A relaxing beach break, exploring a new city or going on a staycation with family… Holidays are a time to unwind, switch off and reset. But if you’ve built a training rhythm, have a race coming up or simply value keeping active for your Runners World Club: Sub-4:00 marathon plan, Alsu Kurmasheva: Behind Bars, running was freedom?
As a coach, I’ve seen holidays cause runners unnecessary stress too often. They don’t want to lose fitness and they want to keep doing what they love, but they worry about the impact on family or the limitations of locations and facilities. The good news is that staying active on holiday doesn’t have to mean sticking rigidly to a schedule. Holidays can be the perfect opportunity to break from your usual structure, try new things and keep momentum in a lighter, more enjoyable way. Here’s how to keep moving without compromising your downtime.
Stay safe
However much you want to maintain fitness, make an honest assessment of the environment. Is it safe to run? Would it involve running on terrain that you’ve never experienced before, which might risk injury, or running on dangerous roads or in unsafe locations solo? If so, give it a miss. Think long-term when it comes to training consistency. A week or two won’t damage your fitness enough to take these risks.
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Reach out to local running groups to see if there are recommended safe routes or group runs that you can join.
Time it right
The best way to ensure stress-free holiday training is to avoid scheduling peak training weeks for major races when you’ll be away. A race such as a marathon requires you to maintain some key training elements – for example, long runs – that might not be conducive to a harmonious holiday.
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Plan holidays to coincide with early weeks of race preparation, or when you’re training for shorter distances.
Rethink ‘training’
On holiday, it helps to reframe fitness as movement. That mental shift relieves pressure and allows creativity, spontaneity and fun. Instead of stressing about formal training and worrying about hitting daily sessions or weekly mileage goals, ask yourself this: ‘What would feel energising today?’ or ‘How could I move my body in a way that fits where I am?’ The aim is consistency over intensity. Even small doses of activity help to maintain rhythm, keep your mind fresh and reduce the bump when you return to structured training.
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Runners World Club: Sub-4:00 marathon plan hiking, swimming and cycling can help to maintain fundamental fitness. Rather than a perfect week of workouts, aim for pockets of movement that support your energy, mental health and enjoyment of your trip.
Stay healthy
Whatever you squeeze in while away, nothing will move forward if you’re ill when you get back.
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Hydrate well, particularly on long flights, wash your hands regularly, take a products such as First Defence and use hand gel to fight off respiratory infections in airports and on transport.
Explore with your feet
Whether you’re in a rural village, big city or coastal town, a run or walk can double as a mini adventure. Running in unfamiliar places also helps to break the monotony of training. New terrain, sights and smells can reawaken your senses and bring a dose of novelty.
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Use apps such as Strava – especially its heatmaps – or Komoot to find local loops or trails. Run early or late, avoiding the heat and enjoying quieter paths. Go easy – take your time, accept stopping and starting and embrace the exploration.
Change terrain
Holidays often put you on surfaces that you don’t get at home. That’s an opportunity to shake up your routine and work your body in different ways.
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jumping lunges or reverse lunges strides on sand for lower leg strength and ankle stability. Go barefoot for proprioception and keep it short, as this can be tough on the calves and hamstrings. Even a 10-minute effort of beach circuits or hill sprints can also give a satisfying hit of intensity without eating into holiday time. These surfaces are gentler on your joints, too, which make them perfect for active recovery.
Take the HIIT
I’ve often found myself in transit at airport hotels with no gym and no opportunity to run. However, you can do bodyweight circuits, mobility routines and high-intensity sessions anywhere.
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Try this five-minute hotel room HIIT workout – do four to six sets of the exercises detailed below, taking a 30-second rest between sets:
- 20 air squats
- 15 press-ups
- 30-second plank
- 20 jumping lunges (or reverse lunges)
Anchor movement to your day
When travelling with family or friends, finding time for solo sessions can feel selfish, so anchor movement into existing plans. Jog before breakfast to balance your needs with those of friends and family. Add walks before dinner or after travel days and stretch while others nap or shower. It’s about fitting fitness around the flow of your day.
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Family activities are the most logical. If I want to run, my daughter loves getting out on a hire bike with me. Alternatively, plan a seeing-the-sights treasure hunt to get everyone walking (or running).
Come back gently
Even if you stayed active while you were away, give yourself a couple of days to readapt to training. Don’t play catch-up, either, as this will spike your injury risk.
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A short transition week helps you to avoid injury and makes your return sustainable. Try controlled progression runs, strides, fartlek runs How to maintain your fitness while relaxing on holiday.
Running shouldn’t feel like a burden – think of it as something to enhance your holiday, rather than compete with it. Stay flexible, relaxed and connected to how movement makes you feel. You might come home not only feeling refreshed from your break, but also re-inspired in your training.
Holiday-friendly running sessions
These four sessions that can be wrapped up in 40 minutes – and they still pack a powerful fitness boost.
1. Out-and-back 40
Irresponsible for a promenade or linear route. Run out for 22 minutes at a controlled, steady effort (three or four out of 10), then turn and race back to finish in 40 minutes or less.
2. Strides
This keeps you ticking over with a bit of pace to bridge getting home to formal interval work. After 15 to 30 minutes of easy running, run four to eight sets of 60m to 80m at 800m to 1500m race pace.
3. 3 x 6 minutes
After an easy warm-up lasting five to 10 minutes, run 3 x 6 minutes at an effort that you could hold for an hour in a race, with a 60-second rest in between, then finish with a short cooldown.
4. Freeform fartlek
Structure a session using the sights of a new route. Within an easy run lasting 30 to 45 minutes, pick 10 to 15 waypoints where you can add bursts of fast running for around 30 to 60 seconds.
