Saturday, January 21, 2012

Running + Vacation

Running or working out in general when you are on vacation is not easy. I think that if I go on vacation it is always fun to at least plan them around a race. My hubby and I rarely get to take a vacation so when I got an automatic qualifying time to the Houston 1/2 we figured that it was a great way to kick off a vacation. We planned to stay a couple of days in Houston so I could race and we could watch the Olympic Marathon Trials. After staying in Houston we planned to drive to NOLA and stay there for another couple of days before returning to Spokane.

Most people think that going on vacation means not exercising. Not for this girl! Anyone can exercise on vacation, they just have to WANT TO DO IT. A vacation does not = an excuse to fall off of the bandwagon!

Here are some of my great tips to keep moving while on vacation: 

1. Stay in a hotel that has an exercise room. I don't feel safe running outside in areas that I am not familiar with so it was great plus to have a treadmill available. I was able to run everyday on my vacation except for Monday (the day after my 1/2 marathon). I choose to take that day off.

2. Pack snacks that you like to eat on a daily basis in your luggage so that you can still have them and not be tempted to buy crap at a convenience store. I packed my Clif Mojo bars and also scored some great samples at the expo (Clif & Luna bars, Fiber One bars etc.) that I snacked on throughout the rest of the week.

3. When I am at home I eat oatmeal for breakfast everyday. It keeps my full throughout the morning and is a great way to start my day. I purchased some oatmeal packets at a grocery store in Houston and used the hotel coffee pot to brew hot water to make the oatmeal in. It worked out great!

4. Get a map of the area you are staying in and figure out walking routes to most of the sites you would like to visit. We did a ton of walking in Houston and especially in NOLA. Now I wished I would have worn my Garmin to see just how many miles we did walk!

5. If your hotel doesn't have an exercise room (unfortunately ours in NOLA didn't) ask the front desk attendant if there is a safe running route nearby or even a group of runners that leaves at a certain time in the morning. I noticed a paved route along the Mississippi River that I was told was safe to run on. It turned out to be very scenic, however, I wasn't smart enough to figure it out so it made for a short run. :-)

My run along the Mississippi River


My total vacation mileage (Saturday-Friday): 34.33 miles

--Tasha

1 comment:

  1. Great post, your right exercise is a lifestyle not a job and you shouldn't take a vacation from it. Not exercising while I was pregnant led to me gaining way too much weight, when I was told not to run by the first doctor I went to I just didn't do anything and that was not the answer, next time around (which hopefully won't be for another couple years) I plan run/walking my whole pregnancy :) Awesome mileage during your vacation!

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