Long run day on Sunday. Strength training on Monday and Friday. Strength/conditioning Tuesday or Wednesday. Another run on Thursday before work. That’s my typical exercise schedule. Plus, usually 15,000-20,000 steps/day.
What will change while I am on vacation? Where will I fit in my sanity sessions? I mean, the main goal for a vacation is to get away from the daily grind. For me, even with the enticement of a new vista, good food and relaxing vibes with my husband, I want to ensure my vacation routine allows for fitness breaks.
My husband and I choose vacation spots where we know we are likely to walk everywhere and that ensures there will be built-in fitness. As a runner, it’s always a little exciting to see where my jaunts will take me in a different landscape. Sometimes, I’ll take advantage of a hotel’s exercise room for some strength training, but I realized on our way to Quebec City that the hotel I picked for our trip doesn’t have an exercise room.
The night before our train trip from Toronto to Quebec City (11 hours, including an hour changeover in Montreal), we went to see the Foo Fighters. It was a great concert, complete with picture-perfect summer stadium vibes and dancing with great company. I was in a great mood at the concert but, then on the way home I felt a bit melancholy. Pre-trip jitters (for various reasons, I wasn’t going to believe we were getting out of town for some fun, until we did)? Hormones? Residual grief? Who knows.
Between the time we got home from the concert to the time we had to leave for the train station in the morning, I only slept for 2.5 hours. They were not a refreshing 2.5 hours because I was worried about sleeping through my alarm.
I knew it would be a long train day with little movement, so I had gone for a 5k the morning before. I got up every once in awhile on the train to move, whether I had to pee or not, I wanted to move my legs when I could. I had prepared wholesome food to bring on the train. Homemade date/nut bars/breakfast sandwiches. By the time we arrived in Quebec City, after a 12 hour trip, we were still famished, tired and dehydrated. I brought neck pillows, in hopes of some upright slumber, but I still haven’t mastered the art of on-transport sleeping.
After walking uphill from the train station to our hotel in old Quebec City, showering and changing, we walked to a place we had already made reservations for dinner – Nina Pizza which was some of the best pizza I’ve had in a long time. Who knows if the lead up and scenery led to that determination, but it was a perfect ‘za (and Caesar salad). It had a perfect crust – just the right amount of char on bottom with a slight creamy quality. The tomato sauce was the kind that I find hard to find — as if someone strained fresh, sun-grown tomatoes on a grater and added just the perfect seasoning to enhance the tomato flavour, along with simple roasted eggplant and divinely stretchy cheese.
Here are my notes about fitness from my time in Quebec City:
First morning in Quebec City. Slept well but tired. Body tired. Decided not to jog yet. There will be a lot of walking and need to listen to body. I did some stretches in the hotel room before coffee and ferry to Levis. Stretches often include standard seated hip hinges, runner’s lunges, down-dog calf movements.
My Garmin watch sleep stats alerted me to the “stress” portion during the first part of my sleep that first night. I have never seen this noted while sleeping. After noticing it a couple times on this trip, some light investigating informed me this can be due to lack of sleep, too much caffeine, one glass of wine. I regularly drink coffee and have never noticed this before. I rarely drink alcohol these days. I had two drinks in 5 days this trip. I’m guessing the stats had more to do with lack of sleep and midlife stress. I’ll keep an eye on it to see if it shows up again at home.
On our first full day in QC, I walked 33000 (hilly) steps. We took a ferry to Levis and walked around there and up these beautiful red stairs. We headed back to Quebec City, up the funiculaire and continued walking all over old Quebec. Plains of Abraham. Montcalm neighbourhood. We even stayed out and talked to locals and caught a magnificent fireworks display on the waterfront. I slept walked the 10 min back to the hotel after the fireworks.
On our second day, I stretched again, did a few push-ups and jumping jacks, in the room, before heading out for a slow 4.5 km discovery jog along the Plains of Abraham. Then we walked the rest of the day, both in Quebec City and, went on a little excursion to Hotel Musee Premieres-nations. where, after taking in the museum and grounds, took advantage of very comfortable lounge chairs for a brief nap under a canopy of maple trees. We also enjoyed a forest walk which incorporates Wendat culture and a light show in the dark forest, here: https://onhwalumina.ca/en/
On Day 3, I thought about going for a jog, but decided against it. My body felt tired. We walked the 15 min walk to the coffee shop we found in the Montcalm area the day before. Then we picked up some cheese, bread and fruit from the little mall in that area and headed to the Plains of Abraham for a little picnic in park. Then we walked some more. More stairs. I decided I needed to lie on the grass. Gavin climbed a tower (sightseeing), and I laid on a park bench, looked at the sky and then did some stretching. It felt like an active rest day. Then we ventured to a live jazz club in the evening, conveniently located within a 5 min walk from our hotel. Even with the “active rest day”, I still managed to get in almost 30,000 steps.
On Day 4, I stretched, went out for a run, coffee, walked through an excellent exhibit at the Musee National des Beaux-Arts du Quebec: https://www.mnbaq.org/en/programming/exhibitions/hyperrealism-this-is-not-a-body. On to more hilly walking at a leisurely pace through Rue Saint-Jean. Once again, reached 30,000 steps.
On Day 5, it was time to stretch before heading to the long train ride home.
I noticed on this trip that overall, I felt more tired. Was it all the steps? The average 30 degree temperature (it was hotter in NYC several years ago and we walked just as much, and, I don’t remember feeling this tired). While this trip included it’s share of R&R, I find myself thinking about where I can take a few naps and maybe get a massage in the coming days. Oh, and, back to my usual fitness routine.
