Knackered Wake Up and Run

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Last night, before going to sleep I had a thought. If the meeting time is 05:15 then I can’t wake at 4am as planned, I need to wake half an hour earlier, to be there in time for the warm up, and possibly earlier to pick up the running stuff.

In the end, after struggling to sleep properly I woke at 03:20 and decided that it was time to wake. I turned off the alarms and got ready. I then drove to Morges and when I got out of the car I was struck by how warm it felt. I had expected to be cold. I removed a layer and left it in the car. There was no need for it.

I often say of early mornings that the challenge is to get to sleep at a reasonable time to get enough sleep to feel fresh. Last night at 18:00 I saw alcoholics prepare their outdoor table for a drinking session that would last far into the night. You may think “How do you know they’re alcoholics” and the answer is volume. Sober people usually don’t sit in a garden all night long getting louder and louder through the night, and they especially don’t do this on a regular basis.

Sober people remain in control and quiet. I bring this up because it is key. Last night I was sleeping by 21:30, but I kept being woken up. Recently I’ve been sleeping through the night. I believe that their loud dog barking, and loud laughter, and chatter kept being just loud enough to wake me.

The result is that I felt fine when driving, and running, and when charging the EV on the way home, but after lunch I felt truly exhausted so I had a siesta. This wasn’t the usual twenty minutes. This was one and a half hours of waking, and going back to sleep. This is exhaustion level sleep.

Caffeine might be to blame for the erratic sleep, as could hydration, or heat, but I suspect that noise pollution is to blame. It’s a shame to sleep so sporadically the day before an event because the event felt fine, and I felt fine when driving. It’s afterwards that you think “waking so early is absurd.”

Having said this Morges is a little different to Nyon, with the run because it is not as clear. It’s in the trees by the lake and there is less light so knowing where to go to see and do the warm up is less convenient, and a lot of us were on the wrong side of the start line. We eventually moved to the right side, and then we began running.

The course is relatively flat and has to cross roads at one or two points and there are three or four spots where it is good to have a head torch to light the path ahead.

The head torch reflex is from my first Wake Up and Run in Nyon, when I found myself running through the woods, happy to be near people with lights especially when we were by the river.

That experience, and reflex to take a light was correct for this run as well. The light was only turned on for a few meters at a time, just to reduce the risk of being tripped up.

It is worth highlighting that I did the Morges Wake Up and Run because I run with the Morges 6AM group, and it was an opportunity to try Wake Up and Run with a group, rather than as a solo event like I have done in the past. Travelling from Nyon to Morges at 4:30 or so is a little too early to be rational. I participated in this event for the social aspect and that was good.

In theory next week’s Wake Up and Run event will be social as well. We’ll see if the alcoholics make noise again. While writing this the second group of alcoholics started making noise in another garden so sleep, tonight, could be sporadic once again, but I don’t need to go to bed early, or wake early.

I miss living in a quiet village, where you were never in any doubt about a good night of sleep. Densification, on paper, is fantastic, but in reality it is a nightmare, because garden parties are not private when multiple houses, and apartments can hear, and see the alcoholics.

Switzerland is no longer quiet after 22:00, due to so many people treating their gardens as beer gardens.

I’m glad that I am part of a community that wakes up and runs, and wakes up and cycles. I’m glad that I am part of a sporty community rather than a drinking society. Years ago I took the decision to have scuba diving, hiking, via ferrata and more adventures, rather than drink my weekend away. Now I run and cycle. My habit is sustainable and healthy.