Heavy BIZ travelers & TRI training

I am not the level of road warrior that you are (only about 25-30 days/year for me), but I am also looking for some good advice here.

HATE riding the stationary bike and running on the treadmill. Like you, I will try to find a hotel with a pool, or a nearby exercise club with pool that is open to the public. Good tool to use is http://www.swimmersguide.com/

Outdoor running is what I try to do mostly when on the road. Depending upon where you are, the early morning run can be a good way to take in the local atmosphere and culture in a low-key sort of way. I find that the hotel staff often have a map of local trails, and if going to an unfamiliar location a quick google can often identify local muti-use paths or maps of running-club routes.

On a tangent, I have found that my increased emphasis on training has really motivated me to minimize my business travel, which makes the wife happy.

Best of luck.

This is one area where I have a little experience. With my old job (up until June) I was on the road more than 125-150 days a year. It was crazy. I racked up more the 250k frequent flyer miles with Delta in 2005. However, working out on the road actually made travel more bearable for me. I often dreaded having to get on another plane but it was always fun to figure out how I was going to get a planned workout in a new city/town. It also kept me from getting too bored. Every city was a new 'work-out' adventure.

Surprisingly, I've slacked more on my training since I quit traveling.

From my experience:

1) Keep a separate set of gear for traveling (running shoes, shorts, swim trunks, goggles, long sleeve polyester, running fleece, running tights, etc. I even had a separate HRM strap). Sort of like having a travel toiletry bag that is always ready separate from your everyday bathroom products. Much easier not to leave anything at home and if you leave something behind you're not screwed when you get back. And note: dri-fit clothing (lycra/poly) is light to pack and dries out much easier than cotton.

2) Runs are the easiest. Use a GPS/HR monitor like a Garmin or Timex Ironman; check the weather and again pack accordingly. If you don't have a GPS for mileage use Bones In Motion or some other map program and you can get an accurate est. of your running distance. Almost every hotel has an indoor treadmill that is great if you don't want to run outside. But I found running in a different city all the time was half the fun. One time I had a chance to run in a snow-storm in Seattle. Go figure.

3) Most hotel pools are tough to workout in. They are designed for leisure not lap swims. Almost every city/town has a local YMCA within 15 miles. Most of these will allow you to visit as a guest for $5-10 bucks. I'd either check the phone book. If the Y doesn't have a pool look up swimming pools in the yellow pages and ask for open lap swim times and guest fees. Keep your reciepts as it's can be a write-off.

4) For weights the Y is also a good bet. If you are a member in one city many of the Y's will let you workout for free. Some of the bigger Y's this was not the case but generally the exception not the rule. There aren't many Y's where I live so that wasn't in the cards for me. I am a member of Gold's Gym and that is probably second best. Gold's isn't for just the muscle heads anymore but most of them don't have pools. However, most DO have good spin bikes.

5) Biking. By far the toughest to do on the road. Especially if you are on a specific workout program. Any Gold's type gym/fitness club is going to have good spin bikes. And I never had one that wasn't ok with you using a spin-bike outside of a scheduled class time. However, if you are not a member a guest fee here can be from $8-15 for a day. Most YMCAs are not down with using the spin bikes outside of a class. At the Y, if you want to spin, it generally had to be in a class. (But if you are REALLY nice sometimes you can talk them into it). One thing I didn't do that I would have liked is buy a clip less bike shoe for spin bikes. This would have made my workouts on spin bikes even more productive. A tape measure can also help to keep set the spin bike to the same dimensions as the bike you train on. Stay off the hotel bikes. Most are garbage. Replace a bike workout with a run on the treadmill.

6) Travel days were the hardest for me to find time to workout. There were a number of occasions where I actaully did runs at the airport. It was pretty cool actually. I'd ask if I could leave my bag at the rental car counter. Run around the airport loop or whatever was available. I'd talk to a security guy if I ever thought there might be a problem. There never was. Sometimes a little hot and sweaty afterward but big deal. (Although the guy on the plane next to me going home may have disagreed).

There is my two-cents and probably TMI but hope it gives you some ideas. Working out on the road can really be a lot of fun. It just takes a little more planning.

HA! Yes, that is what I thought the first time I decided to try it. And I should note the couple of times that I asked to leave it was with the counter people out at the parking facility. It really wasn't that big of deal. Once you get inside the airport it might be a different matter (one of the reasons there are no longer lockers at airports).

Thinking more about it, another option would be to leave with the baggage claim office. If you have status with any of the airlines I can't imagine this would be an issue either. But running at the airport is probably a last resort anyway. Just saying it can work.  

I was a road warrior for 6 years - 150 nights/year in hotels.

My absolute favorite piece of workout gear was swimcords - you can get a good swim workout in any pool no matter how small.

http://www.swimcords.com/

I also liked bodylastics for resistance workouts.

http://www.bodylastics.com/

Both fit easily in a roll-aboard.

Running shoes don't take up much space, either.  Ask at the front desk for safe routes.

Most YMCA's in the country participate in the AWAY program - you just show your home Y card and sign in.  The same is true with most national chains like Gold's, but I think some might require you to upgrade your membership.

Ask at the front desk - most hotels will have guest passes for nearby healthclubs.  I got to work out for free at some rather expensive gyms in Houston & Atlanta.

One of the benefits of working out on the road is that you don't have to worry about being late for dinner or other obligations.  You can go to the gym after the post-work rush and stay 'til close.

LOL - sometimes you don't even need to go outside. It's exactly 1 mile from concourse E to concourse T in Hartsfield, Atlanta.  You get some funny looks, but who cares?

That is very funny. I thought about doing just that thing in Hartsfield a number of times but never actually did. And those swimcords look great. Wish I'd had a set of those.