Weighty Wednesday: Yes, I'm Trying to Avoid You

I took some personality quiz a while back that was supposed to determine if you were an introvert or an extrovert (I would link to it, but since I just wasted 25 minutes on Facebook and couldn't find it, you'll just have to trust me). Apparently now there's something between the two, called an ambivert, which is what I supposedly am.

Unless you try to talk to me while I'm at the gym.

I'll be honest with you, here on the internet, in a way that I can't be in person. Yes, I'm trying to avoid you at the gym. Here's why:

• I have never looked cute while working out, not even when I was young and cute and slim(ish). I don't wear make-up at the gym, I sweat like a boy and my face turns bright red. This is not how I want to greet anyone, let alone the acquaintances that I always run into there.
• My workout is my quiet time. I don't have to answer questions or try to follow complicated stories; I can just read or meditate or stare at the CNN headlines. And I like it. 
• I'm horrible at small talk. I think I've forgotten how. Or possibly I've always been terrible at it and I didn't realize it until I had the wisdom you get from being over 40, I don't know.
• I'm trying to keep my heart rate at 80%, which means I'm pushing myself, which means I'm probably too out of breath to talk anyway. 
• I only have a limited time to work out. If I have a chat with you, I will lose workout time. And unless you're telling me what's going to happen next on Downton Abbey, my workout time is more important to me than whatever we're talking about. 
• I always wonder whether you're wondering how I can sweat so much so often and still be so fat. Then I start wondering the same thing, and the shame cycle starts and I wind up at Dunkin Donuts on my way home. 
• I don't want to do spin or Zumba or whatever class with you. Having an authority figure around when I exercise turns me into a recalcitrant teenager. 
• We're not close friends. If we were, you would already know that I'd much rather talk to you over drinks than over treadmills. 

I think it's safe to say that my introvert side definitely comes out at the gym. What about you? Do you like chatting with acquaintances while you work out?