- Vacation is for getting away, relaxing, and family time, and should include no/very minimal running!
- Vacation running is the best way to explore your vacation destination!
I fall into category 2. I love running when traveling! Last year I ran 52 miles in 6 different states during our summer vacation week -- although that now seems a bit excessive, haha! I feel privileged to run when on vacation because I feel like I get more out of the trip because of it. I get to see more sites, and I always discover new and beautiful areas while running, most of which I wouldn't see otherwise. Some people in category 1 say that they don't want to miss out on vacation activities by running while on vacation, but I feel like I'd miss out on things by not running. Doing it my way, the main thing I miss out on is sleep!
Although I love running while on vacation, I like it to be easy running. It's really tricky to do workouts in new areas, and I'm sure not going out of my way to get to a track or to find the perfect tempo course. I always manage to find somewhere to run straight from my hotel, often asking the hotel staff about routes or scoping out the area as we are driving in (tip: you can run from about anywhere at 5:30 a.m.; even busy roads generally aren't busy). I prefer to not have workouts while traveling (although that does not mean I haven't done it, more than once), and I also would not want to run doubles while traveling (that I have never done). Running a second run after a full day at Yellowstone or Disney World sounds like a nightmare! Plus, it's assumed that I will be running literally and figuratively on sleep deprivation and on sightseeing legs, which is not conducive to worthwhile workouts anyhow.
I don't think there's a right or wrong side of the fence on this; run on vacation if you want, or don't run if you'd rather not! But I started thinking about this topic since we are going on our family summer vacation soon. I will be exploring the area during a recovery week!
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| I'm pretty sure I walked 52 miles in addition to running that many on this vacation! |
I'm definitely with you on this one! I even find cool places/things to show everyone else once we get out later in the morning. In Florida I found jellyfish washed up on the shore during a run and took the kids to that part of the beach so they could see. One of my all-time favorite runs was running the National Mall in DC in the evening when it was all lit up!
ReplyDeleteBoth of those runs sound amazing! And you're right about finding hidden gems to take your family back to. I've also found that I can navigate the area around the hotel far better than everyone else having run it every morning, so often save us from being lost as well (this happens on work trips as well as family trips).
DeleteAnd you have to balance things with the rest of the vacation party. DW doesn't care to sacrifice any of her plans for me to put in a few miles, so vacation running is usually early AM.
ReplyDeleteYep, I always go early, but that's my normal routine so is pretty easy for me. I just have everyone else tell me what time I need to be ready to go to breakfast by and plan backwards accordingly!
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