You know I like to make races part of my vacations. Heck, I like to make races the actual vacation. LOL. Luckily, Beer Geek loves to travel so he’s joined me for several Mainly Marathon series: Dust Bowl, Riverboat, and Center of the Nation. He’s also gone with me to Cape Cod (where he looked at light houses while I ran Ragnar Cape Cod) as well as multiple vacations that included races, including trips to Washington, Oregon, Utah, Alaska, and Wyoming. So, packing for a destination race or racecation? Yeah, I got that.
Here are the most important tips I can give you:
- ALWAYS take your running shoes in your carry on. ALWAYS. – I’ve never actually had my luggage lost on a racecation, but the times I have had lost luggage it’s taken a while to get it. I also like to pack at least one full running outfit. I was reminded of this recently when a woman came to DC for Marine Corps Marathon and her suitcase did not join her. Luckily, this is a major metropolitan area plus it was a huge expo, so thing are available, but sometimes I race where the nearest Walmart is hours away, much less a running store.
- Make a list. I’m a huge fan of google sheets myself. I have a master sheet that I copy each time I’m getting ready for a trip. I never forget things if I check the list off as I’m packing. (Let’s not discuss the times I’ve been lazy about that and forgotten things.)
- If it’s a long trip or multiple races, save packing space by planning to wear some of your running clothes as casual clothes before you run in it. (The other way doesn’t work LOL). It helps that I love to wear Skirt Sports all the time.
- Pack your running outfits in gallon ziploc bags. These are great for keeping you organized and for keeping the nastiness of post-race clothing from sharing with your clean clothes. (Some Mainly Marathon runners I know ship their dirty running clothes home LOL so that they don’t have to deal with it when traveling home).
- Don’t forget your accessories and necessities! Make sure you have your sunglasses, hair bands/scrunchies/hats, glide (although deodorant will do in a pinch), etc. It’s not a lot of fun to get to a race and figure out that you have nothing to keep your hair out of your face…
Got some tips for us? Please share them with Patty, Marcia and me!
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I Always carry on for a race cation. But I think the best races are the ones that I can drive too. In that case I always over pack.
Hey, we didn’t know what the theme was going to be for today’s TOTR because nobody posted it. We didn’t know if the link up was still going so please excuse that we did not ad your link to our post this week.
I have a master list I’ve printed out and put in a page protector. That way I can use a dry erase pen to check things off, erase it, then reuse it. Because otherwise I can’t remember if I’ve packed it or not.
Except mini crockpot needs to be added, apparently, as I did forget that this last trip.
Great tips! I will keep them in mind when I travel to Phoenix for the marathon in February!
Perfect timing! I have a race cation this very weekend!
I avoid checking luggage as much as possible. It helps when I visit my parents so they have all the liquids already, and bulky stuff like jackets if I need it. I don’t like waiting in line to check luggage either and can go straight to security with my carry-on.
The ziploc bag trick is the best! There’s nothing worse than stinking running clothes so having a place to put the sweaty ones is a lifesaver.
I always make a list! I usually make one when thinking about the steps I go through while getting ready for a long run. From getting dressed, to eating, to taking my watch off the charger…it all goes on the list! Knock on wood, but I haven’t forgotten anything yet!
My biggest fear is getting my luggage lost. I have carried on for every vacation. I’ve learned to become a very thrifty packer.
Great tips on wearing what you might run in the next day. Hadn’t thought of that!
Great tips. And I never thought of deodorant in a pinch… thanks!
I have seen people pack all their different running outfits in gal zip lock bags like for the Dopey Challenge in Disney. This would be a great idea even for one race so everything is right there in one place, simply put the bags out the night before, bam!!! Thanks for this link up!
All good tips – especially about bringing your running shoes in your carry on. Losing my luggage before a race is one of my worst nightmares!
I always take ear plugs. Not everyone at the hotel I’m staying at will be racing the next morning and I like to give my self a fighting chance at getting some sleep.
I definitely make sure I have plenty of plastic bags for nasty clothes. I like the wearing-running clothes-before the race thing. That will definitely save suitcase space.
Cracked up that we both listed using your running clothes twice — once for sightseeing and once for running.
Love the ideas about list-making and hope to learn s’more tips. Thanks, everyone!
look at ME ALL HAVING DONE THIS.
once 🙂
for my only race.
Woman after my own heart with the use of google sheets. I use it all the time and also am a big google keep person now. GOOGLE=the best.
I haven’t done too many racecations but my number one would pack the outfit and accessories you need on race day just in case!