The gym was empty enough that it felt a touch weird to get on a machine right next to one already in use.
I arrived with plastic bags inside of plastic bags. I am far from figuring out how I want to carry my phone around, especially when exercising. It is very much a special case inside of a special case. With, I guess, the additional special case of the phone being completely new. I do not - foolish though it may be - particularly feel like getting a case for the phone, but the gym (and the even rarer case when I actually bring the phone on a run) probably motivates something. Not for protection in particular, but more for convenience. Some kind of arm band where I could also stuff my keys and the gym card sounds right for me. I always bring all three things, plus shoes, but the gym is close enough that I typically change at home and so a larger bag feels uncalled for. I tend to stuff the shoes in a plastic bag and then keys, phone and card inside of the shoes. An arm band would work well both for transport there and home, and for wear while exercising.
Back at the gym, time passed a bit faster than usual. The 45 minutes on the crosstrainer actually felt like … about 45 minutes, rather than the eternity it sometimes is. Podcasts never hurt, and I managed to move my eyes away from the display and the timer pretty well. More people gradually showed up, but I kept thinking about the person on the machine next to me until I was alone.
Things like:
"I hope i did not ruin any focus."
"Is it nice to have company or was it more relaxing to be alone?"
"Am I providing any motivation, or do I look like someone pushing way too hard?"
Welcome to the inside of my head. Must be nice to be you, able to step out of it at any time. This was not an obsessive thought of any kind, but something along those lines popped up whenever I noticed the next machine in the corner of my eye. I think a part of it is that I am very much about getting to do things at my own pace, and I would hate to have a negative effect on someone else attempting to do the same.
Podcasts, you say
On Friday, I got my Iphone. On Saturday I looked at my podcast queue and found massive episodes of The talk show and Accidental tech podcast. Both recorded before the Iphone release and thus likely to be full of pre-release speculation.
Just the kind of news or talk of the present I have been thinking of cutting down on.
I have to admit: I did listen to both episodes. But I also unsubscribed to both podcasts. Fun listening thought they are, I can do with needing to actively look for them, choosing episodes based on their content rather than reflexively filling my ears.
Well, what do you know, this means I have removed all the Apple-centric tech news shows from my subscriptions. Interesting times. (Do not be surprised if I end up listening to most of their episodes anyway, it was the active choice I was after at the moment.)