I have a 6 HR ride two days before HIM and 5 hrs day before. Curious if I should stop every hour or something…I’m wondering if I will feel flat on race day. Anyone have experience with long rides before a race?
I drove 8 hours to Knoxville Friday before a Sunday race and it wasn’t terrible. Stoping to stretch more is a good idea but also make sure you have enough water and snacks. Then just get in a groove and go!
I have a 6 HR ride two days before HIM and 5 hrs day before. Curious if I should stop every hour or something…I’m wondering if I will feel flat on race day. Anyone have experience with long rides before a race?
I have a ton of experience, but like 16-20, upto even 20 hour days, back-to-back driving then doing an Ironman, in a stick, with no AC. Many ways to do it, like anything, the more you do it, the more the body gets use to it. I think the key is focusing on getting good nights rest and flushing the body out. Flushing can be done by going for a walk once you arrive, foam rolling, or if you have some recovery boots. If I were you I would just do all 11 hours in one day and get to your final destination. Stopping every hour is going to add a lot of time to your trip. I would just focus on stopping for gas and do some quick stretches, walking around, going to the bathroom etc.
Only once did I ever felt like driving hurt my performance and that was last year after driving to Challenge Florida from Wisconsin, and them immediately after the race, driving to Phoenix for Ironman Arizona, although I only drove half way the first night. That drive was just to much for my body to recover from and be ready the next weekend.
I drove a total of around 13 hrs over two days to get from Boston to Ontario for Muskoka 70.3 a few years ago. I don’t feel that it negatively affected me, but I did sleep through my morning alarm and almost didn’t make it to the race before transition closed. Almost a long drive for nothing!!!
I did 6 hours London to Antwerp on a Thurs night and 8 hours the next day Antwerp to northern Germany. Loafed around Sat, short ride, short run. Raced a 70.3 on Sunday. It was fine.
12.5 h drive back - non stop - the next day was fine too. High speeds on the autobahn are great for keep you WIDE awake!
Non-issue. Just stretch a bit, and jog a lap or two around the gas station when you stop to fill up to keep things loose.
I drive 3.5hrs. to some races the morning of, and don’t race any differently than with shorter rides or nearby hotel stays.
My hamstrings tighten up on drives, even just a two hour drive the day before a recent HIM led to tight hamstrings on race day.
After many years doing long haul car trips I have come up with a great method.
Once I drove from Calgary to Toronto (44 hours) non-stop except for fuel stops. I also drove the length of New Zealand 31 hours, including a several hour ferry ride.
In all those cases, we rotated drivers. 2 hours each, max. Chinese fire drill at each driver change. Driver just keeps it between the lines. Navigator does map reading, music, food and water. If there are 3 or more, people take turns napping in the back. Works great.
If you are driving alone, each 2 hours, get out, grab some food and water, walk around a bit, and get back in the car. Even 2-3 minutes every 2 hours makes a huge difference in my experience
i have done many long drives (10-13hrs) to races- if you can do all the driving Friday i would do that, but either way you should be fine. get good music, good snacks, stay hydrated and be mentally prepared to sit in the car for that long and you will be fine.
Drove 11 hours to Chattanooga on Friday and raced on Sunday. Besides all the great advice people gave, my best piece of advice is to buy a cheap pad to sick on. I bought one at Bed Bath and Beyond for $20-30 and it was great to sit on during the long drive and no glute tightness. I agree with TG who said to drive it all in one day. Also, consider getting up super early to beat any traffic and reduce the amount of time in the car.
x2. Also, if you have to stop for a bathroom break, take a few laps around the highway rest area. I had a few looks last year on the way to LC Nats (a 12 hour drive at my granny pace)–but it was 90+ F and I was in the middle of Kansas at a rest area jogging around. Others were watching me under the shade of some trees as they had their cold drinks fanning themselves. It’ll really wake up the legs and loosen you up. You’ll be fine though, it’s more mental I think & never thought once it affected my race.
I also drove the length of New Zealand 31 hours, including a several hour ferry ride.
Were you driving a yellow mini?
But yes, do it all in one gulp; travel Friday for a Sunday race; take regular breaks; eat and drink regularly; time your travel well to avoid rush hour/s in the cities; pack lots of CDs or have a phone packed with toons.
I also drove the length of New Zealand 31 hours, including a several hour ferry ride.
Were you driving a yellow mini?
But yes, do it all in one gulp; travel Friday for a Sunday race; take regular breaks; eat and drink regularly; time your travel well to avoid rush hour/s in the cities; pack lots of CDs or have a phone packed with toons.
I’d have loved to have done that yellow Mini trip…except that Invercargill isn’t much of a destination and having the cops involved probably makes it less fun overall. I heard they’re remaking that film. Can’t imagine it will be as good as the original. I always wanted to meet the girl from that film. She seemed like a wicked cool lady 
My trip was from Challenge Wanaka, home to Auckland a few years ago. I forgot to book a hotel in Wellington after the ferry so we just drove straight through. Only thing worse than long drives is unexpected long drives 
If you are driving back, which seems obvious, stop a LOT more and make sure you are well hydrated. Don’t risk a blood clot.
Auckland to Wanaka? You’re mental. I’ve only done Invercargil to Nelson and I was ready to top myself.
I always do long drives wearing my CEP compression socks. They seem to really keep the blood flow and there is no soreness calf down. For the glutes, hammys and quads I’d stop and get out every two hours. Do some stretching upon arrival too.
Wanaka Auckland was a piece of cake. Calgary/Toronto (check out that drive on a map!) non-stop was the really hard one, but at least there was 3 of us for that trip. Wanaka Auckland was just 2 of us, and we did get about an hour of interrupted shuteye on the ferry.
I think long road trips are a lot easier if you are A) mentally prepared, and B) actually prepared. Leave enough time to have micro breaks, allow for some traffic. In essence, sorta like life, you can’t expect everything to go perfectly. I generally allow 10-15% additional time for various contingencies. Then you get to where you are going, stress free, rested and ready to go.
If you are driving back, which seems obvious, stop a LOT more and make sure you are well hydrated. Don’t risk a blood clot.
I’ve never had problems with driving as long as 8-11 hours the day before in order to do a race the next day.
But one time I needed to drive 8.5 hours back home after finishing Harvest Moon on a Sunday in order to go to work on Monday. That hurt as much as the race. Agree with stopping more and having plenty to drink for the drive home.
every hour i stop to pee, run a mile, do bunch of push ups, some activity for 10 minutes. jumping jacks while pumping gas, etc etc. if anything now i try to take bus / plane rides as red eye and just try to sleep it out
Get Kowalski to drive you next time.