We had walked or ridden past the old armory building dozens of times, sometimes wondering out loud what purpose the space now served. It wasn’t until late fall, though, when we drove by on North Howard Street that we saw a “Now Open” banner.

A few Google searches later, I found that the building had been renovated into a fitness and community center. After Russell hurt his knee playing basketball at the YMCA he joined when we first moved to Tampa, we decided to check out the Bryan Glazer Family Jewish Community Center, located only about a half mile from our house.

We took a tour a couple weeks ago and were given seven-day passes to see if we wanted to join. After declaring that he’d “get my life together after Spring Break!”, Russell decided Monday, March 20 was the day, and we went together to experience the gorgeous new facility. Note: I did not take pictures because I felt like someone might think I was taking photos of them, and I didn’t want to get myself banned for any kind of reason. But believe me when I say this is a top-notch facility from the locker rooms to the weight room!

Monday

I wanted to ease into my first week back at the gym in 4+ years, so I went to my trusty upright bike and spent 60 minutes sweating it out, riding 11 miles while reading celebrity gossip on the bike’s screen.

Tuesday

For no real reason at all, I had a frustrating day at work. I told Russell I felt like attacking the bottle of wine in our fridge versus heading to the gym. But we made it, and I used a “couch potato to 5K” app to run for 30 minutes (whew, that was NOT fun after a several-year hiatus from running!). I then headed into the weight room where Russell humored me by “showing” me how to work each weight machine. Does everyone feel like all the fellow gym-goers are watching you, or is it just me?

We also stopped by the “J Cafe” to order the Southwest Bowl a receptionist had raved about. The chef was out of black beans, but Russell loved the vegetarian meal (he did come home and put chicken on the rest of it after we tried it in the car, but still…).

Wednesday

Another bike day… 13 miles this time in 60 minutes! My heart rate was about 10 beats lower this time than on Monday. I figured it must be because of the bike itself (I used a different one) rather than me all of a sudden being in much better shape. 🙂

Thursday

I decided to get running out of the way before Russell came home, so I laced up and went around our neighborhood. It was even more hard than Tuesday, which makes sense because I was outside, but UGH. Russell decided he didn’t want to head to the gym after all and I supported this decision after completing W1D2 of C25K!

Friday

Biking for 60 minutes.

Sadly, that was the end of our trial at the JCC – we had grand plans to head there that weekend to try out the pool but just never made it back. I would definitely consider joining, and might this summer when it gets even more humid/hot outside, but for now I’m continuing to run around our neighborhood and even used my beloved upright bike in the living room a couple times since the gym.