I’ve got a friend who is a Policeman. He reckons I should take a vacation, relax and sleep more often but I can’t right now… he said I’m ‘resisting a rest’!

For anyone who doesn’t know, ‘Getting 40 winks’ means to have a light sleep or a nap. Like how to wink means to close an eye, we might close it for ~40 times longer than that to just ‘rest our eyes’ but actually have a quick rest. I heard Einstein used to take such rests say up in an armchair with a spoon in his hand. If he got into too deep a sleep the spoon would drop on the floor and wake him up. There’s loads of research on line and I’m no expert but there seems to be a consensus that about 20 minutes in the middle of the day is optimal for most people.

I didn’t used to take any rests. I didn’t like it, waste of time. Why would I want to lie down feeling frustrated when I’m wide awake and wanting to be doing stuff?

I might have gone back to bed for one reason or another but a siesta, no way! This also translated to lying on a beach for an afternoon. Sure, I want to swim or surf or dive or fly a kite but simply lying there drives me insane. It happened once when I was inebriated but I woke up sun-burnt and full of regret.

‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead’ was the cocky phrase adolescent me would coin.

So ‘getting 40 winks more often’ presented quite a challenge for me. I had come to appreciate that that not sleeping enough generally was causing me some issues. Often I would feel a bit run down or have bad skin and be irritable and my athletic performance might be poor yet this was resolved by a good night’s sleep. I therefore reconciled that if I could manage the occasional top-up, this may also help.

This was highlighted throughout my 40 day fast. During that time, I found that between 10 and 12 hours after I’d first woken up (at 04:40), I became super sleepy and often actually needed a lie down. I quite like the feeling of compete exhaustion, needing to switch off and allowing yourself to do so but it’s not something I naturally succumb to very often and it was likely exacerbated by the early morning and the fasting.

To that end, I found that training in the morning helps encourage me to sleep in the afternoon, whereas training only in the evening seemed to leave me with a slightly elevated heart rate and alertness that was hard to shake in time for getting a proper sleep that evening.

Upon reflection, what I had been afraid of was sleeping a little, reinvigorating myself and then finding it difficult to fall asleep at night so addressing this is key.

Indeed, the answer could be as simple as this: eat less, wake up earlier.

I went to the Doctor this week to discuss my fingers remaining numb from the 40 hour cycle three weeks ago and pain in my left heel. It seems I have bilateral ulnar nerve neuropathy and plantar fasciitis, the onset of which is common for those in their 40s who run long distances (old age does not come alone!).

He and I discussed getting 40 winks. The Doctor said that our natural rhythms tend toward a routine that is at odds with how we modern life currently is. He said for example working in the morning and then having a two hour break between 12 and 2pm would be ideal. If you led with your feet up during that time, any fluids that have been ‘stuck’ down there are brought back into a more central location (pressure change due to centre of gravity changing) and are processed by the kidneys. You will likely waking up after about 40 minutes needing the toilet; following this process will leave you refreshed and revitalised.

I reckon resting with my feet up for 40 minutes in the afternoon could be very beneficial, not least for my plantar fasciitis.

Anyway, I’ve been doing it. The 2020 and 2021 lockdowns have made it easier to be or at least more likely that I will be at home and therefore that little bit more likely to take a break. I’ve not only enjoyed it, I think it has become essential. I think it is possible to restore better balance by taking short naps between a solid nights sleep to overcome feeling overworked and being over-tired and needing to crash.

To this end, I maintain that sleep hygiene is really important. I may now be able to dose on the sofa for a while but getting a quality sleep that includes all the right phases and leaves me refreshed requires proper planning and preparation, consistency and discipline; that’s a whole different story.