Training - and the importance of sleep

This fall I decided to get more structured about my training.  For the past few years, I have been active most days: running, biking or using those horrible machines in the gym. However, I did not have any kind of training schedule - my workouts just fell into place, without much thought.  I increased my running from 1-2 days a week to 3-4 days a week, but again this was done haphazardly.  I had a speed session that I completed on Tuesdays, runs on the weekends (usually about 1 hour in length), and maybe one other run thrown into the mix [in the winter this was often a shorter run on the treadmill, in the summer I was more consistent about doing another run on the trails].

Last year, I saw some good improvements in my running, and achieved personal bests in almost all of my races.  But, in the last 8 months or so, my training has not been regimented and my speed has not changed.  My desire to build my speed motivated me to get more serious about my training, mix things up a bit and develop more of a program to guide my training.

Now, I'm no expert in developing training plans, but I did some searching on the Internet for examples of plans, thought about the goals I want to achieve, and based on this, started putting something together.  The essential elements of the plan are: to run more often, to specifically include recovery days of easier running, and to include 3 good efforts each week: one speed session, one tempo run (of at least 1 hour in length), and one long run (at a consistent effort, not too easy).

Taking this step has re-ignited my passion for running and gives me hope that if I can stay consistent in my training, I can become a faster runner.

In the past, the one element that has hampered my training is tiredness.  This is something that we all struggle with at some point (unless you are one of those amazing individuals who only needs 4-5 hours of sleep). Myself, for optimum performance and strenght I need about 9 hours of sleep each night.  However, this is sometimes difficult to get.  When I was younger, I used to be very structured in my sleep regimen, and my frirends knew not to call me after 9pm, as I would be in bed.  However, in recent years, my sleep schedule has lost its structure, my body has lost its ability to always sleep well - thus resulting in less than optimum sleep.  After weeks of sleep depletion, my body begins to break down, and I am no longer able to push hard on my efforts and my runs feel like a waste of time.  Although I am going through the motions, I don't feel like it's having any benefit.  Running becomes a struggle. 

I've been going through one of these bouts lately, and it's always frustrating.  I want to put in a hard effort, and nothing comes.  I'm hoping that I can get over it soon, and get back to my rested state.  I'm running the Thetis Relays this afternoon - so we'll see how I feel.  Hopefully I'll be able to push hard throughout.

We all know that as athletes sleep is essential.  We need to feed our bodies well through good nutrition and proper rest.  However, while we usually are better at feeding our bodies, sleep and rest often don't get the full attention they should.  Life often gets in the way and sleep gets pushed off - or because of stress, our bodies can't fully relax.  It's a lesson that I'm still trying to learn.  While life will continue to get in the way and push on my sleep needs, being cognizant of what my body needs to perform well (in terms of sleep) and trying to stick to that as much as possible will help.

Here's to a good night's rest for everyone!