This morning I decided to start my workout as my first activity of the day. Bill is a true "morning person", a lark, and I on the other hand am a night owl by nature, but, I am trying to change and told Bill I want to get on his schedule. So he's been bringing me my coffee in bed (so sweet! I know I am so blessed and spoiled!), and that does get me up and going! So, I head out to do my morning Cardiovascular workout (3 miles on the treadmill), and then the weight training machines to keep my muscles and bones strong etc.
As I drive into the huge lovely parking lot, the place is obviously packed, already! These senior citizens get up and going EARLY! Wow! I finally find a place to park and the fancy golf cart gentleman is eyeing me and sizing me up, asking himself, can she walk to the door or do I need to go give her a lift? By now, most of the volunteers know, I am a bit insulted by that and YES, I can still walk to the door on my own, thank you very much! Give me another decade and that may change! Anyway, I swipe my card to get the door to unlock and let me in and I see about 50 folks doing some kind of aerobic class to music on the gym floor led by an enthusiastic and buff young black gentleman who definitely is an employee, not old enough to be a member here. The music is from a genre that only 50 year old or older would know!
I get my purse and Fruit 2/O water put in my locker in the locker room that closely resembles a spa at a Four Season's Hotel, and get my Techno Gym Key ready and my ear buds and head upstairs for cardio. Thankfully my favorite treadmills, facing out over the lake and with the AC blowing right on me, have a few open! I get going on my really fast walking with the goal of 3.2 miles in 45 minutes or less. (I'm training for the Disney Princess half marathon the year I retire!)
I smile and chuckle to myself as I notice the cutest little 64+ lady walking briskly on the walking track that encircles the treadmills and the open area above the pools. This gal has on a magenta sequined billed cap, black stretch pants and black athletic shoes, and a bright pink t-shirt with a black sequined vest over that! She also has matching blingy earrings and bracelets! God love her! I am sure I will be just like that, give me about 12 years or so! How precious! So I keep up my pace and notice the gentleman on the treadmill beside me is slapping himself on his belly, pause, then on his back, back on his belly, slap, slap, grunt, grunt, and then I hear some elastic being twanged or snapped on his person by his hands but I don't dare look to see exactly where. He is quite happy and enjoying his cardio in complete oblivion! He is definitely 64+ and loves the Summit too, in pretty good shape but I am wondering what the purpose is in slapping various areas on oneself while running? Ok, now, trying to tune out the slap happy guy next to me, and on a serious note and observation, I am seeing two ladies walking the track with canes, and then one gentleman using a rolling walker, and another one with no cane or walker but with a post stroke gait and arm contraction going on. From my speech pathology training I can spot post stroke patients right away and seeing these folks, I speed up my pace a bit and increase my incline a notch. Note to self: I will not get lazy or ever quit taking my blood pressure medicine or get obese and end up having a stroke as I grow older.
As I drive into the huge lovely parking lot, the place is obviously packed, already! These senior citizens get up and going EARLY! Wow! I finally find a place to park and the fancy golf cart gentleman is eyeing me and sizing me up, asking himself, can she walk to the door or do I need to go give her a lift? By now, most of the volunteers know, I am a bit insulted by that and YES, I can still walk to the door on my own, thank you very much! Give me another decade and that may change! Anyway, I swipe my card to get the door to unlock and let me in and I see about 50 folks doing some kind of aerobic class to music on the gym floor led by an enthusiastic and buff young black gentleman who definitely is an employee, not old enough to be a member here. The music is from a genre that only 50 year old or older would know!
I get my purse and Fruit 2/O water put in my locker in the locker room that closely resembles a spa at a Four Season's Hotel, and get my Techno Gym Key ready and my ear buds and head upstairs for cardio. Thankfully my favorite treadmills, facing out over the lake and with the AC blowing right on me, have a few open! I get going on my really fast walking with the goal of 3.2 miles in 45 minutes or less. (I'm training for the Disney Princess half marathon the year I retire!)
I smile and chuckle to myself as I notice the cutest little 64+ lady walking briskly on the walking track that encircles the treadmills and the open area above the pools. This gal has on a magenta sequined billed cap, black stretch pants and black athletic shoes, and a bright pink t-shirt with a black sequined vest over that! She also has matching blingy earrings and bracelets! God love her! I am sure I will be just like that, give me about 12 years or so! How precious! So I keep up my pace and notice the gentleman on the treadmill beside me is slapping himself on his belly, pause, then on his back, back on his belly, slap, slap, grunt, grunt, and then I hear some elastic being twanged or snapped on his person by his hands but I don't dare look to see exactly where. He is quite happy and enjoying his cardio in complete oblivion! He is definitely 64+ and loves the Summit too, in pretty good shape but I am wondering what the purpose is in slapping various areas on oneself while running? Ok, now, trying to tune out the slap happy guy next to me, and on a serious note and observation, I am seeing two ladies walking the track with canes, and then one gentleman using a rolling walker, and another one with no cane or walker but with a post stroke gait and arm contraction going on. From my speech pathology training I can spot post stroke patients right away and seeing these folks, I speed up my pace a bit and increase my incline a notch. Note to self: I will not get lazy or ever quit taking my blood pressure medicine or get obese and end up having a stroke as I grow older.
As I continue fast walking on my Techno Gym treadmill and LOVING it, the cutest, kindest, most encouraging couple, Dr. & Mrs. Chaney walk by on the track and yell out to me, "Hello!, what are YOU doing here? Did you sneak in the back door? You are not old enough to join here!", I just LOVE them!
Many folks go around with their ear buds in both ears and the other end dangling since you can plug it into the TV speaker on all the cardio machines, bikes, treadmills, arm machines etc. but most folks also yell out when they say hello or casually visit back and forth, lol! I am still not sure if it's due to their earbuds in their ears of if most are a little or a lot hearing impaired! Lol! Note to self, get my hearing checked regularly and use ear protection when around loud noise to protect what hearing I have left! Chuckle! Did you hear me or do I need to say that a little louder?
Forty five minutes and 3.3 miles, aka a full 5K later, I take off my ear buds, (we have TVs with sound we can watch while on the treadmill if we get bored with the lovely view over the lake or if people watching gets dull), and I head to the weight machines. I want to do Ab crunches first but there is a 64+ but handsome and obviously in pretty good shape, loves to work out and it shows, gentleman on the ab machine so I do my triceps and bicep curls close by so I can snag the machine when he is done. Now, there is music playing throughout the Summit but this man is singing the Black Eyed Peas song "It gonna be a good good night", out loud and pretty on key over and over as he does set after set of crunches! He is obviously totally unaware that there is already music playing her for us all to enjoy but actually I did like HIS singing better than what was coming over the speaker system! So funny! Ok, then he finally finishes so I can get going on abs and he moves just right across the the leg press, my next spot to go too, and continues to serenade us all in that area with "It's gonna be a good good night!" I loved it! That is one of my new goals, to be 64+ and working out daily, looking pretty buff for 64 and singing sincerely, "It's gonna be a good good night" and meaning it! Ok, arms, abs, legs, cardio, done, so I head over to cool down on the treadmill again at a gentle pace and see this absolutely adorable Hispanic lady, probably only 4' 11" just strutting her stuff on the walking track and she has on the cutest big hat and big sparkly earrings and a satin sequined top with pants and even cute shoes but she is walking that track, and with enthusiasm! So cute! The extremely varied ways these folks come dressed to workout is entertaining! Then I see the most lovely and beautiful lady, Virgina H., from our church and she is dressed perfectly appropriate for workout and she is just darling! Always smiling, tiny and gorgeous, make up and hair always perfect, ok, now she is my new idol! I want to be just like her when I retire! Love her! Moving on I head downstairs to check back in the locker room and whoa.... (just close your eyes, Pam, or at least squint, eyes down, and just put your key in your locker and focus on getting your purse...) Lol! These ladies are not modest!.... Most ladies in the locker area are about to go swim or have just finished swimming or doing the water aerobics class and I guess when you get 64 and older you just don't retain any modesty any more! Whew... Ok, well, that was special, new goal, when I am 64+ I vow to retain some measure of modesty and not shock or scare my younger female Summit members! I vow to attempt to keep as firm as possible with my genetics and commitment to work out and eat right! (I am saying this in jest and with laughter!), but seriously, there are changing areas ladies, but you do have to admire a gal who isn't ashamed to just put it all out there and get dressed and undressed and on to the next thing! Lol! Sigh... I am just tuckered out after all that fun! Whew!
Forty five minutes and 3.3 miles, aka a full 5K later, I take off my ear buds, (we have TVs with sound we can watch while on the treadmill if we get bored with the lovely view over the lake or if people watching gets dull), and I head to the weight machines. I want to do Ab crunches first but there is a 64+ but handsome and obviously in pretty good shape, loves to work out and it shows, gentleman on the ab machine so I do my triceps and bicep curls close by so I can snag the machine when he is done. Now, there is music playing throughout the Summit but this man is singing the Black Eyed Peas song "It gonna be a good good night", out loud and pretty on key over and over as he does set after set of crunches! He is obviously totally unaware that there is already music playing her for us all to enjoy but actually I did like HIS singing better than what was coming over the speaker system! So funny! Ok, then he finally finishes so I can get going on abs and he moves just right across the the leg press, my next spot to go too, and continues to serenade us all in that area with "It's gonna be a good good night!" I loved it! That is one of my new goals, to be 64+ and working out daily, looking pretty buff for 64 and singing sincerely, "It's gonna be a good good night" and meaning it! Ok, arms, abs, legs, cardio, done, so I head over to cool down on the treadmill again at a gentle pace and see this absolutely adorable Hispanic lady, probably only 4' 11" just strutting her stuff on the walking track and she has on the cutest big hat and big sparkly earrings and a satin sequined top with pants and even cute shoes but she is walking that track, and with enthusiasm! So cute! The extremely varied ways these folks come dressed to workout is entertaining! Then I see the most lovely and beautiful lady, Virgina H., from our church and she is dressed perfectly appropriate for workout and she is just darling! Always smiling, tiny and gorgeous, make up and hair always perfect, ok, now she is my new idol! I want to be just like her when I retire! Love her! Moving on I head downstairs to check back in the locker room and whoa.... (just close your eyes, Pam, or at least squint, eyes down, and just put your key in your locker and focus on getting your purse...) Lol! These ladies are not modest!.... Most ladies in the locker area are about to go swim or have just finished swimming or doing the water aerobics class and I guess when you get 64 and older you just don't retain any modesty any more! Whew... Ok, well, that was special, new goal, when I am 64+ I vow to retain some measure of modesty and not shock or scare my younger female Summit members! I vow to attempt to keep as firm as possible with my genetics and commitment to work out and eat right! (I am saying this in jest and with laughter!), but seriously, there are changing areas ladies, but you do have to admire a gal who isn't ashamed to just put it all out there and get dressed and undressed and on to the next thing! Lol! Sigh... I am just tuckered out after all that fun! Whew!
Thank you Lord, that your word says "...I am fearfully and wonderfully made" in Psalms 139:14
Help me to be a good steward of the body you have given me. Help me to always be able to laugh at myself and appreciate how different and varied we, as people, are made! Help me to grow old, live long and happy and grow to be a worthy mentor and encourager to others!
This place is not a shabby joint in any form or fashion! This is a multi-million dollar establishment and definitely one of a kind in this nation! Our city, Grand Prairie, Texas, built and owns it and there has even been a little criticism on how much money they spent! I am thrilled that it is available for just a song to all our 64 plus citizens! Surely this entices more folks to retire here and make Grand Prairie their home for life!
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