You’ve got a stellar vacation coming up. Each night you’re thinking about all the new food you’re about to chow down on, the new scenes you’re going to experience, and all the novelty coming your way!
But if you’re like the common athlete/fitness fanatic the anxiety will sneak it’s way into that excitement sandwich. “How are you going to get in all your training? What this is going to do to your fitness? You’re screwed!”
We know that feeling all too well. How do you balance out the wanderlust bug with the running bug? It’s not easy. But 100% doable. We’ve been all over the world traveling vigorously and still maintained our sanity while not falling off the entire fitness bandwagon. We just went to Morocco and actually came back FITTER than when we left. So here are 5 tips to taking a vacay without your fitness mind going nuts.Â
1. Training your heart out before: If you know you’re going on a vacay that isn’t going to have many training opportunities (whether that’s because you’re stuck on a cruise ship or your agenda is already jam-packed with activities from the crack of dawn till night time), look prior to your vacation for ramping up your training. Having a loaded week(s) before your vacation can give yourself the ease of mind that you’re vacation time is more of a “recovery” period for yourself than a training grind.
2. Finding a running group: When we first moved to Chile we had no clue where to run. We’d squint at our iPhone screens, double-tapping, zooming-in trying to see the longest road we could find. What those maps didn’t tell us was the number stop lights we’d hit & the “locals don’t even go there” areas. As soon as we found a running group online, problems solved. We had the added bonus of accountability, we were taken on some of the most badass routes, felt even safer while out there and made some amazing life-long friends while at it. So if you’re in the foreign land for a bit longer of a period, we’d highly recommend this option.
3. HIIT & Stretch : An LSD run might not be plausible on your vacation. Even getting in a full hour run may be a stretch. Speaking of stretch (puns were intended)– this vacation time could be a chance to switch up your typical training routine and ramp up some strength, stretching, and mobility. When we’re finding it hard to get in runs, for whatever reasons, we’re big fans of doing strengthening and/or mobility yoga classes while we are on vacation. Tabata, hills, stairs or suicides are also great options. You don’t need a lot of room, you don’t need any gear, and you can get your heart pumping hard…FAST.
4. Walk, walk, walk it out. When we’re wearing our Xero Shoes, we are blown away at the number of miles we can rack up when we ditch the uber, taxi, tuk-tuk or sketchy donkey carriage and choose to walk where we need to go. Furthermore, we’ve ran into some opportunities we would have never caught if we were zooming by on wheels (ex. partaking in a mini-make-shift-toy-car-race with a bunch of Malagasy kids down the streets of Madagascar). Although walking is not high intensity, although it’s not running, it is still exercise. Embarrassingly or proudly enough, some of our sorest days on vacations have not been the days we ran but rather the ones we just walked around. Time on feet is a major factor for us ultra-runners too so we don’t mind this option at all.
5. Finding a race: Make that vacation a racecation. We do this all the time. What better way to see a country than on foot right? Blows our mind seeing people slouched over in a tour bus, on their iPhone and eating packaged crap. The smells, local interactions, feel of the terrain, local foods, etc. they are missing out on by being bugged up in a bus is a bummer to see. The best experiences we have had on our travels are ones we experience first hand without a glass in front of our face. Besides the enhanced experiences, you also get lead through pretty sweet spots and you have the safety of race directors/teams so you can fully get lost in the experience and not worry about getting stranded by yourself.
At the end of the day you can only do what you can do (common sense but always a good reminder).
Have your goal and try your best to stick to it. Understand though you will have fluctuations and things will come up unexpectedly. 80/20 rule. Don’t lose your appreciation of your character building opportunity that travel offers by getting blinded by the mileage. Happy travels ☺
–Mel & Jon Sinclair
Xero Heroes Mel & Jon Sinclair are vegan ultramarathon runners, yogis, travelers, gymnasts, and thrillseekers.
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