Training on the road (Part I)

I’ve been fortunate to travel a little bit this summer. Last weekend was my niece’s wedding near San Diego. My whole family was able to attend. It was so nice to be together, on vacation, with my husband, kids, sisters, and father. We visited the beach, wine tasted, did Lego Land, and shopped. And, of course, celebrated a marriage at the most beautiful location in the mountains.

I also kept up with my training. I had hoped to find a nice trail to run, because shlogging down a road is boring and a little painful. However, I can usually keep myself busy whiling running on the road by looking for and collecting aluminum cans. But last weekend, I was in luck!! Two and a half miles away from my hotel, I stumble upon the San Dieguito River Park. It is part of a trail system that connects the hills to the ocean. (By the way, I did collect some cans on the two and a half miles of roadway but my husband didn’t let me pack them in my luggage to take them home.)

 San Dieguito Park in San Bernardo, CA:

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some methods I have used for finding running routes at travel destinations.

1) Look for a running store in the area where you will be traveling. Then find the store’s Facebook page if they have one. Post a message asking the store’s Facebook community where to run. You might even get invited to join a group run! This didn’t work for me last weekend because there were no running stores in the San Bernardo area where I was staying.

2) Do an internet search using key words like “trail run routes” and the name of the town. Last weekend, this yielded someone’s GPS mapped route of their run. I followed their run, and that route led me to the park!

3) I’ve used periodicals for routes in the past as well. For example, I saved an article from Backpacker Magazine from umpteen years ago that had some urban hikes. I ran the New York City route on a visit in 2013. It took me from downtown, up the Highline trail, through midtown, and around Central Park. I loved it, and it was a route that I wouldn’t have been able to come up with on my own!

 The wedding:

 

Groom and Bride

My sister and her daughter

 

Sisters



My other sister, my son, and my daughter

 

Lego Land:

 

 

 

  



Next week, I will be in Las Vegas to help a friend celebrate their birthday. I may try Backpacker Magazine’s “urban hiking route” on the strip at dawn one day, before the temperatures reach the forecasted 98 degrees.