Well folks, here we are in the midst of Vacation Season. Talk about a tough time of year when you are trying to stay on the straight and narrow and be diligent about your weight loss journey! For me, it’s almost harder than what we get bombarded with during the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Year’s bonanza.
What to do, what to do? If you are like me, in addition to the carry on bag you are stowing in the overhead bin on the plane, you are traveling with two companions, one on each shoulder. One is constantly whispering “You are on vacation! Live a little! You deserve it!” and the other is reminding you “Don’t blow it! You’ve worked so hard! Remember all that sweat?!”
I have a new strategy (‘new’ as in I have only tried this once!) for keeping my fitness at least somewhere on the stove top when it’s not on the front burner during vacation: Sign up for a race!
My husband and I recently took a trip to Cape Cod where we ran a 5K on vacation – completing the Cotuit Firecracker 5k. I have been going to Cape Cod each summer since I was a little girl, and had heard about this race in the last few years. This year, I decided why not give it a try? The added bonus was that the hubby joined me. He’s not a runner due to a knee injury. I invited him to join me and knew that if he said yes, it would mean me walking the race and not running it (which has been my focus these last two years). I was OK with that. Plus it was his first 5k, ever! It was kind of cute to show him how to attach his bib to his shirt – he had just two safety pins. I had to remind myself not everyone automatically knows it takes four!
Doing a race with a loved one while you are on vacation has a lot of upsides:
– Spending quality time together.
– Making memories
– Providing spouse some time away when ‘family vacation’ with the in-laws becomes a bit too much family and not enough vacation.
-Putting the focus on FUN rather than a competitive mindset.
-Experiencing a change of scenery, especially if you go to the same vacation destination year after year.
This particular race course went through the quaint Cape Cod village of Cotuit. There was lots of local flavor as residents sat in lawn chairs on their front yards cheering all of us on. We got to see some amazing scenery such as these quaint houses and the beach.
To plan ahead and find your race, check out active.com or runningintheusa.com, where you can search by month, state and race distance.
And no need to stick to just running events! Chances are there is a walk-a-thon for a local charity or local chapter of a national organization, a bike-a-thon, or SOMEthing. Then you get to return home and brag share all about it!
Have you ever done a race while you were on vacation? How did it go?
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