Center [by Mary Catherine Owen]

Photo courtesy of The College of Saint Rose

I did it. I bit the bullet and went to Saint Rose's fitness center.

This is something that I have long intended to do, but never have done for one specific reason: I am intimidated by people who actually know how to exercise. I need some sort of gym full of clueless people, with lots of helpful, non-judgmental, non-buff trainers to teach you how to use the machines without killing yourself. But as I don't know where to find one of those, off to the third floor of the Events and Athletics Center I went.

And then came back down to the first floor when I discovered there was no drinking fountain to fill up my water bottle.

Eventually I made it back upstairs and in the door. I had to admit to the people at the desk that I had never been to the fitness center before, because they now make you authorize your ID card to gain access. I did, and then asked the work study student if I was "good to go," trying to appear eager to start burning calories. Unfortunately, the answer was yes, so I headed over to the bank of treadmills and what I believe were elliptical machines.

Photo courtesy of Precor

I chose a treadmill (a PrecorUSA 954i model, in case you're interested), set down my stuff on the little shelves next to the control panel, and stared at the buttons for about a minute. The article I read about how to use a treadmill told me to familiarize myself with the controls before beginning; I located "Quick Start" and "Stop," and figured that was good enough. I pressed start, and away it went.

I forgot my MP3 player and wasn't sure there'd be a place to rest my book while I walked, so I was resigned to walk in silence like a loser. At first, I was inwardly freaking out about not being able to walk on the belt without holding onto the handlebar-things in front of me. I gradually got the hang of it and let go, and began ramping up my speed in little increments. Then I got a little bolder and changed the incline as well.

Photo courtesy of The College of Saint Rose

The machines in the fitness center automatically turn off after 30 minutes. About eight minutes into my walking, a girl got on the treadmill next to me and began running. Not wanting to look too lame, I bumped up my speed even more. It wasn't that effective; she was running at an 8.0 speed (miles per hour, I assume), whereas I peaked at 4.3 and then started panicking that I couldn't walk fast enough to keep up with the machine.

Around the five minutes remaining mark, I began to slow my speed back down. I was a little disappointed that I hadn't felt able to attempt running, since that would have made more sense for this blog. However, just staying on the treadmill and not eliciting confused stares (that I was aware of, anyway) was a big accomplishment for me.

When my 30 minutes were up, I stopped the treadmill, tried not to fall over while walking on the very stationary ground, and managed to take one picture of the fitness center sign before my camera's batteries died.

I don't know about you, but I'd call that a pretty successful first visit.