I am contemplating whether or not I should get a motel room the evening before a 5k instead of traveling to the race the day of the race and saving the extra money. Does it make a difference?
I am contemplating whether or not I should get a motel room the evening before a 5k instead of traveling to the race the day of the race and saving the extra money. Does it make a difference?
Is there something special about this 5K that makes it worth the 150 mile trip?
In this situation, I would drive the 150 miles morning of.
What? Obviously you should avoid driving 150 miles the morning of a 5k, not to mention the greater change in your sleep cycle from waking earlier.
Part of the equation would be the time of the race. When does the gun go off?
That old saying comes to mind: "it's not the night before a race that's important, but 2 nights before." Mostly said for marathons but could apply in your case.
If you are interested in saving on the hotel, go on biddingfortravel.com and see if there are hotels offered near the race. If so, research recent bids to see what an acceptable bid may be and then click on the hotel key link that takes you to priceline. Make sure you click on the link that says, "name your own price." It's a GREAT way to save on hotels. Usually, at least 50% off of hotel's internet rates.
And no, I don't have any interest in BFT but I use it just about everytime I need a hotel. And car rental.
Good luck in the race!
As someone else mentioned, sleep the night before isn't as important as the 1-2 nights before the night before. I've driven 150 miles the morning of a 50k and never thought much about it. I will admit to being a road-trip junkie, so I don't mind getting up early to drive to a race or to a trail.
I can sleep soundly pretty much anywhere I decide to lay my head down. I am NOT a morning person. If the gun is early, I would get the hotel. That's just me.
If you're really a morning person and don't mind getting up early, and/or you don't like or have trouble sleeping in places that are unfamiliar, then you might prefer to drive morning of. Like someone else asked, though, what is gun time?
The serious, elite runner wanting to win $$$ would go down the night before. If there's no money on the line and/or you're slow, save your money by driving that morning.
I would not travel 150 miles for a 5k (too many of them around and not really my distance) but for a longer race I would do the hotel. It would take me a while to get loose after a 150 mile trip in the car. I've drive up to about 60 miles (75 minutes) the morning of.
Run there as your warm up.
What is your pre race routine like. If you wake up 4 hours before a race normally then I would suggest driving there. You can wake up, get on the road and be there an hour and a half before race. If you dont wake up earlier than that I would drive out there and get a hotel. If you do drive be sure to pull over, stop and stretch every hour.
I am also wondering what is so special about this 5K that you are traveling so far.
I personally would definitely get a hotel room and make the trip the day before. Sleep is no more effective in my own bed than in a bed in a hotel and I'd really rather not spend several hours sitting in a car right before the race. Obviously getting a room is an added expense, but if a race is so special that it is worth traveling 150 miles, it is probably also worth spending $100 to ensure that you're ready to run.
Not getting a good nigh's sleep and sitting for 2 hours before a race seems sub-optimal to me if you are a serious runner trying to get the best performance possible.
i hate to be all self rightous and all, but come on - driving 300 miles to run for 15-20 minutes? We all have to cut back on our carbon footprint - I am guilty of much energy/pollution, but this seems like an avoidable burn.
Unless there is some mitigating factor or you drive a prius or something like that.
1) There's obviously a girl involved here.
2) Because Alan Webb is not racing that day.
3) Wear an adult diaper like that astronaut did.
Sorry, I should have explained the situaton better. I am a new coach at a small high school and more or less new to running. The cross country program was going to be done away with if someone didn't volunteer to coach and no one except for me was willing. This 150 mile trip would pertain to our conference and state meets which are both at the same place 150 miles away and we have a some what limited budget so I am just trying to determine how important going down the night before would be for best performance. Thanks for any input.
I camped out the night before running my 15k PR. It was probably about 150 miles from home as well. Give it a try!
traveling runner wrote:
Sorry, I should have explained the situaton better. I am a new coach at a small high school and more or less new to running. The cross country program was going to be done away with if someone didn't volunteer to coach and no one except for me was willing. This 150 mile trip would pertain to our conference and state meets which are both at the same place 150 miles away and we have a some what limited budget so I am just trying to determine how important going down the night before would be for best performance. Thanks for any input.
What time is kick off?
justathought wrote:
I camped out the night before running my 15k PR. It was probably about 150 miles from home as well. Give it a try!
Similar to you, my 10k PR (30:51) was set after a night of camping out in the woods of a city park. I'm doing the race again this year and can probably get a hotel room for free but, after last year, I may have to go with what works. I can never sleep in hotels anyhow. They're always way too ******* hot for me to fall asleep!