Sleep--need more?

[Irulan]

I like a good 8-9 hours. lights out at 10, up anywhere from 6-7:30. In the summer when the sun is up at 4, I do get up earlier. BUT - I like my sleep. How much sleep I get seriously affects the quality of my day. I would love to go to the 5:30 spin class but I don't want to sacrifice that extra hour of sleep.

[andtckrtoo]

I'm like you - I need 7-8 hours of sleep a night and I'm not a night person. I drive DH nuts because if I'm up until 11PM, I'm about ready to drop! We have a lot of night owl friends. I'm also up at 4:30 to workout before work as it's the only time I'll get a chance. I'm in bed my 9PM most nights, and asleep on the sofa by 8:30. Party animal - eh? :P

I've also trained for a half and know how physically demanding it is. Really listen to your body. If you need a break (on those days where you're so physically and mentally tired that you think you'll shatter if you move), take one. It won't hurt you to miss a short run or to miss a bike ride once in a while. And tossing in a "recovery week" every three weeks or so where you don't do a run over 6 miles and you generally take it easier is a great way to keep up the enthusiasm and momentum. I have a friend training for a marathon who does her long run every other week and it seems to really help her.

Good luck to you! I hope everything goes well!!!!

[Veronica]

I'm a 5th grade teacher with 29 students. My work days are very hectic and can be exhausting. I'm also a triathlete and ultra distance cyclist. I usually get up at 4:20 AM and I go to bed between 7:30 and 8. I do some sort of workout most days - stretching, cycling, running, swimming, weights. I had been trying to get in two workouts a day and beating myself up mentally when I didn't. Work kept getting in the way - papers to grade, lessons to plan, letters to write, projects to create...

I do most of the day to day stuff at home as my honey has a 90 minute commute into the city. Some days some things just don't get done.

I need more sleep after I've weight trained legs. I slept an extra 40 minutes today and got up at 5.

Veronica

[pardes]

"They" say as you get older you need less sleep.

When younger I HAD to have 8-9 hours on the average with a few catchups of 10-12 hours once or twice a week.

Now that I'm 62, I do notice that I am sleeping much less on the average of 5-7 hours despite actually being MORE physically active. Maybe "they" are right.

[tulip]

I love my sleep. Lucky me, I work from home and so have abolished the whole alarm clock thing. I wake up when I wake up, which is usually between 6:30 and 7. I go to bed between 10 and 11. I guess that means I get about 8-9 hours of sleep a night. It must be right because it's what my body wants to do. Used to be that I would get up at 6 and go to bed at 11. I was grumpy. Now I'm not.

[shootingstar]

I'm a 5th grade teacher with 29 students. My work days are very hectic and can be exhausting. I'm also a triathlete and ultra distance cyclist. I usually get up at 4:20 AM and I go to bed between 7:30 and 8. I do some sort of workout most days - stretching, cycling, running, swimming, weights. I had been trying to get in two workouts a day and beating myself up mentally when I didn't. Work kept getting in the way - papers to grade, lessons to plan, letters to write, projects to create...

I do most of the day to day stuff at home as my honey has a 90 minute commute into the city. Some days some things just don't get done.

I need more sleep after I've weight trained legs. I slept an extra 40 minutes today and got up at 5.

Veronica

I get home from work at 7:00 pm but like you, I must get up at 4:30 am to start the day for my long work commute. However somehow I don't get to bed until close to 11:00 pm..could it because of TE forums?

Never much of a night owl. On weekends, I find out how sleep-deprived I am during the week, when I sleep until 6:30-7:00am. I also am power napping on the bus portion of my commute...which I never did in past decades. During the summer I will naturally get up earlier on weekends to start off cycling earlier.

I am a morning person and prefer to start working in the office at 7:30 or 8:00am. But geez, getting up at 4:30 am for nearly the last 3 years, is a serious stretch for me. Oh well, this is a contract job for me...temporary situation.

The only good thing about this early mornin' risin' is that I can adapt easily to cycling off early in morning for a vacation bike trip. Talk about not wasting vacation time...

[tulip]

After my too-hot metric century yesterday (close to bonking), I slept a full 12 hours last night. That's unusual, but apparently it was needed.

[katluvr]

It was nice to read all the replies. I have too many freinds with a much less active lifestyle so the rising early daily to either workout or work is not something they can relate to (much less the going to bed early!) Even my friends who may bike or run will defer both of those to sleep in on the weekends. Just cant' do that during the summer w/the Florida heat. "Slept in" til 6 this AM since we were not biking as early. Still wanted more even though lights were out at 10 last night. I think I just really want a day when I don't have to hope out of bed to hit the TM, run, bike or go to work!
Looking forward a bit to football season, good excuse to stay indoors in front of the TV (and occassionaly snooze!).