Vacation and Some Free Running

I’m on a mini-vacation this week. My husband has a conference at Suncadia so my daughter and I came along for the ride. This place is AMAZING. It’s a nature-lover’s paradise. There are trails, mountains, pools, a lake, a river, playgrounds, lots of climbing structures, things to rent like bikes with or without kid trailers, jog strollers, canoes, kayaks, paddle boats, you get the idea. We are having a wonderful time.

toddler coloring on park bench

Intense art session

As far as running goes, I’m not doing much. I’m not wearing the Garmin, but I know I’m not doing more than a few (2-3 miles) a day. I am staying very active with swimming floating a toddler around in the water, walking to different activities, climbing up hilly trails, paddle boating and pushing the stroller around. My 10k-a-day has gone out the window and it’s feeling pretty good this week!

suncadia view

Currie asked me "Mommy what is nature?" I decided to show her.

Sometimes I think one of the best things I do for my daughter is show her how much I love running and being active in general. She is becoming quite the outdoors-woman!

Do you maintain your regular running schedule on vacation or do you mix it up with other activities?  

I Want to Run There!

I’m not sure if this is a normal runner thing, a crazy-obsessed runner thing, or a high mileage runner thing but I can’t help but want to run almost everywhere I go. For example, I drive from New York to Ohio to visit the family quite often. If I see a little stone road or dirt trail running along the highway, I really want to run on it and see where it leads. If I come across an unusual driveway (long winding, short steep hill, long drawn out hill) I really get the urge to stop the car and run it. I imagine what it might be like if I lived there and had to start and end each run on that kind of driveway. If I see something beautiful, a park with gorgeous flowers, a mountain range in the distance, famous historical sights, I always want to run them. This is definitely a plus when we go on vacation because we see so much more of a city than we would if we weren’t runners. It’s a negative when I have 6 more hours of driving ahead of me and all I want to do is go for a run…

Just a few cool places we have run…

Olympic Stadium Barcelona

June 2006 in Barcelona at Olympic stadium. Didn't have camera phones so didn't shoot a pic while running but came back and got one!

Runners on Diamond Head in Hawaii

January 2007 after running up Diamond Head on Oahu.

Trails to run in Prague

July 2010 in Prague. We ran on trails overlooking the city!

Holyrood Park, Edinburgh

October 2011 we ran in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh. 823ft elevation gain and beautiful at the top! I obviously wasn't running in this pic.

Do you ever get a similar urge to run when you see something beautiful or interesting? Have you ever stopped the car to run because a path looked too good to pass by? Where is your favorite vacation spot for running?