From 13.1 miles to nothing.
One of the hardest parts of our road trip has been the lack of a routine. We usually move at least once a week and other than a couple of set days a week where we both have definite work commitments, our schedule is fairly fluid.
A Thursday could be a moving day. It could be a relax day. It could be a hiking day. It could be an errand day. Depending on what we have planned, we might be busy in the morning only. Other times in the afternoon. Other times all day.
Due to a lack of routine, when we set off on our road trip I went from running a half marathon to not running at all.
My First Half-Marathon
Back in November 2017, I ran my first half-marathon. I’d never been a runner, but in February of that year I’d made the concerted effort to start exercising. As the months progressed, the distance I could run increased and I found myself on the treadmill 3-4 times per week.
Shae had been due to run the OBX Marathon that November, but she had been busy with work and so hadn’t had much time to train. She therefore downgraded to the half-marathon which was the same day.
A week before the race I decided to surprise her. I signed up for the half-marathon myself, but didn’t tell her. My plan was to surprise her by picking up my race pack at the same time that she did, but a couple of days before the race she fell and injured herself.
As a result, she had to pull out and I ran the half-marathon by myself – something neither of us had expected a week earlier! Considering most of my training had been done indoors on a treadmill, I was really pleased when I completed the race in 2:22:21. You can read more about the race here: Here’s How My First Half Marathon Went Yesterday.
How It Went Downhill
It was only a week or two after running the half-marathon that Shae and I finished getting rid of most of our possessions and officially lived up to the ‘No Home’ part of our name by moving out of our apartment. After a week or two of staying in a couple of hotels, we spent a month visiting New Zealand and Australia.
We did that trip with Shae’s mom and stepdad and knew we’d be renting a car in a few of the locations we’d be staying in. With four of us in the car though, we’d have limited space for luggage, so we committed to traveling with only hand luggage. That meant there was no space for my running shoes and clothes, so I didn’t go jogging at all while we were over there.
We arrived back in the US at the end of 2017 which only gave us a few days to finish preparing for our 50 state road trip which started on January 1, 2018. January ended up being a whirlwind, with us keeping ourselves busy pretty much every day because we wanted to ensure we made the most of the road trip.
Carrying on at that pace was unsustainable, so we subsequently settled into a bit more of a groove on the road trip. One thing that I didn’t settle into though was a jogging routine.
In the first few months of the road trip – much like most months since then – we found ourselves going from hotel to Airbnb to hotel to Airbnb. Although the hotels had fitness rooms, I often lacked the motivation to get on the treadmill. After being out all day, we’d get back to the hotel and it would be time for dinner. I didn’t want to exercise straight after eating, then I’d have work to do, so exercising fell by the wayside. Not having a treadmill at Airbnbs we stayed at gave me an additional excuse to not exercise.
Over the course of the first year of our road trip, I went from 175 lbs to 205 lbs. It didn’t help that part of what we like to do in each place is try that location’s food, but a large factor in my weight gain was simply lack of consistent exercise.
Stop-Start-Stop-Start
At various points in the road trip I’ve tried to get back in to exercising, with varying degrees of success. From the beginning of October to mid-November 2018, I jogged 2-4 miles every few days. I got a good routine going because we were staying in hotels that entire time and so I always had a treadmill available.
Then came our stay in Terlingua. It was amazing there and I’d loved to return at some point. Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park were nearby, but the biggest draw was the fact that Terlingua is a Dark Sky Park. That meant it was possible to see the Milky Way at night which was the first time Shae or I had ever seen it.
The only downside about the stay is that I got out of the routine of jogging. There was a winding, potholed road leading to our off-grid cabin, so it wasn’t at all conducive to going out for a run. While we hiked a few times during our stay there, it wasn’t the same.
My jogging routine never really recovered. It stopped and started throughout 2019; I’d go jogging every few days for a couple of weeks, then I wouldn’t go again for another month. I’d start again for a week or two, then it would be a month or two before I’d put on my jogging shoes again.
January 2020 started off well. I jogged 3 miles on January 2 and by the end of the month had worked my way up to being able to jog 7.2 miles (albeit with a few pauses during the workout). After that 7.2 mile run though, I only jogged three times in the following three months.
My New Commitment
COVID-19 has resulted in an increased lack of motivation. The first three weeks of lockdown was spent at the Candlewood Suites Albuquerque, NM. Their fitness room was still open, but they were restricting access to one person at a time. Due to the potential risk involved, I decided not to use it at all (well, that was the excuse I gave myself anyway).
We then moved on to Pueblo, CO where we’ve been staying in an Airbnb for the past month. Pueblo is at 4,692 feet, so I didn’t go out jogging when we first arrived as I figured I’d need to get acclimatized to the altitude.
That acclimatizing turned into laziness. Laziness turned into lethargy. Lethargy turned into awful sleeping patterns. I’d be up late, so I’d end up taking long naps during the day. Those naps meant I’d be awake until the early hours of the morning which meant I needed a long nap the next day. And again. And again.
One of the chief reasons for my lethargy was lack of exercise. Whenever I’ve gotten in a good exercise routine, I’ve always slept well. Because I’ve slept better and felt healthier as a result of jogging, I’ve also ended up eating more healthily.
After far too many weeks months of not doing anything, I’ve made a new commitment to start jogging again. That commitment started last night when I went jogging for the first time since March 8.
I only jogged for one mile, but it was a start and it’s one mile further than I’d jogged for over two months.
My Jogging Plan
My plan from here is to go jogging every other day, increasing my distance each time. I’ll start by adding on 0.25 miles each time I go out; once my body has become more accustomed to jogging again, I might add 0.5 miles each time. By the time we leave Pueblo at the end of the month, I should be up to three miles at a time.
That first run last night though was much harder than I expected. My lungs were burning by the end of it which I think might be the altitude still playing a part. Hopefully it gets a little easier in the coming days; even if it doesn’t though, we’re heading to Wichita, KS next which means altitude won’t be an issue when jogging in June.
How I’ll Motivate Myself
One of the biggest challenges I’ll face is keeping up my motivation to go out and jog every other day. There are a couple of things I’ll be doing to try and maintain momentum.
1) Email Reminder
I used to have a reminder set up on Google Calendar to email me every day to remind me to go jogging. For some reason that reminder stopped working a month ago or so, so I’ve set up another reminder.
This technique probably wouldn’t work for everyone, but I keep on top of my email inbox. At the time of writing this post, I only have 15 unread emails which are all things I’ve left unread as they’re tasks I need to do. I don’t delete reminders I’ve set myself until I’ve actually completed the task, so having a reminder to jog will hopefully motivate me into getting out there and actually doing it every other day. It’s clearly not always worked in the past, but at least it means I don’t simply forget to go out for a run.
2) Public Accountability
At the beginning of every month we publish the latest installment of our Road Trip Stats series. Those posts provide details about the previous month’s stats including how many miles we drove, how much we spent, how many hotel points we earned and redeemed, etc.
I’ll be adding an additional entry to those posts starting from next month which will be how many miles I jogged during the previous month. I’m hoping that committing to share those details will help motivate me to go jogging on days where I’m really not feeling it.
My Goals
By the end of the year, I’d love to be able to run for 10 miles in one session with a minimal number of pauses along the way. Ultimately I’d love to run another half-marathon and then a full marathon, but I can’t imagine those kinds of events being held anytime soon due to COVID-19. By the time races like that are up and running again, I’ll hopefully be in good enough shape to participate.
I’d also love to lose weight which should come naturally if I’m jogging frequently. I’m currently 200 lbs and would love to get down to 175 lbs again like I was after running the half-marathon in 2017. For now though, I’d be satisfied if I’m down to 190 lbs by the end of 2020.
Josh says
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for sharing your fitness journey. You can do it! Plus, you are in a great area to explore.
stephen says
Thanks! The high altitude has still been hurting my lungs which doesn’t normally happen, so I’ll be glad to get to lower ground despite it being beautiful with mountains here!