Travel and Training - Race schedule change!

For me, the beginning of a new calendar year is always full of ambitious goals and optimism about the year ahead.  As evidenced by this blog, I love to plan, so this time of year is typically when I lay out my schedule for the next 5-6 months.  Between my concert duty schedule, training, travel, volunteer commitments and MBA class schedule, my schedule is packed so the uber-planning relaxes me.  The one thing that becomes the biggest challenge is travel and one of my longest work travel trips of the year happens at the beginning of January:  APAP. 

APAP stands for the Association of Performing Arts Presenters and the conference that this organization presents is the largest in our industry.  It's always held in early January and always in New York City.  In a nutshell, APAP is non-stop shows, artist agent meetings and industry sessions.  This year, I tried to keep the schedule to a manageable 10-12 hours a day.  I saw a lot of shows (Bradley Cooper in The Elephant Man is amazing and definitely Tony Award-worthy) but I decided to skip out on the late-night shows (11:30p sets at Village Vanguard!!) this year so I could actually get myself out of bed the next morning to work out.  I also had to present at one of the sessions on the last day so I did not want to be too run-down by day 5. 

New York Workouts
My goal was 4 workouts over five days.  I ended up doing three workouts: a 4 mile run, 7 mile run on the treadmill (I should get mad props for that) and one 45-minute Flywheel class, which is one of my favorite indoor cycling programs.  I am not a Flywheel instructor and I receive no payment for my endorsement of this format, but let me tell you, it's awesome.  Flywheel is an indoor cycling class that an outdoor cyclist can embrace.  Each bike has an individual dashboard which monitors RPMs, power and torque.  All of the individual dashboard flow to a leaderboard which is projected on screens in the front of the class.  Periodically throughout the class, the instructor will turn on the leaderboard and you can see how you measure against others in the class.  Again, awesome.  Also, your class fee includes a pair of cycling shoes (so you can clip in), unlimited bottled water and towel.  Have a mentioned I love this place? 

There are a number of Flywheel locations in Manhattan, all within two miles of midtown.  They also now have locations in Chicago and other major cities.  I like to turn this workout into a brick workout.  Typically, I attend class at the Flatiron location, which is about 1.5 miles from my Times Square hotel.  I'll run 1+ miles to the studio, ride and run back to my hotel.  However, for my APAP trip, I stay at the Sheraton at 7th Ave and 53rd and I discovered that Flywheel recently opened a new studio near Lincoln Center (1.1 miles from my hotel). I had a little 2-inch snow surprise when class let out, but in a display of true grit, I sucked it up and ran back to my hotel in the snow.  I like the Flatiron studio better primarily because of my run course.  I take the 6am class which means leaving my hotel around 5:30a.  There is nothing more awesome that running down Broadway in the early morning.  It is an amazing run and a completely different way to see NYC.  If you are traveling without a bike and have to get a ride in, this is really one of the best options that simulates the outdoor ride.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Flywheel.

NYC run in the snow - somewhere near Columbus Circle

My swim got scrapped on this trip.  I typically swim at Manhattan Plaza Sport Club, which is on 41st between 8th and 9th. It's a nice club with a very nice pool and usually the pool is not very busy.  I had great intentions.  I packed my paddles, cap, goggles and nose clips.....and forgot my swim suit.  So I was able to protect my straight hair for one extra day and sleep until 8a one morning.

In other news...
I got a surprise in my inbox last week.  Lifetime Fitness emailed me and said I had won a free entry to the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon in Minneapolis.  I was totally surprised and had to contemplate whether or not I should stick to my original race plan or swap out Omaha Triathlon for LTF Minneapolis.  After surveying the TNT community, I decided to do it.  So now I'm traveling for pretty much every triathlon this summer.  New race schedule below:

Sunday, March 22 - Hot Chocolate Run 15K - San Diego, CA

Sunday, April 26 - Omaha Duathlon - Memphis, NE

Sunday, May 3 - Lincoln National Guard Half Marathon - Lincoln, NE

Sunday, June 7 - Legend Triathlon (Olympic) - Lawrence, KS

Saturday, July 11 - Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Minneapolis (Olympic) - Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, August 9 - Ironman 70.3 Steelhead - Benton Harbor, MI

Sunday, September 6 - Hy-Vee Triathlon 5150 Championship - Des Moines, IA


Stay tuned...