Sleep deprivation is real, even just an hour a day less than usual quickly adds up
For this 200-mile race – I might have gotten 16 hours of sleep total in four days…about 4 hours per day… total sleep deprivation for me, someone who usually gets a good 8 hours of sleep per night (32 hours of sleep in four days)
(BTW, it wasn’t even good sleep, sometimes it was cramped in the car, in a public bathroom, on the ground in a garage – this wasn’t a 5 star hotel or even a bed…)
Nonetheless, I feel it.
Not focused, mentally exhausted, drained, groggy, blues
Losing sleep was almost unavoidable in this case… I had a race to finish.
Granted, I banked some sleep in the weeks leading up to the race… but I was still missing 16 hours of sleep.
Supposedly, it can take up to four days to recover from 1 hour of lost sleep.
So here are some tips to catch up on sleep:
- Have nothing planned. Since the race, I’ve been sleeping for 10 – 14 hours per day.
- Take naps when needed, or get to bed early.
- Give it time, sleep will come and eventually, we will be fully recovered, until then just trust the process.
This is more of a reminder for me that it’s not crazy to feel out of it, especially only a few days post-race.
Learning to take it easy on myself(:
Joe DiAndrea 