I've been going to the gym fairly often lately. I like the facility, the equipment, the ability to watch the hockey game while I do crunches.
Most of all I like the childcare center. The staff members are fantastic, and Erin likes them all a lot (not that she has any stranger anxiety anyway). She gets a chance to play with other kids for an hour, and because I tend to go at the same time every day she usually gets to play with the same kids.
I also get to play with the same kids...er..."work out alongside the same adults". There are the two moms who always come in around 11:30, one of whom, S, I know from outside the gym; she ran some New Parents groups at the local parenting center and Erin and I used to go there a lot. There's the middle-aged banker-looking guy who always comes in at 11:15 and runs on the treadmill for half an hour (I hate him for his ability to run for a longer period of time at 50 than I ever could at 16). And there's the forty-ish (I actually know exactly how old he is; he's 46, but more on that later) looking guy who comes in and works with one of the trainers for an hour, pulling piles of weights across the room, balancing on half-spheres and shadow-boxing, or doing a gamut of stair drills.
I always watch this guy when he's working out; he's built like a tank and doesn't seem to be working out to lose weight or tone up or get rid of a spare tire. He's working out like it's a job and he needs to be able to move as many mountains as possible in a short period of time. He always seems to be in while I'm there, and I feel really really guilty about not trying to lift the stationary bike over my head or do somersaults down the stairs; the guy is working out like he means it and it keeps me from feeling good about putting in my hour on the elliptical and doing chest presses and ab exercises.
We finished up about the same time today, meaning I got up from the mat where I was doing very little, and he put down the elephant he was using for bicep curls. We went out to the water jug, poured some water, and then I went upstairs to clean up while he went out the door.
"Bye Steve," said the desk attendant.
After I showered and picked Erin up from the day care center (where she has taken to signing at them when she would like her diaper changed) I walked out to the car. The two moms were just getting into a minvan across the street and as they pulled away S waved, rolled her window down, and said: "So...working out with Steve Young today huh?"
Wha??
Oh.
Yeah.
"So that's who that was."
Steve Young. Former quarterback for the 49ers. Former SuperBowl winning quarterback for the 49ers. Hall of Famer.
This guy:
Maybe he'll babysit Erin sometime for me. If I spot him with that anvil he's doing bench presses with.
At the very least, I think I need to stop staring at him. He probably thinks I'm a fan and that I recognized him. Nope, I'm just self-conscious about what a gym-wimp I am when I try to work out next to him (or anybody else). It's all about me really.
Even in a room with a 46 year-old Hall of Fame quarterback, it's all about me.
35 comments:
Ah the celerity sighting.
My recurring one of late is former CW4 Michael Durrant. The same Michael Durrant that wrote "Nightstalkers" and was immortalized in the book/film "Blackhawk Down." His daughter has a hockey clinic before my wife's team practices.
(Okay, so I'm a dork. But the man is a god in the Blackhawk community.)
Why don't I ever get to see celebrities?
Oh, wait, I had lunch with Jillian Michaels. Emailed her a handful of times too.
But I NEVER see anyone famous!
I had a John Elway run-in once. Literally. I ran into him.
I'll have to post about it sometime...
Dude,
You work out at the same gym as Steve Young? Hall of Fame quarterback, Steve Young? Millionaire ten or twenty or thirty times over....how much does your gym cost? I guess you need to pay more than fifty bucks a month to sight quarterbacks?!
That's way cooler than the time I saw Jackie Mason on Michigan Avenue in Chicago
Well, geez, if he was in his uniform, you might have had more of a hint...Blame it on the endorphin rush. The "celebrity recognition" synapse is the first to go. :)
I once stood behind a local news anchor while in line for an iced coffee. A few weeks later, he interviewed me for an afternoon segment, and the entire time, I was thinking, "Dude. It's me! The one who was all giddy because WOO HOO! Celebrity! at Panera!"
And that? That is how awesome my life is. If I bumped into an ACTUAL celebrity, or watched them do lunges at the Y, I'd be a stuttering mess.
Unless it was Bono. I have an elaborate plan in my mind that involves him falling instantly in love with me. Why? Because of how awesome my life is.
With such a talent for making it all about you you must be a youngest (or possibly only) child!
The only celebrity I have seen at my gym is Jerry Brown... not sure that counts.
Holy Mother of God.
I am like sooooo jealous!
(Did that sound teeny-bopper enough?)
Dude.
Steve Young.
Was crushed that Montana (heart-throb) was leaving until I saw Mr. Young (throw me a football I'm in love).Reading your post gives me the goosebumps! Don't worry about the "lying on the mat doing very little"... at least you were in the gym... more than I can say for me, myself and my lumpiness.
I can;t believe nobody else is busting you for NOT RECOGNIZING Steve Young. I mean, dude, he's on tv every damn week.
As for me... I saw Cliff Fletcher and Bobby Clarke at a bar one night in T-Dot back in the day, and Aykroyd at his place in Kingston.
PS - Not saying anything, but did you realize that last night was Datsyuk's first hat trick? I didn't... I heard it on the radio this morning.
I saw Weird Al Yankovich in a record store once.
When I was 11, I got lost at a Donny and Marie concert. I was walking forward, and looking backward, trying to spot my mom and sister in the throng. And suddenly, everything was all flashbulbs and red sequins, as I quite literally bumped into Marie herself. As in, if had been carrying a bag of movie groceries, she totally would have been helping my pick up my loaf of French Bread and head of lettuce.
In fact, now that I'm thiking about it, Tiffany Olson was with us, so I was probably looking for her face in the crowd, too. I was rocking a vish prepubescent crush on her all through the fifth and sixth grade. Once, we were on a field trip at a bank, and the guy conducting the tour pulled a bag of coins from a vault shelf and looked for a patsy to hand them off to. You could totally tell that this was his standard tour move, and that he savored the reaction he got when the 35-lb bag of quarters he handed off to the grade-schooler slipped through their weakened grip and hit the floor like... like a sack of coins.
But not today. Today, his eyes settled on Tiffany Olson. And when he handed them off, and she actually curled them, tested their weight, and held them back out to him, and his smile faded a little.
Kind of like watching Steve Young grunt an entire dumbell tree over his head, probably.
You've stared at him long enough to be considered an acquaintance ergo you can begin introducing him to .... say me. I could go with you to the gym and Stevie could use me for a few bicep curls.
LOL since I started working out and running in January for the first time in my life, I could actually relate to this post a lot. I'm very conscious now of how my workouts compare to those around me, weather someone is more fit than me or not, I'm always comparing workouts...my husband keepst telling me, "It's not always about you Stace" Ha! I tell him, "didn't you get the memo? That's EXACTLY what it's all about!"
:)
Stacie
This is precisely why I don't go to the gym.
I would be staring at the lady who is all working it out better than me, and it would turn out that she is like one of those American Gladiator chicks or something.
I mean who would think of that kind of thing? That someone FAMOUS would be working out at a piddly little gym, don't they have enough money to have their own gyms?
Bwahahaha!
I doubt I'll see a celebrity at my gym, but if I did, I'd probably stare too.
I *did* get the death looks from a dude when I was pumping iron. Not sure if he thought that I was someone else that he hated, or that he just was drinking hatorade on Aunt Becky.
It was weird. Any suggestions?
WAAAHHHH!!!! That's pretty funny. You can stop staring, I guess, but more importantly you can stop beating yourself up.
I've never worked out with a football player, but one time I saw Derrick Brooks in the grocery store.
Not even close is it?
W: I kept trying to figure out which Chicago Blackhawk you were talking about....then I remembered: helicopters. Duh.
Carmen: Apparently all you have to do is stare long enough at someone and they become famous.
Headless Mom: Who won that one? I'm going with him, since you are now headless.
anonymous: millions and millions. And it's not really a child care center; it's a sweatshop for little babies; Erin is the one paying for my gym membership. :}
Swanny: but come one, it was Jackie Mason!
mumma boo: that's going to have to be my story.
FADKOG: My wife used to have an embarassing crush on Joe, the weather guy on NBC739 in San Diego. One Christmas I was walking through the lobby of the W or Sheraton or something in downtown SD and he was there setting up for a Marine Toys for Tots shoot. I walked up to him while on the phone with Emily, and offered him a french fry if he'd talk to her for a little bit. Good sport that he was he talked to her for about a minute. Never did take that french fry, though. Watching his figure, apparently.
jenn: Oh no. I'm the oldest. I'm just self-centered because I'm also awesome :}
annac: It counts for "seeing celebrities at the gym", which is what we're doing, apparently.
Heather J: I wish I had your enthusiasm for this. I really ought to trade places with someone who is a big 49ers fan.
firefox: yeah, and I'll go back to the gym tomorrow and do a little bit more lying around. Maybe I'll sit up once or twice. Because I can't do that at home, you know :}
SciFi Dad: I remember when Akroyd opened that place in Kingston (did you know I went to high school in Kingston?); we used to rag on it all the time for the Blues Brothers car smashing out of the second story. Laaame, dude. Also, Datsyuk's first hat trick: awesome. Yeah, they were all over that on the boards last night. And in my defense, had it been Yzerman at the gym I would have recognized him immediately; Steve Young? I haven't paid attention to football since the 49ers/Bengals Superbowl. And I moved to the Bay Area after he retired, so he wasn't everywhere all the time anymore.
badass geek: did you see what he was buying? New material to spoof?
billandjill: oh my god I totally don't know who Tiffany Olson is. Is she ripped?
Ilana: I'll be sure to extend the offer to him :}
Stacie: Yup :} If it's not about me, it's about someone else, and I would never work out for someone else; I'm just not altruistic enough to deal with the pain for anyone except me :}
mommastantrum: I got the impression that he lives nearby (the gym is in Palo Alto, with $1 million homes around every corner), but no BIG houses really (with private gyms), unless you go up into the hills.
aunt becky: blow him a kiss next time; and lick your lips and wink :}
merecat: thank you. I'll only figuratively beat myself up.
sarah: I don't know; how heavy was the milk?
He's probably working out so hard because he's a little intimidated by your youthful good looks.
That would be my take on it.
Hubba hubba!
I'd be staring at him too!
Holy crap! We don't get many celebrity sightings around here so I'm always star struck when I do see a celeb, but Steve Young is in another league. Yes, I loves my football.
don mills diva: that's exactly right. I've seen him looking; I can see the wheels turning: "Damn, if I were a gay football player I'd be totally turned on watching that guy's face turn blue trying to lift a 5 lb dumbell." That's what he was thinking, all right.
danielle: I'll get his phone number for you.
chicky chicky baby: yep, it's the "ex-football players'" league. They gimp out on Saturday mornings and talk about the Good Old Days :} Or maybe it's the "I can kick Backpacking Dad's ass all over the place" league.
I can't BELIEVE you revealed my crush on Joe the weatherman. Is nothing sacred now that you've started this blog????
my wife: I can't believe you're reading my blog while you're at work :Þ
Can't Steve Young afford his own gym equipment? Why have aspirations?
Okay. I have no idea who Steve Young is. I only watch CFL. But don't you just love random brushes with celebrity?
Ha ha! That was awesome! At least it was a real celebrity.Unlike the time a couple of days ago when my friend Diana was certain she saw Ray Romano until I pointed out that Ray probably doesn't drive a 95 Chevy Malibu. Yeah, good eye, Diana.
my_dog_is_better: Probably. Maybe he just doesn't want to clutter his mansion :}
mandy: Imagine it was Doug Flutie; but way taller.
stefanie: you never know....he could be really really in to cars. Some guys like classic cars; he might be the oddball who likes mediocre used cars.
I got hit on by Barry Sanders one time and had NO CLUE who he was until he left and my co-workers informed me. Guess I should've paid more attention to the football games my Dad and Brothers subjected me to as a kid.
I've met Robert Traylor from the Cleveland Caveliers, John Glenn and Bob Evans..yes, the Bob Evans.
I've also had the pleasure of meeting George Strait's piano player in WV once at a concert. Nice guy.
I do have to say that when I've met them, I wasn't really all that impressed...well maybe for John Glenn and Bob Evans...not so much the other two.
Oh, that's greast!
Dude...he was always wearing a helmet! How are you supposed to know who he is. Looks like it WAS his job to be able to lift all those weights. Wish I could get paid to work out...
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