In recent months, Taylor and I have been salivating over the prospect of traveling someplace far away for a much needed vacation that doesn’t involve a half Ironman.  Between our work schedules and the cost of traveling, we’ve held off on pulling the trigger on a major trip.  In the meantime, we’ve kept an eye out for an opportunity to get away before training for Wildflower, Vineman 70.3, the San Francisco Marathon, and Ironman Lake Tahoe kicks into high gear.  

Both of us have a keen eye for a bargain.  Although neither of us are dedicated enough to participate in Occupy Best Buy ahead of Black Friday, we did manage to snag some amazing deals from the couch.  It just so happened that found the best of both worlds last week: deals on both race registrations and a vacation!

We’ve been eyeing the Great Race 13.1 in Agoura, CA for some time now, and noticed an amazing Black Friday deal – roughly 30% off of registration.  Race day is 3/22, which should give us ample time to recharge over the holidays and enjoy an early season trail run.  Vowing to make our 8-hour drive home from Santa Barbara in August the last for some time, we found cheap airfare to Los Angeles and opted to extend our trip by spending a couple days in San Diego after the race.  

To top it off, we redeemed our 80% off vouchers that we received following the cancellation of the Mount Diablo Marathon in September and registered for the Montara Mountain 13.1 in Pacifica, CA – a trail network that we’ve been eager to run for a while.  For $3.  Seriously.

Despite not receiving a brand new TV via Amazon Drones, we couldn’t be more excited about our race registrations and a vacation that’ll balance work and play.  Keeping races on the calendar are just an added incentive for us to get up, move, and see something new whenever we can.  Plus, the beer always tastes better at the finish line.