So you’re going on vacation, but you still want to train: How do you make time for training while you’re sipping margaritas on the beach or herding your family through a waterpark?
Plan ahead for vacation in your training schedule
It’s easy to forget to inform your coach that you’re going on vacation, because you may not think about it messing with your training. Trust us, it almost always does. Letting your coach know when you’re going on vacation helps build a smarter training schedule, especially if you have a big race coming up.
On that note, ideally DO NOT plan a vacation within a week or two ahead of your A race for the season. It’s tough, we know, since summer schedules are hectic and that may be the only way to go on vacation. Just know that a vacation right ahead of the race—unless it’s a vacation specifically for training/tapering heading into the race and the family is on board with that—is not going to be ideal. It also takes a bit of fun out of vacation if you’re thinking about your big race, honestly.
In an ideal world, a vacation is the perfect way to celebrate your A race being finished (and a good way to apologize to your family for how focused you’ve been…)
Be realistic about your available training time
Often, clients we chat with see vacation as a chance to do big miles… until they get there are quickly remember that living in a hotel room or beach house isn’t as simple as they anticipated, and days are somehow more jam-packed than a 9 to 5!
We actually recommend thinking about the ‘worst case’/’lowest available time’ as you’re planning for your vacation, and if you get to add in some bonus miles, great. But if you don’t, at least you weren’t planning a 20 hour week and ended up with 7. The more flexible you can be with training, the happier you’ll be at the end of the trip.
Pre-plan some compromises
If you’re on vacation with the whole family and still want to train, it’s best to pre-plan your training with your spouse/partner/the grandparents who are along as handy babysitters so you can schedule out the times where you can sneak away. (You will also want to allow your partner to do the same, so plan on being the parent who goes to the aquarium with the kiddos if your spouse takes them to the beach earlier that day.)
Even if you’re sans kids, pre-planning your big rides/runs is helpful—setting the expectations early regarding the time you’re spending together versus apart. Your partner might be expecting to go for long walks together in the afternoons, not hanging around the pool while you get in your long run.
Do the essentials early in the day
We talk about it for anytime, but vacations are even more fraught with ‘once the fay gets going, the schedule can change’ issues. Because of that, the 15 minute morning core/yoga/strength/jog becomes even more of a useful tool. Getting that quick win for the day in means that no matter what happens, you’ve done something and maintained training consistency.
If you do have a few key workouts that need to be done (i.e your A race is in 2 weeks and you have a couple final workouts on the schedule), try to get them in early in the day so you can get back to being in vacation mode.
Plan active family activities
Running around on the beach, playing frisbee with the kids, starting an epic splash fight in the pool, going on a family bike ride, getting surfing lessons—these may not be things that are on your training plan, but all movement is good movement! Consider setting up family challenges to see who can get the most steps in the day: Winner picks dinner, or the movie you’ll watch that night.
Focus on vacation benefits/what you can do
A chance to catch up on sleep, get your feet up, do some gentle yoga… Vacations can have plenty of athletic perks. Some hotels even have well-stocked gyms or classes that are included in your vacation package, and activities for kids so you can sneak in a workout guilt-free. Of course, there are downsides too, like if you’re in a situation where your healthy meal options are pretty limited.
There are plenty of things you can do to boost your overall wellness on vacation even in those situations: Making sure you’re drinking plenty of water along with those beachside margaritas, making it a goal to eat at least one fruit or vegetable with every meal, maybe even bringing travel packs of AG1 to guarantee that even if dinner is nachos (again), you’re still getting your vital nutrients. (That’s what Molly does!)
Don’t forget to ENJOY your vacation
We see so many people panic about sneaking in rides/runs/strength while on vacation, and get so stressed about it that they end up forgetting to actually enjoy vacation at all. Even if it means you take a full week off and only do some morning core or yoga, we’ve found that if you actually are able to relax, destress, recover and spend good quality time with your loved ones, you come back more motivated and ready to train. Shoehorn training in, and you risk coming back grumpier and more tired than when you left!
