Catching Zees

There is a certain feeling of dread you get when you turn up to swim training and see that the session ends with a 700m effort. You know it is pretty much guaranteed to be a tough session.

Despite that the session went surprisingly well. I got about 400m through the 700m and thought to myself, 'Self, you don't feel that bad, you may survive this yet', which I then proceeded to do. We even managed to hold fairly close to the target pace, which we had all felt was exceedingly optimistic before we had started. This was my first real session back with the squad since before the Christmas break, so it was reassuring to get into it and have it go so well. Hopefully it continues to do so.

Yesterday I mentioned that my run had gone well and that going into the run I had decided to not get so worked up about the sessions. Relax more and let the session be what it would. I meant to say last night that I think another major factor in the session going well, and my improved mental state, was that on Wednesday night I had a great night's sleep. I woke up on Thursday morning feeling rested and good, generally happy with the world. Having enough rest that I could be positive about the session I was about to do helped a lot I suspect. Whilst I think being consciously positive was a big thing, having enough sleep to allow me to feel that way was important too.

I have mentioned this before, but on the whole I think most of us don't get enough sleep. I think it has a major impact on our lifestyles and health day to day, but when you are an athlete, the impact is even greater. I suspect that most of us know that sleep is essential for letting the body recover from what we have done that day, and also for having enough energy to get through the training the next day, but still we don't get enough. What is enough sleep varies from person to person, but I work on a minimum of 7 hours. Having said that, I know some people who really don't function as humans on less than eight. Apparently the average amount of sleep that Australian adults get is now less than six hours a night. From what I have read and seen though, if you think you function fine on less than six hours sleep a night then chances are you are wrong. You will perform better on more, studies seem to show that that is almost guaranteed.

I know as well as anyone that sometimes it can just be so hard to make it to bed at a reasonable time, it usually takes a conscious effort. Leading into Albany I had got my routine nicely sorted and I was getting enough sleep and feeling good. Since Albany it has taken me a few days to settle back into the habit of getting to bed early. I managed it on Wednesday night and felt great on Thursday as a result. Hopefully I start to get back in the habit more and more. Legal performance enhancement.