Summer abroad as a collegiate runner

Andorra. /thread.

I went to Eastern Europe, it was a pretty lax program, besides showing up to class each day and scheduled excursions. I just planned ahead of time and accepted I would need to wake up early on some excursion days to get it in. Sleep in the car/bus. It was fun to train in the European city, and I knew my way around better than the other American students.

Thanks for the response, were there days where you just couldn't run (while on excursions etc.)? or was it always possible? Im definitely not opposed to waking up early if it means i can balance the two.

wanttotravel wrote:

Thanks for the response, were there days where you just couldn't run (while on excursions etc.)? or was it always possible? Im definitely not opposed to waking up early if it means i can balance the two.

I could always run on days of excursions due to the structure of the program. None of our trips were overnight, but usually in the morning people have breakfast/take a bit to get going, so there's time to run during that.

I would talk to whoever's in charge of your program at your college--ask what a typical day/week is like. There might be a day or two that does not work, but at least you can make a plan. Typically we had one excursion per week so I knew that that would be my "early day."

I would also mention the running to people the night before so they aren't surprised--and know when the group plans to leave.

My professor liked to run and thought it was great that I had some consistency which helps people adjust to a new place.

Also, sounds fun! My study abroad was an incredible experience.

I have never been to either Florence or Barcelona, but as old cities, running in the cramped old streets sounds much more difficult than running most anywhere else. If you already run in a city every day, most likely you can deal with this without getting killed by a car or some other type of urban issue. If you currently run most of your mileage say outside of Hanover, NH or State College, PA, you will, most likely, hate running while studying in those two cities.

Thanks for the response, just curious about where you went and what your experience was as far as the culture around running where you were, did people point and laugh when they saw you, or was it something they were used to seeing? Also was it easy to find places to run at a solid pace, not having to worry about crowds of people, or traffic?

Some RW information about running in Florence:

http://www.runnersworld.com/where-to-run/florence-italy

And RW also has an article about running in Barcelona.

http://www.runnersworld.com/where-to-run/barcelona-spain

I know you asked about the practicality, but these articles should help you figure out where to run -- pretty important when you're in an unfamiliar foreign country.

Both Florence and Barcelona are really hot and crowded in the summer.

I agree with Andorra or other rmountain regions, cooler, quieter, better running opportunites on soft trails.

Has anybody here gone fell running in Scotland?

Fuuuuuukkkkkitt dude you'll regret not studying abroad bc of running so hard if you don't go

I went to Syria/Israel . Was told there was a treadmill/ place to run. Show up and find out I'm not allowed to leave an extremely tiny compound for a month and there is no treadmill.....fun times

Go to Ireland. Fun time, good running. Clubs there, too.

Go to Australia. There's so many places to run, its safe, has great weather and friendly people.

goodplacetorun? wrote:

Thanks for the response, just curious about where you went and what your experience was as far as the culture around running where you were, did people point and laugh when they saw you, or was it something they were used to seeing? Also was it easy to find places to run at a solid pace, not having to worry about crowds of people, or traffic?

Just saw this. Just do it and play it by ear, it's fun. European cities are generally pedestrian friendly, especially large touristy ones. Check it out on streetview Google maps, especially if you know where you're staying. What I typically did was run to the waterfront (was on a river), ran along that, paved path that went for miles. Isn't Barcelona on water?

My only suggestion is keep track of where you turn and be very careful about that, the fewer turns the better! Out and backs are great!

I just got back from a spring semester. You'll be able to run most days, there are some times you're traveling where running will really suck because you were out late. But like another poster said. You'll regret not doing it if you don't go, and once you're there you'll want to take advantage of chances to meet new people and see the sights. I was able to get a fair bit of training in, I just was way under on sleep. I got injured because of that. I would say don't try to over do your training. Just try to maintain, you don't want to get injured.

Forget about running and focus on going out with girls. Then go back when you're done with college. Do a master's there.

I ran almost daily while spending a summer in Florence 13 years ago. Same deal as other posters - run early on excursion days. Did most of the miles in a nearby park and the surrounding neighborhoods that had some decent hills.