Challengin' while Travellin'

As I've mentioned previously, this is not the first year I've embarked upon the Self challenge. In fact, I have at the very least signed up for it and completed the first month or so for the past four years. What happens around the one month marker that makes me stop, you may ask?

Travel. Every year, right around the same time, I head off for the very same trip: nine days or so in Rimini, Italy for a Beach Ultimate tournament (Big E's team goes every year. I myself don't play).

The travelling lifestyle isn't very conducive to working out. Sure, this really depends on where you go and what options are available to you. In some cases, you may stay in a hotel that has a gym. Or perhaps you've gone to a beach resort, with a tennis court, horseback riding, etc. etc. You shouldn't have a tough time keeping up with your workouts in this case.

For me, it was always the same stumbling block: Strength. It is usually around the time of the challenge where I'm required to do three 25 minute strength workouts a week. In Rimini, I have plenty of cardio options available to me, and they're usually quite easy to fit in. No gyms, however, are available and my bedroom is tiny. I decided this year to set myself up to not fail the strength requirements. I brought an exercise band with me, as well as three pages ripped from an old Self Magazine of an exercise band full body strength workout.

Then, in addition to this, I crammed in two workouts on monday and tuesday (upper body and then lower body), since we weren't leaving until noon on tuesday. Two down, one to go.

We arrived in Rimini on Thursday, the weather was gorgeous. While the team warmed up and practised, I went for a 45 minute jog. I debated doing some pilates on the beach while I waited... perhaps some pushups, a plank or two, ab work... but for some reason, decided against this.

The next day, again gorgeous, I decided it would be my day of rest and didn't workout at all. Saturday came along and I talked myself into a run, another 45 minute jog down the beach. I didn't consider doing any other stuff at this point. Then Sunday, I had a plan - for my relay training, I decided to do my first multiple training run. I went for three 4-5 mile runs, and then I collapsed.

Sunday night, we all drank far too much wine, and I spent monday lying delicately on the sideline. Working out was out of the question. Tuesday, we had to get up early to head back to Bologna and then of course get up even earlier on Wednesday to fly back to San Francisco. When I got home, I managed to talk myself into a Maya workout, the first for this past week, and got some core strength in. However, I also seem to have acquired an illness either on the plane or from the other teammates, and when I got up the next morning to fly to the East Coast, I was feeling even worse.

So with two weeks of travel under my belt, I've come to the following conclusion:

Travel + Cardio = success - at least for me. I love running in new locations, it's a great way to see the town, people watch, get a different perspective. Old Italian men seem to enjoy it too.

Travel + Strength = Not so hot. I can't seem to make myself do a workout in my hotel room and am not likely to do it out on the beach in public. I guess I'm just a wuss that way.

Travel + Flu + any workout = barely happenin'. More on that after the next week in review.