I didn’t sleep and now I’m sick

Anyone I know in real life has probably heard me whine and complain about how I haven’t had a day off since Labor Day. I knew I wouldn’t have time off to sleep in for a while and yet I stayed up way past midnight nearly every night knowing I had to be up at 7 Monday-Friday and earlier on weekends. I usually have issues falling asleep but even though I was tired I wasn’t going to bed. I don’t know why exactly. I guess I didn’t realize how badly I was hurting my body. If I wasn’t tired I should have at least gotten in bed and just relaxed and I would have probably fallen asleep eventually but I didn’t.

I also decided that I didn’t have time to do the little things that make a big difference like stretching, making sure I was wearing decent shoes, foam rolling, eating snacks after runs and drinking lots of water. My rational for this–I was too tired to do the small things, but I wasn’t sleeping instead of doing them. I was probably complaining about not sleeping or something equally as ridiculous. Now I’m sick. I’m not deathly ill or anything but I did have a fever and I am really congested. I had to miss work yesterday and I’m on day two of not running because I just don’t feel well. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have gotten sick if I had slept more adequately but I’m saying I would have been less likely to get sick because my body wouldn’t have been so fatigued when I was running. I may have also been performing better in workouts and races.

It’s important to take care of your body. The little things go a long way. Eat. Sleep. Rest. Recover. Don’t be a fool and stay up all night.