Yesterday morning, I walked over to the nearest fitness center at Wind Crest and walked two miles on the treadmill. Despite all of my best intentions, it was only the second time that I had done any kind of planned exercise since moving here. I have walked considerably further than I have walked for a long time just by virtue of the fact that Wind Crest is HUGE, and things are far apart. Still, I had promised myself that I would start exercising regularly, and I had largely failed.

There are a lot of options available. The fitness center is full of every kind of equipment a person could want. There are treadmills and exercise bikes and eliptical machines. There are weights and weight machines and a person who will show you how to use all of that equipment.

Just about any kind of class is offered, from aerobics to line dancing to stretching and balance to tai chi. I have spent considerable time thinking about which classes to take. I even mentioned to a friend that tai chi appealed to me but that I was concerned that the regular participants wouldn’t appreciate having to teach me something that I had never done before. Pshaw, she replied. The teacher will be happy to show you how to move and the other people in the class won’t mind at all.

Well, so much for that excuse.

Oddly enough, the exercises that appeal to me the most are the aquatic classes. That’s rather bizarre because, as I have mentioned before, I don’t swim. Not at all. I have a fear of putting my head under the water. However, I was pretty sure that water aerobics didn’t involve putting my head under water. I checked that notion out yesterday after leaving the fitness center. Wind Crest has two swimming pools. The one closest to our apartment is salt water and seems to be rarely used. But I noticed that there was a class scheduled yesterday morning, and I decided to watch.

The class was small, apparently because the notion of getting into a swim suit when it’s 20 degrees outside and snowing didn’t appeal to a lot of people, even though the pool can be reached without going outside. It’s a psychological thing. Despite the small number of participants, it looked like they (all women, not shockingly) were having a lot of fun. After watching for a bit, I was certain that swimming skills were unnecessary because most of the women had hair styles that they wouldn’t want to get wet. I also was comforted by the fact that none of the women looked like Jane Fonda in a swim suit. There were all sizes and shapes, which provided me a level of comfort.

The women looked at me quizzically before they got into the pool. I explained that I wanted to check it out before I went all in.

“Oh, you will love it,” they all said enthusiastically. You gotta love the Wind Crest residents. They are gamers.

I think I’m going to give it a try on Thursday.

By the way, as I walked over to the Colorado Clubhouse, I passed an apartment that had a Christmas wreath unashamedly attached to their apartment door. Celebrate the holidays early and often!