Training at the Mothership

 I realize that writing a blog about running will appeal to a somewhat limited audience, so I’m going to try to mix it up by posting on all different types of physical activity that people do here in our little hamlet. While I love to run, I also fully understand that there are some otherwise active people who thoroughly despise it. That’s okay! I’ve always thought of running like licorice; not everybody likes licorice, but people who like it really like it.

 Any blog which discusses physical activity in Syosset would be remiss for not mentioning the mothership, a/k/a Lifetime Fitness, in an early post. I’m an LIRR commuter, and over the course of the last year I watched the erection of the superstructure five seconds at a time as the 4:31 from Penn Station blew past the construction site every day. At the time I had no idea what they were building on what I remember as a former industrial site just off Robbins Lane. At first I thought it was some sort of progressive office building with a large outdoor jungle gym for harried cubicle workers. It certainly didn’t look like any gym I had ever seen.

 At some point during the dark, icy days of this past winter, we received a glossy brochure in the mail that was full of superlative descriptions of a mystical Shangri-la of physical transformation. The purple prose in the pamphlet was accompanied by pictures of exceptionally fit people lounging around in eucalyptus scented steam rooms and leaning casually against exercise equipment. One look at the steam rising from the glowing hot-tub, (also depicted in the brochure), and I was into the mini-van, barreling through the snow drifts in the direction of warmth and light.

 Maybe it was the free child-care, or the towel service, top notch equipment or the indoor pools and hot-tubs, I don’t really know. Whatever it was, I signed up the entire family on the spot. Granted, the place is a bit pricier than the more work-a-day gyms in town like the New York Sports Club, but the variety of classes, kid’s activities and amenities Lifetime offers its members put it in a class by itself. (I’m not knocking NYSC. I was a member there and thought it was a great gym with a really nice staff).

After reading over the last couple of paragraphs, I feel it necessary to issue a disclaimer: I don’t work for Lifetime and I’m not affiliated with it in any way. I just found that it offers a great atmosphere for helping one achieve one’s fitness goals. My running would have seriously suffered this winter had I not had the option of hopping on a treadmill and watching the snow fall from the comfort of the Lifetime cocoon.

 So how about you? Do you belong to any gyms in town? What do you think of them? What do you think of Lifetime? Know any good outdoor running routes? Post ‘em in the Comments section!