Skyline Views {A Three Things Thursday Post}

A new fancy gym all to myself!

1. The YMCA recently opened an annex in a new downtown building/development. The gym was to be part of the corporate perks for employees of the company spearheading the project but it was also opened up to serve downtown office types. While there's a Y branch downtown, the annex has more boutique offerings, awesome new equipment and a functional fitness area. I wanted to be a complete nerd and try it on opening day but alas, that's when Miles was sick.

However, I finally got over there today and it was great. The treadmills have touch screens and you can watch TV, pick a workout or listen to the radio. For this HGTV-loving, non-cable subscribing gal, it was bliss. And on a more fitness-related note, I was impressed that you could have a negative incline ont he treadmill so you could replicate rolling hills.

2. As awesome as the new gym was, my run not so much. I know I'm not even two weeks out from Carmel but I just feel so slow and any faster effort feels like death. I tried to pick it up to half marathon pace for a half-mile, and it felt like the end of a 5K. OK. Maybe it wasn't *that* bad but it's frustrating to feel as if I've lost all the fitness I gained during my Carmel training cycle. Rationally, I know that's not true but it's still challenging.

3. The biggest bummer of the morning, though, was not the run but that I got a parking ticket! I paid for an hour at a meter and the attendant must have been watching it tick because the ticket was stamped at 9:30. Grr! It's only $10 but still. And the funny (ironic?) thing is that I was talking with the Skyline YMCA staff about the parking situation. There is a garage attached to the building but signage made it unclear as to whether I could use it. I can and the rates are about the same as metered parking on the street ($1 an hour). With the garage, we all said, you don't have the risk of a ticket and you don't need cash.

I wish I could say my run and new gym experience was worth $11 (my ticket plus the $1 I put in the meter) but ... yeah. The lesson: Stop being a baby and run in the rain. Or, park at work and run to the Y – which is what I hope to do this summer, taking advantage of the lunch hour classes. Friday PiYo at noon is looking mighty enticing.