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trouble sleeping after a race!

 
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CMURDUR
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Joined: 22 Mar 2010
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:17 pm GMT +0000    Post subject: trouble sleeping after a race! Reply with quote

Just curious if you had any suggestions to having a good night's sleep after a race. It usually takes me two to three days to have a sound night's sleep although my body feels tired. Any help or an explanation to why this happens would be greatly appreciated.

thank you!
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The Bike Doc
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Joined: 08 May 2003
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Location: Corpus Christi and Warda, Texas

PostPosted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:07 pm GMT +0000    Post subject: Reply with quote

CMURDUR:

Getting wired for the race, going into fight or flight mode (most racing involves both fight and flight) leads to a release of several hormones and neurotransmitters that puts you on heightened alert that can make it more difficult to fall asleep.

There are some things that you can do to help yourself fall asleep. Tune down the evening distractions, avoid TV, movies and stimulating music. Play some calming music (I have several favorite instrumental and female Irish folk singers pieces that I will listen to in the evening to sooth the over worked braincells). Turn down the lights, bright lights delay the release of you natural melatonin which is a sleep inducing chemical secreted by the brain. I will often were dark sunglasses in the late afternoon and early evening hours to help raise my natural melatonin levels. Another trick is eat foods high in tryptophan such as turkey meat or milk in the evening can help you fall asleep. Tryptophan is an amino acid the activates the sleep centers in the brain. Heating the milk helps release the tryptophan in the milk protein. I will often make a hot cup of milk flavored with 2 teaspoons of maple syrup and a quarter teaspoon of vanilla to help me fall asleep. Avoid rigorous exercise in the evening which also can trigger the fight or flight response.

If it is night in which I am not able to fall asleep, I get out of bed, and get a book that is not exciting or stimulating, more contemplative, and I will read for 30 minutes to an hour. Sleep usually comes on quickly. My only regret from my educational years is I did not audio record some of my professors in college and med school whose monotone drones of lecture delivery were guaranteed to put me to sleep in 5 minutes. I could have packaged it and made a mint with infommercials, just 5 minutes of listening to them on the boob tube, would put you to sleep. I would have a pay per view (or snooze) site guaranteed to work or your money back.

I hope some of these tricks help.
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CMURDUR
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Joined: 22 Mar 2010
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 08, 2011 4:06 pm GMT +0000    Post subject: Reply with quote

awesome.. I will def try some of these.

thank you!
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the toninator
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 1:47 pm GMT +0000    Post subject: Reply with quote

b12 and hydrate.
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Art Exum
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2011 11:57 am GMT +0000    Post subject: Reply with quote

If all else fails, you might trying a little 3 mg tablet of melatonin. It's an endogenous hormone from the pineal gland (the one you're trying to stimulate by lowering the lights).

You'll be groggy trying to wake the next morning, but that beats a sleepless night.
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