Lately I have been doing a lot of work travel. Almost every other week I am traveling somewhere in the US or overseas. Work travel is hard. It usually means that I will be working long hours with some social work related obligations in the evening, my nutrition will get all messed up and I will spend long hours sitting down in a conference room at this or that law firm or some other office or work location. It also disrupts my training. Swimming? I can usually forget about that. It is not easy to find a pool to swim in and if I am lucky enough to find one, making the swim time work is difficult and stressful. Cycling? hmmm, not really. Carrying my bike with me is not very practical so riding is out of the question during work travel too. I cannot always count on the hotel gym for workouts as not all hotels have one and if they do, it is usually the size of my closet and it feels very claustrophobic.
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| Morning run at Laguna Beach, CA |
Running, on the other hand is easy to do everywhere, just pick a route and go out and run. It requires little packing (well a little more in the winter, but still). This is why running has become my go to workout during work travel.
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| 3 different mornings 3 different Sunrises, Laguna Beach, CA |
In fact, running has became more than just a workout. Running has became the fun part of my work travel. The part where I get up early in the morning and explore the area where I am at. This is how I get to know new places in the best way one can, through my legs.
It has become my morning meditation. The part of the trip that I destress and get ready for yet another long and stressful day. I actually look forward to my morning runs and make an effort not to miss them (even if the night before we stayed out late, and we do, a lot). It is my me time. Actually when I pack for a business trip my running and workout gear is the first things that I pack. Yes, I have my priorities straight :-)
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| NYC Running - Central Park Sunrise (2 days after the 2016 Blizzard) |
True, I do not always travel to new places and sometimes my travels take to me to very familiar places, like NYC. Until about 4 years ago central park used to be my usual morning run course. I know central park running loop like the back on my hand. Running was more like necessary evil, the third leg of the triathlon. I just tried to get the run to end as quickly as possible. Now that I only get to run in central park only a few times a year my runs have become some sort of a trip down memory lane for me. I love running without music on such runs and soak up the atmosphere. Trying to see if I recognize any of the runner's or cyclist's passing me by. I feel so lucky that I am able to go back and enjoy a run or two.
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| The Skyline view from the Great Lawn (Central Park, NYC) |
When I lived in NYC, I never used to carry my camera (or in this case my phone) on my runs. These days on my travel running days, I always carry my camera/phone and sometimes I cannot resist the urge to stop and capture the moment on film (ok, I should have said file). Even in a place that I ran 100's of times before. Depending on what moment you get there it can look so different. Now I take a moment to stop and enjoy this moment (or two).
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| Morning run on the banks of the Seine, Paris, France |
Whenever I am in a new place, whether its a new city or just a new neighborhood, google and google maps is my guide for routes. Some places are more complicated to pick up the route and on some trips it is as easy as running down to the Seine (in Paris) and just running along it, enjoying all the history and the famous monuments.
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| Running by the Seine (discovered that this time of year there's no light out until after 8am) |
Sometimes you encounter unexpected surprises like my last trip to Paris and the joy of running in the dark even through it is 7:30 am. But it is all part of the adventure. Yes, even running in the rain.
The great thing about running while traveling is that you become and feel like a local and not a tourist. You are part of this great community of runners and get a quick picture of the real life in the area. The early risers that are walking their pets, the homeless people that are still sleeping on a bench by the river, the shop owners that are just opening their business. The parents that walk theirs kids to school. All these things that you get to see back home when you are up early, when you are in a new place they become more special, different and at least in my case I only experience them when I head out early in the morning to go for a run.
I can't wait for my next business trip to make some new discoveries with my 2 legs.
Thanks for reading!
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