Racing in a different TIME ZONE - She Runs Eats Performs

Episode 144

full
Published on:

15th Jun 2023

Racing in a different TIME ZONE

Time Zone changes and flights prior to a race can “upset your biology” and this adds a few more considerations to take when preparing for race day. Listen today so you may be fully prepared and avoid problems which any affect your race day plan.

Today we are going to talk about:

1. Tips for staying healthy on a flight

2. Planning ahead before you leave home

3. Some real food suggestions to help you at your destination

A BIG thank you to our Show Sponsor AMAZING JANE ACTIVE WEAR. Please use discount code RHH10 for 10% off ALL purchases at www.amazingjane.com

SHOW NOTES 

(03:17)

The aspects of health may be affected by travelling to a different time zone are energy, digestion, immune system and sleep patterns. We talk about why it's important to avoid issues so you are race ready.

(04:08)

One of the most important things to do is to plan to arrive at your destination a 2 or more of days before your race so your body has time to get in sync with the local time. 

(06:23

Tips to minimise the impact of a long-haul flight.

·     Eat an easy to digest satisfying meal when you arrive at the airport

·     Stay away from caffeine and alcohol

·     Take your own healthy snacks and teabags for the flight

·     On the flight drink water only and aim to sleep

·     Avoid stimulating your mind with the inflight entertainment or music.

·     Promote sleep by using an eye mask, noise cancelling ear buds and inhale relaxing essential oils to help you relax and sleep

·     After take-off change your watch to your destination time zone – it may help get your brain in sync with local time

When you arrive at your destination, do your best to immediately sync with local time. So, if it’s daytime stay awake until local bedtime and if it is night-time, then go to bed and set an alarm to wake up at local morning time. That’ll help get your sleep patterns regulated.

(10:26)

Tips to alleviate travelers’ constipation and bloating include:

·     drink plenty of water during the flight (avoiding alcohol and caffeine as we have already said)

·     when you arrive and eat plenty fresh fruit and vegetables and stay hydrated

·     consider taking some magnesium during and after the flight as this will help relax the bowel.

For most people their regular pattern of bowel movements will return within 1-2 days.

(12:20)

Supporting the immune system prior to travel.

These suggestions apply to anyone doing any race whether it’s near to home or further afield … if you’ve put a lot of effort into training … the last thing you want is to have a minor illness or infection in the days before your race.

Make the week leading up to your race supportive of your running goals – regular meals, minimal alcohol, optimal nutrition, and hydration, plenty of time for relaxing and sleep, keep your social calendar light on commitments and schedule in easy light activity for active recovery.

Consider adding some immune and digestive protective supplements e.g. a good quality multi vitamin and mineral designed for the immune system, Vitamin D, and perhaps some echinacea plus a probiotic to support your gut microbiome.

 

(15:38)

 Food Planning ahead of your trip. The important thing is NOT to leave anything to chance.

Our advice is to plan/prepare/shop for/arrange/request whatever you require. You may be in in a hotel or self-catering or perhaps if you have a fridge in your hotel room you can make some of your own food. Listen to get our tips for the airport, in-flight, and at your destination. We help you to think about your food to eat whilst travelling, in the days leading up to the event and for race day.

(19:14)

At Your Destination - what can you do ahead of travel to make food choices easy.

·     Packing Food Essentials for the days leading up to the race and race day will help save time shopping at your destination

·     Also check out information from your race organizer as they may be providing some food or may suggest local facilities

·     If you’re self-catering – make a shopping list and plan how you’ll do the shopping

·     If you are in a hotel … check their menus and room service options and search online shops and restaurants were nearby. It’s always a good idea to book a table for the time you require well in advance. If it’s a big popular race there will be hundreds or maybe even thousands of runners competing for table bookings

(21:04)

A couple of weeks before travel  plan your race day nutrition timeline. Listen to Episode 134 Designing your Race Day Nutrition for more information.

(24:13)

An eating approach to help you at your destination.

·     Avoid eating any food you are not used to (avoid digestive issues)

·     Choose simple easy to digest food

·     Drink bottled water

·     Follow your usual nutritional and hydration foundations

·     Eat at your normal times – don’t leave more than 5 hours between meals and snacks.

·     Follow plate balance including protein, carbohydrate and vegetables

(25:32)

The benefits of planning recovery time before you step onto a flight home.

(28:20)

Taking a common sense approach to making food choices – doing the best you can with what is available.

(30:25)

Our list of easy to pack food items which can be easily used for simple meals and snacks. You may not need ALL of these items but hopefully it’ll give you some ideas. You can pack some boxes or bags of easy to pack foods for traveling: 

Ö     Oats

Ö     Nuts/Seeds

Ö     Dried Fruit

Ö     Nut Butter _ you can find sachets from some brands

Ö     Oatcakes and Crackers

Ö     Flap jack Bars

Ö     Bars and Gels – we prefer brands who focus on natural ingredients e.g. Huma, Velaforte, Stinger

Ö     Protein powder – there are sachets from Purition – when you get to your destination just buy some almond or coconut milk to mix up your own shake

Ö     Fruit Puree Sachets

Ö     Miso Soup sachets – you could add some chopped fresh veggies

Ö     Small tins/cartons of beans/pulses/tofu/fish 

(32:52)

Our travel checklist – if you’d like a copy, please drop us a line at hello@runnershealthhub.com and we can email it to you.

(33:59)

ONE ACTION POINT to get you started after today’s episode:

If you have a race in your calendar that involves long-haul travel … get your diary out and allocate some time 2 weeks before your travel to do some food planning and shopping.

 We’d love to hear about your travelling tales when racing in a different time zone please share with us at hello@runnershealthhub.com

Download our FREE E book TOP Running Snacks and Nutrient Timing to Fuel Peak Performance

Related Topics:

03:17) The aspects of health may be affected by travelling to a different time zone. There’s a potential for energy being affected by the time involved in travelling. Sleep and digestive patterns may be disrupted. The immune system may be impacted … often people pick up a cough or a cold following a flight. (04:08) One of the most important things to do is to plan to arrive at your destination a 2 or more of days before your race so your body has time to get in sync with the local time. (06:23) Tips to minimise the impact of a long-haul flight. • Eat an easy to digest satisfying meal when you arrive at the airport • Stay away from caffeine and alcohol • Take your own healthy snacks and teabags for the flight • On the flight drink water only and aim to sleep • Avoid stimulating your mind with the inflight entertainment or music. • Promote sleep by using an eye mask, noise cancelling ear buds and inhale relaxing essential oils to help you relax and sleep • After take-off change your watch to your destination time zone – it may help get your brain in sync with local time When you arrive at your destination, do your best to immediately sync with local time. So, if it’s daytime stay awake until local bedtime and if it is night-time, then go to bed and set an alarm to wake up at local morning time. That’ll help get your sleep patterns regulated. (10:26) Tips to alleviate travelers’ constipation and bloating include: • drink plenty of water during the flight (avoiding alcohol and caffeine as we have already said) • when you arrive and eat plenty fresh fruit and vegetables and stay hydrated • consider taking some magnesium during and after the flight as this will help relax the bowel. For most people their regular pattern of bowel movements will return within 1-2 days. (12:20) Supporting the immune system prior to travel. These suggestions apply to anyone doing any race whether it’s near to home or further afield … if you’ve put a lot of effort into training … the last thing you want is to have a minor illness or infection in the days before your race. Make the week leading up to your race supportive of your running goals – regular meals, minimal alcohol, optimal nutrition, and hydration, plenty of time for relaxing and sleep, keep your social calendar light on commitments and schedule in easy light activity for active recovery. Consider adding some immune and digestive protective supplements e.g. a good quality multi vitamin and mineral designed for the immune system, Vitamin D, and perhaps some echinacea plus a probiotic to support your gut microbiome. (15:38) Food Planning ahead of your trip The important thing is NOT to leave anything to chance. Our advice is to plan/prepare/shop for/arrange/request whatever you require. You may be in in a hotel or self-catering or perhaps if you have a fridge in your hotel room you can make some of your own food. You’ll need to think about your food to eat whilst travelling, in the days leading up to the event and for race day. Our tips would be: Travelling • At the Airport – check out what food choices will be available at the airport and if you need to take your own prepacked snacks • In-flight – we have already mentioned that – try not to rely on airline food – it’s rarely nutritious – have a selection of snacks in your inflight bag e.g. protein bars, nuts/seeds, dried fruit, a natural yoghurt, perhaps a pre made salad box (19:14) At Your Destination • Packing Food Essentials for the days leading up to the race and race day will help save time shopping at your destination • Also check out information from your race organizer as they may be providing some food or may suggest local facilities • If you’re self-catering – make a shopping list and plan how you’ll do the shopping • If you are in a hotel … check their menus and room service options and search online shops and restaurants were nearby. It’s always a good idea to book a table for the time you require well in advance. If it’s a big popular race there will be hundreds or maybe even thousands of runners competing for table bookings (21:04) A couple of weeks before travel plan your race day nutrition timeline. Listen to Episode 134 Designing your Race Day Nutrition for more information. (24:13) An eating approach to help you at your destination. • Avoid eating any food you are not used to (avoid digestive issues) • Choose simple easy to digest food • Drink bottled water • Follow your usual nutritional and hydration foundations • Eat at your normal times – don’t leave more than 5 hours between meals and snacks. • Follow plate balance including protein, carbohydrate and vegetables (25:32) The benefits of planning recovery time before you step onto a flight home. (28:20) Taking a commonsense approach to making food choices – doing the best you can with what is available. (30:25) Our list of easy to pack food items which can be easily used for simple meals and snacks. You may not need ALL of these items but hopefully it’ll give you some ideas. You can pack some boxes or bags of easy to pack foods for traveling:  Oats  Nuts/Seeds  Dried Fruit  Nut Butter _ you can find sachets from some brands  Oatcakes and Crackers  Flap jack Bars  Bars and Gels – we prefer brands who focus on natural ingredients e.g. Huma, Velaforte, Stinger  Protein powder – there are sachets from Purition – when you get to your destination just buy some almond or coconut milk to mix up your own shake  Fruit Puree Sachets  Miso Soup sachets – you could add some chopped fresh veggies  Small tins/cartons of beans/pulses/tofu/fish (32:52) Our travel checklist – if you’d like a copy, please drop us a line at hello@runnershealthhub.com and we can email it to you. (33:59) ONE ACTION POINT to get you started after today’s episode: If you have a race in your calendar that involves long-haul travel … get your diary out and allocate some time 2 weeks before your travel to do some food planning and shopping. We’d love to hear about your travelling tales when racing in a different time zone please share with us at hello@runnershealthhub.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Design Your Race Day Nutrition Plan

Race Day Success Nutritional Strategies

Sleep Essentials for Runners

Disclaimer:

The suggestions we make during this episode are for guidance and advice only, and are not a substitute for medical advice or treatment. If you have any concerns regarding your health, please contact your healthcare professional for advice as soon as possible.

A BIG thank you to our Show Sponsor AMAZING JANE ACTIVE WEAR. Please use discount code RHH10 for 10% off ALL purchases at www.amazingjane.com

​Also, when you're ready, here are FOUR ways that we can help you:

1) Join Easy Nutrition For Healthy Runners HUB. Please join our FREE private facebook group for education, tips, inspiration with like- minded female runners.

2) Get our Easy Nutrition For Healthy Runners Online Programme. As a THANK YOU, please use COUPON CODE POD to get 33% discount off the full price which brings the price to £199. 

3)Find out if you are the right fit for our Healthy Woman Healthy Runner Programme. Please book a free Discovery Call.

4) If you love our FREE stuff but need more help and would like to find out which of our services would be best for you. We’d love to have a short informal (no obligation) chat to see how we can help you. Book a free call here.

We love to hear from our listeners - what are your nutrition and running goals, challenges and successes, please drop us a line at hello@runnershealthhub.com

 

Best Wishes and Happy Running!

Karen and Aileen

www.runnershealthhub.com 



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About the Podcast

She Runs Eats Performs
for mid-life female runners of all abilities
Are you confused about the science around nutrition for runners? Listen in to learn about the WHY, HOW, WHAT, and WHEN of eating to fuel your running performance.

We are here to help you translate sports nutritional science, into easy to apply tips and plans, helping you enjoy peak running performance. We focus on the FEMALE FACTORS every mid-life woman needs to know to be a healthy runner.

About your host

Profile picture for Aileen Smith

Aileen Smith

Nutritionists, Educators, Podcasters, Runners and Friends

We have a love of running and a passion for nutrition, delicious food and healthy living. She Runs Eats Performs for female runners of all abilities who are looking for simple ways to improve their running performance and their health with nutrition and lifestyle.
We enjoy sharing our nutritional expertise, reviewing the latest sports science and most of all helping you to take easy action so you can enjoy your running life to the full.
We are here to help you achieve great health and good shape whilst staying injury-free with easy-to-understand sports nutritional concepts and easy-to-implement tips and plans.

Aileen and Karen are BANT and CNHC Registered Nutritional Therapists.