We’re within the thick of the race season, which suggests you’re probably not simply logging plenty of swim, bike, and run miles — you’re most likely additionally crisscrossing your area, nation, or continent (or even perhaps the globe in case you’re a professional) as you journey to at least one occasion after one other. You’ve skilled exhausting and ready properly, so don’t undo all of that onerous work by touring like a rookie! It’s essential to journey like an athlete. With a little bit of planning and preparation, and by mastering just a few key expertise, you’ll be able to attain each begin line contemporary, relaxed, and able to go.
9 Tricks to Journey Like an Athlete
Pack Forward
For a lot of professional athletes, packing is essentially the most loathed a part of touring, however it all the time appears to get simpler because the season goes on. The important thing to doing it efficiently (and never forgetting something very important) is to create a prioritized listing of all the gadgets you want on your race, after which to test these gadgets off as you pack them. If I do know I’m going to be touring rather a lot, I maintain my must-have gadgets inside my suitcase, in order that they don’t get misplaced — however that’s not essentially the place they keep once I head out the door. Given how usually checked baggage arrives late (or under no circumstances), I all the time pack my most important race gadgets (e.g., bike and run footwear, race equipment, helmet and sunnies, Beachbody Efficiency Hydrate) plus one coaching equipment in my carry-on bag. This has saved me on a couple of event — and a number of other teammates when their baggage has been misplaced!
Verify the Climate in Your Vacation spot
This tip would possibly look like a no brainer, however I can’t let you know what number of instances I’ve assumed that it’s going to be scorching and humid in Miami or heat and dry in California and it’s been something however! Verify the forecast on your vacation spot usually, and pack accordingly, but additionally be ready for all eventualities. Mom Nature could be a fickle girl, and he or she has a behavior of defying her predictors. If I’m tight on area in my baggage, I’ll go away toiletries at residence and purchase them at my vacation spot, so I could make room for further gear.
Have a Skilled Ship Your Bike
Packing and touring along with your bike could be a main headache, particularly in case you’re not skilled at it. If that’s the case, search the recommendation of a extra seasoned good friend, or enlist the assistance of a neighborhood bike retailer. Many outlets provide bike-packing providers for an affordable worth. You too can use a service like TriBike Transport, which lets you drop your bike off at a taking part bike retailer and choose it up on the race location a day or so earlier than the occasion.
When you determine to journey along with your bike quite than ship it, ensure that to familiarize your self along with your airline’s bag charges. They’ll vary from $75 to $200, and never all airways deal with your bike bag with TLC, so ensure that all the things is properly wrapped and guarded. And don’t pack something further in there. You’ll usually see athletes squeezing tons of stuff into their bike bag, however that solely will increase the possibilities of your bike being broken.
Whichever choice you select, it’s all the time prudent to get your bike serviced/checked no less than every week previous to your departure. That provides you with loads of time to repair any points that pop up.
Sleep The place You Race
I attempt to discover lodging that makes race day logistics as simple as attainable. Saving a couple of bucks by staying miles away is pointless if it’s a nightmare to journey to and/or park close to the venue on race day. With the ability to stroll, jog, or experience to your race with out trouble or stress will assist get your head in the best place to have a superb race. Additionally keep in mind that in case you have particular dietary wants, or simply favor to know precisely what you’re consuming (that’s me for positive!), then staying in self-catered lodging (someplace with its personal kitchen/fridge/microwave) goes to make your life significantly simpler.
Don’t Stress
Whether or not it’s a protracted or a brief haul, flying may be the athlete’s enemy because of the stress it locations on the physique. I attempt to keep away from scheduling exhausting coaching classes for the day earlier than or morning of journey days, partially since you merely don’t get better as properly after them as you do whenever you’re residence. Air journey additionally knocks your immune system down a notch, making you extra vulnerable to catching a bug as you weave by way of airports (that are mainly big petri dishes) and spend prolonged durations of time crammed in a confined area at 30,000 ft with greater than 100 different (probably illness carrying) passengers.
My recommendation: Be vigilant about what you contact and what you eat, and maintain a bottle of hand sanitizer inside attain always. If attainable, attempt additionally to take care of a optimistic mindset, and do all the things you’ll be able to to reduce your stress degree. For me, that features avoiding red-eyes. I used to fly in any respect kinds of extraordinary instances of the day and evening if it meant preserving more cash in my pocket, however I’ve since realized that not disturbing my sleep and coaching schedules is way extra essential, particularly throughout race week. Briefly, don’t ever count on to run into me on a 4am flight (or actually, any flight earlier than 9am or after 8pm).
Ebook an Aisle Seat
Sustaining wholesome blood circulation is essential for everybody, together with (and maybe particularly for) athletes. To that finish, I all the time attempt to reserve an aisle seat in order that I can rise up and stretch my legs each 60 to 90 minutes. Compression socks additionally assist. Simply be sure you put on them below your clothes so that you don’t seem like a whole endurance-sport geek.
Keep Hydrated
Flying is a dehydrating course of due to the dry, filtered air that’s circulated by way of airplane cabins, so plan forward — particularly in case you’re travelling with an airline that makes you pay for water (I’m speaking about you, Spirit). I all the time take a water bottle on the airplane with me, and can alternate ingesting a diluted electrolyte beverage (e.g. watered down Beachbody Efficiency Hydrate) and plain water. Tomato juice is one other winner due to its excessive ranges of sodium (a key electrolyte). Belief me on this one: Good hydration habits can mitigate the consequences of jetlag, so drink up.
Give Your self Time to Alter
Jetlag and time zone adjustments can wreak havoc on the finely tuned athlete’s physique. For every time zone traveled, I attempt to give myself no less than sooner or later to regulate. Though jetlag consultants recommend making adjustments to your each day routine (e.g., bedtime, wake time, and many others.) by an hour a day within the days main as much as departure, I’ve by no means discovered that notably useful. As a substitute, I attempt to trick myself into the vacation spot time zone once I arrive by spending time in pure gentle as late into the day as attainable, doing gentle train and mobility work to get my blood flowing, consuming contemporary meals, and doing all the things I can to facilitate a superb evening’s sleep (extra on that in a second). Even be aware that you’ve got simply spent prolonged time cooped up in a airplane, so your physique won’t really feel great on the subject of coaching the following day. Be affected person, and don’t panic! I discover that doing my mobility work, spending time on the froth curler, and meditating (i.e., deep respiration and enjoyable) all assist carry my physique again round.
Get Some Relaxation
Sleep is clearly essential, and it may be simply disrupted by journey. I attempt to observe the identical pre-bed routine on the highway as I do at residence, in order that wherever I’m on the earth, my physique and thoughts know when it’s time for sleep. A scorching bathe/bathtub, some gentle stretching/mobility work, a chapter or two of a superb guide, after which earplugs and an eye fixed masks and I’m off to dreamland. I additionally attempt to keep away from blue gentle (emitted by LED units comparable to telephones, computer systems, and televisions), proper earlier than mattress, as it might intrude with falling asleep. Don’t be afraid to assist the method with some melatonin (so long as you seek the advice of your physician first) and/or just a few drops of lavender oil in your pillow. In my expertise, each work wonders on the subject of resetting the physique’s clock.
So there you’ve got it! With a little bit of forethought and some key expertise, there’s no purpose why you’ll be able to’t race simply as brilliantly when touring midway around the globe as you do whenever you compete near residence. Good luck, and journey secure!
