Yeah it’s a trade-off, with my earplugs in I no longer wake up at any given sound which is great overall, but when one of my kids wakes up crying in the middle of the night…well unless they come to our room I’m oblivious.
Thanks, I’ll have to check out that book. I don’t think I can go without caffeine though, it’s my body’s trigger for dropping the kids off at the pool 
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Why we sleep is a great book and recommended. I am not sure if you drink alcohol? I have always slept well but since I quit I sleep even better. Also I rarely watch tv or use my phone after 8pm. Routine is key.
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Everyone is different when it comes to caffeine. The problem is trying to come off caffeine to see the efftect. Personally I would start with food timing, food volume, meat vs no meat for dinner, carb volume for dinner, fat volume fo dinner, dair vs no dairy, etc. all while stopping caffeine by 2pm every day. I went two weeks without caffeine and for me there was no benefit only loss of RPE in workouts. Went back to caffeine and just try to limit volume per day so I can caffeine load on races. JMO
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I don’t drink alcohol, coffee is my doom I suppose. I drink about 3-4 shots of espresso in the morning before 9, but nothing after that.
I struggled with sleep as I got older (im 52)… I take 10mg melatonin and 50 mg diphenhydramine before bed…sleep good and dont feel groggy in the morning.
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I’ve heard from numerous people that sleep is harder to come by as you get older and that it’s a major factor in aging, this is another reason why I’m super concerned with getting more sleep. I abused my body when I was younger and slept about 4-5 hours a night during my teenage years through college.
Yes I have. I never had this issue until I started endurance training. I’m also getting older. I think I heard Phil Maffetone say this is a sign off stressing the body to much. I can’t remember the exact quote or reason. Something to do with stress and imbalances. So I do deep down believe it has to do with my training.
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Just wondering and not trying to pry. My wife is a terrible sleeper and what I mentioned about no screen time has helped tremendously. We sold her kindle even and went back to normal books for her.
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I’ve posted this on several threads. I’m a big fan of Verbena tea (high quality leaves, preferably grown by yourself. Fresh or dried)
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I found the quote from Phil Maffetone. He is know for the MAF method= healthy training.
“Characterized by an inability to initiate or maintain sleep, insomnia often takes the form of early morning awakening, in which the individual awakens several hours early and is unable to resume sleeping.
Those with adrenal dysfunction from excess stress sometimes fall asleep easily (due to fatigue) but wake in the middle of the night and have trouble going back to sleep. This is because the body is releasing high levels of the stress hormone cortisol at night, when levels should be low. Many people say they wake up to urinate, but it’s usually because of the cortisol. The urge to urinate comes after.”
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Thanks but good grief that sounds horrible, releasing stress hormone at night?? Why do u do this, body?? That’s frightening because that’s exactly why I wake up, to go pee…guess it’s not really to pee?
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The timing of this thread is uncanny.
I failed my first workout in 3 months this morning.
Felt fine physically but couldn’t keep my eyes open. I was doing 9x3min VO2max intervals and didn’t have the energy to stay on top of my cadence and breathing. I’ve been averaging 5-6 hours of sleep this week.
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Glad I posted this then. Hopefully we both get better sleep.
That supports my thoughts on why my wife is having issues (TONS of stress at the moment). Unfortunately, none of the solutions he provides have made a difference (we do all but the reading in a different room. Read books with just enough light).
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I think that’s his point though. You can do all those things but it’s the stress that needs addressed. As endurance athletes we can adjust our training to reduce stress but most of us don’t until something forces us. Mental stress is harder to fix and all of us probably react differently.
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45 year old male, recently started having this too. For the longest time I could fall asleep in 30 seconds and not move all night. I still fall asleep fast 9 out of 10 nights, but wake up between 2-3 am often. I almost never get up to pee. Usually it is preceded by feeling very hot, my brain solving all my daytime problems, or a bad dream, in rank order. I do find when I am stressed or trying to figure something out my brain wants to solve all of them. It is great sometimes - I have solved all sorts of things in the middle of the night. But sometimes it is just obsessing and cycling on something.
Agree with others to not focus on being awake or those thoughts. This might catch flack, but I find the TR podcasts are PERFECT for falling back asleep. No music, no ads, not dynamic voices. Chad and Jonathan’s voices can put me to sleep like nobody’s business. The UK’s cycling podcast is second, but they have ads and music. Note I love both podcasts when I am awake! I also use the sleep timer to shut off the podcasts after they are done. I usually can fall back asleep for at least an hour, sometimes rest of night.
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I went through this for a long time. Recently, and the only thing that worked for me was CBD at bedtime. Now I can typically sleep longer before I wake up naturally and sometimes to my alarm. I was skeptical but it works for me. I changed nothing else while trying it.
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I don’t have problems sleeping when I go to bed really tired. Maybe you could test this out to see if it works for you too.
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I was terrible at getting to sleep until my late thirties.
I then listened to an audible book called “Night Watch” by Richard Wiseman. Can’t remember what was in it but it must have clicked as I started getting much better sleep which continues to this day.
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