3 Approaches to Running while Traveling

Running while on vacation or generally out of town can be challenging. Even if you plan well, it may not always work out as you intend. If you’re following a training plan (and you should be) and find yourself in this situation, you have a few options.

3 Approaches to Running While Out of Town

1. “Eh, Screw it” –  Enjoy Your Time Off

This may be the easiest option. Here, you are simply deciding to enjoy your time off and move forward when you get back.

Pro: You get a break

Con: May be harder to get back in the groove

Tips for this approach:

• Don’t worry about losing too much ground – you shouldn’t if its only 7-10 days
• Try and stay active while you’re away. You may not do any official workouts, but don’t be a couch potato either
• Cross training, like swimming, hiking, or a lot of walking should help keep you ready to go

2. “I’m going to get something in” – Get some in, middle of the road

This approach is the middle ground. You’ve decided not to follow your plan to a “T”, but to commit to getting some good activity in.

Pro: You still get a break, and are in a better position than the “Eh, Screw it” guy

Con: You might have to take a little extra time from your time off to fit activity in

Tips for this approach:

• One option is to simply do less volume and intensity than originally scheduled
• Keep your workouts simple – you don’t have to do all the intensity
• This is a good time to utilize a fitness center and treadmill where available
• Strength exercises that don’t involve equipment may be a good option (squats, lunges, push-ups, core exercises)

3. “I’m going for it!” – Stay on Task!

This is obviously the most effort. You are committing to keep going as regularly scheduled so you don’t miss a beat.

Pro: You won’t have any problems continuing your schedule and don’t have to adjust your plan

Con: Your family might hate you, and you might not get the relaxation you need

Tips for this approach:

• Plan ahead – map out potential locations do do your workouts (or ask the hotel desk once you get there)
• Make sure to pack your gear – don’t give yourself a reason not to do your workouts (heart rate monitor, headphones, clothing, shoes, etc)
• Aim to get your workouts in early, buying you more quality time during the rest of the day (e.g. morning runs)
• Like above, utilize the fitness center and treadmill if available
• For your long run, feel free to split it up into to runs. For example, instead of a 1:30 run, go for two 45 minute runs

Getting Back on Track

Ok, so now you’re back in town and ready for action. What do you do? The answer really depends on where your plan fell and which category you chose to follow above.

If it was a Recovery Week

If the week you were gone fell on a natural recovery week, you may be good to go as usual. A Recovery week is where the plan naturally takes a dip, letting your body recover. If you kept active during your time off, you should be good to go. Here is what the recovery weeks look like:

If it was a Non-Recovery Week

If it wasn’t a recovery week naturally, you likely fell in one of the 3 approaches mentioned above. In this case, you will need to make some changes to your plan.

It’s important to understand that training plans are designed to let you progress. If you try to skip over a week and move on, you put yourself at risk for injury, overload, and burnout. It’s much better to remove a week from the end of the plan so you can continue to progress naturally.

General Rules of Thumb:

• Avoid doing two recovery weeks in a row
• Avoid moving two work weeks together that weren’t originally together

Below is a sequence that shows one example of how to do this. Keep in mind every plan is different, so it may not apply exactly to the one you’re using. But it should give you some ideas about how to move things around.

Example: (First slide in sequence says “Falls on Non-Recovery Week”)

Happy Training!

Dan Cuson

Level 1 USAT Coach