Four Funny Gym Stories

Lacoste Tennis Dress (Runs small. Wearing a 4 here but wish I’d gone with a 6!) / Navy New Balance Sneakers (Also love these.) / Emma’s Dress (And #omg. Just ordered her this.) / Emma’s Sneakers

Mitch here!

For any of you Mitch post newbies out there, I’d like to mention that I’m a gym rat who knows his way around the old dumbbell benchy thing. And for those of you who are familiar with Mitch posts… 😏

I’m an optimist when it comes to working out. For example, I always buy my workout clothing a size down. So that when I start working out, you know–tomorrow–I’ll be inspired to lose a bunch of weight.

(What really happens is that I end up angry because my clothing doesn’t fit.)

But 2018 will be different. In addition to Cookin’ with Mitch, we’re doin’ Sweatin’ and Starvin’ with Mitch this year! And no, this won’t be like one of those blog posts hyping fitness in early January only to revert to those honey-butter fried chicken ways in a few weeks.

Because I have implemented an actual plan.

The Larkins joined Midtown Athletic Club, partially for our health and partially for fun, since we’re trying to do more with our active little toddler.

This place is insane. It’s said to be Chicago’s first “urban sports resort” and, to be honest, this description is spot on. Tennis, yoga, swimming, boxing, spa, staight-up spinning–and everything is brand new, sparkling clean, and designed by someone with talents similar to Kira David. Even better, Midtown treats its daycare (called “Kidtown,” lol) like it’s its own little gym! Emma will be doing little baby yoga, dancing, crafting and singing. I don’t use the word “cute” lightly, but this is cute.

The pictures you see in this post are from our first Midtown visit. We actually did a ton of stuff, but we’re going to spread the photos out over the course of a few posts, since we took a zillion. So here are the tennis snaps! We couldn’t get over the facilities. As a former high school tennis player, I was thrilled that Emma loved playing with the balls and carrying around the rackets. Okay, I promise not to be one of those psychotic sport parents screaming at coaches and officials, but maybe Emma could be a little tennis player some day!

Anyway, today on the blog, I’m recapping our funniest gym moments. Here we go:

Starstruck: In New York, people play it cool with celebrities. NO BIG DEAL. To everyone but me. Every single time I saw someone–John Goodman, Brad Pitt, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Paul Rudd, Andre 3000, Abigail Breslin–I freaked out. But back to my story: going to the gym is hard enough. I have no idea what I’m doing, and there are mirrors everywhere, which makes my inexperience extra-visible to not only myself but the people surrounding me. And one day, Abigail Breslin was running on the treadmill next to me. So I promptly got off my treadmill, and left. And then, a year later, I weirdly saw a director’s clapper in a pile of trash outside our apartment building. (Which makes it sound like I was going through her trash BUT I SWEAR I WASN’T.) And then a year after that? Saw her crossing the street. Okay. This was supposed to be a gym story, but I clearly got sidetracked…
Treadmill falls: This one happened to Kelly in college. Apparently what happened is that she looked down for some reason, and her feet got all tangled up, and ate it. Like, thrown off the treadmill, cartoon-style. She was incredibly embarrassed. Especially considering she had some minor burns all over her legs, and so she all together stopped running. Seemed like a rational course of action.
Locked up: Kelly’s kind of told this story before, but the gist is that I ran into a gated corner of Central Park at the precise moment when 1) I went unnoticed on my way in, and 2) they locked the gates, and 3) everyone left before I made it back out (I’m slow, okay, Jesus), and I had to call the cops to come to get me.
Emma’s First Pool Swim: Photos to come on this one, but let’s just say Emma’s love for swimming is a work in progress. The job of a dad is a big one, and yesterday, I was like “Oh snap! Emma has only been in the ocean and lake! Never a pool!” So I put her in a pool, and she totally freaked out. Typically I love the little hugs and clutches I get from her throughout the day, but when I brought her into the water, she dug her nails so tight into my shoulder it left a bloody mark. It’s okay, though. She did the same thing when we took her into the lake and ocean for the first time, and now she loves swimming there. In good time!

So, yeah. We’re not exactly the most athletic bunch, but I can’t tell you how happy we are to be Midtown members. So much to do, no matter your abilities or interests are, and I have a feeling that it’s going to vastly improve our lives here in Chicago this year! Very excited to share our fun experiences with you, too.