Travelling and Running

Sometimes, I think that travelling and running are enemies of one another. Seriously, y'all...

I've never really said that much about what I do for a living, both because it's not relevant to my posting and because I want to abstract "me" the blogger from "me" the real world person. But the fact that I travel for a living, about 30% of the time (and it's getting more as time goes by) does become relevant to today's post.

I happened to be in California this week. Not the sunny or warm part, mind you. It was sunny, but still cold (just above freezing) in the mornings. There are a few things that work in my favor, though:

1. It's not as cold out there as it is at home (Chicago area)
2. No snow
3. My body clock is +2 hours, so getting up early is not that big of a deal
4. Did I mention, no snow? :-D

One other thing you should know about me is that I'm somewhat of an introvert by nature. "Introvert" in the sense that I recharge my mental batteries best when I'm by myself, not in a crowd of people. So I find the travel weeks exciting and fulfilling, but very draining at the same time.

Now, picture yourself on Thursday, after 3 straight days of battery drain, dinners out with co-workers, late nights, and being away from home. What's the first thing YOU want to do...get out of bed at 5AM and go run?

There are other cities I've been to where running is difficult because of the terrain. Narrow streets, cobblestone streets, lots of traffic, lots of pedestrians, lots of dogs, lots of...whatever.

Having said that, if my brain tells me I gotta do it, I can get myself out of bed. Most of the time. Except when my body wins the argument, which happens about 10% of the time (see this post to understand my internal dialog...).

As I think of it, there's always lots of excuses for not going out. However, when I look at my poor excuses (like my excuse for not doing a scheduled 3 miler yesterday OR today!!!) in the clear light of day, I see that there's really no substance to them.

I've been able to run in some great places while travelling--Southern California, the San Francisco Bay area, Paris, Munich, Tokyo, etc., etc. Each one is a bit different, with its own challenges, but I wouldn't trade any of those memories or experiences for anything. Not even for another hour or two of sleep.

So maybe travelling and running aren't enemies after all...maybe it's just my body wanting to be lazy...