Now that my spider bite has finally healed, I am making the come back to running. Since I?m no longer a full-time sponsored professional athlete with an unlimited shoe supply, I headed down to the sports store to check out some new running shoes. Until this point, I have been 'limited' to choosing from just one brand.
Wow, the number and array of available brands and features are mind boggling. The funny thing is that as a seasoned runner of over 20 years, I found myself making so many mistakes.
It still amazes me just how many travelers make do with less than perfect workout conditions. The last business traveler I spoke to said he always packs his "roller" so he can do his push-ups and ab workout no matter where he is, and that his idea of a hotel cardio session is running up and down flights of stairs. I commend the motivation!
After traveling back and forth from Chicago to the Detroit area for 3+ years when I worked at Bank One, I can sympathize. I packed my Tae-Bo video, a jump rope and a stretch band.
Whether you're traveling on business and want to find the best hotel gym in Chicago, New York, Boston, San Francisco, or Dallas; or, have a little vacation time and are in search of the best hotel gyms in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Miami, or San Diego, this site has you covered.
Okay, how about a quick game of word association? You say Jazzercise. I say leg warmers. You say leg warmers. I say the 80's. You say the 80's and without even the slightest pause I blurt out, Jane Fonda! But that was then. Or is it now? It's 2006, people, and I'll be damned if Jazzercise doesn't appear to be making, what appears to be, a come back.
Two nights and 3 days in Vegas--more than enough time to see the sights, check out a new hotel, get some work done, sweat, and have a little fun...not necessarily in that order. As part of a business gig, I landed at TheHotel in the Mandalay Bay, an all-suite, swank experience. In fact, TheHotel's entrance alone is worth noting.
It is that time of year in the life of an endurance athlete. Back to the gym to work on keeping, and hopefully building, some strength before the summer rolls around. And, it?s always a good reminder of why I despise doing indoor workouts in a group setting. My goodness, in the matter of 3 or 4 workouts, I have seen some of the worst etiquette around the gym.
Isn't it common sense to:
1. Not sit on the only leg-extension machine without doing anything. Resting on a piece of equipment whilst recovering is NOT ok, particularly when another exerciser is hovering nearby.
You would think that, as the race director for Ironman Arizona, I'd be staying at our host hotel, the Tempe Mission Palms, every time I was in town. While I'd very much like it if that was the case, it's not.
The Tempe Mission Palms Hotel is THE place to stay if you have business in Tempe.
Bikram Yoga. Ever heard of it? It?s hatha yoga practiced in a very hot (and fairly humid) room. The 90-minute class consists of 26 beginner poses. Did you catch that? Beginner poses, meaning anyone can do Bikram yoga. As founder Bikram Choudhury says, ?never too late, never too old, never too bad, never too sick, to start from scratch once again.?
In fact, a typical Bikram class is likely to be populated equally by young and old, big and small, in shape and out of shape, flexible and tight, strong and weak.
It's that time of year again, when we read/hear about the latest and greatest hangover cures.
But Athletic-Minded Travelers don't get hangovers, do we? Well maybe some of us do, but only because all that athleticism has made us permanent light-weights. So in the event you find yourself in need of an energy boost or efficient means of detoxing, consider sweating and then re-hydrating with distilled water.
Surprisingly, there is quite a bit of fuss regarding what water type is best for daily consumption.
In case you were wondering, we do practice what we preach. I just returned from a fabulous workout at the Holmes Place Athletic Club in Chicago. A couple thousand yard swim in a true lap pool and a quick free-weight strength session is a perfect start to my Saturday morning.
Access to this toney club was not granted to Erin and me because we're two famous travel experts--we wish. All Embassy Suites Chicago Lakefront guests receive the sweat perk for a $10 fee. And the club is less than a block away, so that walk over this morning in the below-zero wind-chill was no sweat.
