Driving home after the half

[Steve's Girl]

I plan to run the half in January. Due to family scheduling issues, we will need to start driving home by noon on the day of the race. It is a 1200 mile drive home and we will make the drive over 2 days. (kids need to be in school on Monday). So, the first day, we will likely drive about 8 to 10 hours. I know this is not an ideal situation, but it is the only way we can make this trip work. Any tips for a long car ride following the race? Thanks!

 

[WDWFAN9]

Frequent stops! Make sure you stop and walk around a bit as often as you can.

 

[verticalchaos]

You've got a second driver, right? Let that person start out and drive most of the first day?

I haven't done the half yet - my first will be this year - but any other time I've been in situations where I've been tired and had to drive a long way, there's been another person who drove a good portion of the way so I could sleep.

 

[bounceliketigger]

I plan to run the half in January. Due to family scheduling issues, we will need to start driving home by noon on the day of the race. It is a 1200 mile drive home and we will make the drive over 2 days. (kids need to be in school on Monday). So, the first day, we will likely drive about 8 to 10 hours. I know this is not an ideal situation, but it is the only way we can make this trip work. Any tips for a long car ride following the race? Thanks!

Have you ever done a race of this distance before? If not, you may want to pay particular note to how your own body responds. Like the other folks said, frequent stops.

I myself have to stay put for at least a whole day following a long run. Near "facilities" that is. But that's getting into TMI for sure....

 

[cobbler]

I had a somewhat similar experience. I did the last Minnie 15K, we had breakfast at Ohana and then had to hit the road for our 1200 mile journey home. I was the passenger and we didn't stop that often, just for gas and maybe a food stop (usually bathroom, gas and food were all done at one time). Lets just say the next day I was sooooooo soooooo sore it was crazy!!

You will need to stretch and walk around otherwise you may feel very immobile and experience pain...

 

[cewait]

As mentioned above, you really need to wait until your body functions restart after the race. Many runners do not have the need for a 2-4 hours post race - but once it hits you will not make it from rest stop to rest stop. So waiting is well advised.

I would suggest stopping every other hour or so for a quick walk and stretch. A good suggestion is to consider a pair of compression tights for the trip. You do not need the expensive sport tights and can get away with the cheaper medical version. This will compress the muscle and help to keep some of the DOMS at bay. It will also help with any thrombosis that may result from sitting for an extened period of time post run.

Hope this helps. In all honesty, if you are urinating regularly by noon, you should be OK. You will be more sore from the sitting than if you were able to walk through the day

 

[Steve's Girl]

As mentioned above, you really need to wait until your body functions restart after the race. Many runners do not have the need for a 2-4 hours post race - but once it hits you will not make it from rest stop to rest stop. So waiting is well advised.

I would suggest stopping every other hour or so for a quick walk and stretch. A good suggestion is to consider a pair of compression tights for the trip. You do not need the expensive sport tights and can get away with the cheaper medical version. This will compress the muscle and help to keep some of the DOMS at bay. It will also help with any thrombosis that may result from sitting for an extened period of time post run.

Hope this helps. In all honesty, if you are urinating regularly by noon, you should be OK. You will be more sore from the sitting than if you were able to walk through the day

Thanks all for the tips. My husband will be doing most of the driving. We will also have my mom with us, so she could drive if need be. I won't have to drive at all the first day. I am a little concerned about the need for frequent bathroom stops. I guess everyone will just have to be patient and understand. I think I will look into a pair of compression tights. I know I will be very sore the next day - hopefully that will help at least a little!

 

[kareneast]

Like everyone said....stop frequently to walk around & stretch. We have driven home for 6+ hours right after a couple of races. Not as far as you, but enough to know we were pretty sore. LOL Stopping every hour or two to walk around & stretch really helped. Since you are stopping overnight, I think I would try to go for a nice slow walk for around 30 min. & do a full set of stretching. Maybe go for a walk again in the morning before getting back into the car.

 

[Tiger Lily 03]

...Stopping every hour or two to walk around & stretch really helped. Since you are stopping overnight, I think I would try to go for a nice slow walk for around 30 min. & do a full set of stretching. Maybe go for a walk again in the morning before getting back into the car.

I have done this several weekends after halfs this year. I was not the driver, DH took care of that for me. We did a lot of stops and walking in between. I'd also try to wiggle a bit as I was sitting, kind of like airplane exercises. Be mindful of your need for fluids too. Just explain to everyone ahead of time that more stops will need to be made and they'll deal with it. Happy traveling.