Vacation Running

I'm not one of those people who log major miles when I'm out of town. The point of vacation is to take a break...right? With that being said, I usually do take time to do something active while I'm out of town. For one, I really enjoy running and it's a fun way to discover new places. Also, I always eat more junk food when I'm out of town and logging a run makes me feel less guilty about it (by "less guilty" I mean not guilty at all). Typically travel involves a bit of stress...you know, trying to get everything ready to leave, coordinating schedules, etc. Running helps me decompress and enjoy my time away. I spent Labor Day weekend in Portland with my husband's side of the family. My brother in law got married. It was fun, beautiful...basically anything positive you can say about a wedding and being with family. My husband's cousin, Emily (pic above) is an awesome runner (right now she's training for the Chicago Marathon...amazing!!) and agreed to go for a vacation run with me. We thought we'd do something like three miles. We spent our run chatting and enjoying the sights of Portland. At the end we discovered we'd run five miles rather than three. We even ran faster than planned. Because everything was new (the sights, a running buddy, etc), I still felt like I was on vacation even while exercising. Thanks Emily! By the way, Emily also has a running blog: Chicago Runner's High. Can you believe it...two Emilys who write running blogs? How cool can one family get?

Speaking of my cool family, my brother in law also ran with me. I may or may not have guilted him into it, "You don't have to run with me but I'm going. I'm sure no one will assult me while I'm out by myself."
Thanks Mike! Another way I get exercise on vacation is walking, walking and more walking. My husband and I are both directionally challenged and neither of us really like to drive in unfamiliar places so we always end up walking a ton when we're out of town. I love it. I end up seeing a lot more because I'm not worried about parking places, traffic, etc.

Voodoo Doughnuts was across the street from our hotel in Portland and I pretty much at my body weight in them. Holy cow...so good!!! Because of all my running and walking, I felt zero guilt when indulging. Hooray for vacation running!