Rich on Running: Get your vacation off to a running start

Should you decide to trade in the 20-degree temperatures for a few vacation days of sand and sunshine, rest assured: Your regular running routine doesn’t have to get lost in the exchange!Yes, it may sound tempting to sit by the pool and soak up the sun. Yet there are ample opportunities to get in some running time when you’re not sightseeing, sampling the local cuisine or sitting by that aforementioned pool.For those planning a vacation in sunnier climes, this might mean a chance to get in some good beach running of a kind you haven’t seen since the summer. When my girlfriend and I were in Puerto Rico a few weeks ago, I got to try a few runs along East Beach in the northeastern city of Rio Grande, right next to our hotel. It felt good to run barefoot on the sand and dip my toes in the water ? something it would probably be unadvisable to do on a North Shore beach this time of year!You might also find inspiration to run, and ideas for local running routes, from your fellow hotel guests. It seemed that the hilly, palm tree-lined roads around our hotel, the Wyndham Rio Mar, attracted runners on vacation, although I preferred the much flatter surface of East Beach.Should you feel particularly adventurous, there is always the prospect of planning your vacation around a running event. The “World’s Best 10K,” which we learned about during our vacation, is a road race that will celebrate its 15th anniversary next year, on Feb. 26, 2012, in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico. Among the highlights of past editions of the 10K: Paula Radcliffe of the United Kingdom set a 10-kilometer women’s record of 30:21 in 2003. However, I don’t think we’ll be going back in time for the 2012 10K.There is, of course, the issue of safety while running on vacation. One hotel guest in the elevator with us said that he had tried to run that day, but it was too hot. It is important to keep an eye not only on the temperature (we had 80-degree days throughout our trip), but also on the weather. Our hotel was a short car trip away from El Yunque, the only tropical rainforest in the US. Although no heavy rains emerged to dampen my runs on the beach, it doesn’t hurt to take precautions against inclement weather.Finally, enjoy the chance to run in a tropical setting. Running on the beach, I could see breathtaking views of the El Yunque mountaintop “Yuquiyu,” where, according to legend, a spirit of the same name protected the Taino Indians in the days before the Spanish conquistadors arrived.Rich Tenorio can be reached at [email protected].