I sat around my apartment after work yesterday having "the talk" with myself. You know the one -

"Self, it's time to go to the gym!"

"Ugh. Not again. Didn't I just do that yesterday?"

"We do it EVERY day."

"Well, let's not do it and say we did."

"I don't think that kind of thinking is Yoda-approved."

"So? He won't know."

"Yes he will. He checks your account to see when you've checked in. Besides, you can't lie to him - he see right through it every time."

"Crap."

And then I hauled my sorry behind to the gym. I figured I could also fulfill my smiling goal while I was there since as of 8PM last night I had only really smiled at 2 people. Yup. TWO. That's sad, right?

But the gym was practically empty. That's the thing I love about nights at the gym - everyone is at home already. I had my pick of machines and I didn't have to worry about being in anyone's way or having anyone look at me and judge me.

I warmed up. I lifted a few weights. I got on a treadmill. I pushed myself. I told myself that I'd run for 5 minutes straight. I haven't done that in a while. I've been running for 3 or 4 minutes and walking for 1 minute. When I hit 5 minutes I asked myself 3 things -

1. Are my legs hurting?

The answer was no.

2. Can I breathe?

The answer was yes.

3. Am I going to throw up, pass out, or die?

The answer was no.

So I kept going. I figured I'd do 8 minutes.

At 8 minutes I asked myself the same questions and(while my legs were much more tired and I could feel a stitch in my side) the answers were the same. So I kept going. I'd stop at 10 minutes.

As I was nearing 10 minutes I noticed how close I was to a mile. So I kept going.

11 minutes and 30 seconds!!! I'm pretty sure that's my best mile time so far. Of course, I haven't been running every day like I was last year, so I was practically about to collapse in the middle of the gym. Seriously. I was glad there weren't many people there because I'm pretty sure I was using almost all of the oxygen in the room. Plus, I hadn't planned my dinner well and had eaten just before the gym so my stomach was hurting and the stitch in my side felt more like a knife.

But I did it. I knew I could. I've run 3.1 miles before without stopping. Of course, that was when I was training for a run and not incorporating weights with cardio every day. I'm planning on doing it again today after Zumba. I want to run a mile every day before my 5K on Saturday. Then for the two weeks after that I want to train for my Sept. 15th 5K so that I can beat my previous times. I've been slacking on that point lately.

As I was walking through the gym to the front door I suddenly realized that I needed to smile at 8 more people in order to get to my goal. I tried to make eye contact with everyone that I passed, but almost all of them refused to look at me. The ones that did probably thought I was frakking crazy. By the time I got to the front desk, I still had 5 smiles left to give. Two employees at the front desk, plus a guy at the juice bar all got to see my crazy smile. Luckily I am on friendly terms with the girl at the front desk, so I stood and talked to her for a bit. I still had TWO people left and I doubted I would see anyone once I left the gym.

A lady left the gym and I gave her a giant smile. One left! I stood and talked to that employee for the next five minutes. No one came or went. No one came up to the juice bar. I was starting to panic. It was late and I wanted to shower. And then, SUCCESS! A guy came into the gym and I gave him a big smile. There was ten.

What I've noticed about the smiling is that it doesn't make me feel happy. I can smile at any time, but without something to MAKE me smile, it's just a motion. What makes me happier is their reactions to my smile.

Some people look confused. I'm sure they're thinking "Why the heck is this girl smiling at me? Did I do something stupid? Do I have toilet paper stuck to my shoe or something in my teeth?"

Some people ignore it. I tell myself that they're thinking "Did she smile at me or at someone behind me? Should I smile back? Oh crap. It's been too long and now if I smile back it'll be weird since it was so delayed".

Then there are the people who can't help but smile back. It's like an automatic reaction beyond their control like breathing is. These people make me the happiest. I want to be one of them someday. Right now I'm an ignorer that worries about waiting too long and being weird. I overthink it and by the time I decide to do it, they've moved on.

Anyway, I fulfilled my goal and I got my workout in. I'm calling that a good day. Hopefully today I'll do even better!

CHALLENGE UPDATES:
Challenge #1 - 25 Day Gym Attendance Streak TWO DAYS COMPLETE
Challenge #2 - Complete my daily To-Do list. TWO DAYS COMPLETE
Challenge #3 - Smile and make eye contact with at least 10 people every day.
ONE DAY COMPLETE