5 ways racecations are like cruises

I love a cruise. Do you love to cruise? 1 week, 1 room, multiple destinations, everything included . . . sort of. If you’ve ever cruised, you know that everything is not included:

• Tips
• Drinks
• Specialty restaurants
• Shore excursions
• Shopping

It adds up. It adds up quickly!

Tuesdays on the Run linkup asks us what the real cost of a racecation is. Since I’m trying to run a half in every state, all my halfs are racecations. And let me tell you, racecations add up quickly, too.

Travel
You’ve got to get there.

Traveling can include:

• Wear and tear on the car
• Gas
• Plane/train/bus tickets
• Possibly baggage fees
• Possibly taxi fees
• Possibly tips
• Meals while traveling

Not to mention the wear and tear on your body — traveling is tiring!

Someplace to hang your hat
You’ve got to stay somewhere. Even if you’re staying with friends and family, no doubt you want to bring them something or take them out to dinner for their kindness in putting up with your particular brand of prerace crazy.

If you don’t have friends and family nearby, that means a hotel, a bed & breakfast, an airbnb.

And probably more tipping . . .

Fueling
If you don’t fuel well for your race, you’re not going to have a good race.

Sometimes you’re in an area where eating out is reasonable; sometimes you’re not.

You might be too tired after a race to go anywhere, and then room service looks mighty tempting.

Eating out every meal, even on the cheap, ain’t cheap. That’s one reason I like to bring my breakfasts with me. Especially since I think it’s hard to eat a healthy breakfast on the road. I’ll bake things and freeze them so they stay fresh.

For this upcoming trip, I’m bringing with me a couple of used nut butter jars, and two zip locks filled with the makings for overnight oats (since I’ll have access to a mini fridge). All I need to do is dump the ziploc’s contents in the used nut butter jars, add some almond milk (which I’ll be bringing), and put it in said mini fridge overnight. Microwave about one minute in the morning and voila! Healthy breakfast.

The expo
You know it: I’m a shopper. I’ve been doing a lot of small halfs, though, so often they either don’t have an expo at all or there’s just nothing interesting at the expo.

Give me one of the larger races and a great expo, though, and yes, purchases will almost definitely be made.

Even if it’s a small race with a small expo, often there are more race branded clothing items available for purchase. If it’s a bucket race, you might want to shell out the $$ for a jacket (yes, I actually did wear that Austin Livestrong jacket on a long run just a couple of weeks ago).

The whoopsiedaisies!
Whoopsidaisies. Any “Notting Hill” fans out there?

That would be anything you forgot to bring that you really, really need for your race. And because it’s last minute and because you don’t have a lot of options, you might have to pay a premium. Fuel, clothing, chargers, pins, antichafing, water bottles . . . you just never know what you might forget.

Is it worth it?
I probably wouldn’t be trying to run a half in every state if I didn’t think racecations were worth it! I’ll admit I do sometimes wonder what it would be like to sleep in my own bed before a half, but I’ll probably never know.

Racecation or sleep in your own bed?

Favorite racecation?

Dream racecation?

I’m linking up today with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.