Travel Tips From the Glamorous Life of Running Shoes

The life in running shoes, this is my schedule the next two weeks.

Wednesday May 14th - Fly to Munich, Gemany
Thursday-Friday-Saturday - European Sales Meeting
Sunday May 18th - Fly home to San Diego
Monday - Friday - US Sales Meeting
Saturday May 24th - Fly to Frankfurt Germany
Sunday - Monday - Tuesday - Meet with retailers
Wednesday May 28th - Fly home to San Diego

The prevailing belief is that on average it takes a person to fully recover from time zone travel, one day for every hour in time zone difference. Germany is currently 9 hours time zone difference. My goal is to make sure my recovery stays in the 1 day per hour window and hopefully to accelerate the recovery. I believe with this trip it's a full 18 day recovery. Recovery mean's fully functioning sleep, mental focus and play. Below is how I will do it:


Air Travel

1. I use the same airline network all the time. I use United although I'm not loyal to them. They simply cover the majority of my routes in the shortest time. So far I've flown 29,000 miles on 13 flights. Total travel time is critical in this scenario since actual flying time is long. 
2. To build miles for the family I book all my travel and almost all the groceries and daily stuff on the United Visa. 
3. If I can upgrade to business class I will. The difference between laying flat and sleeping or sleeping in a economy cabin seat is dramatic. I honestly believe it cuts down on the number of days in recovery. The actual cost is crazy an the company won't pay it so I use my status regularly. Unfortunately on the upcoming trip only the outbound to Munich is upgraded. 
4. If I'm not in business class, I choose an aisle seat. Moving around, doing squats in the galley, and using the toilet to relieve all the water is critical to feeling good later. 
5. I take my own food. Even in business class I usually take my own food to eat. I don't use a microwave at home so why would I eat microwave food on a plane? 
6. 32 oz of water or coconut water before the flight and water all the time on the flight. By the time I land I hate water. 
7. 800mg of CoQ10 before the flight and 200 mg every hour on the flight. A long haul flight is equivalent to running a marathon. Lots of cell damage going on. 
8. Zoot Recovery Socks - Sitting for longs periods of time pools blood in your feet. Ever wonder why you have Kankles after flying. Sitting and air pressure is why. So the compression socks keep the blood circulating out of the feet. 
9. Alcohol - Oh my this is an entire post. Business Class is open bar and it amazes me the amount of drinking people do on a plane. Want to turn 1 day/hour into more, drink the entire flight. I have my glass of wine and that's about it. 

Arrival 

1. No matter what time it is I do this. I once landed in Singapore at 1am and still did this. So it really doesn't matter how tired I am or what time of day it is on landing this is my protocol. 
2. I go straight to the hotel. If you tell them you've been flying all night, they will check you in. I've yet to be refused by anyone. 
3. I take a cold shower. Wakes me up. 
4. I put on my running shoes and head outside. If it's real late I'll head to the pool to swim but the goal is to get the body moving and blood flowing. Nothing will feel good at this point. You won't feel like running and you won't feel like sleeping so running is better. 
5. If I can find it, I will find a patch of grass, take off my shoes and do barefoot drills and strides. The earth has an electrical charge and putting skin to earth grounds your body. Ever wonder why going barefoot on the beach or in grass is so relaxing? 
6. I force myself into the time Zone. If I land at 7:00am in Germany  I spend the entire day doing. By 9:00pm I'm trashed and out cold. 

Supplementation: I sat across the table from a really good friend the other day. He asked "How many pills do you take a day" I couldn't tell him because I really don't know. He said "I take none, should I?". I didn't know how to answer him or don't suggest that what I do is for everyone. I do know that I feel great at my age and in fact I think I feel way better than most people my age or younger so I'm doing something right. I'm just going to keep on doing it. 

1. CoQ10 on the flight. 
2. REM Caps once in Country. Your body releases Melatonin based on the setting of the sun. When you are out of your time zone it doesn't know when the sun sets. So when I travel I help it out 
3. When food quality is everything traveling can be a challenge. If you are obsessive about the quality of the food, you would never eat. So instead of that I fully enjoy the food presented and then fix my gut with Activated Charcoal. 
4. Damage Control - This has been my source for repair for years. Last year I flew 130,000 miles in the air, stayed 100 nights in a hotel, did an Ironman and I got sick a total of zero days. 
5. My Brain - I have to be on form from the time I land until I sit on the plane coming home. I used to take Motivator  which  works great when you are racing but leaves you a bit edgy if you are simply trying to execute effective work in China. It worked great but the feeling wasn't great. I've since switched to Alpha Brain and am quite pleased. I'm on point, stay on point all day and can sleep well at night. 

This is a ton of information. For 8 years this has been my life and for 8 years I've been hacking away at it. This is what works for me. I'm confident there are nuggets in here. 

It's a good life….