Traveling and Racing: How to Maximize Performance
by GRP Biathlete Jake Brown
Jake grew up as a skier and runner in Minnesota. After running DI for two years, he transferred to St. Olaf where he could pursue his dual athletic passions. There, he helped the Oles to a DIII National Cross Country Running Championship while racing the NCAA ski circuit. Now, an Olympic biathlete, Jake continues to indulge his desire to run, mainly by thrashing his calves during 3k time trials on the track, a standard fitness test for skiers.
How can you maximize race performance after a long travel day?
Traveling for racing can be a pain. Whether it’s prying yourself out of the car, off any plane, or simply out of bed upon awaking in a new time zone, the body can feel more than just out of place. Hips creak, backs ache, feet swell, and eyes blur. After a long car ride your mind feels fried yet sleepless after fixating on tail lights, lane lines, and road signs for hours. And why oh why am I always so hungry yet weirdly full at the same time? Do you guys ever get that or is that just me?
Travel days don’t always feel as pretty as they look.
Some folks love traveling for racing. I don’t. But it’s no matter, really, because if you like to race and compete, the competition isn’t going to come to you (well, if you live in Craftsbury like I do, you are luckier than most with the Craftsbury Outdoor Center hosting more than its fair share of competitions). So, here are my top five tips to help you perform as close to your best as possible despite potentially non-ideal travel situations:
1. Pre-Rest
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an unexpectedly good race on little sleep, poor sleep, or even just a long day of work or school before an evening race. It’s amazing how well the body can perform physically despite acute stressors or one bad night of sleep (where an acute lack of sleep takes its biggest toll is on mental focus, not the physical, despite what you might feel during your warm-up). The key is to avoid being chronically sleep-deprived. If you know you’re going to have a tough day or two of travel leading up to a race, or maybe you have to take an exam the day of a big race, make sure you are well-rested the week before and week of the race. Similarly, don’t try to force training into a travel day. I’ve learned this one the hard way so you don’t have to. A light jog is fine, sure, but travel days present the body with enough stress to deal with already. Treat them as you would a hard day in your training plan and take it easy before and after.
2. Mobilize
Mobility and stretching are absolute musts after travel. Even if we get to our hotel late after a long travel day, I always take the extra 15 minutes to go through my simplest mobility and stretching routine. If this is a chore for you, just focus on the most travel-cramped joints: hip flexors, hip rotators, and ankles. And be sure to include a long hamstring stretch or two in there. Some athletes also like to get their blood flowing after arriving at their destination with a short shuffle jog or walk. This can be helpful too, if you have the time, and can warm your muscles before your short stretch and mobility routine.
3. Eat
Thinking that you don’t need to fuel as much on a travel day is a huge mistake. Travel days take a slow toll on the brain, which is a huge consumer of carbohydrates. And you need full glycogen (a.k.a. carbohydrates stored in muscle) stores to race well. Do your best to fuel with natural sources of complex carbs, healthy fats, and protein. Spending money at airport dining options can feel like robbery, so bring your own food if you can. If you aren’t able to bring your own food, or you run out, it’s worth it to pay $20 for that healthier burger and potato option than “getting by” with some packaged cereal bar. That said, I will 100% encourage you to eat McDonalds rather than skip a meal.
4. Time Zones: No easy solution
There are two main strategies on dealing with significant time-zone changes: switch your bedtime before you travel, or don’t switch your bedtime before you travel. I’ve tried both and seen others try both. I’m a fan of not switching my bedtime before travel. That said, with my lifestyle as an athlete I have the ability to arrive much further in advance than merely the day before a big race. My reasoning for not switching my bedtime until arrival is that it is so hard to control everything else in your life that sets your circadian rhythm. In all likelihood you still have to go to work at the same time, pick kids up from school at the same time, and, the big kicker, the sun won’t cooperate with your plans. I find it easiest to just suck it up and switch when you arrive. The key is that you must stay diligent with your wake-up time. Be careful with naps. Sometimes the naps take you, and they are unavoidable. Just try to keep them short so you can get to sleep in your new time zone.
Another tip if you struggle for time-zone changes: don’t drink coffee! Coffee is a stimulant, and will not help you set your new circadian rhythm! But light will. So get outside right away in the morning and go for a walk without sunglasses. Coffee has a half-life of about five hours so some of that cup of Joe you drink in the morning will be in your system well into the night. Especially if you’re struggling to get on your new time zone, cut out the morning coffee.
5. Do a longer warm-up
If you drove, say, more than an hour, to a race, or you just flew to a new destination a day or two ago and have been taking it easy until race day, it’s really important to get your body up to speed in the right way. What you need from your warmup is four-fold:
Joints and muscles must be able to operate in their full range of motion without excess tightness due to travel
The muscles must be warm
The aerobic system must be activated
The neuromuscular system should be ready to operate at race-speed
Here is a warmup that can get you started to accomplish all of this: get out of the car and walk for five min. Just let your blood flow. Get your bib, check in, do what you need to do. Then jog easy for 10 minutes. I’m talking shuffle. Not even close to your pace on an easy distance run. Then, do your mobility routine. Open those hips, stretch the hamstrings, quads, and calves. Now you can do a standard warm-up: run 5-10 min at an easy distance pace. For the next 10 minutes activate the aerobic system with a few bouts of tempo running. I like 2 x 3 min at 83-87% of max HR. Take a few minutes to do some active stretching or drills and rehydrate a little. Then feel out your race pace for 2 x 1 minute. You should be able to accomplish this by starting about one hour prior to your race.
With these tips maybe you’ll come to love traveling to races so much that you’ll follow in the footsteps of my favorite runner, Ryan Hall. (Read his adventures here).
Good luck out there!
On a shakeout run in Teddy Roosevelt National Park after a long cross-country drive