Now watcha gonna do?
It’s tempting to do all the things when you go on racecation, but if you actually want to race, you’ll be better served by taking it easy. That doesn’t mean you have to lock yourself in your hotel room!
Walking Tours
This may seem conterintuitive, but the truth is most walking tours cater to people of all fitness levels and aren’t actually all that taxing. Of course you can find free, self guided walking tours on Pinterest and online, but tour guides are often very passionate about their cities and it’s a fun way to explore.
Running Tours
If you have more time and you need to get in a last run or two, a running tour may just be the ticket. Group running tours may be a crap shoot when it comes to pace, but private ones will cater to your pace. Just like walking tours, you’ll learn a lot about the city you’re in — but you’ll cover a lot more area!
Food Tours
Food tours are the best of all worlds: it’s not just about the food, you’ll learn about the city, too. There usually isn’t that much walking, and you get to sample a lot of food — definitely enough for a meal.
Photography Tours
Our cell phone obsessed world just loves to take photos, right? A photography tour may guide you to places you would have trouble reaching on your own. They’ll be your sherpas, and they’ll probably stop at some cool local place for lunch that you wouldn’t have found on your own, too.
Hop on/Hop off Tours
Many larger cities have a hop on/hop off tour, which is exactly like it sounds: you can get on and off at multiple stops for one fee, which is a good way to explore without doing too much walking (or driving, and struggling to find parking at multiple stops). Some cities even have free trolleys that are hop on/hop off.
Hire a Guide
One of the best experiences I ever had on vacation was hiring a guide for a hike and a private yoga lesson in Sedona, AZ. Seriously, it was amazing! Google hiking guides and see what you find.
Classpass/Groupon
You may want to make sure you don’t do too much walking, but maybe you’d like to try some yoga or pilates or other non taxing workouts. Check out Classpass here and Groupon here before you go to sign up for new experiences (Groupon has way more than just fitness, of course, that’s how we booked our food tour in Savannah).
Don’t forget to ask at the front desk, too. They may have recommendations — they may even have a deal with a nearby gym.
Although remember, nothing new before your race, so be careful!
Do you have anything to add to my list?
What’s your favorite vacation memory?
How do you stay active on racecation but not too active?
I am linking up with:
Chocolaterunsjudy 
Great advice. I have never gone on a racecation, but I am usually super active when I go away walking everywhere, so I can see how that could be a problem if you’re racing.
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Well, you can still be active. But you have to be mindful about it. And if it’s a first time at a distance, you should take it easy, for sure.
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We did a walking chocolate tour in San Francisco. Bets of both worlds!
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Definitely! I’m always looking for chocolate tours, of course. 😊
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I DO want to go on a racecation! We first tried the hop on hop off bus tour when we were in Berlin to do the marathon. they are awesome! Now I search them out if we go to a new big city. Great way to learn the lay of the land.
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We thought we would use that here but someone didn’t want to pay for it we only had a few hours. They are a great option!
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When I go on a racecation, there is so much I like to see and do and usually spend more time on my feet than I probably should before the race.
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Yeah, I have a feeling that may have been the case on this particular racecation. Some of it was definitely my own fault — but we enjoyed!
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Oh gosh. So many racecations, so little time. I like to keep a travel journal so the hilairous moments aren’t lost. Those journals are so much fun to look back on.
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I keep a planner/journal/running journal & take copious notes — otherwise I wouldn’t remember anything!
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Visit a museum or a botanical garden. They both give you steps.
I have most of what you recommend. They are especially good when you travel alone like I do. You get to meet others and have fun.
Enjoy your trip and your race.
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There’s supposedly a nice botanical gardens in Savannah — I would’ve like to visit it but you’d need a car or take a cab/Uber. Another time maybe.
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One of my favorite vacations (at least since becoming a runner) was our trip to California a few winters ago. We had a couple days in San Fran, and I got up and went for short runs every morning (it was during one of my winter running streaks) . We were staying downtown, near Chinatown, so I had plenty of hills and all kinds of scenic sights to explore.
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The hills in SF are killer! I’ve been a few times but it’s been a very long time since the last visit — I’ve never run in SF — would love to run across the Golden Gate (I think — could be kind of terrifying too).
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we love to do bike tours as they are also not too taxing generally. We try not to do food tours before a race but after it’s game on 🙂 We also usually choose at least one museum we want to visit. For a shake out run if there is a local parkrun we try to participate in that as well! I have been to so many fun and amazing places it’s hard to say where my favorite is – I love visiting Liverpool for a race weekend. Lisbon was also an amazing race weekend (both times, though the first was a wee bit better). Paris and Berlin were incredible and there is so much to do and see. Athens was incredible after the marathon because we were able to go to the Acropolis (extremely impressive in person). Even on non-race vacations though we take our workout gear and try to do local races, parkruns or something active.
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We’re not bikers, but that is a great thing to do if you are!It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Europe, but I have been to Greece & seen the Acropolis (long before cell phones, so very few photos).
It’s always nice when you’re active together!
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