beautiful Prospect Park where I did a 5.3 mile run

I returned last night from an intense four and a half day trip to New York. It really made me think a lot about the challenge of staying healthy while traveling. I’d say, on balance, I’d give myself a B+ or maybe even a C- during this trip. Overall, it was kind of like a game of Fortunately/Unfortunately.

Unfortunately, I spent two and a half days sitting on my butt at a conference. Fortunately, it was a fantastic conference. And also fortunately, it was in New York City so it involved quite a bit of walking, getting there and then getting around afterward.

my friends changing from conference shoes to walking-to-dinner shoes

Unfortunately, I was crossing from West to East coast, and that always wreaks complete havoc on my biorhythms.  It is TOUGH to wake up the first few days I am back East. Fortunately, I really think that my Sleep Time app helped me! I woke up much more bright eyed and bushy tailed than I can ever remember doing when going East.

It all started with taking the 5am train to the airport.

Unfortunately, I indulged in a little more alcohol than I am used to. I think the fact that I wasn’t driving at all (and hanging out with friends I rarely see, and feeling very… umm.. festive) may have contributed to this.

cocktails at my Lady Writers’ gathering

Fortunately, I was able to make some fairly decent food choices. There was a place around the corner from where I was staying that featured a wonderful breakfast of yogurt, fruit and granola. I had this exact same breakfast more than once.

Thank you Dizzy’s for the yummy Power Breakfast!

Fortunately, I was able to continue my Yoga-A-Day Pose. Unfortunately, I only did it one day. Here I am bridging in my friend’s kitchen.

So unfortunately, there were a lot of things that were less than ideal while I was traveling. But fortunately, I kept track of what I was doing. And the less-than-active days spurred me to take my last full day and do a really, really long (and beautiful) run. Which I really needed.

185% before noon

On balance, it wasn’t stellar but it wasn’t terrible. I did my best. Now I’m home but the next two weekends will involve MORE travel. Fortunately, my next trip is a short one in the same time zone (yay) AND it includes a Fun Run (for Juniorette’s Family Weekend/Homecoming at her college) which I have signed up for. It’s good when you can incorporate activity into your schedule like that. The next trip is longer, and also on the East coast (BLERGH long plane trip! Time change!!) but the good thing is that it will have virtually no mandatory events, so I can include as much exercise and napping as I want/need. So it might even be like a mini vacation.

It’s a work in progress, learning to incorporate healthy choices into travel. I love to travel, and happen to like to do things that aren’t always local, and I love a lot of people who happen to live far away. So I’ve got to figure out ways to make it work.

How do you stay healthy when you’re traveling, especially when it involves a lot of meeting/sitting?