Sunrise while running from Kentucky to Indiana last weekend.

“Impressive that you’re getting it done while conferencing.”

My running coach is in Chicago—shoutout to Cuss Running—and so I get training calendars and comments on my runs online. I initially hired a coach because I was sick of getting injured and felt I needed someone to tell me when to chill out, so although I dutifully report how my ankle and hip are feeling during my runs, I also really enjoy the little pats on the back.

It’s nice to have someone other than myself invested in my running.

I’ve traveled more this year than ever before, which has been great, and throughout it all, I’ve kept up with my running schedule. This is something I’ve done for as long as I can remember. Even when I was teaching fitness full time. I remember another instructor once remarking, “I try not to exercise on vacation.” Although I can see why that might be beneficial, it doesn’t work for me.

For me, it’s not a vacation if I can’t run.

It’s been challenging sometimes, fitting runs in around conferences, but I’ve made it work. Even getting up at 4 a.m. in San Diego to run through the terrifying bay-side fog. After that first run, though, the rest are usually cake. There’s always a little bit of nerves during the first run in a new place. “Will I get lost? Will it be safe? Will I make it back in time? Am I dressed for the weather?”

From my run in Bucky Park in London in February of 2012.

But it’s worth it.

I’ve found some of my favorite places while on runs and I get to experience the city in a different way. Whether I’m on vacation or going to a writing event, I always see something different from a run. My recent trip to Louisville included a ten mile long run. I was nervous about finding the distance to get it done, but I had run a half marathon in Louisville years ago, and so I knew that there was at least one long pedestrian bridge.

It was fantastic. During a race, you see things, but you don’t have the option of slowing down and really taking them in. I got to watch the sunrise from that bridge. I got to enjoy the fall colors of the trees both on the Indiana side of the river and the Kentucky side.

Two different states on one run!

While in London for a friends wedding I got to run in Bucky Park. There were enormous deer! At a yoga retreat in St. Lucia—thanks to a settlement from when a truck hit me—I was given vague directions and wound up finding a magical hillside with a path through the woods that opened up suddenly upon an ocean cliffside view that was so spectacular my camera couldn’t adequately capture it. I offered to take the other people on the retreat up to see it but no one ever found the time. So it was just mine. I’ve run Central Park in New York, on the beach in St. Maartin, Philidelphia’s Schuylkill Trail, along the ocean in San Diego and probably several that I’m forgetting.

People often express amazement that I get up early before whatever events are happening to squeeze in a run, but for me the run is part of the trip. It’s also a where I’ll decompress and pull apart anything that I’m stressed about or overthinking. On the (rare) occasion that I’m not stressed or over thinking, even better, I can fully absorb the scenery! There was a year when I couldn’t run at all while my Achilles tried to heal, but I still picked out trails and tried to go for walks. It was nice, I like walking too, but it wasn’t the same.

So for as long as my body can handle it, I’m not missing another run.

Running around the world.