Today is going to be a good day. I have a few exciting things (hopefully) happening, so keep your fingers crossed for me! More to come on that in the near future!
Tuesday was my first workout day of the week. I am still doing workouts this week, but instead of giving all out effort on a lot of them I tone them back.
I decided on a 3 x 1 mile repeat workout. It was actually really simple:
1 mile warm up
3 x 1 mile repeats
800 meter recovery
1 mile cool down
My time goal for the repeats was around a 7:50 pace. This will roughly be my goal pace for a BQ.
My other focus was to make sure the workout didn’t go over 6 miles. I am trying really hard to hold myself accountable to the shorter runs I have scheduled. I will still do 2 workout this week but they won’t exceed 6 miles.
It was HOT. I think today is supposed to be the hottest day of the week (97 degrees). I am leaning very heavily towards running on the treadmill. We will see what happens.
Thursday we are packing up and heading for a mini-vacation to the beach for the long weekend. We are blessed with a few more days of freedom so we are making sure to take advantage of every one of them.
Every time I go into a vacation (or even just a weekend away) I am always very aware of what my training schedule is going to look like.
There are a few keys I have come up with in regards to training while on vacation. No matter the time you are away, I have found that it is important to create a game plan before you leave. This avoids any questions or frustration once you are there.
There are two main ways I approach it:
1. No workouts.
There are vacations where I choose to completely rest from workouts. I’ll be honest and say these haven’t happened in quite a while, but they do. In fact during our honeymoon a few years ago I only ran 2 times, but going in I had full intention of taking the entire time off.
There is nothing wrong with this and sometimes it is just what your body needs.
2. Planning Your Workouts In
If you are on a training schedule or don’t like taking breaks sometimes it is necessary to plan your workouts in. I try to stick to a few guidelines when choosing to run/workout on vacation:
- Get up early – I always try to get my runs in first thing. This started mostly because 9 times out of 10 we head to somewhere warm and it avoids running in the crazy heat.
- Don’t Interrupt Others- One of the things I am very conscious about during vacation is that my running doesn’t interfere with other people’s schedules. If we have plans then I make sure my run is done before hand. Running on vacation is my choice, so I don’t want to make others wait on me due to it.
- Involve Family/Friends – if there is a way to involve others in my vacation runs I definitely do. Sometimes I will change around my schedule to run with others, or invite them to come with me. It’s always better when you have a running partner anyways!
- Be Ready to Adapt – Just like with like in general, I am always able to adapt when need be. Sure, training is important but if I can only get in 6 miles on a day that calls for 8 then that is OK. It’s not the end of the world.
- Relax – I try to limit the amount of actual workouts I do during vacation because it allows me to relax more. Easy running allows me to explore and enjoy my new surroundings. Plus, vacation is about relaxing not stressing.
My game plan for my upcoming mini-vacation is to run 2 out of the 3 days we are there. One semi-long run and one shorter run. I am lucky because pretty much all of my husband’s family are runners so they understand.
I am happy however that my step back week falls in line with the vacation. I plan to soak up every last minute!
Do you run on your vacations?
How do you plan your runs in if you do?
I really enjoy working out on vacation, but I agree that its nice to give yourself a break, too! I usually tell myself that I’ll do easy workouts or take rest days while I am away, but then I end up waking up before everyone else so I just go out and run!
Yeah this winds up being me too! The fact that I’m up early anyway seems to lend to it 🙂
This just reminded me how badly I NEED a vacation! That hammock pic is calling to me!
I will occassionally run on vacation if it’s a laid back one with lots of down time, but I usually end up being the tourist going from site to site and having no down time (and getting lots of walking or biking in) so I try not to feel too bad with whatever I wind up doing, after all, it is vacation!
What comes to mind is a big family cruise we took 4 weeks before my BQ marathon. I was kind of freaking out, like as in if the ship hadn’t had a track i wasn’t going (it was my husbands family!) but as it turned out the ship had a track and I got up early each morning to run. Of course, it was much hotter than it was back home and because of that I only did maybe 80 percent of what I planned and no long run. It actually functioned as an easy week before my last long run and it worked out.
Anyway, I think for a normal vacation it helps to not put any pressure on the running and just run if I feel like running. No official “workouts” though!
Because I am the only runner in my family, I go in with the attitude that I know we will walk and be active and have active fun (and isn’t that what it is really supposed to be about anyway?) … but I carry my running gear! 🙂 Last year I ran most every day … the year before I ran twice. This year? Who knows!
For me whether I run or not really depends on the vacation. I like to plan vacations to fall during my two weeks rests after a marathon and that way I can really enjoy the vacation – sleep in, eat great food, and just relax!! This past week though when I went on vacation with my family I ran everyday we were there, I just knocked back the length of some of my runs to fix them in and didn’t do any workouts. 🙂
If I am training I will run on vacation! If not I will try to get a run in but won’t feel bad if I don’t. I think running is a great way to see things in a new place that you wouldn’t normally see, so I actually enjoy running on vacation!
To fit everything in I usually wake up early, and I will move my long runs around in order to fit the schedule of vacation a little better.
Definitely depends on my vacation. But I’m like you, sometimes I rest and sometimes I plan ahead for my runs. I’m going to Vegas in 2 weeks and I’m still trying to figure out my plan for that.
These are really good ideas. I have to run in order to stay sane. Here are some of my vacation running tips: http://wp.me/p4mShA-lp
enjoy your vacation and happy 4th!
For me the hardest part is getting over my anxiety and asking my fellow travelers if they mind me working in my runs. I’ve never had a bad response – I don’t know why I get nervous! I’m camping with a friend in a few weeks and plan to get all my training runs (probably get up early in the morning)…my main goal is still to have enough energy to do whatever hiking she wants.
I always run on vacation! I am usually the first one up, so I fit it in no problem.
I try to run on vacation. I did when I went to Chicago last year. And I traveled to Scotland to do a marathon, but I ran in England and in France leading up to the race.
However, I struggle with bringing my running shoes vs other shoes, especially if I’m hiking.