The Pool

"You really swam in the pool in Central Park?" Yes. Yes, I did.

Here's the scoop. After rollerblading at Summer Streets during Day 1 of the heat wave, my friend and I were desperate to find a pool. I've noticed Lasker Pool on my loop runs in the park, and we decided it was worth a shot.

In order to get in, you have to be wearing a bathing suit and you have to bring a lock for the locker room. These are non-negotiable rules and I don't recommend debating the, um, bouncers. The pool is open from 11-3 and then from 4-7. We got there around 2 and went right in.

The 3-4 break is no joke. Just before 3, everyone had to get out of the pool, empty their lockers and leave the premises. Seriously. People started lining up for re-entry right away. I have no idea if this means that there are normally lines to get in.  It may be that my friend and lucked out because we got there so close to the break.  (Anyone?)

The pool is huge. There were a ton of people there that day, but there really was room for everyone. A few lanes in the middle of the pool were set aside for laps, but mostly it was open for playing. (There was also a separate shallow pool for babies.) We laid our towels out on the concrete steps and jumped in. Ok, my friend jumped. I eased in. It felt soooooo good. We splashed around until we had to get out for the 3 o'clock break. It would have been nice to have more time, but I can't imagine that lying out on concrete is all that pleasant anyway.

If you want to swim - by which I mean actually get in the water and splash around with your friends - outside in NYC, I totally recommend checking out Lasker. The pool seemed perfectly clean to me. I didn't notice super high levels of chlorine or anything - but, to be honest, I'm kinda sick of having my bathing suits change color on me, anyway, so I'm ok with that. If you're looking for a place to lay out, I say stick with Sheep's Meadow, or your roof, or wherever. (Or splurge on one of the hotel rooftop day passes.)

Don't expect any frills. Aside from a few, mostly out of order, vending machines, there's no place to get food or drinks. Also, if you're the squeamish type, you probably won't like the locker rooms. They're public pool locker rooms in NYC, though, so what can you expect?

The pool closes after Labor Day, so I may not get another chance to check it out this year.  If I do, I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

Summer Summer Summer Summertime

Ok, the weather kinda sucks lately. I get that. But we only get one summer a year and I practically lived at work through June and July, so I'm making the most out of this August, come rain, shine or ridiculous humidity.

I was away for the first Saturday of Summer Streets, but made it to the last two. If you didn't get to check it out this year, mark your calendars for next year. Park Ave. gets closed off to traffic from 72nd street down to the Brooklyn Bridge. You can walk, run, bike, blade, skateboard ... or whatever. There are free bike and rollerblade rentals available. Along the route there are little tents with water (kudos to the Kitano hotel for the excellent, very cold water and to Equinox for the little water bottles), coffee, cheese (seriously) and silly photo ops. This weekend I may have been out too early, but last weekend there were dance and musical performances. Apparently, Crunch was offering aerobics classes along the way, too.

For my first Summer Streets experience, I went rollerblading with a friend. It turns out that Park Ave. is not so flat. I'm a big fan of going uphill, but downhill scares me. I know that speed and momentum give you greater control, but my brain and my body seem to have a disconnect on the issue. The spookiest part was heading uptown around Grand Central. You go past that Hyatt and then you're in a curvy tunnel going downhill. I rode my break pretty hard.

That was the first day of the heat wave, so I was very impressed by the number of people running and biking. I was even more impressed by the very perky people telling you when to stop for traffic. I don't know how they did that for 5 hours.

Yesterday, I wanted to run Summer Streets, and my sister and cousin invited me to run with them. While neither is actively training for a race right now, both are marathoners. Until yesterday, I don't think I'd ever run more than 7.5ish miles (from my apartment to the park, around the loop and back). They were talking about an 8 mile run. That sounded good. I'll be doing my first half in March, and while it's too early to train, it can't hurt to push it a bit.

It wasn't quite as hot as the previous weekend (it was pretty early in the day) but it was raining. The rain actually felt pretty good until I stepped in a puddle and my sneakers got all wet. Oops!

We ended up running from 72nd and Park down to more or less the Brooklyn Bridge and back. According to mapmyrun.com, that's about 9.2 miles. Go me! I more or less kept up with the fam for the first few, but after a while, I fell behind. I'm slow. I also have little legs.

Those little legs are a tad sore today, but survived an advanced Physique class, so I've got no complaints.  What will the rest of the week bring?  I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

Gym Belle's Playcation

Last year, I tried the staycation thing. It was cheap, but I got what I paid for. This year, when a last minute opportunity to escape work arose, I decided to be a little more adventurous. I didn't want anything so serious as a spa or a fitness centered trip, but I wanted something active and varied. I packed my bags and took off for St. Moritz, Switzerland. Most people know St. Moritz as a ritzy ski destination, but the mountains and lakes make for excellent summertime fun as well. The highlights of my trip included:

Glacier Walk

Day one in St. Moritz I walked to the foot of the glacier. Glaciers are seriously beautiful from far away. When you get closer, not so much. You know what snow looks like after it's been around a few days? Extrapolate. It's still pretty awe inspiring, though.

At foot of the glacier is a sea of rocks that have tumbled down over the years, so if you want to touch the ice, you've got to make it over the rocks. A twelve year old Dutch boy gallantly offered to carry me across; I declined. Rocks being, well, rocks, some were big, some were small. Some were steady, most were not. I have no idea how no one twisted an ankle. It was insanely fun and I really put my balance to the test.

On a side note, as I walked, I noted a refreshing lack of lawyers in Switzerland. There were no roped off areas, no signs warning of falling rocks or cautioning that ice is slippery. In fact, I didn't sign one waiver during the entire trip.

Oh - and we drank from a stream on the way to the glacier. Yum.

Kayaking

As a kid in camp, kayaking was my lake activity of choice. More recently, I've been kayaking on the Hudson (totally free, by the way). I thought I knew what I was in for kayaking on Lake Silvaplana. I was dead wrong. I'm reasonably strong, and upper body strength is supposed to be my thing, but I was so not prepared for this. My arms ached. I've decided to blame it on my co-kayaker's serious lack of steering abilities. Anyone have any insight?

Hiking

In all fairness, "hiking" may be a bit of an exaggeration, but I did walk through the woods and across and down several mountains. The most fun was taking ski lifts to the peaks of the various mountains, enjoying a nice lunch and then meandering down.

Ice Skating

One afternoon, after walking down the mountain into town, I decided to explore a bit and happened upon an outdoor skating rink. I love ice skating and spend a decent amount of time both at the Rock Center rink and at Bryant Park in the winter, but I had never skated outside on an 85 degree day before. Somehow the ice stayed frozen. Very cool. I got totally sunburned.

Horseback Riding

I used to ride regularly as a kid and at Riverdale during grad school, but hadn't been on a horse for a few years so I was extra psyched for this activity. I went on a two hour trail ride. We walked, trotted and galloped through the mountain paths. It was beautiful and Jeanette, my horse, was a sweetheart. The next morning, I rediscovered those muscles. Riders, you know what I mean.

Swimming

The hotel had a huge indoor pool that was miraculously never crowded. A few years ago, when I was having knee issues, I tried to take up swimming. It only lasted a few months, but every now and then it's nice to swim laps.

Running

I know I can run anywhere, but it was extra fun in such a beautiful setting.

The path around the lake was my favorite.

The beautiful setting and all of the activity choices meant that I didn't end up in the hotel's gym very often. This is the first trip I've taken in a long time where I didn't have to break out the itrain to stay motivated.

Now I'm back in NYC enjoying the lovely weather we're having and dreaming of my next trip.  I have no idea yet where that might be.  I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-