Condi Rice Gets Sweaty with 'Fitness' Editor

Bush Administration officials are notoriously hostile to the press, or at least those parts of it not owned by Rupert Murdoch. But ask them about their workout routines and the hostility melts away.

The president himself notoriously boasted to Runner's World that his track times improved after he declared war in Iraq. Donald Rumsfeld went public with his squash addiction at a media roundtable. And now Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has given perhaps her most revealing interview ever -- to Fitness magazine.

That the interview happened at all was a bit of serendipity, says Fitness editor Denise Brodey. A few months ago, Rice was the guest of honor at a meet-and-greet lunch for Meredith Corp. executives. When it came Brodey's time to introduce herself, "[Rice[ just brightened up," say Brodey.

It turns out the secretary, no less than her boss, is a workout fanatic who does cardio six days a week -- she likes to watch SportsCenter on the treadmill -- and meets with a trainer once a week for strength work. Rice invited Brodey to join her for a workout in the State Department gym, where she seemed eager to show off her buffitude. "We went push-up for push-up," says Brody. "She was incredibly normal, human and sweet."

The interview appears in the May issue of Fitness, on newsstands April 8.

Bottom photo: Rice with her trainer and Fitness editor Denise Brodey; top photo: Rice with trainer Thomas Tomlo

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Photos by David Y. Lee for Fitness