If you travel across time zones for a race or are simply racing at an unusual time of day, slowly adapt your training and sleeping schedule to the time zone and race time of the competition. By adapting slowly, you do not shock your body before the race, when you need to be relaxed and getting a good night’s rest.
The general rule of thumb dictates that you need to arrive to your race a day earlier for every time zone you cross. However, this rule must be tempered with an athlete’s individual comfort level away from home. Some athletes thrive on the change of environment, whereas other athletes benefit from the familiar surroundings of home.