endorphins are good

though i wouldn't know yet...

today i joined peak fitness for the low, low price of $275 for the year - whoo! (paycheck says ouch) megan mentioned, while we were out the other night, that she wanted to look into joining a gym, and peak had some $17/month deal going on. upon calling and much discussion, i realized this is like the way way limited fee, for those people who only want to go to one location and only want to work out on tuesday, thursday, and saturday. which seems silly for a chain-style gym with locations all over the triangle that's open 24/7. so i made an appointment for us to go check the place out and have a "consultation"... read: high pressure sales pitch similar to that of purchasing an automobile.

megan and i showed up at our scheduled 5pm meeting time... well, megan did anyway. it took me another 15 mins of driving around to find a place to park! (even more interesting because i live 3 mins away) i squeezed the scion in a teeny space in the gravel lot up the scary hill from the gym, and we went in for our meeting. we met with jannel, our very nice but not that knowledgeable or... shall we say... well spoken (i had to explain the word amenities to her) consultant. she showed us the chiropractor's office, where we can receive our free 15-min massage just for joining! the nursery/child care area, that we both passed hurriedly by, the ladies' changing room, complete with lounge, showers, and dry sauna, the tanning rooms (just another small additional fee!), the men's changing room (we did not go in there though), and then upstairs. the top floor has the cardio machines, weight room(s), a spin room, a ladies only weight room (probably where i'll be for a while), and the aerobic/group class room - not as large as i'd prefer, but jannel claims the classes don't fill up too much. there are also personal trainers, with whom you may have two free sessions, and then you have to pay the $50/hr rate (ouch!). the tour was nice, though i have to admit i've been completely spoiled by the wellness center in boone that was waaaayyy nicer and cleaner.

we went downstairs and sat next to the juice bar to look at membership rates. who knew one could negotiate the price of a gym membership? seriously, the only time i've ever had so much stress on me to make a large purchase was at the toyota dealership! and who knew there were different rates for coming this day and that day or everyday or just this location or all locations, and don't forget there's a new one being built in knightdale, etc. etc. etc. - before i knew what happened, megan and i were filling out paperwork and charging our credit cards. though i felt somewhat bamboozled by the whole ordeal, i must admit, i am extremely excited about this decision. we will begin our exercise regime tomorrow evening! we would have begun today but megan had to eat dinner and have her washer/dryer delivered to her new apartment, so we'll begin tomorrow, and that's just fine with me.

i think the most exciting part about joining peak and working out is that i have a buddy to do it with. there are so many times i've wanted to join a gym and work out, but i've never had a dedicated partner - yay for megan! and yay for joining a gym!