Goodbye my lover…goodbye my friend

I joined Printing House gym about 7 years ago. It was a beautiful facility and a very low key, off beat gym that had a penthouse space with beautiful waterfront views, a pool and outdoor deck, friendly low key staff and clientele, no loud music, ultra clean, very low traffic, sauna spa and whirlpool, full range of classes and boxing rind, personal trainers… ALWAYS a pleasant place to go to (except for the rare days that the elevator was out, LOL) and always IMMACULATE.

I would often say to myself and another friend who had joined back then – “I know this won’t last long, it’s TOO good”. That is how it felt- I don’t know if there is a perfect gym experience, but if there is, this was it.

In October, rumors were confirmed that Printing House had been brought out by the Equinox chain. I used to belong to Equinox many years ago and while it’s quite a gym, but really not for me. They type A trainers and clientele, ultra loud music, and overall high expense was too much in more than one way. Still, I thought I would tough it out where I was until they raised the price or …something.

For months, they did not change the pricing. The construction is in earnest however, and if it winds up looking anything like the design it will be quite the showcase. I got a letter in the mail on Friday however, that has forced my hand. The monthly fee is going up by 50%!

On top of that, if you join you are locked in for a minimum of one year before you can cancel. I knew it was wayyyy to good to last for too long. I loved it mightily while I had it, even though I didn’t go as much as I wanted to this year. It was nice to have a gym to get to during the lunch hour, closeby, like a second home.

I will truly miss my gym.

ENOUGH!

.........................I am beggging you...................

Weekend Inspiration

I had an interesting weekend with relatively little exercise. I did get in a good bike workout on Saturday, a 90 minute trainer ride with lots of hills. Sweatfest! And difficult, mostly because I was soooo tired- I woke up early to get on a train and attend the Tri expo.

I participated in a clinic specifically for first time triathletes (which of course meant that out of 40 people, about five were TRULY first timers LOL) The guys delivering the session were coaches whose basic underlying message was - “You should train with a team”. Oh they said other stuff – a lot of it WAS truly helpful – but one thing that was said that really bugged me was something about how all of us in attendance are type A personalities, we wouldn’t be there if we weren’t, and that most triathletes are.

Riiiiiiight……whatever! (See, I WANT to train with others and go to Masters and run with a club etc etc blah blah but I do NOT want some type A screaming at me or putting me on the spot, or criticizing me so that it will make me step up. It won’t. I am not built that way. I will just quit, because my non type A personality cannot deal with the embarrassment you just dealt me)

ANYWAY ....


The setup of the rest of the Expo was interesting – one half of the gym had vendors, and the other half was ongoing 10 minute presentations about a wide variety of S/B/R topics. Most of the presenters I sat in for were very approachable, seemed quite knowledgeable, and delivered clear concise information (One notable exception was a Doctor who was waaaaaay in deep with his stuff. One guy behind me got up laughing and said “Well, I guess HE knows what he is talking about – no one else does!” HA!)

The vendors were the standard Tri expo vendors – a bunch of clubs, apparel companies, a few nutrition companies, a few trainers, and they had a time trial setup on one side that you could sign up for. I liked that idea, but did not like the fact that dozens of people were milling right around the cyclists while they were trying to pound it out- I would have been really annoyed.

I did see a table sponsored by my (largest addiction)favorite website, Beginner Triathlete! I got to meet the legendary Marmadaddy and fellow BT’er DrCherryBomb!
That brief meeting made the whole morning. I did score some great junk swag, and I got a REALLY cute T from irunlikeagirl.com

Sunday I was a backup timer for swim meet hosted at my masters swim group in Nassau County. While up front it can seem like almost 4 hours is forever (especially on a sunny Sunday morning, and daylight savings time taking a much needed additional hour of sleep away from me) I really enjoy volunteering. The oldest participant at the meet was 89 years old! God, PLEASE let me be active, healthy and swimming at 89! Each heat he participated in (YES there was more than one) he got a rousing round of applause when he exited the water.






That, and the Star Spangled Banner completely had me tearing up (cuz I am just corny like that)

You would think that would give me inspiration to get my butt in gear – well, it has! More on exactly how later .....

RANDOM

I happened to hear this song - an old favorite - and see this quote today:

"Maybe all one can do is hope to end up with the right regrets."

- Arthur Miller


....um ok...but if its REALLY right, is it still a regret?

Still at it – kinda.

The mill is still dead – and things have shifted so far south that I have started the C25k program to get me back on some sort of track.

Swimming has been minimal – still not back at masters(some sort of dread of exposing thing 1 and thing 2 and the ever expanding Esther and Tootsie combined with work fatigue) but I have been known to make a cameo at the local parks and rec pool with my boys more than a few times.

The bike on the other hand is going ok. Yes I still have numb ass and privates after awhile but I have been putting in many hours weekly for the last few months. On the trainer, but still- I have been doing that.

This has been the worst winter in NYC in a long time. Lots of snow, ice, cold and dark.. Even good athletes have said they haven’t been able to get their bikes out since November so it’s not just me in case you were wondering. Still, here I am, trying …again….to refocus.

Going to hit up the Multisport World Triathlon Expo this weekend, and participate in a clinic for new triathletes which should be interesting. This will be my third time attending such an expo in as many years, and I will say that each year I have attended I have learned something – OK sometimes really tiny tiny things but hey, that is something, right? And there is always the free( mostly useless) swag and pamphlets which I am addicted to!

Gratitude

I so appreciate a day like Thanksgiving. Not for the so called historical reasons, but for the regular reminder that we all have so much to be thankful for. Lately life has been particularly trying for me - I have given in to grief, fear, confusion and anger. Two dear friends died quite unexpectedly, one day apart; at the same time that my professional life demanded so much more than usual from me.

I have been at sea, but am used to navigating myelf back into port.

Difficult times serve many purposes. I do NOT subscribe to the philosophy of their necessity. But difficult times give you the opportunity to test not only yourself but those around you, and how you feel about them. It can also reinforce what is really important to you when all the bells and whistles are stripped away.

I am humbly thankful for

My incredible little family. There are so few of us - and I always wished there were more - but we all so totally rock.

Love: its daily manifestations, and my ability to comprehend and express it

My personal relationship with the Divine, and the unconditional love and acceptance I strive to understand and reflect

my parents. They both left here a long time ago but I still benefit daily from their wise teachings firm foundation and incredible love. They are the best

Gainful employment

My abundant health- thing one and thing two are out of control with Esther (Roll) and Bertha(Butt) in close second and third but you know what? They are strong beautiful get me where I am going and I love them! I just know they will help me accomplish amazing things this season

my warm and comfy bed, warm home, food in the fridge

my stupid arse dog

leisure time to blog,dream, train, read, think, create...

It's all love. It's all good. I am so much better for those who have already been here, and grateful for being part of their jouney.

NOW - off to my own version of a Turkey Trot!!

behold, the gigantor demon cricket. The picture does it no justice - this bad boy was HUGE. and very very oogly. And all day he didntstray very far from my treadmill, perfect excuse to not use it! Ugh, ugh, ugh.

This weather lately has been absolutely gorgi. Never mind the training widget thingie – I have been running. Short baby runs but I have been moving consistently and that is the point for now. I went to a huge park yesterday and got lost on a few of the trails running and had an absolute blast. It was so nice to be surrounded by nature and not going around on the track like the worlds largest hamster (although my knees miss the cushioned track surface and loudly reminded me of that once or twice).

Good things that I did at least that much yesterday, as my treadmill decided to spaz out and kill its power supply. I also found out that my beyootiful gym may be closing – yeah the one that is near my job that I haven’t been able to frequent at all in the past six months. Whatever. I have to start getting my bear arse out of bed at 5 am again so I can at least start swimming in the am – if I do get to rejoin Masters, I don’t want to drown in the first class; that is waaay too embarrassing. At my best I am slowest.

To keep things interesting I started the 100 pushup, situp and squat challenge with my kids. We had fun just doing the test! I regularly attempt to inspire them to achieve and maintain fitness and am really hoping this will help – both them and me!

Finally - CNN is doing sponsoring another Triathlon training team to participate in the NYC triathlon with Dr Sanjay Gupta. I would soooo love to participate with them - especially since CNN picks up the tab, and I think Sanjay rocks the house(I so appreciate his coverage of Haiti after the earthquake; not for the fainthearted and speaking truth to power) I will not however be submitting a video of myself so I will continue to be inspired from afar!