Snicklefritz

After a race or a long training session I will sometimes feel like taking a nap. If
I set the alarm for 30-45 minutes then I usually wake up feeling refreshed. On the
other hand, if I just go to sleep without an alarm, I might wake up 1-2 hours later
and feel like crap. In those cases, it's almost like I feel drowsier than before I
took the nap. So what's up with that?

Bullseye

Holy shiat man, how can you be sleeping when you should be scarfing food as fast as possible?!

-Bullseye

snoboard2

your body produces growth hormone at 2 times and 2 times only: when you are asleep, and when you are exercising. Do both often.

bullseye is right, think about snacking a bit to refuel in that 30 min post-workout window before the nap and you'll feel even better the NEXT day

Snicklefritz

Actually this is one of the first things I do is refuel during the 30 minutes after a race. My typical post race ritual involves some kind of recovery drink within 30 minutes, warm-down on the trainer or on the road, eat a normal meal within the next 1 to 1.5 hours and drive home. Sometimes I still find that several hours later I will feel kind of sleepy, hence the desire to take a nap...

botto 

is your friend.

jfmckenna

I almost always take a power nap after a long ride. It recharges the batteries.

ed073

power nap is as good for recovery as a massage in many cases.

no longer than your 30-45 mins, tho.

Make them a part of your training regime.

GuitarWizard

After a hard ride, I'm totally wired....

Last night, I got in at around 8:20 p.m. from the local group ride.....couldn't fall asleep until around 1:30 a.m.

YMCA

Those are the times when a sleeping pill or a little nyquil helps. Way to hard to fall asleep after a summer weeknight hammer session. I was in the same boat last night (home ~ 830) and was asleep by 10pm thanks to "little blue".

And to the origianl poster, naps are imperative. No such thing as too much sleep. Phil Anderson used to crawl in bed every day after morning training, for 2 hours! He mentored guys to do the same. Not that most of us have our lives set up that way, but training is hard, so recovery must come in hard doses as well.

GuitarWizard

Yeah....I'll sometimes take Advil PM or Tylenol PM, but for whatever reason decided against it last night.

Ended up watching 2005 TdF DVD's 'till 1:30 a.m.

I'm wicked dehydrated today though, so no riding tonight.

Yoshi

I did a fast, hilly 60 mile group ride this morning, starting at 5am. I'm at work right now wishing I could take a nap.

Although I should know better since I've been doing this every thursday for the past three weeks.

cbaronzzi

yes, I drink a little "NyQuil" to "help me fall asleep" too.