Last week I traveled to Los Angeles for a conference. I was grateful the hotel gym was open 24 hours, because it was all I could do to make myself stay in bed until 4:00 am—even though I attended events in the evenings. Somehow it seemed more sane to hit the hotel gym at dark o’clock than triaging work emails before I’d had my coffee.
Jet Lagged At The Hotel Gym
I flew to L.A. on Sunday morning. I arrived at the airport 2 hours before my 8:40 am flight, breezed through security and picked up my Starbucks before finding my gate. When I realized how far off it was, I decided to take a 5 min Peloton warm-up walk to get my blue dot for the day. That was my only “workout” of the day, not counting the long walk from the terminal to the taxi stand at LAX, and all the to-and-fro between my hotel room and the conference annex of the hotel.
Monday morning I participated in the ”Fun Run” conference event. That didn’t start until 6:30 and I was wide AWAKE at 4:30, so I did tackle some work before doing a 10 min Peloton core workout in my hotel room and heading to the meet up spot for the run. A crew of local runners led us on a 3 mile loop around the downtown area—I always think of Erica when I do runs like this—she is such a good running tour guide!
I managed a few photos of these classic theaters.
Wednesday I WOKE UP at 3:00 am, but forced myself to stay in bed until almost 4:00. I was surprised to see someone else in the hotel gym when I walked in, but there was a woman well-into her treadmill walk already. I walked on a treadmill to warm-up, and then did a few strength workouts. By the time I finished the gym seemed pretty full, even though it was barely 5:00. Clearly I was not the only person jet lagged in the hotel gym!
I had a midmorning flight on Thursday that left me plenty of time for a workout—even though I finally was able to sleep until my alarm went off at 4:30. I did a core workout in my hotel room before heading to the gym for another treadmill workout. The training plan called for a 45 min easy run with a series of 15 sec strides at the end. I chose Marcel’s class for the music, but the 20:40 intervals worked pretty well for the strides.
Friday I was back home on east coast time and dead asleep when my alarm went off at 5:00. I had to get to the office for an in-person client meeting, so I took Scooby for a walk and did upper-body and core-focused strength classes.
The Peloton App let me know that I was on the verge of my 600th run, so I looked for a live class to take Saturday morning. Susie Chan had a 45 min run at 6:00 am which I could make work if I got up at 5:00 and didn’t dally.
Scooby waited while I warmed up with a pilates class, then we headed out for a run in spectacular fall weather—low 50s.
Looks like this t-shirt could be used in that Downy commercial.
Sunday morning I finally slept in a bit. After walking Scooby I stacked a 20 min Peloton core class with an old Strength For Runners class. We’re planning on a bike ride after church.
We ended up doing an easy ride on the W & OD. It was cloudy and cool but there’s no way I would have worn long sleeves like my husband did.
A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up.
How do you cope with jet lag?
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Traveling west is always hard on me! And it’s only a 2 hour difference for me, compared to your 3. I would have been up early as well. Sounds like you made the most of it! I love those run tours. And congrats on run #600!
I think being an earlier riser to begin with makes any time difference in that direction hard.
I traveled for work before the pandemic but never West. There were times that I was glad to use the gym (and I hate the gym.)
Run tours are great. I need to see if there are any in Fla.
I’m an awful sleeper so no advice on jet lag.
I do get hit with jet lag when we travel as well. I try to adapt to the new time immediately and stay up later which helps a little bit. It is the 9 and 10 hour time differences that kill me. Always takes a week to get back to normal for me. Congrats on your 600th run! Gotta love the milestones 🙂
I runfess I do not struggle too badly with jet lag. The only time it was challenge is when I flew overnight to London and had to push through an afternoon meeting. It was tough keeping my eyes open! Congrats on #600 milestone. I do love a good Susie Chan run!
Yes, I guess there would be a lot of jet lagged people in a hotel on the west coast! Sounds like you had some really fun workouts, and congrats on the 600th run. Ha ha… I knew exactly what Downy commercial you were talking about without even clicking on the link. Oh, and your Peloton walk through the airport on Sunday reminds me of when I flew home from Waco and had a connecting flight in Dallas. My quads were SO SORE from my trail runs, and I feel like I walked ten miles through the Dallas airport. Oof.
Yeah, I prefer the east to west affects on waking up in the morning to the opposite. However, when you’re waking up hours before you need to that can be problematic, too.
Congrats on your 600th run! And LOL on the Downy commercial. 😀
Well I was in long sleeves this morning and I was running, LOL! Plus a vest! It was right for me. We’re all different.
I had a much better week of sleep this week, in addition to all the post booster race. Hoping some of that translates into good running next week!
A running tour of LA sounds like a lot of fun! Despite all the times I’ve been to SoCal, I think I’ve really only been to LA once — when my brother graduated law school. I wasn’t even married then (although Mr. Judy did come with me, much to my Dad’s chagrin). We were engaged at the time!
Love the running tour! Great way to do both at the same time. Fun week Coco!
I haven’t traveled to the west coast much, but I also struggle with jet lag when I do. That’s a lot of gym time…but we all have to make due when we’re not at home. Congrats on #600!!!
Happy 600!
the 90 second hills tomorrow are going to be intense. I think I found one the right length but I am very much not in hills shape. Kind of what I’m loving about this challenge though
Love the chance to see new cities via foot.
Oh wow, Coco, when do you sleep?!
Even when you “sleep in” you are up and running before 7am. You have incredible energy!
I haven’t had to deal with time differences for a while now. Cape Town and Zurich are in the same time zone. 🙂
Wow! What a busy week for you. I am also a huge fan of hotel gyms that are open 24 hours. I am an early riser but tend to be more of a morning bird when I travel, so early morning workouts are always my jam!
Congrats on your 600th run!
Flying west always messes with me – looks like you made the most of your time. Yay for a 24hr gym!
Congrats on your 600th run!
Oof, jetlag! I do enjoy getting the early start to the day, but 4am is really early! Glad you were able to be productive. Love how you did the Peleton workout (walk!) in the airport! Smart thinking.