Day 1 - Am I really doing this?
Well, it’s been almost 27 hours since I woke up from my last night of full sleep. And in total, I think I’ve slept a little over an hour. This is crazy. I mean, I’m a little tired, but nothing like I expected to be. I’m sure it will get worse; everybody talks about it like you’re voluntarily checking yourself into Guantanamo. We’ll see.
What follows are notes I’ve taken throughout the day. I plan on doing this every day, at least throughout the adaptation period.
The Naps
Nap 1: 3/1/2007 1pm – 1:30pm – didn’t really sleep. My feet were cold. I had two pre-sleep leg twitches, so I was close, but never quite made it there.
Nap 2: 3/1/2007 5pm – 5:30pm – slept, or at least tried to sleep, with socks this time—not usually my habit. I had a few moments where I felt like I was headed towards sleep; I would basically get wrapped up into thoughts so much that I forgot that I was doing the thinking.
Nap 3: 3/1/2007 9pm – 9:30pm – this is usually the time I am just getting my nighttime high; bing, what are we doing tonight?. So no, I didn’t get to sleep again.
Nap 4: 3/2/2007 1am – 1:30am – I was so close this time. Erin and I went and got in bed around 12:30, so we could have some nice cuddle-up. I think this relaxed me enough that I didn’t spend my half-hour nap trying to calm my body and thoughts. I felt a good leg-twitch or two, and might have fallen barely into sleep, only to bring myself out again, worrying about whether I’m going to get any sleep or not.
Nap 5: 3/2/2007 5am – 5:30am – Yay. I finally got some sleep. One thing I did similar to the last nap was to lie down about 15 minutes before my nap was to begin and work on relaxing a bit. I imagine I won’t have to do this soon, as my sleep deprivation kicks in.
I’m pretty sure I fell asleep shortly after I started the countdown. I remember waking up briefly when a snowplow drove by and I noticed my body had a slow, subtle shake to it. I woke up right as the alarm went off. I was a little tired and disoriented, but got up, folded up the bedding, and went to the kitchen to get a chocolate and some water. I can’t believe I have to stay awake for another three and a half hours. Nuts.
Nap 6: 3/2/2007 9am – 9:30am – Another successful sleep. I wonder if I’ll ever have trouble falling asleep again. I did what I did last nap, and prepared my bedding about 15 minutes before it was time for me to actually sleep. I then crawled in, warmed up, and started relaxing. Only this time it became a battle for me to stay awake till my nap time actually started. I set both my phone and kitchen timer and at 8:59 went off for the races with the kitchen timer counting down from 30:00 and my phone set to ring 31 minutes later at 9:30. Half an hour later, I woke to the soft alarm of the kitchen timer. I got up and had enough time to disable my phone’s alarm before it went off. Hopefully this means I won’t have to worry too much about the sleeping in problems that others have.
The Food
Breakfast – around 9am – oatmeal (with flax seed) and apple juice. also took a multi-vitamin
Lunch – 2pm – Su Casa lunch special (bean burrito and tostada, chips and salsa, water to drink)
Dinner – 10pm – black bean burger and roasted potatoes, water to drink
The Anything Else
Tai Chi at 6:15pm
