blackrimglasses

I have always believed that the true character of a city only reveals itself in the hazy morning light, just before sunrise. It is in that time that the air hangs thick, the world has yet to wake up, but the city itself is starting to shift, to breath and to rise. Deliveries are being made, shops are not open, but movement can be glanced behind the panes of glass. It’s like the world is standing, yawning and stretching.

Whenever I go to a new place, I always try to make it out into the city, the town or what not at this time to see what the world is like in that state between dreaming and wakefullness. In New York, its the momentary respite before the resuming of chaois. In Colorado Springs it was a quiet so deep that it hurt. Oxford, Ohio was just the wind and the birds. Athens, GA feels primeval.

Pasadena is between Athens and New York. This morning I went to the gym at 6:30AM and walked a bit through a city in that sleepy eyed state, and it was great. I myself of course was in the same state upon entering the gym.

Now for the gym. I have never really been in shape in my life. I was never overweight or anything, just kind of never in shape. I never ran, never worked out (ocassionally) and my brief stint in sports (tennis) ended when I broke my elbow, rollerblading, at 11 at night. Don’t ask. When I moved down to Pasadena to, I guess, start life over a bit, I decided that it was time to change that. So since we moved down I have been heavily training on both weights and cardio.

Now, I actually am in shape. Today I did interval cardio training, which is a combo of running at 7mph and walking at 4mph for a half hour, for a total distance of 2.4 miles. Then I did some all body free-weight workouts and abdominal exercises. I actually think I may keep training to do a marathon. That is stange, no?

So anyhow, I leave the gym and the world is different. The sun is peaking through the buildings, there are cars on the street and that lazy quite is replaced with a crescendo of life and activity. I find it nice to wake up with the world, even if it means less sleep.