GUEST POST: Sarah From Licorice & Olives

Happy Monday friends! If you follow me on Facebook, you may remember that I mentioned how I have some really awesome people coming to my blog in the next few weeks as we begin the moving process. Well to start this week off with a BANG, I have Sarah from Licorice & Olives sharing some great tips about running while traveling. I love to explore when I visit new places, what better way to get to know the city, right?! So I am especially excited to have Sarah share some of her greatest tips with us today. Sarah and I are both I'm Fit Possible ambassadors participating in a blog swap this week. It's been so much fun getting to know Sarah, so now, I kick it over to you my friend...

Top Tips For Running Away From Home

Hi, I am Sarah from Licorice & Olives and I am thrilled to be here at The Small but Mighty Runner. I am a relatively amateur runner based in Sydney, Australia. I say based because I am rarely actually there these days. I travel usually on a weekly basis for work and have recently returned from a short secondment in Seoul, Korea.

Running in a new city is by and large my absolute favourite way to explore a new city; you can take your time and usually see a whole other side to the city.

So what are my top tips for running when in a new city?

-        Map your route. I usually ask the hotel if they have a suggested track. If not, then sites like Strava have heat maps that show you near your city where the majority of runners are logging their routes. That will give you a good idea of where to go. If you don’t have a cell phone with GPS you can use, I would suggest an out and back route as you can hopefully avoid getting lost. I pick a landmark nearby and run to that.

-        Tell someone where you are going: Tell the hotel/someone where you plan to go and how long it will take you. I always have a back-up plan. I tell my Husband and I tell the concierge if I am in a hotel. That way if I don’t turn up after an hour or so, then at least someone knows where I went and can investigate in case I fall over and hurt myself or something. As to whether the concierge would actually worry I don’t know.

-        Follow the crowd: In general I try to follow other people, if I feel like I have my surroundings pretty down pat, I check out why people are going one way or the other. It is usually because there is something nice behind all those buildings or trees that you can’t quite see.

-        Don’t run in the dark: I generally wouldn’t recommend running in the dark. Not only is there the obvious safety considerations, but if you run in a foreign city it is very easy to get lost in the dark as you will notice a lot of things look different.

-        Be conscious of the culture: If you usually run in long tights and a long-sleeve shirt, then it may not really be an issue but if you like to wear a singlet and shorts then you might need to just double check if that is an outfit that is better left at home. You may also need to be aware that running down a street in $200 sneakers with a $500 watch and $100 ipod on maybe might not be appropriate in lower socio-economic  country.

-        Hydrate: Always a good idea to carry a small water bottle with you on your first run, as it can sometimes be hard to find a drinking fountain (we call those bubblers down here in Oz) and you don’t know the quality of the drinking water.

Above all, Explore and enjoy. Don’t forget to enjoy the run, you are exploring a new city as many people before you have – on foot! You might see new animals, plants, or interesting things. Treasure the really cool moment rather than worrying about making sure you are keeping your goal pace.

Want to know more about Sarah? Visit her here and while you're there, check out her Virtual 5k Series--Stay motivated each month with a 5k, submit your results and perhaps you may even win a little something. :) Check it out! 

Thank you Sarah for sharing your travel tips with us. Have a great day friends!