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23 JAN 04: WALKING IN FAITH
If the weather experts are right, it'll be a bit chilly for jogging outside today. If I can't wear running shorts, I normally don't run - because I fear I'll go so fast I'll trip over longer togs.
I tried out a new indoor place to exercise this week - the "Fitness Center" of St. Luke United Methodist Church downtown. This is quite different from other churches, which worry more about whether you're fit to escape fire and brimstone.
The St. Luke Fitness Center opened in September, and it's a nice place. It's on the second floor of a ministry building - so if they insist you pay for things in advance, you can get your workout by going up and down the stairs over and over.
The Fitness Center has a full-sized basketball court, with a narrow "track" around it for walking and running. I almost hesitate to call it a track - because I think Peachtree Mall has more room on either side of a kiosk.
(I'm admittedly presuming the basketball court is full-sized. It was divided in half when I was there - and filled with half-sized children holding practice sessions.)
With plenty of children running around the Fitness Center, I decided to walk around the track instead of running. After all, I didn't want to show them up - or trip them up, and get sued by their parents.
I did NOT go inside the Aerobic Room at the St. Luke Fitness Center. But I could see through a window it has treadmills and other exercise equipment, as well as four overhead TV sets. For some reason, at 6:00 p.m. none of those TV's were tuned to Dr. Phil and his "Ultimate Weight-Loss Challenge."
The St. Luke Fitness Center is open seven days a week, but there are monthly fees for using the Aerobic Room. You pay less if you're a member of St. Luke United Methodist Church - which leads me to ask how the staff enforces this. Do you have to recite the Apostle's Creed when you register?
(Yes, the Fitness Center even is open on Saturdays and Sunday afternoons. It may be about time for Pastor Hal Brady to do a series on the Ten Commandments -- including that one about not doing any work on the Sabbath.)
I say it's about time downtown Columbus had a free indoor exercise facility like this, other than the YMCA. But I have to ask why the city never has built indoor walking-running tracks at recreation centers, as other cities have. Is there some long-term plan to cover the Riverwalk with a glass ceiling?
(This indoor track could be as simple as putting one around the new ice-skating rink planned for South Commons. And to provide balance with the RiverCenter, it could be named the "JayMaxx tracks" or something.)
BLOG UPDATE: Which well-known law officer is telling friends Deputy David Glisson tripped over something December 10th - and because Glisson didn't have the "safety" device on his submachine gun, that's why Kenneth Walker was shot? We may have had two deadly "trips" at the same time....
A Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent said Thursday his staff still has been unable to interview Deputy David Glisson. Now attorney Richard Hagler is citing "health reasons." I can't believe Glisson is allergic to interrogations.
The G.B.I. Special Agent added investigators now have interviewed the three men who rode with Kenneth Walker on the night of the shooting - but they could NOT provide specifics about what happened. So where is the passengers' Montgomery attorney getting all of HIS specifics about that night? Do people think more clearly when they're not staring at a shiny badge?
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