How I Run While Traveling (Without Ditching My Training or My Vacation)

Running while traveling doesn't have to be stressful or intimidating if you plan ahead and use the right tools. Following a self-supported half marathon in Malibu alongside million-dollar mansions and scenic ocean views, I'm sharing what I've learned about maintaining training while exploring new places.

• Finding routes with apps like Garmin Connect and MapMyRun to see where locals run
• Using Google Maps to verify sidewalks, shoulders, and safe running conditions
• Taking advantage of Garmin's turn-by-turn navigation feature to prevent getting lost
• Driving or walking part of your planned route beforehand to ease anxiety
• Packing versatile running gear and shoes that work for multiple running conditions
• Bringing portable recovery tools like a mini massage gun for post-run care
• Planning hydration and fueling strategies when running without support
• Prioritizing safety by sharing your route, running in daylight, and populated areas
• Embracing vacation runs as experiences rather than performance challenges
• Building mental resilience through running in unfamiliar territories

Tag me in photos from your favorite vacation runs or share your travel running stories! Follow @DogsPerMilePod on Instagram and use hashtag #dogspermile to connect with our community.

HIGH FIVES, RUNNER! 🙌

Before you hit the showers, let's make sure you're part of our running pack:

📱 FOLLOW ALONG
Track my daily dogs per mile count and running adventures:
Instagram: @DogsPerMilePod
TikTok: @DogsPerMilePod
👉🏻 Sign up for my weekly newsletter

🎉 JOIN THE COMMUNITY
Subscribe to never miss an episode
Share your DPM count using #DogsPerMile
Tag me in your run photos - I love celebrating your victories!

💫 WANT MORE?
Email your running questions: dogspermilepod@gmail.com

Until our next run together, remember: every step forward is progress, and every dog you see is bonus motivation. Keep running, keep smiling, and keep counting those dogs!

Transcript

Running While Traveling Introduction

Speaker 1 0:00

If you've ever wanted to keep running while traveling or been intimidated by a long run in a totally new place , this episode's for you . I'm walking you through how I find routes , prepare safely and use my Garmin for turn-by-turn support , and when I definitely stay chill when things don't go perfectly . Here on Dogs Per Mile hey runners , you're listening to Dogs Per Mile , where we're making running work for your life , not the other way around . I'm Bridget , with over 13 years of running experience and approximately 4,892 dogs seen on my run . I'm now here to help you find your own path to running happiness , ready to run on your own terms . Let's get going . Hey guys , welcome back to the Dogs Per Mile podcast . I'm your host , bridget , and here this is where we chase joy instead of pace or distance and we really just try to find the enjoyment in running and get better along the way and talk about all of that . I'm so excited to be back .

Speaker 1 1:02

I am back from a little vacation and that's kind of what inspired today's episode . I recently went on a little vacation to California , which was nice to get out of the Missouri landlocked state and sea and ocean and the beach and everything that they have to offer , and so while I was traveling , I was still needing to do my runs , and so I really think , over time , I've picked up a lot of great tips and tricks on how to run , either on vacation or on the road or in totally new areas where you are unfamiliar with it . If you're anything like me and you are a type A runner and you love your routines and your routes , running in a new area can be scary , and , as much as I do love the treadmill and it's a great option for times where the weather's not great it also is a really fun way to explore a new city on foot , see things you wouldn't normally see , or just say that you ran in the streets of Amsterdam or in Boston or on the beach in Malibu . This last week , before I left my trip , I looked at what my runner plan had and I basically , no matter what , was going to have to at least run one of my runs there most likely two , and so I kind of strategically planned that out to make sure that I knew what I needed to run , and that included my own self-supported 13.1 mile half marathon as my long run , which is a long distance in general . It's scary in general , and I knew that this was something that I wanted to do on the road . I knew it would give me a good confidence boost , it would be a lot of fun and it would be a great motivator and kind of a little test to my mental strength , which is what I have . One of the things I've been working on and I've done long runs in different places , but I've never run that far in somewhere entirely new . So it ended up being a really exciting and fun run and I'm so excited to tell you about it . I'm so excited to tell you some of the tips and things that I use anytime I travel , anytime I go somewhere new , to make sure I am safe , make sure I know where I'm going , and just to find some of the more runner-friendly routes . So that's what kind of we're going to go over in this episode . I'm going to kind of share what my venture in Malibu was like , how I plan my routes , how I use Garmin . My Garmin watch actually has some cool features that I don't think a lot of people know about or use or maybe they do I . I just I think they're cool to kind of keep you on

Planning Routes in Unfamiliar Places

Speaker 1 3:47

track on your path , especially if you're in somewhere where you don't know where you are .

Speaker 1 3:51

If you've ever struggled or wanted to keep your training plan going while vacationing , while perhaps you're a person who travels for work a lot , or you really just want to hear about me running in Malibu and getting a little bit more mental toughness , let's set the scene , let's go over to the West Coast and let's start there . So okay , so , as I said before , my goal for this run , or my goal for my runs on my trip , were I wanted to do my long run , which was going to be 13.1 miles , and then one medium distance run , which was a six mile easy runs . It said to do hills . I said I'm not doing hills , I'm not going to try to add extra stress onto this . So those were my only two goals to do , which was a self-supported half and my six miles , which was just me , no water stops , no crowd support , just everything like that Kind of the way that this run went out is .

Speaker 1 4:56

I did the six mile run a couple of days before and then I did the 13 mile run on Saturday . So I utilized the six mile run in a couple of different ways . One it was a great way to just to physically scope out the area that I was going to plan on doing my long run on . It was a good way to show myself first with a shorter distance , that I can in fact run in a different area . And this run was just six . It was six miles with my husband . He did four and a half , I think , and I did . I kept going and did six , and so I just wanted to make sure that this was feasible , it was doable , and kind of prepare mentally for that .

Speaker 1 5:32

I was able to find some route options and I kind of mapped them out on MapMyRun and Garmin to make sure the distances made sense . I use Google Maps to kind of look at the sidewalk , see if the shoulder is big enough , and then my really big thing that I love to do is just , if possible , I will drive part of the route or walk parts of it or anything like that . That helps me to alleviate any sort of stress , and the route that I did was absolutely fucking beautiful , oh my goodness . So the route that I ran is I started at Zuma Beach , which is down at the base of Malibu , and I started there and basically kind of ran along the sidewalk . That's near the beach and it's only May , so it's not a busy time of the year yet , so it was pretty light on congestion of people , but there's still a good amount of people out and that's kind of one thing that made a big deal to me was making sure that they would be people present . And also when I drove by the beach a couple of times , I noticed that there was definitely port-a-potties prevalent , which if you are a runner you know . You know , because it's very you're not going to make it without one or you're going to have a straight up bad time .

Speaker 1 6:46

And so we kind of ran that part that hugged the beach all the way to the end and then kind of doubled

My 13.1 Mile Malibu Run

Speaker 1 6:52

back towards the car and I needed to add on additional mile and a half or so , and so I just kept running towards more parts of Malibu along the beach with a pretty big shoulder , being very aware of what was going on around me , because I was not on a sidewalk , I was not in a protected bike lane , I was kind of out there and making sure I was running against traffic , not with traffic . I do not understand how people who are clearly runners are running the wrong direction , how people who are clearly runners are running the wrong direction . That's a whole other thing . But the coolest thing is the end . Part went towards part of a beach that they filmed Planet of the Apes on , and I've never seen that , but it did look familiar from what I've seen on TV or in the internet . So that was really freaking cool to run by something so famous and do that , and so that was kind of my pre-warmup to make sure the Malibu run , my long run , was going to be possible . So then , when it came to the long run , I knew I was I could just do that run a couple of times . That would be possible . It would not be fun . It would be possible though the day before fun . It would be possible though . The day before .

Speaker 1 8:07

We drove part of the Pacific Coast Highway , which is a very iconic it's just the coastal highway that goes from , I'm pretty sure , it goes into Washington State and goes all the way down through California . It's where all the beautiful beach towns are . It's just a really scenic and beautiful road and fortunately there are no sidewalks . So when I looked on Garmin , I was like oh great , there's lots of routes . Oh , there's lots of biking routes , because it is a huge biking route that people love to do 50 mile , 100 mile bike rides on . So that was less helpful .

Speaker 1 8:41

We drove part of the Pacific Coast Highway to see how big the shoulder was , how many lanes was it , was it blocked off , was there any sort of construction or anything like that . So that was really helpful , just to get a sense of what I was doing . And then I noticed that there were a couple areas I could turn down and kind of run down a smaller side street that would be way less congested but did not have as big of a shoulder . But that was a nice little option . So basically I kind of had my route planned out and then I fully mapped it out on map my run to make sure that the distances were going to work , because nothing is worse than thinking you have the perfect route mapped out and then you're short by like half a mile and you have to backtrack , or you're super long , and then you're short by like half a mile and you have to backtrack , or you're super long and then you have a really long walk home or you got to get someone to come get you , and both of those equally suck .

Speaker 1 9:35

I could have run the Pacific Coast Highway much further , but I just didn't want to be that far away from help or assistance or anything like that . So I decided to do a double loop of this Pacific Coast Highway , fancy Street and Pacific Coast Highway again . And that was challenging because after I did the Pacific Coast Highway part first , I literally my husband met me with water and my gummy candy and I said I don't want to do that again , cause it was straight sun , which it wasn't hot , but it was warm . It was straight sun and a little hilly and I just didn't want to do it again . But I kind of made it into a little bit of a game . I looked at all of the really expensive houses that were on it and try to notice a different house or imagine what celebrity could live there . And that was just a lot of fun just to see something different . And imagine if I won the lottery would I live in this house or would I live in this house and just amazing scenery and beautiful . And then I really it was tough .

Speaker 1 10:37

There was definitely a mental part where I wanted to stop , but I knew once I did that second loop there was no turning back . So I wanted to make sure I could do everything in my power to mentally guarantee I was going to do this . And I was so fucking proud when I was done . It was not as fast as I would have wanted it , which is fine . It was an easy run . It was not supposed to be fast . I got a little bit sunburned , I did not fuel properly , but I was so proud because I actually followed through on what my training plan said , even when I knew it was going to be fucking hard , and it just shows that you can run any sort of distance as long as you prepare smart and are strategic about it , and it doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be always the most perfect , beautiful route . There are some tips and tricks that I alluded to before that I'm going to kind of dive into a little bit more on how you can make it fun for yourself and help you stick to your training plan as easy as possible while in a new

Route Planning Tools and Strategies

Speaker 1 11:42

area .

Speaker 1 11:42

Okay , so I want to kind of break down a little bit of kind of how I plan the runs while traveling , because I think that really is what that was really . What makes the difference is finding routes , and so there's a I mean , there are some definitely people who will willy nilly , just run wherever , um , and that is fantastic for you . That is not me . I'm going to plan my route . I'm going to have an idea of where I'm going . So the two things that I use the most to find , uh , where runs are is in the Garmin connect app . You can look at courses , and this can be courses that you've saved or other people have saved . So I usually will move my map around , find the area that I want to kind of run in and see what people have run . You can look for bike routes . You can look for running routes on the website . You can sort by , like distances , and so that's really helpful just to find where I usually look , where there's a lot of running routes that I've started in somewhere . That lets me know that a lot of people have started runs here . So I use that as validation that other runners say that this is a great option to start .

Speaker 1 12:55

Another one I'll use is map my run . There aren't as many routes on there , unfortunately , but I will also look for any sort of like good starting points for runs , and then I definitely , after I identify a couple , I pop over to Google Maps and look at the routes and see if there's sidewalks . I look to see if there's shoulders . I will do a lot of . I'll just drop a pin and look at the map and look at what is going on , just so I have an idea of if that route is even possible . Is it entirely like on a small road ? There were definitely some that I was like , oh , this is great . And then I realized that it was no shoulder , no space , and it was just not going to be doable . And that's perfectly fine . So I rather spend a little bit more time looking to see if it's well lit , things like that .

Speaker 1 13:45

And my biggest thing if I can and I have the ability to , I will try to drive or walk part of the route beforehand , and that just helps to ease my anxiety . It lets me kind of get an idea of what I'm going to see , what space I have , how far things are . Apart where my mental mile check marks are , it's like , okay , at six miles , I'm going to be at this point , or I'm going to be at this at two and a half miles , or this is where I'm going to have to turn , or oh , there's a little bit of construction here , I'm going to have to turn , or oh , there's a little bit construction here . I'm going to have to cross the roads . Even like that little like five minute preview made me way less anxious waking up to do it . And then , once I have my route picked out , if I'm using one that somebody else has done , which I have done that before , or if I'm creating my own , I will put it into my Garmin , and so then the Garmin app you can do maps , and so what that lets you do is literally like you're dropping a pin and then you map your out , your whole entire route all over the place , and you can save that route , and that's kind of how those other ones are created People have created or ran and then you turn it into a saved route One of my favorite features .

Speaker 1 14:56

I have used this in Boston , I used this in Amsterdam when I ran twice , because I may be Dutch but I do not speak Dutch , I don't speak it , I don't read it , and it's an entirely new area , and so , basically , it turns your watch into turn by turn directions . It'll start buzzing at you when you are a few hundred feet away from turning left or right according to the route that you have mapped , and then it will also let you know if you get off course . It will buzz at you saying you are a 10th of a mile off course , you're a quarter mile off course , and it has a little teeny tiny arrow on it and lets you kind of know what direction you need to go back in . And so I used this when I was in Chicago , because I definitely went on the wrong route , I turned the wrong way and I was so lost , and so it's really helpful that you can kind of find your way back , and that's really helpful when you either don't speak the language or you just don't know where you are , which is very common with this . And so that's that's one of my favorite features that Garmin has that I don't think a lot of people actually spend the time to make a course for themselves and then follow it . This is also how they do courses on , like race day , which is kind of cool Another feature that it has .

Speaker 1 16:13

And then one thing another thing I do is make sure I pack correctly , based on the runs that I'm doing . So it is always a little bit challenging because when you're at home , you have your tank tops , you have your long sleeves , you have your shorts , you have your this , you have your that . So picking , you have to kind of look at the weather and just kind of . So I usually will pack one extra , if I can , of each or . I know that I knew that for my long run I was going to want shorts and a long sleeve , based on the weather , because I did not want to chafe

Packing and Gear Considerations

Speaker 1 16:42

my arm . So when I ran the other day I ran in my tank top and it was much warmer the second day . But I was happier with my decision because it worked out .

Speaker 1 16:51

But always bring your most versatile items . Bring your favorites . Bring your most versatile shoes Like even if one of your days is going to be a speed day and the other day is going to be a long run day , if you're a runner that uses multiple pairs of shoes , bring your most versatile shoes . Bring the shoes that are going to work for the longest distance . You want to have something that's going to handle , you know , gravel if there's out there , or pavement or anything like that . And one of the coolest gifts I got for Christmas that I definitely try and travel with the most often is a mini Theragun massage gun . It's like the size of a little bit bigger than a hamburger roll , something like that , and it's really great to help warm up or cool down or anything like that . It's definitely one of my most packed running tools that I always kind of fit either in my carry on or anything like that , and that's just really making sure that you pack correctly .

Speaker 1 17:45

If you need hydration , either plan to bring something or plan your course around where you can stop at gas stations or hide water bottles , if that works better for you . So for this one , I was strategic and I kind of knew ahead of time that I was either going to need to bring water or my partner was going to be able to bring me water . So that's kind of what happened is he brought me water at mile stoppers that I would have drank hydration at , and so that's definitely . You kind of have to plan ahead and put a lot , a lot of thought into this , and these are all a lot of these are techniques that you do when you do a race , where you travel , so these aren't only applicable to running on vacation . It's also applicable to running anywhere that's not at home . Another thing you kind of have to do is you have to flex when needed and I have definitely .

Speaker 1 18:33

I think when I was in , when we went to London and Amsterdam , I was planning on running in London doing a load of laundry at a laundromat and then running in Amsterdam . Well , the weather in London just didn't cooperate , and I could have chosen to at that point . You'd either choose do I do the run on a treadmill , do I skip the run , or do I end up with like potentially really soggy sneakers where I'm not going to be able to run at all later on . So you kind of have to just sometimes be okay in that moment . Calling , you know calling a loss , and it's okay if you have to miss a run , even if you were planning on doing this . If I had not been able to do a 13 mile run , nothing bad would have happened . It would have sucked . I would have rather have had that in my training plan . I could potentially move it , but it is what it is , and sometimes what's best is to enjoy your vacation than it is to try to overstress yourself , and so that's definitely something that you may need to just flex , depending on the weather and how your travel went . If you get delayed and you're jet lagged , that fucking sucks , and so you might not be able

Safety Tips for Running Anywhere

Speaker 1 19:43

to run .

Speaker 1 19:45

And the last thing I want to touch on is how to kind of , especially if you're a woman , it's really important to try to do everything you can to stay safe while running . Even though we should be allowed to run , we shouldn't have to go through all these extremes in order to stay safe . People shouldn't just try and kill women while running , but unfortunately so . I will always make sure that I tell somebody where I'm going , how distance , when I should be back . If I stop for breathing or gels or anything like that , I will text that person and be like hey , I'm at mile four taking my gummies , that sort of stuff .

Speaker 1 20:27

I definitely try to run . As much as I love running early in the morning when you can't really see anything , I try to run a little bit later . So in order to run in more well-lit areas , I try to look for areas that might be more populated . I've also looked sometimes at seeing if a run club has a running meetup during that time , and that's always hit or miss , because run clubs can create a lot of anxiety . I know it's always nerve wracking A you don't know the people , and B you don't know the paces , and it's just can become a whole thing . So it is an option that you can look into , but it's kind of hit or miss for me and when in doubt , absolutely trust your gut . If something looks weird , feels weird , you don't , you just step out the door and you , you look and it's just not it , that's fine . Trust your gut , make yourself known , make yourself bright all the sort of rules that apply when you're not there in your home . Reply on the road . And it's also kind of making sure you run with a little bit stronger level of confidence and awareness so you don't want to be looking down at your phone trying to find where you are . And that's why I love using the Garmin as turn by turn , so that way you don't constantly look at your phone for your map and be like , okay , what street do I turn on ? That kind of helps me feel more confident and then more aware and helps me stay safer out there .

Speaker 1 21:44

And lastly , I kind of want to talk about the mental challenge , or reframing this , when you're running on vacation on the

Mental Benefits of Vacation Running

Speaker 1 21:55

road . This , when you're running on vacation on the road , the vacation runs are more about experience than performance . There is definitely a time and place for the performance level run while on vacation . But a lot of times I just love to be able to say that I got to run around a park in Amsterdam or that I got to run near the Boston Science Museum . When I ran there it's more about seeing things that you wouldn't normally on foot than it is about trying to make sure you hit your certain paces and your certain tempo and your thresholds and you kind of want to . Also , I know I have woken up in the morning on some of those days and I go . I don't want to spend my vacation running , I want to relax , I want to sleep in . And you get mad because you're like , oh , I have to go for a run and you have to remind yourself of that point . I get to explore this city , this state , this place in such a fun way . I get to see what other people who are runners in that city do and see and view and it's a lot of fun . So really just kind of reframing that piece .

Speaker 1 23:08

And I've had a lot of bad , bad runs when I've been vacationing . I have texted and ended a run early , I've gotten lost , I have needed to find a bathroom in the middle of nowhere . At the end of the day . It really builds the mental strength because now I'm going into Brooklyn in a few weeks knowing that I ran at that same distance with no support , on tired legs , on a different time zone , jet , lagged , under fueled , under hydrated , nothing was set to perform . That set the peak , and I still finished it . It was hard but I did it and that's going to build so much mental resilience . When I get to the hills and I want to stop or I want to walk , I can remember that I can definitely do more than I thought I could and I think you can too .

Speaker 1 24:05

Thank you for listening to some of my tips , my tricks on how to run on vacation , my recent trip to Malibu and how it was so much fun running by million dollar mansions and near the Planet of the Apes filming location and having the actual ocean in front of me instead of just the beautiful streets of Kansas City , missouri . I really want to hear about your travel runs , so DM me your best vacation running moment , or I'd love to hear if you would tag me in a photo from your favorite route while on vacation or at home . Yeah , I am so excited . Thank you so much and I look forward to the next

Episode Wrap-up and Community Call

Speaker 1 24:50

one . See ya . Thanks for sharing another mile with me today .

Speaker 1 25:03

Before you cool down , here are three quick ways to stay connected with our running community . First , hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this right now . It's the best way to make sure you never miss an episode . Second , if today's show helped you or inspired you , please leave a review . Your words help other runners find their way to our community . Lastly , want more running adventures ? Follow at Dogs Per Mile Pod on Instagram , where I share daily motivation , behind the scenes moments and plenty of pictures of my two running coaches , yogi and Maple . Be sure to tag me in your run photos and use hashtag dogspermile to share your own dog spotting stats . I love celebrating your victories , big and small , and thank you for being a part of this journey . Until our next run together , remember every step forward is progress and every dog you see is bonus motivation . Keep running , keep smiling and keep counting those dogs . Thank you .