Looking for luxury in a health club?

Look no further than the Reebok Sports Club/NY. Alexis and I ventured into the club for the first time on Sunday, knowing the place had a lot to offer but not expecting it was THIS much. 140,000 square feet (yes, this might as well be a million sq feet b/c in Manhattan this type of space is unheard of!) containing:



- group exercise space
- 2 regulation size basketball courts
- soccer "field"
- swimming pool
- spinning studios
- boxing studio
- rockclimbing wall
- outdoor running track
- kids space for special programs and childcare
- a cafe (including a delicious smoothie bar)
- rooftop terrace
- gigantar locker rooms
- dry cleaning services
- spa
- physical therapy services

...and much much more. No wonder the likes of Madonna, her trainer Tracy and Beth Ostrosky can often be spotted here! Other celebrities, of the fitness variety, include the incredibly fit and talented Ilaria. We attended her Powerstrike class followed by Definitions, a strength & sculpting class. This is what she looks like... now you might have a tiny inkling of how sore I am today :-)



Truth be told, if I could afford this place I'd be here for every one of her ass kickings ...errr classes. However I'm not prepared to reorg my entire budget at this point to see if I could squeeze out the necessary fees for Reebok and so I made it a point to get back to the pool for a 2nd workout last week. This time I extended my time in the pool by about 7 minutes and made it over a mile in laps (1728 yds). Aside from some crazy chemical imbalances in the water, it was a supreme way to kick off a Friday. Gaining a bit of momentum I decided to head to the northwest corner of Central Park on Saturday morning for some hill work. I ran my preferred route of the big loop (counterclockwise) to end up on Harlem Hill. Now compared to some of those crazy CT hills (yes Trevor, they exist!) or to the stuff little sis #2 has in her hood
Harlem Hill may not seem like much but the .32 mile length and 4.4% grade is an excellent way to work on strength. I ran 4 repeats at probably near tempo pace to get up the hill and took it easy running back down. The upside was that I felt stronger each repeat, the downside was I still had 3 miles to run to get back home and my tank was nearing empty. Note to self: must eat prior to this type of workout.

I'm still operating on a bit of a plan-less training regimen. I did pick up Brad Hudson's book over the weekend, perhaps it will provide some more guidance.