For the Love of Headphones

The owner of my gym has decided her customers need a little motivation in the summer months. Something to get us to continue coming with regularity as the outdoors or the central air calls our names.

For spinners like me, we are given points for every class we take. The point value, or rather 'mile total', varies based on the goal of the day. Endurance class? 50 miles/points. Strength class? 25. Race day? 150. As you accumulate points, you rack up the prizes.

I missed two weeks of the program. Megan is a new convert to accepting, and enjoying, the child care room at the gym. Prior to that, I managed one class a week. So, that patio building Saturday eliminated a class for me as did the stomach flu the next weekend. However, Meg suddenly began to cooperate and I was suddenly able to take additional classes. By the second week of my new three times a week class habit, it occured to me that perhaps I really could make some use out of this incentive program.

As of this Friday I will have amassed enough points to earn myself a pair of cardio-headphones. I have no idea what cardio-headphones are - Ok, that's not true. I do. They are standard headphones you can use to hook up into the standard gym equipment. However, I have no idea what I'm going to do with cardio-headphones other than display them a big note that says "I went to Spin for 750 miles!"

Next week is the last week of the incentive program. It's a big week for classes, at least the ones I've been attending regularly of late. In this week alone I'll tact on another 425 points. And that, my friends, is enough to earn me a $10 drink card with points to spare.

It's not the prizes, although at $1.25 for water per class that I forget my water bottle the drink card is nice. It's not the reward; it's the accomplishment. It's seeing my name on that bar graph with the nice long line. It's accomplishment.

And, it's enough to get me to rethink my schedule starting September. With preschool and activities starting up, I can't make three spin classes. I can make two. But I can make two class plus two other days of general gym time. That's a huge step forward for me and some how I owe it all to a pair of headphones I'll likely never really use.

Funny how that happens.