After a few hours in the air (and a great sunrise view of the city),
The City & The Headlands
I was here:
West Bay
I am not going to bore you with stories of lazing around on the beach, reading, or overeating. Instead, let's talk about the ways you can attempt to stay fit while on vacation. I feel a little list coming on!
Beach Running: I tried to go every day, but there were a few obstacles. First, it was HOT and HUMID. I kept going earlier and earlier but once the sun was up (around 6 am) it was pretty much scorching by then. Also, running in sand is hard. According to this article, running in sand is 1.6 times harder than running on solid ground. So I am going to take that to mean that when I ran 2 miles, it was really 3.2. That way it sounds like I really did something! No really though, you supposedly expend 1.6 x more energy. Coupled with the heat, I would say it's closer to 2 times more!
Swimming: It was so nice to go for a few laps in the clear water (see photo above -- that was my lap pool) every morning after my run.
Diving: According to this website, you burn more calories diving than you do walking fast! It states that I burned about 200 calories in a half of hour! Also, if you are interesting in scuba diving, I wrote a post a while back about my favorite places to go diving.
Sunset walk
Kayaking: Coupled with the swimming, this made me have some tired arms at the end of the day! I always say I am like a T-rex: strong legs, weak arms. I need to work on that!
Walking: Where we stayed was about 2 miles from "town" although we did have plenty of restaurants and bars nearby. We walked to town every day and if we could, we also walked back. This was also on the beach, so I wonder if walking in sand is also 1.6 times harder? I am going to go with Yes.
Carrying Water: We really take tap water for granted! When you can't drink the water, you spend a lot of time buying and lugging around big bottles of water. I drink so much that I buy it a gallon at a time, and that weighs about 8 lbs, so I got a bit of a workout every time I bought a bottle (and especially if I had to carry it from town)!
Dancing in the Sand: This a great way to burn some calories and to have fun, but it also gives you really sore calves the next day! I suggest the Samba. Along with this song. It will really get your blood pumping. By the way, there is actually a specific dance to this song; you can kind of see it here. It is pretty fun! Las Manos Arriba!
What's your vacation strategy? Do you just give up trying to be active or do you make time somehow? Do you plan vacations around activities or activities around vacations?
