Are you planning a holiday run?
No, not a race. Are you planning to go to a foreign country and, maybe jet lagged, maybe just curious about seeing this new world on foot, are going to lace up in a strange hotel room and step out a front door with nothing but a plastic key card and a whole lot of curiosity?
Here’s my thoughts and maybe some mediocre advice:
First, buy new shoes before you travel. Dual purpose shoes: walking around touristy shoes that are also trainers. My latest trick that has worked tremendously well for vacation jaunts has been to buy a fresh pair of running shoes specifically for vacation. They are squeaky clean for a trip and perfectly fine for some casual morning runs on holiday, and you are not packing a dedicated pair of shoes just for the run. Then roll them into your rotation when you get back home.
Second, make sure to charge your watch and your phone. Mostly this is just for navigating in a strange city, but making sure that you log your vacation run so you can go back later and look at where you went, hey, that is half the fun.
Third, pick a local destination, not just a route. Strange cities can be deceptively bigger than you think from looking out the hotel window or squinting at a map without the context of familiarity. But picking a landmark or local curiosity that you want a congratulatory selfie with, say, a few klicks away, or a city park you’ve always wanted to jog through, means you aren’t going too far or getting too lost in a strange place.
Fourth, ask a local. Really. I’ve never gone wrong just asking. Check with the hotel staff. Check websites or message boards. Look at trail maps on any of a dozen apps or websites for heat maps or regular routes. Locals know. Don’t just go out blind, not just for safety but also because you’ll probably miss the best stuff if you forget this step.
Finally, turn on your tracking for a travel companion or someone you trust. Really. Be safe. Splurge on the data. We all have the tech on our phone have someone be able to find us from afar, so use it.
Stay safe. Explore. Have fun!
Definitions
- advice
- This is NOT an advice site. I write for entertainment only. Please see my note on advice in my page called "Some Notes" in the menu at the top of each page.
- august
- In the month of August where I live summer peaks and the days are often relatively hot (in the high 20s or low 30s) muggy, smokey and dry. Rain is infrequent, but when it arrives it comes in the form of drenching downpours and epic thunderstorms. We begin our runs earlier in the day because the local marathon runs late in the month and our training distances are maxing.
- klick
- As a Canadian I run in metric. As a writer, I find the word kilometre clunky and clinical. I'll usually use the colloquial "klick" or "klicks" to substitute in for this.
- october
- Fully into autumn, October is a month of shifting seasons, short days, long shadows, and gorgeous sunsets. The cobwebs are hung on the eaves in preparation for halloween, and here in Canada we're running off Thanksgiving dinner for a couple weeks after a proper good meal mid-month.
- race
- You train and train and train some more, and then for no clear reason you pay a bunch of money to run as fast as you possibly can at a very specific time with a bunch of strangers along a course lined with more strangers (or along paths lined with trees if you are an ultra runner) at the end of which you are handed a medal and a banana and a sense of achievement unlike anything you will feel again (until you sign up for your next one.)
- september
- The days are noticeably shorter when we realize that September is upon us. The post-summer routine kicks in and people are back to regular work schedules and kids are back in school. It can still be warm, but the hottest days are behind us and most of the biggest races of the year are in the rear view. We savour September knowing winter is too soon to come.
