What?? Gym closed??

We are such creatures of habit ~ whether we drive the same route to work every day, stop at the same coffee shop, religiously have the same drink order, or have the same routine for getting ready in the morning.  Of course every personality is different ~ but as I have described my Type A personality can you imagine my surprise, and STRESS when I found out my gym closed??

I was lucky ~ I had a few days to get my head wrapped around it before they closed the doors, but unfortunately they did not give their members much notice.  What I learnt from this was, I wasn't the only one that was stressed about the change that was going to happen to routine because of the gym closing.

*Gym rats*, athletes, elderly looking to just keep their bodies moving, or just *normal Joe* who has made the gym part of their every day routine or life style.  Exercise can be fun ~ but it has become a part of many peoples every day routines.  Add into those routines, their working hours, their travel time, their home time - there really isn't much room left in the day to allocate that hour one can make time for getting to the gym and working out, let alone spend the extra time driving to a gym that is out of the area where you live.  Some people are lucky enough to find a gym on their way to work; or have the time to drive to their gym of choice or even have a gym at their place of business. Other people have equipment in their homes (me) but do prefer the gym atmosphere or feel motivated going to a gym.  Other people have their day scheduled to the hour, to the minute. Convenience is such a factor.  Yes - there may be many gyms out there - but again, options, price, convenience, equipment play into every equation.

This week one of the gym's closed their doors as of Wednesday.  OMG!!  I have my routine, I have my goals, and I did not factor in the fact the gym was going to close.  Yes - I did have a few days notice as they are in the same complex as my business.  We have been assured that they are re-opening under a different name across the street - hopefully by the middle of the month.  This sequence of events has now left many people including myself, looking for alternatives with their training.

I am lucky as I also train in at my trainers' gym as I have mentioned in previous posts.  Whew!  But what was I going to do in between those times, especially when I am to be doing double cardio, and I don't have a lot of extra hours in my day.  Thankfully, my friend who is also training for the same show, suggested that she had a treadmill at home that I was more than welcome to use.  My trainer offered me an older stair climber that I am welcome to borrow in the interim.  The community centre we do have in our area has a treadmill and some other older cardio equipment - and of course the other alternative is the track.  It just means that you have to start being creative.  Yikes!!  A change in routine - this is always good, but when we are set in our ways....OMG!!!

In the time the gym has closed its doors - I have used my friend's treadmill.  I went to the track with my friend and ran stairs and laps (which is much better with a friend than alone), and since my husband has started bike riding, I have humoured him and joined him on his route twice.

I can say cardio has not been boring ~ it has been different changing it up, and of course the weather has been nice to be able to take advantage of being outside - which is an actual bonus.

The owner of the gym has invited me to train in the chaos as they are getting ready to open their new location. When they have their cardio equipment set up I will take her up on this as it is still in a convenient distance from my business.

But until then....I'm learning ~ variety is the spice of life.