Sunday, October 06, 2013

Vacation Running

There are 2 things about vacations that I love, but seem to be anathema to others; I like to cook & run. A few years back we discovered vacation rentals. Now I refuse to stay in a hotel. Noisy, over priced, and not-very-private, hotels are a thing of the past. I struggle to understand why anyone wants to stay in one. Of course, there are the luxury 5 star exceptions, but sadly I don't have the kind of money to take take advantage of those situations. 

What I like about vacations is that they afford you the time to do the things you struggle to get done when you are at home. For example, I love to run on vacation. Maybe others are committed to a workout program at home and religiously stick to it, so vacations are a break from this. I find I tend to work the other way. When I get busy at work or home, working out becomes one of the things I drop first. I try really hard to fit it in, but some days its tough, there just aren't enough hours! So when I have time to fit in a nice long run I take advantage. 

So 2 weeks ago Mom and I went to Quebec City for a week. I have never been there before, but running is one of the best ways to explore, so on the second morning there I laced up my shoes and headed out the door. I had no idea where I was going, expect that I was going to run up the 396 stairs from the neighborhood we were staying in to the 'upper town'. Once there I thought I would just pick a direction and see where I ended up. That is how I discovered the Joan of Arc Park below. It was quite early in the day still, so I had it all to myself to run in. Not too shabby.


On our first morning I decided to head to the lower town, but soon found myself following the streets up to the ramparts. From there I was given a panoramic view of the harbour and the Le Petite Champlain.

That is one of the great things about running, all you need is a pair of shoes and a door to head out of and you are exploring. Because of my early morning runs I discovered a great deal about the city and was able to direct Mom and I around we were out and about. We didn't get lost once. We did miss our flight home, but we never got lost!


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