26 Aug Up, Up and Away- 6 Tips for Successful Travel

At the weekend the Triathlon World Championships take place in Edmonton, Canada. It’s going to be a great weekend of racing for Pro’s and Age Grouper’s. There has been a hell of a lot of commitment through 2014 for these individuals to represent their countries and I wanted to say congratulations to everyone before they get going.

Tribal athlete Richard, heads out to represent GB on Friday and before he left I shared a few tips on coping with the change of time zones so that he races to his full potential.

Here are the 6 essential tips I shared with Richard for his first few days in Edmonton.

1. Adapt to your new schedule while in flight.

Change your watch when you get on the plane. It’ll help you get into the mind-set of what you’ll be doing in the place where you’re going.

Live according to the time of day at your destination- if its nighttime- try and get some sleep, if its daytime- stay awake. Also, schedule your meals according to your new time zone.

2. Stay hydrated.

Before, within and post flight, I want you to be extra conscientious about hydration- take your salt (Gros Sel Guerande) with you so you can add to water you have on the

plane- attempt to sip regularly throughout, around and during your flight, getting up to the loo will be great for your legs.

Avoid all alcohol or caffeine during the flight and in the few days before the race. Alcohol and caffeine can disrupt sleep and will promote dehydration.

3. Move.

Get up and walk around periodically, do some exercises, and stretch on the flight.

During and after the flight stretch at regular intervals and complete some founders and regularly stretch front hip, quad and calf to reverse the affects of prolonged sitting.

Here’s a video to help you out-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7p3jnelMKs

4. Consider Meditation.

Have you tried meditation before?? Meditation can help to reduce the amount of cortisol in your body that is spiked during our most awake periods of the day- use meditation to help you adjust your circadian rhythm so that you can sleep at night.

I would suggest using the Head Space App- try it out at 12 noon when our wake up hormones should naturally start to curtail and then again once or twice through the afternoon and evening.

Here is the link- https://itunes.apple.com/app/headspace-on-the-go/id493145008?utm_source=headspace&utm_medium=weblink&utm_campaign=app_page

5. Try natural light therapy.

The few sessions Rich has scheduled for this last week have been programmed for 0700-0800 in the morning to help maximise his alertness at this time, our supposed most awake period of the day.

You should also attempt to get outside in the sunlight and fresh air during these sessions.

6. Minimise sleep distractions.

To sleep soundly you want to create a cave- pitch black (eye mask), no noise (ear plugs) and clutter free.

You’ll notice that most of these tips are focused upon balancing and retraining your circadian rhythm- a balanced daily sleep/wake cycle will do wonders for your health. Hope you have found these 6 tips helpful in you reaching your goals when travelling for racing.

Best of luck to everybody racing this coming weekend.