Hello! I’m back from my holiday to Orlando. I do love going on holiday but eeeeesh is it a bitch getting over jet lag!
Luckily Orlando is only (only!) a five hour time difference so things could be a lot worse but it still significantly messes with your system. I flew back Monday evening, watched one film on the flight (Hell or High Water – very good) and then promptly fell asleep but was woken up regularly due to turbulence and the fact you’re in no way comfortable. I’m a very light sleeper so it was pretty much hourly I woke up. I think I got four hours sleep so that’s not too bad but you land Orlando time at 2am and suddenly have to acclimatise to reality rather sharply.
My parkrun friend, Geoff, is a taxi driver so he picked me up and he was lovely in bearing with my sleep deprived crazy chatter. Though I fell asleep for the last stretch of the journey which definitely helped pep me up a bit.
Then it was a case of just focus on the big jobs needing doing: washing, food shop and showering. I cooked a large chicken so that’s sorted out a lot of meals for this week. My parents still have Alfie as they’re on holiday in Wales and took their dogs and him with them so although it was sad to not see my furry little friend, I was glad to just have to sort me out.
I enjoyed a very large salad for lunch. My system is definitely crying out for some more ‘natural’ food after an onslaught of processed food, sugar and fatty meats. I’ll obviously do a holiday recap post soon (all the food…ommmmm so good).
But I definitely appreciated something more simple on my return!
And then I was back at work the next day. The night before I went to bed and fell asleep very quickly at 8pm and though my alarm woke me at 7am (quite a lie-in for me on a work day) I still felt like I was spaced out and exhausted. At work I felt hot and cold, sick and shattered. I wish I’d have taken another day off but with my next holiday approaching very quickly (two weeks until I go to Tokyo!) I couldn’t really take the mic’. Plus I reckon I’d have just slept and delayed the jet lag another day…
Speaking of Tokyo, my race information has come. A nice little bit of post on my return. I won’t lie, it has made me very nervous. Only two weeks left. I fly on the Wednesday night and arrive Thursday, and then the race is Sunday 26th. 
Hopefully that’s enough time to get over the jet lag – which will feel the same as the jet lag I’ve felt post-Orlando (as it’s going the same direction across the world). Finger’s crossed, eh!
I really have planned things very badly as I also have the MarathonTalk Run Camp this weekend. I must be mad. MAD I tell you. It’s not like I needed the weekend to recover properly from Orlando and sort myself out for Tokyo. But hey, you only live once! I love the Run Camp and this will be my third time 🙂 I might not stay for the whole thing as I really do need some time. I might leave Saturday night, I haven’t decided yet. It’ll be a shame to miss the “informal” 10 mile race on the Sunday but we’ll see.
How do you recover from a holiday?
What’s the worst jet lag you’ve had?
What holidays do you have coming up?
I loved seeing your Orlando Instagram pictures – some much needed sunshine!
I don’t tend to get jet lag but some of my recent holidays have left me completely exhausted so I find not making many plans for the returning week and focusing on sleep and re-balacing my diet and my spending helps me feel a bit better! x
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Welcome home! I’ve missed reading your blog posts 😉
I usually try to fight tiredness as much as I can after a long haul flight and usually go to bed early if I have work the next day but I’ve still overslept and gone in to work late or taken an extra day of annual leave. I’ve been lucky enough to have flexible managers. I’m usually fine by lunch time though but still try to get as much sleep as possible over the next couple of days. The worst flight/jet lag I’ve had was years ago coming back from South America – 13 hours Buenos Aires to Paris, 1 hour Paris to London. But that was just before Christmas and didn’t have to back to work until the New Year.
My next major holiday is to South Africa in April for Two Oceans marathon over the Easter weekend. Then I’ve got a pub crawl weekend in Madrid with friends at the end of April.
Are you going to be spending more time seeing Japan and eating all the sushi after the marathon? Any other running plans for the rest of the year?
I’m pretty sure that the jetlag I had going to Japan was nowhere near as bad as the jetlag I’ve had coming back from the USA.
I have given up on the trying to force myself to stay awake paradigm generally speaking. I’ve found melatonin helpful going East…but, really, if I need to sleep randomly the day I’m back, I will sleep randomly the day I’m back as the combination of sleep deprivation on the red-eye and the time difference is too much to cope with.
Our next holiday is over to Boston, with some travelling after. Although I’ve got 2 weeks in Indy for work first (and a few days with friends. May as well take advantage of work being happy to pay for me to be stateside)
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Welcome home!
Thanks for sharing all the pictures on Instagram, it’s been so gloomy in Birmingham it was good to see some sunshine :o)
As for jetlag… It probably took me 4-5 days to start to feel even remotely ‘normal’ when I travelled to New Zealand. Flying back I was fine. I remember arriving at Manchester Airport on Monday morning, playing tennis in the afternoon and being back in work the following morning. China was the same. I felt terrible when I got to Beijing but fine when I got home (probably because I was so pleased to have access to ‘proper’ food!).
Flying back from America always seems to be a struggle. Last time I left Chicago at 8pm and arrived back at Heathrow at 8am. I managed to sleep for a few hours on the flight. On the train home I felt so spaced out I swear that everyone had American accents. I got home at lunchtime, struggled to stay awake until 6pm, went to bed and then woke up at 2am. It took me about a week to feel fully recovered.
Tokyo though. So exciting! I was given the option of attending a hydrology conference in either Birmingham or Tokyo. I’ve gone with Tokyo and can’t wait!
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I have not done any really long haul flights, but even just a few hours difference leaves me feeling tired. Generally I just find all travelling tiring.
Tokyo is super exciting! I am looking to go to the next Olympics there, so already saving up so I can have a long break and see some sights whilst visiting.
No holidays booked yet, but looking at Amsterdam and Berlin for city breaks.
Looking forward to the recap- I saw the pictures on facebook which made me very envious indeed- some Florida sunshine at this time of year is just so good.
I think jet lag is meant to take one day per hour of time difference. I am usually OK coming back from the east coast of the US- a struggle to stay awake for the first day, and a few bits of waking up in the night, but coming from the west coast is horrible- last time I think I woke up at 3am the first night, then 2am the next night, then 1- it was awful as I just felt totally wide awake. But the holidays make it worth it!
Tokyo is going to be so exciting! I think Japan in general looks so interesting- I remember watching a documentary about it (Japan enchanted islands) and it just looks so beautiful, but also so different culturally from here.
Due to house and decorating costs, we have some shorter breaks booked up- at Easter we are going “up north”, we have a holiday to Austria booked for the summer, and Croatia in October (although we may go to France for a bit too).
Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…A muddy parkrun and keeping my fingers crossed
Glad you are back girl! I loved seeing your photos and stories on Instagram. It looks like you had a really great vacation!
I don’t travel by plane – like ever – so I don’t know a thing about jet lag! haha The last time I flew was to Texas a few years back and they only have a few hours time difference so I was fine 🙂
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Welcome back girl :))
I am quite jealous at you because you had a very nice trip to Orlando unless jet lag, I never been there before :((
I dont know anything about jet lag because i havent travel to any country has too much different about the time from my country but i guess it must very tired – when people sleep – you wake up. when people eat – you are full –
Tokyo is such a very nice country, i really love salmon sashami and udon noodle, whenever i come any Japan restaurant, i always order 2 of these dish. Only one word for them “PERFECT”
I always say I need a vacation from my vacation! 🙂 I am SO excited for you to be running Tokyo!! I want to run that race someday.
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Your story is very interesting. I have just travelled around my country so I always want to take a trip abroad. If i get a vacation and save enough money, Tokyo will be my first destination.
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Long flights can take a few days to recover from, but what choice do you have if you want to see the world!? It’s so exciting about Tokyo. I can’t wait to read all about your experience there.
Elizabeth C. recently posted…Racing a 10K During Marathon Training
Welcom home, girl!
Your Instagram Pics are so amazing. Orlando looks like full of sunshine and a little bit hot, isn’t it? You should take a rest to recover from the vacation. I wish I could get on a plane and enjoy a holiday like you now. Anw looking forward your next post! Have a nice day.
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Thanks, lovely girl <3
I always hope that I will go abroad one day but I think I need to work harder to make my dream comes true. I love your post so much. I feel like I went with you ^^ You should be really tired after the vocation. Wish you will be better soon.
Love you.
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Glad you had a great holiday and good luck with the remaining training for your race.
How lovely that Alfie got to go on a little holiday too!
Lots and lots of fun for you this month by the sounds of things. Overbooking myself is totally something I always do too. I just won a competition to have a couples photography session the same weekend as I’m due to run a cross-country race, take part in the next Magic Mile and celebrate my Mum’s 70th birthday. Madness!
I’m really looking forward to your Tokyo recap. I don’t think I know anyone who has been there before, never mind RUN whilst there.
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Your adventures and passion for fitness and health are impressive. Before getting into a marathon run, think of great footwear that can be your greatest ally. Uncomfortable shoes often lead to foot pain, ankle injuries, and even plantar fasciitis that can derail you from the track. Running is indeed a great way to recover from holiday pounds while keeping us fit and healthy.