dreaming of warmth & workouts

i've been in china for almost a week now to oversee the last stages of our (Keep) Spring 2009 production. this somewhat rural area of china - xuchang - is much colder than i expected. i was last here in september, and the weather was still quite warm - t-shirts during the day and a hoodie in the evening - so i couldn't imagine that just four months later, i'd be wearing 3 layers, plus my arcteryx puffy, and still be shivering. the workers here amaze me, with no gloves, they're toiling away, for probably close to nothing. you see, the factory is not heated. i'm in a private office, with 2 heaters, and it's still freezing. i don't try to imagine what working beyond these doors would be like.

instead, i sit at my desk dreaming of warmth and workouts. last week, my girlfriends and i booked a long-weekend to the fairmont mayakoba in mexico in march. one of the primary reasons we chose this hotel was that i required a nice fitness center.

since march 2008, i've been obsessed with the gym. originally my doctor recommended it as a solution to my sleep issues. i joined the gym at the union league club; it's small, and there's rarely anyone there - perfect for a novice. and as i started to go, it became a sanctuary. my S.O. and i would get into a fight; i fled to the gym. i was stressed from work; i immediately escaped to my sanctuary. when i had to go to china for the first time in april, i was panicked at the thought of being away from it so long. it was a drug. but after a visit to my friend in DC in june (and working out at the sports club/LA - an amazing place - every day that weekend), i realized it wasn't just my gym that made me so happy; it was the actual workout! (note: i'm not skinny from my addiction - my indulgent eating has made sure of that.)

i'm not so insane now. in china, i've accepted the fact that i won't see a gym for days. i bring pilates videos; i walk up the hotel stairs, bottom to top, until i feel exhausted; i listen to my workout playlist on my iPod... sometimes just hearing these songs lifts my spirits or cures my boredom. it's all i can do. however, at the factory office, i sit. i email, review samples and production shoes and shiver. so in my downtime, i plan my workout schedule for when i'm home. it's insane, i know, but the thought of slipping out before my S.O. wakes and getting in a quick weights/cardio session makes me giddy. calculating how much time i'll have to workout between work and getting ready for an evening event might seem crazy, but every minute i think i can squeeze in excites me.

i've even created a microsoft word calendar that begins the day after i get home until MEXICO. yes, i'm a fanatic. but in this frigid cold, i have to go to extremes to keep my mind off of the chill that keeps running through my body.