If I move, this could die...

I've now been back to the gym five times, and am enjoying it so far. It's already beginning to feel like a routine. I have so far managed not to forget to take any vital bits of kit to work with me, although on Wednesday I did manage to forget the card I write the machines' settings on. Doh. I had to make a bit of a guess at the weight levels (I had a tentative lift before doing my 12 reps) and wrote them down in my notebook, but was surprised to find when I compared that they were all either exactly the same or slightly higher than before, which is how I'd have had them if I'd remembered my list. Obviously I'm a better guesser than I thought. However, I'm hoping to find a way to make a table on this blog - so if I forget the card again, I can print out a copy from work. Cunning, eh? Or it will be once I do it.

Things I've learned since I started:

You can read a book while on a stationary cycle. Most of the people at this gym are students, and it's quite sweet the way they all have books propped up on the readout bits of the cardio machines. I tried today and got on quite well - I'd thought I might get distracted and slow down, but I didn't.

Franz Ferdinand is good energetic music to work out to, especially "Take Me Out".

If you plait your long hair, and then absentmindedly squash the plait between your back and the backrest on the Incline Press machine, it doesn't half dig into your back! And you get a mini-bruise from the elastic band on the end. (I put it in a ponytail today and had no problems, however.)

The levers for adjusting the seats of machines are always on the other side from the one you look first.
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I've also done quite a lot of walking this week, especially on Tuesday, when I had to walk to the Music department at the University after work to take part in a recording of a scene from Othello. A girl I know is setting incidental music to the Willow Scene for her finals projects, so she wanted a couple of people, and I know the play well and love taking part in readings so I volunteered to read Emilia, who has a great speech saying that it's men's fault if women cheat on them.

Not a sentiment I would endorse (nor the other way about, for that matter) but it was fun to read - if slightly surreal. The girl playing Desdemona and I ended up being recorded seperately because otherwise we got picked up on each other's microphones (apparently, this is bad). So I just had to say my lines one after the other, without any cues - more difficult than it sounds. It'll be interesting to hear what it sounds like cut together, and with the music.

I probably won't go to the gym at the weekend because my sister is home from university and I want to spend time with her - but hopefully I'll get some exercise out in the fresh air.