A Casual Dinner

Knowing that my race is tomorrow and I changed my routine up a bit this week to accommodate the race, I did intervals on Tuesday instead of Thursday. The plan for yesterday was going to be an easy four or five miles. Since it was a more casual run, I opted for a run at the local rec center instead of the road. I thought it would be a good outing for my kids also.

The process of getting kids started at 3:00 and I am now getting into the gym at 5:00 pm. You all know what that means. That means that all the treadmills are taken. It's track time for me. The rec center has the track on the second floor and it goes around the entire outer part of the building. I can look down and see the different basketball courts or gymnastics or whatever might be going on in addition to seeing all the people on the second floor that are lifting weights or doing the machines, etc. I turn on my iPod and look forward to zoning out and ignoring the fact that I am just running in circles over and over and wondering if one time I am just going to go faster and faster and crash into a wall. I get half-way through my first lap and notice that instead of gymnastics set up in one of the areas below, there are tables with linens and a stage with music being prepped. This throws me off completely and also brings up the question. Why would anyone want to have a dinner at the rec center? There are plenty of fine banquet facilities that are available, but the gym? What brilliant mind thought that one up?

Part of me is revolted and the other is amused. Why would I pay money to come to the gym for a catered dinner? If I wanted food from the gym I could go to the food court in the lobby and get a churro or something, but a sit down dinner? I guess the idea of sitting down eating dinner while sweaty people of all different sizes run around you. Maybe these people are descendants of the Romans who used to watch slaves fight it out in the coliseums. Maybe they like this. As I lap around and around, I see different aspects of the prep work going on. I see the dessert trays being brought out, the heating pans, the butter being put out (this is buffet style I guess), the people donning aprons. I start wondering what it would be like if someone passed out on the track above the dinner or if someone wiped a sweaty brow and in the flicking off process, sweat landed on someone's table. Then the band starts a sound check. By this time, my run is over and people are starting to enter the dining area. It's time to pick up the kids and go home where I can enjoy a dinner without anyone running around over my head.