Meet Dan: he is an experienced runner and today he shares his tips on how to manage running while treveling. If you’re keen to travel the world as much as I am, there are obviously some important considerations worth taking into account before you begin your sojourn. You’ve probably already thought about the places you’d like to go visit, the must-see landmarks you don’t want to miss, where you’ll be staying, or even how you’re going to finance your worldwide travels. All of that goes without saying. However, something that many world travellers should be doing — but likely aren’t — is to think about their health over the course of their travels. Sure, you want to savor the locals’ eats and drinks, but what are you planning to do for your fitness routine while you’re on the go? Not everywhere you go will have a state-of-the-art gym, and it’s unlikely that you’re going to travel somewhere with your favorite spin bike in your bag. What’s an activity that you can do anywhere, at virtually any time (with safety precautions in mind, of course), and one that requires minimal equipment? In other words, what’s a perfect activity for you to maintain while you’re travelling? The answer: running. Below, I’ll provide some quick and easy tips for how you can manage your running habit while traveling. Do some research There is definitely some fun and added value to exploring your new locales by foot, but before venturing into the great unknown, it’ll behove you to do at least a tiny bit of research. More than anything, you’ll want to do this for your own safety. Ask the locals where you’re staying for some recommendations, and trust your gut. If something seems “off” to you, listen to your instincts and stay away. Run a local race  Some people really enjoy making vacations out of far-flung races, but even if you didn’t plan your travels around one particular race, when you get to a new location, it’s worth asking around and researching online to see if there’s a race going on while you’re in town. Some places host races year-round, virtually every weekend, while other places only have 1 or 2 big signature events each year. Regardless, races are a lot of fun and typically promote a great environment, and it’d be a great way to meet locals and find out more about the place you’re visiting. Follow the path Once you’ve gotten your bearings in your new destination, let your feet do the talking and see where the roads take you. Of course, bear in mind your own safety, and don’t venture out in the middle of the night, but if you have some free time, go off the beaten path to see what’s around you. It’ll help you master your new surroundings, and you’ll likely find that you get a new appreciation for your home away from home. Meet up with area runners Check out the internet before you get to your new destination to see if there are any local running groups or clubs that meet up regularly. If so, correspond with them prior to your arrival to find out if you’d be able to jump in at one of their workouts or group runs. By their very nature, runners are typically extraordinarily accommodating and friendly individuals, and even if there’s a language barrier, I can all but guarantee that you’ll have fun traversing the roads and trails with your newly-found friends. Treadmill While running on a treadmill isn’t the most luxurious or glamorous way to run, runners everywhere will admit that it “gets the job done.” Particularly if you are traveling by yourself, if you’re in an area where you’re uncertain about your safety, or if you can’t run during daylight hours, hitting up a treadmill in a local hotel or gym is one way that you can ensure that you satisfy your mileage goals (and your safety). If you have detailed workouts to complete, taking to a treadmill can make nailing the workout much more manageable than figuring out how to do it in a foreign land. Know the rules of the roads (or sidewalks) One of the most important aspects of running while traveling is that the onus is on you, the visitor, to both know and heed the rules of the road/sidewalk where you’re traveling. It’ll be critical that you do everything you can to ensure your own safety abroad, and this includes even the most basic things like knowing local traffic rules and direction of travel. You may not be used to drivers being on the left, for example, or cars being on the right, but your ignorance don’t grant you a free pass when you’re running outdoors. You definitely don’t want to injure yourself (or someone else!) by your inattention to detail. While most places subscribe to the same red light/green light scenario, in many places, crosswalks are a luxury, stop signs are mere suggestions, and there are regular showdowns in traffic among pedestrians, vehicles, pedicabs, livestock, bicycles, mopeds, (and the list goes on). Make yourself into an informed runner and tourist before you go so you don’t fall victim to your own mistakes or stupidity. Mix it up Particularly if you are an endurance runner, it can be pretty tough to figure out ways to fit in a long distance run while you’re traveling. If you’re strapped for time or for distance, consider mixing up your runs into something shorter and more intense: think high intensity interval training (HIIT), sprints, or even speedwork, like tempo runs, mile repeats, half mile repeats, or quarters or 200m repeats. You can still manage to get in a solid workout and a satisfying sweat sesh, even if your mileage is significantly shorter than what you’d like, and as a bonus, you won’t be losing tons of travel and exploration time in the process. Traveling and running are both super fun and accessible hobbies, and one need...

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This winter is marvellous! I’m spending it in Valpolicella, a region of vineyards. Its location is special: from the west, it confines with Garda Lake and Monte Baldo, a relatively high mountain range. In the south, there is a large plateau with Verona town that is beautifully illuminated by night. The plateau expands into the south to meet the Adriatic Sea. In the east and north, further and higher mountain ranges expand. Therefore, the geology of Valpolicella makes this region very special. I was here before in a summer time thus read this post as the next episode of the same story. The house The house I’m renting through AirBnB is located high in the hills. It’s the first time in my life when I’m living at such high altitude and it changes everything! First of all, the view out of every window is breathtaking. Three different ranges in front of the house shaped in layers make a wonderful view. The highest one – Monte Baldo – is covered with snow and this is a picturesque background of the hills with vineyards. Right in front of the house, there is a large cherry grove. I can’t wait to see it flourish! The wine This is a wine region, no doubts about it. When I’m getting familiar with Valpolicella, either by car or by foot, it is covered with vineyards. The classic wine from here – Valpolicella Classico – consists grapes of five different varieties, therefore, the vineyards differ one from another. Currently, the local farmers spend sunny days on cutting the branches so the vine produces excellent grapes. Along every major and minor road, there are vineyards with large houses and wineries, where you can taste and buy the local wines. The weather As I expected, winter here is wonderful! The first three weeks of my stay here were sunny and dry. Watching the valley above and the peaks above out of my window raise my spirit. I was able to focus on brushing the final version of my book and get on with the process of publishing it. What I absolutely love about living here is the altitude that raises you above the clouds. So basically, in a small town of Negrar just 10km away there is have fog and rain while when you get up here there is a beautiful sun. You can watch the clouds from above and this looks spectacular. The running trails Last but not least, there is a variety of running trails. In fact, I was able to run regularly until yesterday, when a dog of my neighbour bit me! All in all, he only wore out my trousers but it scared me a bit. I am very happy though because of the change in running routine. Instead of a totally plain track, it is very steep here and this gives me an opportunity to practice and train alternative muscles. For the first couple of days it was really hard but after three weeks I got used to it. Feeling proud! The people Everywhere I go people are just fantastic. It is equally true for the people from Valpolicella. Not only the owner of the house is gentle and nice but also people I meet every day here. This looks like I picked up another wonderful location for winter to spend. Not only the weather is great but also the food, wine and people too. The overall experience is very positive so if you ever thought about spending winter in Valpolicella I would strongly recommend it.  

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I have a confession to make: the last two months I had a huge problem with regular running. Although I was staying at home and did not travel I found it very hard to motivate myself and keep running routine. Here is a short post on how to deal with running routine crisis. I’m sharing with you the process of how I did it so you could benefit out of my struggle. Excuse 1 First, it was about the weather conditions. The temperature near freezing, strong wind and often rain slash snow discouraged me. I used the poor weather as an excuse for not running. I don’t know where do you normally run but this is quite popular to use this excuse. To overcome it I bought winter running outfit so I had no more excuses, or so I thought. Tip 1 The Norwegians say that ‘There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes’ and this is so true! The moment I bought long trousers and warm jacket this problem has disappeared. Before I bought it I considered it to be expensive but this is not true. You can buy relatively cheap winter outfit in big supermarkets. I bought mine for less than 20 EUR (trousers, sweatshirt, and hat). Thus, I thought the problem is over. But it was not. Excuse 2 I had a proper outfit and thought I dealt with an issue but this was not the end of my struggle. I used the second most popular excuse: I feel so weak I can’t run. Even short runs made me feel awful. I felt drained out and had no pleasure whatsoever. I run sporadically after forcing myself with all my motivation only to prove to myself that this is such a rotten idea! Tip 2 When you find running too difficult drop it for a week or two. Yes, I actually advise stopping runs for a while. It is normal to feel weak from time to time due to the seasons’ change, different diet or million other things it is OK to drop this activity for a while and there is a reason behind it. First to give your body time to adjust, second to treat yourself with love and third to keep the healthy attitude. My mistake was I was forcing myself to run harder and I did not listen to my body. This was wrong! Excuse 3 “There are so many things I need to do I have no time for running”. Now this is a classic. Too often we use this excuse in a variety of situation but it is especially popular in cases of physical activities. They tend to keep falling down on our lists of priorities and get occasionally back at the top when we ate too much and celebrated too long. Tip 3 There is only one remedy to overuse of this excuse: you need to be honest with yourself and say it clearly that running is important in your daily routine and you are keeping it one of the top three priorities. What matters is that this is not a one-time thing. You need to keep repeating it from time to time, and what’s even more important, when you fail in doing it you have to go back to the roots and start over again. Best advice So there I was, struggling with these three excuses with no real effect and yesterday I went for a long lonely run. I stepped back and decided that I should focus on what dragged me to running in the first place. I remembered this was a pleasure, feeling of total freedom and the contact with nature. Thus, yesterday I run 11K with no time pressure, no average pace control, enjoying the spring that came, listening to the birds and consciously focusing on the present. You know what? The weather yesterday was awful. It was around +7C, it was raining and there was a strong north wind and I enjoyed every second of my run. Why? Cause I was focused on how enjoyable it was, how well I listened to my body, how I controlled my breathing and how beautiful the world is. It was quite clear to me that the real power of a man is to control himself. I tend to realize this truth every now and then and I find it deeply inspiring. How do you deal with the similar crisis? Do you have a good method to share with other runners? Let’s keep strong and share the tips to stay focused and motivated!  

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I have never thought I will write this: I completed a half marathon! And I feel great abut it. It’s not that it was always my dream or something. At some point my regular running has naturally turned into a challenge. I spent 3 months on training with large gaps in between, I must admit. But today here I am: I have officially joined a club of runners. What is the story here? Well, it all starts and ends with travels here! And obviously light jogging I started 5 years ago was caused by a plan of autumn trip to Lapland. I enjoyed both very much: preparations and travel. And so I decided to continue the training. At first it was only for pleasure and for getting fit. Later it became a powerful regulator of my daily routine. Motivation? Many people say that they find it difficult to run regularly but there is an awesome trick for that: you need to repeat an action for 21 days in a row to turn it into a habit. 21 days is bloody long but if you endure then after that everything is much easy! You can’t run long distances everyday so you need to start either with slightly short distances or wait a bit longer until your body will get used to it. Why long distance running? For many reasons. First, I am lousy in sprints ;-) I shared my 15 reasons why I do jogging here and I must say it is pretty much the same after over a year. Why compete? You can obviously limit your running to a daily routine, do it alone and enjoy long term results in solitude. In fact, I was doing it for a long time. And although I had no motivational problems my running was somehow frozen. At some point I was running my favorite distance of 6 km and haven’t been doing anything else. Endurance and fitness is being built through progress in distance and speed not by doing the same thing over and over again. The day you’ll run a half or full marathon with hundreds of other athletes you will understand why this is so cool. What is the difficulty? Just recently I met a marvelous person who is skilled and experienced runner (ciao Maurizio!). He told me that there are 3 basic elements that decide whether you will complete the marathon or not: your physical condition, nutrition and mental status. Of these three mental status seems to play a crucial part. It all happens in your head! And long distance running is simply for tough guys! Maurizio completed over 10 marathons, 3 ultra marathons (100 km long) and just recently a 202 km run so I guess he knows what he’s talking about. 3 best things about half marathon… The best thing about it was a local community gathered along the route. It was touching when habitants of small villages were greeting the runners, creating a drizzle with their garden hoses, clapping their hands and shouting loudly: “You can do it!!!” Awesome! Other runners were the second best thing about this marathon. There was no aggressive competition at all. Rather a smooth cooperation to cross the finish line. I enjoyed short dialogues with other runners and smiles exchanged along the way. I felt great about my training and I finally fully appreciated my regular effort. It was the last fantastic thing about this run! I completed it not excessively tired nor exhausted and it made me really proud of myself. …and 3 less fantastic things The weather was absolutely terrible! From one day to another it has completely changed and I had no time to get used to the heat. For the Italians +30C might not the warmest temperature but since I live in the north it was to me! And believe me: the further I run the warmer it became. Second thing I hated was the time of start. It was 10:00 instead of 9:00 or even 8:30! With +30C degrees the earlier the better but unfortunately this was not the case. And because of the heat the last 5 km were tough. And lastly the track of this half marathon was a bit hilly. Too many ups and downs drained my strengths. All in all, however, this was a totally awesome experience and I can’t wait the full marathon this autumn! The one in Poznan sounds really tempting! I’m sure that half of my problems are already cut away: there is no chances for a warm weather in October in Poland. It should be nice and cold and this sounds already really good. Besides the time of start is as early as 9:00 a.m. which is just perfect! I would like to thank everybody who believed and supported me throughout the whole preparation time, at the marathon day and who were happy enough about my success to like my pics on FB. You are fabulous guys! Thanks for being with me! Poznan 15th marathon Straight away a half marathon completed I enrolled myself to participate in full marathon in Poznan. It’s a 15th edition this year with fantastic track throughout the city. Marathon in Poznan has a relatively short history but this is an important event that people are used to. It is currently a mass events, gathering almost 10 000 runners from all over the world. October the 12th, 2014 I’m going to be at the start line of this run. Where else I should run a marathon if not in my Home City? This is not the only sport event that is being organized in Poznan every year! In fact, there are many more. Few weeks ago a Enea Poznań Triathlon took place. This September a new event called Poznań Business Run takes place. We’re looking forward to it! Especially that this sport event involves collecting money for charity. Lastly, Wings For Live another initiative that gathers athletes to help less fortunate folks.  Disclosure: this post was kindly supported by City of Poznan, however, all opinions are my...

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In one of my previous posts I gave you my own and very personal 15 reasons why I do jogging. After  a year I still do it. I even bought the real jogging shoes and for the first time in my life I feel like a quasi professional runner. OK, far from quasi professional but still fairly determined and stick to the routine. Not that I needed a motivation. Unlikely most of the people I have no problem with running in every possible weather (I even enjoy gloomy, rainy mornings with +5C although still prefer dry and sunny ones). I know, I know, sounds incredible but it is the truth. I think that the main reason for that is related with long routine, good reasons attached to this activity and experiencing long term results of healthy lifestyle. So after four years from my first trip to Lapland which was the trigger for my jogging I still run at least 3 times a week. My 16th reason to do jogging There is however my new reason on board: I decided to run a half marathon. Yes! I have about 100 days for a training to complete 21 km long run. Although I have relatively good general condition there are several important differences if you consider a long run. I decided to use a mobile application called RunKeeper to record my runs and to control the training. It is pretty straightforward: there are 4 runs every week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday), of which 3 are relatively light and easy (6 – 8 km), and one long (starting from 13 km up to 19 km). But it’s not only about the distance and time: the application gives you additional indications on training. It organizes short sprint runs (up to 2 minutes) combined with slower ones (also 2 minutes). A nice lady in my headphones says when I should run faster and also gives some useful updates regarding average speed, pace, time and distance. All I need to do is follow her instruction. Which obviously is easier said than done! As an average long run (more than 10 km or 1h 30min, depending what’s first) burns about 1500 calories I found myself exhausted after first few long runs. I ate at least a double amount of my normal daily food and felt wracked for next 24h. Fortunately, all long runs are on Saturday to leave room for getting better before Monday. Apparently there is still A LOT to get better at. And I hope to bring you some news to share how the training goes. I would love to hear your stories on how do you deal with regular physical exercises, whether you prefer bicycle, swimming or running and how do you deal with everyday routine. Please, write in comments what’s your story with jogging. Guess what? I not only completed a half marathon. I have also completed a full marathon!  

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I started jogging few years ago and my direct motivation was to prepare myself to a long walk in Lapland. Before I went to Lapland with a full size backpack I knew I need to do something for two reasons: first, to not get abandoned along the track, and second, to make the time spent in the wild enjoyable. Somehow pain related to untrained muscles was enough to convince me about the necessity to do jogging. So this was MY reason why I started. I believe that everyone has one. Here is the list of my reasons why I still do jogging and let me tell you this: the longer you do the jogging the more reasons you find. Health-related reasons It seems so obvious that jogging and other physical activities are healthy but how many of us actually believe it? OK, you might believe it but it doesn’t make you eager to actually do jogging. From a vast group of health related reasons I have few favorites that I believe. #1 Jogging wakes me up better than a coffee. In terms of blood pressure jogging increases it and keeps it balanced in a best possible way. If you live in a cold country higher blood pressure means it’s also #2 warmer so this is another reasons why you should start do jogging. If you work in front of the computer, like the majority of us, after couple of years you start having some unpleasant symptoms related to the fact that the most of your day is spent on sitting. In my case the worst symptom was an ache in legs. When I started do jogging #3 all disappeared even if I’m still spending the major part of my day in front of the computer. However, for the first results of regular jogging I had to wait for at least couple of months. It didn’t come easily. Regular jogging #4 improves metabolism and if you ever had a stressful job and some stomach related problems you will appreciate this. The beauty of jogging is related to its integrity: it engages the whole body. So, your health condition gradually grows through this activity and there is a #5 very little chance to hurt yourself like in the case of workouts with weights. Mental gains Some people think that in order to do jogging they need to be well organized and strongly motivated first, but I would say this is the opposite. Jogging teaches you #6 regularity and what is really precious is the way it does. After a month (I’m talking about ordinary people with no serious diseases and health problems) your body gets use to the new regime and as a result it actually protests when you don’t do jogging! Don’t fight with it! Don’t struggle. Just continue jogging. When you do jogging your body may actually surprise you how fast it gets fit, how far you can run and how fast you can do it. Just as all mems say: it never gets easier you just get better. What I noticed was that using my jogging related success I was able to convince myself it can work out elsewhere. This was a powerful regulator of my travel related behavior. Jogging #7 has improved my self-esteem and I started to believe that my physical condition is good enough to travel. The more I was jogging the more #8 endurance and strength I had. As simple as that. What else? From the mental point of view jogging in the early morning is a good opportunity to think about the day. It creates time necessary to #9 reflect on my daily plans and the way how am I going to achieve it. Never let the negative thoughts get to you. Focus on the positive plans and your strengths. On the other hand, if my plans are fixed already and I am happy about it jogging still creates space for something, so I normally #10 listen to the audiobooks, turning the jogging activity into listening exercise. I even learn a foreign language this way. This is the sort of the modern technology achievement that marvels me. I should probably write it in the first paragraph: #11 jogging makes you trendy! Suddenly you discover during small talk at the party that jogging unites people of all backgrounds. There is always something to discuss about jogging and it also makes you feel conected to the large group of people who are struggling to wake up early to go outside and run, just like you do. It sometimes help. How about neighborhood? I was moving around quite a lot and it usually means that you don’t have deep roots in one particular place, like what normally happens if you are a kid and you grow up in one place. You know the place quite well if you spent hours with your school mates on hanging around. If you move often you might feel bit isolated and unfamiliar with the close neighborhood. While it might look weird if you walk around watching houses and people it won’t be weird if you do it while jogging. For me jogging was a #12 good excuse to know better a place where I lived. Sometimes you meet your neighbors while they do their jogging and it is always a good start for the proper neighborhood relations. What happens if you do jogging regularly? #13 It opens a new area of physical activity to think about. In my case, I started thinking about some further physical activities because I felt strong enough to deal with other exercises. OK, true, in my case almost everything is travel related and krav maga which I practice is also related to my sense of security during travels but I would never have started it if I hadn’t been doing jogging in the first place. The krav maga training is demanding and if I treated krav maga as a starting point I would failed. Jogging is both: #14 an excellent background for other sports, and great ongoing activity that #15 keeps you fit. So here is my advice: find your motivation...

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I might start my journey just as I am, without even preparing my bag. Just one day leaving the house as it is and taking the first flight from the nearest airport And it might be even fun! I would check if you could travel the world totally unprepared. BUT I am not that kind of person and, as I have already said, I want allow this journey to change me. So, I thought I need to start my preparation from today. And I am not talking only about itinerary and other technicalities. One of the most important issues related to travels is- at least the way I see it- the general fitness. I made quite a few travels and the ones spent in hospitals or in emergencies are the least pleasant. If I want to make this journey special I need to take care for my general fitness and that is quite clear to me. (I don’t have particularly good memories from the British dental emergency at all!). Being always tired and sleepy reduces pleasure. I would like to avoid it and even if I know travelling is pretty tiring itself I will try to prepare my body so it could fit to the changing climate, time zones, diet and weather conditions easily. I’ve decided that  the main areas of my attention would be the general endurance and self-defense skills. So, twice a week I am participating the self-defense training and every two days I am doing jogging. Now, my current problem is that I live in the North so at the moment we have about 30 cm of snow. And before the end of this week it should be around half a meter. Believe me or not it is hard to do jogging in such a deep snow. Especially in your jogging shoes. And as I am not extremist I thought to suspend running for a while. Generally, I will start my jogging this spring, which would be around late March or early April. Before that I am focusing on krav maga. Why krav maga? Because I don’t have 10 years to practice karate, jiu-jitsu, taekwondo or tai-chi, and I don’t want to spend months and months before I acquired one defense technique. In a year time I want to be ready to travel without fear and I need some particular skills to defend myself if I had to. They say krav maga is brutal. Yes, it is brutal and quite primitive but- and this is most important to me- IT WORKS! After three lessons I’ve already acquired the basic rules of behavior in potentially dangerous situation. Before the end of this year I would like to pass the official exam of the second grade. If you read this blog regularly you will know whether I was successful or not.  

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