Running while on travel can bring about some new and interesting running routes….or… you could just run around the parking lot!!!
We got to the hotel in Columbus around 5pm Wed. Since I hadn’t gotten in my 4 miler yet, I was pretty disappointed when everyone was ready to eat as soon as we checked in. We went to ON THE BORDER…mmmm mexican. No need to worry, I opted for the low calorie mini shrimp tacos and resisted the 5 gallon margaritas. Besides, I still had 4 miles to run.
We got back to the hotel around 7ish and I decided to hold off on the run until 9 (so the shrip would stop swimming). After checking mapmyrun.com and realizing there were no good roads to run on around the hotel, I reluctantly decided to use the treadmill in the state of the art hotel fitness closet. I’d already checked it out and decided it would do in a pinch.
When I got to the exercise room, there was someone on the treadmill (a-hole). But, he was watching ultimate cage fighting, which is one of my favorites. So, I got on the elliptical machine to warm up while I was waiting. After a 27 minute warm-up, Enrique finally got off the treadmill (jerk)!!!
It’s been a while since I’ve run on a treadmill…and now I know why you don’t train for a marathon on a treadmill. The first 1.5 miles seemed like an eternity…not to mention, I hadn’t realized the hotel fitness center also dubbed as the hotel sauna (holy hell it’s hot in here). I swear, it must have been 90 degrees in that room. At around 2.5 miles I decided if I tried to finish all 4 miles I’d be waking up in an ice tub at General Hospital. I decided to make it to mile three then head outside.
As I’ve already mentioned, there were no good running roads around the hotel, but there were lots of hotel and office building parking lots that seemed to interconnect for miles. Although it was 20-something degrees and drizzeling, and I was only in shorts and a t-shirt, I was plenty warm enough thanks to my time in the fitness sauna-closet.
Thank God for Nike+, because I was able to track my final mile around endless parking lot islands (talk about fun). After beating the frozen sweat off my t-shirt and shaking the ice cycles out of my hair, I headed up to the room and got out of my wet clothes (I was in the pool!!!). After a warm shower I was ready for a good nights rest.
Thursday’s run was a little more predictable. I already knew I wasn’t running in the sauna again, and besides, there were too many parking lot lines left to count. At 4pm there were still alot of hot travel agents working in the building next to the hotel…so I sucked in my gut and ran around the building twice…until someone closed their blinds (whose the pervert that keeps running past my window). Next building, cleaning crew (college wasn’t so bad). Next building…(1/2 mile)…next building….hotel windows (I must be a perv!!!)….look out, black-ice. Parking lots aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, but it sure beats the 8 million degree exercise room.
Friday is suppose to be a rest day, but I must have been cold when I woke up, because I went back to the sauna and did a low impact 30 minute stint on the elliptical machine.
Oh, by the way, I picked up some electrolyte jelly-beans to try on the 7 mile run tomorrow. I’ll let ya know if they work.
-Papacrouse
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freakin’ solid post. just when i didn’t think you had it in ya…nice work man, on the post and on the run! see you in the morning!
Awesome man way to run those miles by yourself. It doesn’t matter how they are ran as long as they are ran. I’m glad to see you keeping up with the blog
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