14 Essential Tips When Traveling for a Destination Race

Bertrand Newson: So if you have a running club and they have other team members that might be traveling that same destination, that's just another way to enjoy that city, enjoy that run, enjoy the post run experience even more. Kevin Chang: Expect some of the unexpected, you know, I'm traveling to the event and then just roll with the punches and just realize, Hey, this is a moment and experience that, that is once in a lifetime, right? You're you're traveling to this event, you're only going to run this race this one time, this year, right. Hello and welcome to the RaceMob podcast. This is episode number 68. I'm Kevin, entrepreneur technology and fitness nerd. And I'm joined by the head coach of RaceMob and master motivator. The incomparable Bertrand Newson. Welcome back for another episode of the RaceMob podcast today, we're talking about traveling for race day, and we know that there's a lot of fantastic destination races up on the calendar. A lot of big, big events all across the world live racing is coming back and who better to talk to us about live racing and heading to a destination race than our very own Coach. "B". Coach "B", you've been to hundreds and hundreds of races. I know many of them out of town. And so we really wanted to dive in and dig in for a couple of tips that you might have for our runners. First off, let's talk about these, some of these destination races on the calendar. I know that you have a lot of athletes going to some of the races. You want to highlight some races that are coming up? Bertrand Newson: Yeah, of course loved this top because we're talking about being able to travel and travel for fitness and travel for live races. How freaking cool is that? And yes, we have several athletes that are going to be born in this. And heading to some cities here domestically and potentially internationally. But first and foremost, the next marathon major on the calendar would be the Chicago marathon, October 10th followed by a day later, Boston marathon. cool and, and very rare, those events are not going to be in back to back days. Not going to be in the same month. We know that a lot of marathons that were scheduled to happen in the late winter and early spring have been pushed back to the fall slash winter of 2021. So we're going to see the same thing with the New York mayor happening on the 7th of November. Marine Corps marathon happening the last week in October. And we have athletes participating in all of those iconic bucket lists, destination events, and several of them specifically Chicago, New York and Boston are all marathon majors. Kevin Chang: Fantastic. Yeah. And if you guys are heading out to any of these races, reach out to the RaceMob community, I know that there's going to be some meetup groups. There's going to be some people at the starting line. A lot of our podcast guests. I mean, those are their home states through home cities, so we can definitely reach out, figure out what meetup groups are happening. It gets you all set up because so much of race day is just having fun on. Race day and having that community and those people to pat you on the back and lift your spirits when you're feeling a little bit rundown, that's, that's a big piece of it. So reach out to the community figure out who else is going to those races, and and you're going to have so much more fun. So with that, let's get to your First tip. What, what is that first tip for you, coach? Bertrand Newson: First off. Got to figure out where you're going. So give yourself... let's simplify here. You know, take some time, open up the calendar, give yourself some time to really think of where do I want to go. And some of these races, they don't all have to be a marathon majors because in many cases they're lottery and some you have to qualify and it may be a little bit tougher or further down the road for some of us to be able to get our fitness level up, to actually qualify for some of these events. Sometimes it's luck of the draw. Sometimes it is by lottery, but there are a lot of really cool destination that you can travel to that have races that are either in wonderful cities rural major national parks, things along those lines, but figure out where you want to go. And if those destinations really speak to you emotionally, If you feel that the terrain, the, the environment, the culture around the event. So look at the calendar and see when it works for you from a life perspective, being able to takeoff. And then realizing the cost involved, but figure out where you want to go give yourself enough time. Depending on the distance of the event, granted some of the events we talked about are marathon in nature, but it can be a 10 K it can be a half marathon. Maybe it's a location where you have friends or family, or if you've posted on the RaceMob community. And you know, there's certainly going to be a fellow teammate in that area. Maybe you can get a insider's perspective as you traveled to that foot location, but first and foremost, figure out where you want. Kevin Chang: And one of my favorite races of all time was a 5k that I ran down in Disneyland with a bunch of friends, you know, I mean, I think Disney puts on a lot of these fun vacation destination races, whether that be in Disney world Disney land one of our favorite podcast, guests, Veronica. Her first race was in Disney world. If you, if you forgot. And, and, and, you know, that was the first one that she ever trained for that she ever you know, she was, she had bought a treadmill and put it in her garage and she was training for that event. And now she is running. Across the continent of Africa and it is it's insane where that journey can take you. So you know, find a destination that you're excited for, that you're looking forward to, that you put on the calendar. And, and I think a lot of the other pieces will fall into place. And you're gonna find that your training is going to really pick up as you envision yourself in that destination or running that race. So great pieces of advice. What's another piece of advice, coach. Bertrand Newson: Well, we're all putting in some level of training. And sometimes we're doing that with an accountability buddy with a running club and being able to travel with somebody that, you know, you've been putting in the. At times you're able to share that destination experience together. So if you have a running club and they have other team members that might be traveling that same destination, that's just another way to enjoy that city, enjoy that run, enjoy the post run experience even more. We've had some team members who recently took a ride down to beautiful Santa Barbara, California, and participated in this. She is beautiful. So shout out to Kate Shelley and arena girls trip. We love them sharing their photos on social media. They took us with them. They had a great drive on the way down, crushed the race and absolutely had a blast post race. So that's what it's all about. Being able to share that experience with fellow team. Kevin Chang: Yeah. And I know that you've organized races in the past, Going down to LA marathon, for example, and, and a couple of other ones, Chicago, I know you've organized some of that in the past. And so yeah. Find some running buddies, find some running friends, or even if, if you don't have a training partner today, ask some of your close by friends if they want to come out to enjoy the trip with you. Even if they don't want to run the race with you, they can still come out and enjoy the trip and you can still have a lot of fun. And if you don't have any running buddies or running friends in those destination cities, I think that's why we are trying to build this RaceMob platform, and why RaceMob 2.0 Is a major, major focus for us here in October. So if you want to help. Build the next generation of a race directory make it, so that is social and that you can find others and, and communicate and find meaning points and have a better time on race day and share your photos. That is what we are trying to build here. And so we're asking. We're asking for volunteers, we're asking for people who are willing to be race captains on race day. We'll reach out to the community. If you're interested in doing that, sign up for our newsletter. We're going to have some instructions here in October and November as we build it for 2022. Awesome, great, great advice. Find some friends, make friends form that community. You're gonna have way more fun on race day. Yeah. Bertrand Newson: Going back to traveling with friends. And you mentioned Casey, you may have some people come out that are not going to run. Everybody loves to carb load. So, you know, can be their race pre and post. Kevin Chang: And it boosts your morale and race day. You know, you can tell them where to meet you. I know I did a Las Vegas marathon. My wife came out with me. I didn't go party the night before, when, when they went out. Race day morning. I mean, it was so nice seeing her on the course cheering me on throughout all of those different stops. So having a friend, having some buddies, having people out there, it makes a world a difference. All right, coach. Next step. Next tip. Bertrand Newson: For someone who spent the majority of his adult life as a hotel executive: book your travel! You know, book now and save. Now, the sooner you can lock in your air or your plane tickets and your hotel, you're going to save typically airfare and Holtz room. Do not get cheaper as you get closer to the event date. So insider's perspective, if you've looked at the calendar, you've identified the race, taking. And book in advance. You can go through travel agency. You can go through online travel partners, like an Expedia, Kayak, something along those lines. But also you can go and book directly on the airline or the hotel directly. In Many cases they're looking for you to book with them and they may have better prices at some of those bulk discount travel agencies, because there's percentages that they're losing out on. So if you book directly with the whole. Contact them directly. Look at the event website. The race website may have hotel travel partners that have negotiated rates where you can get group discounts. But again, the best thing is once you've identified where you're going, you've paid for the race book, your air book, your hotel. Kevin Chang: Great advice. I know that there's a number of different forums out there to help you book at the cheapest prices for a lot of these different things. So a couple of things just to keep in mind, you know, sometimes your training doesn't go all the plan. Or there's a reason that you may have to cancel. There are some airlines that allow you to change with no change fees. I mean, I think Southwest, at least here in California is one of these that I love to book with. And if prices do end up going down, you can always change the cheaper price and get those credits back into your account. So I love working and booking with Southwest, if I can. And there's a lot of miles out there to be had. So, you know, something to consider, I think if, if you have a credit card or, or you're thinking about getting credit cards, look for those with rewards. I know we do a lot of traveling, a lot of traveling with points. A lot of traveling that you know we get to do for free based on credit card, miles of stuff. So a lot of interesting things out there. And oftentimes when you book with points, you can again cancel or change, or they're pretty lenient on a lot of those things. So something to think about. But as you mentioned, coach, sometimes the race themselves, do you have partners, hotel partners, people, you know, that, that they work with. And oftentimes those hotel partners are either close to the starting line or they have shuttles to the starting line. And you know, that is a big, big portion of, of that whole race day experience is how you're going to get to the starting line. Right. So so do look on the race websites, see if they have hotel partners or see if your friends are already going out there. And if they've secured a hotel deal as well. So fantastic advice, Coach. What do you at next? Bertrand Newson: Races have different terrains and different climates. If you're here in California and you're racing on the east coast, let's say Florida, for instance Florida's typically flat. You're going to not going to find too many Hills, but what you, what you will find is humidity. So being able to kind of mimic the the time zone, the city, the environment train, in those conditions, if the course is going to be Healy, if the climate is going to be warm, you want to get your training in to mimic those conditions. Kevin Chang: Great advice. Yeah. And I know one of my biggest mistakes was running big, sir, without a training, any Hills. And I think that's pretty common. You know, you find that destination race, you know how scenic it is, you know, how beautiful it is. You forget about the terrain of the course. And you end up paying for it on the course. You know, but I think as we've talked about before, sometimes these races are finish line or finish time. Right. And so you should figure that out before you head out to, you know. If, if you are trying to go for finishing times, then how do you want to train in advance or beforehand. If you're going for finish line and you want to enjoy the experience, figure out how you want to train so that you are enjoying the experience. Right? So I think. Those are two things to keep in mind while you're training for one of these destination races. All right, Coach, what do we got next? Bertrand Newson: Again, traveling to a new destination, there's a lot of things that we don't know. So the earlier we can physically get onsite, we can take a look at the area, look at our race day routine. They get around, you know, getting to the expo getting on to the course on race day a bit earlier versus relying on last minute you know Uber, Lyft not knowing the traffic conditions, et cetera, et cetera. So give yourself enough time, give yourself enough buffer. If that's getting in a day early two days early, especially if there's a higher elevation. So it gives you the opportunity to acclimate to that higher elevation, but just getting onsite, getting in town a little bit earlier and allowing you to adjust to acclimate to higher elevation or to a time zone. Kevin Chang: Something to keep in mind is a lot of these larger races will have expos. I'm not sure. If you've experienced it now during the pandemic, what those expos look like if they still have them, if they're outdoors or indoors or what but that is something to keep in mind. If a race does have an expo you know, do you want to get there a day or two early to experience that expo. Do you want to beyond your, are you trained well enough to be able to be on your feet for the entire expo time? Or is it better for you to get in and get out and get your bib and, and rest those legs? So th those are a couple of things just to keep in mind. Being able to get in there early gives you that ability to make decisions in terms of, you know, do you want to do a shakeout run that day before? Do you want to, you know, experience the expo? How do you want to experience the expo? And so giving yourself that buffer. Beforehand helps a lot. I wouldn't suggest doing a ton of sightseeing beforehand. We've seen, you know, people make those mistakes in the past, right. So, but, but getting in early and planning that schedule out, I think that is tremendously helpful, especially for. Bertrand Newson: Great point, and I'm glad you brought up expo Casey to the Git fitness is pacing the 2021 San Jose rock and roll half marathon. And we learned recently that the expo that is typically held indoors is going to be held outdoors. And a lot of people, if you've done a race or you just assume with COVID, a lot of race organizers are having to pivot. So make. To read the website, make sure you're staying on top of your email on the latest corresponds coming from race officials, because things are changing sometimes a day to day and week to week. Kevin Chang: And something I'm going to also tack onto there is, you know, you're going to be at the expo. You might be tempted by a lot of these new products coming out. A lot of things that are like, oh, that may solve. No problem. It's usually not a great idea to try something new on race day itself. You know, the you may think, oh, I'm cramping, let me try these hot shots on race day and... we got some experience in the house. But just keep that in mind. You know, I think oftentimes it's great to walk the expo. It's great to find out about some of these new products, these new things. Sometimes it's better to save that for your next training run after race day. So yeah, love that. Love that. All right, Coach, what else do we have? Bertrand Newson: Prepare and pack early, have a checklist. Think it through. You can go online and there's a lot of checklists that you can look and see someone at general Lina's, but one, you don't want to forget your shoes. You don't want, if it gets your shorts, you don't have to get your primary socks. You don't want to forget the body glide or all those little things or essential things. So prepare in advance. PAck prepare a list and that list is something you can use over and over again. You can add to it. So save it as an electronic list. And it's, it's something that's great to share with other people as well as they are preparing for destination Events. Kevin Chang: That's fantastic. I mean, it's something else I want to add on here is taking that time zone change into consideration as well. You know, as you're packing, as you're thinking about am I traveling towards the east coast? Am I traveling towards the west coast? Is my body going to allow me to naturally wake up at this time or I'm going to be very tired and lethargic at the starting line. Those are some things to consider. I think if you are traveling towards the east coast and you're worried about the jet lag, there are some things to help you get to sleep earlier, right? Mimic that that body clock try to get to sleep at 10 or nine. Even low doses of melatonin is. Things that you may want to consider, you know trying to mimic again, that, that wake time, that starting time so that you are ready and energized and ready to go on race day. So all of those things, as you think about destination races, as you think about what to pack and getting prepared and getting your kit together. Awesome. What's our next tip, Coach? Bertrand Newson: Expect the unexpected when you're traveling to another destination, especially in a climate that can change on a dime. If you assume that a Florida destination is going to be a bit warmer, Tropical storms. So maybe you may get a little bit wet, so maybe if you're planning on wear a tank, maybe having an outer layer as a backup a long sleeve as a backup. Just good to bring with you. Kevin Chang: Fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. And expect the unexpected in terms of travel and travel plans. Right? I mean, I think we've, we've heard about. Flights getting canceled, occasionally delays, you know, a lot of these other things that may happen along the way. In fact, we talked to. I remember Joyce Lee had a story about her Chicago marathon, where she actually qualified for Boston and she didn't realize, she had had so many delays. So many issues got to the event late, you know, jumped into an Uber late, just got her bib in time. She was running with a heavy heart and actually that actually helps fuel her. And the next stage you actually like got out of her own mind just got into the race and the race pace. So expect some of the unexpected, you know, I'm traveling to the event and then just roll with the punches and just realize, Hey, this is a moment and experience that, that is once in a lifetime, right? You're you're traveling. To this event, you're only going to run this race this one time this year. Right. And so enjoy that experience the entire way and roll with those bunches. If you like our podcast and sign up for our newsletter, where we give you weekly tips on how to run your best race and have fun in the process. Just go to RaceMob.com and sign up today. Awesome Coach. What's next. Bertrand New: Bring some snacks. I mean, you're, you're again, you're, you're traveling to a new destination and we're all set in our routines and what we're bringing our set snacks. Typically we've eaten them already before in the past. We know how our body. And we may not always have our favorite restaurant or favorite cuisine in those destination cities. So having something night before morning of that, you're very familiar with. And even you just traveling in general airlines, aren't typically serving breakfast or lunch on the air airlines as much. So having something that you're very familiar with and you're not, you, you want to keep feeding. Keeping your system hydrated and calories coming in, especially if you're wearing a half marathon or marathon. It's just important when you're on planes for X amount of times through Chang time zones through layovers and the like being able to have something that's at your, at your convenience on demand, where you can snack on. Kevin Chang: Yeah. Yeah. And airplanes do tend to dehydrate people. You know, I think it's both the, access to water. Do I have my water bottle nearby? Am I drinking enough water on that plane? You kind of forget that when you're on a long flight, you're sitting there for hours and, and you know, you don't want to get up to use the bathroom and stuff like that. You do tend to dehydrate a bit when you are flying. So just make sure that you're, again, rehydrating. When you come back down, do you give yourself enough time to rehydrate, to think about that hydration schedule? And as we know, you know, a lot of these destination races, they are known for great food. And sometimes you do want to wait until after that race to enjoy some of that great food. I mean we'll have, we'll have an episode next week where we're highlighting some of our favorite past guests and especially celebrating the Hispanic heritage month. And Becky Hernandez has a fantastic story about the Chicago marathon. Heard it yet listened to it? I mean, I think the gist of the story is sometimes Chicago, deep dish pizza and hotdogs, and a lot of these things right before a marathon may ruin your race day. So, so just keep that in mind, as you think about bringing snacks that you know, are conducive to your race day experience potentially for before the race. And, you know, especially if you have been on one of these diets that is helping you be fat adapted, right. And helping you use and utilize more that energy before your race then you probably don't want to do a lot of carbo-loading beforehand, right? You don't want to change your schedule so radically and consume a lot of the pasta dinners and everything beforehand. Be better off having something that's a little bit lighter in carb or you know, just at least pulling back a little bit from that perspective. So. Awesome. Great advice. Great advice. Coach, what do we got next? Bertrand Newson: On race, we are going to have to take in some hydration in the form of water or electrolytes. And the same with nutrition, the form of gels, gummies, carb waffles, et cetera, et cetera. I've seen in one too many times where athletes will travel, even if that's a local desk, but a local run, a local destination event. And there are depending on the expo to have, you know, Alice, go ahead and pick up some gels at the expo. And lo and behold, even it's their favorite gel or the expo does not have gels and you're running around, you're scrambling and there's no need for that because in most cases, especially with our athletes, we're encouraging them on all their training and especially the long run, to practice like w race day conditions consuming the electrolytes slash water, consuming the nutrition, the gels. And you want to have those gels that you're comfortable with that, you know, and you're taking them at, you know, at 45 minutes or an hour, an hour and 15 minutes, hour and 30. Have your jails, your nutrition, hydration on you versus relying a hundred percent on the course. Of course, we understand that you can't always carry your hydration. We don't always encourage. For experienced runners to carry a hundred percent of their hydration in a hydro pack and a bladder, but you can rely on the course, but as far as gels, bring them with you in advance, something you're comfortable with that's doesn't give you GI distress and things along those lines. Kevin Chang: Yeah. Yeah. We know that, you know, not every gel is created equal. All gels are very different. They work in different ways. They behave differently. They may cause again, GI distress or not cause GI distress depending on your body. So we always recommend that you train with what you're going to use on race day. And so you know, that. An important part of it, as well as that hydration, if there is an electrolyte mix, we know that difference, you know, of course, monitors different hydration stations. They'll mix them in different quantities. You know, there's never, it's never like truly the mix that you're you're used to. And so it's just something to be aware of. You know, sometimes you may want to carry your own tablets on race day. Sometimes you may want to grab an extra water with the mix so that you can mix them together or you know, just be prepared for that. You know, sometimes it's, it's super diluted on the course. And so you may want to bring a little bit of extra electrolytes in some other format as you're running those races. So just something to be aware of you know, again, be prepared for the unexpected and roll with the punches a little bit, you know, and don't, don't always expect that those hydration stations are going to be a hundred percent to what you want or what potentially need. Sometimes you're gonna have to slow down you know, slow down at the hydration station, make sure that you're getting what you need. Cause you don't want to Be paying for it, you know, a mile or two later. You want to, you want to make sure that you are taken care of in the way that you need to be taken care of. So just something to think about while you're on the course. All right, Coach, what do we got next? Bertrand News: Be ready to roll. And that doesn't mean you know, tow the line and when the gun goes off and start running, there's going to be a lot of several moments and extended stretches when you are waiting at the airport. You're sitting on the airplane when you're maybe in an extended ride from airport to the hotel. And what happens when we're waiting like that and sitting ideally our muscles are going to tighten up. So bring a foam roller. Maybe that's a tennis ball racquetball, something to kind of get in those spots and the long muscle groups and to get some good stretching deep tissue foam roll percussion massage gun to offset those moments when you are just idle and the muscles are like, what the heck is going on. And we want the last thing we want as we're going to tow that line for destination races, it feels super tight. So prepare for that and roll it out. Kevin Chang: Great advice ends. As we know, not all of these races, are you going to be able to just roll into that starting line, right? Sometimes you're going to get bused out to a different location. Sometimes you're going to have to wait in one location for a very long period of time and then get bused out and wait at another location for a very, very long time. I remember one of the races I was at was big, sir. And it was freezing cold and I had a friend, he, he sat in a port-a-potty for an hour and I told I was like, dude, people have to use the port-a-potty. The whole was open for all the runners. He just walked right into the same way and sat there. But sometimes guys, I mean, I know. So, so Yeah. Talk about sore muscles and tighten up muscles. I mean, So, so there is some great stories and I mean, I love, I love sharing some of these, these fun events. But, but just be aware you may be sitting in a location for quite a while in a, in a, in a place. Yeah, for, for quite a bit before that race is ready. Bertrand Newson: And that's a good we're talking about this before we started recording a case in point we'll look at Boston or New York where you are bused to those starting locations. Hours in advance. So the runners are waiting. And you have to take that in consideration. How are going to keep yourself busy? Can you and your, your gear pack that you're going to put in storage, can you bring a foam roller? Can you bring something to kind of, again, as you're waiting. Can you stay warm, bring in an outer layer. You know, maybe a thrift store that you've gotten some sweats and a hoodie that you can discard before the risks. Cause the last thing you want it to happen is to be cold or end up hiding out in a port-a-potty or, and big, big series. A great example. I mean, you're getting you're you're up in the two o'clock hour yet. And the late 3: 00 AM hour, and then we, you know, an hour or so a ride and then you're waiting for an hour and a half or longer in the cold, if you're not prepared. And if you're in shorts and a singlet, it's going to be quite chilly. Kevin Chang: Yeah. And that's great advice too, you know a lot of runners will discard clothes in that first mile or two, you know, you want to warm up warm up slowly, just like your training runs, you know, go out a little bit, slow, get. Allow your muscles to warm up. And so, you know, a lot of times the clothes that is discarded on the side of the road then do get donated to charity. And, and so it's not a lost cause. You know, bringing something that you are willing to donate and, and keep yourself warm throughout the, that early morning start times. And that's a, that's a great device to maybe grab one of those sticks too, you know, those, those roller sticks they're fairly cheap. And so, you know, if you want to bring one or two of them out there, share them with the group, share them with friends, you know, if you have a community out there that can all be very, very helpful as your, you know, your as, as, as you might get stiffer and stiffer that morning. So fantastic advice. All right, Coach, what do we got Bertrand Newson: For all of our coffee drinkers out there. Cup of Joe on the go. Most hotels will have a coffee maker, but some if you're staying in an Airbnb or something along those lines, and there are some hotels that may not have it, a coffee maker. So if that's one of your morning rituals, one of your morning staples some people may bring a small portable coffee maker looking in the immediate area the day before there's a local Starbucks or coffee house or breakfast house, or if the hotel has a restaurant. If you need that cup of joe to get you on the go and keep things moving. No pun intended you know, find that because I've seen situations where people are, you know, are scrambling last minute. I need my cup of coffee. So plan you can figure that out all in advance. Kevin Chang: Yeah. And while we're on the topic, I mean, get your whole morning routine down or. Plan that whole morning routine down before you even head out, right? Think about how early do I need to wake up in order to eat if you want to eat. Right. We just had guests on that recommended three hours before start line. So what time does that mean? You know, are you going to wake up and go back to bed? What does that mean? Do you have a bathroom routine in. the morning? Do you need to, you know, Figure that out And time that in. And then how are you going to get to the starting line? I was fortunate enough when I stayed up in the city with Coach. He had a limo service take us to the starting line one of these times. So, you know, you, you might want to plan that out. How what's the Uber situation look like? Does the race have shuttles from, you know, the hotel that they're starting location to race day? Are you going to do a little morning jog down to the starting line? Which I think we've done before. For an Oakland marathon, we've had a hotel and a little shake out to the starting line for, for those of us that were running together. So just plan that whole morning situation out. And that includes when you're going to get coffee, what type of coffee are you going to get it to go cup, all that kind of stuff when you wake up and plan a lot of that stuff out so that you're ready to go when the starting gun goes off. Awesome. What's next? What do we got. Bertrand Newson: Stay healthy. And as much as we want to navigate the trading cycle and be ready to race for that best nation event. When we get to that new city we're going to be exposed to maybe colder. Temperatures are warmer. Temperatures. We're staying in an environment that is not our own, not our home. And there may be germs, et cetera. So hand sanitizer, wash your hands, all that other good stuff. Don't take anything for granted because the last thing we want is for anyone to get sick while on the road pre-race or, and bringing that home as well. So just be mindful general hygiene and, you know, hand sanitizer, washing hands things along those lines. And being prepared for the weather, we can have a pretty good idea of the weather conditions are going to be like. So just again, a little bit advanced planning can go along. Kevin Chang: Yeah. Yeah. And, and staying healthy also goes to staying injury free. Right. And so if you do find pain or something uncomfortable on the race course, be smart about It you know, I, I know that I've had stress fractures in races in the past. From fighting through situations and not slowing down and walking. And, and so just realize you know, your long-term health is more important than this particular race and this particular time be mindful of it, even if, you know, it was something you've been training for for a long period of time and, and whatnot just be mindful of your health and your longterm health and keeping that in the forefront. So. Great advice. All right, Coach, I think we're onto our last and final piece of advice for our audience. What is it? Bertrand Newson: It could have been number one and we're going to end with it. But most importantly, and you know, Kevin and I, we were bringing it all the time. Have fun, have freaking fun. These trips are not cheap. They are not free. So you might as well enjoy every cent of it and embrace the experience. Embrace the travel, embrace the local cuisine, embraced the locals embrace some of that culture and embrace the course. Give love out to your fellow competitors. Take some great photos, share the experience with us. We want to know, you know, lighten up live enough that social media feed and, and, and. That destination. So more people can come out in the future and support that local community. Kevin Chang: Fantastic advice. Fantastic advice. And I know that that's one of our initiatives going into 2022 is how do we start helping people broadcast that whole experience to the rest of the community, you know, whether that be through photos or videos. I think it's so important to take the community with you to celebrate that entire day, whether those people are in person, which is, you know, what we would prefer, we would prefer you to meet other people and, and have that experience in person. But if it's virtually and you get those virtual high-fives and the virtual DAP and people understand, you know, all that training that you went through and you can share that video, those photos with you for the rest of your life, and look back on that experience fondly. I think that is extremely important. So yeah, coach's, right? Like enjoy that moment while you're in it. Have a blast, you know. Whether you're thinking about finish line or finish time, I run, run the race that you want to run. And I think training, preparing, getting to the starting line and then just enjoying that experience. It's all part of all part of the experience, all part of the fun. So fantastic, fantastic tips, Coach. Any closing words for our audience? Bertrand Newson: Yeah, I will say we have everals raceMob team members that are traveling to in particular to upcoming next month, destination events, they happen to be marathon majors. So in the Chicago marathon, best of luck, Gloria G and arena have a blast. I believe Jodi might be, she'll be making a trip. We're going to see if she's gonna run she's nursing injury. And then our. You know, she's running Boston. She qualified this year. She qualified for next year. It's going to be her second boss and she ran in 2018. So all the best to you, Nicole, she sent her daughter off to college at UCLA. So she'll be running strong, you know, mother runner. And then we have several team members that will be towing the line for LA marathon, 2021 happening on the 7th of November. I'll be making that trip with several team members and it will we'll have a blast. So looking forward to, we will certainly share the experience and we'll encourage our team members going to Chicago and Boston to do the same. Kevin Chang: Fantastic. Yeah. And if you guys are also heading to any of those destination races, or you want to go travel with Coach reach out to us, I think we're going to have some posts in the RaceMob community so that you can, you know, coordinate, coordinate, travel plans, coordinate meeting points. And one of the things that we're also looking for in 2022 is maybe a couple of destination races with RaceMob. So look out for that. If you're interested in either organizing or coming out to a destination race with RaceMob. We'll chat about that for 2022. And I think that would be a ton of fun as the world starts to open up and the library system. Well, that just want to say thank you all for listening. Hopefully you got a couple of useful tips out of this episode. If you were looking for more topics definitely check out the other podcasts that we have available to you. If you're looking for something that we haven't yet talked about, reach out to us, let us know. We're always looking for advice and tips and things to, to chat about and, you know, Coach and I can chat for ever on Bertrand Newson: I want to keep it going and we can this. We can go another 45 minutes because we didn't talk about the race in Atlanta and our, our great friend coach Tess. That's happening on Sunday. The 3rd of October. Great job coach Tess. And our friends at run local. The inaugural Santa Barbara half marathon going off on November. So other destination locations, Atlanta, Santa Barbara, great cities, and great to get some RNR and fantastic fitness fellowship. Kevin Chang: Love it. Love it. Love it. All right. With that. Thanks guys. And we will talk to you again real soon. We'll see you soon, bye. Well, I hope you enjoyed this episode of the RaceMob podcast. Check out all of the show notes or find a running buddy online at RaceMob dot com. Please subscribe to us on apple, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to your podcasts and leave us a review until next time. Keep on moving.