Thursday, July 10, 2008

Sleep, Swimming and Marathons

If there is one area of my life I know I need to address, it would be my sleeping habits. The alarm goes off at 5 am most days, regardless of whether I am running before work, or biking or driving to work. You would think that with all of my working out and such and early rising time I should be falling into bed at 10 pm. But I'm not..! I'll be pretty tired around 8:30...which is way to early to go to bed, and then I'll push through and be really awake until 11 or 12. I really need to try and be more vigilant about getting to bed earlier.
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Case in point? Last night I was falling asleep watching one of the old Indiana Jones movies, had to run out briefly, then got back home and was wide awake. Getting up for swimming just before 5 am was tough... I was at the pool by 6 though, ready to swim some laps. I got about 850m in and it felt pretty good, and it was a terrific way to start off the day. The only problem with swimming in the morning, then heading straight to work is...what do I do with my wet suit so that it can dry out? I wasn't sure I wanted to leave it in my car so I wound up bringing it to the office with me. I discovered I have some hooks under my desk so I can hang it up, and my coworkers don't even see it. One thing I'm a bit worried about is the amount of time the shelf bra in my tri top is taking to dry out. It is after noon and the thing is still wet. Please tell me that as I speed around on my bike it will help the top to dry out faster. Otherwise I predict that this may not be the most comfortable thing at my tri. Hmm. Only 30 days to my first tri..!
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My next marathon is right around the corner as well! I was checking the race website for Quebec City and they have made a change to the transportation at the start of the race. Before we were all going to meet near the finish line and get bused to the start line. Now we are taking a ferry across the St. Lawrence River, then we'll be bused to the start. It sounds like a pretty neat way to start the morning so long as there aren't any snafus! I'm getting pretty excited about the trip, and I finally managed to book my airfare. I would love some restaurant recommendations or ideas for things to do while I'm not running the marathon!

6 comments:

Sonia said...

Wow 5AM? I can barely get out of bed before 8 these days... well it helps to be unemployed lol

You're well on your way to QC city, very exciting =) Where are you staying?? We'll be at the Hotel Kennedy in Levis (near the starting line) so I'm guessing you're across the bridge in Old Qc city.

There are a lot of things to do there. I love to just walk around in the Old part of the city, lots of nice boutique and a guy that blows glass... The Plaines d'Abraham is a big park in the middle of the city (where you could run!).

It's the 400th anniversary so there will be lots of action while you're there. If you like Museums: Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Musée de la civilisation.

I don't know many restaurants but last time I was there we stopped at this one: Grambrinus (http://www.gambrinus.restoquebec.com/intro-a.html)
and the food was fantastic! Very close to Chateau frontenac!!

teacherwoman said...

I really need to get back on track and up at 5am like I am during the school year. Remember, if you are doing those long runs at 5am... you are more than bound to be tired at 830 and it is okay to go to bed that early! I have done that before!

rocketpants said...

I hate to break it to you, but you won't really dry out too much on your tri, but you also won't really notice either. After the swim you will be caught up in transition and then on to your bike. You will be dry-ish by the run, but don't count on it. Invest in some body glide...triathlons = chafing.

Danielle said...

Umm...8:30 is too early for bed?? I get up around 4:30/5 (to the gym by 5:30 or out running by 5 most mornings) and go to bed when I'm tired...even if that is sometimes 8/8:30...I'm never up till 10...I'm such a wuss, but the training I'm doing and my aggressive goals I need my rest.

Downhillnut said...

Going to bed at 9pm would get you 8 hours of sleep before a 5am wake-up, so 8:30 isn't that far off. You might try an 8:30 bed time a couple of nights a week on hard workout days and see if you're feeling more rested.

If you find yourself waking up too early or in the middle of the night, you're going to bed too early. Otherwise, you probably need that sleep.

Btw, I needed more sleep in my 20s and 30s than I do now in my 40s. You might find that too as life goes on.

Sonia said...

After having done my first try today, I have to agree with rocketpants: you do not notice you are totally wet when you are on the bike and run. It's totally insane how you are totally out of it!!