Only girl in the weight room

Eventhough I'm still several weeks from diving into full training mode for my spring races, I decided to ease myself back into weight training last week with a new routine copied word-for-word from the Triathlete's Training Bible.

I've done most of the exercises plenty of times before, and in fact, did them in the Columbia University gym - my wallet's gym of choice - last year. Otherwise meaning that I've found all the necessary machines, know how they work and won't commit any embarrassing faux pas, with one notable exception...the squat.

Now, I've been visiting weight rooms since I was 14 and I don't let myself get easily intimidated by the grunting, sweaty male population camped out in them. But the squat - that's another matter entirely.

First of all, it's a very compromising position, made only worse by the fact that you're forced to perform it in front of a full length mirror. Secondly, this is the lift that all the super huge boys love and it takes up a lot of space in the weight room. Ultimately this means that there's always a wait for one of the two squat stations. I can feel their eyes boring into my head as I struggle to get off the six 45 lb plates that the last dude left on the barbell. I can sense their impatience as they watch me struggle through three sets of 20.

To ease the tension of the situation I try friendliness on the burly weight room enthusiasts. I ask them to alternate sets with me so they don't have to wait as long. They look at me with such shock you'd think I wasn't speaking their native tongue. Then they proceed to do sets of five reps and make the hurry up face if I don't rush back into my next set. I'm doing 20 reps for crying out loud!! You just spent less than 30 seconds. Sigh.

Here's where I lament the fact that women stay as far away from free weights as possible. I'm trying to blaze the trail here, but every time I turn around the ladies are still smiling and waving from a safe distance, stationed behind their elliptical machines and treadmills.

So I'm left squatting, trading sets with dudes like this. My only solace is my ability to laugh at the many (not all!) self-important, over juiced guys who actually think they look good in this position! My goal, aside from improving my bike and run force, is to leave them wondering what is with the blonde pigtailed chick walking around the weight room softly chuckling to herself.