Travel for marathon?

[Deleted]

I'm planning ahead for my 30th next year, I would love to do the Big Sur Marathon.  We're coming from the East Coast, and we would stay for about a week and do San Fransisco, wine country, Carmel/Monterrey and Big Sur.  Would you tack on the week before or after the marathon?  Logistically I think it would make more sense to travel there the week before and end with the race, then fly home the next day.  Someone made the point that I might be "off" if I spend the preceding week on vacation.  For what it's worth, I'm not a big drinker/party animal on vacation, tend to get a lot of sleep, do modified workouts, etc. 

[Susie]

I'd want to split the difference - go out a couple days ahead and stay a few days after.

I would want time to acclimate to the time zone and get the travel kinks worked out, which takes me > 1 day, but I would not want to spend a whole week vacationing before race day. I'd also really enjoy a few days to relax and bask in the accomplishment before going back home.

[kams]

I'd personally do maybe 2 days before and 4 after. When I'm vacationing, I don't eat as well, I tend to dehydrate a bit, and walk much of the day. I would rather take a really mellow couple of days, race, and then enjoy recovery in a beautiful place - eating and drinking guilt free.

Maybe I concern myself too much with eating & drinking delicious things while on vacation

[clseale]

Another vote for having the bulk of the days be after the race. I've done 3 CA races, (I'm in FL), and I fly out Friday morning, race on Sunday, & then vacation. It's worked well.

Eta: I would do everything I could to not be stuck on a plane the day after a marathon. Not fun!

[tuggyruns]

I actually just did the Napa Valley Marathon and live in GA. We flew out Wednesday, I raced Sunday and flew back Tuesday. It seemed to work out pretty well. We spent Wed, Thurs, Fri in San Francisco (with a side trip to Sausalito and Muir Woods) and then headed for Napa on Saturday morning. We did a wine/food pairing and packet pickup. I dumped my wine (the horror, I know) but I raced the next day. We pretty much veged out Sunday after the race, just went for a nice dinner and then did some wine tastings on Monday.

I freaked out a lot while we were in San Fran about being on my feet so much (at Alcatraz) and wished I could have run the Golden Bridge. Net-net the only draw back to going in early is that if you are a big touristy person, you'll have a hard time staying off your feet. It was my first marathon though, so I freaked out about well...everything

Also, I am SO, SO glad that I didn't have to fly back on Monday.

[Deleted]

Great advice! Good point about not wanting to get on a plane the next day.

[jamalynn]

I like the idea of splitting the difference. You need some time to acclimate to the time change. I would say 2-3 days.

[Wines Not Whines]

I agree with everyone else. For a Sunday race, I'd want to fly out on Thursday or Friday and then fly back a week later. So 2-3 days before the race to acclimate and have a buffer in case there are travel difficulties, and then several days to have fun afterwards. I would want my legs to feel semi-normal before getting back on a plane for a 5-hour flight.

[hannahb]

Agree with everyone else. I'd also plan to stay in the area of the marathon the day after. You don't want to be driving a bunch the day after either

[Deleted]

If you want to have a true vacation, I'd definitely do the week after the race.

[mrshandy]

Yeah the week before my marathon I was uber stressed and cranky so I would not want to be on vacation beforehand.