My Bally's Is Closing Down

Going back to the gym has given me a new awareness. Yeah, there's lots of great body-mind stuff. But that's not what I'm talking about. I am now aware that in one week, my particular Bally's is closing down.

This gym is a 2-3 minute car ride from our house. I've been getting Craig back into his walking routine and I've hoped that when he gets enough confidence up, we could just walk to the gym, workout and come back. It's a nice little facility, too. They've got a good cardio room, a good weight room, a pool, a hot tub, a sauna, a mirrored classroom and racquetball courts. Right now we're paying $31.75/month for the two of us. Not much eye candy there, I'll admit (lots of retirees in the mornings), but I'm pretty happy as is.

Well, Craig and I can go to Bally's in Kent, near my dentist. That's about a fifteen minute ride. I'm going to try to head over there tomorrow. Presumably, my billing wouldn't change. About five minutes away, there is a smaller Gold's Gym that just changed ownership and looks to be a non-corporate gym now. I went today and looked around. They'll give Craig and I membership for roughly $37/month, with a $25 fee up front. They have the cardio room and weight room. A small basketball court that doubles as their classroom. No other frills. They only had one woman working the whole place, doing front desk, tours, etc. I have to admit that I was fairly unimpressed. Down over by Boeing, near the lake, a new LA Fitness has opened up. Their opening online reviews from last year were pretty good, but the more recent reviews complain of broken equipment going months without repair. I have no clear concept of their prices. Unlike Kent, however, they're located in the direction of school, instead of further away. If I work out before I go teach, I'd have to shower there and take 405 north and go over the floating bridge. Craig loves the floating bridge. I keep reading news articles that suggest that the 520 bridge needs replacement and may fall into the lake. Blech. Any decision I make is pareto sub-optimal to my current set-up. This sucks.

I've realized that the impact of working out on my energy level is most evident if I work out in the morning. I wake up feeling like shit every morning. Until I start moving, I never know what sort of day I'll have. I've often wondered if I wake up with an endorphin imbalance of some sort. All I know is that if I work out in the morning, I have a better day on average. I don't get the same pick-up if I work out in the afternoon or evening. I'm really enjoying going to the gym every day. Combined with the B-12, I've been feeling a lot better. That means whatever the cost, I need to keep going to the gym every morning. I've got to figure out what facilitates that the best. I'm teaching at noon, Mondays and Wednesdays. With an hour and fifteen minutes of commute and walk to class time, I've got to hit the road by 10:45 am. If I shower at the gym, I have to be there at 9:15 or so. If I'm to take Craig's walk with him, we've got to get up at 7:30 am so we can be out of the house at 8 am. LA Fitness might be the logical choice.

Of course, the school gym is included in the costs of tuition. I want a gym near my house, but maybe I should workout at school on school days. That would make Kent a good choice, if the facility is nice.

I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to see the fuckin' places first and get their costs down.