Recognize the signs

Good morning, Its Laura!

It is amazing what one bad night of sleep can do to you.

I will admit I have been given the gift of sleep. Don't talk to my mother about this. She will launch into tales of what a horrible infant I was and what I hard time I gave her as a kid at bed time.

As an adult though, I sleep deeply most every night. Wednesday night however was a different story.

We (the husband, the dog & the cats) went to bed at normal time only to be awaken several time during the night. This was caused by various animals in the apt and groupies hanging outside the door of The BeaconTheatre across the street. Sleep breaks at Midnight, 3:00 A.M. and 4:30 A.M. (super annoying on the last because the alarm is going to go off any minute)

The alarm did go off at normal time and up and out to the gym I went. If you don't this know already, I like to work out early so I am in the gym by 5:30ish.

Now I am sure this happens to everyone (and I am here to tell you it is normal), half way through my strength training work out I hit the wall. I kept thinking to myself “ I really don't want to swim today “. There is going to the locker room, changing, showering before, actually swimming, showering after, changing again, etc… I seriously did not want to do it, but I did.  I should have listened to myself, I know better.

If you are dreading working out, or feel so tired that you are having difficulty moving your limbs, GO HOME.

There is a difference between making excuses to not go and being tired. Your body needs to rest and dread is one of those ways to identify that you need rest, that and the obvious chest cold (like the husband has).

Sleep/rest is just as important as getting to the gym. Your body cannot rebuild itself if it doesn't take time to heal properly. Adults should be getting between seven and nine hours of sleep per night.

Went to bed / woke up: 10:16 / 4:52
Total time: 6h 36m

Analysis made by the Sleep Cycle iPhone app.

My sleep graph for the entire night:

I am not here to lecture on sleep. But I will say, pay attention to your body. It knows more than you do, listen to it.

Once I got to the pool, I swam four laps and they were miserable. The pool was crowded, which in turn turned me into miss cranky pants.

Not really a fun person.  A little breakfast changed that as well as a trip to the beach with the dog.  I decided not to feel guilty about not finishing my work out and just recognize the signs.

Excellent sleep last night. Back on track today.

Play hard & sleep well!

Laura