Training with No Excuses

Training while traveling can be a little tough at times but if you are creative and dedicated, it can be done.  Sometimes there are only basic tools available and many times you can’t safely leave the property on your own. 

Even a walk down the beach can turn into a problem if a local person gets angry or if you get in bad location.  Many people don’t have anything to lose and everything to gain.  You gotta be careful, that’s for sure.

On this trip, although the hotel is more of a beach resort and is really quite nice, the gym is really minimal with just some dumbbells, antique treadmills and bikes, and an old Cybex Universal machine.  You actually have to go down to the reception area to get a key just to get in the room.  The room is also about 80 degrees and 90% humidity which means it is a sweaty mess for a guy like me.

The alternative is to use my room and do a stability ball workout, or yoga, or just basic calisthenics.  Sometimes all you need is just a clear space on a floor and it’s amazing how good of a workout you can get.

The problem is that you have to fit it into an already packed schedule.  In my case this week I may leave the hotel at 7:30 AM and not get home until 9 PM.  That means you have to get up early to get it done.   You have to put it into your schedule and make yourself do the work. 

I don’t know if I’ll get faster or stronger this year, but it won’t be because I didn’t try.

First Day in Sri Lanka

I arrived into the airport at about 2:20 AM which was about 25 minutes late.  No big deal when you consider it was over 20 hours of flight total.  I made it through customs with no issues at all; there was a huge sign that said being caught with illegal drugs was punishable by death.  Good thing I’m clean.  One thing I thought was funny was that many people put their hands up when they go through the metal detector.  I wonder exactly what that does…

They had some very strange things in the Duty Free area.  I’m not exactly sure why someone would by a washer and dryer in an airport.

I ran the gauntlet of money exchange booths that literally yell at you as you go by.  Then I found my driver amid a large group of sleepy eyed locals who would prefer to still be in bed at 3 AM obviously.

When I exited the terminal, I was hit with a wave of humidity and was instantly wet.  We made our way to the car and off we went on a 45 minute ride.  About 30 minutes in, he started drinking a mysterious liquid from a green glass bottle; I didn’t dare to ask what it might be.  Shortly thereafter he decided to take a “short cut” through some back alleys that had me a little nervous but soon enough we popped out back on a major road.

Let me just say that clearly there are no rules on how to drive in this area, markings in the road are not even considered.  They just do whatever they want.

Checking in at any hotel at 4 in the morning is guaranteed to be an odd experience.  This one was no different; I just wanted to get to my room.  The bellboy showed me the way to the elevator which required that we walk through a courtyard with a fountain.  I arrive at my room #414 and find the door open.  So I pretended to be James Bond as I systematically “cleared” each room to make sure there was no one hiding on me.  Ok, so being up for way too long made me a little wacky.

I used the bathroom, showered, shaved and laid down only to find that there were no blankets. WTF?  So being too lazy and tired to call to have some delivered, I froze my ass off all night.  I was pretty curious what I would find for accommodations when the sun came up.

When I my alarm went off I looked out the window to see the ocean waves crashing like mad, I guess there is some storm surge in the Indian Ocean right now.  I got dressed and went down to find where ever breakfast was.  It turned out to be a pretty large buffet with eastern and western options.  I chose some “chicken” sausage, Swedish potatoes, toast, bacon, curried chicken, coffee, and a pastry.  I have to say that it was all pretty good.  About ¾ of the way through a wave of rain came through forcing me inside to finish. 

Yes, another "table for one".

After breakfast I explored the property to see what was going on.  I found a nice stretch of beach with some grass hut type restaurants that I guess open later in the day.  There was a tower with a dining table on the top, I guess that is for VIP diners so they can look down on everyone else.

I was stopped by a couple men trying to sell sea shells, sorry guys, no luck.

The hotel was nice enough to post a sign telling people when it was safe to swim.

Then, as you can see the flag was red = no swimming.  Then you can also see the two guys getting smashed by waves.  I guess the rules don't apply to these guys.

Where am I?

As I've mentioned before, I will be traveling quite a bit this year.  This should give me a chance to see many new things that many people don't get to experience.  Hopefully I don't recreate any episodes from the TV show Locked up Abroad. 
Just to give an idea of the mileage I'm talking about, this is a map of my current travels.  This is just the beginning. 

I don't get much time to do tourist type things but I'll do as much as I can.  I'll try to take some interesting photos and tell about the local culture and cuisine.  Hopefully I stay out of trouble in the process.

Do you want your eyebrows threaded?

My selection of cloths in my closet is getting a little weak.  I am down to one pair of jeans that isn't completely trashed.  So, with a little spare time today I headed to the mall. 

Let me just say right off the bat that I am not cut out for shopping.  There are only a couple stores at the mall that interest me even slightly.  So I don't make it there very often. 

Today, I was walking along headed to the next store on the quest for a pair of jeans that actually fit and I see an entire store dedicated to "Eyebrow Threading".  I stopped in my tracks, made a scruntched up face, and stared into the open doorway.  Clearly I have lost touch with what people are doing, because I have no idea what Eyebrow Threading is.

Apparently I'm not alone because they had a video playing outside the salon showing just what they do.  They basically use a technique of manipulating two strings to rip the hair out of your face. 
So I'm left wondering, how can you justify an entire salon only dedicated to ripping hair from peoples faces? 

Clearly it is an art form and much cooler than using tweezers to do the task.  Obviously string is less dangerous than putting hot wax on your eye.  What I'm really wondering is when they are going to shift this to other areas.  Underarm Threading or Bikini Threading anyone???

By the way, practically every pair of jeans I tried on felt like this but the waist was still too big.  It sucks having big legs with a small waist.

For my next post maybe I'll comment on how the sweater vest is back in style.  Wow, I have been living under a rock apparently.

Adapt and Overcome

I really enjoy the sport of Triathlon and over the past couple years it has become the main focus of my physical training.  I have spent quite a lot of time either training, or reading about training, or dreaming of fast bikes and light shoes.  I'm also an engineer at heart so I analyze the hell out of everything and like to have a plan.

I've been working with a great trainer named Martha Grinnell who not only has proven that she can kick ass in the sport (at the pro level) but also has an uncanny ability to understand the needs of an athlete.  http://www.dynamic-training.net/

Over the past couple years we have been able to use a pretty much traditional triathlon training regimen and it has worked really well.  I'm so much better than I was when I first started out.

Now we have a new challenge.  Because I am traveling quite a bit, I don't always have access to a bike, a pool, or an open road that is safe to run.  I was left wondering how in the world am I going to train and compete under the circumstances.  I didn't have to wonder long because Martha had more ideas than I could wrap my head around.  Put it this way, I won't have any excuses for not getting in a workout.

So now, possible workout locations include stairwells, hallways, and I'm pretty sure I'll be doing some type of airport terminal workout.  Of course sometimes I'll have access to a good gym or pool, but now that isn't mandatory.  The true test will be if I can improve my race times over last year.  Time will tell.

So stay tuned, I'll do my best to post some unique workouts. 

Today, I joined Katie for a Crossfit workout.  I only did the fitness evaluation and I was completely wiped out.  I totally hit the wall and it didn't take long.  I'd love to find a way to fit their workouts into my program as we go forward. 

Contageous Accents

What is a contagious accent?  Well, basically it is what happens when you talk with someone who has a strong accent and it starts to rub off on you.   It could be the always awesome Austrailian with shrimp on the barbie, a slight drawl when you are around someone from the south, or the smart English accent of a Brit.

Particularly during this past trip down south, I noticed that when I talked to people for an extended amount of time I started up a little southern drawl of my own.  I was getting a little worried that I would still have it when I got home.

I happen to know a couple people who truly enjoy catching the British accent.  They could go on for hours and hours talking about tea and crumpets and such.  You would think they were getting ready for dinner with the Queen. 

One of my favorite accents is the Maine accent.  I often get requests to perform my Maine accent which usually I try to turn down.  But if I have a couple beers in me, you better watch out because I turn into a regular Mainah.  The problem is that it’s hard to turn off. 

So if you are talking to someone “from away”, or you are traveling, please be careful. 

Public appology to the woman at Anytime Fitness

I belong to a gym in Btown called Anytime Fitness.  If you aren’t familiar with it, basically it is a fully equipped fitness facility that may or may not be staffed at the front desk.  They give you a RFID key tag that allows you entry to the building “anytime” hence the name.

So sometime I go there at odd hours like early on a weekend morning or late at night.  They have an upper parking lot and a back parking lot.  Pretty much everyone parks in the upper lot in front of the building.

I don’t mind working out alone, I really don’t do anything too dangerous or risky and I like the peace and quiet.   There is this odd thing that keeps happening though…  I pull in to the building, there are no cars out front.  I look through the window and there are no cars out back.  So I figure I have the whole place to myself.  I’ll tell you why this is important.

1.)    I like to point all the fans at myself

2.)    I like to do circuit training which could use most of the weight machines at the same time

3.)    Running on a treadmill gives me gas

Ok so that 3^rd one is a little revealing, but I’m sure I’m not the only one that gets gas, so no big deal.

So here’s the story.  I’m in the gym; it’s early on a Sunday morning.  No cars in the parking lot.  I’m on the treadmill.  I figure it’s pretty safe to let one rip.  So I do.

I look up from my treadmill mounted TV screen and who walks up the stairs but some old lady!  Awww crap, and she’s walking right through my cloud of doom!  There is no one else to blame it on!   What was I supposed to do now?

So I just said good morning and pretended like nothing happened.  Sorry lady, I didn’t know you were there.