31. Phys. Ed.A Chapter by Craig2591 Chrissy goes on a fitness kick and drives Ian nuts. It was perfect weather for a day in the park. Slightly warm with a mild breeze and puffy, white clouds drifting lazily in an azure sky. An elderly couple sat on a park bench and watched as a man played fetch with his dog and a young family tossed a Frisbee to one another and laughed. A woman occasionally glanced up from her book of poetry as she sat in the grass against a shade tree.
A young woman covered in tattoos and dressed in gym shorts, running shoes, tank-top and head-band came running up the path and slowed to a halt by the drinking fountain beside the elderly couple. She paced back-and-forth for a few minutes as she caught her breath and then took a long drink from the fountain. She looked back the way she had just run, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight, and shook her head in exasperation.
“Seven billion people in the world, and I had to marry an old man,” she muttered aloud to no one in particular. Then she hollered at another runner who was huffing and puffing up the path she had just run, “Come on! Is that the best you can do?! An eight-year-old can run faster than that!”
The other runner, a man in his mid-forties, almost collapsed when he finally reached her. He bent over with his hands on his knees and gulped air into his lungs. “You're (pant) trying to (gasp) kill me!” he puffed.
“On the contrary, Ian,” she replied, “I'm trying to keep you alive.”
“Admit it, Chrissy, (pant) you enjoy torturing me!” he wheezed.
“I want to keep you healthy and living for a long time. Torturing you is just a side benefit,” she responded with a smirk.
It all started one day when Ian was working out with his weights in the spare room of their apartment. Chrissy watched him as she leaned against the door jam and munched on an apple. He finally put the weights down.
“Chrissy! I can't work out with you staring at me like that. It's too distracting!”
“You're doing it wrong,” she replied nonchalantly.
“What?!”
“You're supposed to keep your arms straight out and do a four count as you lower them.” She demonstrated. “Like this.”
“How would you know?” he asked with annoyance.
“I looked it up on a work-out site online,” she answered.
“Well, maybe you should be my trainer!” he said sarcastically. As soon as he said it he regretted it. But it was too late!
“That's not a bad idea,” she said, pointing her apple at him, “In fact, I think I'm going to start working out with you. I'm going to get online right now and come up with a routine for both of us.” She turned and left.
Ian sighed heavily. When am I going to learn to keep my big mouth shut?! he thought to himself.
Exercise was nothing new to Ian. He had jogged and worked out for most of his adult life, though he wasn't fanatical about it by any means. Indeed, he often looked for any excuse to skip a day or two, and while he was in better shape than most men his age, he was still getting a touch of 'middle-aged spread'.
Chrissy, on the other hand, never did anything half-way. She came up with a rigorous exercise and weight-lifting routine for both of them. She also started running with him. But while Ian was satisfied with going for a leisurely three or four mile jog, Chrissy was always pushing him to try for a new personal best. Their jogs now included interval training and tempo runs.
As difficult and exasperating as Ian found Chrissy's new-found obsession with health and fitness to be, he had to admit he liked the results. He lost fifteen pounds and what was left was trimmed and toned. He felt great, slept better, and there was a noticeable increase in his testosterone levels (something that Chrissy noticed, too). He also started getting appreciative looks from women (and sometimes men) when they were in public.
Chrissy, on the other hand, gained weight, though it was in all the right places. She didn't get bulky like a body-builder, but rather lithe and athletic, like a jungle cat. Like Ian, she got plenty of stares from people, too, and Ian also liked what he saw.
But Chrissy was a relentless and driven trainer and Ian found her maddening at times. As he stood recuperating from their run at the park she said to him, “I'll give you five minutes to catch your breath. Then I want twenty-five push-ups and fifty crunches.”
“Twenty-five push-ups and fifty crunches!!” he panted, “Are you crazy?!”
“C'mon. I'll do them with you.”
“And after that I suppose you'll want to go back to the apartment for an afternoon of lovin'!”
“That depends. Did you remember to stop and get your Viagra?” she said with an evil smile.
“What?!... you... I don't need... I can't believe you just said that!” he responded angrily and red-faced. He threw his hands in the air and turned around, beseeching the others nearby. “What in the world possessed me to marry this woman?!”
Chrissy glared at him for several seconds, then walked up to him and planted a very passionate and lingering kiss on his mouth, leaving him glassy eyed when she stepped back.
“Oh, yeah,” he said with a silly grin, “Now I remember.” © 2013 Craig2591Author's Note
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Craig2591OHAboutI am a visual artist with no formal training in creative writing. I get stories knocking around my head and sometimes I write them down. I decided to join this site to share them with other writers .. more..Writing
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