Good news! I have been working strictly nights for quite a few months now. It was really taking its toll on me. Last week I managed to end up being on a day schedule for about a week. I would go to bed at a decent time and wake up anywhere between 4 and 8am. It was wonderful! Getting things done in the morning was great. When I woke up, I felt awake. I didn't feel like I needed naps or more sleep all the time. At one point, I was thinking about how the day had already been really long and I had a late night coming up..maybe I should take a nap? Quickly I decided no, I don't need a nap, I feel great, I feel ALIVE!!!
When being on a schedule that aligns with daylight, I not only felt better, but I got motivation back. motivation to get workouts done rather than putting them off. Motivation to clean up the house, go to the store, hang out with friends, take up knitting, get serious about painting, and so much more. Clearly I was not handling nights well. That was clearly evident to me after how I felt after only one week on a 'normal' schedule. I knew I wasn't myself for a long time because so much was off but after last week I realize just how much I have not been myself. For a while I was really struggling, my body was craving a schedule. Sometimes I would be so tired I couldn't think right but only be able to sleep 3 hours. I always felt tired, my eating was screwed up, I lost motivation for almost everything, really, I just felt like a sloth.
Anyway, the point of all of this is that starting in February I will be doing some days! Half or more of my workdays will actually be work DAYS. In February I think I am working about 2 night shifts and then rest days. This excites me so much! Sometimes I think things have a funny way of working out. This season I will be racing in a new race category :) Having a more normal schedule will probably help out a lot. I'm not sure how much working nights affected my training other than lack of motivation to get going at times, but I'm hoping once I get adapted to days that my training and racing will also be affected positively.
Soon I will put up my race schedule. For now I know I will be doing Miami in March and then St. Croix in May. I'm very excited to race again, and the destinations are pretty sweet too :)
