Trouble Falling Asleep
Sleep has been eluding me recently, and it’s a bit of a mystery. I’m usually the type who falls asleep the second my head hits the pillow, but this past week, I’ve spent at least an hour tossing and turning before drifting off. My sleep hygiene is solid—no caffeine, low stress, a cool bedroom, and reading a physical book instead of a screen—yet my internal clock seems to be resetting itself.
To keep functioning, I’ve had to lean on afternoon naps most days. Looking at the infographic below (which includes those naps), my average was 7 hours 2 minutes sleep daily, but without the naps I averaged only 6 hours and 33 minutes per night. Here’s hoping this is just a weird, short-term blip and my body decides to cooperate again soon—otherwise, I might have to start training for sleep as hard as I do for my workouts!
Overview of the Week
Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…
Sunday
Cycling: 28 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 15.6 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 8:19 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 64° in the basement, 33° and partly cloudy outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Pilates: Peloton Emma Lovewell 10-Minute Core Strength
Walking: 3.13 miles
• Average pace: 15:22 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 163 feet
• Start time: 11:11 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 49° (feels like 40°) and partly cloudy, climbing to 53° (feels like 45°)
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, puffer coat, gloves, and visor (took coat and gloves off after 1 mile)
Remember last week’s accidental save debacle while working to earn Garmin’s weekend 40K badge? Well I ended up riding 28 miles on Sunday so I would have earned the badge anyway. LOL Once I’d wrapped up my indoor activities, I rushed outside to beat the wind for my walk. What a delight to see so many trees in full bloom!
Monday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Stretching: Adrian Williams 15-Minute Full Body Stretch
Tuesday
Cycling: 8.38 miles (Peloton Ally Love 30-Minute Feel Good Ride)
• Bike: Peloton+
• Average speed: 15.8 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 8:03 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 67° in the basement, 57° and cloudy outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Stretching: Peloton Jenn Sherman 5-Minute Post-Ride Stretch
Walking: 5.04 miles
• Average pace: 15:27 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 160 feet
• Start time: 11:24 AM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 73° and sunny, climbing to 78° and partly cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
My peaceful post-Peloton walk started out beautiful as I admired the many blooming trees and bushes, but took quite the turn during the final half mile. After a solid ride and stretch, I headed out for a walk, only to be ‘attacked’ in the final half-mile by my neighbors’ teeny, tiny, white yappy dog (see Thursday’s post).
Wednesday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Pilates: Peloton Emma Lovewell 15-Minute Core Strength
Walking: 3.02 miles
• Average pace: 17:59 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 107 feet
• Start time: 12:54 PM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 85° and mostly sunny, turning mostly cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
In addition to lifting, I took the last class of the Peloton 4-week core strength program I’d been working on. Each week consisted of 5 to 15 minute classes with one stretching day and one rest day. My back is appreciating the additional core strength it’s gaining through these classes.
After seeing clients, I got outside for a walk. At 85° it was toasty warm and with me not being the least bit acclimated to the heat, my pace showed it. The trail was beautiful with redbuds and Bradford pears blooming all along it.
Thursday
Walking: 5.02 miles
• Average pace: 15:39 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 265 feet
• Start time: 5:59 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 62° and cloudy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, nylon shell, and gloves (took shell and gloves off 1 mile in)
Stretching: Peloton Kirra Michel 10-Minute Full Body Stretch
It was cloudy, but warm when I headed outside for my virtual walk with Kim who was stuck inside on her spin bike. I stayed mostly in my immediate neighborhood circle, but ventured out onto the parkway for a picture with the redbud trees.
Friday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Pilates: Peloton Johanna Ricouz 10-Minute Pilates
Balance and stretching: 45 minutes
Gardening: 1 hour
After teaching my class at the 55+ gym, I ran a few errands before taking care of a little bit of gardening. Things are starting to look so pretty, especially since our lawn service mowed and spread mulch while I was out.
Saturday
Gardening – 1 hour
Cycling: 4.79 miles (Peloton Ally Love 20-Minute Recovery Ride)
• Bike: Peloton+
• Average speed: 14.0 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 12:15 PM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 68° in the basement, 81° and sunny outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Stretching: Peloton Bradley Rose 5-Minute Post-Ride Stretch
Up early to cook, I was pulling three baking dishes of chicken parm out of the oven by 9 AM, I headed outside to do some gardening. By late morning my Garmin informed me that I’d had a a stressful day already and should take it easy. Wait what? I was just getting ready to hop on my spin bike because the Great American Ride had started that morning and I didn’t want to let my team down. I ended up choosing an easy recovery ride to help out our team for at least a few miles.
Garmin Badges Earned
Five Garmin badges made their way to me this week.
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
Questions:
- • How easily do you fall asleep? ~ I had so much trouble falling asleep as a child, but as an adult it’s always been pretty good until recently.
- • Are spring blossoms in full bloom where you live? ~ yes!
- • Which workout did you enjoy most this past week? ~ I really enjoyed Sunday’s walk.
And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!
*********************************************************************
I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a small commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.
Oh, that’s so frustrating, Debbie! Especially when you’re doing everything right and your body just decides “nope.” Let’s hope it will go back to normal soon.
Funny enough, I can relate today. I was wide awake at 3:30am and that was it. I never have sleep issues, so who knows what’s going on, maybe it’s universal, ha!
I’m curious in the comments if others are noticing the same thing!
And I’m loving all the spring blossoms in your photos!
It seems like there are several other people with sleep issues based on the comments.
It’s beautiful here this spring. Luckily, we haven’t had any super high winds or heavy rain to know the blooms off the trees.
I haven’t been sleeping well either lately, but I’m to blame! I have too much on it mind and then scroll my phone. Hopefully you get some rest soon! The blossoms started coming in here, but we’re due for cold and maybe some snow later this week, so who knows what will happen.
Here’s hoping you don’t get that forecasted spring snow!
I have the same sleep routine as you. I usually can fall asleep but then don’t stay asleep. This week I couldn’t fall asleep. Not sure why? Sleeping is not my strength. My hubby can sleep anywhere and anytime.
Nope spring is delayed here.
Not a great running week. Work. Had a cold. Looking forward to next week.
It’s amazes me how well men can sleep as compared to women.
Hope you’re feeling better by now!
Ugh, to the sleep problems! I can fall asleep easily, but often wake up in the middle of the night and can’t fall back asleep. I haven’t slept well lately due to the issues with my parents, but last night I slept almost 9 hours. I sure needed it. I try to avoid naps, even when I’m tired, because it becomes a vicious cycle of not falling asleep at night. I hope the issue remedies itself soon!
Happy Easter, Debbie!
I can image that the situation with your parents is affecting your sleep as it’s a very stressful time for you. I thought the same thing about taking naps, but I just couldn’t function without one some days. This week seems a little better!
Well, Garmin gave you a sleep badge at least!
The trees are so pretty this time of year, but they do make the pollen count high and have me very sneezey!
Yes, Garmin gave me a sleep badge for wearing my watch to bed. LOL
I’ve suddenly got something going on and I’m not sure if it’s another cold or just allergies. Time will tell…
Everything is definitely blooming around here! It’s very sneezy! Bummer on the sleep issues-that is terrible. Hope that resolves itself soon. I do not function well on not enough sleep either. I’m loving all the new Pilates content and Johanna’s classes are my new fave (although she is a bit edgy!)
I’m really trying to take a wide variety of classes from different instructors to get a feel for their various styles, but I’m a creature of habit so I really have to remind myself to branch out. 😉
Ugh on the sleep situation!! That’s so frustrating. I did go through a phase with sleep issues where I could not fall back to sleep. I would stress over the time. So, I turned my alarm clock so I couldn’t see it and never looked at it again. Thankfully that fixed the situation. I do fall asleep fast, but when I am woken up early (say 5am by my husband’s wakeup for that stupid run), I have a really hard time going back to sleep. Have you tried using melatonin? You do seem very much in tune with your body and activity so fingers crossed you figure something out soon!
What was all of the chicken parm for? It looks yummy!!
Thanks, Lisa! My sleep has been a little better so far this week.
We’re having our annual Italian dinner party this coming Saturday night. I used to be able to go for a long run, come home and make both chicken parm and beef braciole on the day of the party. Now that I’m older I just don’t have that kind of energy any more. I make the chicken parm a week or two in advance because it freezes well. I’ll prep the beep braciole on Friday and then finish it and reheat the chicken parm on Saturday.
Not much for spring blossoms yet up my way, but I do see done daffodils starting to poke through. My sleep, LOL. Even with my limited hours of shuteye, I’m still slow to fall asleep most nights.
You’re just one of those lucky people who don’t need a lot of sleep. I’m somewhat like that, too, but as I get older I’m definitely needing more sleep.
Girl! That’s a lot of chicken parm!
I’m a terrible sleeper. I have been hearing lots of reports about people who are neurodivergent not needing sleep but instead needing time alone to recharge and this is how I feel about my own sleep habits. I’ll take a “nap” but really, it’s just laying down in my room for an hour with a book, away from communicating with people. Or I’ll wake up early and just exist horizontally rather than get up right away to sort of brace myself for the day. That being said, I have been tired lately and getting to sleep is ok, but I wake up at 4;30AM. Good times.
Great job on all the garmin badges! I love all the different ones and I wish apple did something similar!
The chicken parm is for two separate upcoming events – one is our annual Italian dinner party tomorrow evening (the chicken parms were all frozen once they cooled). I assembled the beef braciola this afternoon and will finish it tomorrow afternoon.
I usually wake up between 4:30 and 5 AM on my own before my 5 AM alarm goes off and the second I wake up, my feet hit the floor. I can’t stand staying in bed once I’m awake. It’s weird because I can lie in bed for an hour or more reading in the evening before falling asleep and don’t mind that at all.