"I run because I like to see with my own eyes what the world has to show me". That is my answer today with this post. By this I mean that I have always tried to run everywhere that I can. Anytime that I travel anywhere I get in a run anytime I can. Much of it has been on work/business trips. I have traveled to the following places on work trips and run at each one: Dusseldorf, Germany; Paris, France; London, England; Boulder, Colorado; San Diego, San Francisco, Miami, New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City, Dallas, Seattle, Vancouver, Boston, Philadelphia, Salt Lake City, Portland, Little Rock, Houston, Providence, Buffalo, Minneapolis, Orlando, Jacksonville, Phoenix, Watsonville, CA, and others that I have forgotten to mention (sorry). On these trips I usually get up early in the morning and go on my run before the work day begins. I find it a great way to start my day.
Then there are the places that I have traveled to for personal vacations that I always get in runs: Isle of Palms, S.C.; Sanibel Island, FL; Los Angeles, Duck, N.C., Beijing, China; Guangzhaou, China; Changsha, China; Myrtle Beach, Outer Banks, N.C., and probably others that I have forgotten. On these runs I again usually always go in the morning as it is a more peaceful time to run, cooler in the summer, and then I have the remainder of the day to spend with the family.
I always try to run everywhere I go.
Why am I telling you this?
I want you to get out there and see all the cool things that I have seen and experienced through running. There are a lot of runs that come to mind. I ran in San Francisco one morning. I got an amazing hill work out in. I saw some amazing houses, ran past the LucasFilms Headquarters and saw the Yoda Fountain, and watched the sun come up on the East side of the Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge just to the left, very cool.
I ran in a park outside of Boulder one morning and thought I was going to die for the first few minutes of my run. Then I realized that the altitude was what was causing this. During that run I also saw a sign posted on that run that warned of mountain lions in the area. Suffice it to say that I was making all kinds of noise during that run and I was glad I had my "Bear Bells" on my shoes. You don't want your significant other getting a phone call "Mrs. Calhoun we are afraid to tell you that your husband is lost in the mountains and probably has been mauled by a mountain lion". Be safe when you run in an unfamiliar place.
I ran one morning when we were in Beijing and I saw the National Flag raising ceremony in Tienanmen Square. It was very cool to see the reverence that another country gives it's flag and the pageantry that goes along with it. If you are ever in Beijing you have to get up early and go see this. And there were lots of people there to see this and it was at sunrise.
I ran at Half-Moon Bay very early one morning and from the top of the hill I could see the moon hanging as big as life above the Pacific Ocean. Very beautiful. Although this photos happens to be in the morning, you get the idea.
Travel Locally
Now, you don't have to get on a plane, or even drive to see cool things when you run. This was taken here in Bexley after a recent Saturday morning run with the Bexley Running Group. This is Jody, Mike, and I in front of a house with our friend Frosty. It was an amazing site and when the girl that lives here and helped make the snowman saw us out front she came out and offered to take our picture with the three of us in it. She didn't even have any shoes on. Crazy! But not as crazy as the height of this thing. It was quite the sight.
I'm sharing these stories not to impress you with where I have been so fortunate to have traveled to but to encourage you to take your gear with you when you travel and go run. Get up early and go run before that morning meeting. You will have more energy than anyone in the room and you'll feel great. You will see some of the most amazing things and meet some great new people that you would not have otherwise met.
TIP #1 - Take a plastic bag with you, or use the plastic laundry bag from the hotel to put your sweaty clothes in.
TIP #2 - If you don't know a route, check out MapMyRun before you go and find one there. I can almost guarantee you that you will find a number of different runs that people have mapped out in a given area. I mean, there are lots of runs for the most obscure places you can go. I even use MapMyRun when I want to find a local route that I have never run before. Here is the link to that website:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/
I should probably add that I did not take these pictures above but found them on the web (except for Frosty, of course). That is one thing that I need to do more of is take a camera with me when I travel and take it on my runs.
Happy Running!
Steve
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