Wow, haven’t felt this in a long while. Did the 90 minute hot yoga class earlier. It went better than I thought it would. Now, hours later, I’m feeling quite wiped out. It took a while for the fatigue to set in, but here it is. I’m currently on the couch in the living room. I’ve been on it for three hours. I just don’t feel like I have the energy to get off it. I suppose I can sleep here, but why do that when my bed is just steps away? Those few steps seem so far though. Aaaargh. Am I drinking enough? Am I drinking enough? With all of the physical activity I’m doing, am I eating enough to support all my activities? I just shouldn’t feel like a cement block. I’m sure I’ll feel better tomorrow, but…wow.
Tag Archive: sleep
Pushing myself, and the after-effects
Just woke up from a nap on the couch. I had a bag of ice wrapped in a small towel placed on my forehead while I was lying down. When I woke up the bag of ice migrated its way around my head to a spot under base of my skull. The ice was necessary to reduce the swelling going on inside my head. See, I had developed one hell of a migraine. At least, I think it was a migraine. It was an intense headache that felt like someone drove a spike through my head. The bright sunlight piercing my shutters in the bedroom felt harsher than usual. Every small noise seemed to be amplified several times over to the point of being too harsh. I was entirely nauseous and in fear of throwing up. It was basically rough going over the past few hours. How the heck did I get to this point? Well, I’m sure I can pinpoint it to this morning’s run.
On schedule, we were supposed to do a 12 kilometre run. I got through that, but then decided that I wanted to head back out for a couple of more kilometres. The plan was to just head out west until I felt it was appropriate to turn back. Secretly though, I was looking to tack on another 10-12. I wanted to go over 21 kilometres just to tell myself that I could to it if I wanted to. So, I went on, but as usual at around the 13K point I started feeling a bit rough. At 15K I started feeling like doing 10 more wouldn’t be wise at all. Luckily, at that point I was at the road that would give me a 7K route. So, I turned and started heading back. As I went, I struggled more and more. By the time I got back I knew I was spent. Those 19 kilometres were hard earned.
Usually when I have a lengthier run I do all of the proper prep work the night before. I load up on water to stave off the headaches. I eat enough carbs to make sure I’m fuelled correctly. I’ve had enough problems in the past to know that doing these things are a necessity. Last night though, even though I was toying with the idea of going farther than I should, mentally I was only doing a more manageable 12K. Oops.
Post-run I was feeling a little bit light headed. It was kind of expected. I went over to Tim Hortons, refuelled, then headed over to the plyometrics class. Yeah, I know it’s a little bit insane to be doing a hard class like plyo after doing a long run like that, but I figured I could handle it. The class was OK, but I was actively battling a post-exercise headache at that point. I must have looked slightly insane pacing about, but I had to do it. I had to keep the energy up or else I’d just collapse mid-class.
On my way home I was planning on getting a nap in for a few hours to recover, by my parents decided to drop by. I spent a few hours entertaining them which include some gaming on the Wii. I guess we were causing a ruckus which caused the downstairs neighbours to pound the ceiling to tell us to knock it off. I’m a little bit mortified, but it was 5 p.m. It’s not like we were doing something in the middle of the night. Whatever. Anyway, when they finally left that was my opportunity to lie down and get a small nap in. Unfortunately the nap finally allowed my body to start complaining and rebelling. Hours later, I’m now feeling slightly better, though…I’m sure I’ll have some lingering effects for a while.
Tomorrow will be a better day! Declared it!
DST hell
I’ve been refraining from bitching about Daylight Saving Time only because doing so is pretty cliché: no matter how you cut it, it’s tough to deal with. Circadian rhythms are thrown out of whack, and nothing ever feels right until a week later. Usually I’m able to deal with it easily enough, but this year it seems to have hit me particularly hard. I haven’t been able to wake up early, and I’ve been pretty comatose on the train. It’s a miracle I haven’t yet shot past my stop forcing me to double back. The grogginess stays with me onto my streetcar ride, and right to my desk, where I can’t help but lay my head on my desk for a few seconds to get a few brief moments of stillness. There have been a few times where I’ve been tempted to call in sick just to be able to catch up.
Yeah, I’m sure all will be fine soon enough, but….graaaaaaaaaaagh.
Sleepy eye thing
You know, as I was writing last night’s post I was passing in and out of consciousness. OK, so maybe that’s making things sounds much more dire than they actually were. I was just really tired and actually had difficulty just completing the entry. At the bar, by the third Strongbow Erika was telling me that I had the sleepy eye thing going on. Yeah, I’ve actually noticed that before. It seems that when I have alcohol I tend to just look fatigued. I don’t go Asian red, but I just look like I haven’t slept in 36 hours. I guess it’s true though: I really was tired. And walking over to Yonge and Bloor after a long night out probably didn’t help me out either.
Anyway, in yesterday’s post I meant to post pictures of the foie gras poutine as well as the remnants of the Belgian chocolate fondue that we shared. Unfortunately, my sleep baked mind just couldn’t manage that. So here they are. Yes, they were both awesome and tasty.
Sleep attacks
I’m not even going to scare myself by thinking about worse case scenarios, but I’ve been seriously fatigued as of late. I know, I know, after yesterday’s post which wondered out loud whether I’m doing far too much the reason for the fatigue should be obvious. In the past week, I’ve fallen asleep on the couch four times. I’m not talking about simple napping either. Often, I find myself sitting on the couch…then I find myself needing to get comfortable in a horizontal position while listening to music. Then, after a blink or two I suddenly find that hours have passed and it’s suddenly the middle of the night. I’ve done so in my work clothes and in my running gear. The lights are often on in the kitchen and in the living room.
Yes, I know that it’s a horrible habit.
I need to figure out what to do with myself. Perhaps I’m just not eating enough. Before I was saying that I was eating too much, and now not enough? Well, my current caloric ranges are based on me burning around 2450 calories through exercise per week. Last week I went over 4000. So, it’s possible that I’m under-eating by a little bit. Still, I don’t want to raise my ranges and sabotage my efforts like I did over the holiday period. Then again, I totally am burning way more calories now that I’m late into my training cycle, so it’s a legit concern.
Fatigue isn’t so bad on occasion, but when it starts blocking me from getting some things accomplished, then I know that there are bigger issues afoot. On my way home I was thinking about how I wanted to bake something because it’s been a long time since I’ve done so. Now that I’m here, the fatigue just kind of hit me over the head. It shouldn’t be a struggle to do something that I so obviously want to do.
Anyway, I’m not whining. I just need to get my thoughts in order.
And I need to get a good night’s sleep.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
Do I really need it?
Earlier today I met up with a friend to check out the local Costco. My big intention for heading there was to pick up a duvet. In my condo, overnight I turn down the thermostat to about 62°F (16-17°C) in order to conserve energy. Despite being under a heavy blanket, I usually find myself chilly, especially during nights when the winds are out of control. So, I decided that I should graduate to having a duvet. I’d never had one in the past, so it never really crossed my mind. It wasn’t until I had read up on them that I thought, why the heck don’t I have one of those? Scandanavians seem to use them all the time. Why not us here?
So, over in Costco we just started out by wandering around the aisles, looking around and pawing at the merchandise. It’s such a mad house in there. So many shoppers! Through the food aisles we had good laughs at the container sizes of each thing. Is there really a need for a 3.78L (1 gallon) container of Miracle Whip? How about like…2.5 kilos of tuna in one can? I suppose there is a need if you have a big family. Where does that leave single people like us though? There’s absolutely no need for us to be in there, right? At least, that’s what I thought until I saw some decent prices for the non-food stuff. I had to control my urges to buy things that I didn’t really mind. For example, I saw a great price for the Garmin Forerunner 305. I have a 205 and I use that in conjunction with a Polar F6 heart rate monitor. When I run, I wear both watches. I might look like a fool but they get the job done. A 305 would combine both, and provide the ability to graph all of the info together. I told myself that I was perfectly fine with the two watches, so I just moved on. Walking through Costco is truly an exercise in restraint. I constantly have to ask: do I really need it?
I did make it out with my Queen-sized duvet, however I also bought some clothes and a Wii game, so…yeah…I didn’t do I great job staying on task. Pity. Tomorrow I’ll go hunting for a duvet cover. I’ll be able to stay warm tonight, but at the expense of a lighter wallet.
*sigh*
A familiar bed
This Christmas Eve I’m over at my parents’ place. Come to think of it, really, where else would I be spending it, right? Like I mentioned in a previous Twitter update:
It’s enough to be with my family. It’s not about stuff: if want something, I can buy it. Can’t buy togetherness.
It’s nice being back here. I’m here in my old room, lying on the old bed, thinking about how it’s both strange and comforting to be back in this place. The deep red curtains and the deep red bed spread trigger memories. For sure, the familiarity of it all kind of puts me at ease. And yet, I feel like I’ve grown out of it. I know it shouldn’t be this way, but deep down I sort of feel like I’m a stranger: this isn’t entirely my sanctuary anymore.
Well, whatever the reason, I know that I will always have a place here if I need it. I don’t anticipate needing it, but this room is a sort of a safety net. All of that puts me at ease.
Self witnessing
Just another short one.
A friend was telling me about his lunch hour yoga session. He told me that toward the end of it, the meditation was on “self-observation without criticism.” He said that when the topic came up he thought about me. Knowing that really made me pause for a little bit. Am I so self-destructive in my words and thoughts? Am I really so willing to bring myself down? It really seems like I am to some extent. I’ve stated before that I seem to be my own worst critic. I can see the value of using that to make myself stronger. Still, there’s a real danger of falling into negative self-image and general dissatisfaction if left unchecked. What I find a bit telling is the fact that other people seem to be in tune with the fact that I’m way harder on myself than I should be. Isn’t that sort of messed up? Yes, yes it is. In the end it’s up to me to be a witness for myself and to keep myself in check. No one else can do it.
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