Lately, my life has become chaotic, dominated by back-to-back travel. As I wrote in my previous post, this lifestyle carries a heavy emotional toll—spending weeks away from home, far from family and loved ones.
Now, I want to write about the other side of that coin: how I maintain the discipline to work out while on the road. It isn't just about preserving fitness; above all, it's a vital tool to stay sane and keep stress at bay amid endless boarding gates and hotel rooms. Heading out for a run becomes the anchor that resets both mind and body whenever the scenery shifts every three days.
I can't travel with my bicycle, so on the road it all comes down to running. The first tour, in August, went from Santa Cruz to Asunción, Montevideo, Panama City, San Salvador, and back through Panama, plus a lightning turnaround to La Paz. The second, in September and October, started with a quick trip to Panama, then Buenos Aires, a ferry and a bus to Montevideo, São Paulo, Asunción, Santiago de Chile, and Asunción again, with the way home through São Paulo still ahead.
Across those two tours I logged eight runs in four cities. Here are the numbers, and the runs I will actually remember.
The Runs
| Date | Location | Distance | Moving Time | Pace | Avg / Max HR | Elev. Gain | Relative Effort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 9 | Santa Cruz (Los Cusis) | 11.85 km | 73:29 | 6:12 /km | 145 / 164 | 0 m | 103 |
| Aug 15 | Panama City (Cinta Costera) | 5.02 km | 29:01 | 5:47 /km | 165 / 184 | 2 m | 90 |
| Aug 16 | Panama City (Cinta Costera) | 10.02 km | 65:37 | 6:33 /km | 164 / 179 | 11 m | 203 |
| Aug 20 | San Salvador (Bicentenario) | 5.01 km | 31:15 | 6:14 /km | 151 / 171 | 38 m | 59 |
| Aug 23 | Panama City (Cinta Costera) | 13.02 km | 87:25 | 6:43 /km | 159 / 176 | 10 m | 226 |
| Sep 28 | Santa Cruz (Los Cusis) | 5.02 km | 35:15 | 7:02 /km | 140 / 172 | 0 m | 41 |
| Oct 3 | Asunción (Parque de la Salud) | 6.59 km | 41:39 | 6:19 /km | 160 / 180 | 94 m | 113 |
| Oct 10 | Asunción (Parque de la Salud) | 10.02 km | 63:42 | 6:22 /km | 161 / 182 | 142 m | 174 |
The two Santa Cruz runs are the baseline: easy flat laps at home, and the only ones of the block where my heart rate stayed comfortable. I squeezed in the August 9 run right before leaving for a reason that has little to do with fitness: I wanted to be sure I wouldn't break my streak on Strava, more than 52 weeks in a row without missing one. On September 28, a Monday, I did it again for the very same reason: a slow 5K before leaving on the second tour, just to have the week covered.
San Salvador was a short evening 5K over rolling hills, between two stops in Panama. The rest are the ones worth telling.
Panama: The Humidity Tax
Running the Cinta Costera looks easy on paper: flat, at sea level, right by the water. Then the humidity gets a vote.
I went out twice as soon as I arrived. First a 5K on the evening of August 15, just to get acquainted with the climate. The next morning, a 10K, climbing over the bridge to make the distance add up. I covered the first 5.7 km at 6:33 /km; the remaining 4.3 km came in at 6:58 /km, with my heart rate ten beats higher than in the first part.
Then came the farewell, on August 23, after the visit to the land of Bukele and on the morning of my flight home. That day I had a route in mind, not a distance: the idea was to run all the way to the end of the Cinta Costera bridge. I made it, and it added up to 13 km. The price was the usual one: 6:07 /km for the first 5.7 km, around 7:30 /km for the last 6.3 km, with stops to drink in between.
The toll of humidity: In Santa Cruz, I ran at 6:12 /km with an average heart rate of 145 bpm. In Panama, on the two longer runs at 6:33–6:43 /km, it averaged 159–164 bpm. In short: roughly 15 to 20 extra beats per minute just to run 20 to 30 seconds slower per kilometer.
The lesson is simple and I had to learn it twice: in that air, you don't get to run your home pace. Start slower than feels reasonable, or pay for it in the second half.
Asunción: Racing the Hail
Tour two took me to Asunción, and to Parque de la Salud: a short loop with about 20 meters of climbing on every lap, which sounds like nothing until you stack them up.
On October 3 I went out in the evening with dark clouds already building. I got five laps in, each a little harder than the one before, and then it stopped being a training run and became a race against the sky. I pushed the final stretch with my heart rate at 180 bpm, and the hailstorm arrived anyway and ended the session at 6.59 km.
Asunción: Back in the Rain
A week later, after flying to Santiago de Chile and back, I returned to the same gravel path. A fasted run at 19°C, with southern wind and steady rain. Not the kind of morning that invites you outside.
This time I finished what the hail had interrupted: seven full laps, 10 km, 142 meters of climbing. After a quick first lap, the other six came within 20 seconds of each other. It was two minutes faster than my flat 10K in Panama, with all that climbing added, at a slightly lower average heart rate.
For the last two kilometers I used a trick: I put on a song. Those two went by at 6:12 and 6:06 /km, and the last one was the fastest of the whole run. The song is Maria, by Blondie. It brings back moments with my baby, and that was the shot of adrenaline my body needed to finish.