We explored two unique destinations, Washington D.C. and Newport, Rhode Island on back-to-back weekend jaunts. Ms. IS and I both have friends in D.C., so it was a chance for her to catch up with old pals (and try on wedding dresses!), while I visited one of my best buds who’s working through some health issues. Newport was totally different, I participated in a 1/2 marathon. Here’s a look-in on some good fun with these two weekend jaunts and maybe an idea or two on how to craft an adventure of your own!

Weekend Jaunt – Washington D.C.

I like to book flights well in advance. It gets me jazzed to (affordably) book something and throw it on the calendar. I look forward to it, it’s my little mental carrot effectively.

You can imagine my consternation when I found myself looking into flights from Boston to one of the three airports within sniffing distance of our nation’s capital for a trip only one month in the future.

Squinting at the screen in disbelief, an ugly number with a 5 handle stared back. “We’re gonna spend this much just to get there?! How long’s the drive?” Thoughts became conversations, as we reviewed crappy option after crappy option. “Well, if we did a two hour lay-over in Philly, then…” Oh geez.

So How Does One Avoid This Predicament?

Well, the first thing is to book well in advance. Someone who really knows their stuff (not me), will tell you there is indeed an optimal time to buy a plane ticket. Specific numbers don’t matter, but this proverbial expert might tell us the best time is exactly 90 something days in advance, on a Tuesday at 3:30AM (these aren’t the actual numbers, but it’s probably not that far off).

You could certainly do this OR you could just try to adhere to the advanced booking rule of thumb, say at least 5 – 6 months. You’ll save a ton of money over time relative to that person who, for whatever reason, always books things last minute.

Flight trackers go hand-in-hand with early booking. I’m sure there are many options out there to this end, but I’ve really only used Google flights. You can set up alerts and track prices for specific flight itineraries. It will send you an email when the prices move. Price history is displayed graphically, providing insights to fluctuations over time. It’s pretty darn handy and when you’re looking way out, you can fire in on the purchase on your terms, not as a price taker.

What If I Have to Book on Short Notice?

Something comes up and you need to be at “X” place in “Y” days. Depending on those two letters, this could mean mucho dinero.

Can you be a little flexible?

Small adjustments to time frame often affect prices dramatically. Generally speaking, you just want to avoid peak travel. Being a little contrarian here can make a huge difference.

For this particular trip, we wanted to go the D.C. for the weekend. Naturally, maximizing our time there (without taking time off work here) led us to initially look at Friday evening flights down and Sunday evening returns. It became painfully obvious we weren’t the only people to have this thought…

A short story made shorter: we decided to burn a vacation day and fly out Saturday morning and back Monday night. This afforded us a full extra day and transformed that big scary number into a nice little bite-sized morsel. As an extra bonus, security lines are a breeze when you fly off peak.

Gettin’ There, Gettin’ Around and Gettin’ Down

Don’t be afraid to look at different options. D.C. is truly a region more than it is a city, with three major airports servicing the greater D.C./Maryland/Virginia area. Lower prices tempted us enough to fly to Baltimore and hop on the Amtrak train to connect with D.C.’s metro system. Ms. IS and I are decent navigators on our feet and love a new adventure of course, so working public transit was a breeze. We’re mentally anchored to Boston’s T system, which is not a comparison. The T is, well… quirky. (a gross sugar coating on my part, I’m being too kind to the home team!).

With the exception of one delay, the metro system adequately supported our zig-zagging about the various neighborhoods. I’ll let you in on a little secret too: if I happen to lose my way a bit or miss a stop etc., I don’t get too riled up. It may provide an additional opportunitiy to see something or talk to somebody I wouldn’t have had the chance to otherwise.

A word of caution though: D.C. is one of these cities that’s “gone full scooter,” i.e. a handful of e-scooter tech start-ups are aggressively vying for market share. In practice, this means scooters are strewn about everywhere you look. And, on more than one occasion during your day, you’ll likely have some type of moderately dangerous encounter with a scooterperson. You’ll be treated to folks nonchalantly scooting at a wildly inappropriate pace, often in an inappropriate place and without a helmet. So, keep your head on a swivel or join ’em and hop on one yourself. They do look pretty fun after all.

Trying to See Things

After two days of hanging with amazing people, Monday morning hit and we needed to face reality: we’d leave later in the day, having seen exactly zero “sites.” It wasn’t the intent of the trip, so totally understandable, but it did lead me to exclaim (dripping with sarcasm):

“I don’t care what we do today, but I’m not leaving this city until I see Abe’s glorious beard!”

With the workweek upon us, our friends needed to live their lives. Our itinerary wide open for the day, we made an attempt to satisfy my touristy yearnings.

A stroll, turned into an adventure organically. We hoofed through many of D.C.’s iconic landmarks. I snapped pictures throughout, but tried my best to slow my pace and absorb the environment, just shut up and let my senses be bombarded.

It was a great day. We saw a lot without feeling rushed and called it quits when our bodies told us it was time.

Weekend Jaunt – Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is amazing. Getting there can be a harrowing experience however. Dunks-fueled traffic ragers abound, but you’ll find it’s well worth the drive down from Boston.

Anytime is a good time to see Newport for a weekend jaunt. We’ve made the pilgrimage in the coldest part of February, we’ve gone for its world-renowned jazz festival in high summer. It’s a wonderful place. Go, you’ll have a blast.

This excursion was a bit atypical, I ran a 1/2 marathon. I’ve done a few before, but I wouldn’t dare call myself a runner.

I find the 1/2 distance is long enough that at least some training is required (unless you want to have a very long day), but short enough that you don’t need to alter your life entirely to prep.

Beyond the enjoyment of running and the excitement of the actual event, these races can be anchors of a mini adventure. What a great excuse to pick a totally random place on the map and just do it!

Running Resources

I like to start with the calendar and some self-talk.

What’s coming up in my life over the next 6-12 months? What month would be optimal based upon schedule and time of the year (don’t pick August!)?

Next, I’ll go to a race finder website. There’s a host of them out there, but I like this one which lets you screen down quite a bit. Now that I’ve got a time-frame, I’m drilling down by location, which brings up more questions. Where do I want go? Do I want a race near the ocean, mountains, etc.? Would it be cool to visit someone?

Once you’ve figured timing and location, the rest is gravy. Fire in and put it on the calendar. Now, you’re working backwards from your race date.

There’s no shortage of resources on the internet for training schedules. I found Hal Higdon years ago and never looked at anything else. He’s written 34 books on the topic. His site is great for the casual, as well as the more experienced amateur, looking for incremental improvement and personal bests, etc.

So How’d It Go?

Sleep, hydration, energy/food and race strategy are key components to ensuring a fun, injury free and competitive day on the course. Generally, I pretty much stink at getting to bed the night before something “important.” I try, but I’m often just too excited about the next day to properly let my brain quiet down. This night was no exception and we crashed at a friend of the family’s home (Thank you, Harry!), so we put our heads down on a foreign (but nice and cozy) pillow for the night. I did a decent job of rest the few nights going into the weekend, so I’ll give myself a B- on sleep.

Since reading Tom Brady’s book (yes, please make fun), hydration is more front of mind. I have embraced electrolytes and carry around a massive water container all the time like a crazy person. I feel great. TB12 may be on to something. I give myself a solid A on hydration.

We met our hosts the night before at a local family restaurant for a meal and carb loading session for me. Their minds were focused on cheap and yummy eats for their little ones, while I was preoccupied with riffling as much spaghetti into my face as one could in polite company. Next morning, I may have overdone it slightly with the breakfast and water pre-race. I didn’t eat a ton, but anything more than a banana and some nuts can make for a jostling stomache shortly into the race. I got it a little bit in the early miles, but no serious nausea. For energy, I’ll have to rate myself a C.

In short, my race strategy was terrible. I did the typical idiot move and flew in the beginning. Mile 2 clocked in at a 7:30 pace. I do not run at a 7:30 pace! To compound problems, my (obnoxious) jacket, although super thin and designed for running, made me overheat. I should have discarded the layer a mile or two into the race, but I held out until mile 6, WAY past a warm up and well into the overheating stage. It took me a minute to find my stride again, but the ocean breeze and beautiful views of Newport’s coast, put me in a good place mentally not long after. My race strategy merits a resounding D. I did all the dumb things, while telling myself “you’re doing dumb things right now.” Oh boy.

I did my best to finish gamely. The last 1/2 mile was downslope to flat, so I put in a good effort and cruised through the finish. Ms IS found me near the finish line and helped me change, stretch, foam roll and eat/drink everything in sight. It was a great morning and a really fun way to see a chunk of Newport in a unique way. My dumpster approach to race strategy only lights the fire to put a new 1/2 marathon on the calendar for next spring.

Any recommendations?

*This silly little post is dedicated to my great friend Jimmy D. Keep it lanky, brother and get well soon.