running up the highway

i think it's illegal to run on the highway

Thats a great idea if you can avoid getting killed by a vehicle.

If you will be traveling on a not busy road (old 66 or something like that) go for it. Interstate? no way!

Why don't you just run an out and back at lunch? Running up the highway only buys you the 5 to 10 minutes it takes the car to cover that distance.

I should clarify. I didn't mean running up the interstate. The routes we'll be on have some side roads running parallel to the interstate.

I was thinking straight out instead of out and back so my family could take as much time as they wanted to eat and stretch their legs. I could go as long as they wanted.

I think Pam Reed (the ultramarathoner) used to do this on family trips.

Lots of people have done that sort of thing. The one problem I can forsee is that you and your family may not be familiar with the roads. It's not unknown for there to be intersections and junctions where it's not clear which route is which so you or they could unknowingly end up on different roads. Presumably your family is smart enough to know that they've gone far enough that they should have caugh you and likes you well enough to turn around and head up the other road.

My question would be, is your family going to be pissed with you for always not hanging out with them at lunchtime? The logistics of it will be relatively easy to work out as long as that's ok.

But if it gets to be a sore point that you're never around, I would recommend getting up and running the morning while they are all still asleep. Then you avoid any conflict.

Find a park to loop around or doable dirt road that heads perpendicularly to the highway and stop there so your family can have their lunch while you run. Start Googling your routes.

Providing that the roads don\\\'t suck (in terms of traffic) I would say go for it! It could be a cool experience.

Although you\\\'d look like a nerd I would think it wouldn\\\'t be such a bad idea to invest in some sort of reflective vest as well, unless visibility is good.

I can\\\'t remember the name of a book I read a while back (1 million steps?) about a retired guy in his 60\\\'s or 70\\\'s who runs across the US on old roads and his wife follows in a RV. I thought it sounded like a fun idea.

I do this quite often. The worst part is getting in the car all sweaty. And the occasional paranoia that you aren't on the same road because they're taking longer.

Another idea that has worked for me is that I get out when we're within X miles of our destination and run to the end. By the time my wife fights local traffic and checks us in, I'm there to carry luggage, etc.

Granted, I have a very tolerant wife but she knew about my issues going in ...

Thanks for the comments. Some further info.

Both of these long routes we've driven before, one many many times, the other a few times. So I'm already familiar with some places to attempt this.

I'm trying to run doubles as base building. So I plan to run in the mornings that we drive also, maybe 5-10 miles, depending on how much packing we have left to do in the mornings.

My family won't mind me doing this. My kids are at an age where we have a good time in the car ride (with music and games and talking) so running during the lunch stop won't phase them a bit.

I've never attempted doing this on a family trip before so I was trying to anticipate what things to consider and other options. Thanks for the comments.

I've contemplated this many times but never done it. I didn't want to ask my wife to handle the kids alone throughout lunch (less of an issue now, but a minor pain when they were younger), then deal with loading them up and finding me. Plus I didn't want to then climb into the car drenched in sweat, and ride for the next seven hours encrusted with salt.

I always managed to work it out where I'd either run early from the motel (this can be really great, I had some memorable runs doing this), or else run as soon as we'd arrive at the motel in the evening, especially if the kids could be occupied in the pool right away.