Trouble sleeping after ride

[staceysue]

I ride in the mornings but I still have trouble sleeping at night if I go for a long ride. After I ride, I feel very energetic the rest of the day. My muscles don't get sore. I don't hurt anywhere. When I go to bed, my mind won't stop turning and my leg muscles feel twitchy. I toss and turn all night. The next day I'm too tired to ride.

I rode yesterday morning, didn't sleep well at all and had some crazy dreams, and today the ride that seemed so easy yesterday would have been difficult. I rode about half the distance and came home.

Any idea what's up? Electrolyte thing, maybe?

[Wahine]

Could be an electrolyte issue. It sounds like a metabolic activity state. Your metabolism is likely raised and for some reason your nervous system is excitable... maybe a prolonged endorphin or adrenal response?

There are two things I would think about, what are you consuming after 6 or 7 PM and how hard are you riding.

If you're taking in a lot calories closer to bed time your metabolism make kick into high gear and be part of the problem. I have problems with this, particularly if I drink any alcohol.

And, if you're riding hard in the morning, maybe just try to scale it back a bit.

It could also just be a matter of relaxing before bed to settle your nervous system. You might like to try meditation. In yoga they encourage lying quietly on your back with your legs extended up the wall for 10 to 15 min for this type of problem.

Hope that helps.

[WVGeo]

Try taking a couple ibuprofen before bed. Sometimes we have aches and pains that are minimal if we are awake but are just enough to make a good sleep difficult.

The dreams might be a clue, though - I'm a narcoleptic so, because my REM sleep is out of whack, I can do the dreamy thing, too. While certain things that go with narcolepsy are usually triggered by strong emotions, some of us have symptoms that are triggered by certain physical motions, sudden strong exercise, etc. I can be out of a car and halfway across the street and get whacked by it, or peddling hard on the bike and have to stop because I've triggered a spell. You might want to do some Google searches and see if any of the symptoms given match anything else you've experienced. And one of the most annoying things about having it is that, although it is associated with uncontrollable sleepiness, it can cause insomnia.

[Mr. Bloom]

Is it possible that you're fueling with energy bars or clifblok with caffeine?