Secrets For Feeling Fresh After 30 Hours of Travel to Worlds

Secrets for feeling fresh after 30 hours of travel to the World Triathlon Championships 

Barb and I have spent the last 30 hours travelling on our way to Australia for  the World Triathlon Championships. I was worried about the travel time as we flew out of Toronto Sunday night and arrived in Australia on Tuesday. In addition to the length of travel time I was also very worried about the travel across 14 time zones, as I was competing less than 48 hours after we were to land.

To put things in context here was our travel schedule:

Arrived at Pearson Airport at 6:00 pm Sunday evening

Left Pearson at 8:30 pm and arrived in Vancouver at approximately 10:30 pm Vancouver time

Left Vancouver at 12:00 am on Sunday night

Flew 14 hours to Brisbane Australia and arrived 7:00 am Tuesday

Arrived at Hotel on Gold Coast at noon Tuesday

Total travel time = 30 hours

I incorporated a few new ideas into this flight in order to try to arrive fresh and try to be at my best for my race on Thursday. I must say when I arrived in Australia, I felt fresher and more awake than I typically do even on a much shorter flight. I attribute this to some of the things I did differently during the flight to combat the effects of flying as well as travel across multiple time zones.

Here are the things I did on my flight to Australia and I hope that on your next short or long plane ride, they may be of assistance to you.  You may want to “bookmark” this blog for your future air travels!

1.Water

We all know the importance of water to our system. I usually try to have a glass of water when the flight crew offers but since we were going so far and I had my most important race of the season, I wanted to be sure I stayed well hydrated. One of the issues with air travel is the planes have very dry and stale air which results in dehydration. My goal was to stay ahead of the dehydration cure and arrive in Australia super hydrated as there was no way I wanted to arrive in a dehydrated state prior to my race. 

Here is what I did prior and during the flight:

Prior to the flight from Toronto I made sure I drank a lot of water prior to taking off. When we stopped in Vancouver prior to taking off I drank a few large glasses of water. For this flight I brought with me a 1 litre water bottle and likely filled it 10-12 times during the flight. Every time the flight staff offered water I asked them to fill my water bottle and also made a point of walking to the back of the plane to stretch my legs and fill my water bottle a number of times. I could tell that I was well hydrated by the number of times I had to visit the washroom! – Mission accomplished.

2.Healthy Food

As we know, the food they serve on the plane is generally not super healthy. Although it often tastes good, it is typically very high in sodium, high in sugars, full of preservatives and often leaves me not feeling well after consuming it.

We had prepared our own food and snacks to bring with us on the flight(avocado sandwiches, cut up fruits and vegetables, Mary’s crackers , etc.) however in our rush to leave the house we left it in the fridge at home. This created challenges as we had to go out of our way to “find” healthy food. However I had packed a full bag of organic nuts, seeds and raisins which helped sustain us during the flight. When we were on our stop over in Vancouver I made sure I had a full helping of healthy food that would sustain me for the next leg of the trip. So bottom line, either bring healthy food, pre order healthy options for the flight or find healthy food in the Airport.

3.Sleep Supplements

I knew that I somehow had to have a full night sleep on this very long flight in order to be prepared for race day. Typically I am not able to sleep on planes and usually I find myself on my laptop, reading or listening to a Podcast and wide awake.  I must say the routine I used on this flight worked as I had a full 8 hours of sleep and had no problems getting or staying asleep. 

I brought with me a baggie with my regular sleep supplements that I typically have every night prior to bed so that it simulated my regular nightly routine for a great sleep. If you missed my blog on  5 Natural Remedies For A Great Nights Sleep, you can access it here:http://kevinbradyhealth.ca/5-natural-remedi…or-a-great-sleep/

This included magnesium, ZMA, Nighty Night tea to name a few.  In addition, I also had some Melatonin which worked amazing. Melatonin is what our body naturally releases in the evening however since my schedule was so messed up, I decided to add natural Melatonin to my routine that would help me get to sleep. I must say I was pleasantly surprised as I slept through the night for 8 hours and had one of the best sleeps ever on a plane. 

4.Sleep Aids

In addition to the supplements above, I wanted to ensure I was comfortable so that it would assist me in falling asleep as I didn’t want to go through what I usually do on flights. What I did to ensure I was comfortable was I dressed in very comfortable clothing, I also purchased a soft blow up pillow, and used earplugs and eye shades during the flight. Once again, all of this in combination with the supplements really helped me to have a great, restful sleep.

4.Vitamins

As we all know, when travelling on a plane we all are breathing the same recycled air and therefore are breathing the viruses, germs and bacteria that others on the plane may be suffering from. Often following air travel, people get sick and pick up colds and sore throats.

With my race less than 48 after we landed, I could not afford to get sick or catch a cold so I wanted to proactively try to combat any viruses. Therefore I brought with me my regular daily routine of vitamins (of course in a baggie marked “supplements”) and made sure I had them during the long leg going to Australia. In addition, when we got to our hotel I also had my naturopathic drops to fight off any viruses and colds that may be in my system. 

5.Bathroom Air Squats

With over 20 hours of air travel I want to ensure that I kept moving to try to keep the circulation moving as well as avoid muscle stiffness and inflammation. Therefore I typically get up many times during a flight to take a walk, and do some stretches to try to accomplish this.

A trick I learned from the Ben Greenfield podcast was to do bathroom squats. This is whereby every time went to the washroom, I did 20 Air squats and each squat I tried to touch my butt to the top of the bathroom seat. This only takes about 30 seconds and makes you feel much fresher and energized as you are getting some exercise. So next flight, I encourage you to do some Bathroom Air Squats!

6.12 Hour Fast

If you read my last blog 7 Morning Hacks For An Amazing Dayhttp://kevinbradyhealth.ca/7-morning-hacks-for-an-amazing-day/ ,you know that I am a fan of a 10-12 hour fast each night. This is quite simple as when I have my last meal at say 7:00 p.m. , I simply try not to consume any food until 7:00 am the following morning.

On this flight I wanted to stick to the same schedule as I do at home so did a 12 hour fast. I had my last meal prior to getting on the plane in Vancouver and did not eat for 12 hours following that meal which was quite simple as I was sleeping, reading and doing work on my computer during that time.

7.Get on Australian time zone

I wanted to try to get my body off my Toronto schedule and on the Australia time zone as soon as possible. Therefore, since I knew that I was landing at 7:00 a.m. in Australia, I attempted to go to sleep 8 hours prior to this so that I would wake up as close as possible to 7:00 a.m. Australia time. When we arrived in Australia I attempted to get and stick to their time zone and schedule so my body would adapt as soon as possible. This was very important as my race was less than 48 hours after we arrived in Australia.

Summary

To summarize, although the travel time and flights were 3-4 times longer than our typical flights and encompassed over 30 hours of travel time, I felt much better than I usually do after flying and attribute it to the things I did prior and during this long flight. 

To summarize, I suggest you try the following on your next short or long haul flight to feel fresh and energized when you arrive at your destination:

1.Stay super Hydrated

2.Eat Healthy low sodium, low sugar meals on plane

3.Take Sleep Remedies

4.Bring Sleep Aides for the plane

5.Do some Activity on the plane – Bathroom Squats

6.Fast if overnight flight

7.Get on destination time zone as soon as able. 

There you have my suggestions for feeling more energized and awake when you get to your destination. 

Next week – Report from the Worlds!

Wishing you a happy and healthy day,

Kev