So Far, So Good

Run your best in a far-flung race by minimising the effects of long-distance air travel.

- George Winter

In 2012, Scottish ultra runner and doctor Andrew Murray entered the Gobi Challenge, a six-day race in Mongolia. It did not begin well: “A couple of Mongolian runners blasted off on the first day, while I struggled with jet lag and a heavy cold,” he recalls. “Sleep is the major determinant of how I’ll perform.”

Jet lag and lack of sleep are becoming increasingly prevalent in our sport. More and more of us fly long distances to take part in races – 30 per cent of runners in the 2016 New York City Marathon travelled there from overseas, for example. Clearly you don’t want to put in months of training for a destination race only to have your performance hampered by fatigue or a body clock that’s out of whack. The health and performance effects of long distance air travel on endurance can be considerable, but there are steps you can take to minimise them.

Lagging Behind

A review in Current Sports Medicine Reports describes jet lag disorder (JLD) as the result of a dissociation between the body’s circadian rhythm and the world’s ‘clock time’ following rapid travel across multiple time zones. Circadian rhythms are the physical, mental and behavioural changes that conform to an approximate 24-hour cycle of light and dark, and explain why we’re alert at certain times of the day and sleepy at others. JLD symptoms include insomnia and poor-quality sleep, daytime sleepiness, impaired alertness and concentration, headache and gastrointestinal issues.