The gerbil wheel

After biking five days a week to work and back for over a year, it's not that surprising that I've felt the lack of exercise. Actually it's a little surprising that I haven't felt it earlier. True, I do walk almost everywhere in this city. (There are numerous visits with friends, lessons, and necessary food items to buy that compel me to leave my comfortable flat on a daily basis.) However, my sleep at night, or the lack thereof, has been letting me know that walking isn't quite enough to expend my energy.

Another fact: My room is very large. I haven't had a room this large to myself since... well, since I lived in this country last. Even then, half of the room was overtaken by a ginormous bed. 

You can probably see where this is leading but let me explain a couple more things: Running outside isn't really an option here. In my three months here I've only seen one man running outside for exercise and certainly no women. With my clearly foreigner appearance, I don't have the desire to attract any more attention than I already do. I have also seriously considered joining one of the women's gyms (there are at least two) but somehow it never became a top priority.


Which then leads me to my final solution: I run figure 8's in my room every morning.

I always pitied the gerbil frenetically running in it's little wheel, but now I think perhaps it isn't so bad. I put on some music (Adele, Florence & the Machine, Coldplay, Gungor, or whatever else strikes my fancy) and for the next 5-6 songs I am quite content to run back and forth in a figure 8 pattern. Oddly enough I feel a lot freer running in my room than I think I would elsewhere, chiefly because I can run barefoot. Clomping along in shoes, my toes getting all red from confinement, just isn't as appealing. Best of all, it works. Though I still tend to wake up a few times at night (the curse of an overactive brain), I feel a whole lot better rested in the morning.