And the resting day begins…

In fact, I came home, ate dinner, thought about doing some work and then took a nap. A semi-lovely nap. My fingers are crossed that it won’t interfere with my sleep tonight.

It’s been a rough week (couple of weeks) for sleeping, so I have been examining my daily routines, nutrition, thoughts, words, karma. But the only issue I can really pinpoint is work—that godforsaken thing they make us do every single day. Well, it’s really the work-spawned stress that is robbing me of my precious hours. I don’t know that I’m not handling work well or that I’m consciously thinking about it, but my sleeping problems have coincided with recent workload shifts. It’s not good.

What complicates matters worse: I’m one of those “never let work stress you out” types. So, even if it were stressing me out, I would never know or admit it to myself. At least this race has given me a positive focus for my anxiety!

Today was my last running day before St. Malachi on Saturday. I ran for 30 minutes at the rec. center, focusing on a steady pace and maximizing my stride. Not only did I run at my own steady, consistent pace for the whole 30 minutes, I ignored all the one-lappers, show-offs and cross-country runners who can’t help but show me up.

What’s more impressive is that I was able to ignore Jeff (who was also running at the rec. center this afternoon as well) as he ran past me, calling me a slow loser. Sure, I thought about tripping him, but I can’t risk injury before Saturday. Maybe next week.

Thanks again and again for all of your encouragement. I’m looking forward to having this race under my belt and understanding again how to race at anything. If I don’t get some good sleep tonight, I’m going to do some major self-research to improve the situation.

For some firsthand experience and tips about sleep trouble and solutions, check out Jim’s blog, which includes a great piece called “Read it and Sleep.” He’s a knowledgeable reporter and a guy who knows his sleep!

Tomorrow I will either swim or take my latest Tin House to the local ‘Bucks. And, perhaps, think about that awesome Cavaliers win!