Travel Workouts Week 12/13- Around the World Running Blog Relay

Sometimes you just need a good kick in the pants to get you through the home stretch.

With 7 weeks to go on this adventure, I find my motivation to work out dwindling a little. There are things to see, pool time to be had, and frankly, most mornings I would rather sleep in then get up and rock a workout.

That is, until I happened upon the Around the world Running Blog Relay 2014 over at Kyla’s Motivation blog

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Kyla, aka Drill Sargent Beattie, lives in my hometown of Victoria, B.C. I actually discovered her blog before I left Canada after reading a post of hers about a local obstacle race. It turned out that not only had we completed the same event, but we were in the same heat, and likely raced right next to each other. We didn’t even realize it until finding each other online. I love blogging for that kind of stuff!

Anyways, as of March 2nd, Kyla launched the Around the World Running Blog Relay. As it stands, 38 bloggers from all over the world have signed up to run as much as they can from March 2nd until April 30th. The goal is to see how far across the world we can make it!

My friend Shannon over at The Birthday Dinner, convinced me to sign up for a Half Marathon, 3 weeks after I get back. Unless I want her to have to drag me across the finish line, I know I’m going to have to stay the course.

Kyla’s blogging relay is exactly the motivation I need to keep up my mileage up for the remainder of the trip. So thanks Kyla, this is such a great thing to do, and I’m so excited to be a part of it.

For those of you who are wondering, I have pledged 100km and as of this morning I have 94km to go.

Better get running!

What motivates you to workout? Competition, goal setting, friends?

Pura Vida

Kate

Follow me on Twitter: @caketress

Travel Workouts Week 10/11- My Travel Fitness Must Haves

Staying on track with my workouts during this adventure has been easier then I expected. Most mornings I get up early, and get a quick and dirty workout in before starting my day.

This process is a lot easier thanks to a couple essential fitness items that I packed with me. So without further ado, here are my travel fitness must haves.

My brightly coloured ladies!

My brightly coloured ladies!

Two Pairs of Runners: I’ll be honest, I remember feeling a little high maintenance when I put these two pairs of shoes inside my backpack. Would I really need two pairs of runners to work out in?

The answer…yes.

Having already committed to a couple Half Marathons when I return, I knew I would have to log some serious miles here in Costa Rica in order to keep up my endurance. Running shoes are extremely important for long distance runners, and before leaving I had just broken in these saucy hot pink Asics. I knew if I was going to be running long distances, these babies were coming with me.

I also knew that I wouldn’t solely be relying on running for my fitness adventures. I knew I would be doing a lot of cross training in my room. My asics just weren’t flexible enough for all the jumping, burpeeing and all around flailing that I planned on doing. It’s also important to save your “running” shoes for running only, as they tend to wear our fast. So I brought along my Vibrams. These shoes are super compact, and are great for my hotel room workouts. I’ve also worn them on a whole bunch of hikes, and on the plane!

Call me high maintenance if you wish, but having two pairs of runners has been a huge help to my travel fitness regime.

SO glad I packed these!

SO glad I packed these!

Workout Bands: I wasn’t sure how much I would use workout bands, as I rarely use them at home. Well my friends, let me tell you, these things are pretty much a part of EVERY workout I do. You can do it all with these babies; Bicep Curls, Tricep Extensions, Rows, Chest Press, Abs Crunches, and the list goes on!  Whenever we check into a new hostel I’m instantly on the look out for what things I can wrap my bands around! I was totally expecting to lose a lot of definition in my arms during this trip, but thanks to these bands, I’ve managed to keep up a pretty decent strength training routine.

My little bean makes me smile whenever I look at my phone

My little bean makes me smile whenever I look at my phone

iPhone: Although this magical piece of technology is good for blasting music and podcasts while you are working out, I have found so many amazing apps that have become essential for my routines. I am not going to go into to much detail because I think I’m going to do a whole post about them at a later date.But whether its tracking my steps and runs or timing my Tabata or Intervals, my iPhone always has role in my workouts.

And yes, my iphone cover photo makes makes me smile every single time I see it!

Lots of sweat on these pages!

Lots of sweat on these pages!

Workout Journal: Before I left I took an old journal from home and recorded a whole bunch of workout routines in it. Little did I know that this thing would become my workout bible.

Before each workout I take a glance through the ever growing list of workouts. I either choose an exisiting one, or create something new. I then use the book to keep track of my reps and sets as I go.

Not only does this book keep me organized, but it is a constant motivator to keep my workouts interesting and creative. No workouts plateaus here!

So there ya go!

You certainly don’t need much to workout effectively while travelling, but these couple items have definitely made my life easier!

What do you bring to help you workout while travelling?

Pura Vida!

Kate

Follow me on Twitter:@caketress