Emotional exercise

I'll tell you where I've been having emotional experiences lately.

On the treadmill.

On the treadmill with my iPod shuffle, specifically.

And no, this is not a publicity push for Apple, though apparently they could use it.

I'm not actually a huge fan of Apple, and my only Apple product is the iPod shuffle which I got for free through a credit card rewards program. I almost put the signature apple-shaped sticker I received with the iPod on my PC to be ironic, but instead set it aside for my sticker-loving niece and nephew.

But I do enjoy my iPod shuffle.

It's convenient. It holds a lot of music. It makes my workouts go much faster. It's purple. It's shiny. It clips on my shorts like a champ.

And it helps create these emotional experiences I've been having lately.

First let me tell you about our "workout room" at my apartment complex.

It feels like a patio, but it's, uh, unattached to any sort of structure.

We'll call it Patio to Nowhere.

There are sliding glass doors on either side of the Patio to Nowhere, and the ones facing north are forever shut. I don't know if they're glued or bolted or what, but you can't get through them.

But I'm glad they're there, because the floor to ceiling glass gives me something to look at (through, really, to see) -- the often uninhabited pool -- while I (mostly walk)/jog.

Oh.

And this "workout room" includes a treadmill and a bike.

And an air conditioner.

And a sink with a bar counter that's about 3 feet long.

And it contains you, if you're in it.

Otherwise, nothing, which is why I feel Patio to Nowhere is a more appropriate name for the area.

So anyway. I've been (mostly skipping my workouts but) usually not skipping my long workouts which occur on Saturdays, at which point I pack up my Gatorade and water and energy chews and cell phone (to text for moral support) in my Rosie the Riveter tote bag, clip on my iPod and head to the Patio to Nowhere.

To stare at the pool for over an hour.

You should try it sometime it's great.

Actually it kind of sucks, but with the iPod there are emotional experiences sometimes which make it kind of great.

And by emotional experiences I mean that sometimes, lately, I've been getting goosebumps while I listen to certain songs while walking on the treadmill. Because sometimes the song is so sweet or motivating or spiritual that in combination with the adrenaline of enduring exercise, I feel all motivated and spiritual and goosebumpy.

That's it.

But hey it's worth writing about, yes?

I hope so, otherwise this blog's going to need the kind of boost Apple needs to get my readership back up.

This past weekend there was some actual action at the pool, and no I don't mean people actually in the pool using the pool but rather raindrops were falling on the pool.

Now sometimes I do this embarrassing thing where I imagine the song I'm listening to as some sort of soundtrack for my life, which I realize is both narcissistic and disturbing.

So I'll picture myself walking down the aisle at my wedding, or walking down a sidewalk, or something, while the song is playing in accompaniment.

So that's embarrassing and terrible. But the deed is done and I've already admitted it so we're moving on.

But sometimes the music just matches my pace and it is just the bomb dot com when that happens.

And this weekend, there was a moment, that may have been augmented by my imagination, but as I watched the raindrops fall on the surface of the pool, it felt like:

the song

the rain

and my feet

were all speeding up together.

And it was awesome.