Mother-of-Two Meets Modern Technology

Today I joined the gym and "had a go" (as they say here) at the elliptical machine. I’ve heard about elliptical machines. I’ve seen people using them on tv and in the movies. But I’ve never used one myself. My previous gym experience was pretty basic -- three treadmills, a few machines, a coffee bar. I'm not complaining because I loved going to that gym. It had everything I needed (except air conditioning! in Cyprus!), and I was content. But here in England the gym is state-of-the-art -- high-tech with loads of machines upstairs and rows of treadmills, stationary bikes and elliptical trainers downstairs.

As you may well know, I am not high-tech. Don't get me wrong, I'm not exactly no-tech: I rely on e-mail and the internet for most of my communication and information, I've learned how to send text messages from my mobile phone and I can use our Tom-Tom sat nav to drive to any destination in this, The Country of No Straight Roads. But I still bake from scratch, I keep a simple schedule and I rarely turn on the tv, except to watch movies.

(In the winter of 2000, when Matt and I were first married and he was taking graduate photography classes at Ohio University, I worked for the local temp agency. We were so broke that I accepted the first job they offered, even though it required me to use the internet and I’d never been on-line before. I had a steep learning curve that week! It was a key part of my re-adjustment to living in the States after being in Kenya for six years.)

So today I wanted to get on an elliptical machine and see if I could move a step or two away from feeling like a Frumpy Mum to feeling... I don't know, somewhat cool (and fit) and not quite so behind-the-times as I usually am.

I might have pulled it off, too (if only in my own mind), except that about halfway through the workout program I'd chosen on the elliptical's computer, Matt came by to see how I was doing and pointed out (ever so gently) that my stride was pushing the pedals backwards. Ooops. No matter how fit and cool I may ever/never become, I guess I shouldn't overlook the general health benefits of humility.