Two weeks ago I arrived at Hamburg Airport from work in Stuttgart late in the evening, took the plane to Vienna (together with my wife and my daughter) on Friday to run the Vienna City Marathon, returned to Hamburg on Monday, flew to Stuttgart Tuesday morning and two days later to Berlin to attend a company meeting. Five flights in eight days, and a busy schedule between the flights. So how did I fit running into this schedule?
You can run at all times. When I travel for business, I usually don’t have the opportunity to run during the day. So I run early in the morning or in the evening. Sometimes I can run from the office to my hotel in the evening, or in the opposite direction in the morning. However, it requires some organization; you have to think about carrying things you need and and a change of clothes, but often it is possible. Running to and from work of course saves time I otherwise would spend on the commute by train.
If there is a changing room with a shower at the office, I like to run instead of having lunch. Usually I have a snack back at the office after the run. This has multiple advantages: I save the money, I would have spent at the restaurant; I don’t get tired in the early afternoon, and I save some time (usually I go for a 50 minute run, so I’m away from my desk for about an hour; lunch in a restaurant often takes 1 1/2 hours).
For people who travel a lot, running is the ideal sport. The necessary equipment fits comfortably in any suitcase or bag. A pair of running shoes, running shorts, a t-shirt and in my case a cap are all you need. You don’t need any special equipment, nor do you need a partner or a team. Of course it’s great to run with a partner or a team, but it’s also nice to run on your own.
The worst thing would be feeling like running and having the opportunity (say, a free evening) but not being able to go anyway for lack of equipment. That can easily happen and is even likely in other sports, for example swimming or biking (you cannot easily bring along a pool or a bike on a trip). I always travel with my running gear, so I never miss a run when there is an opportunity.