Training While Traveling

As the holidays loom, many of us will begin to shift our minds toward traveling. 

Sometimes holiday travels take us to our hometown, old training grounds. Others might have picked up triathlon after moving away, or the family you are visiting has moved to a new place. This could mean the opportunity to train somewhere new!

Either way, we know during the holidays you’ll want to stick to some training. Even if it is just a casual session to get your mind right and away from the commotion. 

For this company we travel - a lot. So learning to train while traveling has been crucial. Here are some things we’ve learned in all our travels.

Planning workouts

The first step to training while traveling is to get it on the calendar! It’s incredibly easy for other things to take priority while on the road. But if you know what you need to get done you are more likely to do it. 

We also like to plan workouts by time, instead of distance. It can be hard to know what kind of terrain you might be training in, so planning by time instead of distance ensures you’ll get back when you need to. 

It’s a lot easier to tell the fam, “I’ll be gone for 30 minutes” and they know exactly what to expect, as opposed to a random distance that gives them no idea how long they’ll have without you. 

Know exactly what you need to accomplish with each workout. Figuring out the goal of a workout as you are waking up is a dangerous game. It’ll lead to doing every workout way too easy or even just sleeping in when you know you need to get it done. 

Finding Routes

Knowing where it will be safe to ride or run is always a huge question mark. There are a few options we use when finding training grounds. 

First, we’ll look at the area we’ll be on Google maps. Look for big green areas that look like parks. Larger parks are generally safe when it comes to running in inner roads or sidewalks around them. 

Or look for solid green lines as these are cycling/running paths. You’ll find these through many cities, and it’s a great way to discover where others may be exercising. 

Next, pull up a heat map. Many of the tracking apps like Strava or Garmin have “heat maps.” The more people train in a given location, the brighter the road will be. Look for the brightest areas and it’s a good bet it’s safe to train there. 

Alternatively, just search “Cycling (or running) route near [where you’ll be].” Sometimes you’ll find common routes others have mapped out. If we are traveling somewhere there is a big race we know of, we’ll visit the race website to see where they do the race, as this can be great training grounds as well. 

Lastly, look for the facebook page or website of a local triathlon club and contact them! We’ve found the leaders of tri clubs to be very helpful when looking for a good place to train. And if you’re lucky they may even have a group opportunity you can jump in on. 

Training while traveling is hands-down one of our favorite activities. Having lived and trained in the same place since 2011, our routes can get a little stale.

Being able to see, experience and explore new places while training is a great opportunity not many people have. 

Enjoy your time traveling and enjoy your time on some fresh training roads!