How to stay Fit on Vacation as a Runner

Adjust Your Expectations

Anyone who has traveled with small children, experienced a flight delay, or gotten lost knows that even vacations have their challenges. Says Heuisler: "Dial back on the pace and distance if you're dealing with travel stresses or a hectic schedule, especially if running is harder than at home because it's warmer, more humid, hillier, at altitude, or on a different surface like dirt trails or beach sand."

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Smith adds: "Run early because it will be hard to fit it in later." She sets out her running clothes and shoes in the hotel bathroom at night so she can slip out for early runs without waking her husband. She recommends doing 10 approximately 100-meter pickups mid-run to preserve your speed and work on your form.

Regardless of how much you run while on vacation, says Heuisler, make sure your primary focus is fun instead of fitness. "You can run anywhere," he says, "so why not experience new places–the sights, smells, and sounds–as only a runner can?" Get out there and try exploring a different trail or country road each day at your vacation venue. The hotel gym's treadmill? Forget it, unless conditions are dangerous or you really have no time to figure out where to run outside.

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Broaden Your Horizons

If your travel itinerary is crowded, you can take a week off from running–but that doesn't mean being a sloth. "Vacations should be a break from routine, so it's a good time to try other activities and use different muscles," says Smith. "Rent bikes, go on hikes, play tennis, and maybe even try waterskiing. All activity burns calories and maintains muscle, and you'll give your mind and body a break from running." Once you're home, she adds, you'll feel rejuvenated: "It shouldn't take you more than two to three weeks to get your running shape back."

Then again, you can take the opposite approach. "If work or other obligations have held your running back at home, a vacation can be an opportunity to jump-start it," says Heuisler. "Just don't get carried away."

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