Showing posts with label sleep time. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleep time. Show all posts

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Correlating my sleep time and run fatigue

Frozen Fitbit
Today's run (street): 4.8 miles

Yesterday afternoon I checked my activity progress on the Fitbit only to discover that the readings hadn't changed since morning. The numbers displayed at 5:00 PM were almost the same as they were at 9:30 AM. I took some steps to see if they would record but the numbers didn't change. I connected the Fitbit to my laptop using the USB charging cable and that seemed to jolt it back to life.

I was happy that the device was working again, but disappointed that I wouldn't get "credit" for the steps, miles and flights of stairs that didn't get captured yesterday. I'll watch the display a little more closely, now that I've had that experience. It was working fine this morning and I took it along during my run.

I again recorded my sleep pattern overnight and saw that I'd slept a total of six hours. The good news was that I "only" woke up six times instead of twelve. The Fitbit site assigned me a sleep efficiency rating of 96%, far better than the first time I tracked my sleep cycle.

Perhaps it was a lack of sleep time that factored into the fatigue I felt during today's run. I'd averaged 40 more minutes of actual sleeping time prior to last night. After yesterday's rest day, I expected to feel slightly more energized than normal, but a few minutes into the run I knew something was missing. I set the best pace that I could, determined to cover my distance target of 4 miles.

When I run, I often think about racing and how I'd feel if I was in a race in that moment. I'll often tell myself that I could manage more speed, if needed. Depending on the distance, I can usually muster enough energy to pick up my speed and sustain a better pace. Today I hoped I had enough in the tank to get me through the route I'd planned.

I was determined to get in a full workout and, after making a few loops through my immediate neighborhood, I crossed into neighborhood #2. I had this dual sensation of feeling tired yet ready to cover my distance. There were a few points where I could have cut the run short, but I didn't. In fact I ended up running almost a mile longer than I expected. I was plenty tired by the time I got home and a little puzzled that my heart rate didn't reflect the perceived effort I was experiencing.

Tomorrow I may keep it short, as I'm close to reaching my weekly mileage goal. If my energy returns I may even do some speed work. I'll try to extend my sleep time 40 more minutes and get back to average. I think that contributed greatly to my tiring experience this morning.
 

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