Like an Olympian, I have met my goal…very dramatically, with only seconds left!
On Tuesday we went to the YMCA where I checked in, got my ID card scanned, and dialed the Insurance Batphone in the lobby. This goes straight to the automated voice of the Blue Cross lady in charge of the the metrics. She robotically says things like “This is your….11th….recorded visit.” I had only 24 hours left in which to complete my final, 120th visit and win the rebate.
There was a moment of panic, as buttons 1-2-3 were sticking. Would the call even go through? Would I be disqualified on a technicality?
I was ready to beg the the red-shirted YMCA staff for a do-over, like Tanya Harding when her ice skates needed to be re-tied.
But wait, the buttons started to work again….or did they? Again I panicked. Would the call go through? Ringing…
Yes! “Congratulations! You have completed your 120 workouts in the required time period.”
It almost didn’t happen. There were snow days and sick days. There was the morning when my patience nearly ran out as a very eccentric person tied up the Batphone on a call to LL Bean to order a huge list of new clothing.
There were days when I just didn’t want to go to the Y and do the circuit, or the treadmill, or the EFX machine. But like all top-notch athletes, I pushed through the pain and did what I had to do, giving it, oh, 110 percent minus 30 percent, flipping the pages of a limp magazine or watching old Western movies on Cardio Theater while trudging along an incline.
Now I restart my workout calendar, file the paperwork, and wait for that $150 check to roll in.
Best of all, Ian and Hugh are motivated to sign up as well. If they hit the mark, they get to keep the money.
Me? I’m taking a few days off. To watch real athletes in Vancouver. They are definitely NOT dialing it in.
How about that Vonn and Shaun?
