fitness away from home

Greetings from Columbus, OH! 

My friend Theresa and I headed down here on Friday night for a quick weekend away because we signed up for the Hot Chocolate 5k that happened this morning. Conveniently, it coincided with a Columbus/Montreal hockey game on Friday night, so we nabbed some really nice tickets and took in a game that played out in what seemed like an endlessly entertaining NHL blooper reel. I also got to meet up with my friend Skye, who I've known since 2004, but rarely get to see, and picked up dinner at Barley's Brewery, where I had a nice, smooth Centennial IPA, their firkin of the night, and a yummy, spicy Christmas Ale. Ohio beer is pretty decent!

Saturday morning I really wanted to get some kind of workout in, since I knew we'd likely be eating out and drinking more beer. I see "hotel room" workouts posted all the time, and my hotel actually had a small fitness room, but I don't enjoy working out alone on machines much - I just don't feel the motivation!! So instead, since I've been really into yoga lately, I sought out a studio near the hotel and ended up finding Yoga on High, which was about a mile up the road from the hotel, and had a slow burn (my favorite!) class in the schedule for 8am. Perfect!

It was a nice walk through downtown Columbus to get there (I love cities!), especially that early in the morning. The studio itself was wonderful - they were very welcoming when I told them I was in from out of town and just wanted somewhere to practice for a weekend - and I have nothing but awesome things to say about my experience. The instructor Michael was lovely - I really love when instructors get right up in your personal space and basically (in a respectful way of course!) manhandle you to get you deeper into poses, or show you just how it should feel and where you should be feeling it (especially because when it comes to yoga I'm still a beginner when it comes to the vast majority of poses!), and push your body's limits in a way you wouldn't necessarily be able to on your own. After that hour and fifteen minute class I felt AWESOME and ready to face a day of shopping. Thanks, Michael and everyone else at Yoga on High!

I felt so good afterward that I walked another mile north up to The Little Donut Shop to bring some goodies back to the hotel room: 

The Little Donut - directly underneath The Big Tavern!

Maple bacon, strawberry shortcake, and cookie dough - I was good and only ate a third of each, but I couldn't choose!!

After we ate these babies we went out for a day of downtown shopping - the highlight of which was finding a shop where you could blend scents and pour your own candles!! Of course since they had a hops scent, I mixed it with a bit of grapefruit and blue spruce and made a nice little IPA candle - it really does smell like a nice cold glass of Huma Lupa!! 

I got a little overexcited about designing a label...

All in all I'd say I got in about 8 good miles of walking between this excursion and shopping on top of the yoga class - not a bad day for exercise on vacation!!  

QUESTION OF THE DAY: What do you do for exercise while traveling? Have you ever sought out and taken classes in random cities you've visited?