Restlessness at night after long run / race

4 watchers

JRitchie Mar 2013 9:49pm, 18 Mar 2013 465 posts	0 JRitchie Request for help. Last night (2nd night after completing the D33mile) I had a really crap nights sleep. I occasionally get restless leg during the night and when it comes it is often after a long run. An open window is usually the simple fix for me. Last night however it was like restless whole-bloody-body. I could not settle or get comfortable there was no pain, no strong aches, no heavy caffine intake during the day I just rolled around fidgeting keeping OH awake. Any other suffers and/or ideas for home remedies?
DeaJay Mar 2013 9:56pm, 18 Mar 2013 541 posts	0 DeaJay I often find I can't switch off mentally after a race or evening training session. I take night nurse if I think I'm so hyped up I'm going to have problems sleeping. Works really well. I don't get restless legs though.
SpicedApple Mar 2013 10:05pm, 18 Mar 2013 6,736 posts	0 SpicedApple Nothing useful to say other than that it's probably the D33's fault. (I've never had this before, but have hardly slept since the D33 either. Didn't feel restless though, but just kept waking all the time.)
DeeGee Mar 2013 10:07pm, 18 Mar 2013 13,987 posts	0 DeeGee I appreciate the problem, and running occasional back-to-back marathons it can be a pain. Struggled keeping myself awake while being driven home from Gin Pit yesterday afternoon, but could I sleep at bedtime? Could I heck! I can cope after races (I'm knackered on the boss's time!) but it's the night between races that's the problem as I struggle getting to sleep AND I wake up unnaturally early! I can't really get away with drinking myself to sleep, 'cos then the quality of the night's sleep and the following day's race is compromised...
SpicedApple Mar 2013 10:09pm, 18 Mar 2013 6,738 posts	0 SpicedApple (Should have said: I struggle with poor sleep often, but have never observed a correlation between exercise and quality of sleep before.)
Velociraptor Mar 2013 10:17pm, 18 Mar 2013 24,520 posts	0 Velociraptor I get restless legs if I do a long or hard run too late in the day. Would love to have the answer! There are pills for restless legs syndrome, but if you only have the problem occasionally then the side-effects of the pills are likely to be worse than the restless legs.
Bluebell2325 Mar 2013 10:19pm, 18 Mar 2013 329 posts	0 Bluebell2325 Sleeping in compression socks helps mine, not sexy, but hey ho...
lazydaisy Mar 2013 10:26pm, 18 Mar 2013 3,340 posts	0 lazydaisy Yes I often get this restlessness (not just legs) and it can be after a relatively short race like a 10k or after a longish run by myself. I have no scientific background so have no idea if lactic acid, or adrenaline come-down is relevant. It's annoying though because physically, I am tired.
JRitchie Mar 2013 10:42pm, 18 Mar 2013 467 posts	0 JRitchie I have never worn compression socks but sounds an interesting idea (not sure what the Mrs would say). I also recognize the late run connection. Thanks for the thoughts so far. Spiced Apple - the beer in the station hotel certainly assisted my sleep on the might of the race. I don't think its a viable long term solution though
Kieren Mar 2013 10:53pm, 18 Mar 2013 3,638 posts	0 Kieren You loose a load of vitamins & minerals when training hard or racing hard. Try double dropping on a multi-vitamin / mineral supplement post run if you don't have access to a drink or meal that might replace things like iron, zinc , magnesium Then again, it could be due to massive release of cortisol & blood sugar regulation - have a read of the sock-doc article and see if it ticks any boxes for you: sock-doc.com .