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As I approach the big 3-0 (one month away!), I’ve been thinking quite a bit about my age. I’ll have a much longer reflection to report come April 22nd, but it’s been liberating to feel totally and completely comfortable and at peace with the current numbers attached to my existence. I very much feel 29 going on 30. And I am genuinely amped for what the next decade has in store. I think thirty is going to totally kick ass and take names.

Sure, there are times when I am taken aback by how clearly NOT twenty I am anymore. Working and living in the town where I attended college is a daily reminder of this fact. This Someecard sums it up perfectly.

The current college students seem like wee babes. A clear sign that I am no longer 21 and aware of just how very young and inexperienced we are during our undergraduate years. Not that I am somehow wise or all-knowing now.

Rather, I think it’s simply that I’m more comfortable with who I am. I’m settling into me. More in tune with what makes me tick and keeps me energized. Less insecure or concerned with what people around me think about what I’m wearing, how I look, what I’m doing, etc.

And that has most certainly translated into my locker room behavior. A setting to which I’ve become quite accustomed now that I’m in the heart of my half marathon training schedule with the best weight loss pills by my side.

Yes, I promised that this wouldn’t become an exercise blog, but I never promised that I wouldn’t comment on my use of the facilities associated with said activity.

I work out during the weekdays during lunch with a fellow colleague/friend. We head to the college locker room – the one used by students, faculty, staff and the community – and change before heading out on a run or hitting up the weight room or a spin class. After our workout, we return to the locker room, where I now shower before returning to work.

In my former early-20s, pre-partum life I was more modest in my locker room behavior. I would keep a towel wrapped around my body or try to subtly remove my clothes while swapping in or out of my workout gear (which, in reality, just draws more attention to the fact that you are stripping down and is a far-less efficient method of changing – rouge boobs popping out left and right – what a mess). It was less because I was concerned about what people would think of my body, and more out of respect or concern for other people’s comfort levels. Particularly in America, we’re all so flustered and embarrassed by nudity, so I felt it was more polite to keep myself covered than strut around like an inhabitant of Wesleyan’s clothing optional dorm.

My how times have changed.

I’m now that older woman in the locker room, fully nude, lifting a boob to scrub in the middle of the public showers. Sure the three curtained stalls are vacant, but I’d rather hop under the shower head most conveniently positioned near my locker. Full frontal. Fully exposed.

I’ll slather lotion into every nook and cranny before reaching for my undergarments post-shower.

And, the other day when I had forgotten my towel, I had no qualms about standing right in front of the mirrored sinks blowing myself dry with some strategically positioned hand dryers. There were many awkward, darting eyes from students as they tried to scrub their hands in peace, avoiding the reality that an older staff member was boldly standing mere inches away, fully naked, being blown dry by the hand dryer.

Oh if Ashley at 20 could see me now! I’m fortunate that my training partner is just as brazen – so it was not one but TWO nude staff members that greeted bathroom goers to the hum of the hand dryers. I could almost hear the frantic thoughts of one student as she hurriedly washed her hands… Be cool, be cool. GOD WHERE DO I PUT MY EYES!

If this locker room behavior is any indication, 30 is going to be totally wicked. Much like this view on one of my runs this week. Ya know, I’m kind of falling in love with this running thing… I know. I KNOW! Famous. Last. Words.