This morning I finished my last of seven nightshifts. I start night work on a Tuesday night working a 10pm to 6am shift finishing the following Tuesday morning. I've been a shift worker for over 8 years and it doesn't get any easier.
This week is week 2 of my training for the Gold Coast Marathon on the 3rd July.
Monday - 12.52km - 1hr 05mins 15secs - 5:13mins/km - recovery run
Tuesday - 25.05km - 1hr 52mins 35secs - 4:30mins/km - with 18km at race pace
Wednesday - 12.50km - 1hr 06mins 37secs - 5:20mins/km - recovery run
Thursday - 23.43km - 1hr 49mins 22secs - 4:40mins/km - with 6.5km at 10km race pace
Friday - Rest day
Saturday - 35.05km - 2hrs 49mins 45secs - 4:51mins/km - mod/steady long run
Sunday - 13.17km - 1hr 08mins 05secs - 5:10mins/km - group easy run
Week 2 totals - 121.73km - 9hrs 51mins 42secs - 4:52min/km average pace
Another good week of training with tempo and race pace efforts on Tuesday and Thursday. The Tuesday run was a good test and a pretty positive improvement on last week. I had a 2km warm up and ran hard with km splits between 4:02 and 4:27. The splits were pretty even and averaged below 4:15 but the uphill km's from 16km were tough and blew out to 4:27. Thursday's run showed improvement as well with a 9km moderate warm up before 6.5km with the Rocky Road Runners. I ran a bit too hard for the first couple of km's including a 3:42 first kilometre but then settled down and averaged 4min/km's. I took Saturday's run slightly easier than last week and felt much better for the last 5km despite being tired from night shift and having a tough middle part.
Over the years I have experimented a little with running while working various shifts. The toughest part about night work is the complete reversal of my bodyclock, however this has little impact on my running. This is due to the fact that I can run in the mid to late afternoon which is no different to most people and is quite often when I usually run during the week. I tend to be in bed by about 6:30am after a bowl of cereal and usually get up somewhere around 2:30pm. Eight hours sleep on a night shift is really good but some days it is around six hours or even less.
I have talked to a few people about their routines during night shift and they all vary depending on the person's prefered routine. Some, like me, go to bed when they get home whereas others like to stay up until late morning or midday and sleep until 8pm. I have talked to some colleagues who split up their sleeps with a few hours in the morning followed by another sleep or nap in the afternoon or early evening.
So with many varied routines and preferences there is no one magic formula to overcome this form of work jet lag. What is also difficult for me is that each night shift is different, one week I might sleep eight hours every night and feel great whereas others find me waking after five hours and being unable to get to sleep again. The first night is always the most difficult for me and I am usually awake for around 24 hours before I get to bed. Funny thing is though I am so tired that falling asleep is so easy and very enjoyable.
My routine of running in the afternoons works for me at the moment. I go to bed in the morning after a bowl of cereal (which most nutritionists would discourage), however, there is a method to my madness as I find it difficult to sleep if I keep waking up hungry. After I get up around 2:30pm I have something to drink and some toast. I leave my food to settle for up to two hours and then head off for my run.
I have tried various alternatives such as running at night before work and even running in the morning after a night shift. As I tend to keep normal eating habits (which helps ensure a smoother transition to normal sleep patterns), running in the evening means a heavy stomach after dinner and I get a bloated uncomfortable feeling. I have run a few times in the mornings after work and have had mixed results. Last night work I ran 10km to work in the evening, was able to sneak out early and meet my running group at about 5:30am. I then did my long run with a full backpack and a tired body and mind. I struggled big time and could only manage about 26km or so when my program required 35km. I felt like I was going to fall asleep while running and is in stark contrast to a couple of 34km Makara circuits I did in New Zealand after a night shift where I ran really strong.
Now I have the toughest challenge of all, getting back into a normal routine. This morning I went to bed around 6:30am and made myself get up at 10:30am after only four hours of sleep. I woke up feeling fuzzy and desperately wanted to go back to bed but this is how I try to combat the transition. This way I feel like crap through the day and feel tired enough to go to bed at my usual time. Trouble is that sometimes I start to wake up and get a second wind at about 10pm. It takes me about 4 or 5 days to get back to normal which is just in time to start a new lot of shifts again. The second night after my nights is the most difficult and I have often woken up around 2am and can't get back to sleep. Thankfully I only do night shifts every five weeks or so and strangely enough I see more of my wife and kids on a night shift than I do working afternoon shifts.
I will go for a run this afternoon and then it is a trip to the Rocky Show with Mel, Holly and Ethan (I will try and avoid the dagwood dogs and carny food though). This week will be a medium volume week of around 100km as I have the half marathon on Sunday.
Keep running.
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