When I originally decided to train 11 days in California, I was expecting it to be a mental challenge. I figured I'd be lonely and bored.
When I found out my uncle and aunt were in Palm Springs and I could bunk in their condo with them, I knew it would make the time spent in California more enjoyable. That's been an understatement. It's been fun staying with them, it's very homey and it's nice catching up.
I was looking forward to sleeping in today. I woke up at 6:30 am and was disappointed my body didn't want to sleep longer. Then the more I thought about it, I was glad. My aunt prepared me a large breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bagels, apricot jam, warmed strawberries and I was able to get on the road by 9 am for my 3:20 ride.
As I was riding, I soaked in the beauty and heat and realized that if I wasn't here, I would've had to do this ride indoors, on my trainer, during the evening. It made today's ride all the more sweeter. Although, riding in Palm Springs is challenging, the desert has very diverse riding conditions.
Lots rolling hills and LONG gradual uphills that slow you down to 18 - 20 kph and you never know what direction the wind is coming from. Palm Springs is known for it's wind, hence they have lots of wind farms. Surprisingly, the wind hasn't been to bad. It wasn't easy, but I averaged 30 kph and was pleased with that. Anything with a 3 in front of it, I'm happy with.
Right after the ride I went to the local YMCA. I pulled up and it was closed for Presidents day. I briefly considered not doing the weights, then reminded myself that this is a training camp week. No excuses. I used the GPS and found the nearest gym and when I arrived at the final destination I couldn't find it. But across the street from where it was supposed to be was a 5 Star Renaissance Hotel. I figured they must have a gym inside.
I parked the car and found the fitness center in the hotel. It was spectacular. It had every piece of equipment I needed and it was huge. They had 7 treadmills alone. Every piece of aerobic equipment had TV's on them and they even had large flat screen TV's on every wall. There was baskets of fruit and towels and a cooler with ice cold water. It was posh. The best part was I had the gym to myself, which was a beautiful thing.
I don't know why I haven't thought of crashing hotel fitness centers before. I can guarantee you that I'll be crashing many more hotel fitness centers in the future.
Mod Bike - 3:24:20 / 102.56 km / 30.1 kph
Weights Chisel - 30 minutes
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7 comments:
sounds like you found the right place to be training! Thank you for the highlight on gyms! now I know where to go to find a good gym when travelling! Keep pushing, you are making the rest of us work harder! Cheers!
Love the video update out in the desert - very cool, veryt poetic location considering your normal training evironment.
BTW, don't you have to give a room number and a key card when you use a hotel gym or did you just blag it?
J, thanks. Living the dream. haha.
S, glad you liked the video. I looked at it and it looked so perfect, like I green screened it.
Key? you just need to wait for one to enter, or leave or knock on the door, or sweet talk. A key is only one of 5 options. haha.
It looks so nice there! More videos please.
B- GREAT training workouts over the last three days nice work...especially going the extra distance after the bike and run races. Love the recaps thanks for sharing your experience.
D
Yeah yeah yeah, you rode your bike and did weights... but you crashed the hotel gym! Now that is a story! HAHA, nice going and I will definitely keep this option in my book of cheap fitness centers haha! Your training camp was a brilliant idea. Get out of the cold and nail your workouts man. Keep up the good work!!!
A, will do.
D, thanks.
M, Thanks. I can't believe I didn't think of crashing hotel gyms before. Instead of "wedding crashers", I'm going to start the "hotel fitness room crashers" movement. Haha.
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