I woke up at 3:09 AM, even earlier than usual, but wide awake. I’d been dreaming about playing basketball. I laid in bed for five minutes, contemplating how I’d utilize this time surplus. I didn’t have an outdoor run scheduled for this particular morning; it was a gym strength training day, which created a bottleneck in my (now early) schedule: The gym didn’t open until 5 AM.

I got out of bed about 5 minutes after waking, and, going through my morning routine, I thought about how the gym was unjustly holding this hard, unmovable space in my schedule: The rest of my morning couldn’t happen until after the workout, which couldn’t begin until 5, which was about an hour away. I’d have at least a good 45 minutes of downtime before then.

I imagined how great it would be if I could just go to the gym as soon as I was ready, get the workout done, and move on with my day — early. Then a thought dawned on me: There’s a gym in my building. I could use that gym, which is available 24 hours a day, be done training, and all would be good.

Then I thought more about the gym I’ve been paying a membership fee to for years. Maybe I don’t even need it.

I could work out in my building’s gym — which has less equipment, but myriad advantages:

Open 24 hours.
It’s cleaner — much cleaner.
Access is limited to residents.
I’m already paying for it by living here. I can save the money I’ve been paying for a membership.
Being that I’m marathon training and running outside so often, I’m not even using the gym as much as I would be otherwise.
The more private space would allow/encourage me to bring my camera and record my training more often. Content Alert!

The pros outweighed the cons, by a lot.

It was time to cancel my gym membership.

When I decide I’m making a change, if I have the resources to do so, I want to do it that day, on the spot if I can. It’s a discipline I like to maintain.

When we move into a new building, we usually know 14-30 days before the actual move-in date that we’re moving; I hate that waiting period. Once the papers are signed and checks written, I want to move in NOW. Even though I’d paid my last month of gym membership dues when I first signed up, giving me membership privileges for another six weeks from this decision day, once I’d made the decision to cancel, I didn’t want to use that gym ever again — starting NOW.

I used my building gym that morning, and have ever since. I went to the old gym only to make my cancellation official.

Now I, Mr. Always-In-Shape, officially do not have a gym membership.