vacation running

The best part of work, is vacation.  At least that's what it feels like sometimes right?  It's great to get away for a while and relax.  If you happen to be training for a marathon, or some other race, however, it can be a challenge.

I've been doing pretty well with my training for the Chicago marathon all summer.  But I've also known all summer I was planning on a vacation at what was probably the peak of the training schedule.  That presented some challenges, but also some perspective.

My wife and I were really looking forward to a our trip to Italy with another couple.  We spent time in Rome, Florence, and Venice.  And it was everything we hoped for!  The weather was great.  We enjoyed the sights, the company, and the food and wine of course!  In fact, I managed to get some running in despite an abundance of the latter.

Real life has a way of intruding on training for most of us who don't happen to run for a living.  I'm sure a lot of us have challenges like these come up.  I don't know if my strategy will be successful or not, but I did the best I could manage.  I got a 20 miler in 2 days before we left, and then got a bunch of shorter runs when we were in Italy.  In Florence, I managed to get in a couple of ten milers that were beautiful.  My week ended up without a real long run, or a hard work out mid-week, but I believe I maintained pretty well. 

It's difficult to relax entirely while on vacation when you are committed to training at the same time.  But that's the perspective part.  My family and friends constantly make sacrifices to allow for my running schedule.  I couldn't ask them to do that while we were on vacation in Italy.  So I worked it in when I could, and tried not to shortchange our sightseeing/eating/drinking plans.  And it worked pretty well.  I can think of few places where I enjoy running more than Florence along the Arno river.  It's absolutely beautiful!  I highly recommend running along the Rhone in Rome as well.  It's easy to lose yourself in the sights as you run.

So if the easy week I took last week costs me a little time during the marathon, I'll live with it.  If I wasted a trip to Italy with my wife by constantly obessessing about my training schedule, I would have regrets for sure. 

This week, however, will be extra tough to try to make up for it!  Back to the grind!

See you on the paths.

Comments

[Tony J.]

Great story! I always love to run while on vacation too, but it can be tough, like you said, because everyone had a tendancy to overindulge in something while there. I remember while on vacation in Maui, I would look forward to going out for an hour or two before Molly would wake up. I always looked at it as a way to see and discover things that I might have missed in the car and I would sometimes come back and tell her about something I saw that we should check out later.
I also remember running around Hollywood on one vacation. I would leave the hotel and just remember what direction I had to go to get back and would explore. Everyday I would run by the swing club from "Swingers", the Brown Derby, and one day I went out really far and ended up on Hollywood and Vine. I had to stop for a second and take it all in, since it is such a famous intersection. I am sure it had been crazy a few hours prior, but at 8 am it felt pretty safe.
I always look forward to next vacation, so I can go exploring more during my runs.