Social Workout

Buns of Steal

My Social Workout Challenge Begins With A Spin Showdown

Today's free workout: Crunch, 83rd street, courtesy of the Social Workout/Crunch Get Schooled Challenge. I've been in NYC for a week, but finally, today, I felt as if I had returned. To be honest, my workouts up to this point had been sub-par. I was sluggish, I was lazy, and it showed in both the quality of my gymhops and in my energy levels. But not today. No, today I started Social Workout's Crunch Get Schooled Challenge, which dares reader/exercisers to work out 20 times, do 8 Crunch classes, and log 20 healthy meals, all in the next 28 days.

"This is perfect!" I thought, as I lay in bed (slightly hungover) reading  through the cheery-sounding descriptions. "I'm starting school. I need to get back in shape. Aaaaaand.... this means another 2 free weeks at Crunch, one of my favorite gyms, with what are for sure the kookiest classes around." But by the next day, the 4-day weekend had caught up to me and I was struggling to make it down to 83rd...

"Okay," i reasoned with myself. "Just go to the yoga class. Nice. Chill. Compromise."

But, 83rd street is a straight, 2 mile shot from my place. And really, there's no excuse to get on the subway if you can get an extra workout running to the gym, right?

And so, I forced myself out the door... and right smack into the pouring rain, which apparently I had failed to notice as I was gazing out my window (instead of doing corporations homework) not even an hour prior.

But now there was no turning back. I was already soaked, and my ever helpful ipod had just begun blasting Calle 13. I took off down Morningside...

17 minutes later (!!) I had already made it to Crunch. Calle 13 had been on repeat the whole time. I was soaked. I was sweaty. I was NOT Zen. Yoga was absolutely out.

Thankfully, I spotted a signup sheet for The Ride, a spin class that had started a few minutes earlier. There was one spot left. Sweet! I signed up and sprinted down the stairs.

Here's where the 83rd street location has the Union Square one beat: their spin sign-up sheets actually have the bikes numbered. What does that mean? It means that when you come into the room and someone has snagged the bike you've signed up for, you actually know who to talk to (a.k.a. kick out).

Of course, this is exactly what happened. I walk in, its already dark and the music is starting, though the instructor is still walking around, helping people onto their bikes. Not a single free bike...

Oh no, I thought. This has happened before. In fact, it happened at the Union Square Crunch, with some not so satisfactory results.

I walk up to bike 40, which I had signed up for. This is always a bit awkward:

"Uh, hi... sorry, but I was actually signed up for this bike."

"Oh, sorry," the girl says. "I was actually signed up for 39, but..."

And with that, she turns to the girl on 39: "Sorry, did you sign up for a bike?"

"Uh... no.... I didn't know there was a sign-up."

I felt slightly bad at this point. This girl had dragged herself to the gym, in the rain, she was probably excited for spin class and now she was gonna miss her workout. I hesitated for a second, but then thought... well, I also dragged myself here, in the rain, excited for my workout. And, ya know what, I signed up for the bike! ef it.

"Sorry!" I said, shot her my most sympathetic smile, and stood my ground.

And so I waited, as the girl got off the bike, shot me a dirty look and squeezed past.

The class was awesome. Perfect, in fact. Not because it was particularly amazing, spin-wise, but because, for the first time since returning to NYC, I felt myself back in the groove.

Yes, I thought, this month holds promise...

For the ongoing adventures of Buns of Steal, an impoverished but equally resourceful law student in New York City (with a stint in D.C. for the summer!), hoping to make it through 2010 without ever paying for a gym membership, visit "Buns of Steal."