It’s like a sitcom.
I should set up internal CCTV and apply a Benny Hill theme tune to it:
1:47 awake is painful!
As usual I had a rubbish pre-race sleep and now just want to go back to bed!
Any big race with an early start and I’m just tossing and turning, the more I don’t get to sleep the angrier I get then end up with really broken sleep.
I’m sure how much of an effect it will have on my race, it’s happened plenty in the past and I usually get over it. It’s more if I need to concentrate.
I presume I’m not alone, anyone got any tips?
I did try counting and thinking about my breathing to calm myself.
The heat didn’t help either, but if I open the window there’s the outside noise, even with earplugs in.
Is the beer bus still rolling? You could climb on that instead.
Just kidding, I expect we are all the same. Have a good race Jeff , you got this, it can’t be as bad as Bologna
Headphones and calm music or an audiobook for me.
If I’m really worked up, I’ll still not sleep well but I’m at least calm and rested and it stops my brain from doing the mental gymnastics.
Probably not the help you’re looking for but I always think that you should put effort into getting a good sleep on the night of the day before the race in anticipation of not sleeping on the night before.
Make sure you’ve not too much to do, go to bed early, eat early, don’t drink alcohol, have earplugs & face mask etc.
Yeah same. I completely bin off any expectations of actually sleeping well in the final night. Just do what I can to be relaxed instead.
I think you need to be relaxed about tomorrows routine and how you get to swim start. And relaxed about racing altogether.
Best ever was accommodation by the beach swim start at Cascais. Roll out of bed and wander over. I never check my bike after bike drop - just creates nervousness.
I rehearse/visualise things in T1 and T2 a few times until I know pretty much exactly what’s going to happen, barring disasters.
I practise on virtual courses - feels pretty easy on race day when you recognise somewhere you’ve never been.
As @gingerbongo says, relaxing headphones for sleep. I listen to the same stuff on BBC Sounds every night, partly because I rarely hear the whole episode. Something fairly but not totally interesting: Quanderhorn or Dads Army.
For race calm, I’ve just come to accept that my fitness is decided long before I start, so I’ll get whatever I get. Really don’t feel nerves at all since the first few years racing.
I think it’s also linked to the early starts as well. When I did Barca once I don’t think I needed to be there until 7:30 and it was only a 10 minute walk.
For Bolton and Frankfurt it was something like 3am!
Cured the night before sleeping thing by being totally knackered from the day before. Not ideal for an IM, but for the marathon yesterday it was a 10am start, so no early morning alarm anxiety. Apart from a nighttime pee, slept right through, propably my longest unbroken sleep in months.
Yeah, the bladder doesn’t help matters, something for the 50’s thread
Jet lag kicking in big time now!
Was wide awake at 4am ffs
Been sleeping really well since I started tapering, now I’ve added basic training back in my sleep is terrible again. So frustrating. The main thing was waking occasionally through the night but getting back so sleep quickly. Now I’m just staying awake, feeling awake but unrested.
I think it could be the evening workouts that are interrupting bedtime schedule. Maybe dehydration as a consequence.
I find evening workouts affect my sleep.
9 1/2 hours last night an the first time my HRV has moved back into the normal range since Bolton - 2weeks!
Your range is massively higher than mine. My baseline is 33-42 not sure if that’s because when it was first learning it was earlier in the year when I was training less.
Mine has been high for about 10 days now, HR has also been a bit erratic.
Fairly sure I’ve been fighting something unless I overdid it on the bike last week. Haven’t had much motivation to train this week, haven’t slept well, feeling grumpier than usual
Maybe the flights back from Finland
9hrs recorded last night, I think it was even more. Unfortunately means I missed swim last night and run this morning, but it’s incredible to get this much rest after so many years around 6hrs.
Mine has been pretty poor for about 3 days now and starting to feel it.
I’m not convinced by what my Garmin says at times so take it with a pinch of salt.
I regard it like my scales - consistent enough for trend analysis, but not accurate enough for absolutes.
With sleep in nutrition in a good place I think, I just need patience to now rock the boat and see if health and performance improves accordingly over time.
Amazing, have you done any specific to help you sleep better?