Gym Etiquette

Last night I hit the gym again for my 20-30 minute recovery run on the elliptical and I have never seen the gym so crowded! All the machines were taken except for the upright stationary bike. So I decided that I would bike until one of the ellipticals opened up. I was a little bit wary of the bike though, because those stationary bikes tend to aggravate my knees a little, which would kind of defeat the purpose of me working out in the gym instead of outside.

Well, 10 minutes into my 20 minute workout, I noticed that the elliptical behind me was open. Hurrah! I jumped on and started programming it. I had just started working out, trying to make up for my time on the bike by jumping into a harder pace than normal when a girl showed up next to me. It was the girl who was on the elliptical before and she said "sorry" and I gave her her keys that were left on the machine. And she was like "No, sorry. I put those on there to save that machine." I didn't realize that you could do that. Every gym I've been to, if you hop off the machine it is fair game for everyone else. And it's not like she was gone for 2 seconds to get water or anything. I mean I had time to look behind me, see it was empty, program it and start my workout. I was ticked off, which I guess she could see, because as I got off the machine she said, "I'll only BE a few MINUTES." in an annoyed sort of way. I thought about saying something to her, but then I realized that I was in the gym with a bunch of other residents that I was sure to run into some other time in the gym and I didn't want to be 'that crazy girl who went bullistic on that other girl'.

So I hopped back on the bike for another 10 and irritated my knee, which I didn't realize until I was finished. Back to icing and anti-inflammatories. Tonight is a rest night and I am going to take full advantage of it.