Zzzzzzzzzz...

Monkey Boy has never had any trouble falling asleep

On lazy days with nothing scheduled, most people like to sleep in. Sleeping in may mean until 6AM if you're Princess, who is up between 5 and 5:30AM every day regardless of schedule. Sleeping in may mean 1PM, if you're Superman, who likes to burn the candle at both ends. For me, sleeping in is 9AM. I usually go to bed between 11 and 12PM. I usually wake up once or twice overnight, sometimes having to get out of bed for liquid in or out. I usually wake up between 7 and 8AM, unable to get back to sleep. I usually feel I did not get enough sleep.

Lately this "not getting enough sleep" has been exacerbated by my training. I know I should rest and recover. I know sleep is an integral part of the rest and recovery process. Even on the days I don't set an alarm, I'm up and about by 8. If I go to bed earlier, I wake up earlier.

I rarely nap. Superman loves naps. He can lay down for a half hour and get up feeling refreshed. I am not capable of laying down for less than 2 hours (2 and a half if you include the half hour it takes to fully wake up again). Between workouts, schoolwork, working at my parent's, and all the other little things I do, I can't normally fit in a block of time that size.

It sounds like I'm getting enough sleep, but I walk around tired a lot. I think my sleep bank account is overdrawn. Sleep bank theory is based on the idea that sleep is cumulative. Supposedly, you can deposit sleep into your bank, like Superman does when he sleeps in until noon. He can then use that deposit at a later date, like when he stays out until 3AM at karaoke with me. I work the other way round. I stay out until 3AM, then sleep in until 9AM and call that done. If I'm lucky, I'll sleep until 10AM. There is often no going to bed early that night. There is no sleeping in the next morning.

I used to be able fall asleep anywhere, at any time. My parents tell stories of finding me in doorways (the dog made a great pillow), on the floor with my head on the seat of a chair... My mother once lost me at a quilting bee. I'd crawled under a stack of folding chairs and fallen asleep.

I have a reputation of running until I drop. Literally. I guess it's well deserved.

Do you get enough sleep? If so, how?