Sleep vs. Training
I had planned to get up and ride this morning. My schedule calls for a 90 minute/25 mile ride on a rolling course. A ride up to Central Park plus three laps and then home would have been just about perfect. BUT, I’ve been pretty tired this week and haven’t been getting to bed as early as I might like and I have a big weekend of training coming up, so, when my alarm went off this morning, I decided that I’d get an extra two hours of sleep and do the ride inside on my trainer this evening. It is very rare that I hit the snooze button or sleep past my alarm – I am generally a good morning person. This morning though, it seemed like a good (even necessary) idea and I did fall right back asleep for nearly two hours.
Now, seeing as how I got over eight hours of sleep (which is much more than I normally get) and I don’t have anything particularly stressful going on in my life, and it’s a pretty beautiful day outside (which I’m only able to enjoy by opening my office window), shouldn’t I be in a great mood? Sure. Instead, I don’t feel like I’ve fully woken up, I’m grumpy, tired, anxious, feeling stressed out and am having trouble concentrating – that’s a fun combination! I just checked my heart rate and it’s somewhere in the low 50’s which is about normal, but I feel like my heart is racing and my hands feel like they’re shaking. Am I going through exercise withdrawal? For goodness sake, it’s only been about 17 hours since last night’s run.
As a contrast, Monday night I didn’t get nearly as much sleep as I’d wanted, but yesterday morning, I dragged myself out of bed and got on the bike for a pretty tough ride on the trainer. After the ride (as a result of the ride?) I felt great all day – I was in a great mood and got a lot done at work.
So, today’s question is: When am I better off sacrificing a couple hours of sleep (even when I know I’m really tired) in order to train and when do I need to get the sleep? If I train I risk being exhausted as the day (and potentially the week) goes on. If I sleep in, I risk feeling like this all day. I don’t think there’s an easy answer. Today, I probably needed to sacrifice my mood for some sleep. Tomorrow, if I’m out of it when my alarm goes off, hopefully the extra sleep I got last night will help me get up and moving. This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed this feeling, but it’s the first time I’ve really thought about it. One other interesting thing is that, while I do feel this way on most days that I don’t train in the morning, it doesn’t feel as dramatic when I’m taking a scheduled day off. Maybe my body wants the morning exercise, but on days when my brain knows in advance not to expect it, the brain tells the body to chill out? As for now, I need to go get some lunch and hope that my brain calms down a little so I can actually get some of my work done today!
Last night I ran with Elizabeth. Her second run this week. It seemed to go well. Her knee was a little tight during the run and, predictably, she said she was pretty winded from not running in a couple months, but she was able to do it. She knows she needs to be careful not to re-aggravate it, but this is definite progress.
Now, though, my knee’s bothering me a little… not so much that I’m worried yet, but it’s certainly on my mind.
Swim – April 23
Distance: 3,150 yards
Time: 1:00
Bike – April 24
Time: 1:30
Average heart rate: 123
Indoor ride
Run – April 24
Distance: 3.25
Time: 31 minutes
Average heart rate: 114
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Warm, clear