In today’s episode we talk about running and keeping fit. I’m not as much of a runner as I once was, but I still run. My goal at the moment is three days a week. Hopefully on vacation I have time and energy to run five days a week. When going on a cruise the reality is I run on the treadmill or on the promenade deck, if it is allowed, on sea days and then I also run in port about every third time in port. Well, this has not exactly happened, but on our upcoming travels I’m hoping we run in port three times. There is a strategy for this.

The strategy for running on vacation in general is to do your research ahead of time. You need to find running routes. Often these are obvious and self explanatory, such as along a beach or on a rail trail. Sometimes it is as easy as the river walk along the Thames in London (I’ve done this, on the South Bank, and it’s easy, although it’s broken up in spots). Other times you have to get creative. In Avignon I attempted to run in the old city along the wall but that ran out after about a mile and a half; as I was training for a marathon I needed to find a longer distance. I crossed a bridge and ran on country roads on an island in the river for fourteen miles.

So, my recent cruise-related running. Let me describe.

In 2022, we took a transatlantic cruise from Fort Lauderdale. We flew in the night before the cruise and woke up in the morning and ran from the hotel to the beach and to the point along the river where you could usually see ships heading out to sea.

That same vacation most of my running, consisted of running on deck on the ship although I did visit the treadmills a couple of times. One morning as we were at dock in Ponta Delgado it was quite beautiful. Sometimes, though, at sea the conditions are horrible for running, yet we soldier on anyway. In December 2023 I took a trip where half the time the promenade would permit running but half of it would be closed; I ended up doing circuits back and forth down one side of the ship.

Tips for running on vacation or when cruising? When traveling, pack neutral colored running shoes; you can still wear them to dinner if they are grey or black or maybe a pleasant brown color. Trail running shoes will double as hikers. Always plan in advance.

Review the port requirements; if you need a tender and a bus between you and a run it probably is not easy for running. Logistically, especially in warm weather, you likely want to head back to the ship to shower before doing any sightseeing and any barrier to leaving the ship twice makes it harder. For us, though, in retrospect, we could have run along the river park in Valencia and ignored the reports that the marina “was not safe.” There was actually a 5k taking place in the marina when we were at port there.

Bring a wallet and identification of course when you run – everything you need in case for some stupid reason you get stranded.

Plan ahead for weather. Look on Great Runs to see if people actually run where you are going. In some areas, as was my experience in Avignon, they laugh at you and holler at you; in January in Avignon on a windy day I was the only person running.

If there are beach bars it’s perfect. Go run a few miles down the coast, turn around and run back, stop for a cerveza.

Cadiz was perhaps my favorite holiday running. Five miles around the bay and ocean along the outside of the old town followed by a walk through the old city to get back to the ship. The beautiful thing was the ship was docked 15 minutes walk from the old town area so we could go back on the ship and shower and then head out to go sightseeing, have lunch, and go shopping.

Best sizzling gambas al ajillo ever.

Other places I’ve run include along the Solent in Southampton; eight miles out into the bush and back on Stewart Island, New Zealand; Siesta Key, Florida; and Paris, New Port Richey, and Chicago.

The next interesting place? Perhaps Ushuaia.

You never know when you’re going to find something interesting, such as Riverside, California, on the mountain overlooking town at 5:30 in the morning in the summer, when everybody is out getting their steps in because the high temperatures are well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit…

In hindsight yesterday was an interesting day. Today was merely here – there was some work, although it is quiet due to the state of the government; there was some leaf raking (not by me); and I visited my favorite barber – she is leaving for Mississippi in January to work for a barber ministry. I will be sad to see her go but on the other hand when we go sailing around South America and to Antarctica I will not feel guilty if I get a haircut, a professional shave, and a men’s facial on board. In general I spent yesterday running around and today closer to home. Tomorrow will be the start of five days a week in the office for three weeks straight for me. But that’s on commuting, more on that later. For now, I digress.

Let’s start by talking about mugs. When traveling mugs seem to come home – they are the one thing to decorate the house that comes with adventures. At first it seemed silly as if it was a bit of clutter, but now they seem to be something interesting. Each day I sit down with a mug of coffee in the morning and I remember where it came from, such as the mug from The Strand in New York City, or the matching pair of blue hand-thrown mugs from the DC Holiday Market in 2019. There is also a Shenandoah mug and a mug from Siesta Key in Florida, home to a very relaxing Christmas and New Years in the same year of 2019. The latest, or one of the latest, is actually my favorite. It’s hiding in the back in the photo and it is a Quebec City mug.

When the covid shutdown began in 2020, one of the things I did at first was to post a photo of a different mug every morning on instagram. Later, I posted a photo of myself in a different Hawaiian shirt every day (I had about twelve of them at the time). I ran out of mugs and shirts for this exercise long before we reopened.

Along with my coffee recently I have been enjoying oatmeal in the morning but otherwise I do not eat until the end of the day. Well, wait, I do have some snacks. Yesterday turned into an exception though. As I was out, I went by The Broiler for lunch.

The Broiler is actually a long time Columbia Pike institution, started by my next door neighbor and his brother back in the 1950s. My neighbor still owns the building and the property (and it shows as he is more keen on earning rent than making improvements) but a different person owns the restaurant and rents from him along with all of his original memorabilia including a Ms. Pac-Man machine, photos of football stars in the restaurant, and a thank you note from the Secret Service. Anyway, The Broiler is ostensibly a sub shop but better known for cheesesteak sandwiches and they are halfway decent at that. Along with Columbia Pike in general even with prosperity it largely remains the same.

I actually prefer to be on the bus for my commuting to work, but lately I have been in the car far, far too often. Fortunately yesterday only had me driving out to the beltway to pick up one of my kids and we managed to catch a glimpse of a beautiful sunset on the way home. Per his request we also headed to Silver Diner for dinner. In keeping with only having two full meals a day I stuck with a Caesar salad with salmon.

Normally I am out mid-week for an evening. This week not so much trying to keep a handle on expenses in line with future adventures. I think after the January trip I may end up finding a way to liven things up a bit more mid-week, though, or it may be time for more weekend adventures. I need to find something so share even if I am not out traveling.

This reminds me of a meme before memes were known as memes. Two characters walking the earth trying to take in the moment until one speaks out loud, “I can’t wait to go home and share this in my blog.”

Today I learned my car – my baby, my expensive retail therapy when my kid was hospitalized the second time – is certainly large and boxy but not the best for hauling 20 landscaping timbers. You basically have to wrap a thousand pounds of lumber in blankets, sweatshirts, yoga mats, and yoga bolsters or whatever else you may have in order to protect the interior.

Last night, I went out and ran somewhere between 15 and 16 miles. When I mapped it out, it came to 15.55 miles. I think it was somewhere around 15.5… Anyway, the distance doesn’t matter, and at the end of the day, the time doesn’t matter either.

I stopped running with a GPS and clock a couple of months ago, mostly due to multiple mechanical failures, but also because I was obsessing over it a bit and not enjoying my runs enough. I wasn’t paying enough attention to my body. What I have realized lately, though, is my body always feels bad until at least the third mile. Beyond that, I am home free, especially if the weather is nice. So when it comes time to go out for a long run, I figure out roughly where and how far I want to go, then I go out and do it, making sure to plan for water stops along the way. The last few times I have done this, I have come back home to see that the time slipped by rather quickly – anything beyond eight miles this seems to be the case.

Last Sunday, I ran 16 miles, with a bit of walking. When I was in the sun, I walked, in the shade, I ran, and apparently I ran well. I returned back to my base of operations two hours and twenty five minutes after I started! And then yesterday I ran 15.55 (or whatever) in two hours and fourteen minutes. My first few miles last night? Well, until about mile five? They were slow, and I stopped a few times. I ate dinner not long beforehand, and I was trying to cram in some hydration, so I had to stop. Translation? I ran probably ten miles in an 8 or 8:15 pace, which is absolutely killer.

And it makes me happy.