Keeping Calm

Yeah...that's room service. A burger with an egg on it and a beer. Shanghai is killing me! My training has gone straight down the Ironman porta-jon. I am trying not to go ballistic as my body is getting soft. Traveling is hard enough. Traveling around the world and trying to stay fit is almost impossible. The time change, the odd food and less than tolerable workout facilities are daunting challenges to any athlete. Keeping clam is key and pre-planning is paramount.

Squeaky wheel rule applies when tying to train on a trip, especially a business trip. Emailing hotels and investigating the facilities online is a must. Keep in mind that photographers are paid to make the tiny pool look like an Olympic size swimmer’s dream. On this current trip to Taiwan I even went as far as using Google Earth satellite maps to see the actual outside pool.

When I crossed over to Shanghai for the remainder of my trip I ran into a glitch. The hotel I booked has a 25 meter pool but it isn’t conducive to proper training. It is located upstairs from a KTV (Chinese disco-karaoke). This means if I want to swim I have to walk through a night club (afternoon and evening) with…um…”ladies of the evening” asking me to obtain their services. Not a scene you want to enter into wearing a Speedo. The pool’s water quality is questionable at best. The chance to get sick is very high. My last trip to Asia gave me a stomach parasite that worked me over for a month.

With swimming out I decide to try the gym to run on the treadmill. Same issue with the disco, but a new glitch is found upon arriving to the workout room. The weights, bike and single treadmill is next to the pool and the air is like a sauna. Now the interesting mix: The room is also a hang-out for those wishing for “men of the evening.” Not a scene you want to enter into wearing super short Brooks running shorts. As I arrived to the sub-par treadmill there are four shirtless males wearing only swimming suites very excited to see me. The only workout I got that night was jogging back to my room. For the record, this is a 5-star hotel and the nicest in the area. Shanghai Surprise!

The food is a disaster when traveling. At least it is for me. Half my suitcase is my own training food. Energy bars, bagels, pretzels (none in China), Fig Newtons, G2 powder mix and Power Gels are a must in the land of rice and…um…is that beef? Some handle the fried octopus at the Pizza Hut better than others. I stick to steamed white rice and corn soup as much as possible. Until I recover from this trip...happy training and thanks for reading.