poor sleep with lots of workouts?

[VeloVT]

This is a short term solution, not a long term solution, but Ambien CR is amazing. It will knock me out cold for exactly 8 hours even if I've had a super-stressful day, caffeine late at night, or exercise in the evening. My boyfriend shared his with me during finals (yes, I know this is a no-no) and it was a life-saver. It's just about the worst feeling in the world when you go to bed at 1am, have an exam at 3PM the next day and need to study more before you take it, and somehow even though you only had five hours of sleep the night before you still can't get to sleep...

As I get older I find more things affect my sleep -- even small amounts of alcohol will wake me up after a few hours of sleep and make it hard to get back to sleep. Caffeine after 4pm... stress... and yes, either exercise late in the day or just a very large amount of exercise can make it more difficult for me to sleep (and this is not overtraining in my case, sadly).

Over-the-counter sleeping aids can help too (such as Tylenol PM). Again, not a long term solution, but if you've GOT to get back to sleep and you just can't, it can help.

Good luck. Sleep is very, very important.