Bermuda: Day Three

On our last morning in Bermuda, my sister and I decided to run the route that had been recommended to me by a local runner, so we walked down to Horseshoe Bay.  After a brief debate, we decided to keep our sneakers on for Horseshoe Bay because we'd want them for the path at the other end.  It was hot, and I soon fell behind my sister.

At the far end of the beach, we turned up the hill and found the path that runs just inside the coastline to the next beach.  The path was grassy in some places, sandy/rocky in others.  It took us past a few smaller beaches and a campground.  We even ran right by the guy who'd told me about this run!  By the time we finally hit the parking lot connecting the beaches, I was drenched and thirsty. 

Once we arrived at Warwick Long Bay Beach, we kicked off our shoes and placed them far enough up on the sand that they wouldn't get wet.  I ran deeper in the water than I had the day before to cool off.  It slowed me down, but honestly, we weren't moving very quickly anyway.  At the far end of the beach we paused to admire the view, and then we ran back to our shoes.

After that, our run pretty much became a brisk walk back to the concession stand at Horseshoe Bay for some water.  With our "run" out of the way, we had a big lunch and spent the afternoon poolside.

The moral of the story is that it's hard to run very far in Bermuda.  Perhaps the people shelling out $15 a day to run on the hotel treadmills had the right idea!  It was fun trying, though, and I did pick up this little tidbit: "locating satellites" isn't any faster on an island than it is in NYC.  Crazy, huh?

-Gym Belle-

Fashion's Night Out, Gym Belle Style

Last year, I remember leaving work just in time to see the stores shutting down after Fashion's Night Out.  This year, I lucked out and left the office a little past 6:00.  There were so many choices, I almost didn't know where to start.  I went down to Soho, which was totally packed and completely insane.  Judging from all the shrieking going on, people around me definitely saw famous people.  To escape the crowds, I ducked into Lululemon where I found this:

Thumb holes!

I felt very fashionable at the gym this morning.

When I got to Lululemon, they were setting up for a special yoga class (complete with live DJ) in honor of FNO so I decided to stick around.  The instructor was Lauren Imparato from I.AM.YOU. studio.  I remembered reading about the i-banker turned yogi on Social Workout last year, but I'd never been to one of her classes.  It was great.  The class was fast-paced and aerobic.  I was super tight and inflexible last night, worse than usual even, but Lauren was a great instructor.  She really helped me with my wheel pose.

 Setting up for yoga

I left Lululemon re-energized and ready to shop. 

Lauren's giving another free class at Lululemon Soho on September 29 at 9:00 am.   If you can go, I totally recommend checking it out.  Each of the participants last night got a pass to take a free class at her studio.  I'm going to put that to good use. 

I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

David Barton

Earlier this week, I got an email from one of the guys at the upper east side David Barton offering me a free training session.  I said yes.  (Duh.)  And then I wondered if that was such a good idea.

Free personal training sessions sound great in theory, but they're usually disappointing.  After all, gyms don't give freebies to be nice; they do it to convince you to buy sessions.  From what I've seen, a lot of trainers knock you down to build you up.  The more insecure they can make you about your weight/shape/strength/health etc., the more dependent on them you're likely to become.  The technique must work, because I've encountered it a lot, but it drives me absolutely batty.  I really didn't want to spend an hour hearing about how we're going to slim down my bulky thighs or strengthen my weak back or whatever.

I needn't have worried.  I arrived at 6:00 am and was set up with Taisha.  She was awesomely chill.  There was no pre-workout interrogation.  She had one question for me: when was the last time you were in a gym?  Then we got started.  We chatted as the hour progressed, about my upcoming half-marathon mostly, but it felt totally conversational.  She told me about how she's starting to train for fitness competitions.  About three quarters of the way through, as I was using a funky squat machine, I caught her looking at my quads.  I braced myself.  But what she said was: "You've got great muscle mass on your quads.  A lot of runners get too skinny.  It's good that you lift."  Woohoo! 

Truth be told, the workout was pretty vanilla.  We stuck to the machines.  The weights weren't particularly heavy, but that makes sense since it was out first time working out together.  All in all, I was pretty happy.

The gym itself has an industrial chic vibe.  The pipework is visible, and the main room is lined with pillowed window-seats and dotted with mirrors.  The music was clubby, but not obnoxiously so.  At 6:00 am, the gym was super quiet.  Taisha said that's because it's the first week of school and people are just getting back from the Hamptons.  (This is 85th between 5th and Madison, after all.)  Soon, the gym will be packed at that hour.  Taisha described the gym as intimate; most people work out with trainers, and everyone knows everyone.

If you want to check out any of the David Barton locations, consider scheduling a training session for September 22nd.  Sessions that day are $50, and the proceeds go to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and The Clearity Foundation.  (More info here.)

Perhaps I'll check out the legendary Chelsea location that day...

-Gym Belle-