For most of us, Memorial Day weekend marks the start of Summer and more importantly, summer vacations! Camping, cruising or jet-setting are something we countdown to all year around, but they can also be a little stressful when these trips fall in the middle of training. To help you stay on pace during your time off, we asked the Detroit Free Press/TCF Bank Marathon community how they keep up with their training schedule while they’re away.

Utilize Local Routes

We are reliant on technology for basically everything nowadays, why should our runs be any different? Phone apps like AllTrails, Map my Run, or Strava help runners to stay on track while in a new environment, and some say running on local trails is the best way to see a new city! You can check out a full list of apps for finding routes here.

“A few years back while on vacation in Costa Rica, while my wife was getting showered and ready for the day, I put on my shoes, fired up my GPS and just picked a direction that seemed interesting. Ran the beach till the cliffs stopped me while watching dolphins in the ocean and crabs on the beach. Turned inland and ran up a hill to find monkeys in the trees; ran for 30 minutes, then back just as my wife was finishing blow-drying her hair. Five minutes in the shower and I’m ready to go, still waiting on her. ” – Dean Ditto

 

P.S. if you haven’t heard, we have a running club to train for the marathon on Strava! Join here.

Get up Early!

Getting up about an hour before the rest of your party is the perfect time to get a run in. Not only are you not missing out on any of the activities and fun, but getting up early helps you to avoid extreme conditions (especially if you’re travelling somewhere tropical).

“Get up an hour before everyone else, go outside your hotel and look for a few landmarks. Then go for a run and get lost. Then spend the rest of your time running around looking for one of those landmarks. Sometimes you find them quickly. Sometimes you add a couple extra miles to your run. Either way, it’s tantalizing!”- Jeff Domenico

Local Running Clubs

The running community is everywhere and we’re friendly people! Some of the phone apps mentioned earlier have the ability to search for clubs, but another great resource is looking up local running stores or using the Road Runners Club of America page.

Stay on the Safe Side: Use your Resources

Before you decide to just lace up your shoes and run out of your hotel room, it is important to make sure that the area you’re travelling in is safe. If there isn’t a safe place to run (or you’re travelling on open water), use what you got! So the hotel fitness center might not have an Olympic regulation sized track, but we bet it at least has a treadmill! Some miles are better than no miles. Other members of our marathon community said they have even ran laps around the parking lot of their hotel.

Run-cation

In 2018, we had participants in our races from 49 states and 19 countries. Run-cations are popular and for good reason with all the great races available now. Plan your vacations around a race and give yourself something else to get excited about!

No matter where or how you run, we’re just excited that you do! If you haven’t yet, register for one of our eight events at four distances today. We’ll see you at the start line in October!