September 5, 2025 • 22 mins
Jet lag isn't just feeling tired—it's a temporary circadian misalignment affecting hormones, temperature, digestion, and athletic performance that runners feel particularly strongly.
• Endurance performance depends on precise timing of biological functions that get disrupted during travel
• Core body temperature minimum sits 2-3 hours before wake time and is key to understanding light exposure timing
• Morning light moves your clock earlier, evening light moves it later
• Delay path (treating destination as behind rather than ahead) is usually faster and kinder for adjustment
• Time-shifting apps like TimeShifter and FlyKitt provide personalized schedules for light, darkness, and supplements
• Caffeine timing can help shift your clock but should be used strategically
• Keep naps short (20-30 minutes) to avoid disrupting nighttime sleep
• Place easy aerobic workouts during times you need to stay alert
• Save harder workouts for when your body temperature is higher, not near your temp minimum
• Older adults can still shift their clocks but it takes longer
• PR races are generally more successful when sleeping in your own bed without travel disruption
If you're traveling for races this season, stack your controllables by managing light exposure, darkness, and caffeine timing. Remember your body will adapt—you've done harder things and can still have a fantastic race experience!
Resources:
NASA Technical Reports Server
Semantic Scholar PDFs
PMC
Oxford Academic
PMC
JCI Insight
Journal of Circadian Rhythms
PMC
Cochrane
PMC
PubMed
PMC
thenbsca.com
Timeshifter®+1
Fount
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey friends, welcome back to Extraordinary Strides,
the podcast where we lace up oursneakers, we geek out about all
things running and have a wholelot of fun along the way.
I'm Coach Christine, and todaywe're tackling something every
traveling runner has wrestledwith and as we approach that
season the best season of allracing season it is jet lag.
(00:21):
But don't worry, this isn'tgoing to be a dry sleep lecture.
We're diving into the actualneuroscience of why our body
feels like a zombie after a longhaul flight, how shifting 16
hours ahead for something likethe Sydney Marathon scrambles up
performance cues and, mostimportantly, what you can do
about it.
We're going to talk a littleHuberman Lab style circadian
(00:42):
science, walk through the twotime shifting methods that I'm
going to be testing on my owntrip time shifter and fly kit
and I'm going to give youpractical, runner friendly tools
to protect your sleep, yourfuel and stride when your
internal clock wants to doanything but so, whether you've
got a race on the other side ofthe world or down under, or you
just want to understand whyTuesday feels like a fever dream
(01:03):
after a red-eye travel.
Stick with me.
Let's make jet lag less of avillain and more of a puzzle
that we have all the tools weneed to solve, survive and
thrive upon.
Now jet lag.
What in the world is it?
Jet lag 101, specifically forrunners, my friend.
Jet lag is not just feelingtired, it is actually a
temporary circadian misalignment, your central clock in the
(01:26):
suprachiasmatic nucleus Did Isay that correctly, dr Huberman?
It sets our daily timing foralertness hormone release, body
temperature, gut motility,performance, the whole nine.
My friends, that circadianrhythm, and as runners we
usually develop a pretty strongconnection to our circadian
rhythm.
Peripheral clocks in muscle,liver, gut and heart also keep
(01:49):
time.
So when you cross time zonesfast, these clocks drift apart.
And that internal jet lag iswhy you can feel sleepy, foggy,
hungry at strange times and whyyour legs may feel a little
heavy.
That's not even getting intothe potential that you may have
for being swollen from therunning or from the travel.
Just specifically jet lag onits own.
(02:13):
So let's talk about why runnersfeel it a little bit more Well.
Endurance performance dependson precise timing of cortisol,
body temperature, neuromusculardrive and gut function.
Peak strength and reaction tendto sit later in the biological
day.
After a time zone jump, yourbiological day and local day are
out of sync and that will addup to slower perceived pace,
(02:35):
higher rpe, clunkier mechanicsand a little bit of a potential
finicky gut.
Good news clocks can be shiftedon purpose.
For the record, my friend, ifyou're looking at doing maybe
even a Disney or a dopey race,in those races that start so
early and you're coming fromeven just a couple of time zones
away, this could really helpyou.
(02:56):
I know again, we have a friendof the podcast who does time
shifting before race weekends.
So we're going to talk a lotabout it.
But let's first get intocircadian anchor points.
Light input to special retinalcells sets the central clock.
Long story short, that justbasically means we need light in
our eyeballs, my friend.
Anytime we have that light, beit natural or otherwise, it's
(03:17):
going to set that circadianclock in that anchor point.
Morning light tends to moveyour clock earlier.
Late evening light tends tomove it later.
Pretty simple, right?
All the fancy science.
That's essentially it.
Core body temperature minimumsits about two to three hours
before your usual wake time.
What does that basically mean?
That means that generallyyou're going to have a little
(03:40):
tiny shift right before two tothree hours before your usual
wake time where your bodytemperature is going to dip just
a wee bit.
Light after that minimum movesyour clock earlier.
Light before it moves you later.
This is the key lever to smarttime shifting.
This is also why it's superimportant that you minimize any
(04:01):
additional light, be it from acell phone or tablet or TV, any
light that's coming into yourbedroom upon those really
important resting times.
Again, melatonin is that darksignal.
You've heard about melatonin,I'm sure, and small, well-timed
doses can help to shift theclock.
(04:21):
Do not recommend melatonin foreveryday use by any stretch of
the imagination.
But wrong timing with melatonincan make your jet lag worse.
So proceed with caution.
We'll talk about how toproperly use it if you plan on
using it.
And exercise and meals aresecondary time cues, they can
help align your system when youplace them near your new
schedule.
(04:42):
So let's talk about thedirection and the size of the
shift.
Well, for me, sydney in lateAugust sits about 14 hours ahead
of Eastern time zone and I'mplanning on doing some travel to
New Zealand, which is about 16hours ahead of Eastern time zone
.
The brain can either advance 16hours or delay eight.
That's it.
That's the way that our brainworks.
(05:02):
So delay path is usually fasterand kinder.
That means, though, behaving asa Sydney is eight hours behind
rather than 16 hours ahead whileI move my clock.
Does that make sense?
Good, we can talk about itspecifically for you, but again,
finding these methodologiesthrough these different apps
(05:25):
we're going to talk about that,but run a reality check.
Is that sleep loss alone isgoing to potentially raise your
injury risk?
Raise perceived exertionbasically means that time zone
and your race day may feel alittle harder.
So your plan is to protect yoursleep time, your light smartly,
keep your tummy happy and timethose key workouts like your
shakeout runs after.
(05:46):
Your biology is mostcooperative.
Now, to find your temp minimum,take your normal waking temp and
count back about two to threehours.
That is a simple estimate foryour nightly temperature.
Low.
Your light rules pivot aroundthis point.
So, to advance the clock, getbright light in the several
(06:07):
hours after your temp minimumand avoid bright light in the
hours before your temp minimum.
Does this feel like a littletoo sciencey?
Trust me, these apps are goingto help you along the way.
I use time shiftingspecifically for Tokyo.
It really did help, especiallyin comparison to my trips for
London and Berlin.
Okay, to delay the clock.
(06:28):
You're going to do the reverse.
You're going to get brightlight in the evening before your
tent minimum and dim or blocklight in the early morning hours
just after local dawn.
Practical tools outdoordaylight beats indoor light, we
know that right.
So getting out there andgetting some natural light.
But that doesn't mean that youhave to do outdoor light.
Any light can count If you'retrying to minimize your exposure
(06:51):
to light.
That's when those dark glassesI wear my sunglasses at night
may come to play, or eye masksas well.
You could use some blue lightfiltering apps at night, only if
it helps you to avoid thosebright screens because, of
course, darkness is still gonnabe king.
So prefer that full darknessover those light filtering, that
(07:12):
blue light filtering on yourapps.
Let's talk about my favoritething ever and why I think I
prefer one time shifting methodover the other Caffeine and naps
.
Caffeine, late in thebiological day is obviously
going to delay our clock.
I say this as I'm recordingabout three o'clock in the
(07:33):
afternoon and have my deliciousafternoon coffee standing right
next to me.
That I know I likely should notfinish, but that can be your
friend during the pre-trip delaystrategy and your enemy once I
actually arrive to my locationor you arrive to your location,
if it's used near bedtime.
You want to keep any nap to 20to 30 minutes.
(07:56):
There's a whole lot of reasonbehind why you want to keep it
to 20 to 30 minutes, but it hasto do with your sleep cycle, and
where you wake up within thatsleep cycle is going to impact
how you feel.
But using a caffeine I know Idon't know if you guys have
heard of this before, butcaffeine naps are a thing Using
caffeine right before a shortnap basically lets your body
(08:17):
start to process the caffeineand it gives you a little bit of
a boost once you wake up.
So it's usually not ingested ina way where it's going to keep
you up from sleeping, but it'sgoing to help you once you wake
up from that nap.
However, avoiding napping inthe parts of the day that you
need to force yourself to stayawake to start that time
(08:38):
shifting is going to be reallyinstrumental.
Another way to really help withthis is your exercise timing.
So easy aerobic work is a safeway to push the clock.
Place it during the part of theday that you're trying to be
alert.
You know what I'm saying, myfriend.
Like anytime you're feeling alittle sluggish, that's a great
time to do a little bit ofexercise confetti.
If you're trying to push yourbiological clock or circadian
(09:00):
rhythms around a little bit, ofcourse you're going to keep your
hard workouts away from yourtemp minimum.
So your body is cold and motorpatterns feel sticky there.
That's why sometimes again,this relates to so much of our
everyday training as wellSometimes those harder efforts
earlier in the morning feel alittle sluggish, a little bit
more sluggish.
It's specifically because ofthat.
It's too close to ourtemperature minimum.
(09:23):
So you'll get more out of yourtempo or your interval or
strength workouts If they're alittle bit later in the
biological day.
Keeping that in mind that I'malso a big believer If you
tolerate caffeine, caffeine canbe helpful with this process as
well.
So now you've heard me talkingabout time shifting.
Does it really work?
What does the evidence say?
Well, time shifting justbasically means that we're going
(09:46):
to deliberately adjust ourexposure to light, darkness,
melatonin, caffeine, sleep andmeals on a schedule that moves
your clock toward thedestination before and after the
flight, generally about threeto four days before you're
aiming to actually be shiftedinto your new time zone.
Meal timing and exercise canalso help with those nudges.
(10:09):
So taking that into place andalso knowing that why this works
is because the human circadianrhythms in our clocks respond to
time, light and melatonin andpredictable curves.
Okay, the apps and kits andplain talk.
Time shifter uses an itineraryand sleep profile to tell you
where you should seek or avoidlight, when to consider a tiny
(10:31):
melatonin dose, when to usecaffeine, when to nap, when to
block the light, and it's builton peer-reviewed circadian phase
response data.
The reason why I loveTimeShifter is because it gave
me longer permission to havemore caffeine.
Seriously, I'm like I'm goingto use the TimeShifter app over
the Fly Kit app because I canhave more caffeine.
But Fly Kit also uses a similartype of app.
(10:54):
It has a protocol and asupplement kit built to pair
with schedule of light and dark.
It has meal timing as well.
Hydration, omega threes arepart of the supplementation.
Magnesium is part of thesupplementation.
A little tiny dosage ofmelatonin is part of the
supplementation that gets sentyour way.
They precisely time thecaffeine with a teensy little
bit of sugar to help with againshifting that normal alertness
(11:17):
versus sleepiness, and the goalwith Fly Kit is to move the
clock and lower inflammationduring travel.
That's why they have such a bigsupplementation that they add
to their regimen Now.
Now what the literature says inshort is that light at the right
biological time shifts theclock by hours over a few days.
Even brief period of brightpulses help.
(11:39):
Now I will say that we have.
There's a lot of science thatsays that older adults shift as
well, with time shifting, but ittakes a little bit longer or
they don't do it as well.
So as we get older, as we age,time shifting does become a
little bit more difficult toachieve.
Now also, melatonin being takennear the targeted local bedtime
(12:02):
reduces jet lag severity acrossmany trials.
But small doses are usuallygoing to be better and, as we
know, as literature that cameout a couple of years ago,
melatonin, at least here in theUnited States at the FDA level,
is not really widely regulated.
So what your melatonin dosagesays is in that specific bottle
may not be actually what is init.
(12:22):
Sometimes it might be more,sometimes it might be less.
So really finding a melatoninthat you trust and know or you
have highly recommendedrecommendations on is going to
be really important if youchoose to use melatonin.
Again, exercise timing out someof those easy runs or shakeout
runs is going to be superimportant if you're using it for
traveling, for your runcationsor a specific race, and teams
(12:46):
that travel.
What we know is that teams thattravel across time zones often
perform worse, especially whentraveling east or when playing
at a biological disadvantagelater at night.
This is why I have said beforeand I'm going to say it again if
you are traveling for a race,this may not be your PR race.
Your PR race is usually.
(13:06):
There's always going to beexceptions to the rule.
I know I'm thinking about acouple of you.
I want to point you out rightnow because I know there's a few
of you that have broken themold when it comes to this, but
for the most part, most PRswould be more beneficial to
chase after when you can controlmore of the different external
circumstances, ie, sleeping inyour own bed, being in your own
(13:28):
natural rhythm that you hadtrained in, knowing all those
different particulars, beingable to even use your own
bathroom and not having to worryabout that aspect.
So while it's not impossible toget a PR after traveling, it
can be more challenging.
I would say that this is alsosomething that takes into place
to where you are in yourtraining journey.
We know that newer runners tendto get bigger PRs earlier on
because they have a performancepeak.
(13:49):
But neither here nor there it'sstill worth it to time shift
because the physiology lines upand the data on athletes that we
have seen favors this smartscheduling, the light control in
those tiny, well-timedmelatonin as well.
Now, this is a little bit of.
We're going to talk now aboutwhy I'm choosing to tackle this
(14:10):
two-track plan for my time shift.
I'm choosing to do this becausethe first time around when I
used Time Shifter, and while Ihave no complaints about how I
felt, necessarily from asleeping perspective, I did have
tons and tons and tons ofinflammation.
So I'm choosing to utilize flykit supplementation specifically
(14:32):
to assist with that.
We'll see if it works.
I don't know.
Stay tuned.
I will definitely let you know.
I'm not being paid from eitherof these folks, just letting you
know what I'm trying to use,what I have researched to try to
help me with Sydney.
I have no PR goals, but I stillwant to be able to really enjoy
myself and do the best that Ipossibly can on this entire trip
.
So, with that said, let's talkabout our little bit of our five
(14:55):
day trip primer.
We're going to shift our sleepand wake schedules.
You're going to shift thebedtime and wait time.
I'm personally going to shiftmine a little bit later each day
.
Time shifter did that for me.
I gave them all of myinformation on my travel, my
flight plan, and it basicallycreated what I need to do.
(15:16):
So I've set my notifications tolet me know.
The Fly Kit does that as well.
For the record, their app doesit as well.
I personally am going to usethe Time Shifting app
specifically, though, becauseI've already been there, done
that, know that it worked reallywell for me using the
supplementation from Flykit.
Again, you're going to have tobe much more mindful of your
(15:36):
light exposure, your melatonin,your caffeine and training
Training even before I leave issomething that I'm taking into
consideration and changing up alittle bit as well.
Now, track A the time shifterstyle on the plane in days one,
two, three, really important totry to use those naps.
I'm not a good napper and I'mdefinitely not a good napper
when I'm traveling, so I'm goingto really try, on my side of
(15:59):
things, to at least just usesome dark sunglasses and to kind
of minimize the light, close myeyes, maybe, do a little bit of
restorative meditation, andthen Fly Kit specifically, they
do provide little bit ofrestorative meditation, and then
Flykit, specifically, they doprovide you with glasses to
block the light.
Again, they use magnesium,which I personally have in my
everyday supplementation as well, they provide the melatonin.
(16:20):
They are really big at timingout your hydration because of
the cabin air being dry.
We know that really, one of thereasons why people tend to have
more immunity responses aftertravel is because that their
nasal passages have been driedout.
I'm also going to be utilizinga saline rinse to keep my nasal
(16:40):
passages a bit more lubricatedfor this time around.
And again, their time scheduleis a little different than time
shifter similar, but they havesome different variables as well
.
Now, both of these really wantto make sure that I prioritize
eating on the destinationschedule as soon as I get on the
(17:02):
plane, which thankfully they'renot having me do that before I
leave, because I don't know howto do a 14 hour time difference
with eating.
I leave because I don't knowhow to do a 14 hour time
difference with eating.
But a couple other things thatare recommended for me to have
with both of these differenttracks is to include the
utilization of ginger,peppermint or a little bit of
carbonation to help travel, tohelp settle my travel stomach or
(17:22):
your travel stomach, if this issomething that applies to you,
if you feel like a little bit,just not as comfortable on the
plane with how it impacts yourdigestive system.
So race week execution and howto judge success is that I'm
going to follow that schedule ofthe time shifter app like it is
(17:43):
my full-time job during thatweek.
I am going to follow asupplementation schedule, a fly
kit, like it's my secondary jobthat week, really prioritizing
my hydration already going intoit even a couple weeks out,
still really prioritizinghydration and fueling, just like
we would that's natural for uson races anyway and being
(18:05):
mindful of what's really goingto help, including those
electrolytes.
So what I'm going to do todecide which methodology I
prefer or if it is gonna be ablend of the two, is that I'm
going to track my sleep.
I'm gonna track my morning HRV,how I feel on my shakeout runs
and the race, and my stomachcomfort and hunger timing.
(18:28):
I'm also going to focus on mymood and how I feel in terms of
my focus and clarity throughoutthe day and ebbs and flows of my
energy.
I think this is really gonnahelp me in determining what
methodology is best and what Iwould recommend others to do, or
if I even really 100% thinkthis works, because there's so
(18:51):
much that gets foggy after thesetravels are all done.
There's also always thatadditional adrenaline of races
and the fact that SydneyMarathon, specifically for me,
right this very instant, notonly is it a really wild time
shift in terms of jet lag, butthey also are the only world
marathon major that starts asearly as they do.
(19:12):
So that's going to be quiteinteresting to navigate.
So it's going to be interesting.
I would love, love to hear ifyou've tried time shifting, if
you've tried either of theseapps time shifter or fly kit, or
the methodology of fly kit, thesupplementation.
I am I'm literally all ears onwhat you think about it, but I
do want to remind you that ifyou are racing this travel
(19:33):
season, if you're going to begoing out for runs and races
while you're out and about goingand crossing time zones, you
are not broken if things feel alittle heavier or a little
sluggish or you feel wobbly fora couple of days the clock will
move, your circadian rhythm willreset.
But do think of trying to setyourself up for success by
(19:53):
stacking your controllablesgetting that sunlight at the
right times, darkness whenneeded If you are so inclined.
Trying those tiny littlemelatonin doses at the right
times, darkness when needed Ifyou are so inclined.
Trying those tiny littlemelatonin doses at the right
bedtime, or none if you don'tlike it.
And, of course, trying to movethat caffeine in a way that
benefits you as well.
Do also think about henceanother really big, important
reason why shakeout runs are sonecessary for travel runs or
(20:16):
travel races is getting thoselight, easy miles first and then
afterwards, once you get yourquality sleep in for a few days
before you actually are meant torace, you could know that
you've done everything you can.
It's all within yourpossibilities and your control.
You've controlled the variables, so just settle into knowing
(20:36):
you've done harder things andyou can still have a fantastic
race day experience.
Now, if you are looking for yourown set of resources a little
bit of jet lag 101, I canrecommend.
There are tons of resourcesavailable out there and I'm
happy to link those in episodenotes as well, specifically some
(20:59):
of the claims and discussionsthat I had here for you to do
your own research, but I'mlooking forward to again
embarking on this right aroundthe corner, and I want to say
thank you for joining me on thisdeep dive into the weird and
wonderful world of jet lag.
We've learned that it's notjust about feeling tired.
It's truly an entire circadianorchestra that's playing out of
(21:21):
sync.
So it's also important tounpack that role of light,
melatonin, caffeine and exerciseand how to smartly shift our
strategies to really help us intipping the scales in our favor.
Again, I'll put those twomethods head to head on this
experience and I'll come backand report to you which one I
(21:44):
feel really helped move theneedle if it's a little bit of
both and how I felt along theway.
Let's be honest running 26.2miles is tough enough without
your biology thinking it's themiddle of the night.
So do yourself a favor, myfriend if you are going to be
doing some travel too, please,please, please, do look into
these resources that I'm addinginto episode notes.
Reach out if you have anyquestions on how to make this
(22:06):
something that you do foryourself, and if you love this
kind of science meets stridebreakdown.
Make sure that you subscribe,share with a running buddy who
might be racing abroad, and joinour community newsletter so you
don't miss the follow-ups.
And, as always, thank you forbeing part of my found family of
runners, because we do thisbetter and a whole lot more
joyfully together.
(22:26):
Until next time, keep shiftingthose strides, stacking your
science and running into yourextraordinary you.
Hey friends, welcome back to Extraordinary Strides,
the podcast where we lace up oursneakers, we geek out about all
things running and have a wholelot of fun along the way.
I'm Coach Christine, and todaywe're tackling something every
traveling runner has wrestledwith and as we approach that
season the best season of allracing season it is jet lag.
(00:21):
But don't worry, this isn'tgoing to be a dry sleep lecture.
We're diving into the actualneuroscience of why our body
feels like a zombie after a longhaul flight, how shifting 16
hours ahead for something likethe Sydney Marathon scrambles up
performance cues and, mostimportantly, what you can do
about it.
We're going to talk a littleHuberman Lab style circadian
(00:42):
science, walk through the twotime shifting methods that I'm
going to be testing on my owntrip time shifter and fly kit
and I'm going to give youpractical, runner friendly tools
to protect your sleep, yourfuel and stride when your
internal clock wants to doanything but so, whether you've
got a race on the other side ofthe world or down under, or you
just want to understand whyTuesday feels like a fever dream
(01:03):
after a red-eye travel.
Stick with me.
Let's make jet lag less of avillain and more of a puzzle
that we have all the tools weneed to solve, survive and
thrive upon.
Now jet lag.
What in the world is it?
Jet lag 101, specifically forrunners, my friend.
Jet lag is not just feelingtired, it is actually a
temporary circadian misalignment, your central clock in the
(01:26):
suprachiasmatic nucleus Did Isay that correctly, dr Huberman?
It sets our daily timing foralertness hormone release, body
temperature, gut motility,performance, the whole nine.
My friends, that circadianrhythm, and as runners we
usually develop a pretty strongconnection to our circadian
rhythm.
Peripheral clocks in muscle,liver, gut and heart also keep
(01:49):
time.
So when you cross time zonesfast, these clocks drift apart.
And that internal jet lag iswhy you can feel sleepy, foggy,
hungry at strange times and whyyour legs may feel a little
heavy.
That's not even getting intothe potential that you may have
for being swollen from therunning or from the travel.
Just specifically jet lag onits own.
(02:13):
So let's talk about why runnersfeel it a little bit more Well.
Endurance performance dependson precise timing of cortisol,
body temperature, neuromusculardrive and gut function.
Peak strength and reaction tendto sit later in the biological
day.
After a time zone jump, yourbiological day and local day are
out of sync and that will addup to slower perceived pace,
(02:35):
higher rpe, clunkier mechanicsand a little bit of a potential
finicky gut.
Good news clocks can be shiftedon purpose.
For the record, my friend, ifyou're looking at doing maybe
even a Disney or a dopey race,in those races that start so
early and you're coming fromeven just a couple of time zones
away, this could really helpyou.
(02:56):
I know again, we have a friendof the podcast who does time
shifting before race weekends.
So we're going to talk a lotabout it.
But let's first get intocircadian anchor points.
Light input to special retinalcells sets the central clock.
Long story short, that justbasically means we need light in
our eyeballs, my friend.
Anytime we have that light, beit natural or otherwise, it's
(03:17):
going to set that circadianclock in that anchor point.
Morning light tends to moveyour clock earlier.
Late evening light tends tomove it later.
Pretty simple, right?
All the fancy science.
That's essentially it.
Core body temperature minimumsits about two to three hours
before your usual wake time.
What does that basically mean?
That means that generallyyou're going to have a little
(03:40):
tiny shift right before two tothree hours before your usual
wake time where your bodytemperature is going to dip just
a wee bit.
Light after that minimum movesyour clock earlier.
Light before it moves you later.
This is the key lever to smarttime shifting.
This is also why it's superimportant that you minimize any
(04:01):
additional light, be it from acell phone or tablet or TV, any
light that's coming into yourbedroom upon those really
important resting times.
Again, melatonin is that darksignal.
You've heard about melatonin,I'm sure, and small, well-timed
doses can help to shift theclock.
(04:21):
Do not recommend melatonin foreveryday use by any stretch of
the imagination.
But wrong timing with melatonincan make your jet lag worse.
So proceed with caution.
We'll talk about how toproperly use it if you plan on
using it.
And exercise and meals aresecondary time cues, they can
help align your system when youplace them near your new
schedule.
(04:42):
So let's talk about thedirection and the size of the
shift.
Well, for me, sydney in lateAugust sits about 14 hours ahead
of Eastern time zone and I'mplanning on doing some travel to
New Zealand, which is about 16hours ahead of Eastern time zone
.
The brain can either advance 16hours or delay eight.
That's it.
That's the way that our brainworks.
(05:02):
So delay path is usually fasterand kinder.
That means, though, behaving asa Sydney is eight hours behind
rather than 16 hours ahead whileI move my clock.
Does that make sense?
Good, we can talk about itspecifically for you, but again,
finding these methodologiesthrough these different apps
(05:25):
we're going to talk about that,but run a reality check.
Is that sleep loss alone isgoing to potentially raise your
injury risk?
Raise perceived exertionbasically means that time zone
and your race day may feel alittle harder.
So your plan is to protect yoursleep time, your light smartly,
keep your tummy happy and timethose key workouts like your
shakeout runs after.
(05:46):
Your biology is mostcooperative.
Now, to find your temp minimum,take your normal waking temp and
count back about two to threehours.
That is a simple estimate foryour nightly temperature.
Low.
Your light rules pivot aroundthis point.
So, to advance the clock, getbright light in the several
(06:07):
hours after your temp minimumand avoid bright light in the
hours before your temp minimum.
Does this feel like a littletoo sciencey?
Trust me, these apps are goingto help you along the way.
I use time shiftingspecifically for Tokyo.
It really did help, especiallyin comparison to my trips for
London and Berlin.
Okay, to delay the clock.
(06:28):
You're going to do the reverse.
You're going to get brightlight in the evening before your
tent minimum and dim or blocklight in the early morning hours
just after local dawn.
Practical tools outdoordaylight beats indoor light, we
know that right.
So getting out there andgetting some natural light.
But that doesn't mean that youhave to do outdoor light.
Any light can count If you'retrying to minimize your exposure
(06:51):
to light.
That's when those dark glassesI wear my sunglasses at night
may come to play, or eye masksas well.
You could use some blue lightfiltering apps at night, only if
it helps you to avoid thosebright screens because, of
course, darkness is still gonnabe king.
So prefer that full darknessover those light filtering, that
(07:12):
blue light filtering on yourapps.
Let's talk about my favoritething ever and why I think I
prefer one time shifting methodover the other Caffeine and naps
.
Caffeine, late in thebiological day is obviously
going to delay our clock.
I say this as I'm recordingabout three o'clock in the
(07:33):
afternoon and have my deliciousafternoon coffee standing right
next to me.
That I know I likely should notfinish, but that can be your
friend during the pre-trip delaystrategy and your enemy once I
actually arrive to my locationor you arrive to your location,
if it's used near bedtime.
You want to keep any nap to 20to 30 minutes.
(07:56):
There's a whole lot of reasonbehind why you want to keep it
to 20 to 30 minutes, but it hasto do with your sleep cycle, and
where you wake up within thatsleep cycle is going to impact
how you feel.
But using a caffeine I know Idon't know if you guys have
heard of this before, butcaffeine naps are a thing Using
caffeine right before a shortnap basically lets your body
(08:17):
start to process the caffeineand it gives you a little bit of
a boost once you wake up.
So it's usually not ingested ina way where it's going to keep
you up from sleeping, but it'sgoing to help you once you wake
up from that nap.
However, avoiding napping inthe parts of the day that you
need to force yourself to stayawake to start that time
(08:38):
shifting is going to be reallyinstrumental.
Another way to really help withthis is your exercise timing.
So easy aerobic work is a safeway to push the clock.
Place it during the part of theday that you're trying to be
alert.
You know what I'm saying, myfriend.
Like anytime you're feeling alittle sluggish, that's a great
time to do a little bit ofexercise confetti.
If you're trying to push yourbiological clock or circadian
(09:00):
rhythms around a little bit, ofcourse you're going to keep your
hard workouts away from yourtemp minimum.
So your body is cold and motorpatterns feel sticky there.
That's why sometimes again,this relates to so much of our
everyday training as wellSometimes those harder efforts
earlier in the morning feel alittle sluggish, a little bit
more sluggish.
It's specifically because ofthat.
It's too close to ourtemperature minimum.
(09:23):
So you'll get more out of yourtempo or your interval or
strength workouts If they're alittle bit later in the
biological day.
Keeping that in mind that I'malso a big believer If you
tolerate caffeine, caffeine canbe helpful with this process as
well.
So now you've heard me talkingabout time shifting.
Does it really work?
What does the evidence say?
Well, time shifting justbasically means that we're going
(09:46):
to deliberately adjust ourexposure to light, darkness,
melatonin, caffeine, sleep andmeals on a schedule that moves
your clock toward thedestination before and after the
flight, generally about threeto four days before you're
aiming to actually be shiftedinto your new time zone.
Meal timing and exercise canalso help with those nudges.
(10:09):
So taking that into place andalso knowing that why this works
is because the human circadianrhythms in our clocks respond to
time, light and melatonin andpredictable curves.
Okay, the apps and kits andplain talk.
Time shifter uses an itineraryand sleep profile to tell you
where you should seek or avoidlight, when to consider a tiny
(10:31):
melatonin dose, when to usecaffeine, when to nap, when to
block the light, and it's builton peer-reviewed circadian phase
response data.
The reason why I loveTimeShifter is because it gave
me longer permission to havemore caffeine.
Seriously, I'm like I'm goingto use the TimeShifter app over
the Fly Kit app because I canhave more caffeine.
But Fly Kit also uses a similartype of app.
(10:54):
It has a protocol and asupplement kit built to pair
with schedule of light and dark.
It has meal timing as well.
Hydration, omega threes arepart of the supplementation.
Magnesium is part of thesupplementation.
A little tiny dosage ofmelatonin is part of the
supplementation that gets sentyour way.
They precisely time thecaffeine with a teensy little
bit of sugar to help with againshifting that normal alertness
(11:17):
versus sleepiness, and the goalwith Fly Kit is to move the
clock and lower inflammationduring travel.
That's why they have such a bigsupplementation that they add
to their regimen Now.
Now what the literature says inshort is that light at the right
biological time shifts theclock by hours over a few days.
Even brief period of brightpulses help.
(11:39):
Now I will say that we have.
There's a lot of science thatsays that older adults shift as
well, with time shifting, but ittakes a little bit longer or
they don't do it as well.
So as we get older, as we age,time shifting does become a
little bit more difficult toachieve.
Now also, melatonin being takennear the targeted local bedtime
(12:02):
reduces jet lag severity acrossmany trials.
But small doses are usuallygoing to be better and, as we
know, as literature that cameout a couple of years ago,
melatonin, at least here in theUnited States at the FDA level,
is not really widely regulated.
So what your melatonin dosagesays is in that specific bottle
may not be actually what is init.
(12:22):
Sometimes it might be more,sometimes it might be less.
So really finding a melatoninthat you trust and know or you
have highly recommendedrecommendations on is going to
be really important if youchoose to use melatonin.
Again, exercise timing out someof those easy runs or shakeout
runs is going to be superimportant if you're using it for
traveling, for your runcationsor a specific race, and teams
(12:46):
that travel.
What we know is that teams thattravel across time zones often
perform worse, especially whentraveling east or when playing
at a biological disadvantagelater at night.
This is why I have said beforeand I'm going to say it again if
you are traveling for a race,this may not be your PR race.
Your PR race is usually.
(13:06):
There's always going to beexceptions to the rule.
I know I'm thinking about acouple of you.
I want to point you out rightnow because I know there's a few
of you that have broken themold when it comes to this, but
for the most part, most PRswould be more beneficial to
chase after when you can controlmore of the different external
circumstances, ie, sleeping inyour own bed, being in your own
(13:28):
natural rhythm that you hadtrained in, knowing all those
different particulars, beingable to even use your own
bathroom and not having to worryabout that aspect.
So while it's not impossible toget a PR after traveling, it
can be more challenging.
I would say that this is alsosomething that takes into place
to where you are in yourtraining journey.
We know that newer runners tendto get bigger PRs earlier on
because they have a performancepeak.
(13:49):
But neither here nor there it'sstill worth it to time shift
because the physiology lines upand the data on athletes that we
have seen favors this smartscheduling, the light control in
those tiny, well-timedmelatonin as well.
Now, this is a little bit of.
We're going to talk now aboutwhy I'm choosing to tackle this
(14:10):
two-track plan for my time shift.
I'm choosing to do this becausethe first time around when I
used Time Shifter, and while Ihave no complaints about how I
felt, necessarily from asleeping perspective, I did have
tons and tons and tons ofinflammation.
So I'm choosing to utilize flykit supplementation specifically
(14:32):
to assist with that.
We'll see if it works.
I don't know.
Stay tuned.
I will definitely let you know.
I'm not being paid from eitherof these folks, just letting you
know what I'm trying to use,what I have researched to try to
help me with Sydney.
I have no PR goals, but I stillwant to be able to really enjoy
myself and do the best that Ipossibly can on this entire trip
.
So, with that said, let's talkabout our little bit of our five
(14:55):
day trip primer.
We're going to shift our sleepand wake schedules.
You're going to shift thebedtime and wait time.
I'm personally going to shiftmine a little bit later each day
.
Time shifter did that for me.
I gave them all of myinformation on my travel, my
flight plan, and it basicallycreated what I need to do.
(15:16):
So I've set my notifications tolet me know.
The Fly Kit does that as well.
For the record, their app doesit as well.
I personally am going to usethe Time Shifting app
specifically, though, becauseI've already been there, done
that, know that it worked reallywell for me using the
supplementation from Flykit.
Again, you're going to have tobe much more mindful of your
(15:36):
light exposure, your melatonin,your caffeine and training
Training even before I leave issomething that I'm taking into
consideration and changing up alittle bit as well.
Now, track A the time shifterstyle on the plane in days one,
two, three, really important totry to use those naps.
I'm not a good napper and I'mdefinitely not a good napper
when I'm traveling, so I'm goingto really try, on my side of
(15:59):
things, to at least just usesome dark sunglasses and to kind
of minimize the light, close myeyes, maybe, do a little bit of
restorative meditation, andthen Fly Kit specifically, they
do provide little bit ofrestorative meditation, and then
Flykit, specifically, they doprovide you with glasses to
block the light.
Again, they use magnesium,which I personally have in my
everyday supplementation as well, they provide the melatonin.
(16:20):
They are really big at timingout your hydration because of
the cabin air being dry.
We know that really, one of thereasons why people tend to have
more immunity responses aftertravel is because that their
nasal passages have been driedout.
I'm also going to be utilizinga saline rinse to keep my nasal
(16:40):
passages a bit more lubricatedfor this time around.
And again, their time scheduleis a little different than time
shifter similar, but they havesome different variables as well
.
Now, both of these really wantto make sure that I prioritize
eating on the destinationschedule as soon as I get on the
(17:02):
plane, which thankfully they'renot having me do that before I
leave, because I don't know howto do a 14 hour time difference
with eating.
I leave because I don't knowhow to do a 14 hour time
difference with eating.
But a couple other things thatare recommended for me to have
with both of these differenttracks is to include the
utilization of ginger,peppermint or a little bit of
carbonation to help travel, tohelp settle my travel stomach or
(17:22):
your travel stomach, if this issomething that applies to you,
if you feel like a little bit,just not as comfortable on the
plane with how it impacts yourdigestive system.
So race week execution and howto judge success is that I'm
going to follow that schedule ofthe time shifter app like it is
(17:43):
my full-time job during thatweek.
I am going to follow asupplementation schedule, a fly
kit, like it's my secondary jobthat week, really prioritizing
my hydration already going intoit even a couple weeks out,
still really prioritizinghydration and fueling, just like
we would that's natural for uson races anyway and being
(18:05):
mindful of what's really goingto help, including those
electrolytes.
So what I'm going to do todecide which methodology I
prefer or if it is gonna be ablend of the two, is that I'm
going to track my sleep.
I'm gonna track my morning HRV,how I feel on my shakeout runs
and the race, and my stomachcomfort and hunger timing.
(18:28):
I'm also going to focus on mymood and how I feel in terms of
my focus and clarity throughoutthe day and ebbs and flows of my
energy.
I think this is really gonnahelp me in determining what
methodology is best and what Iwould recommend others to do, or
if I even really 100% thinkthis works, because there's so
(18:51):
much that gets foggy after thesetravels are all done.
There's also always thatadditional adrenaline of races
and the fact that SydneyMarathon, specifically for me,
right this very instant, notonly is it a really wild time
shift in terms of jet lag, butthey also are the only world
marathon major that starts asearly as they do.
(19:12):
So that's going to be quiteinteresting to navigate.
So it's going to be interesting.
I would love, love to hear ifyou've tried time shifting, if
you've tried either of theseapps time shifter or fly kit, or
the methodology of fly kit, thesupplementation.
I am I'm literally all ears onwhat you think about it, but I
do want to remind you that ifyou are racing this travel
(19:33):
season, if you're going to begoing out for runs and races
while you're out and about goingand crossing time zones, you
are not broken if things feel alittle heavier or a little
sluggish or you feel wobbly fora couple of days the clock will
move, your circadian rhythm willreset.
But do think of trying to setyourself up for success by
(19:53):
stacking your controllablesgetting that sunlight at the
right times, darkness whenneeded If you are so inclined.
Trying those tiny littlemelatonin doses at the right
times, darkness when needed Ifyou are so inclined.
Trying those tiny littlemelatonin doses at the right
bedtime, or none if you don'tlike it.
And, of course, trying to movethat caffeine in a way that
benefits you as well.
Do also think about henceanother really big, important
reason why shakeout runs are sonecessary for travel runs or
(20:16):
travel races is getting thoselight, easy miles first and then
afterwards, once you get yourquality sleep in for a few days
before you actually are meant torace, you could know that
you've done everything you can.
It's all within yourpossibilities and your control.
You've controlled the variables, so just settle into knowing
(20:36):
you've done harder things andyou can still have a fantastic
race day experience.
Now, if you are looking for yourown set of resources a little
bit of jet lag 101, I canrecommend.
There are tons of resourcesavailable out there and I'm
happy to link those in episodenotes as well, specifically some
(20:59):
of the claims and discussionsthat I had here for you to do
your own research, but I'mlooking forward to again
embarking on this right aroundthe corner, and I want to say
thank you for joining me on thisdeep dive into the weird and
wonderful world of jet lag.
We've learned that it's notjust about feeling tired.
It's truly an entire circadianorchestra that's playing out of
(21:21):
sync.
So it's also important tounpack that role of light,
melatonin, caffeine and exerciseand how to smartly shift our
strategies to really help us intipping the scales in our favor.
Again, I'll put those twomethods head to head on this
experience and I'll come backand report to you which one I
(21:44):
feel really helped move theneedle if it's a little bit of
both and how I felt along theway.
Let's be honest running 26.2miles is tough enough without
your biology thinking it's themiddle of the night.
So do yourself a favor, myfriend if you are going to be
doing some travel too, please,please, please, do look into
these resources that I'm addinginto episode notes.
Reach out if you have anyquestions on how to make this
(22:06):
something that you do foryourself, and if you love this
kind of science meets stridebreakdown.
Make sure that you subscribe,share with a running buddy who
might be racing abroad, and joinour community newsletter so you
don't miss the follow-ups.
And, as always, thank you forbeing part of my found family of
runners, because we do thisbetter and a whole lot more
joyfully together.
(22:26):
Until next time, keep shiftingthose strides, stacking your
science and running into yourextraordinary you.
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