Is it possible to stay healthy on a road trip?

I'm really excited that in a couple of weeks I'm going to get to travel with Paul and his band while they go on tour for a week around Texas. I love to travel and see new places, their music is awesome and they're a great group of guys so I'm looking forward to it.

However there is one aspect of travel over here which I find more difficult than anywhere else in the world. I've travelled quite a lot. I even gave up my job once to go backpacking for a year so I find it surprising that this element of travel still causes me problems.... food and staying healthy on the road.

When I was a backpacker I was younger and I didn't really care what I ate. My body just seemed to deal with everything... though in reality I think I was quite a few lbs heavier in those days too (probably something to do with not caring about what I ate!). In the last couple of years since I started running I've been much healthier. I'm more aware of what I'm putting in my body and often I physically react badly to an unhealthy meal.
In England I have a fairly good grasp on how to stay healthy when I'm away from home but America is totally different. It is the world of fast food, drive thrus and junk food that is guaranteed to make me feel (and look) like a slug.

Although I've learned which are the 'healthier' options on several fast food menus and learned that Subway is my friend, I'm interested to know what you do to stay healthy on the road.
Which is your favourite energy or cereal bar that is fairly balanced nutritionally? I'm a monster if I don't eat for a long stretch of time so I'm hoping these will save me from dashing to the sweet isle when we stop for petrol! I'm also still not running due to my knee so I'm keeping a keen eye on my relatively small calorie intake (boo)
What do you do to avoid eating from fast food restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner when on the road for a week? I should clarify I don't think I'm going to be able to chill food or have ice packs for a cooler as I don't know the facilities in each hotel we'll be staying at. If there is anything I can get before I go (online or in Walmart) that would be preferable. Any suggestions for fresher food along the way they could do with being from places like Walgreens rather than dragging the band off to the supermarket while I do a shop ;)
If you have any ideas I appreciate ALL the help and advice you can give.
Thank you

Galveston Half Marathon

Sunday was the day of my first race of 2012.... the Galveston Mardi Gras Marathon and Half Marathon. I ran the half in preparation for my marathon next month, although I'd seriously considered signing up for the marathon as I knew it would be a really flat course and quite scenic along the beach front.... I'm so glad I didn't as it couldn't have been a worse day for it! I've never been in Galveston in the winter and hadn't expected such English weather!

Cold, wet and windy does not even begin to describe the weather on Sunday. Sheltering in the truck before the race Paul pointed out that the palm trees looked as though a hurricane was coming! This is the weather map that I looked at in the morning... if you look very closely you can see Galveston Island and this whole weather system (green being rain, yellow being bad rain and red being torrential rain) was moving slowly in a North Easterly direction fighting against a windy cool front moving down from the North... therefore staying over the island the whole morning and on into the afternoon. The one thing I am thankful for is that it didn't start to thunder and lightning like the day before. I don't know what I'd have done if it did because lightning scares me silly plus it was so open, especially at the most northerly part of the course. 

I'm not sure that the rain was the worst of it! I don't ever run with a hat on but the race organisers luckily gave us a cap in our pre-race goodybag.... I decided to wear it to shelter my face from the driving rain and was glad I did as I hate having rain wash out my contact lenses. The worst thing I had to deal with was the wind which was blowing directly at us for what felt like 80% of the race

The race itself was awesome. I have no doubt that it's one of the flattest courses I will ever run, it was also one of the straightest, right along the Seawall Boulevard from one end to the other (hence the problem having to fight that headwind all the way along the front).

Click here to see video of the start of the race (I'm about 1 minute 41)
I had my Garmin Virtual Partner set on my watch to 5.25/km. This is basically the pace at which I ran my last half marathon, so if I wanted to beat my personal best I would need to run at that pace or quicker throughout the race. I had a plan to run a steady first half and strong, fast second half though the wind was making that pretty impossible. I felt like I was spending twice as much energy along the straight than I would usually spend running along a flat length of road. I wasn't sure I'd benefit from a tail wind at any point as the return length was shorter and sheltered in the main streets so I was determined not to drop my pace.

Here's my lap times and, despite my struggles, I think I just about managed to stick with my pace plan and speed up over the last few km. It wasn't the 'start steady, finish strong' that I'd imagined but wasn't bad considering the conditions

km 1: 5.22

km 2: 5.23

km 3: 5.17

km 4: 5.21

km 5: 5.25

km 6: 5.27

km 7: 5.28

km 8: 5.24

km 9: 5.22

km 10: 5.26

km 11: 5.24

km 12: 5.22

km 13: 5.31

km 14: 5.24

km 15: 5.16

km 16: 5.19

km 17: 5.14

km 18: 5.08

km 19: 5.07

km 20: 5.08

km 21: 4.51

click here to see video of my big finish!

Race Results

I finished 6th in my age group

147th out of 1014 half marathon runners

in a personal best time of 1:52:12 

Overall I had a great race and fantastic time in Galveston with Paul and the puppies. This experience just reminds me why I love to travel and love to race. I'm excited about the marathon next month so after a couple of rest days I'll be right back into my training plan. Wish me luck!

London Calling

Last weekend Paul and I had the opportunity to go to London and stay with a friend for the weekend. We were both excited to go as neither of us have spent time in the city or seen any of the sights that 30 million people a year go to see! We were also fortunate to have the opportunity to visit Sarah Ezekiel who has inspired and supported me throughout my fundraising for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Sarah has become a great friend to both of us online over the last couple of years and it was wonderful to meet her and her family.

After spending some time with Sarah we headed back into the city. We didn't set off with the intention of sightseeing that evening but once we saw the London Eye and Big Ben lit up we couldn't help but walk around to see as much as we could!

Sunday was a beautiful day with clear skies and sunshine so we spent the day doing a lot of walking, sightseeing, picture-taking and train-riding!

We also (somehow) made time to visit the Natural History Museum and Science Museum in the afternoon (both of which are like a maze of rooms that could easily swallow you up for a few days... or even weeks!).

This was a great weekend to finish Paul's time in England with and a great experience for both of us. When we got back to York we had just a couple of days to spend with my family and pack our things before flying to Houston.  I've loved having Paul in England with me and I'm happy he could spend so much time in York getting to know my family and friends.

So as his travels come to an end for now, mine are just beginning again.... For once though, neither of us had to travel alone and we could enjoy the journey together :)