Tag: sleep

Let Me Sleep On It

Disclaimer: I received a Bedgear Level 2.0 pillow to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

I love sleep, sleeping in, naps- love them. Problem- I’m a total night owl who often struggles to fall asleep. This can be caused by a variety of things on a nightly basis but it makes for a sleepy Slacker.

I upgraded my bed last fall which a fiasco in its own way as I ended up returning the first one 90 days into 100 day trial but I never upgraded my pillows. Change is hard! And who is to say that what I bought would be any better than the current 3 I used or tried to on a nightly basis?

Then, Bedgear presented itself. I thought the name sounded familiar and oh, hey they made my mattress protector! Which I love so I was optimistic. The pillow choice started off with a quiz. Wait- I didn’t study!😂

The Pillow ID is designed to find the right pillow for you- the one that fits your body temperature, size, and sleeping position. Based on my answers, I was recommended the Level 2.0 pillow. The 2.0 refers to the pillow height- 0.0 being the thinnest and 3.0 being the thickest.

Some pillow specs from the website-

Dri-Tec® fabric to continuously wick away heat and moisture, stabilizing your temperature so you can get your most solid sleep.
React® foam has all the perks of a memory foam, without the sad sag or heat build-up. Designed to move with you, it cradles your head while supporting your neck, shoulders, and spine.
Air-X® Panels
Flexible, three-dimensional material vents warm air away from the body.

But how did it feel?

Game changer people, seriously. I’ve gone from 3 pillows and sometimes a stuffed animal (like I said- it was rough) to just 2 pillows on a nightly basis. In fact I tossed one of the older pillows completely. I feel like I fall asleep quicker and I don’t toss and turn. Which is how I used to sleep when I was younger- I’d burrow into a spot and not move all night. I haven’t done that in years. The bump out on this pillow is perfect for my shoulder as I always start out on my left side. Even if I do turn to my back, it still supports me well.

The pillow is awesome by itself too and I did try that for a few nights but unfortunately my GERD wasn’t too fond of that so the second pillow came back.

I’ve even been going to bed a little sooner these days. I choose to believe it’s because the pillow makes sleeping so nice and not that I am getting older.😛 My only issue is that my pillow cases are a little big for it, so now I’m on the hunt for smaller sized satin pillow cases. They have to exist somewhere.🤔

If you love sleep like I do, I definitely recommend checking out Bedgear. I even have a discount! Use code BIBRAVE15 to save 15% on your purchase (excluding Wow deals).

How do you sleep?

Week 28-Holiday

Oh I am glad that training for San Jose doesn’t start for another week or so.

Last week was an odd duck. Anyone else experience that? A holiday in the middle of week just really threw me for a loop. I didn’t expect that as I don’t have that problem with Thanksgiving?

I also made a medication change last week that may have wreaked a little more havoc than I had planned. I was freakin’ exhausted- like so tired if I sat down and dozed off, it became more like a coma.

For example- the weather was perfect on the 4th of July and I meant to go for a long run in the afternoon but after a short nap. Yeah, that “short” nap turned into almost 3 hours. On the floor. At one point, I apparently got up, walked into the garage, said something to someone and walked back inside only to go back to sleep. I don’t remember that.

I also slept through all my alarms over the weekend. I could not seem to make myself get up, out of bed and go for my long run. Which was not good as it was over 105* both days. So running took a backseat to sleep this week. However after a week, I think I’m finally over the odd hump and can hopefully get back to something resembling normal next week. As well as less caffeine consumption.

So what did I do?

Tuesday- 3.1 miles I was so damn tired, I almost bailed on the run. Even once I started, I didn’t think I was going to make it past a mile. I got a little more alert along the way and managed to finish 5K. Then I went home and crashed.

Thursday- 3.5 ish miles This run was odd. It started out feeling super sluggish then the last 2ish miles felt pretty good but it just brought all my recent doubts and drama out and was not head clearing at all. You can read about all those thoughts here.

So a little over 6 miles for the week. Bleh. Maybe I just needed a holiday.

Now if only the temps would drop a little at night.

How was your week?

Week 23-Vacation

Upcoming Races-

Nada!

I do not have a race in the immediate future and y’all, I am so good with that. I need a break. Even though the marathon and San Diego were a month apart I think they were too close. My body kind of rebelled during May, maybe it was trying to tell me something?

Currently, my next scheduled race is October. I won’t last that long, I am already looking at race or two in July but a little break will do me good. Which my body reinforced last week.

I took all of last week off work and that was so nice. I caught up on a few things, ran- err attempted- a few miles and slept. A lot. I mean a lot. I also ate way too much but let’s not go there.

Oh and the puppy got to go to the beach!!

Monday- Rest I didn’t get home from San Diego on Sunday night until after 8. I woke up on Monday tired and sore. So I didn’t do a whole lot- it was glorious.

Tuesday- 3 miles Not good. Nope. I couldn’t even force myself to round it out to 5K. My legs felt ok but the rest of me felt exhausted. Exhausted like I sat on a bench partway through the run just to chill, I was abnormally tired. Grrr.

Wednesday- 3.1 miles Global Running Day! However the smart thing should have been to skip the run. I could feel that my hips/glutes were angry before I even started and I was still tired. But it was Global running Day- how could I miss it?? Stupid. Not my brightest move.

Thursday- Rest So this time I listened to my body and whining legs and rested.

Friday- 3.1 miles Sense a theme here? I headed out for a run in the afternoon but knew 1 mile in it wasn’t happening. Glutes said yah, no. So I walked it out. I tried to look on the bright side and think that at least I was able to finish a podcast that way.

Saturday/Sunday- Rest I took the whole weekend off! It didn’t start out that way, I was supposed to go on a hike with my mom on Saturday. However, it turned out she woke up sick and I was feeling an increase in my lovely side pain. Yay. So with that being said and still feeling off in my hips and glutes, I decided rest was best.

9.2 miles for the week. Could be worse for a chill week but I think I needed it.😀😀

How was your week?

Week 20- More of the Same

Upcoming Races-

Rock n Roll San Diego 13.1

Last week did not go like I planned. Have I ever said that a week has gone according to plan? But this went south real fast in my first run of the week which was a drastic contrast to the awesome run I ended week 19 with. Maybe that should have been a sign? Who knows.

I did make it to my gastro last week to finally see about the left side pain that’s been nagging me since January. He’s scheduling a CT and politely recommended a few dietary changes, haha. Is it sad that I’ve just become used to the side thing?? Actually I prefer the side pain over the migraines. 😛

Monday- Rest As awesome as Sunday’s run was, I was cognizant to the fact that I was running faster than I should have been and I am only 2 weeks past a marathon. I figured running would probably be stupid so I just did a few of my PT exercises and squats/ lunges. Plus I had a headache again.

Tuesday- 1.5 miles I headed to the lake path hoping to try for some speed work. It might not have been the best idea but I was feeling like some 400’s. Things started to go wrong in the first 100 yards. I always walk the first 1/2 mile of my runs but I was keeping pace with someone on the path and it was awkward. Instead of running ahead, I like power walked to get ahead and then stay ahead and something in both my hips just felt wrong. I figured I would walk it out. No dice. It just kept getting worse… I tried to run and whimpered out loud. I felt like my legs weren’t connected to my pelvis correctly. What the hell? I thought about pushing through but this was straight up pain so I turned around and hobbled to my stretching bars then my car.😒

Wednesday- Holy migraine hell. Are you kidding me?? This is getting old, not only did my head hurt, now my jaw hurt. Oh and my hips still hurt.

Thursday-2.5 miles Shouldn’t have done that. My head still hurt but the hip pain had faded slightly and I really wanted to run. I kept moving forward in hopes that I just needed time to warm up but it just hurt. I finally grew a brain, turned around and hobbled back to my car.

Friday-Nothing Work and a little bit of stretching and rolling. I stopped sitting in my recliner- I think it’s making things worse. Oh and I still had a damn migraine.

Saturday- Rest I slept in knowing that the smart thing would be to take the weekend off, both for my head and my hips. I ran some errands then took a nap in the afternoon. On the ground. Funnily enough- that helped my head more than I could have guessed. (Better not have jinxed that)

Sunday- Rest More of the same. Sleeping in, stretching, rolling, and all tv watching is happening from the ground, usually with a foam roller not far.

4 miles for the week, if they even count. I knew May wasn’t going to be great mileage after Big Sur but I didn’t think I was going to fall apart. Grrrr.

How was your week?

Week 29- What’s Running

Upcoming Races-

Salinas Valley Half Marathon

This will likely not be a long recap. 😛 4.5 years ago I went through a system conversion/ merger where I worked insane hours and managed to only run on the weekends. Advantage last time was that I knew all the systems and everything else. This time I know next to nothing. Why I thought this would be different, I have no idea. Maybe I repressed all those memories? Maybe I was naive?

Either way, this week had little to no running. I packed my gym bag with all my running gear including my new running shoes on Sunday evening. Then I just stared at it in my car everyday like it was taunting me. I felt like my shoes were calling my name. But my shortest day was getting off work around 6:30 not counting my commute. If lunch hadn’t been brought in each day, I don’t know that I would have time to make food. But it is what it is and I have amazing coworkers and we made it through.

So yeah, let’s get to it-

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday– Yeah no. It was all I could do to just to get through work then come home and crash.

Saturday– I woke up early but my entire body felt sore and bruised so I decided to sleep longer and go for a run in the afternoon. Which was the plan until it was decided that my cat needed to go to the vet. She had been lethargic and acting like she had a UTI for a couple days but it got worse. We found a vet who squeezed her in but it was a literal wait in the waiting room until all the other appointments were seen. So almost 3 hours. But she was seen and was given medicine. Which she does not appreciate.

Then of all odd things- the other cat is now freaked out by her. Like screaming in the middle of the night, wake the whole house up as he runs from her. WTF? So they had to be separated.

Sunday- 7.5 miles I should have gotten up earlier but I just couldn’t make myself. The plan started out as 10 miles then turned into 8 but ended up being 7.5. It was hot and I was still tired and when I was walking more than running, I decided that pushing it on my first run in 7 days wasn’t the best idea. My legs felt fine but the rest of me was not on board. I ended up going home and crashing hard and taking a long nap. I was actually supposed to go to the fair with my mother in the afternoon but we both bailed on that. I was just too tired.

7.5 miles for the week. I cry on the inside but sleep and work were more important.

Now, fingers crossed the gym bag leaves my car this week.

How was your week?

How do you deal when you’re too busy to run?