Asia

Eastward Travels to Japan

I've been spoiled for the past few weeks, even months, without having to wake up early. Following surgery, I let my body sleep as much as it needed and this really ranged from day to day. When the alarm went off at 6:30am yesterday, it was a little shock to the system. Fortunately, a hot shower and espresso got me in gear quickly, or so I thought....

I walked over to my tram station and got on my normal tram to the train station. Sadly, there is major construction and detours going on with Gent's public transportation and I ended up going in the complete wrong direction. I got off and had to hobble, a little faster than my foot would have liked, over to a different tram stop and then was properly under way. Luckily, I've learned many times that things can go wrong with Belgian public transportation, so I always build in a huge time cushion.

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A quick Starbucks at the train station and I was on my way to Zaventem (Brussels airport). Ran into some friends from another team at the airport who were heading to the Tour of Hainan; it was nice to catch back up with work friends after not traveling for nearly two months. I had a short flight from Brussels to Amsterdam and then had to wait in maybe the longest immigration line to date while transferring through Amsterdam.

I headed straight to the KLM (Skyteam) lounge with hopes that I could use points/pay to upgrade to business class. I've been concerned about flying this far with my foot and thought a lay-flat bed couldn't hurt. I asked and the woman sadly told me that she had sold it just 10 minutes before. I was bummed but figured I shouldn't give up so easy. I sat down and did some work until it was basically time to board, then I reapproached her and asked if anyone in business hadn't made the flight. To my surprise, she said yes! We processed the transaction as quickly as possible and hobbled super fast to the gate as it was finishing boarding.

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Flight attendants on KLM and Delta are always amazing and this flight was no different. I asked for ice for my foot and the flight attendant took amazing care of me from that point forward, continuously bringing me bags of ice wrapped in a towel. Super amazing service. They also made me a gluten free plate of food (no soy sauce, no miso, no tempura, etc), which was above and beyond my expectations. Sadly, I didn't sleep well though. My foot just hurt; there is no way around it. I wasn't comfortable no matter what I did.

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We landed and I soon met up with a few riders from my team. We all grabbed much needed Starbucks and then started the journey to Utsunomiya, Japan. The Japan Cup is by far one of the best organized races in the world and everything flows seamlessly. We had a nice 10-passenger van for the 2.5 hour ride, where I proceeded to catch up on Teen Mom (one of my dirty little travel habits).

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Since getting to the hotel, I ate a little food, iced my foot crawled into bed for a two-hour nap and then went out for an hour plus walk. My foot is still bothering me and I've been good about icing it. I'm glad to be back in sandals and not lace up shoes and hopefully it'll calm down if I take it easy for the rest of the day.

Traveling to Asia: Gluten and Dairy free

One of the favorite reasons why I love the Japan Cup is the absolutely delicious food; I adore sushi. But in years past, I wasn't gluten or dairy free, which vastly changes things. I leave for Japan tomorrow and now I have to avoid soy sauce and can't enjoy all those tasty soba noodles. I've done a little research and it seems eating gluten free is nearly impossible in Japan, so I've packed loads of snacks to get me through the long flights and then several days on the ground in Japan. (I also made some homemade muffins and 'granola' bars which aren't included below.)

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Not quite all of the above made it into my suitcase because well....I don't want it to weigh nine million pounds. I only took a few of the small olive oil and vinegar squeezes and only enough coconut milk powder and teff for a few days. I also split all of this into two pouches, one for my long day of flying and the rest checked into my suitcase. Here is the total haul: 

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I have an emergency pack that I keep in my backpack at all times, so not just for flights but also for race days. This includes:

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When I'm dealing with extreme time zone changes and long flights, I really try to stay hydrated. The first thing in the morning, I ingest copious amounts of caffeine. Then at night, I try to get in as much sleepy time teas with chamomile or valerian root. I also just enjoy options.

I head to the airport early tomorrow morning. I'm hoping I've packed the perfect amount of foods...enough to get me through but not too much that I'm bringing any back. Now off to the next adventure!