I have a husband who snores, a cat who seems to have the need to wash herself & meow to get water out of the faucet @ 3:00 a.m. each morning (bad habit we've established...I know) and a daughter who ocassionally wakes due to bad dreams.

As a result, sleeping undisturbed for an entire night is very rare. In fact, I'm often awake and then can't go back to sleep. And, alas...I've seen every infomercial currently on the air...the Hits of the 80's is my favorite!

Packing my bags and moving out during training season doesn't seem to be an option ...so my question is...does my heart still get enough recovery time if I'm not getting actual REM sleep?? Does just laying quietly (although wide awake staring at the ceiling) count as "resting" when heart rate recovery is concerned?? I'm trying not to get up so I can keep my heart rate down.

I'm not really sure how else to get enough sleep...short of sending my husband packing w/ the cat during training season. Hey, now there's an idea!!! I don't know what I'd do w/ 8 hours of sleep...I'm lucky to be getting 6 hours because I can only work out in the a.m. before everyone gets up from their restful night of sleeping. Sounds ironic, doesn't it??!

PS. I can't do earplugs because I want to be able to hear my daughter if necessary.

I can relate very much to this issue....so I am glad you posted this. I too, wonder if my interrupted sleep night after night affects my recovery time, my performance, and it sometimes worries me. I have even slept on the couch a few times this training season out of fear that I would not be able to perform the next day's run. There is enough stress involved with this training! So.......thanks for the post and hopefully someone will lend a reply on the subject.

Hi Kathryn,

As a mother of three I can totally relate. I'm the last one to bed and the first one up. It's rare for me to be able to run in the evenings so I, too, workout in the early am. Are you experiencing fatigue during the day? Or are you feeling too run down to function? Are you using a HRM to detect your resting heart rate? That would be the biggest indicator as to whether or not you're resting enough. Do you drink a lot of caffeine throughout the day to stay awake?

Different people need different amounts of sleep so it will be hard for anyone other than you to determine if you're getting enough sleep. Since your thread is titled Sleep Troubles, I'm guessing you're starting to feel the effects of sleep interruption.

I have a friend that does sleep in a separate room during training season. I asked if that had any effect on her marriage and she said that they both know why she's doing it and as long as there is plenty of open communication (and extra date nights!) there are no issues.

Is your husband supportive of your training? If so, he may understand why you need to sleep alone. Again, that's only something the two of you could determine.

Best of luck,
Sharon

Kathryn:

Your post implies that you get enough rest during the marathon training off season. Is this true? Is it only during marathon training season that you don't get enough rest? If this is the case, you may be training at too high of an intensity.

How is your resting heart rate? Do you track it every morning? The resting heart rate data may help you determine a better method for getting the correct amount of rest.

Send me an email if you want to discuss it further.

Eric

It doesn't sound to me that she only suffers during the training season. I read the first line to my wife and she wondered if Kathryn was living in our house. We have the exact same issues, cat and all.

I do agree with the possibility of over-training or training at too high an intensity. The cardio system is not getting a chance to "come down" to normal resting rates.

"Does just laying quietly (although wide awake staring at the ceiling) count as "resting" when heart rate recovery is concerned??"

I bet we've all done this from time-to-time and know quite well, that the heart sometimes races right along with the mind. "Do I get up? Should I just lay here? What else could I be doing? Should I kick the cat out? Should I put a pillow over my head? Should I put a pillow over his head?" Not very restful if you ask me.

Any chance for a weekend nap every so often during the training season? Not much help I'm sure, but maybe better than nothing.

Good luck and get in touch with Eric.
Doug

Hello Kathryn--

I'm neither a doctor nor am I an exercise physiologist, so please take my comments here in that light. In recovery there are a complex set of processes going on, I'm sure of that. Your heart rate is simply one measurement that relates to your activity level, your state of fatigue, your amount of rest, your genetics, and so on. It's a number that bounces around based on transients events and it simply hints and a variety of physical and psychological processes going on.

I honestly don't think that trying to keep your heart rate below some threshold amount in order to effect physiological recovery is appropriate -- I think that's taking heart rate monitoring too far. After all HRMs are indicators, *not* diagnostic instruments. Otherwise the FDA would be all over this industry.

I agree with Eric L that HRM data can provide feedback to you over time as to your state of recovery but you might want to consult your physician on this matter. I don't know about anyone else on here, but if you're about to tell your husband to sleep somewhere else and he asks whose idea that was, I sure wouldn't want that to point back to me!

Thanks for your replies.

My interruption of sleep occurs year-round, but I guess it seems to be more of an issue when training for Portland Fit because I HAVE to get up an do my weekly runs.

Anyway, amazingly I feel quite awake during the day...but I also have a job that keeps me hoppin' so I don't think I have time to feel tired. I know I should be doing a better job of monitoring my a.m. resting HR, so that will become my goal. I'll e-mail Eric and get more info.

BTW, my husband has discovered that he gets a better night's sleep in the guest room...nobody to kick him awake there.

Kathryn,
That was the suggestion I held back, but just for fun, ask him to explain all those bruises.

Doug

Kathryn,

I developed recurrent bouts of insomnia ever since I was pregnant. I finally saw a sleep therapist a year ago to help with the issue. I HATED laying awake for hours. Some suggestions that may or may not help:
1. Get up at the same time EVERY day. No staying in bed late on the weekends.
2. Eliminate as many distractions as possible. For me, the light from our alarm clock was really bright. I cover it. It also helps so that I don't see the time when I DO wake up in the middle of the night.
3. There are relaxation and meditation tapes available. They didn't work for me but they work for lots of people.
4. We didn't discuss this but I discovered it on my own. Alcohol really messes up my sleep. I don't drink it very often any more (except after our long benchmark runs when pizza and beer are a NECESSITY).

My own recovery experience indicates that my muscles don't recover as well with the interrupted sleep. I can feel it. I'm not sleepy but sometimes I ache from lack of continuous sleep. So personally, I think that resting is not as good as sleeping. Is it time for the husband to wear when of those nose strips and the cat to be retrained?

Good luck. The more women I talk to about sleep issues, the more I realize that it seems to be a common problem. (You'd think that all this running would make us zonk out easily).

Michele