I know a few people will read that headline and ask, "Since when is 6:00am sleeping in?"
And you're right. For most, a 6:00am wake-up time isn't exactly an indulgence.
But I am, and for most of my life have been, an early riser. Not because I've had to do it for work or anything, but mostly because I love getting a head start on the day.
Since I began going to the gym five mornings a week, I've been getting out of bed around 4:45am. I like to make it to Ohio Sports & Fitness just ahead of what I call The 5:30 Crew, which is a small but dedicated contingent of fellow pre-dawn exercisers.
Whenever I have a session with my trainer Kirk, I stay in bed until 5:15, since he and I don't meet up until 6:00am anyway.
But on those two rest days a week, I get lazy and sleep all the way until the big hand on the clock points straight up and the little hand points straight down.
Scandalous!
I could probably stay in bed even longer, but my body is always ready and raring to go by 6:00. Plus I really have to pee by that point, so there's no use fighting it.
Still, I can't tell you how much I enjoy those "sleep-in" days. I always feel like I've earned them after three or four days in a row of early gym-going, then scrambling to come home, shower, change and head to the office for a full day of work.
I should point out that in order to get a decent amount of rest, I'll sometimes ingest a couple of 5mg melatonin gummies the night before. I recently blogged about how I need to have my wife in the room in order to fall asleep, but the gummies have changed that situation drastically.
Now I rarely even notice when she comes to bed, that's how deeply asleep I am.
Interestingly – and don't ask me why I remember the exact date, I just do – I got almost no sleep 28 years ago last night because I was so worried about starting a new job the next day at a company called Self-Funded Plans. That sort of anxiety-induced insomnia used to hit me several times a year.
But these days? Never. My heads hits the pillow, and within a couple of minutes I'm out.
I wake up when it's technically still night time, of course, but there's always those 6:00am sleep-in days to make me feel like I'm living a life of luxury.
Scott, I had to comment on this one. I have a sleep disorder and see a sleep pathologist. I wrote about it recently in my blog. He told me that melatonin is commonly misused and can create all kinds of issues. He says it is best used for jet lag but not to get to sleep every night. I was feeling crazy during the day for a long time, and as soon as I got off melatonin, I felt better. Google melatonin side effects and go from there!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Peter, I appreciate it. What I'm finding is that I use melatonin once a week, maybe occasionally twice a week, and no more than that. I haven't felt any side effects to this point, but I need to look into whether even that cadence is too much. It's usually on an evening when I come home later than usual (often because I was PA announcing a sporting event) and know I need to be up early the next morning. In any case, I will make sure I don't take it any more often than that. Thanks for commenting, as always!
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