Run the World

Staying in shape is hard.  Staying in shape while travelling is even harder.  When you're regularly moving from place to place, and on a tight budget, you make concessions with your diet, you might find yourself drinking/celebrating a little more often than at home, and a gym membership just isn't an option.  Even if you do settle in one place for a while, your schedule is generally much less routine and you probably don't want to deduct a monthly membership from your travel budget anyway.

I've learned that wherever you go, you will likely be able to find a few recreational sport leagues you can join, even on a temporary basis.  These leagues not only allow it, but often find it fun to have a travelling foreigner among their ranks.  At the very least you can head to almost any local park, basketball court, or soccer field and join a game of pick-up.  You might feel a little intimidated walking up to a crowd of strangers in a country that is a little unfamiliar to you, especially if you don't quite speak the language, but sports are a very universal way for people to connect, and you might be surprised how easily you are welcomed with open arms to join in.

But maybe organized sports aren't your thing.  Maybe due to your schedule or location team sports aren't really an option.  No problem.  I've found that the best (and cheapest!) way to stay in shape while on the road is to simply hit the road.  And by that, I mean RUNNING!  Running is the perfect way to stay fit while travelling because you can do it anywhere, anytime, and it's free!  Best of all, you get to explore the trails, beaches, landscapes, and city streets of wherever you are on foot.  You'll notice and discover so many wonderful things while running that you never would have found any other way.

I will be tracking my own running progress on this page, as well as providing thoughts, tips, and links related to running and fitness.  

As always, questions and/or comments are very welcome in the box at the bottom of this page, and please feel free to share the link to this page via your favourite social media site.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Run Mojo Run

I've been a runner almost my entire life.  I joined "cross-country" distance running when I was in elementary school, which led to competing in the1500m track event in junior high.  In high school and university, I played varsity rugby, which involved a lot a running, especially at daily practice, and continued to run on my own for additional training.  In the five or six years that I've been out of school, running has been the one sport I've consistently practiced.  Not only has it kept me in shape all these years, but I also find the act of going for a long run to be incredibly meditative and good for my mental health.

However, when I moved to Brazil at the end of August, 2012, I was out of shape.  Due to a busy summer schedule as a Canadian tour guide, I was spending four days a week in the Rocky Mountains (not a complaint!) which didn't leave a lot of time for staying in shape.  On my days off in between trips, I found myself so tired from the physically and emotionally demanding tours that I wasn't getting in much physical activity during that time, save for a bike ride here and there.  By the time I arrived in São Paulo, I was five or six kilos heavier than my normal weight, and had the belly to prove it.  I was embarrassed, and especially so now that I was in a country who's temperatures frequently invite the removal of one's shirt.  

I resolved to lace-up my trainers and start running again.  My girlfriend and I moved to Florianopolis, Brazil on September 15th.  A week later I went for my first run on the beach.  Using my iPhone and Nike+ GPS app, I clocked an 8.2km run.  It felt great!!! Temporarily.  When I awoke the next morning and attempted to walk from the bed to the bathroom I quickly realized that running eight kilometres, barefoot, on unstable sand after such a long period of inactivity was not the best decision for my leg muscles.  I let my enthusiasm and determination get the best of me, and now I was paying for it in severe calf-muscle pain.  I couldn't run again until the 26th, and even then I only managed 3.5km before succumbing to the discomfort.  But I got back out there the very next day and logged six more kilometres.

My progress is as follows:

September

22- 8.2km
26- 3.5km
27- 6.0km
30- 7.5km

October

04- 5.1km
06- 6.6km
08- 8.2km
10- 6.4km
14- 10.5km

Total: 62km

In less than a month, I've logged over sixty kilometres, and managed to get myself back up to running a distance of 10km.  During this period I also surpassed 500km on my Nike+ app.  I "tweeted" @NikeRunning about this milestone and they responded with congratulations and asked if I had a timeframe goal in mind for reaching 1000.  I had never thought about long-term goals like that before, in regards to running, but their question prompted me to for the first time.  I did some math, and decided that a thousand kilometres by mid-March, 2013 was a realistic, yet challenging goal.  My birthday just so happens to be February 17th, so I officially decided to bump up my goal by about a month and complete another 500km by my 29th birthday.  Wish me luck!