Travel Hotel Expertise

WY I RUN... there is no better feeling than giving it everything you got

Workouts:

11/7:  8 Miles and 4 Miles, Pilates

11/8: 2 w/u, 8@6:55-7:06,2 c/d. Felt great about this w/o and effort levels were smooth sailing. Pilates, Aqua Jog 

11/9: 8 Miles and 4 Miles, Pilates, Aqua Jog

11/10: Only day off from work: 12 Miles, Walk around Niagara Falls, Pilates and Easy Swim (in a 10ft pool, back and forth)

Almost spent some time here:

3 Acre Indoor Water Park, but was $45 for the day.

11/8: 8 Miles, Pilates, Easy Swim

11/9: 10 Miles w/ 4 x20, 4 Miles, Pilates

11/10:  Nerve racking run, not sure why, but this workout always gives me problems. Today however, although I did not nail paces, I pushed through the wind and rain and never fell off the cliff and kicked in the mental toughness more than I ever have (most of these workouts end early). I didn't quit once one pace was off and was able to come back and redeem myself a bit. 2 w/u, 8 Cutdown, 7:45,35,25,15,05, 6:55,45, fast, 1.5 c/d, Elliptical Shakeout, Pilates

Since I travel frequently for my job, I have become quite the connoisseur when it comes to the best places to stay. There are a few things to keep in mind, and I guess I am a little bias since my priorities usually lie within the exercise and food realm. First, there is a sweet spot in terms of how many stars a hotel should be. There are 1-2 stars which can be down right dirty, usually not in the friendliest locations and have a continental breakfast which could be solely jelly donuts and brown water for coffee.
The there is 3.5-5 stars and while these beds are the most comfortable, they charge you for each step you take. You can't check out without about a billion added charges, from parking, internet, cleaning service, which isn't an option and turning on your television (well, maybe not this, but you get the point.

Then there is 2.5-3.5 star hotels and these usually have a continental breakfast with packets of oatmeal, bananas and to-go peanut butters which you can take for the days you are in the non-breakfast hotels and they might even provide eggs and something different for the morning eats. These usually also have a pretty standardized gym with the basics as well as a pool and perhaps a hot tub. With my love of aqua jogging, a 4 ft+ pool is always a bonus and tends to come with these hotels. Free internet, parking, great television channels are also the perks of the sweet spot hotels. With this said, drum roll please, my favorite hotels on the road are Holiday Inn Express and more recently, the Country Inn and Suites which is a new found favorite after this week.

I spent the weekend in Niagara Falls Ontario which was a first and an experience to say the least..

And.. now I am drained, emotionally, a bit physically. A few more days of work and back to WY for some last training touch ups and then onto the Marathon... finally. Trying to hold strong as I am still intent on executing this race well, but my mental power needs to regain some ground which will happen closer to the date.

Sample expression of how I feel, "lets get the show on the road"