Top Travel Tips for Runners: How to Stay Healthy on the Go
Photo by Marques Jackson Photography.
Top Runner-Friendly Hotels, Airlines and More for Healthy Travel
By Marnie Kunz
I’ve always been a nomad. Luckily, running is a sport that doesn’t require much more than running shoes, so it is easy to do while traveling. In the past year, I’ve ran in Paris, London, NYC, Chicago, Amsterdam, Brussels, St. Louis, Virginia Beach, and Philadelphia. And along the way, I had some running and health challenges - everything from an ear infection to severe dehydration to jet lag. But I learned a lot by trial and error - and found great companies that make it easier to stay healthy while you travel, as well as simple things you can do to make your running go more smoothly while traveling.
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Whether you’re running a marathon in another city or traveling for work and want to get in some runs, these tips will help you stay healthy and running strong:
Stay hydrated. I learned this the hard way when traveling to Europe, and I didn’t drink enough water or keep enough bottled water on hand. After a long run, I ate a pastry and passed out. I woke up with severe dehydration and digestion issues that lasted 2 days and included 5 trips to the helpful neighborhood pharmacist. To prevent these sorts of scenarios, always carry bottled water with you. A reusable water bottle can be refilled at public water fountains, or you can get a large jug of water for your hotel room and fill your water bottle up from the larger one for on-the-go access. Also, drink lots of water when you fly as it is extremely dehydrating.
Rest. Building rest days into your schedule will help your body recover from the wear and tear that traveling places upon it, and rest will help you adjust to things like different time zones.
Plan out your runs. Although it can be fun to wander a city on foot, save that for your walks, and map out your run routes. This will prevent you from getting lost and you won’t have to stop every two blocks to look at a map or ask for directions. Do research on the best places to run in a city so you won’t have to worry about safety or lack of running paths. Using apps or Google Maps, you can create your own routes or follow other popular routes that runners take in that city.
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Give yourself time to adjust before a race or before hard workouts. Some runners fly in to run races the same day or night before and although this may be necessary due to work at times, when you can, schedule extra days to allow your body to adjust. In general, you need one day to adjust for every hour of time zone difference. Allowing yourself time to acclimate to the weather and altitude is also important and your body will perform better on race day.
Run with a group. Joining a running tour or local running event will give you people to run with and save you the headache of having to plan all your running routes. You will also meet super cool new running friends that you can stay in touch with for future trips or hosting them in your city. Check out RunningTours.net for our global network of awesome running rout companies around the world.
Best Hotels and Airlines for Healthy Travel
EVEN Hotels
Not all hotels are created equal for runners. Amenities like fitness centers, healthy food and fitness classes or events make a big difference. My top choice for best hotel for runners is EVEN Hotels. EVEN Hotels are a wellness hotel chain owned by IHG, and they specifically focus on creating a great wellness experience for guests. I got the opportunity to learn more about EVEN Hotels from our Art Run events with EVEN Hotels Midtown East. I love the idea of a wellness hotel and how they offer healthy smoothies and healthy menu items in their cafes, and EVEN Hotels have great fitness centers and amenities like yoga classes to stay active while you travel.
Delta Airlines
I learned about healthy airlines for traveling the hard way. I took a cheap flight on Norwegian Air to Europe and back and what a disaster! Although it is budget-friendly, you end up paying more anyways because you have to pay for basic things like water - that’s right, no water served on the flight- and no snacks or food unless you pre pay for a dinner. How horrible, is that even legal to not give people water on international flights? After I got off the plane, I heard some college students saying they were so thirsty but didn’t have money for water on the flight. After a terrible 14-hour flight with layover coming back to NYC from Norwegian, I vowed never again to fly with them.
By booking far enough in advance, you can get great deals on better airlines like Delta. I love Delta Airlines because you get lots of WATER for free, as it should be, especially for runners. They bring around water often and give you bottles of water and they also are frequently serving up snacks and meals. And this is all-inclusive so no extra charges to drink water or other such silliness. They also have extensive in-flight entertainment options and they offer everyone pillows, blankets and headphones to make it a better travel experience.
What are your favorite brands and tips for traveling healthy? Check out our article on How to Stay Healthy When You Travel for more tips.
Marnie Kunz is a NASM-certified trainer and USATF- and RRCA-certified running coach, dog lover, Akita mom, and writer based in Brooklyn, NY.
Resources: Runstreet’s Amazon Shop
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