“Sleep, those little slices of death; how I loathe them.” – Edgar Allen Poe.
10 Jan – Days to go on 100 days dry: 93. Days until the Dartmoor Way: 126
One thing I have noticed, as a result of not drinking and exercising more is how much better I sleep.
I used to have no trouble whatsoever in going to sleep, in fact, trying to chase the magical 8-hour Nirvana that everyone states is the key to long life* I would find myself yawning at 9:30, getting ready to turn in at 10:00 and be sound by 10:30. Like an old Nickel-Cadmium mobile phone battery I seemed to have developed a mechanical memory. Well, no biggie, I would say to myself, 10:30 to sleep, 6:30 to wake, 8 hours Nirvana (or so everyone says*) and away we go.
Except, I was waking at 3, then 4, then 5 and find myself completely exhausted at 6:30 when my alarm went off. I read up about why this might be the case and wasn’t that shocked to discover that whilst a scotch before bed might help you on your way to climb the wooden hill to Bedfordshire, systematic use will surely crash your entire body awake whenever is the most inconvenient**. I would lay awake for hours, or at least what would appear to be hours, especially frustrating on a Saturday morning, unable to drift back, staring at the dark grey ceiling, listening to the other half’s soft snuffles as she continued to float on an indigo dream; jealous, frustrated and tired.
I mean I would sleep, but inevitably at the weekends I would get up at 7, stomp about downstairs, make coffee, (to combat the fatigue of getting up at 7) feed #dogbeast and kick off the weekend in a vile mood.
What’s changed in the last 8 days is that I still go through the mechanical memory of yawning, getting ready and sleeping, at about the same time, but now seem to be able to sleep through without interruption. Waking to the floating tones of Hans Zimmer (my go-to alarm, try it, it’s awesome) my body feels heavy, like stone heavy, as every limb, joint and muscle seem to be made of lead. But within seconds, I am up, stretching and ready to go. My nirvanic 8 hours having done their job.
It all sounds a little too good to be true, so I am a little wary of shouting this from the rooftop. But I have chalked it onto my ‘reasons to be cheerful’ slate.
Tomorrow is my second run, which I am not looking forward to, but this time, I am aiming to do more than jog, walk, bend over clutching my sides, walk, run, rinse and repeat. We’ll see how it goes.
“I hate sleeping. I figured, I’ve slept the first eleven years of my life away, so now I’m just making up for it.” Councillor Hamann – The Matrix Reloaded
*Why lack of sleep is bad for your health – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
