Catching up on Sleep

On a normal day of practice, I row between 20 and 35 kilometers, bike 15 miles, and occasionally lift weights, plus countless miles of walking. Friday, I rowed 5k, plus maybe 3 miles of walking. That night, as I tried to fall asleep, my whole body was shaking and quivering with its extra energy. It's a good thing I practice 10-12 times a week! It took me almost 4 hours to fall asleep, including almost an hour of stretching.

Although I was tired on Saturday, I avoided napping. Instead, I headed down to the course for an hour long steady state row (easy-medium effort level), and spent the afternoon watching my teammates race.

Unexpectedly, my 4pm snack of triscuits and toast with jam became dinner when I fell asleep at 6pm. Normally, this is a really bad idea, because I wake up at 10 pm bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready for breakfast. This time though, I managed to keep my eyes shut until the 6AM sunshine woke me up.

This morning, we headed down to the course to row our quad once more before our early afternoon race. The practice helped get some of my jitters out, and helped my body feel more normal after lots of sleep and lots of rest. Hopefully my nerves stay calm until our race ends--I will be focusing intently on steering straight and rowing well to keep my mind off of our opponents.

Updates to follow shortly! Less than 2 hours until race time!


Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

Like what you read? Share it on Facebook, Twitter or GoogleBuzz using the buttons below!