Saturday, April 16, 2011

Running and Travel

The good thing about traveling is that it gets you exposed to all kinds of different ideas and places, especially new running routes (even if blogging gets dumped to the wayside for a short time).

Let's focus on the positive parts though -and it's apropos, considering it's marathon weekends in Boston and London. More than 100 Brooklyn runners in Boston, and I expect to see a fair NYC turnout in the UK.

*When I travel, I run. Mapmyrun or Gmaps Pedometer is a great way of figuring out routes from where you are staying. And on Mapmyrun, you can see what other folk have done in the past.

*Take the unexpected path, even if you don't expect to. When I run in new routes for the first time, I invariably get temporarily lost. Or I have no idea where I'm going. That's the fun of it. Don't be afraid to ask. Again, that's part of the fun. And tacking on an additional 5-15 minutes to your run isn't going to ruin your training - just run slower, or even take walking breaks.

*Find a destination race, and plan a trip around it. MarathonGuide.com is a great place to start.

*Plan a trip, and find a run to fit your needs. For example, I'm up in the Boston area a lot, so use New England Runner and Cool Running to plot out some ideas (these are both great for the Northeast, I might add.)

*Look up a running group online from the area, and send a quick e-mail to see if you can join them on one of their weekly runs. I did this up in the Boston area a few years back since I wanted to go long and I wanted company, and enjoyed a wonderful 16-mile loop on Heartbreak Hill into Wellesley (and back).

Good luck everyone racing this weekend.




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