Running Away

By Stephen Price 11 years ago
Home  /  News  /  Running Away

As a running instructor I’ve read many emails telling me how it is extremely difficult to get training runs in while on the road for work or for pleasure.  And even though I have been instructing for more than 8 years, I have yet to read one that asked me how to get runs in while traveling.

Before starting Dream Travel back in 2004 I felt that I was spending large portions of the year on the road.  As a regional manager I slept in my own bed between 0 and 2 nights a week for the majority of my final year with the company.   At the time I was training for marathons and like some of my clinic members, I felt it extremely difficult to get in the necessary runs.

Now, however, I don’t even own a bed.  I live on the road, never in one location for more than a month or two at most, and yet, I train considerably more now than before.  If I have a marathon or an ultra coming up, I find that I really have all the time I need to properly train, and, always have.  The only thing that changed was how I approached the situation.

The Away Game

If you are a dedicated runner who routinely gets in a minimum of 90% of your training runs, and, you are off to the tropics for a week or two, I say leave the shoes at home.  Giving your body a much needed rest is never a bad thing.  Have you ever noticed how you seem stronger and faster after recovering from an injury that forced you to take a week or so off?  This is because as runners, we rarely take breaks.

So, leave the gear at home, enjoy the sunshine and piña coladas, give the legs a vacation as well and when you come back, dust off the shoes and get back at it!

If, however, you are fortunate enough to have a job that routinely gets you out of town, you need to find a way to incorporate your training.  Proper training, that is.

There is nothing better than going for a run after sitting in a car or airplane for an extended period of time.  You may be jet-lagged or beat up from sitting so long at the wheel, but a 30 minute run will cure that faster than a nap or digging through brain-numbing spreadsheets.  You’ll return to work energized and refreshed and hence be more productive.

Don’t feel like hauling the “extra gear” to go for just one or two runs?  Does the water bottle and gel holder, powered drink, watch and charger, headlamp, anti-chaffing cream, etc take up too much suitcase room?  Leave it all at home and bring what you really need:  Shoes, socks, shorts, shirt.  Done.  I assure you that you have space to bring these items.  Everything I own fits in my two carry-on bags, and no, I’m not a hippy living on the beach.  I don’t have the hair to be a hippy…otherwise, maybe I would be.

Are you stuck in your cubicle Monday to Friday?  Go for a lunch time workout!  Ask the boss.  Better yet, show him a study that shows that active employees take less sick days, are less stressed, are happier and live longer…that sounds like an All Star employee to me!

No place to shower afterwards?  Talk to a nearby gym about paying to use just the shower facilities.  Take some nice chocolates when you go and ask!

So, what was the difference for me between the old days of haphazard training and now?  Simply put: my attitude.  Before I felt that I couldn’t fit my running necessities into my already over-stuffed luggage, felt concerned about getting lost running in a new place and told myself I was too tired to run after a hard day of work.  I had more excuses than I can remember.

Now, I bring only what I truly need, I look forward to running in new cities and countries and know that I will feel fantastic afterwards.  And really, when was the last time you ran and wished you hadn’t?

For me, I now fit my runs in regardless.  Just like brushing my teeth or putting on fresh undies each day.  No matter how busy or stressful your day is, you always do those two things, right?  No excuses!

***************

2013 BMO Vancouver Marathon Weekend
We were very excited to be part of the BMO Vancouver Marathon this year!  Did you see our new flyers in your race packages!

We want to extend congratulations to all of the runners at this wonderful event, and, thank the hard working organizers and the Running Room for putting on such a great yearly event!

This year the Vancouver marathon put on four separate runs (Marathon, Half Marathon, 8K and a 1 mile kids run) as well as the Healthy Life Style Expo.  All of the races ran very smoothly and experienced very beautiful and sunny weather!

John Stanton was at the start line again kicking off the Race with Bro Jake from the local rock radio station! And, there were a ton of elite athletes signing autographs for people at the expos and 1 Mile event on Saturday.

The Vancouver marathon was named top 10 destination marathons and incredibly almost 50% of the 17000 people running were from out of town!

Dream Travel loves to take you to Vancouver and other amazing places to run!  We have groups to run the Great Wall of China marathon in May which is another one of Forbes’ top 10 marathons as well as Istanbul, the ING New York City Marathon in November and many more!

Come join us!  www.dreamtravelcanada.com

Category:
  News
this post was shared 0 times
 500