In the latest Travel Hot Take, Metro’s Lifestyle Editor, Kristina Beanland, shares why she always packs her trainers when she goes on a trip.
Look, I know runners are objectively annoying.
I started pounding the pavements back in 2016, when I half-heartedly agreed to run a 10km with a friend, assuming I’d never actually do it. I wasn’t one of those people.
But almost a decade later, I’m shocked to find that I’m still a committed runner.
Running is the only form of exercise I’ve ever stuck too — meanwhile, my gym membership continues to go unused, burning a significant hole in my current account every month.
But it’s also true that us runners can be a bit keen. We’re obsessed with PBs, energy gels, chafing — and don’t even get me started on my favourite brand of trainers (I’m a Hoka convert, in case you were wondering).
So, to have the sheer audacity to say, even to whisper, that you ought to go for a run on holiday, during your long-awaited time of rest and relaxation, surely singles me out as the biggest running w**ker of them all.
It all started with a marathon training run while on holiday in Jersey. I absolutely couldn’t think of anything worse than leaving my cosy hotel to run, but I’d already started fundraising for the 26.2 miles, and I was trapped in a hell of my own making.
And while the first couple of miles were done through greeted teeth, I soon realised that running along the beach, and through quaint Franco-British towns, felt more like I was exploring, rather than simply ‘going for a run’. And it certainly beat my usual laps around a soggy south London park.
So, the next time I jetted off, this time to Chicago, I packed my trainers. A 5km along the banks of Lake Michigan is one I won’t forget in a hurry.
Since then, I’ve run in the shadow of Mauritius’ volcanic landscape, among the palm trees in Dubai and, perhaps best of all, alongside Sydney’s Opera House in Australia.
I tried to get a 5km in while on a trip to Orlando, only to discover there weren’t any pavements (and in hindsight, I didn’t fancy being an alligator’s breakfast).
At this point though, I do feel like I ought to offer up a few caveats.
Perhaps most importantly, I don’t think you need to exercise on holiday if that’s not your idea of anything even close to fun.
You should feel absolutely no pressure to work-out, whether it’s part of your usual daily routine or not. If all you want to do is lounge around, catch some rays, a cocktail in hand, I fully support that decision.
I’d also like to make it known that, as far as I’m concerned, jetting to another country is made all the more enjoyable by sampling all and any culinary delights that particular destination has on offer. And of course, no holiday is complete without at least one raging 10/10 hangover.
But I don’t enjoy a run on holiday just for exercise. When I go away, I want to get that authentic experience — I want to eat where the locals do, and find those hidden-gems away from the crowds.
To me, running is part of that. You get an idea of what the people that live there do with their Saturday mornings — you might head to a beautiful park or coastal boardwalk you’d never have otherwise stumbled across, and more often than not, a running route ends with a cute little cafe that inevitably offers up the best coffee in the city.
And, for those long-haul travellers among us, they’re a great way to deal with the jet lag. There’s some research to suggest that exercising early in the morning, around 7am, or between 1pm and 4pm, can help to re-establish your circadian rhythm that gets so messed up by switching time zones.
Those endorphins will also help give you a boost if you’re feeling cranky and tired after days of travel.
And finally, no matter how close you are to your travel pals, sometimes, you need a bit of alone time. No one is going to argue you with you when you take yourself off for an hour for a run (and they’re even less likely to try and join you).
I fully accept that you may have read this hot take while rolling your eyes so far to the back of your head you can see yourself think.
But, perhaps I’ve tempted you to take a run, jog or stroll the next time you go away — even if it’s just for the Strava kudos.
