02A7D: Saturday Outside Again

Saturday Outside Activities

Metro Manila Community Quarantine - Day 623

After much planning (and trepidation), I went back to the gym today! The last time I had worked out there was back in July before the last round of ECQ restrictions and since then I've focused on making the most of our limited equipment at home. I've kept bust, but admittedly it's not the same as having the full diversity of stuff at the gym. I just had to get over how nervous being in public still makes me.

I was on time for my slot and was kind of surprised at the number of people at the gym. There were maybe a dozen folks, which is not that bad given the size of Anytime Fitness High Street, but it was still a bit of a shock versus the maybe 5 people I used to run into back in July. Thankfully, most of them were busy with the big machines whereas my main focus was to secure space in the functional fitness area. And thankfully I only had to deal with (read: compete with) 2-3 other people at the most. I just laid down an exercise mat, gathered all the different weights I needed, and just stuck to my spot right up against the window.

While I have been able to do dumbbell and resistance band work at home, it was nice to have a variety of kettlebells, medicine balls, and more dumbbell weights. At home, I set a single weight for all exercises and just make the most of things. Today I was able to gather different weights for different exercises and even had options to increase or decrease difficulty based on how things were going. I was hoping to be somehow stronger than the last time I had been here, and maybe I was to some degree. But I also hadn't done particular routines in months so it's understandable that I had to also stick to the same weights as before. I even still got to go through my restorative yoga as cooldown, although I wonder if people thought me strange to be doing that all by myself.

I ended just a little over my appointment period, which didn't feel too bad since there were guys who were there before I arrived who were still wrapping up as I left. I wanted to make a fuss about it, but I didn't want to spend too much extra time there. I also made sure to check on when my contract period comes to an end, and I now have a date - February next year. So I'll have until January to decide if I still need this membership or if I'll just go back to 100% home-based activities.

On the way home, I took the time to swing by Old Navy because of their Black Friday sale running until the end of the month. There were a few shirts that I saw on the website that seemed interesting, so I figured it would be nice to swing by and see them in person. It turns out some of the shirts I wanted were online exclusives while other shirts were only available in-store, which was a little frustrating. so I ended up getting some pink shirts for me and Tobie in store then I ordered the rest online instead. Either way, I got 40% off, so it still felt like a good deal. And I qualified for free shipping, so it all works out.

It was nice to be outside for a bit, even if things were rather hurried. I'm not 100% comfortable with being outdoors so much between last night's birthday even and today's gym excursion, but I do acknowledge that I missed walking around BGC more. My walks have been mostly limited to trips to and from Mercury Drug or to the family condo in the area with limited deviations. Today's walking brought me around High Street including walks by more businesses that had closed down. It was different at least.

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