This man is a true sportsman: preparing for an Ironman* race

Big Mama does not like the gym, “People are always watching you there.” I disagree, in the hope that she’ll go and get fit.

“They’re not watching you,” I counter, “They are looking in the mirror at themselves.”

That is sort of true. People are looking at themselves, but there are plenty of people checking others out. I’m one of them. I find people watching absolutely fascinating. I love seeing how different people move, what sort of workout they are doing, how they interact, what they wear. Egyptian gyms had women in full makeup, hair perfectly coiffed, pumped up men on steriods, as well as the ‘normal’ worker-outers.

France is a whole other ball game. First, I have only been in one gym, so I have no idea how it compares, but there seem to be an incredible amount of people who are insanely attractive. Ok. Mainly men. They’re kind of model good looking… Then there are the middle aged women with bodies of a 22 year old, only more flexible. They often sport some kind of lycra ensemble, sometimes even from around the time they were 20 years old, and they still look great in it.

Then there are the legs; perfectly smooth. So many of them. And they don’t belong to just the women. It seems that it is fashionable for middle aged men, and some a little younger, usually at a ‘normal’ level of fitness, to shave their legs. You know, it’s what pro swimmers and cyclists do to make them faster. For cyclists, it’s also to make injuries from falls easier to heal – to stop hairs getting caught in healing wounds.

I wasn’t aware that those cumbersome stationary bikes could be so dangerous!

*An Ironman is swimming 3.8 km, then cycling 180 km and then running a marathon 42.2 km run