Missing Sleep and Cursing Daylight Savings For All I Could Have Done With That Hour

So tonight we lose an hour.Daylight savings, curse you for depriving me of those precious 60 minutes of sleep!! Sure, I’m not going to lie, seeing the sun past 4pm is going to be wonderful but I’ll still hold a bit of a grudge on the jyped pillow time.

She wishes she had had more sleep. 😉

Sleep is vital for recovery, though it’s often times one of the first things that people skimp on due to hectic schedules. It is during sleep that the body restores itself, releasing hormones to repair (growth hormone) and build back the muscles and other tissues stronger after we tear them down during training. Not only that but sleep patterns directly impact mood and a myriad of other bodily functions. Have you talked to a caffeine crazed college student during finals after day and night cram-fests?

I’ve read that Paula Radcliffe and Deena Kastor sleep upwards of 10 hours a night and still take a nap during the day. It’s not uncommon for naps to be an actual requirement for some elite training groups. Bust out the kindergarten sleeping mats and stuffed animals! 😉

Sleep is a tricky little bugger though and actually slipping into the deep REM cycles that you need can be difficult. Insomnia and other sleep disorders are very common; both professional runners Tera Moody and Bobby Curtis suffer from insomnia and have had to figure out how to handle that along with heavy training loads.

Hmmm...maybe I'd even have a sense of fashion with more beauty sleep?? Probably not though.

I’ve got sleeping issues myself and I can attest to how draining and maddening it can be to be staring at the ceiling unable to get to sleep. Or waking up every hour…you could be down in the sack for 10 hours but not having REM sleep makes you feel like you never really rested.

So I’m angry at you, Daylight Savings, just because you’re an easy target for tonight’s lost hour of sleep. A lot can be accomplished in an hour too, in those robbed 60 minutes just think of how much a person COULD have accomplished:

* An awesome run. Sure the distance covered will vary, but let’s say we busted our bums at the current World Marathon Record pace we’d come in just short of 13 miles.

* Caught up on what 700 of my Facebook friends have been up to the last 24 hours.

* Read a dozen blog posts. Wished I was funnier, wittier, and more exciting.

* Drooled over 25 recipes I’ll never be able to attempt.

* Wondered about 18 times why I’m not accomplishing more in this hour.

* Fully digested the results of the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and the World Indoor Championships. Congrats to the Lady Ducks of the University of Oregon on their third team title win!

* Entertained myself people gawking while at the super market, caught up on the celeb gossip rags in line, and questioned why so much of my money is now being sucked away by my stomach.

* Created an entire new comedy show revolving around runners that would go on to be a raging success, I’d become a zillionaire, allow myself to never worry about money and institute daily naps, my running would soar, I’d then beat that 2:03 marathon time and then have all of my time sucked away by drug testing instead. 😉

Oh well, let's just enjoy some extra sunlight at night. 🙂

Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to live with never having those precious 60 minutes. Let’s all do our best to really try and get the hours of sleep we need…aim for 7 1/2 hours at least (sleep cycles work in 90 minute increments) a night.

1) Do you always remember about the moving clocks forward and backward?
I wouldn’t unless I had a zillion social media sites alerting me to the change.

2) Are you looking forward to longer daylight? Do you plan to capitalize on it, and how so?
I will say for all those that have to run after work you’ll be much safer out there!

3) What ‘could’ you have done with that missed hour?? 😉

4) What are your sleeping patterns like, do you have problems getting or staying asleep? What are some of your best tips to getting a decent night’s rest?