Are you a “Traveling” Runner?

You may have noticed on a few of my posts, I like to combine traveling with running.  I really do!  Especially after meeting my husband!

Before I was married, I was content to head north a few hundred miles to run the WhistleStop Marathon in Ashland, WI.  Each time I would drag along a friend or my mom for company and support!  However, my mom as wonderful as she is, decided after her second trip it might be best to find someone else to chase me along the course to make sure I had my performance.  To be honest, I didn’t blame her a bit since the weather was a bit COLD, WET and MISERABLE.  Poor mom!  Thank goodness I have such dear friends who were glad to take over as my support crew.  Now my hubby gets to take care of me and he is definitely my number one fan!

You can read about my most memorable WhistleStop here.  It was my first BQ on this course so this marathon will always hold a special place in my heart.  Besides, it is so beautiful!  I highly recommend checking this out if you are looking for a fall marathon.  I qualified several times running Whistlestop and it can be awesome when conditions are favorable.

Shortly after Rob and I were married, we both got the bug to combine traveling with running marathons.  What a novel idea huh!  Geez aren’t marathons hard enough without adding travel to the mix.  I am not talking about a few hundred miles either……but 100,000’s of miles.  Like China, Rome, New York, Maine, Florida, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and lets not forget Boston.  And next year it’s back to Rome.  I’d say since we’ve only been married just shy of 6 years, we’re doing ok!  I definitely married a wonderful guy who loves to support my running habit with the added benefit of traveling.

Our first destination marathon was THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.  Yep that is right.  Have you heard of the adventure marathons?  The Great Wall is one of those.  You can click here to read more about these incredible destinations.  Stay tuned to see if a blog post will appear in the future as we tackle a new Adventure Marathon?

We are fortunate to have my brother and his family living in China for work so we used his address and gave proof to the organization putting on this particular Adventure Marathon we were visiting family.  This saved us the expense of the tour that accompanies the entry fee for this marathon.  Running this marathon was over $600 dollars each each so it was definitely an investment, but so worth it!

So what was it like running on the Great Wall.  AMAZING!  It was probably the hardest physical activity I have ever done…although running the Rome Marathon with Bronchitis was just about as difficult for different reasons however.

Do you consider yourself a traveling runner?  I’ve discovered that even when I am not traveling to a race, but traveling for business or a long weekend away to see family, I definitely have labeled myself as a traveling runner!

My top signs I know I am a traveling runner:

1. Regardless of the length of the trip and the purpose, I ALWAYS pack a pair of running clothes and shoes. ALWAYS!
2. You know how to hydrate cheaply: You bring your empty water bottle through security then fill it up at a restaurant on the other side with performance or electrolyte drink of choice. You also know that almost all hotel workout facilities have filtered water you can access at any time of day or night so that bottle will come in handy the entire trip.
3. You use the dirty laundry bag hanging in the closet to transport sweaty running clothes home.
4. You scope out safe running routes prior to ever taking your trip.  And god forbid it’s not safe, there better be a gym with treadmill in hotel, or a nearby Anytime Fitness!
5. You’re probably wearing your garmin running watch becuase it’s one less thing to pack!  So what if it doesn’t match my cute outfit….
6. Pasangeners, especially other runners ask if you’re a runner….Ha!  Never fails.
7. Depending how long your trip and if you pack light, you attempt to “dry out” some of your sweaty clothes on the AC unit (in the older hotels) in a desperate attempt to get another wear out of them.

I’d love to hear from you….are you a traveling runner?