Comet's Carry-On
On the Road
By Julia “Comet” Weatherby

I’ve been running almost as long as I’ve been travelling every week for work. Fortunately, running is a sport that goes well with being on the road. You don’t need a partner. You don’t need any special equipment or facilities. You can run in any type of weather.

Whether you have a wedding to attend in an unfamiliar city or are planning a long vacation in a distant country, you don’t have to let it interfere with your running routine. Travelling to new places can add a lot of variety and new scenery to your workouts.

There are several things you can do before your out-of-town trip to increase your chances of getting in some interesting running along the way. First, check with your hotel to see what workout facilities they have. Running on a treadmill may not be fun, but if you really need to have a dry, safe, quick run, it may save the day. Some hotels give a guest membership to a local gym. A few hotels have such nice facilities that locals will pay to use them.

Check the weather. If it’s going to be unseasonably cold, you’ll be glad you packed your hat, gloves and running tights. As you pack, be sure to bring all you’ll need for your runs, even Bodyglide, gels and Gatorade powder.

Find a route or two to run before you step on the plane! Check old running magazines that feature different cities. The Runners World website has such articles. Just do a search on the city name you’ll be in. Run The Planet is a website dedicated to keeping track of great running routes world-wide. Ask on the RunTex Forum. Many Austin runners have lived and visited other places and can make recommendations.

The Runners World website also has a listing of running specialty stores. I love visiting running stores while I’m on the road. As I’m looking around, I remind myself how lucky I am to have four RunTex stores at home! Running store employees will help you find local routes and let you know if there are any local races happening while you’re in town. Remember that not every race occurs over the weekend. I ran a great cross-country race after work in California one day.

Search the Internet or ask around for the local running club. Many clubs have runs for all levels that are open to visitors. It’s always interesting to hear about what types of training runs and races the club members are involved in. I’m not sure you’ll find a running club with a Sunday night happy hour, but if you do, let us know!

Finally, if you're staying at a hotel, you might ask at the front desk for local places to run. I stayed at a hotel in Germany that had a table for runners set up in the lobby. They printed running routes on little cards that sat next to bottles of water and fresh fruit.

Sometimes there are so many things to see and do while you’re on the road, you might forget to get your run in. Don’t let the opportunity to have a unique run pass you by!

Julia Weatherby is a marathoner and triathlete. When not racing, she searches for new places to run around the country as an IBM technical consultant. http://julia.weatherby.info/comet This article originally appeared in Running Austin, a bi-monthly publication of the Austin Runners Club.