Traveling and running

My job requires me to travel on occasion.  Sometimes I will be traveling back and forth to the same city for a project for months others times it is like this week where I am somewhere just for the week.  I've had to travel for work for over a decade so I have a few ways that I can keep training while on the road:
- I always pack workout clothes for every single day.
- Check the weather for where you are going so you can be prepared if you are running outside.  It's been raining here so I'm glad I brought my rain running coat.
- Check to see if your hotel has a gym, if they don't I find a local one that has daily or weekly rates.  I've joined gyms for several months while on a longer term project just so I can have a place to work out.
- I stay at hotels that at least have a fridge in the room so I don't have to eat out all the time.  I go to local grocery store on the first day and get some fruit and food I can have for breakfast and dinner if possible.
- Do a little research on where you are going to figure out running routes.  If you are in a place where it is not conducive to running outside then most hotels at least have a treadmill.

Greetings from Calgary and have a good week!

Weekly Recap

Last week turned out to be a very good and little bit bad week.

On Saturday I went out for what I thought would be a 16 mile run, due to all the various side routes I took I ended up going 19.  I have a marathon on July 13th so I am ahead of where I expected to be at this point.  I actually wanted to keep my miles down before this race so I don't go in with dead legs but I might consider 20 this week.  The last marathon in April I felt worn out so I'm trying to hold back to have a better race.  The weather has been really good here in Colorado for morning runs so it just seems effortless to keep going.  This morning I planned on going 6-7 miles and ended up just over 8 miles. 

Sunday I went out trail running at a place named Deer Creek Canyon.  They have various trails to take but I usually go on this one loop that is 2.75 miles and do a couple laps.  Part of the trail is also a mountain bike trail so you have to watch out for bikes.  The trail starts at 6,000 and goes up for another 1,000 and then back down through some very rocky parts.  The first lap was no problem, on the second lap I was dodging two bikes, hit a rock with my toe and went down.  I ended up scraping up my right knee but just got up and kept running.  My toe was bit sore the next couple days but it is better now and it was nothing to keep me from running.

My upcoming schedule is the Missoula Marathon in July, the Revel Marathon in August and the Bear Chase trail 50k in September.  These are all different types of races so I will be doing all different types of running training.  The Missoula is a regular marathon, the Revel is a downhill marathon and the Bear Chase is a trail race.  This summer will be a chance to try different things because I don't have to travel as much for work.

Two new pairs of shoes I really like: Adidas Glide Boost 6 (for regular training and long runs) and the Brooks Cascadia 9 (for trail).

If anyone has any training tips for my upcoming races feel free to leave a comment.

The Lone Runner

I ran my two 10k races for the year and accomplished my goal of finishing faster than the year before.  Now it is time to train for the Missoula Marathon on July 13th.  Considering I have about month of training before I taper I am trying something a little different.  I will run every single day and do a long run every weekend but I am not going to go over 20 miles on my longest run.  I think I was over trained for the last marathon and it showed in my time.  Also it is getting warmer so really long runs require lots of water and fluids, I can run around places and keep refilling my water bottle but it does take a toll on your pace.

This weekend I got to go to one of my favorite places to run and cross train - Red Rocks Amphitheater.  This is what it looks like at about 6:30 on a Sunday morning:

There are so many options for running and cross training that you are only limited by what you are willing to try.  I did some stair running, planks, dips, pushups, box jumps, lunges and step jumps.  I spent about 90 minutes out there and even though the altitude is only about 700-800 feet higher than where I live you can really feel it.  A good rule of thumb is that however much water you usually bring when working out bring double that to Red Rocks because it is warm and very sunny.

I went for a longer run of just over 14 miles on Saturday and I was thinking about a couple of the people I know through social media who were going on group runs.   Many people belong to running groups or have a training partner.  In most of my years of running I have run alone other than running with a friend every now and then when I was training for my first marathon.  I thought about it for awhile and this is the only way that I can train and be ready for races.  There are times where I am traveling a great deal for work so I won't join a running group locally.  Plus I wake up really early (by 3:30 - 4 AM most days) and don't want to wait several hours to run with a group (yes, I run in the dark a fair amount).  I'm self motivated so I run, lift, etc. without needing to be pushed by a group or a partner.  There are days when I am sore (like today, my calves are sore) so I didn't run as hard because that is a way to risk injury.  I think everyone has their own pace so trying to conform to somebody else's pace can lead to bad form or hurting yourself.  Maybe some people do it for the social aspect of being around people with similar interests?    The more I thought about it the more I realized I like running alone, it allows me to clear my thoughts or think through a work problem or just let my mind wander.  I can talk to people before or afterwards but I don't really want to have to talk to someone while running.

I'm curious how many other people out there are Lone Runners?  Would you rather run in a group or alone?