Here’s How Runners Can Survive Long Road Trips This Summer

How to keep long drives from ruining your long runs.

Road trips, I decided deep into a recent 14-hour drive from Boulder to Dallas, are a lot like long runs (minus the running). They benefit from regular fuel stops, deliberate distance chunking, and frequent posture check-ins. They’re also kindest on the body when bookended by a warmup and cool down, unappealing as they may seem.

Because this is shaping up to be the summer of road trips, I thought it would be useful to create a guide for runners who want to get away without wrecking their bodies en route. To do so, I asked a trio of experts—a physical therapist, a registered dietitian, and a pro runner—for their top road trip tips, and threw in a few of my own.


Continue reading for Becky Wade's road trip survival tips, which includes staying hydrated with the Sawyer Mini, here.

LAST UPDATED

October 19, 2024

Written by
Photo thumbnail Blog Author

Runners World

Media Mentions from Runners World

Runner’s World, the world’s leading running magazine, informs, advises, and motivates runners of all ages and abilities.

Explore More Content

Media Mentions

Nine pounds of backpacking gear is all a hiker needs to be safe and warm.

Adventure Alan
Media Mentions from Adventure Alan

Media Mentions

We surveyed 365 section or thru-hikers about their stove, food, and water preferences and their experience of illnesses on the Appalachian Trail in 2019.

The Trek
Media Mentions from the Trek

Media Mentions

Emily Ford completed a winter thru-hike of the Ice Age Trail on March 6th, 2021 after 69 days on trail. She is the second person—and the first woman—to ever thru-hike the trail in winter.

The Trek
Media Mentions from the Trek