9/14/07

Perhaps I was too into the Fartlek

Apparently I went a bit overboard on my Tuesday Fartlek run, because Wednesday's 45 minute run was a nightmare. I held strong for about 20 minutes, and then did a combination of running and walking for the rest of the workout. It was a busy afternoon on campus, and I was at least able to keep most of my walking to the empty cross-country trail. I made certain to be running when I was passing middle school football practice. Because I would hate for some random pre-pubescent boy to be thinking things like "She's walking already? She'll never finish a marathon."

Yesterday was a cross-training day, so I got in about 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer, followed by some lunges and some ab work. I finished the workout by running the hill behind our apartment five times, which brought back memories of high school soccer practice.

Today is a scheduled, and quite welcome, rest day. Here's the kick in the clam about that: I'm not much of a rester. I don't mean that I'm not lazy. I was notoriously so in college - they even nicknamed me "Lazy Ass Lastname**." When I say I'm not much of a rester, I mean that I have some pretty hefty sleeping issues. As in, I don't do it much. Without the help of some sort of medication (over the counter, booze, etc...), I will lay (lie?) awake for at least 3-4 hours every night. I've had problems with this off and on since college, but it has been consistent for the last year.

Well, now that we have much better insurance, I FINALLY went to the doctor about it. The D.O.C. and I discussed my caffeine intake (one cup per day), exercise (see all previous blog entries), stress factors (don't really have any) before she wrote me a prescription for sweet relief (Ambien).

I am not unfamiliar with Ambien. Once I was traveling with the football team to Hawaii and the team doctor gave the entire travel party an Ambien before our flight took off to try to help us with jet-lag issues when we arrived in Oahu. One hundred people all PASSED THE HELL OUT for most of the eight hour flight. The flight attendant was overheard saying that it was the greatest flight of her career.

The first time I took Ambien, I was visiting my parents, and my mother (another bad sleeper) let me take one of hers. I was unprepared for just how fast it would take me down. I don't remember much about that night, but I woke up the next morning laying across my fully made bed, wearing my shorts, tennis shoes, and a bra. It was awesome.

**names have been changed to protect the innocent

2 comments:

Laurel said...

Good job getting the run in despite how tired you were. I too make sure I keep my walk breaks to areas that at the least populated to keep my "cool runner persona" up. Haha!

My Life said...

Ohhh Ambien! I've never tried it, but my husband is a huge fan. Hi doc perscribed it to him during his tour in Iraq - every 2 weeks when he would transition between working nights & days. He said that, with 7 months of no drinking, sometimes popping an Ambien was almost a suitable replacement. ;) I hope it helps your sleeping situation!