LSD (Another free sample from the upcoming BUY THE BOOK)

(Please note that this will be the last free sample.  With a little luck the book will be available later this summer so you can get your own copy and quit trolling this blog for freebies!)

1982.  It was the year my first son Justin was born.  It was the year I started running in the morning as opposed to the afternoon.  It was the year my life changed forever.  It was the year I fell prey…to LSD.

It wasn’t long before I started showing signs of being heavily into LSD.  Falling asleep before 9 p.m.  Passing out in the lounge chair when I got home from work.  Nodding off in meetings during the day.  Waking up well before the roosters to take care of my running addiction. (What?  You thought I was going to say lysergic acid diethylamide?  Heck, I just told you one paragraph ago what I was doing in the mornings!  Do I have to s-p-e-l-l-i-t-o-u-t-f-o-r-y-o-u?)  LSD.  Long-term Sleep Deprivation. 

Ever since I started setting my alarm for 3:30 a.m. (for a two-year period in the late ‘80’s I was setting my alarm an hour earlier than that) I haven’t been much for late nights.  In fact my normal bedtime is now 9:30.  On a good night that gives me a full six hours of sleep.  Having done that for the past three decades, six hours has become my equivalent of eight hours and 43 minutes.  (I read that’s how much sleep   the average American gets a night.  I can tell you right now I don’t know any average Americans.)  On weekends I stay up all the way until 10 p.m., seeing as I get to sleep in on weekends until 4 a.m.  I average two days a year of (again, my equivalent) of really sleeping in: the day after Thanksgiving and one other random day during the year (usually when my body is on the brink of exhaustion).  On those days I might not wake up until 6:30 or so, only to feel like my body has a touch of rigor mortis from being asleep so long (usually a little over seven hours). 

I don’t like Eastern Daylight Time as I’m very capable of going to bed before the sun goes down (and conversely I love it when the time changes and it’s dark before 6 p.m.).  My boys used to tuck me in when they were small.  I can’t sit on a chair or a couch in a reclining position for fear (read: guarantee) of falling asleep (Note: It doesn’t have to be my chair or couch, as I’ve been known to take my show on the road).  A catnap of three minutes has proven to rejuvenate me.  If I wake up before the alarm goes off I can fall back asleep—even if I wake up, look over at the clock and realize I only have one more minute until it sounds.  Yes, all symptoms of LSD.  However, I prefer to call it my gift.  I can virtually sleep on command.  One time in the middle of an intense workout on the track I stopped for water, lied down on my back and promptly fell asleep.  Another time I finished a 24-hour run and within 30 seconds after the gun sounded signifying the end of the event I lied down on the course and promptly fell asleep.  I fell asleep during a parent-teacher conference with Justin's third grade teacher (not to worry--Cindy stayed awake).  One time lying next to Cindy in bed I told her I could fall asleep before she got to the end of the next sentence she was about to say to me; I did.  Like I said, a gift. 

I’ve got to be honest and tell you that sleep is precious to me.  Six hours is a lotttt so when I have the opportunity to squeeze in a nap or two during the day—even if it’s only for a couple of minutes each time well, every little bit helps. 

There are not many things for which I would sacrifice sleep.  In fact, here’s a complete list with the most likely thing I would sacrifice sleep for listed first and everything else listed in descending order:

·      My grandson

·      Natural disasters

·      *Any medical emergency involving Cindy that would preclude her from driving herself to the hospital

·      My job/My daily run

·      University of Florida football game

·      Survivor finale

·      University of Florida basketball game (NCAA tournament game only)

·      Sex

*Just kidding.  I would actually wake up and call for an ambulance.