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Best Women's Triathlon Club

Team CWW

Team CWW may not boast the most race winners or state records, but if you're a woman looking to enter the sweaty world of triathlons -- yet are too intimidated by the prospect of swimming, biking and running farther than you've driven your car in the past month -- CWW is a fine place to begin. Founded by Celeste Callahan (who did her first triathlon on a dare more than twenty years ago, at the age of 42) and two friends, CWW is a non-profit corporation dedicated to helping non-athletic women prepare for the Denver Danskin, Tri for the Cure and Boulder Peak triathlons. "If you can swim across a pool with a gun to your head, ride your bike to the end of your driveway and run if someone's chasing you, you can do a triathlon," promises Callahan. Training begins with a "get your face wet" pool session in January, progresses to a teeny, tiny triathlon in May, and builds to standard, race-length distances by summer. The cost is $175 for a year of training and support.

Best Place for Ladies to Kick Ass

20th Street Recreation Center

Looking for a little girl-on-girl action? Then head over to the 20th Street Recreation Center on Wednesday nights for the women-only boxing class. For one hour a week, a half-dozen street-savvy ladies practice their right hooks, uppercuts, jabs and roundhouses. Although this is strictly a no-contact class, 20th Street is a serious boxing gym, with fighters in the ring around the clock. So don't expect some chichi tae bo or kickboxing class -- and don't forget to bring shampoo and conditioner, because the locker rooms are the epitome of stripped down. But for just $5 a class or $125 a year (includes access to all of Denver's recreational facilities), this is a deal that kicks serious ass.

Best Place for Ladies to Kick Ass

20th Street Recreation Center

Looking for a little girl-on-girl action? Then head over to the 20th Street Recreation Center on Wednesday nights for the women-only boxing class. For one hour a week, a half-dozen street-savvy ladies practice their right hooks, uppercuts, jabs and roundhouses. Although this is strictly a no-contact class, 20th Street is a serious boxing gym, with fighters in the ring around the clock. So don't expect some chichi tae bo or kickboxing class -- and don't forget to bring shampoo and conditioner, because the locker rooms are the epitome of stripped down. But for just $5 a class or $125 a year (includes access to all of Denver's recreational facilities), this is a deal that kicks serious ass.

Best Women-Only Workouts

Ms. GoodBody

Like most women with similar goals, you head to the gym with visions of sugar buns dancing in your head, but the sad truth of the matter is evident in those hammy hocks you continue to inspect in the mirror each day. In fact, half the challenge of working out in public is overcoming the self-consciousness you feel when you must expose your jiggling contours to the world, particularly to members of the opposite sex. Truth, we're afraid, ain't always beauty. But there's safety in numbers at Ms. GoodBody, where the only people looking are most likely in the same boat as you, body-wise, and the workouts and exercise programs cater particularly to women's concerns and needs. What a boon for your buns.

Best Women-Only Workouts

Ms. GoodBody

Like most women with similar goals, you head to the gym with visions of sugar buns dancing in your head, but the sad truth of the matter is evident in those hammy hocks you continue to inspect in the mirror each day. In fact, half the challenge of working out in public is overcoming the self-consciousness you feel when you must expose your jiggling contours to the world, particularly to members of the opposite sex. Truth, we're afraid, ain't always beauty. But there's safety in numbers at Ms. GoodBody, where the only people looking are most likely in the same boat as you, body-wise, and the workouts and exercise programs cater particularly to women's concerns and needs. What a boon for your buns.

Best Tricked-Out Gym

Matrix Fitness|Spa

First things first: Matrix Fitness|Spa is not cheap. You pay for every amenity. But, oh, the amenities. The posh new place in the Beauvallon is packed full of them, from the locker rooms to the spa to the gym floor. The weights are made of urethane, so there's no clanking and clanging. Each piece of cardio equipment has its own flat-screen TV monitor, so there's no fighting over the remote. Plus, the screen gives you Internet access and allows you to order food from the Beauvallon restaurants and read magazines online. And best of all, it's not packed or full of meatheads, so you can get in, get a serious workout and get out. Feel the burn.

Best Tricked-Out Gym

Matrix Fitness-Spa

First things first: Matrix Fitness-Spa is not cheap. You pay for every amenity. But, oh, the amenities. The posh new place in the Beauvallon is packed full of them, from the locker rooms to the spa to the gym floor. The weights are made of urethane, so there's no clanking and clanging. Each piece of cardio equipment has its own flat-screen TV monitor, so there's no fighting over the remote. Plus, the screen gives you Internet access and allows you to order food from the Beauvallon restaurants and read magazines online. And best of all, it's not packed or full of meatheads, so you can get in, get a serious workout and get out. Feel the burn.

Best Way to Train Like Lance

Carmichael Training Systems

Of course you want to Live Strong. But what if you don't have a multimillion-dollar U.S. Postal Service or Discovery Channel sponsorship: Can you still be like Lance? Yes, thanks to Carmichael Training Systems and the Internet. For anywhere between $39 and $500 a month, the Colorado Springs-based CTS -- and, yes, Chris Carmichael does train Lance Armstrong -- will train you for your next big athletic event via your computer. Packages range from the Classic -- send your training questions to a chat forum -- to the Ultimate, which entitles you to a daily phone conversation with your personal coach. The actual sweating is up to you.

Best Way to Train Like Lance

Carmichael Training Systems

Of course you want to Live Strong. But what if you don't have a multimillion-dollar U.S. Postal Service or Discovery Channel sponsorship: Can you still be like Lance? Yes, thanks to Carmichael Training Systems and the Internet. For anywhere between $39 and $500 a month, the Colorado Springs-based CTS -- and, yes, Chris Carmichael does train Lance Armstrong -- will train you for your next big athletic event via your computer. Packages range from the Classic -- send your training questions to a chat forum -- to the Ultimate, which entitles you to a daily phone conversation with your personal coach. The actual sweating is up to you.

Best Book About Denver's Pig Time

The Golden Age of Amateur Basketball: The AAU Tournament, 1921-1968
Dolph Grundman

Dolph Grundman, a Metro State history professor, became interested in a lost chapter of Denver's sporting history while doing research for a class. He discovered that for a few decades, Denver was a center of the basketball universe, hosting the annual AAU men's basketball championship on the stage of the Auditorium Theatre. And while the game was light-years away from today's run-and-gun NBA, Grundman found that the corporate-sponsored teams -- including the Denver Piggly Wigglys -- helped pave the way for today's hoopsters. Heck, there was even a squad called the Nuggets. The era lives again in Grundman's tome The Golden Age of Amateur Basketball: The AAU Tournament, 1921-1968.

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