How do they deal with Jet Lag??

[Doggygirl]

I'm going to be very careful here so as not to include any spoilers.

In one of the GP event folders, an article was linked where a skater mentioned jet lag as a factor. NO KIDDING!! I used to travel a ton on business, only within the US, and still do travel on business occassionally. It takes me about 3 days to fully adjust to a measly 2-hour time difference!! I vacationed in Hawaii once, and it took me almost a week to get fully adjusted there.

I know other people that seem to be far more adaptable to time zone changes than me. That being said....

I'm sure each individual has a different capacity and time requirements to fully adjust. How early do skaters typically arrive for competitions involving significant time zone changes? What do the skaters do who have more difficulty adjusting?

I imagine there is an "official" start for practices, etc. at competitions. What if skaters want to arrive sooner? Are they on their own to find a rink and ice time, hotels, etc.? (my guess is yes)

Just curious what you've all heard over the years from skaters who might be more challenged in this area than others.

DG

 

[dr.frog]

The USFSA provides a bunch of information about how to deal with jet lag.

http://www.usfigureskating.org/Athletes.asp?id=270

From the other documents on the US Team part of the web site, it seems they will try to accommodate skaters who want to arrive early by arranging for unofficial practice ice, etc.

 

[Doggygirl]

Hi Dr. Frog....

Didn't realize that section was there. I guess this part....

"Avoid alcohol when you are sleepy – it may make your sleepiness worse."

....contradicts everything my business co-horts have always recommended. And that is, all you need to get over jet lag is:

1) A taxi from the airport
2) A hotel bar (which leads to.....)
3) A nap during a meeting, which is sure to be boring anyway.

Somehow I suspect this strategy might work for corporate types, but not athletes.

I'm interested in hearing what anyone knows about how specific athletes deal with this, since the linked article seems to confirm that the jet lag thing varies a lot by individual.

DG

 

[mpal2]

I don't think I would make it as a world traveler. Their tips for 0-2 time zones was that it was rarely problematic. Yeah right. Time change for 1 hour kicks my butt. I would be horrible at this.

 

[heyang]

For me, it helps that I'm a night owl.

When I travel West, it just means that I go to bed 'early' there. If left to my own devices, I'll stay up til at least 2am most nights. So, if I go to California and go to bed at midnight there, it's close to bedtime here in NJ.

When I went to Italy, it was harder since I lost 6 hours. Because of the tours structure, I just stayed up the extra hours, but was pretty much brain dead by dinner time. When I got back to the US, I stayed up as late as I could and woke up early - so, I got to work about an hour earlier which shocked everyone. The next day I was my usual 10 minutes late again.

And I don't sleep well at planes. I'm lucky if I doze for 5 minutes - even on a red eye - unless the plane is not crowded and I can stretch out across a few seats.

 

[RealtorGal]

I learned a lot about dealing with jet lag when I used to travel to and from Israel. There is an 8-12 time difference, depending on which North American coast you're on and the time of year. The trick really is to stay up as late as you can, no matter how tired you are. When you wake up the next morning, you will probably be fine. It has always worked for me.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Not easy to avoid jet lag. RG may have a point, and maybe melatonin will due the trick. The bes weay I think, if you can afford the extra hotel stays, is to arrive 3 days earlier than the day of your appoointment On the revers, forget it. You have breakfasts and two lunches, and you wake up in the middle of night for dinner.

Joe

 

[Longhornliz]

I am always shocked when people are able to sleep on planes!! When I flew to europe and back, I was awake the entire time ugh... Im not like terrified of flying, but it isnt my favorite thing. And seeing "cast away" didnt help (perhaps the scariest plane crash scene ever).

The more water you drink the less jet lagged you will feel I think, water is a cure for most things that ail you. Its hard to get enough water on a really long flight because they have made restrictions on what you can bring on.

 

[Doggygirl]

Me too!!!

I don't think I would make it as a world traveler. Their tips for 0-2 time zones was that it was rarely problematic. Yeah right. Time change for 1 hour kicks my butt. I would be horrible at this.

And on sleeping on a plane..... I'm another one who only dozes for no more than 5 minutes at a time. But I ALWAYS manage to drool in that 5 minutes or less. :sheesh:

DG

 

[RealtorGal]

I can sleep for at least an hour on a plane. Once, during one of my Israel-to-Boston (stopping in Brussels) flights, I fell asleep in my seat and completely missed the take off from Brussels and woke up quite a bit later. Luckily, I hadn't missed the meal!

 

[rtureck]

Some people who travel a lot take modafinil, not sure skaters are allowed to.

http://www.modafinil.com/

Experimentally, modafinil is also used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, depression, attention-deficit disorder, myotonic dystrophy, multiple sclerosis-induced fatigue, post-anaesthesia grogginess, cognitive impairment in schizophrenia, age-related memory decline, idiopathic hypersomnia, jet-lag , and everyday cat-napping. In September 2003, an advisory panel to the FDA endorsed its use for treating shift work sleep disorder and obstructive sleep apnea.

The US military are interested in modafinil too

 

[skatepixie]

When I flew to Italy from Cali, all I needed was 6 hours sleep (Hadnt slept in over two days) and I was fine.

 

[Mathman]

RealtoGal, I'm glad you didn't have to change planes in Brussels.

 

[SkateFan4Life]

I'm sure each individual has a different capacity and time requirements to fully adjust. How early do skaters typically arrive for competitions involving significant time zone changes? What do the skaters do who have more difficulty adjusting?

DG

Overseas flights can be really rough on the system, and depending on your personal reactions, it can take days before you're back on track.

I flew from Tokyo to Newark, NJ about 20 years ago, on my way home from living and working in Japan. I changed planes in Seattle, Chicago, had a short layover in Detroit, and then landed home in NJ - about 24 hours all told. I was a physical and emotional basket case for at least three or four days before my body caught up with the right time zone.

Five years ago I flew from Amman, Jordan home to New York, with a short layover in Amsterdam. I was very tired the next morning but had recovered nearly 100 percent by the evening. Granted, it was a few nights before I was able to get a complete 8 hours of sleep, but I felt relatively good.

As for figure skaters, these folks have to be bright-eyed and bushy tailed and ready to compete, for Heaven's sakes. They can't just slouch off and wait to get over jet lag. I would hope that they arrive at international competitons a few days before official practice starts so they can adjust to the time schedules. Remember back to the 1992 Winter Olympics? Tonya Harding chose to arrive late at the Games and flew in from Oregon to Albertville, France, just a few days before the short program. She had jetlag, bigtime, and it showed in her performance - a fall on the triple axel and other minor errors. :sheesh:

 

[mpal2]

I've been looking into my plane tickets to Portland for Nationals and it looks like I will have to learn to sleep on a plane. Between time changes and travel time. My return flight will leave Portland at 10 pm on Sunday (The earlier ones conflict with the gala) and I will be arriving home at 10 am on Monday. There's a 3 hour time change and the rest is travel time. This will not be fun. :disapp:

 

[mzheng]

I think different ppl have different reaction to the jet lag.

For me when I fly from US (NY/NJ) to China (Shanghai), my body usually takes well, except wakeup ealier like 5:00AM at morning (I blieve it is the normal time most working ppl wakeup, but not me. I'm usually a late cat), not too much suffer during the day. But when I fly back it could take me 4 or 5 days to recover to
normal of myself. Would wake up a little after midnight, and stay wake most of the night. Then feel asleep at 12:00 noon or 1:00pm.

The same thing happened to me when I travel to Austrilia 8 years ago.

 

[SkateFan4Life]

Some folks can fall asleep on planes the minute the plane reaches its crusing altitude, and they remain happilly asleep until it's time to land. Unfortunately, that's not me. I've never been able to sleep well on planes, although I do put on the headset, push back the seat a little, and try to relax.

 

[Ladskater]

That is why the skaters arrive early in the week. It's not only for practice time, but to adjust to changes in rink size, elavation, jet lag, etc. Skaters do a lot more travelling now than skaters in the past (for competitions that is) so all those factors are built in to their training.

 

[euterpe]

It has to be rough when skaters are scheduled for back-to-back GPs in different time zones. When both events are in different time zones from the home country, that makes it even worse. For example, Joannie Rochette had to fly from Canada to China, then from China to Paris. That double adjustment has got to be murder.