Spending any amount of time in Key West (FL) requires someone to set aside the conventional notion that life needs a schedule… or even very much clothing. I’m on island time, which in my world means waking up, reading through email, throwing on some running shorts and finding the gym. If I’ve got the gumption, I head to Smathers Beach and run outside until I feel like I’m going to pass out (which, considering it’s about 102 degrees outside, is at about the 1.5 mi mark).
Key West is basically coming home. It’s off-season now, which means the island is quiet. Very few people other than the regular cruise-shippers and even fewer locals, most of who have closed up shop until ‘on’ season begins in early October. My piano bar is dark. My favorite spot for a sandwich has locked doors. Randy Roberts is still in Provincetown with his show for another month. I hear even the Island House is closed for the next week in prep for a yearly scrub down. It seems I’ve come at KW’s most quiet time, but that’s fine by me. I prefer it that way.
My workouts are always more intense when I’m here, thanks to the fine folks at Iron Bodies gym on Truman Ave- A facility that eschews air conditioning in favor of a body drenched in sweat and a seriously old school approach to lifting weights… There’s more rust on the equipment and your hands end up dark brown, but what I can always guarantee at Iron Bodies is that I’ll leave exhausted, worked out and likely having seen every hot Eastern European straight guy, shirtless and pumped, in the Key West area. Thanks to this gym having very few rules about attire, you can lift here in various forms of undress. While I’m recommend wearing trainers on your feet (although some do come in to work in flip-flops, a cardinal sin for those of us who are gym-serious), you can shirk the shirt immediately. Lifting shirtless is a great way to make sure you’re working the exact muscle group you want. You’ve got to get over any kind of self-consciousness, but once you do, it’s the only way you’ll want to workout.
I’m around the island until Saturday- My few days back in San Antonio will allow me some needed dog time and then it’s off to Santa Fe for some sunshine and hiking. I’ll be back down in the Keys the following week. My October is packed, with me going from London to Singapore and back into the States (via a few days in Manhattan) with just enough time to catch Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Orlando.
More updates to come. Blogging daily is a whole different animal for me, but as always, I’ll keep things jovial and on the lighter side of life. Bitch-and-moan blogs are a dime a dozen. Not my style. It seems to me that the people who complain the most are those who bring it upon themselves. Life is what you make of it. Just be happy.
Adios web-amigos~
BN