June 28th, 2010
I’m loving your haikus, keep ‘em coming, folks. In the meantime, back to running talk…
My plan has already been switched around thanks to the weather (the last couple days were Heat Index 90 and 88 at 6am – killer humidity). I got through Sunday’s 11-miler a full minute/mi slower than my usual easy pace. This morning’s 7-miler was 45 seconds slower/mi. and I dumped the scheduled fartleks – it would have been a waste of a workout.
Tomorrow’s supposed to be the last stinkin’ hot day till Saturday, but I’ll do the hill sprints since they’re short. Then Wed-Fri return to normal temps, so fartleks on Wed, Progression on Fri.
Sleep
I’ve been thinking a lot about sleep, which is touted to be as important to running well as training, yet I never get enough. While it’s known that we sleep less with age, I also know that it’s not the main reason I sleep 6 or less hours/night.
On one end, I’m like a kid when it comes to lights out, I resist it because I can. It doesn’t seem normal to me to get to bed before midnight or later. In my 20s and part of my 30s, my usual bedtime was 2-3am and I could slip right back into that now, if I chose. But back then I could sleep till 10am, not something I can or want to do anymore.
On the other end, the waking up part: Ever since I started making money with t-shirts, then other web endeavors, I couldn’t wait to face a new day to see what sales occurred overnight and to check a ton of different web stats. That, and a fresh cup of hazelnut coffee gets me up-and-atom every single day.
So while age likely plays a role, I think my sleeping habits are largely my own doing and that I have the power to retrain myself to get 7½ hours every night, even 8 or more.
The deal is, it’s something I have to be proactive about, the same way I resisted flossing for years. I always had crappy dental checkups, then about 5 years ago I finally stopped fighting and began flossing about 5 days out of 7 (I’ll always be a rebel) and voila! Perfect checkups from that time forward. I can be taught new tricks.
I started a couple nights ago. Instead of sitting at this computer till the Nth moment, I shut it down and got in bed early and, because I’m still a computer freak, messed around with my wheezing old laptop till laying my head down at 11:30 (baby steps), probably got to sleep at 12.
The next night, I went for 10:30pm shuteye as my goal. Ended up laying there for an hour and waking up some, but it was still an improvement.
Naps
I usually avoid them because they leave me grouchy. Plus, I’ve always contended they eat into my evening sleep. But I’m revising that. As long as it’s not late in the afternoon, it shouldn’t mess up my night and hell, there’s no one here to receive my wrath, so I can suffer through feeling bitchy if it means being better rested.
So far, so good. I took a long nap yesterday after that miserably hot 11. Then today, I took a 45-minute nap at 9:30am. Not exactly what I’m going for, but if I could reach 8hrs/day cumulatively, that’d be a huge improvement.
Getting better all the time. Trying to, anyway.
Edit: I forgot to ask but want to know: How much sleep do you guys get?
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Yes on naps after long runs. I do that at weekends. Love it.
i’m so jealous of people who can nap! i’ve been sliding into the whole trap of staying up later just because i can. totally erased many many years of good habit hah
Yeah, I am definitely in need of some sleep. I hate sleeping, though, really. I know I need it badly, but I just resist in all areas. I do love a good, nap. In fact, I just woke up from one…
Good subject Flo. Sleep is the best kept secret to running well. Not only is growth hormone produced during sleep, but one is less cranky – which has to be good! I don’t know how you survive on 6 hrs a night. I think one reason our Prime Minister was dumped and replaced by a red-headed lady (Go Julia!) was his lack of sleep. 5-6 hours nightly and he couldn’t think straight – thus making a lot of bad decisions.
My tip would be to (as you’re doing) shut down the computer early, watch some relaxing TV for a bit, or read a book in bed. I’m with Jim too, on naps after long runs (or when you can).
For me, I’ve been getting 7 1/2 hours/night (not enough!) during the week, and 9+ weekends. I’d like 8 1/2 during the week. That’s my goal anyway. An easier goal than 21:05 for 5k
P.S. Just noticed it’s after 9! Goodnight and sweet dreams.
Good stuff, Ewen, especially the growth hormone thing. Always nice to have fancy sciency things to make a change super worthwhile. You’re certainly a great example to follow – I’ll be chasing your ZZzzzs (wow on the 9+, that’s fantastic!). As for the 5K, you’ll get it soon, I have all faith in you.
Sweet dreams to you too, sir.
Guess that’s my hint…
About 7, 7.5 hours, sometimes a bit longer on weekends. I’ve never been good at taking naps, although I’ll sometimes drift off.
7 hours is my sweet spot – anything significantly over or under that and I get messed up. Love the post long run nap!
Midnight for me and then 6am. It is usually the time when I run out of things to do.
Regrettably, I’d say I need to average 8 hours if I’m training with any regularity. I try and try to get by on 6 or 7 (who doesn’t need a few extra hours in the day?) but really that lends itself well to sleeping through the alarm. A week of 9 or 10 hours of sleep would be wonderfully amazing and then I’d probably settle back in to 8.
I try to shoot for 7 hours. 6 in a pinch.
Having 2 younger kids means there is often inconsistency about how much sleep I get which might bigger problem then the total amount.
Naps- yeah right- only on vacation
I think I’m getting about 7 hours. I need 8. I nap on occasion — fantastic when it happens. Sometimes I sleep while I type: Narcotypsy.
Lol, Narcotypsy. Good one.
I go to bed at 10pm and wake up on my own between 4-5am. With summer, its consistently 4am and I do get really sleepy around 10am and then again at 5pm. On the weekends I take a nap if I can fit it in.