Bonding at the Y

By Dave Kinnamon, Columnist

November 20, 2008 10:38 pm

— We have a shiny, lustrous jewel (one of many actually) right here in Enid: Denny Price Family YMCA.
I signed up for a membership and began “going to the gym” almost every evening about a month ago. What a pleasure it’s been to go to the Enid YMCA.
I understand “pleasure” is not typically a word one associates with the torture that rains down on an overweight man running around in small circles again and again and again. Or the sheer agony which erupts as a man with a sizable gut belts out 20 sit-ups on an incline. Or the torture – someone call Alberto Gonzales – endured by a 39-year-old man attempting to use a Stairmaster at the same relative pace he keeps while jogging.
But the Enid YMCA really is a treat to look forward to at the end of every workday. I know many other people feel the same way because I see many of the same people at the “Y” every day. And they all, like me, seem pleased to be at the Y. When a person is working themselves back into good physical conditioning and they locate a place to do it where they actually enjoy themselves, then that person’s motivation is higher to keep working out, and they are more likely to continue their workout regimens. Which is one of the reasons we are very fortunate to have the Enid YMCA.
The Denny Price Family YMCA is quite a magnificent facility. There is a superb main basketball court, in the basement level and another court on the ground floor. The staff and members keep the courts in pristine condition, at least partially due to the streak-free shoe rule. Perhaps I am becoming simplistic as I approach middle age, or perhaps running is just lacking in entertainment, but I find myself actually enjoying watching people make baskets on the (main) basketball court below the indoor running track as I endure my circular pain and monotony. Every now and again a basketball player will way over-arc their shot, and their ball will bounce onto the running track. I actually enjoy the variety of getting to change lanes and throw the ball back down to the court, all the while continuing my run.
The Y’s weight room is absolutely fantastic. They have all the good weights and weight machines to finely sculpt one’s body into the a mirror image of a Grecian statue of Hercules. Or, in my case, to transform my physique from the rough shape of a pear to perhaps that of a barrel with two pencils holding it up.
Walking into the weight room literally brings back the good ole feelings of high school. I almost feel like I’m on the football team again. Another man, at least 10 years older than me, I’m confident, walked out of the weight room the other day. The man was puffing out his chest and looked rightfully proud of his weight room performance that day. He was actually strutting and kind of hamming it up for a few friends. I echoed the man’s sense of accomplishment by telling him, “Dude, you’re hu-u-u-ij.” That type of instant male bonding is so reminiscent of high school football weight room days.
I haven’t even seen the YMCA’s natatorium (long for “pool”) yet, but I hear it’s awesome.
Hey, I’ve even enjoyed sitting in the men’s lounge and watching a few minutes of CNN and listening to a professional buffoon like Al Franken tell us he’s “cautiously optimistic” about the re-count in Minnesota. If Franken had used clichés like that when he was a Saturday Night Live writer, he’d have been fired.
Why, there’s even free soap at Y. We don’t even have to bring a shower kit.
This week: 2 miles everyday. Next week: 3 miles?
 
Kinnamon is a staff writer for the News & Eagle. Contact him at dave.kinnamon@sbc global.net.

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