Nighty Night

Last night was a 45 minute easy run, as if 45 minutes of running can ever be called "easy," hahahaha, but you know what I mean. No speed intervals, no fartleks, just running slow and steady within aerobic heart rate zone for 45 spins of the minute hand. Can be boring. Especially since it was pouring rain and I had to run the indoor gym track, 14 laps to a mile, times about four miles--left turn, left turn, left turn---by the time I got home I was canting to my left for an hour.

Anyway. I have to think when I'm doing an easy run, 'cause there are no walk breaks to look forward to (not for just 45 minutes anyway) and nothing else to do but check my heart rate (annoying to note that I am starting to need reading glasses to read my heart monitor--not going to happen on the run, trust me) and listen to my tunes.

So I got to thinking about the sixth discipline of triathlon during the run. You knew there were six, right? Swim, bike, run, transition, nutrition and rest. Because I was bored and getting tired, rest was on my mind.

I am one of those awful people who actually NEED 8 hours of sleep to feel my best. I have heard that as you age, you tend to need less sleep, but that hasn't happened to me yet. I do my very best on 8 hours of zzzs. Oh, I can do fine on 7-8, I can survive --but not happily--on 6, and I get really grumpy and irritable on 5 or less. I wish it were different. I wish I could sleep 5 hours and wake up feeling like a Lumesta commercial. I could get so much more done in my life if my body didn't demand so much shuteye!

It's almost embarrassing to admit it if you sleep a lot. It sounds like you are lazy, unmotivated, and a total bum. You truly want to say to folks, "me? I'm up at 4 a.m. and at the gym by 5 and at my desk at 6:30 a.m., where I stay until 6 p.m. when I take off for a 7 mile run, then fix a healthy dinner for my family, have a post dinner walk with my spouse and dog, and I'm back in bed by 10:30 p.m." Instead, I have to admit that I'm up somewhere between 6:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. (if I don't have an early workout), and I'm falling asleep before 10 p.m. and if something--anything or anyone!--tries to break up my sleep cycle, woe be unto them.

But the truth is, this is the amount of rest my body seems to need to perform at optimal levels. Working out six days a week leaves me with little ability to short myself on sleep; when I do, both my workouts and my real life suffer immensely.

Sometimes, something has to give on the sleep end for me--I simply don't end up mathematically with enough hours in 24 to get it all done and get the 8 hours of pillow time. When that happens, I try my best to get a better night's sleep the next night--if possible--and I also give myself a break if my workout that day is slow or sluggish.

On the weekends, when it's hot out, I need to be up EARLY SQUIRRELY to run, and if we have a date night or outing the night before, I am often running or biking on 6 hours or less of sleep. I often try to sneak in a hour nap during the weekend, but that's not always possible with all the necessary errands and chores we have to cram into our weekends.

So, I just do the best I can. I try to fill up on solid sleep nights as much as I am able. My Patient Spouse knows how much sleep means to me, and can often be found undressing just outside our bedroom door so he won't wake me by rustling clothes (I also, unfortunately, can hear the grass grow in my sleep).

If you're shorting yourself on sleep, your workouts will suffer. Add another 30 minutes to your snooze time--turn off the TV or get off the computer for that 30 minutes--and see if it makes you feel differently. Sleep is critical for the body to repair and recover from its efforts.

Tonight I am going for a bike fitting (again). My last one wasn't so successful and I've found a tri specialist to work with me on measuring where I need to be on my bike and bars. No reason to spend hours on the bike if you aren't comfortable during any of that time. Then I'm off for a ride!

Happy dreaming....