Oh, hi there! Recently I’ve been doing regular Friday Coffee dates. For today’s coffee date I’ll be joining Marcia and her faithful Runfessions crew. I’ve got a couple to share… although maybe they’re more like “gym-fessions.”
The other day I was headed to the gym for my “long cardio.” Because I’m simultaneously healing up my ankle and training for a 50K- two things that might not normally go together- I’ve been doing long cardio workouts in place of long runs. This day was a planned 90 minute session, alternating between the stairmaster and treadmill.
As I shared in my post about morning routines, it was a day where I dropped my daughter off at school and headed straight for the gym. Halfway there I suddenly thought, “Where are my headphones? Where are my headphones??? WHERE. ARE. MY. HEADPHONES?????”
I was sure I brought them with me, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. I was in such a panic, I thought I was going to crash the car. Can you IMAGINE showing up to the gym for a 90 minute workout on the cardio machines without headphones? I runfess that instead of heading to the gym, I went back home. My mind was racing. Maybe I dropped them? Maybe I can find some old headphones? Maybe someone else has headphones I can borrow?
I was in my driveway when I looked down and saw… MY HEADPHONES, on the floor of the car. The case is dark and they blended right in. Crisis averted.
Yesterday was another gym day. My husband was sleeping late (it’s his spring break) and because I didn’t want to disturb him, I took my work clothes out of the closet in the dark and packed them up for the gym. I dropped my daughter off, went to the gym, did my workout… so far, so good.
After a quick rinse, I went to get dressed and, EW. What is that musty smell? It was my work pants! Wait- I thought I solved that smelly laundry problem (an added splash of vinegar to each load has left everything smelling fresh as a daisy!) But these work pants had a very old, stale smell. Remember, I was at the gym, so it wasn’t like I could go find other pants to wear. I was stuck with them. Sigh.
I was halfway through my work day (a day which was accompanied by a vague, musty odor, which I was fervently hoping no one could specifically identify as coming from me) when I realized…. these are the wrong pants. These are my old work pants, and why they were even hanging in my closet in the first place is a mystery. I guess I was saving them for an emergency? I can’t imagine an emergency so dire that I would wear those pants on purpose.
You guys, it’s been a week. I love spring break and having everyone home, but it will be good to get back in a regular routine, where I won’t lose my headphones and wear smelly pants to work.
What would you tell me over coffee? Do you have anything to runfess?
Wuld you get on the stairmaster without anything to listen to? – Shudder.
32 Responses
LOL on the smelly pants! Have to carry perfume in your make up bag 😍It would be hard to do 90 min on a machine without headphones. I remain used to do pool running? Do you still do that?
I haven’t been doing pool running because our pool is too cold in the winter! It’s probably warmed up now though. Hmm, I’ll have to think about that. It’s still pretty boring and I’ll definitely need my headphones!
Ha! Your headphone story reminds me of my mum last week. The whole family was in panic because she “lost” her phone. The phone tracker showed that it was in some shrubs in front of their house. My sister searched carefully for hours through all the shrubs. Then they all searched through the whole house. Then they asked the neighbours and hung up notices around the neighbourhood.
Two days later, my mum found her phone. In her handbag. HER HANDBAG!!!
Apparently, she had searched there, but didn’t find it, because the “phone is black and the bag is black”.
You’re not alone, Jenny!
Oh your poor mom!!!!! I can totally see how that could happen (well, obviously since I did it myself.) It reminds me of what Gretchen Rubin always says- if you lose something, go back and look REALLY CAREFULLY in the most logical place… 9 times out of 10, it’s there.
I couldn’t make it through a workout without my headphones either! Glad you found them!
LOL on the pants. That reminds me I forgot to include another wardrobe malfunction in my runfessions. I forgot to pack a clean bra a few weeks ago so had to wear my sweaty one all day. Ick!
Ack!!!! That would be bad… I mean I’m sure no one else noticed, but it would bother me.
I cannot even imagine a 90 minute workout without something to listen to. I would just…not, I guess? I mean, I guess I would do what you did and go home to get the headphones. Good thing the crisis was averted because IMAGINE.
Sorry about your smelly work pants! What a day!
THanks Nicole! Those pants are going into the garbage.
I just wouldn’t get on the stairmaster period, haha.
Those vague musty smells are the WORST!
And that phone story of Catrina’s. Gah! I can 100% see this happening to me. I ding my phone with my Apple watch at least 5 times a day, sometimes more than a dozen. I am always, always looking for my phone.
You and my husband! He’s always looking for his phone. Weirdly, I usually know where mine is. And yes, that musty laundry smell… yuck.
I would not get on any cardio machine without headphones. It would make for the absolute longest and most terrible workout ever. I am glad you found them and could still get your workout done and get to work on time – in your smelly pants. lol. I am sure no one noticed, especially since massage rooms have the lovely aroma of whatever scented oil you used! But I would have been paranoid about that, too.
I don’t have any good confessions this week. It’s been a decent week so I don’t have any rants even! Well, besides all the snow but I can’t even hate that because of how much joy it’s bringing my kids. We went outside after dinner last night so they could sled and roll in the snow. It’s light out past 6 so that is one silver lining of getting snow after the time change I guess? It also helps to know we will be in Florida in a little over a week!
Yay! I wish you were going to be in south Florida- Florida is a huge state and I think you’ll be up in the panhandle? You should have some nice weather!
And yes… I did encourage some people to get aromatherapy added to their massage that day : )
I would have driven home, too! I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate not knowing where the headphones were (and I think machine-cardio needs some sort of distraction – and long cardio for sure!!). I think my coffee-fession would have to be that I had to move some boxes from one storage closet to another at work and somehow tweaked my lower back which has led to me spiraling about aging and mobility all week. There are so many internet rabbit holes one can go down researching all this and I ended up looking at mobility tests to see what you should work on which led me to a whole set of nightmare memories about the Presidential Fitness Test back in the day, haha! Maybe I should focus more on sleeping/stretching vs. sleuthing 😉 so glad you figured out the musty smell, too! That must have been a long day, haha!
Yes, it was a loooong day. And, sorry to hear about your back. Back issues are the worst, and I agree when your back hurts and you can’t move as well it makes you feel old. Yes, stop all that sleuthing and get more sleep!!! Ha, I hope it feels better soon.
I am totally with you re the headphones! As you know, I am on a long bike trip with many stretches between towns (sometimes days) and I have THREE pairs of headphones just in case. I can’t imagine sitting on a bike for 8 hours without them. I also listen to audiobooks in my tent sometimes if I don’t feel like taking my hands out of my sleeping bag! That would suck. However, when I do long backpacking trips, I often go for the first few hours with nothing, and just listen to the birds and look at the trees, but that is outside in nature, in a forest, alone with the world. On a treadmill I would go crazy.
Yes, I agree Kyria! Lots of times when I do a long run I’ll do the first segment with no headphones- but that’s out in nature. The treadmill definitely requires distractions. And… you’re smart to carry three sets of headphones with you!
I put my earbuds in this random space in our car where we usually put our cell phones when we’re driving (it’s a deep and narrow crevice – like maybe the dashboard was initially designed for a CD player in there?) and couldn’t find them for DAYS. I really freaked out and laughed when I finally found them. It’s crazy how many weird hiding places there are in cars. I will not so much as take Hannah for a walk without my headphones – I can’t imagine a gym workout without them!
Well, that goes back to Gretchen Rubin’s thing- always look for the lost thing where you think they should be… look really carefully there, and that’s usually where they are. It sounds like you’re a person who should have a spare set of headphones, just in case.
You literally had me laughing out loud about the smelly work pants 🙂
I’m glad you found your headphones – they are a must for a long gym workout!
Yes, the pants are funny in retrospect- but not so much fun while it was happening! I won’t be making that mistake again.
I had a slightly similar headphone situation – except it was my headphone case! I looked for days, checked at the gym, and my office, and everywhere… and then realized a week later the black case was sitting on my black monitor stand. DOH! For sure headphones are a necessity for that long workout!
Well, that would be a crisis because you can’t charge them without the case, right? This is all making me realize, we should all have a backup set of headphones.
Your headphones episode sounds much like me misplacing my phone in recent days. I don’t always have pockets, so I set my phone down in (what I think is) a very visible & obvious place… and then cannot find it back. And, in my new place I don’t have a landline to call my phone, LOL.
I’m glad you found your headphones!
I thought Spring Break was going to be super relaxing and fun with everyone around, and it was honestly so much more work! I wasn’t mad when we all headed back to our things.
Noooooooo the horror of getting to the gym with no headphones. I’ve been there, friend, and it’s not pretty. It’s even worse than getting to the gym and finding out that I forgot to bring a hair tie.
My library hold for The Breaking Wave is here! It will take me a few more days to finish the Amish murder mystery and then I’m going to dive in.
Headphones are an absolute necessity for the gym! I can’t imagine even getting through a couple miles on the tread without a podcast. When I had to do my long runs on the treadmill in 2022 when I got stitches in my knee a month out from my first trail marathon, I watched Netflix on my phone to get me through! It’s funny though because while I do listen to music on a lot of my runs, I actually finished that marathon without listening to music at all – the trails really are so stimulating in themselves that sometimes I don’t even really need to listen to it!
There is no way I’d do a gym workout without headphones! I don’t even like heading outside for a walk or run without an option to listen to something to. What a relief you found them! I’m always losing my phone, headphones, etc, and not good at finding them again (my husband calls my ineffective searching a “Sophie scan”). Oh dear,
Ha ha… Sophie scan. Yes, I was very relieved to find those headphones!
LOL, I once went to the gym, realized I forgot my earbuds, and walked right out and went home. At least you found your earbuds and went back for your workout! I was like, “I guess this is a sign I shouldn’t work out today.” HA.
Ha, that’s funny. I can picture doing certain workouts with no headphones but not the one I had planned for that day.
I totally would have turned around when they weren’t right beside me too! It’s fine to be alone with my thoughts on a long run but it’s nice to multitask and listen while you work out!
I should try the vinegar thing. Do you put it in with the soap?
Yep! I just pour in a glug of vinegar when I put the soap in. It works GREAT.