Fitting Running into Your Schedule when You Are Traveling or on Vacation

I love to run. During the course of a decent week, I enjoy running anywhere between 25 and 40 miles. Until not long ago, travel associated with my job interfered with my training. My job has taken me to some wonderful destinations, but being out of town four or so days out of the week wreaked havoc on my running routine. That is, until it dawned on me that I could run while I was traveling.

My first run 'on the road' was in Big Bend, Texas. My colleague and I were going to be going into the field early that day, so I slipped out just as the sun was coming up. As I began the run, distant mountains, silhouetted in the dusky light, hovered above the lights of a small town in Mexico along with a full moon. Finishing my run amidst the fragrant bluebonnets and the flowering cacti, it struck me that running while traveling was a completely different way to see the world. I could use running as a tool to allow me to see the places I visit in a manner few others can appreciate.

Since that trip I have never left home without my running shoes in my suitcase, their bulk generally causing me to leave some quasi-necessary article of clothing behind. I have found that there are usually a couple obstacles to overcome. For instance, sometimes the work of the day leaves me exhausted, or with little daylight left. And when traveling with others, having to work around mealtimes and meetings and field trips frequently leaves little time to run.

So I have been known to skip a meal, or a social hour and have gotten used to the looks that I get when at breakfast I tell them that, yes, I did get up early and have already run. Another issue is finding safe running routes that are easy to find. But I have come across websites that list running routes for many different cities (www.runtheplanet.com) and arrive at my destination with maps in hand, ready for a hotel concierge to point me in the right direction.

So over the past few years I have taken full advantage of this secret I have discovered. One run took me alongside the swiftly-flowing Sacramento River in California. I plodded out early on a cold rainy morning in Alaska with Resurrection Bay to the east, and a snow-capped Mt. Marathon (how fitting) to the west. Two weeks later, under much balmier conditions, I was running along a beach in Hawaii and up a road toward Diamondhead and a spectacular view.

One trip took me to Wisconsin where I ran along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, only to find myself five days later in Michigan running along the western shore of the same lake. I have run along the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, up the "Rocky steps" in Philadelphia, along an oceanside trail in Maine (one of my quicker runs as I was dodging mosquitoes), and at the confluence of three major rivers in Pittsburgh.

The hottest run of my life was in the Amazon rain forest in Brazil, the coldest on an icy trail next to Cooke's Inlet in Alaska. I have run in a total of 19 other states, and one other country... and still counting!

I have to be honest and say that many times these are not the most rigorous workouts (although I did find quite a hill in Hawaii...), but they are certainly among the most enjoyable. It is at these times that I run a little slower, so as to take in the view and be thankful I have discovered such a wonderful way to see my world.