The lonely room

In past posts, I've talked about the joy I've found when I get to visit a gym out-of-town. This week, I was reminded of the down-side--in-hotel 'work-out rooms'.

This week I had the pleasure of spending about a day-and-a-half in Kansas City (work related, not vacationing). While making a conscience effort to pack in a way of avoiding checking any baggage, I still wanted to pack some work-out clothes. With pleasant memories floating in my head from my last out-of-town work-out, I carefully selected and tightly packed my small suitcase. I was actually assisted by the TSA's silly 3-1-1 rule for all carry-on luggage.

I made it to KC without incident, and before long I was being shuttled to dinner, along with new and old friends. My dinner choice was far from the healthiest of options. I couldn't go to a famous KC BBQ house and not have beef and pork ribs, I think that would be inhospitable, if not un-American. However, I was very proud of my portion control.

[As a side note, the food was excellent, and the company delightful]

Even with pride of portion control, I knew I had to get to the gym. So, after bidding g0odnite to my hosts, I set off to find the 'work-out room' provided by my hotel. It was not where my memory told me such things often are. After asking, I found the room. It was at the far end of a hall, when back behind the vending area. Calling it a 'room' is generous. But, it did have two treadmills, and an elliptical machine, along with a very nice rack with perfectly folded hand towels. But what caught the eye, was the quality wall mount for the flat screen TV. There was no TV, but the rack looked like it would have held a nice one, close enough you could have reach the channel buttons without missing a step on either treadmill.

Thankfully, I packed my MP3 player--ready with an array of high-energy songs. When all you have to look at is a neutral-tan wall, less than a yard away, working out looses some of its allure. I still put in my 40 minutes that evening.

Being in the central time zone made more tolerable leaving my room to stare at a wall with a somewhat dusty flat-screen mount. Even so, I did it and felt better starting my day with 45 minutes on a treadmill.

However, as I pushed the speed up, I noted that I am far from ready for the training schedule I found for my 5k. I've got a lot of work to do. But, I'm ready...heck, I'm even eager.

All-in-all, the hotel work-out was quick, convenience, and what I needed; but, it was far from enjoyable. I'm still incredibly happy that I went and I squeezed in a couple work-outs.