Marathon Travel Planning 101

Kathy K

This post is adapted from a blog post written by Flyer Kathy K, which appeared in her own blog, Will Run for Miles, in February 2015.

1.  Plan Ahead.  First, and foremost,  planning is fun.  It’s exciting to start planning.  As soon as the idea is planted in my head that I might want to visit a city for a marathon or event, I go to Kayak and set up a price alert for flights – I always use the daily alert, not the weekly alert.  Fares can change like the seasons, and in order to take advantage of a good rate you need to know about it.

2. Early Bookings can be Great Deals.  I know we typically hear talk of “last minute bargains,” but I find that some of the best bargains are found sooner rather than later.  Some trips, especially for popular marathons in large cities, are best planned before the town wakes up and realizes that there is a big opportunity to make lots of money.  Point in fact….  In 2011, right after the Miami Marathon, I decided I want to go back again for the 2012 Miami Marathon.  Miami hotel rates, especially for the marathon weekend, are very VERY expensive (as in other cities such as New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles).  But I looked around, and the Marriott Marquis downtown, a four star hotel very close to the start and finish of the marathon, had apparently not realized that the marathon was the last weekend in January.  So, I booked a government rate (yes, I’m eligible for that rate – – one should always explore and exploit all of the rates they are eligible for) for less than $110 per night.  Pretty incredible.

3. Flexibility.  Remain flexible and don’t commit if possible.  Yes, I said plan ahead.  But also recognize that you don’t want to back yourself into a corner if you don’t have to.  Plans sometimes change, and its great to know you can change your destination, your hotel or your dates of travel. Hold hotel rooms, but don’t opt for non-refundable if possible.  For example – I’ll cover it in another post, but knowing how to use Priceline can be great in planning trips.  However, on at least two recent occasions, I got fabulous deals on Priceline for a Friday to Sunday stay, realizing, long after, that I’d prefer to go from Saturday to Monday, and I was stuck.  A bargain is only a bargain, if you use it.

4. Keep checking.  Hotels, Airfares and Car Rentals change.  If you are renting a car, make a reservation early.  They can nearly all be canceled without penalty. Often, car rental prices keep increasing – and if you placed a reservation early, you will have the benefit of that rate.  On the other hand, if the price decreases (and you’ll only know that if you check back), then you can cancel and take advantage of the lower rate.  Some people say very good things about using Autoslash to keep watch on car rental rates.  Hotel rates can also change, or become available, over time – but you can only take advantage if you keep checking! (see, Keep Checking Trip Details Right Until the Last Minute).

5.  Use all advantages you have.  Read blogs and sign up for emails, and point and mile programs.  Much more to follow on this.  For example, based on a tip, I signed up for the frequent flyer program on Kingfisher Airlines.  Nope, I never heard of them either.  But, they were giving away “silver” elite status just for signing up.  And since they are a future partner of American Airlines, and other One World Airlines, that may mean the ability to check bags for free (ok, I almost NEVER check bags, but still….) or perhaps even boarding a flight early or getting a better choice of seats.  So… Hello Kingfisher. (Update: Kingfisher disappeared a few years ago).

6.  Be persistent, but not annoying.  Be nice.  Be very nice.  If  you are dealing with a representative on  the phone, and the conversation does not seem to be going in the desired direction, don’t argue and don’t plead.  Hang up and try again.  Because…. you never know!!! 

7. Priceline and Hotline are your friends.  Do not be afraid of sites such as Priceline or Hotline.  You can get some amazing deals.  There are lots of tricks to get the most out of these websites. (I love www.betterbidding.com – check it out!). (Update: I have not used Priceline or Hotline in years, preferring to use special rates or points and miles I have accrued).

8.  Apartment and Vacation Rentals.  I’ve heard some wonderful reports from people renting apartments or houses on websites such as Airbnb.  This might be especially suitable to family travel, or travel for more than a few days.

9.  Loyalty is rewarded. Show some loyalty, if possible.  If you can concentrate your flights on one airline, or hotel stays at one hotel brand, you may be able to get “status.”   Its not about snobbishness – its about good prices, good treatment, late checkouts, free wi-fi, etc.  A late checkout is worth the difference between showering or not showering after a marathon.  And to me, that’s worth A LOT!

10. Take advantage of credit cards. Get some credit cards that have special offers.  Don’t just buy because the card has a good advertisement.  Read up on the deals.  Listen to the experts’ reports on why one deal is good or not.  I’m sure I’ve gotten more than 20 credit cards, and earned hundreds of thousands of miles, since I originally began this post (and my credit score has soared to over 800).

11.  Earn and Burn.  This is a summary term.  People who collect points and miles, say its best to earn and burn them, because unlike money in the bank, points and miles don’t increase in value with time.

12.  Be organized.  Find a way to keep track of your planning.  Never, ever let points or miles expire.  There’s a myriad of ways, other than flying to earn points and miles. Try Award Wallet or other services to help keep track of your points and miles.

13.  Sometimes the Deal Chooses Me.  Sometimes I plan to run a marathon, and work my travel plans around it.  But sometimes a travel deal comes along, and I look to see if I can work a marathon into it.  A few years ago, there was a mistake fare on Delta, such that a round trip fare to Barcelona was $250.  I quickly researched when the Barcelona Marathon was and found that the fare would work.  So I ran with it.  Literally.  Remember, most airfares, even non-refundable fares, can be canceled within 24 hours of purchase.  So, if you come across a particularly good rate, book it right away, then cancel it if it won’t work for you.

That’s enough for now – I’m sure that I have to pack for another trip.  But I’d love to hear your comments – any pointers or tips you have, or any questions or topics you’d like to see covered.

-Kathy K.

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Can You Train for a Run in Paradise?

Pei A.

Every year in November I go home to Bangkok, Thailand right after I finish running the NYC Marathon. So it was always my off-running period and I never had to train for another marathon while I was on my vacation.  

This year it was my first time that I was taking my vacation in the middle of my NY Flyers Marathon TrainingProgram ("MTP"). I rarely miss a scheduled training session when I am in New York. But when on vacation there are a lot of factors that can throw me off. You may wonder why. 

First, it is hard to get up early morning to go running when it is a vacation. I deserve to enjoy my morning to sleep in or take my time that I usually can't do when I am working.

Second, it is hard to run in the evening. Again, it is a vacation. 

How can I run in the evening after I spent my whole day on my legs going around doing some sightseeing (beaches, snorkeling, visiting temples or even riding an elephant), shopping or plain and simply enjoying delicious and extremely affordable Thai food, plus desserts? 

Last, and the key reason, it is very hot and humid in Thailand. Thailand is a tropical country. It is hot all year around and it is very humid especially in Bangkok. I was born and raised half of my life in Bangkok but I don't do well in hot and humid weather (thanks to A/C 24/7). I checked the weather in Bangkok before my vacation and noted the temperature of over 90 degrees with 80-something percent humidity. I thought it was going to be tough for me to stick with my training program. But I was so determined not to miss my training, so I came up with my game plan.

I discussed with my coach, NY Flyers Head Coach Brian Rosetti, on how to adjust my training program during my vacation in a very hot country. Brian advised me to adjust my pace by adding 30 seconds per mile for any easy run longer than 9+ miles when the heat index is over 90 degrees, and to use treadmills for hill and interval training including with some tips to make running on treadmills bearable. I always run outside so I really appreciated suggestions, but still I planned to use the treadmill as a last resort.

I want to be motivated. In New York, I found that group running helps me tremendously to stay disciplined and stick with my training. Hence, I reached out to a running group in Bangkok called Bangkok Runners. I've run with them while in Bangkok since November 2012 and have been keeping in touch with the group ever since. Of course, they welcomed me with their warm hearts. They invited me to run with them the next morning after I arrived and even took me out on several interesting running routes.

Bangkok Runners

I enjoyed meeting with several members from Bangkok Runners at different running locations almost every morning (My training calls for 5 running days per week). I may not know all of Bangkok Runner members but when I ran, I looked for their singlets (good thing about wearing team singlets). I would say "hi" when I passed them or just ran with them after a quick self-introduction (I’m quite active on their Facebook page so they recognized my name). It worked. I didn't miss any training days. On top of that, I enjoyed meeting people with a similar interest. 

During this trip, I had an opportunity to meet one particularly interesting runner, K-san from Bangkok Runners, who plans to run across the United States this year.  He asked if I can meet him and run with him when he reaches NYC (you can read about K’s Run Across USA 2015 by clicking HERE). I said yes, and I offered to help him with planning his running route from NJ to NYC. I am going to suggest to him to complete his 3,500 mile journal by following the final few miles of NYC Marathon. Isn’t that a great way enjoy running in NYC?

With K-san from Bangkok Runners

Back to my training. Of course, I didn’t just stay in Bangkok for my whole trip. I took a mini vacation to Krabi, which is located in the southern part of Thailand. Krabi has a lot of beautiful beaches and a lot of interesting limestone cliffs that draw rock climbing enthusiasts from around the world. It was going to be tougher with my goal. But where there's a will, there's a way. I needed a new strategy. I needed to eliminate all excuses I knew I would come up with. 

Two excuses high on my list were:

1.  I don't know the area, and 

2.  I don't know if it is safe for a woman to run alone before the sun rises (again, I need to run early morning to avoid the heat and humidity). 

I did my research on running routes posted in MapMyRun and also spoke with hotel staff about running routes, including to ask if it is safe to run alone. The hotel staff recommended a few routes to run and told me that I would find a lot of other foreign visitors running on the beach early in the morning, and that it is safe.  I decided: "Ok, let's try!"

The first morning in Krabi, I still had my jetlag (Thailand is 12 hours ahead of NY’s time) so getting up wasn’t that difficult. I went out to run and when I hit the beach (5 minutes from my hotel), I felt encouraged to see several people running even before me. I never ran on the beach before. It was much harder on my legs, but with the magnificent view of the sunrise behind those limestone cliffs and fine sand on the beach, so I ignored how my legs felt and kept running. I was hooked. I couldn’t wait for the next morning to do it again.

At the end of my trip, I had missed only two days of running. They were on the days of my flight, so I think I took those days off for good reason. Now I know it’s not difficult to train for a marathon during vacation. I can’t wait for my next upcoming trip when I will run around the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. If I can do it, you can too. 

Pei A.

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Flyer Profile: Kettia M

Kettia M

I have been active my whole life. For as long as I can remember, I danced and played sports. I played soccer and danced all 4 years of high school and I always remember how much I hated running and drills before practice. I could never imagine anyone running for fun. 

My gym rat days started in college. I went to college in England where I majored in Fashion Merchandising and where I met my husband who was a design major. Not much interest in playing sports in college but staying fit was not a choice; it was a requirement for a fashion major so I got my first gym membership. After college we roamed around Europe for a couple of years until we no longer could put off getting a real job. 

We moved back home to the states, got married and I spent the next 6 years either pregnant or with a newborn or both. Three children later I knew I had to get really serious about fitness. Then something weird happened. I started to lose weight as if magically. The first 5 or 10 pounds were great, but that quickly turned to 20+ pounds in less than 2 months. I was hitting the gym hard but not that hard. Turned out I had Graves’ disease an autoimmune disease of the thyroid. One of the most common symptoms is rapid weight loss, another is heart palpitations so I had to stop working out and spent the next year yo-yoing between meds until my doctors found just the right dosage to get me healthy again. I had also gotten very weak and out of shape during that time. 

It took some time before I started to feel strong enough to work out again, and when I went back to the gym this time I got on a treadmill –– a machine I used to pretend didn’t exist. I set some goals like run 1 mile without stopping and quickly that became 2 and then 3. I found myself running longer and longer on the treadmill until one day I ran 6 whole miles on the treadmill without stopping. I went home and excitedly told my husband that I just ran 6 miles at the gym and he said "that’s great hon', now you can run a marathon!" To this day I am not sure if he was being sarcastic or if he really thought I could actually run a marathon. But before I knew it I had signed up for my first 10k (the NYRR Mini 10K), my 1^st half marathon, and my 1^st marathon –– the NYC Marathon, which I ran raising money for Team for Kids. The year was 2008. 

NYC Marathon 2009

Somewhere between battling Graves' and having 3 kids under 5 years old in the house, my husband and I started a business. We started a preschool –– purely out of the desperate need to find childcare for our 1 year old at the time. It took off fairly quickly and within 3 years we needed to expand to a 2nd location. I was in the middle of that expansion in 2008 when I decided it would be a good idea to run a marathon. I was super busy and stressed. I was leaving work so late that the only place I felt safe running was at the gym. I remember about a month before the marathon I was running up Cat hill and had to stop and rest at the top and that was only 2 miles into my planned 18-miler that day! I should have stopped the madness right then and there and deferred, but I pressed on. Because I had raised the money, I felt like I owed it to all these people who donated money for me to run. 

So I ran/walked that first marathon in 5:55. Ok, I mostly walked. Most people while in the midst of race misery usually vow never to run another race, but not me. Somewhere around mile 6 I knew two things for sure, the first was that things would get very ugly for me that day and second was that I would sign up immediately for another marathon as soon as I could crawl my way home from the finish line. 

And so began my running journey. “What does it take?” was the t-shirt slogan that year. I slept in that t-shirt many nights the following months and when I didn’t want to get up or go out for a run I just had to look down at my pj shirt and I was good to go. I ran NYC again in 2009 in 4:22 and I never walked once. I was so pumped afterwards that all I wanted to do was run, I started looking for 6am running buddies on the NYRR site and that’s where Flyer Francine A found me (or, I should say, saved me). Because right before she emailed me I had gotten myself a stalker, but that’s another story. She invited me to run with the Flyers 6am group, and the rest as they say is history. Let me just say 6am is such a special group!

With Khris D.P. and Jodie F
At Francine's 50th Birthday Celebration

With College Pal
Cathy Ban

I have been a Flyer now for almost 6 years. I am a better runner because of the Flyers and I am constantly inspired by my teammates, especially the women masters. The support and encouragement from Flyers teammates is like nothing I have ever experienced even in my high school sports days. I have made life-long true friendships here. One of my great joys has been seeing friends take up running because of me. My long time friend Khris D.P. took up running and became a Flyer. I trained her for her first marathon and she has since converted another friend, Tracey A into a runner and Flyer. My little sister took up running and the benefits of running have inspired her to adapt a clean eating and healthy lifestyle. Of course no Flyer profile of mine would be complete without a mention of my Flyer ladies' epic Big Sur Marathon adventure weekend. The pictures tell the story. All the fun of a girls weekend, without the hangover. 

At Big Sur

My running has had its share of highs and lows. Sometimes I am fast. Most times I am slow and other times I am injured. But I keep running because I love it. Otherwise it wouldn't be worth it. I love destination races and I see myself doing much more of that in the future. You get to see the best parts of a city during a race. Running is so much more than PRs and medals and I don't want to get so hung up on goals and numbers that I miss the journey.  

I still sometimes sleep in that shirt from my first marathon because it's a sentimental reminder of how far I have come and the lessons I have learned from running. When I want to give up on a tough run, I still sometime ponder that question. 

So what does it take?

For me it's a ton of patience, hard work and a little help from my Flyers friends. 

-Kettia M

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ARE YOU HIGH?!

"Are you high?!" many runners might reply when asked if they enjoy treadmill running (if they ever run on a treadmill at all.

I'm not much of a treadmiller myself. I run outside through high heat and crazy cold, but I do sometimes use a treadmill, especially when there's snow and ice to prevent a slip and fall. I even wrote about treadmilling a few years ago for the Flyers Blog, which (of course you'll want to re-read :) can be viewed by clicking HERE.

Not long ago, on a snowy day, I ventured over to the Mile High Run Club in the East Village for a new treadmill experience for me.  I'd heard about Mile High from a Team for Kids Coach, Simon D, who has since started coaching classes at Mile High.

The class I went to was led by Laura C.  It was called The Distance, with the expectation that the class would involve running at least 5 miles (I ran 6.5 miles).  They also offer the Dash 28 class, which included intervals plus power training with kettlebells (I love kettlebells, so need to come back for that one!).  There's also one outdoor run class (Simon coaches that one).  You can click HERE for the schedule of classes.

Laura's "The Distance" class began with a 10 minute warm-up after she got all of us set up to run including with the brief instructions we needed on how to use the treadmill.  The focus of the class was 4 sets of the following (with 3 minutes recovery jog between each set): 2 min hill on 6.0 incline, 1 min at 7:30/mi, 1 min 7:00/mi, 1 min 6:40/mi, 1 min 7:00/mi, 1 min 6:40/mi.  We determined our own pace, but we sped up and slowed back our paces on the varying minutes based on Laura's guidance.  The class was suitable for runners of all paces, and we were encouraged to walk if needed.

Upon finishing the interval work together, we all finished up with a recovery jog to cool down.  The class was challenging, and it was fun to share the experience with a group of runners indoors on a snowy day. Laura had lots of energy, which combined with the music she selected, made for a very upbeat class. During the class she provided encouragement, humor, and anecdotes from her own experiences, and walked around the room offering encouragement, assistance with settings and form tips.

It's something I would do again and that I recommend to others.  If you'd like to try out a free class, Flyers Head Coach Brian R shared a promotion code (NYCRUN2015) that can be used by Flyers that was provided for us by the Mile High Run Club that expires on May 1, 2015.  And if you'd like to hear an excellent interview conducted by Gotta Run with Will (a friend of the Flyers) of Mile High Run Club Founder and President Debora Warner, you can click HERE or on the link below to listen to watch and listen to what she has to say.

-Dave K

NY Flyers Blogmaster

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