I ran today! It’s amazing because we’ve been in a constant state of icy/freezing/cold drizzle since mid-week last week. And Michelle and I still got some of that on our run (wrapped in my robe under a blanket and my feet are still cold!) today but the key was it wasn’t raining when we started. We went for a good 6 miler on the river and then warmed up on the R Bar patio talking training plans. We may have wagered a deal that ropes me into another full…..maybe. Don’t mix a shivering me with a mimosa.
6 miles, 50:03, 8:21 average. Splits: 8:43, 8:18, 8:14, 8:09, 8:13, 8:27
Confession time. Last week was a major struggle for me. We were coming back east from a ski trip in Lake Tahoe and I’m not sure if it was the time change, the couple of days of skiing, lack of sleep on the first few nights back or all the germs of travel but I got knocked down again. Zero energy. Not just too-tired-for -workouts low energy, but the so tired I had a headache and nausea tired. Or maybe the cause was vice versa. Whatever it was, I was an unproductive sleepy and sick gal for the latter half of the week – making appointments when I could and sleeping all the rest of the time.
I’m feeling much better now after taking it easy Thursday and Friday, and sleeping over 14 hours each of those days. Things are about to get extremely busy both for my personal running training with upcoming races, my coaching at the studio and some other growing client bases. It’s all so good, and I want to be alert, focused and energized for all of it.
Bedtime helpers
I’d really like to get back to the days when I would wake up an hour before 6am classes to have some time with myself before my days got crazy. I miss the quiet morning time, reading, practicing yoga for myself and having a clear mind to think about the flow of the day. But simply setting the alarm for 5 am hasn’t been working for me. I just snooze until the very last possible minute. So, the next logical place to go is the front end of the sleep cycle.
I’m creating an evening ritual, and once I’ve mastered this for two weeks, I’ll start working on the morning ritual. Every night beginning at 9:30pm I will:
- Turn off electronics – email, blog, scrolling, texts
- Drink a big glass of water
- Brush/floss my teeth
- White strips
- Face washing routine – wash, toner, lotions, eye cremes
- Lotion – legs and hands, this winter dryness is killing my skin!
Ritual essentials close by.
This should put me in bed at 10pm, where I’m allowed to read until I get tired. I think it sounds like a pretty good plan. I think the 9:30pm time could be a challenge since most nights I get home from my last appointment after 8 and I like to cook dinner and do some work on the computer. I’ll have to be more strategic about what I get done on the screen during the daytime.
Do you have an evening ritual, or you just get in bed when you’re ready? How do you fight overwhelming fatigue?
Sprenkeled 