Off the Pitch

Off the Pitch
Steve Schafer, DRA-East


Road warriors, listen up. This one is for you. In our office we had one guy retire, another guy left the company, and another guy decided to have a baby (his wife anyway). Suddenly, we had fewer people covering meetings. I ended up traveling 5 weeks in a row during March and April. Traveling for work makes it much more difficult to maintain fitness for weekend refereeing. The following are some of the workout strategies that I use when I’m on travel.


First, I try to fly out later in the morning or afternoon. That way, I can get in a workout, in familiar territory, before I leave town. Second, I research hotel locations that are workout friendly. I repeat at hotels that I have stayed at previously and already have figured out a good running route or workout routine. Some hotels have relationships with local gyms that can expand your workout options over the little workout room at the hotel. Finally, a lot of my meetings are on military bases which have really nice gyms on base that are available for use.


A big challenge while on travel is keeping in good habits. Making yourself get up early and workout is hard when you don’t get a goodnights sleep in the unfamiliar hotel bed. Working out when you get back to the hotel at the end of the day is harder than going to the free happy hour.  You can do little things too while on travel. I try to take stairs as much as possible rather than elevators. I also have done walking tours of many airports rather than sitting waiting for connections.


Thanks for listening. See you on the pitch.


Schafer