Will driving 7 hours the day before my 'thon greatly affect my race the next day? I would rather not do it, but my friend bailed so I am driving solo. I guess I could go down 2 days early, but don't want to spring for the extra hotel night if I don't need to. Thoughts?
Depends on how well you travel in cars. I've done 7+ hours in the car the day before a marathon twice with no noticeable impact on race day. Hell, sometimes my legs even feel a little better after a long trip in the car. If you go that route, make sure you don't neglect your hydration during the drive. It's easy to get dehydrated on a long road trip by minimizing fluid intake to avoid unnecessary restroom stops along the way or drinking too many caffeinated beverages to help stay alert on a solo drive.
driver of cars wrote:
Will driving 7 hours the day before my 'thon greatly affect my race the next day? I would rather not do it, but my friend bailed so I am driving solo. I guess I could go down 2 days early, but don't want to spring for the extra hotel night if I don't need to. Thoughts?
Cool story brah. You'll be fine brah. I drove 10 hours overnight to my first mara' and still busted out a sweat a$$ sub-4....
i drove 6h+ & ran a big HM PR the next day. you'll be fine. maybe even plan it so you drive for 3-4 hours, stop somewhere for your pre-raceday jog, then continue on your way. just be sure to walk around for 5-10min every stop so you don't get too stiff.
honestly the ride home is your bigger concern...WELCOME TO HELL!!!
You'll be fine but go as early as possible so you have time to shake out your legs. Leave at 6am and plan for lots of stops, even if it's just to get out of the car and stretch your legs. And of course mind the hydration as another poster said. And wear compression socks on the drive. Really, they help.
kill you ex-friend
Leave early enough so that you get there in time for a shakeout run around 3pm on the course. If you do this, you will be fine.
driver of cars, this should NOT be a problem. plenty of reasonable ideas already, I'll give you what has worked FOR ME.
ensure that you plan for the drive to actually be EIGHT hours. drive 90min, pull off at a random side road/rest stop/dirt road (this is best). get out and jog 3-5min (less than a mile). drive another 90min, repeat. continue until you get to your destination.
viola, no "stiff-leggedness", no soreness, you feel perky the entire drive (sorry, poor choice of words there ;), and you get just enough mileage for the day to "shake" your legs out. please post back on this thread and let us know what you did, how you felt when you arrived, and how the race went. best of luck, grab a PR!
THIS WILL BE THE MOST IMPORTANT ADVICE YOU WILL HAVE EVER RECEIVED AT THIS DEN OF INHUMANITY.
Sit on a pillow while driving and make sure you do not have your wallet in your back pocket.
You aggravate your sciatic nerve on the drive and you won't be enjoying your marathon.
The previous poster also had a good suggestion about stopping every 90 minutes. To add to that, make sure you stretch your psoas out before jogging a little.
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NOMOREFREERANDY wrote:honestly the ride home is your bigger concern...WELCOME TO HELL!!!
Ha, I was going to post a similar concern.
Just from the subject line, I was worried that the OP was thinking about driving 7 hourse immediately before a 'thon, but with good planing as advised above, he should be fine.
Yeah...be careful on the way home and good luck!
If you're gonna 'thon a mary, make sure you have your double wide fanny pack full of gels and water bottles. My expert coaching advice would be to suggest that you not to do it with a seven-hour drive beforehand.
But I know those 15-mile weeks of training are in the bank. So if you do decide to thon that mary, you should at least man up, aim high, and try to break the vaunted seven-hour goal for the half mary and then kick it in for home on the second half. Stay hard, bro, and go 'thon that mary!!!
quote]driver of cars wrote:
Will driving 7 hours the day before my 'thon greatly affect my race the next day? I would rather not do it, but my friend bailed so I am driving solo. I guess I could go down 2 days early, but don't want to spring for the extra hotel night if I don't need to. Thoughts?[/quote]