A guide to running on holiday

You're away from home and have decided to go out for that holiday jog, well done ! It's a great way to discover a new place. There's only one thing: you don't KNOW the city, which leads to many questions : which way to go ? how not to get lost ? how to avoid running too much ? And please, if possible, let's rather see interesting and beautiful things along the way !

I've only started running a few years ago, but it didn't take me long to connect running and destinations, i.e. going somewhere to run, or running wherever I go. And over time I have discovered a few tips and tricks which I'm happy to share.

If you go somewhere to run, you can join an official race or a running club, or even join my Morning run with a view in Budapest). You can safely follow (or overtake) everyone, the route has been conveniently traced for you, and you get to meet people. Great.

Forget about timing

If you simply want to run while on holiday, my first piece of advice would be to forget about timing, especially if you run in town. Accept that you won't be as fast or efficient as when you run on your home track. First because you will have to pay attention to traffic, second because you don't want to get lost, and third because you are on holiday, remember, so you might as well allow yourself to stop for pictures.

If you have time and can run forever, take your shoes and go. At some point you'll find your accommodation again. But if you can't (or don't want to) run too much, and if you don't want to finish your 5k... 5 kilometres away from your starting point and walk all the way back, the next tip is for you: preparation.

Chance is when preparation meets opportunity

Before you go for your run, first ask yourself how long you are going for : will it be your usual morning jog, or a longer run, or 10k and we'll see how it goes ? After that, work out what you would like to see - there, Google Maps is your best friend. Study the map to spot interesting landmarks : sea, river, monuments, parks... ; study it long enough to avoid having to look it up during your run. Pick one landmark about half your chosen distance away, and make it one of your goals. Pick a couple more on the way there and back, but leave some of it to chance to allow for surprises.

Endomondo users can look up the "routes" option for ideas, and see where locals usually run. For example, it once taught me that the right bank of the river Avon was impracticable in Bristol, and to plan my run along the left bank.

A wee bit of technology

I am not a high-tech person. Recently, I have acquired the cheapest connected GPS watch, which does exactly what I want from it : record the run while I can play freely with my phone. My phone thus becomes both a camera and an online map during the run, should either need arise.

After the run, I connect watch and phone to 2 applications

- Endomondo, for the running data.
- Relive, which allows me to create cool videos based on my GPS data, Google satellite map and pictures taken during the run.

Enjoy your run !

Ivan Alleaume
www.valamivan.com

First published on 18.02.2020