Can't sleep after a run

Hi
I have to do my weekday and some weekend runs in the evening (7-8ish)
The nights after my runs I don't get to sleep very well, I've stopped using a recovery drink 'cos I thought it was keeping me awake, but it's not made much difference. Think it's to do with endorphins but I'm not sure what to do about it.
Any advice folks?
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Comments

  • you should know by now not to ask silly questions,

    nothing much you can do about it really unless you change the time you run
  • NessieNessie ✭✭✭
    I think it can be due to your body temperature being too high. If you try having a cool shower after your run, rather than a hot one, that might help.


  • I often run up to 10pm at night.

    I don't have any problem getting to sleep:o)

  • I suffer teribly from this problem. Every Tues night after a track session, I get to sleep and wake up at 1.30-2.00pm and am awake til 4.30 - I always go back to sleep around then. Now I get up when I wake up at 1.30 cos otherwise I know I'll just lie there wide awake so I might as well get up. The same thing happens every night of a race even tho' it might have been a 10.00am start - I can never sleep without a 2-3 hour gap in the middle. I've tried herbal sleeeping tablets but they dont work. It doesnt happen after a steady run, just after hard sessions or races.
    I honestly cant remember a day when this hasnt happened - yet otherwise I sleep normally for 8 hours a night.
    I dont want to do sessions in the morning because i cant with work and besides I enjoy training hard with others - cant do the same on my own.
    Is this just adrenalin or is there any other scientific reason? It is so annoying cos I feel so spaced out on mondays and Wednesdays and am usually asleep at 9.00 on these nights!
  • FAS, I'm not even getting to sleep, jus lying there wide awake 'till 3 or 4am. Like you I notice it more after the hard sessions/midweek races, although it always happens to some degree if I run/bike in the evenings, not noticed it happening after morning sessions though.
    If i'm running/biking 3 or 4 times a week in the evening, after a couple of weeks i'm shattered.

    Free Radical, What's the secret then?
  • I use Nocte and have started with paracetomol or Ibuprofen (400mg) if I've done a long run and can still feel it in my legs.

    If it's really bad then a Nytol tablet does the job.
  • I am with JJ on this try running early mornings and see if that makes a difference.

  • legs having a mind of there own,there a medical term for this.i usually knock back a few bottles of magners after a long run,works for me.
  • Mmmmmmm, Magners. tried it for the frst time at the weekend, luvverly! But hardly a good start to the GNR weekened!!!
  • I'll often train in the 10pm-11pm slot, have a shower, catch up on the forum and hit the sack at midnight. After a week or two the fatigue sets in and getting to sleep isn't a problem. My difficulty is that I don't have enough of it, and have a tiredness dip after lunch, or at 3pm.

    I think that you have to force yourself into a routine.

    If I'm still a bit "live" when I go to bed I read a boring book (not a novel) until the eyes have had enough. That does it. TV does not do it for me. I enter a state of transfixed stupor, which is almost asleep but only half the value.
  • back from tracke session of 16x 400s - & having had tea will go to bed with a book - I dont ahve a problem with leg soreness or anything -so no good taking ibuprofen- so will see if anything should change tonight- I darent take nytol - I think I'd rather feel spaced out from lack of sleep rather than spaced out from nytol!
  • See- I wonder if this is psychosymatic - it cant be a pattern because it diesnt happen other nights! Oh dear & I have to work tomorow eve so I'll feel lousy!
  • dan dandan dan ✭✭✭
    I always toil the night after a run, even if I have done it midday.


    You accept it as being normal and work your way around it.
  • I don't get enough sleep, long working day, so when I do hit the sack its usually 5 mins and I'm gone
  • Have to fit runs in the evenings, the early mornings are no good. Don't like taking ibruprofen much (does nasty things to the stomach), and don't fancy nytol either. Like FAS I only have this problem on the days that I've been running.
    I've heard mixed messages about the Nocte - any thoughts?
  • Do you eat before or after your run? When i trained for FLM i used to run about the same time and then would have my tea and then couldn't sleep. When i changed the order of things (i.e. tea at 5 over my desk then run at 7 8 ish) i slept better. But i also reduced my milage and intensity and that helped too.
  • run harder - then you'll be knackered!
  • I have the same problem. Even after a 5k run at about 7.30pm I find that although I feel tired enough to sleep the brain is wide awake.

    Not sure what the answer is.
  • CindersCinders ✭✭✭
    My sleeplessness isn't all run related but can add a few tips maybe. Ideally your run shouldn't be less than 2 hours before kip as you should be in run down mode to sleep. Can you try having a cooler room, window open maybe.

    I've been trying the last week a herbal remedy called Valerina and so far I've slept through till morning and as its herbal no effects in the morning either.

  • I have a problem that I cant sleep the night before a race
  • CindersCinders ✭✭✭
    Isn't that nerves or adrenalin KevinW?
  • I can't suggest anything for post-exercise sleeplessness as nothing worked for me except changing my routine and doing exercise at least 5 or 6 hours before bed time. For pre-race sleeplessness which for me I think is anxiety related, I've found lavender oil works a treat. One or two drops on a pillow is usually enough.
  • deepest sympathies to highy and other fellow sufferers...

    I have the same problem(s). A simple case of sod's law for me. The more I need or want to sleep (wether it be the night before a race, or following a hard/rewarding session - eg last night..) the greater the likelihood of sleep deprivation. Lots of occasions when I've been awake all night as a consequence

    I've tried all the usual remedies that one is quoted, some being repeated in this thread - but to no effect. I don't believe there are any quick fixes. I've just had to accept that this, like tendonitis or my inability to run up hills !

    I think flexible sleep patterns are for some of us just a fact of life - not worrying about and accepting our bodies ability to 'catch-up' if given half the chance, a partial if imperfect answer ?

    lb

    Health Warning : Never ever share a tent with such a person on a weekend mountain marathon if (i) things are going well following day 1 and (ii) you are trying to get some much needed shut eye in preparation for day 2...

  • For what its worth...

    Try not eating tea after a hard session late at night, take all your calorific requirement on-board during the day and then only have fluids and a recovery snack between the session and sleep.

    Only a suggestion but at least then your body isn't trying to process a stomachs worth of food as your trying to sleep.
  • Try reading the 'POSE method of running' thread, if that doesn't work you are incurable.
  • I often find I can't sleep after a lateish run so here is what I do - have an after run soya hot chocolate with a big dash of benedictine, green chartreuse or scotch whiskey. Nice treat and within 15 mins I'm dead to the world.
  • I find a glass of red wine does the trick, though camomile tea can be good too. Take a warm bath with a few drops of lavender oil, then off to a freshly made bed. Talking books are great to nod off to, so try that. And, according to feng shui, plants with large leaves (like my swiss cheese plant)promote good sleep.

    If all that fails, I'll put you in touch with my ex - I couldn't stay awake for five minutes with him ;-)
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