Five Tips for Running On Vacation

Running on vacation?

If you’ve got a strict running plan going but notice that a vacation with your family is just around the corner, you might feel a little apprehensive. You’ve carved out a nice little niche for yourself in your local area, always running at the same route and working on a continual basis. Will you be able to keep your habit going while you’re in the Caribbean or visiting an American tourist attraction? You will, if you follow these five tips.

Tip #1: Embrace it!

You might feel nervous about losing a lot of the work you’ve put in your physical fitness because you’re on vacation: there are plenty of temptations to stray from the diet and slack on your running. But instead of being afraid, embrace this opportunity! You can break out of your comfort zone and prove to yourself that you can run no matter where in the world you are! How else will you build confidence if you can’t face your fears?

Tip #2: Just go, even if you aren’t perfect.

Back home, you might have clung tightly to a daily 45-minute run, making sure you didn’t miss one second of it. On vacation, you might only have a half an hour before you’ve got to make a train or a boat: so, use that half hour! Keep up the habit by going out anyway, even if your run isn’t perfect. Then when your vacation is done, you’ll have less of difficulty when it’s time to “shake off the rust.”

Tip #3: Lower your criteria for success.

Don’t beat yourself up if you go out and realize that the weather is too hot and it forces you indoors. Lower your criteria for success and realize that simply by going out and exercising, you’re keeping up a great habit. Be happy about it!

Tip #4: Plan out a route.

You’ll increase your chances of keeping up your daily habit if you do some work beforehand: use your rental car to map out a good route for you to take on tomorrow morning’s run. Using the odometer, you can keep track of distance.

Tip #5: Go in the morning.

If you’ve been taking your run after work every day, it’s time to start running in the morning. Why? Once you have it done, you can avoid the procrastination that comes with a vacation, and enjoy the rest of your day.

Photo Credits: pit van meeffe (back monday)

Originally posted 2009-07-21 05:56:20.

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