I'm at the tail end of a 13 time zone Asia to East Coast USA jet lag (hopefully). My paces are real slow (in a particular HR zone), and feel a bit off, like I'm dehydrated. Even though I've been drinking a lot and attempting to rehydrate. I was thinking my electrolytes might be screwed up.
Does anyone know anything about this, if jet lag can affect the body in this way?
thanks.
No. (what I mean is...maybe? probably not?)
Take some melatonin before bed, if you are staying in your current timezone for a while.
(I am not a doctor. This is my advice from experience.)
Yes. Get some electrolyte replacement and don't stop until you feel normal again. If you've been running since you've returned, and also sleeping with the heat on (gas air), then you probably are pretty zapped and in a deficit.
Jet lag is serious stuff, and not good for running performance at all.
Jimmyb wrote:
I'm at the tail end of a 13 time zone Asia to East Coast USA jet lag (hopefully). My paces are real slow (in a particular HR zone), and feel a bit off, like I'm dehydrated. Even though I've been drinking a lot and attempting to rehydrate. I was thinking my electrolytes might be screwed up.
Does anyone know anything about this, if jet lag can affect the body in this way?
thanks.
I'm not a doctor. But, when I was competing in races throughout the U.S., my coach would have me fly to my race on Fridays instead of Saturdays for this very reason. Flying would seem to wear me out. He said it was due in part to my low body fat. I'm not sure, but I drank a lot of fluids, ran alittle before I went to the airport , that means even for 6 AM flights, I'd run about 2 miles at 4 AM - the two (fluids and running) seem to help.
Electrolytes help - but the avg. elite runner in the 70's didn't have those, and they did fine.
pvs wrote:
Jimmyb wrote:I'm at the tail end of a 13 time zone Asia to East Coast USA jet lag (hopefully). My paces are real slow (in a particular HR zone), and feel a bit off, like I'm dehydrated. Even though I've been drinking a lot and attempting to rehydrate. I was thinking my electrolytes might be screwed up.
Does anyone know anything about this, if jet lag can affect the body in this way?
thanks.
I'm not a doctor. But, when I was competing in races throughout the U.S., my coach would have me fly to my race on Fridays instead of Saturdays for this very reason. Flying would seem to wear me out. He said it was due in part to my low body fat. I'm not sure, but I drank a lot of fluids, ran alittle before I went to the airport , that means even for 6 AM flights, I'd run about 2 miles at 4 AM - the two (fluids and running) seem to help.
Electrolytes help - but the avg. elite runner in the 70's didn't have those, and they did fine.
You mean sodium was around in the 70s? I seem to remember having popcorn and pretzels as a kid...
As for the original question: I am not sure jet lag itself does anything to electrolytes, but your eating and drinking are probably out of whack. If you have just been drinking water then the odds are that you are a bit low on electrolytes. increase salt intake.
didn't know that there were 3 non-doctors in the US of A, must be lawyers then.
When you say you are drinking a lot of water, how much is alot?
When you get to your hotel room take off your shoes and socks put your feet on the rug and make fists with your toes.
About 3.5 gallons a day
Just for a couple of days after the trip, or consistently? That seems like a hell of a lot of water.
Drinky Drinky wrote:
Just for a couple of days after the trip, or consistently? That seems like a hell of a lot of water.
Yeah, that seems like A LOT of water, assuming that is really Jimmyb that posted that. 1 gallon = 128 ounces, twice the "recommended" amount of water that an average person should drink daily.
perhaps because you are drinking so much water you are diluting your system and therefore depleteing your electrolyte stores, this is perhaps why you feel so groggy. Why not drink some water but also some hypertonic solutions?
Thanks you everyone for the help and advice. I started on some Pedialyte today, and will work towards "undiluted" hydration. Someone said a day for each time zone, I have 3 more days of recovery from the jetlag. I think it was just the whole trip knocking me off me my feet. 25 hours of traveling east to west, then west to east, with little sleep and normal food and drink while in Asia all combined for a knock to the system. Thanks again for your time and energy in helping.