I’m not sure if I’ve said so before, but I’ve really stepped up my workout routine as of late. My apartment complex has a great gym, and it’s only about 500 feet away from my door. Really convenient, especially on those cold cold days.

Anyway, going to the gym more has given me a fantastic opportunity to observe the interactions of those who are trying to (or already are) get in shape. Here are some regularities I’ve noticed:

• Men who don’t know each other do not talk to one another. In fact, eye contact is avoided at all costs.
• Couples who come to work out together never finish the workout together. They’ll come in all cutesy and ready to exercise as a team…they’ll start out with a stretch, do a few of the lifting machines together, then all of a sudden one is on the bike and the other on the stairclimber. It happens every time. (I’m not making any comments about these peoples’ relationships, but it’s just these sorts of interactions that designers should recognize, so that we can get to the root as to what is causing this (perhaps) unwanted separation)
• When you go in the dance room, don’t you dare dance. (I have never, ever seen anybody dancing in there. Perhaps I’ll give it a shot 😉

That’s all the regularities for now…I want to get to some different fun…STORYTIME!

So when I got to the gym yesterday, I stepped up to the treadmill and started my warm-up jog. To my right there was an empty treadmill (but it’s the crappy one), and to my left there was a girl who was at a more-than-medium pace listening to her iPod, we’ll call her Lala. (This isn’t a story about workout room romance, so get it out of your head.) After a few minutes, I’m jogging along, and all of a sudden I hear a *tweeeet*. It seems a song Lala was singing in her head nearly slipped out of her mouth. Not embarrassing, just a little jarring for me because it was unexpected. Then, out of nowhere, Lala lets out an entire line of chorus of a song. It was hard for me to keep my composure. She ended up doing it again 3 or 4 times after that, and it was hard to not laugh, but I was successful.

I guess this is the downfall of getting a music player for running…sometimes you just need to belt out that tune you’re listening to, and in my experience, sometimes it’s just too hard to run and guard yourself from public humiliation at the same time…after all, a good run is really tiring. In that case, props to Lala. She got a good workout, and had no need to censor her singing…i’ll probably find myself in her shoes one day.