Rude American Steals Treadmill

Hello!  Many apologies for my long absence - the end of last week was simply crazy and I am out of town this week on business yet again.  This time I'm in London where the weather is sunny for a change.  Best of all, I have been sticking to my planned exercise schedule!  Yesterday I managed a short strength training session before work and this morning I hit the hotel treadmill (more about that in a minute).  Tomorrow I'm planning to do strength in the morning & yoga in the evening, and Friday will be another treadmill run before I catch a plane back to Philly.  I'm hoping to fit in a bonus walk somewhere but only if time allows.

I flew over Sunday night, slept on the plane and arrived Monday morning.  Went right to work and by 6pm  I was pretty tired so I had dinner at the hotel and went to bed right afterwards.  Tuesday morning I woke up early to exercise.  The hotel didn't have a gym and it was still dark outside, so I worked out in my room.  After warming up by power walking the halls and doing a few flights of stairs, I did a 20-minute routine using body weight as resistance - push ups, lunges, wall sits, crunches, etc.  Last night I transferred to a different hotel and planned to get up early this morning to hit the treadmill. 

The hotel guide stated that the gym would be open at 6am, so I left my room at 5:55 intending to beat the rush.  Alas, everyone else in the hotel had the same idea and by the time I got there all the treadmills were taken.  Disappointed, I weighed my options.  Run outside?  No - still dark and the hotel is right outside Heathrow, I'm unsure of the neighborhood.  Run up and down the halls?  No - there are fire doors about every 50 feet on each floor - I'll spend more time opening doors than running.  Skip my workout?  Hell NO!  I got up, got dressed and got down here - I'm ready to go.  OK, last options - use a different machine, or stand around and wait until a treadmill is free.  I chose to make the most of my time and hopped on an elliptical. 

More and more people arrived and soon every machine was taken.  I was watching the 4 treadmills in front of me like a hawk - ready to jump off my machine at the slightest sign of a cooldown.  The elliptical is a good workout but I get really bored on it after about 10 minutes and I really had my heart set on the treadmill.  Watching....watching....that lady is slowing down....YES!  She's picking up her towel.....crap.  Just taking a moment to check her heart rate.  Wait....that guy on the end is definitely doing a cool down....he's taking out his headphones....

Before anyone else could make a move, I pounced.  I was off that elliptical and behind that treadmill faster than you can say 'rude American'.  Much to the dismay of everyone else I claimed the treadmill for myself and jumped right into my intervals.  I could feel the frustration of a couple other people who had been waiting out the same guy - and as I looked in the mirror I could see a woman behind me staring open-mouthed in annoyance. 

The polite, don't-make-waves, don't-draw-attention-to-yourself side of me felt a twinge of guilt before I made my move.  I knew other people were waiting.  But as I looked around the room, I knew that I needed that treadmill more than anyone else there.  Rude or not, nothing was going to stand in the way of my training plan and I decided to absolve myself of guilt right then and there.  I did what I needed to do!  In fact, this morning's workout was all the sweeter because I fought for it. 

As for my eating strategy, I only have one business dinner to worry about - tonight I'll be eating with my team in Windsor (yes, that Windsor - right next to the castle) which has lots of lovely restaurants.  There will be pints of beer and probably some amazing curry.  To pre-compensate I've been eating small meals and not snacking. My hope is that I'll see at least a half-pound loss on the scale when I get back - I'm within striking distance of the 230's!

I probably won't post too much for the rest of this week but I'll leave you with some exciting news I got last Friday.  I went to the doctor for my annual physical and review of bloodwork.  It's been just over a year since I was last there and my cholesterol has gone from 225 to 201, my triglycerides have gone from 166 to 88, my resting pulse has dropped from 84 to 64 and my blood pressure has dropped to 110/70-ish.  My thyroid levels are stabilized (I went on synthetic thyroid hormone about 2 years ago) and my blood sugar was normal (diabetes runs in my family so I get that checked every year).  My doctor was so pleased and of course also congratulated me on my weight loss.  Woohoo!  It's not often that my annual checkup yields anything other than a reminder to eat less and exercise more, yada yada yada.

She did notice that my vitamin D levels were extremely low - possibly due to working all day in an office with no windows - and instructed me to take D3 supplements or get at least 15 minutes a day of direct sunlight on my face and arms.  Yet another reason to get that lunchtime walk in!

Oh, one last thing - the new Jillian Michaels show starts on June 1: http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=20100316nbc01

That's all I have today - I'll be back to my regular schedule on Saturday - enjoy your week!