Improving as a runner demands consistency, but work trips wreck your routines. Here’s how I make it work as a relatively competitive masters marathoner who travels 25-30% of the time for work. Whether I’m traveling to visit our global team (🇮🇳🇿🇦🇧🇷🇺🇸🇬🇧), for conferences, or for client meetings, these tactics help ensure my training doesn’t get undermined (and in some cases even gets a boost). My travels most often take me to London, Cape Town, Mumbai, Boston, DC, San Francisco, and São Paulo. I wrote these up during a work trip to São Paulo last month and initially shared them on LinkedIn. I’ve fleshed out the recommendations a bit here.

1. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞

Do you need flat or hills? Need access to a bike path where you can do uninterrupted tempo or intervals? Don’t let others dictate where you’ll stay – you may have different priorities that they wouldn’t consider. Illustrative examples:

• When I was in São Paulo last month, I stayed near our office and approx 3km from two local parks that are adored by local runners. Running workouts in São Paulo would otherwise be impossible with traffic.
• When I go to London, I either stay at an airbnb near a bikepath that lets me run uninterrupted to Victoria Park or near a track – I can solve for being walking distance from the office but also staying somewhere that is conducive to workouts.
• I use Onthegomap for route planning and sometimes consult Strava heat maps.

2. 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬

Do you have to skip doubles, rethink the timing of strength sessions, or shift your long run day? Is the location conducive to a particular workout type? Think about your overall training load on a weekly basis – don’t worry too much about moving things around within a week, but where possible, plan ahead how you’ll move them around. Illustrative examples:

• Last year I scheduled hill repeats during visits to hilly cities (San Diego and Cape Town).
• I normally have a consistent weekly rhythm with long runs on Sundays. When I have to fly long-haul on a Sunday, however, I shift my long run to Saturday.
• If I know I’ll need to be in London on a Thursday/Friday for work, sometimes I’ll plan to stay until Saturday and get in a Parkrun 5k, something we no longer have where I live.

3. 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞

It’s hard to eat well, eat normally, and eat at the right times when traveling. Take control of what you can and don’t give up on your nutrition just because it’s a little harder on the road. Illustrative examples:

• I bring a homemade recovery powder mix (protein, greens, creatine);
• I always grab a spare banana and/or apple at the airline lounge;
• I shop and prep meals whenever possible to minimize consumption of processed food;
• I usually pack nuts, Clif Bars, or other protein-rich snacks before I leave on a trip.

4. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐠𝐲𝐦.

This is more vital in some locations than others (eg Mumbai vs Cape Town or London). A gym not only helps you keep your strength routine up and gives you cross-training options, but it gives you running flexibility.

AQI of 200? Torrential downpour? 90-degree heat? Insane traffic? Treadmill or bike to the rescue!

5. 𝐍𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠.

As a runner, you’ve got extra packing to do. Try to avoid having to buy stuff on the road or compromise.
Things I pack on a typical 5-day trip:

• 2-3 pairs of shoes
• Compression socks and shorts for workouts
• Normal socks and shorts for easy runs
• Tops and running shorts
• Hat(s)
• Armstrap HRM
• Runderwear
• Supplements, electrolytes, and gels

Running stuff often makes up about half of my luggage. I used to be able to do 2-3 day trips with just a backpack but now I rarely do since I try not to use the same pair of running shoes two days in a row.

6. 𝐀𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Environmental factors influence how hard you work at the same pace. So ‘10k effort’ may be different where you’re traveling than at home. Training based on effort and/or heart rate is more effective than on pace

Example: When I wrote this, it was 40°F at home and 75°F in São Paulo with 90% humidity. So I had to adjust my training paces down by 4-5 sec/km in order to not overdo it during my workouts and runs.

7. 𝐔𝐬𝐞 𝐣𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞.

When going west, you wake up earlier; when going east, you’ve got more evening energy. While most people complain about jet lag and point to it as a reason for missing a session, you can use it in your favor.

Example: When I was in Brazil, my body was 4 hours ahead of Brazil time, so I woke up at 4am, got our running at 6am, and didn’t need to be in the office until 8:30 or 9am, which meant I could put in some extra mileage.