A couple of days before the 2019 Popular Brooklyn Half, my coach Jason sent me an email that began with, “I hope you can get some rest.” We’re both new-ish dads, so he understands that I might get anywhere between 0 and 6 hours of sleep on any given night.
I showed the email to Jess and said, “With my luck, his first teeth will break skin on Friday night.” That didn’t happen, but the baby did decide to give us multiple “pep talks” the night before the race. By my count, Jess and I got around three hours of sleep before my alarm went off. I thought about dropping out of the race as I toasted a bagel for breakfast. But nowadays my opportunities to talk to other adults are limited, so I figured I’d give it the old college try.
Jason suggested starting at between 7:20-7:30 per mile, but because I wasn’t sure how my body would react to my first real bout of sleep deprivation, I decided to start at whatever pace I thought I could hold for 13.1 miles and ignore my watch as much as possible. A fellow Dashing Whippet named Danielle was looking to start at a similar pace, so we decided to run together. This would prove to be a huge mistake.
I won’t do a mile by mile breakdown, but I was happy with how I felt the first couple miles. It was competitive without being too hard. Then at mile 3 I did my first real watch check and saw that we ran it in 6:50.
“Danielle I think I’m screwed,” I shouted.
“You’re doing great! Just hang on,” she replied.
But yeah, I was screwed. By the time we got out of the park, I adjusted my goals and decided that anything under 1:40 would be a huge win. By mile 8, I decided that merely running the rest of the race would be a huge win. By mile 9, I just wanted to take a nap.
Here’s what I think I know about sleep deprivation. For at least a small percentage of any given day, the human body can get quite a bit done on very little rest. I made breakfast, managed not to put my clothes on backwards, and had a very coherent conversation with a teammate during the cab ride down to Brooklyn. I could also tell that my legs felt pretty fresh, so I was feeling confident.
But the thing I learned about sleep deprivation is that no matter how awake you think you are, it’s probably a horrible idea to run a half marathon when you need less than one hand to count the number of hours you slept.
In hindsight, I probably could have injured myself pretty badly. I also could have had a negative experience that made hate running. But aside from finishing and having a good time, I didn’t have any expectations. Plus, I saw (and passed) Meb at one point, so I guess it all worked out.
In the last few miles, I met an older guy who had just raced Boston and was hurting just as badly as I was. “We’re out of our effing minds,” he said to me. “But we’re going to get to the end together!” I forget his name and bib number, but I owe a debt of gratitude to him for keeping things light as we hobbled home. As we got to talking, I mentioned that I had a 5-month old at home who isn’t sleeping right now.
“I’m only kind of aware of where I am right now,” I said.
“My daughter is 25 and hates my guts,” he replied. “She thinks that everything that sucks about her life is my fault. It doesn’t get any easier!”
When we finally finished, I looked down at my watch and saw a total time of just under 1:42. My official time according to NYRR was 1:42:14. Even with all my bellyaching, I somehow ran my third fastest half marathon ever on three hours of sleep. And I managed to have a good time doing it.
So what’s next? Jason suggested a week off from running and I am very happy to oblige. And as excited as I am to race again sometime soon, if anyone out there has any tips for dealing with a baby’s sleep regression, I’m all ears.
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