Well, that went less well than I might have hoped. Precisely eight weeks back, I posted a short entry here, in an attempt to get back to blogging regularly. But, as the ensuing gap makes clear, my intentions didn’t exactly pan out. Still, optimism reigns supreme, and I’m giving it another go.

One persistent issue of late has been the ‘where’ of my work. As I mentioned in the past post, my work schedule has been kind of bananas. On many weekdays, I’m at work by 6am, and don’t depart until 8pm or later. During which, a ton of my hours are taken up training clients one-on-one, or meeting with colleagues about Equinox or Composite stuff. And though that leaves me with pockets of free time throughout any given day, they tend to be relatively short – two hours at most, rather than the long stretches of ‘maker time‘ I find most effective for diving deep into thoughtful work. So, to make the most of those brief gaps, I’ve tried to work wherever I already happen to be at the time – usually either the personal training office or the staff lounge of Equinox’s 53rd St. location.

The problem is, my colleagues are there, too. Most of whom are smart and talented and enthusiastic, but also extremely young. Whereas I’ve been fitness-ing professionally for more than 15 years. So I inevitably get peppered with a ton of questions: what movements should you emphasize or avoid when programming for a pregnant runner? Are there any good exercises or best practices in rehabbing tennis elbow? How do you help someone who repeatedly starts each week with a renewed commitment to eating healthfully, then falls off the wagon completely a few days later? And, actually, I love nerding out on those kind of topics. Plus, I’m naturally chatty, and I genuinely enjoy being helpful. So I get dragged into conversations, eating up one pocket of free time after another.

I came into work this weekend, both for a couple of training sessions, and to try and catch up. On the way in, to avoid the crowds around the nearby Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, I took a slightly different route from the subway than I usually walk. And I discovered along the way that there’s a New York Public Library branch just a block and a half from the gym. Which, in fact, is where I am now. And where I’m hoping to be during at least one or two of those pockets of free time each day for the balance of this week. With luck, hiding out here, where I don’t know anybody, and there’s nothing to distract me (aside from my own brain, and the admittedly alluring shelves of books), will be enough to help me squeeze out a little more real work each day. Hopefully, just enough to make room for daily (or, at least, semi-daily) blogging time, too.

Fingers crossed.