Episode 41: Running with Friends Series- Tips for Traveling to Races
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Welcome to Chasing Life podcast, where we talk about fitness, running, career, and life tips to inspire you to live your best life. I'm your host, Sarah Kane, and I hope you enjoy today's episode. Welcome to another episode of Chasing Life. Today's episode is running with friends. So my friend Leti is joining me today, and we are going to talk about an update on our running, as well as some tips if you are traveling to races. Welcome, Leti. Hi, Sarah. Thanks for having me.

It's always a pleasure to talk with you. I'm excited to catch up with you today. Let's catch up. How's your running been? My running has been going very well. I am getting close to reaching my peak week. I have my race in about a month and I've been doing really well running for

between 35 and 37 miles a week and recently just hit a new long run milestone of 12 miles, which if you've been following us along, you know, I was dealing with some tendinosis issues earlier in this year. So it felt really good to have a strong 12 mile run with a half marathon in a month.

That sounds amazing. And can you remind our people, our people, our running friends again, what race you're looking forward to doing? So I am racing a local half marathon called the Bridge Run. And then I'm also running the Wineglass Half Marathon at the beginning of October.

Ooh, that one's a very well-known one, I think. Yes. Yes, it is. I'm excited to go back and get some redemption on that course. Oh, that's right. That's right. If you guys hadn't listened to that episode, I will link it in the show notes where Sarah was telling you her story about how her marathon or half marathon didn't go that well that day. That's right. Yeah. So I'm looking forward to another attempt on that course. Go get it, girl. Thanks.

So how's your running going? You have the Berlin Marathon coming up. Yes, I have Berlin coming up in, I guess, in a month, four weeks. So I've been ramping up miles, picking around 82 miles every week for the last four weeks. And it's been different. I never knew I could run that far or that much. It's been fun, but I think it's only been fun because I know it's going to come to an end very soon. Yeah.

Yeah, that's a lot of mileage. Your pace is pretty fast, but I'm just curious how many hours you spend on the roads each week. You know, I don't even know. But I mean, I guess the week the weekly runs are there's four slow runs and.

and then two workouts and then one long run, which is always on Sunday. So it's a 17 miler that's fast and then a double run. And I have the evening run of five to six miles, which is slow again. So, you know, my hard runs have been hard and fast, but my slow runs are just average pace. Um,

But, you know, and just I know I have to put in all the miles because I want to reach certain goals. And so let's see how the body does and if I can hang for just four more weeks. Yeah, hang in there. And I think you bring up an important point, too, of

reminding our listeners to keep the easy miles easy and the hard runs hard. And that when it comes to easy miles to just run at a pace, that is an easy effort that you can have a conversation at. And that helps you to be able for your legs to be strong enough to run hard workouts at the paces they need to. That's definitely a lesson I've been adjusting to and it being, being more accepting of this year, especially. Yeah.

Oh yeah. That's so key. I can't even imagine running 80 miles at a fast pace. I'm glad that you figured out the importance of that because it is so, so important. Yeah. So speaking of other important topics, traveling to races is a

something that maybe not every runner does. I know I haven't traveled more than two hours to a race, but you've traveled all over the country and even all over the world with, with Berlin coming up. And so we thought it would be a great topic to share traveling tips to races.

Yes, yes. So today we're going to cover the topics of COVID, flying and flights, hotels and accommodation, the expo, meal planning, your last runs, because obviously if you travel somewhere, you're still going to have to get some runs in.

And last but not least, some local tips. So COVID is the elephant in the room right now. So after you decide which race you're going to run, make sure that you're actually able to comply with the COVID restrictions that we have nowadays. There's a lot of races that require you to either have the vaccine or if not be willing to get tested. And so make sure that you're on board with either one of those and

Also, just because a race doesn't require you to have a vaccine doesn't mean that certain countries don't. So make sure that before you do all that, book your flights, make sure that you're compliant with all of that before you enter the country.

Yeah, that's a great reminder. And we aren't here to tell you to get a vaccine or not. Like that is your personal choice, but we just want to remind you to check what the guidelines are for the race, especially this year. And even for probably the next few years, these restrictions will probably be in place. So make sure that you are complying with them because you don't want to show up to race day just to be turned away at the expo, just because the, you didn't meet the guidelines. Yeah.

Exactly. That makes you just lose a lot of money. So I guess when we are picking races nowadays, don't just consider the time zones and jet lag and elevation temperature, humidity and all those things. Also, now that's another thing to add to your list. Now flying, as I mentioned, I've never flown to a race, but you have. You've done Chicago and you're flying to Berlin. So how do you decide where?

how soon you fly to your destination prior to the marathon or any other race that you're doing.

Well, I would say fly as early as you can, which obviously never works because we work. We have children and family obligations. So if you can't be there a week early, then I guess just go however soon you can, especially if you have to take into consideration time difference. Check out the airlines, check out their flexibilities and maybe find an airline with a good reputation because if you're flying too close to your...

then sometimes, you know, if the flight gets canceled, you might have to miss the expo, which is not always a good thing, especially having to pick up your race bib. Also check out luggage options. If you're flying with carry-on only, make sure that your carry-on meets the weight requirements and

Also think about where you want to sit. I personally like sitting in an aisle because that way I can stretch my legs. And also if you're flying internationally, don't forget to put in your meal preferences because if you're a vegetarian like me, sometimes it sucks if you forget to put that in and then you get served with the beef in front of you.

Yeah, those are great tips, especially the aisle seats. I actually, when I fly, I like the window seats, but I think it's important to remind runners that if you get an aisle seat or that you should get an aisle seat, especially before a race and after a race, because then you can get up and move around a lot more easily.

Oh, yeah, that's so important. And especially if you're hydrating more than usual, then it's kind of annoying having to sit at the window by the window and having to say excuse me all the time because you keep having to run to the bathroom. Right, right. Yeah. So once you arrive at your location, what are some hotel tips? I

I like to go with the refundable options. I'm a big fan of websites like Expedia where you can book a hotel and you can choose the option that you book now and pay later, which means that you're paying at the hotel when you get there. That way you are able to book some hotels early and you have the ability to cancel all the way up until a week before. So just to give you an idea, I've already booked my...

room for the 2022 Boston Marathon, even though I haven't gotten in yet. And even though they haven't even released any information yet, just because I know Boston is one of those places that are super expensive that tend to sell out. And so that way you have kind of an early in. Yeah, that's a great idea to book early, especially on those

big races where you think you're going to go, or you, you may even consider you want to go, but just making that reservation will give you one less thing to worry about of, will I even be able to get a hotel that's close? One tip also that I have for a hotel, I was going to do the Marine Corps marathon in 2020 and their race was,

organization offers hotels. They have right on their website, they have hotels that partner with the races. And often there is a package deal or lower prices because they're partnering with the race. And especially it was especially helpful last year in 2020, I booked my hotel through the Marine Corps Marathon website. And when they canceled the race, I

I didn't have to contact the hotel to get my refund when my registration for that race got refunded. So did my hotel. And so oftentimes looking at the race website and seeing if they have any accommodations might also end up in your favor to allow for those, the possible refunds.

Just things to consider. No, that's a great tip, especially because they are able to get hotels at lower rates because like you said, they work something out with them. And in addition to that, they probably know how to pick hotel close to the either starting line or finish line. So that's another good tip. If you are booking your own hotel, check out the route of the marathon. So that way, you know where the marathon starts or finishes are.

I personally choose my hotels close to the finish line because I like to be done and take a hot shower afterwards. Also take into consideration that you're not going to book a party hotel because you do want to have a good night rest before your race. And unless you're staying for additional nights, you might also want to check into whether your hotel has options for late checkouts or stuff like that.

Yeah, definitely great tips to keep in mind, especially the late checkout, right? If you, uh, you know, your race maybe starts at eight, but if you're running a marathon, it's going to take you a couple hours. So ask for that late checkout. So you're not worried about, um, you know, packing up the morning of your race or even trying to get back to the hotel by a certain time so that you don't get charged that late fee. Exactly. Exactly.

So then let's talk about the expos that we have for every marathon. Obviously, we're going to see different expos now in the next few months because you don't see the normal expos of a lot of people walking into the same building, especially considering that they're trying to keep those 25,000, 30,000 people races safe. Yeah.

Yeah. So I have to admit, I haven't been to an expo under these new guidelines, but I anticipate there might be either longer hours for expos to be available or definitely things more spaced out. So just, you know, taking that into account when you're planning or traveling on when you'll be attending the expos so that you get to the expo in time, you know, to, you

to collect your race bibs so you're not rushing on race morning. And some races may not even have race day pickup. So again, you know, taking that into account when you're planning. Yes, exactly. And then it's key, like you said, to just pay attention to those hours. I don't know, you know, I feel like it could go either way. Either some races might send you those race bibs via mail to avoid the expo altogether or

And others will not do that because obviously the expo is a great place for people, for vendors to come and present their items to marathoners, which we love buying running gear and gadgets. Oh, absolutely. And there's been times where I've been glad to go to an expo because I'm like, oh, I forgot my race belt or, oh, I forgot a hat. And so it's great to pick up those last minute items at the expo.

Yes. And I personally enjoy expos very much because it's really cool to see all these other runners all traveling to the same race and suck up the hype because you're going to run accordingly. So if there's experienced marathoners talking, get in line, take a photo with them. But again, who knows if they're going to even have anything close to that right now? Absolutely. And that's a great reminder that often expos will have a runner's forum that you can...

It depends on the race, but I've been to race expos where the forum is free to attend. You just have to get there in time to listen. And I've, I've been able to meet Catherine Switzer that way and Bill Rogers. And so it's just been really fun to, you know, be in the same room as these legendary runners and, and,

Other races, like the wine glass, will have Meb coming and Bart Yasso. And so it's just a great way to connect with professional athletes and those who have been successful in running. Yeah, that's super inspiring. Absolutely.

So from the expo, there's another topic we should definitely talk about and mentioned, which is meals. So as you know, other states, other locations, smaller towns, bigger towns, foreign countries, you'll likely not be able to get the same thing that you are eating right now.

Sometimes it's a different brand. So all the stuff that we always talk about is don't do anything new for a marathon day. So I had an episode on nutrition, and that's the thing that we talked about most. You experience during your training, but you don't change anything for the marathon. So with that in line, my recommendation is to pack all your stuff.

So if you have to bring your oatmeal, then bring your oatmeal. If you have to, I don't know, dehydrate your peanut butter, then try and do that. I'm kidding, but you get my point. Yeah, absolutely. And that's really important. I also just had a nutritionist on my podcast and just knowing what your stomach can handle

is super important because you don't want to have GI issues the morning of your race or even during your race. So, you know, bringing the, the dried fruit or the gels or whatever it is that you have used during your training and to have the same breakfast that you've had all along during the training, even if that means packing it, um,

One of the races that I traveled to, which was only about two hours away, but I brought my blender because I usually have a smoothie in the morning. Thankfully we stayed at a hotel and I was just driving by car so I could do that. But just because I knew that having a smoothie sat well with my stomach. And so I brought my banana and my almond milk in like a little water bottle and my

blunder and you know added in my protein powder and that was my breakfast but you know I it was an extra bag to bring but it was worth it because I knew that that was a meal that sat well in my stomach and so that's really important to you know not see it as a burden to pack the food but realize that it's part of your training and that it's just as important as packing your running shoes.

It's like, you're going to have to bring a separate suitcase for that blender. If they'll let me carry it on a plane. Why does this girl have a blender with her? So, yeah, I completely agree. And if you can't bring it because your blender got taken at TSA or somebody took your banana because you're bringing stuff in that you can't bring in, then I guess we recommend just eat bland food.

save those local legacies for after your run. So, you know, save it all up for after you're done running your marathon and then go out and eat whatever you want, because then GI distress is not going to affect you as much as it would if you were running a marathon with all that. Right. And once you finish a marathon, it's like a reward to say, all right, like I've been training hard. So I'm not, I'm going to have these foods that I'll enjoy and you can kind of just celebrate finishing. Yeah.

Exactly. It makes me want to book an extra day, an extra extra day for after Berlin, just because I know, man, the bakeries in Germany and all that stuff. I really want to have some more of it. Yeah. So then let's talk about running while you're traveling. So personally, I love traveling and I love running as much as I love traveling. So when I go somewhere new, I have basically no hesitation trying to go somewhere and trying different routes that I'm not familiar with.

I know that not everybody is the same way. If you don't like that sort of stuff, you can map out your hotel and figure out where you're going to want to run. And if you don't like that, then make sure that your hotel has a treadmill because you're going to have to bring or you're going to have to do those last few runs for your training.

Yeah. And, you know, check out around the hotel for safe locations to, you know, whether it's a park, sometimes cemeteries are a good route. They're usually quiet, no traffic. I've run in cemeteries before when I'm not super familiar with an area. So just kind of when you book your hotel, see what's around there. That would be a safe location to run.

Wow. I've never heard that about cemeteries, but it's so true. I mean, it reminds me of golf courses, but you're not allowed to run on the golf course, but I guess that would be really a tranquil place to run unless you're in the night. Oh yeah. It might be a little creepy at night, but yeah, just, you know, ideas to keep in mind. Or if you're lucky, like if you're traveling to Boston, they have lots of running trails and

to safely complete those shakeout runs on. So, you know, see what's do some research of the area and try to just find those safe running locations. Yes, definitely. And then also likely you'll probably know at least one person that is also traveling for the same race that you can try to tag along with. But if you can't, another thing you can do is go to those Facebook groups. So there's lots of Facebook groups that you can just Google by putting in the name of your marathon and

and you'll find certain groups. For example, for Berlin, I found Berlin 2021 or Bust. So that's a group where people are talking about, well, I guess right now, how to get into the country and little nuances of the race. And I'm sure closer towards the race, they're going to have some sort of shakeout run where you can join them if you want to do that sort of stuff.

Yeah, that's a great tip. And I actually joined when I was training for the Marine Corps Marathon. I joined that group and it was encouraged. I remember like when I registered for the race, like the email that I got from the organization was saying, you know, join our Facebook group. So don't ignore those things. If you're interested in connecting with other runners from the race, it can be very helpful to, you know, find people.

These tips or oftentimes in these groups are people who have run that course before. So you can pick their brains about the terrain or, you know, what it's like or anything like that. Finding local trails, joining them for shakeout runs, making some new running friends. Yes. Yes. And then you can bond with those people over running and who knows, maybe like you said, you'll get a running friend out of, out of that sort of thing. So that's really kind of cool. Yep. It's definitely fun to make new friends over the internet. Oh yeah. Like us. Exactly. Yeah.

We'll meet in person soon. I'm sure. Yeah, that would be, I hope we can make that happen at a race. So our last topic to cover is local things to check out or make sure you do, you know, leading up to your race day.

Yes. And the most important one by far, which has bitten a few friends of mine in the butt, was to not read your race website multiple times until you understand everything that you need to

Right now, obviously, it's the whole COVID thing. Who needs to be tested? Who needs to show what proof of which vaccination and the timing of those tests? But also before COVID came around, there was some places that require a medical certificate. So that's mostly European races. It's not very common for marathons in the U.S.,

to, um, require that because you sign a waiver when you sign up for a marathon, but a lot of the European countries require you to come with a doctor's note that says that you're of good health, good enough health to, um, be running this marathon. That's interesting. I didn't know that. And yeah, maybe something that we take for granted in the U S um,

Yes, yes. The U.S. has a lot of lawyers and a lot of protection at the same time. And another super important thing is to know where the start line is for your race and how you might need to get there. For some races, like the wine glass, it's a point-to-point course, which means you park at the finish line and you have to get on a bus and you get transported to the start line. So it's super important to know or to arrive...

at the bus pickup line with plenty of time to get on the bus, get to your start line and, you know, just making sure that you're aware of those specific race instructions. That's a good one. Yeah, absolutely. That way your race morning is going to be one that is more relaxed than trying to chase around and, um,

figuring out how to make it there on time. I have one that is pretty close to that, which was my first Chicago marathon, which was in 2019. I had no idea how deep in that security check was. So when I showed up, I just expected to walk into, well, drop off my bag and then walk into a corral. And instead there was a huge security line or multiple ones that

where you had to show your bib, where you had to show that you didn't have anything of danger in your bag. And to go through that security took about, I don't know, 20, 25 minutes. And I'm really glad that I listened to a friend of mine who said, hey, you got to go there a little bit earlier because otherwise I probably wouldn't have made it into my corral on time.

Yeah, my last wine glass race where I had to board the bus, I was still standing in the even though I felt like I got to the bus start line and plenty of times but they were short on buses and so it was taking them a lot longer to bus out loads of people to the start line, and I got to the start line only a half an hour before the race start.

And I, then I stood in line in the bathroom, like we all do. And I, then at like 20 after seven. So like the race was supposed to start at like seven 30 or something. And, or we had to actually get to like the start line up at seven 30. And I'm like still five people deep at seven 20. And I'm like, Oh,

finishing up going to the bathroom like everybody to the start line i'm like running my bag over to the drop bag thing and then like running to the start line it was like cut way too close so yeah it's definitely better to get to a start line early than try to you know sleep in

Yeah, no, that's a good lesson because in reality, you're still going to be up early anyway. So what's another extra half an hour? Just suck it up, try to sleep later on your plane ride back. Yeah. And you don't want to get nervous like the morning. You want to save your nerves and the adrenaline for your actual race, not wondering whether or not you're going to make it to the start line on time. Right. After training for four months, you want to be sure you make it there on time. Yeah, yeah.

So those are the ones that we have. If you want to contact us, you can always reach out to each one of us and let us know what you think about our tips. And if you have some that you think should have been added.

Yeah, we'd love to hear from you. You can either message us on Instagram or join our Facebook group called Running With Friends Community, where we share our latest episodes as well as upcoming topics. And just it's a great way to connect with other runners and connect with us. And we also gather listener questions. Yeah.

Yes, Sarah. And for this episode on traveling for races, I'm going to read the first of three questions to you and see if we can come up with a good answer for this person. So this first question comes from Brian and Brian says, I am super excited to go to Europe for the Berlin marathon. Oh, Hey Brian, I will see you there. So he says, I don't have a lot of time. What are your recommendations on going sightseeing with little time?

So Brian, our recommendation would be to save your sightseeing until after the race. So if you can maybe book an extra night after the race and do your sightseeing either after the marathon, if you still have energy left or the next day, and that way you can focus on your race and then enjoy your time in the city afterwards. Okay.

Which is also a great tip because you're going to supposed to be moving anyway. Yeah, absolutely. So take a walking tour of the place you visited. All right. So Sarah, the next question comes from Cynthia and Cynthia says, I'm really nervous about putting all my running gear into my checked luggage. I only have two days before I have my race and I'm nervous about not receiving my luggage in case it gets lost. Do you think I should put everything into my carry on?

Cynthia, I always try to put my most important things in my carry-on. So in this case, that would include my running shoes and my running clothes and maybe a change of clothes for one day in case my luggage got lost. So what I do actually, when I travel on a plane, I just use one of the

overhead bins. I try to fit everything I can into a luggage that would fit in an overhead bin so that I don't have to worry about checking my bags. And while I do have to drag that through the airport, at least makes me feel more secure that I have my luggage with me. So if you can try to downsize to fit into a small luggage bag. Very well. Smaller is better in this case. Yes. All right, Sarah. So this last question comes from Rory.

And she says that she is worried about jet lag. She's flying to Europe. I guess everybody's going to London and Berlin. And she's worried about not being able to be awake enough for her marathon, whatever that means. What do you recommend for her?

So that's a really good question. So my advice with dealing with jet lag is depending on what direction that you're traveling in, whether you're kind of going ahead of time. So if you're flying to the east, try to have a book a red eye flight from your location into the new location. So when you arrive in the new place, say in Europe, if you're flying, say, from East Coast, U.S. to Europe, book a red eye flight.

And that way you can try to sleep on the plane, but then when you arrive, your local time will be in the day and try to power through that day. And, you know, hopefully you, you picked a flight, especially if you're traveling that distance that you're getting there at least two days before the race. Um, and then that way you can try to adjust to the time difference. But my advice with jet lag is to just try to stay in the plane and try to

Stay as much on local time as you can once you arrive. And I found that booking red-eye flights, especially if you're traveling east or traveling to a time zone that is ahead of your current time zone,

That kind of helps you to adjust better. What do you think, Leti? I think that's a great solution to this. And I'm really glad now thinking about what you said, that I booked a flight that is a red-eyed flight. So that's definitely going to help. And I'm glad that you mentioned that because it makes a lot of sense.

So that was great advice, Sarah. And as always, along with all the advice, we always give hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Especially in the summer heat and humidity. I can't wait for fall. Oh, wow. You're on your own there. I'm actually enjoying the summer.

But that's cool. So thank you guys for tuning in. I hope that we gave you guys a lot of information that you can implement when you're choosing a marathon that's abroad or even within the country and that you can implement those suggestions. Until next time.

Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it on social media. Tag me at Sarah Chasing Life or at Chasing Life Podcast. If you haven't already, please be sure to subscribe and rate this podcast. That helps me to reach more listeners.