I pushed too hard and now....

I overdid!  Pure and simple.  I had a short trip to Atlanta last week.  I needed to go to a few business meetings with my husband.  I wanted to explore the downtown by running around the Centennial Olympic Park.  I wanted to tour CNN.  I wanted to attend the Night at the Aquarium Gala.  I wanted to spend an evening catching up with an old friend.  I read a book.  I wanted to enjoy my trip.  Then two days after returning home, I wanted to drive to San Antonio, play with my grandkids and attend a 3 yr old birthday party.  The problem?  My body could keep up with all this, but my brain apparently cannot.  I did not have my afternoon nap or quiet time.  I did not  sleep well at night.  The mental stimulation of all the new things, talking, listening and processing, my brain was suddenly on overload.  I have not had this happen in months.  It sneaks up on me.  I should know better, but, hey I want to have fun too!  When I closed my eyes to try to sleep,  my ears ringing louder and sounding again like a loud buzz in my head. Headache, stiff neck, and no real rest.  Once asleep, there is no rest for this weary person, as the dream state is like a kaleidoscope on speed.  Pictures, places, words, sounds all like fast sound and video bites out of control.  I do have pills that were prescribed to calm my brain down to enable restful sleep, but if I take them, I am drowsy all the next day, even on the smallest dose.  I don't like to take them, so I don't.  My afternoon naps in effect unplug the CPU in my head and prevent overheating.  Who wants an enforced nap on a trip?  Apparently, I need to, as well as sticking to my normal routine.  The routine was key to reprogramming my brain initially, and seems to be important still.  Free forming and spontaneity must be limited for me to feel well.

So, coming home I knew I needed to get back on the routine.  Same time of day to sleep, wake, eat, run, rest, etc.  I have never been a routine driven person.  I have learned since my brain bleed, if I spend a lot of time listening, talking and processing new things, I need time to unplug and rest before going on to the next thing.  I had gotten to the point where I believed I did not need to put the routine first anymore.  I was wrong.

I am mentally exhausted.  It's tax time, and I have had to attend to those related issues, but I am planning on skipping the hour + long meeting with the accountant.  I will send Ben instead.  He can tell me what I need to do going forward without me sitting and listening to all the detail.  It takes planning to be sure to not over tax the brain.  Its like running.....you need to plan how long or how fast you need to train to reach your goal.  This has been a learning curve for me.  Part of what I must attend to, to be my best in July for the Senior Games is my brain.  The fact is that keeping a schedule and routine helps keep me balanced.  Its a good wake up call for me.  The trip to Minneapolis and the events surrounding the race I will run in will be mentally stimulating.  New places, new things, new people, meeting up with old friends, sightseeing, I need to prioritize my routine for my brain if I want to be able to run my best.  Everything is related. My weak spot is my desire to see and do everything without pause.  The pause button is a necessity to me to be at my top form.
This week I have plans to travel to Olean, New York, to celebrate my father's 92nd birthday with him and the family.  First of all, I need to schedule my brain's down time.  Otherwise I will not enjoy the trip fully, and will suffer from brain fog when I get back.  With 3 months + until race time, this will be part of my preparation, learning to control my time and still have fun.

Yesterday and today the most important thing for me to do was get enough rest.  I woke up at the same time, have been eating meals at same time, and scheduling an afternoon nap or quiet rest daily, and same bedtime is what I need to calm down my brain cells.  My runs are back on the morning schedule.  All things I have been acclimated to.  Trial and error is the way I know how to proceed.