Insane in Independence

I’ve done some stupid things to exercise, especially while traveling. I’m reminded of running up and down stairs and on the roof of a hotel in Damascus, Syria, after flying for 16 hours. Can you even begin to imagine the looks people gave me as I thundered past them in the stairwell?

Being in a hotel room in Independence, Missouri presented an interesting situation. Like every day, I had The Streak to preserve, which ordinarily involves the delightful chance to run in a new place. As an added measure on this trip, though, I had 50 days remaining in the Insanity workout program. Doing that isn’t as easy as going for a run, even at night in a foreign country. I planned ahead and purchased a portable DVD player so I could stay on track with the program.

Here’s where things went kooky. Our hotel didn’t have a fitness center and we had a room on the second floor. They were completely booked and we couldn’t change rooms. You see this coming, don’t you? Albeit my generation often shows no consideration for others, I knew doing any aerobic exercise in the hotel was rude, but this particular program would seem like an earthquake to the guests directly below our room and possibly to others nearby as well.

So at 6:00 am I took a water bottle and the DVD player and searched for a place to set up for 40 minutes of insane exercise. I settled on a small office park a couple of blocks away. Embarrassment and self consciousness slipped away a few minutes into the punishing warm up routine. I made it through the workout without incident other than scraping my hands during push ups. I packed up and returned to the hotel before anyone entered the parking lot. Did I mention this was a Sunday? At the time I kept thinking about how much fun this would be on the following day, a work day.

There’s no shame in commitment, dedication or resolve.

Tom