Despite all of the things I did growing up that could have injured me, I’ve never broken a bone or received stitches.  I’ve also never ridden in an ambulance, or had to visit a hospital for anything more than some tests.  That all changed (except for the broken bones) on Wednesday night of last week.

The day started out great.  Lately I had been very tired because, I guessed because I’d had a stomach bug since the previous Tuesday.  I hadn’t been feeling well, and I imagined I wasn’t getting the most out of my meals, either.  Not that I was helping the situation by eating anything and everything I came upon.  But that morning, I felt great.  So great that I finally went out and got the hair cut I’d been meaning to get.  I had also mowed the lawn, another chore I had been putting off until I felt better.

But this was also the day that our dog, Greta, was getting spayed, or steralized as they say here.  So I dropped her off around 4 in the afternoon.  They gave her a shot to knock her out, and I stayed with her until she practically melted into my lap and was out cold.  It was after this that I went to get my hair cut.

I should also mention that Jess was out of town on a school trip, as was another friend of ours whose dog I was watching.  So after my haircut I came back to walk and feed Natty, and get some more work done.  Around 6:30 or so I got the call from the vet that Greta was all ready and I could come pick her up. 

When I got there, they brought her out in her green doggy hospital gown, all laced up the back.  She was still very groggy from the anesthetic, but her tail was wagging when she saw me.  The vet handed her to me and asked me to wait.  They were tending to a cat at the moment, and I still had to pay and take care of a few things. 

So I sat with her for about 20 minutes or so.  While I had her I noticed her foot was still bleeding (we had a dew claw with no bone in it removed to avoid possible problems with it in the future).  It wasn’t much, but the combination of the blood, unrine soaked smock, and drugged puppy were a bit sad.

Once they were able to see me, I went in and showed them the foot.  They then wrapped it with gauze, as well as her front foot where the IV was.  They said we had to leave it in until we came back in 2 days when they would remove it and give her a check-up and a few shots (pain medication and another shot to help her immune system).  After the bandaging was done, I reminded them I still needed to pay for some other medication they gave me previously, but they waived it. 

It was around that point, almost an hour after I arrived, that I started to feel a bit dizzy.  This has happened to me in sterile environments like doctor’s offices and hospitals.  I’m not sure, but I think it’s usually a combination of the smells and the overabundance of flourescent lights and white furniture/walls.  While they ran the card, I took a seat and waited for the dizziness to pass.  It was actually getting worse than a normal head rush or fleeting dizzy spell.  When they brought my card back, I stood to put it in my wallet.  I was a bit too shy to just admit I wasn’t feeling well and sit and wait for it to pass, and thought I could just power through.

The next thing I remember was waking up from a dream to look up from the floor at the 2 doctors.  I had apparently passed out, and hit my head on the table on the way down.  Strangely my neck and back of my head didn’t hurt at all, but my temple was throbbing and I was still very disoriented. 

They cleaned me up, and after a few minutes had me move to the couch.  They also called for an ambulance for me.  It took probably 20 minutes or so, maybe more, for them to arrive.  They looked me over, took my information and walked me to the ambulance. They didn’t seem concerned, and I’m guessing that their initial tests told them there was nothing serious wrong, and that I’d just need a few stitches.

Wait?  Stitches!?  Never had those before!  Those were my thoughts as I staggered to the ambulance.  The night air helped clear my head, though the ambulance ride had started to make me nauseous.  Once we got to the hospital it was very simple.  The doctor stitched me up, and I did my best to answer his questions with my limited Polish.  Then they took a head x-ray and sent me on my way! 

My friend, Dale, came and picked me up, and on our way home we swung by to get the dog.  Later, when I was telling Jess about it, I commented on how it was funny the way things always seem to work out for me, and reaffirmed that I must have a friend upstairs looking out for me.  Of course she looked at me cross-eyed, so I had to explain. 

Since I had just gotten my hair cut, it was easy to see that there were no cuts hiding under my hair.  The lawn was mowed, so I didn’t have to worry about that.  Getting a ride with Dale meant that I didn’t have to carry the dog home.  When I hit my head, I only got a small gash in my eyebrow.  So I was lucky enough not to hit my eye, or my temple (at least, not directly…  that part of my head was pretty sore).  Plus the cut is hardly visible, since it blends with my eyebrow.  I had no concussion or anything like that.  It happened in a medical facility, so they were able to clean the cut with antiseptic and gauze, plus take care of me.  Also, their English is pretty good, which was helpful.

I also got a lot of medical firsts out of the way all in one, relatively painless, shot; stitches, ambulance, hospital, foreign hospital.  Plus I got to practice my Polish a bit.

I don’t know… call me optimistic, but the whole thing was actually a pretty positive experience overall.  You know, aside from the pain and all. 

It’s time to play a little catch-up.  When it comes to writing, I’ve been a bad little monkey lately.  So I’m finally going to take the time and get back on the wagon, starting with the tale of our vacation in Egypt.

Egypt is one of those places I’ve always wanted to visit.  There’s so much history there, and it’s so vastly different from where I grew up.  It’s a place that, to me, has always been mysterious and exotic, yet frighteningly alien.  And discouragingly far away.

But that’s different now.  Living in Warsaw has given me the opportunity to visit places I might never have otherwise been able to.

This past Spring (2009) my wife and I booked a last-minute deal vacation to Marsa Alam, at resort on the coast of the Red Sea, right on the reef.

The Resort

The resort was very nice, and relatively empty.  It was a man-made oasis in stark contrast to the barren surroundings, situated right next to a beautiful coral reef.

It was a fun place to stay.  It would have been more fun with more people playing games, or maybe a livelier "Animation" crew.  But the meals were good, and the facilities very nice.  And with fewer people, it was a very relaxing place to be.

There was a section of shops within the resort that we shied away from at first.  We had a good time visiting the shops, drinking tea with the proprietors and chatting with them while browsing through their goods.  It was unnerving and uncomfortable at first, but it wasn’t long before we were looking forward to our regular visits to the shops.

Camel Ride

One of the activities offered by the resort was a camel or horse ride through the desert.  This was intriguing to both of us because neither of us have ever ridden a camel, and I’ve never seen a desert in person.  Jess had been to deserts in the Mid-West, but they were very different than this.

We started out by riding up the coast to the next town.  This town was still being built, and was still empty.  It was strange to see a city in the middle of the desert with almost no people in it, but the main reason it was built was tourism, and it hadn’t been fully opened for tourists yet.  Though there were some divers who were based out of there.

After that we arced around, crossed the highway, and headed into the desert.  I’ve never seen anything so desolate and barren.  With the exception of the trash, there was just sand.  And not beach sand… it was like dead earth sand.  The sun was relentless, and as far as you could see was all sand.  It wasn’t long before we couldn’t see the sea or the resort anymore.

At one point the horses were given the opportunity to run.  One boy riding either wasn’t able to, or didn’t want to stop his horse, so we had to wait on our loping camels while the rest of the horses chased them down. 

It was very interesting and enlightening, but not something I think I’d like to do again.  At least, not without a purpose.  The desert is less than friendly, and the camels aren’t exactly comfortable, either.  Though being so high up does give the advantage of being above the heat radiating off of the sand.

Cairo

Our next stop was an excursion we had booked to Cairo.  Due to our still limited grasp of the Polish Language, we looked for an English group to go with.  We left from our hotel around 1am, and didn’t return until the same time the next day.  It was long, but worth it, despite the fact that on the bus ride to the airport I started to feel sick.

After a bus ride to Hurgada, and a short plane ride to Ciaro, we were on our way.  Our first stop was the Mosque of Muhammed Ali (not the boxer).  The Mosque is located within the fortress of Sala al-Din (A.K.A. Saladin).  The mosque is very plain, as mosques tend to be to emphasize the focus on God, but still impressive.

From outside of the mosque, you could just make out one of our next destinations, the pyramids at Giza.  If it had been less hazy, they would have been very visible.

Before that, though, we went to the National Museum.  We had a quick tour up to the King Tut exhibit, which was really cool.  Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed in the museum.  Other exhibits included ancient artifacts that were so old it boggled my mind.  It was incredible to be standing there, looking at something that someone made 5000 years ago.

We then took a bus right up to the pyramids.  It was really impressive to see them up close.  I knew they were big, but when you stand next to one of the blocks and it’s bigger than you, it’s pretty awe-inspiring.

Near the pyramids is the Sphynx.  Something else I had always wanted to see, and I wasn’t disappointed.  Though I would have like to have been able to get closer and really look at it, that’s reserved for the professionals, and opening it for tourists to climb all over is probably not a good idea.

After the sphyx we made a stop by the Grand Bazaar, but didn’t have enough time to really visit, and I was still feeling horribly sick.  After a small stop at a papyrus shop, we were on our way home.

Snorkeling on the Reef

After visiting all of the ancient man-made artifacts, we spent some time enjoying the natural wonders.  I’ve never seen anything like a reef, so for me this was another incredible experience.  Luckily we decided to buy an underwater camera.  It was amazing and really makes me want to take diving lessons, despite how much it hurts my ears.

We had an awesome time in Egypt, despite getting sick.  I would definitely like to go back some day, and hopefully visit the places we missed the first time around.

I realize that I haven’t been keeping up very well with this blog lately, so I’m going to play a little catch-up by writing about last week’s Triathlon.  I still probably won’t be writing regularly (I’ve got too many distractions at the moment), but I’ll eventually get around to posting the big stuff.  I’m also trying to work on some more poetry, so hopefully I’ll have something worthwhile to share from that crop.

May 1st is Labor Day here in Poland and the school was closed that day, so a few of the teachers decided to organize a triathlon.  I’m glad they did it!  It was fun and challenging, and the first time I’d ever done anything like that.

We started bright and early at the school pool.  We had enough people for 2 heats, but somehow I ended up with my own lane.  I hadn’t put much training into swimming, so it was by far my weakest event.  Up until then, I was swimming only twice per week, and then only practicing the breast stroke.  The first day I did a full 500 meters without stopping was, of course, the day before the triathlon.  But I managed to putter along at a decent pace, and was out of the water after about 12-13 minutes.  I was told a swim cap and a "snugger" swimsuit would help (I was wearing my big baggy surfer-style swimshorts).  But I didn’t want to change anything that close to the event.

After that, I took the longest in transition to the bike.  I think this is in part because I planned to slough my stuff around with me, so I packaged it very neatly into my bike bag, which I ended up leaving for the voluneers to bring along.  I also got a bit stuck putting on my bike shirt (it was bunched under my armpits – I imagine it would have been very humorous to watch me dancing around the locker room)

Knowing I am a slow swimmer, and that I was behind, I shot off the mark on my bike.  My newly purchased bike computer showed me my speed, and I was quickly up to 20km/h.  But I hit a snag at the back entrance when I realized I wasn’t sure which direction to go from there to get to the trail.  Luckily the security guard there pointed me in the right direction.  After I passed through the sand, I was able to get back in my rythm and was able to get myself up to around 30km/h (according to the computer – may be configured wrong).

Not long after that, I came to the only street crossing on the trail.  Now, a sequence of events was about to domino into sending me down the wrong path…  So I’ll start with the background.  Before leaving the school, I mentally ran through the course.  It was pretty much identical to how I get to and from the school on a regular basis.  I usually cross the road at the crosswalk, and was visualizing myself hitting the button, waiting, and crossing there.  However, when I arrived at the intersection, one of the volunteers was there to monitor traffic and help us cross quickly.  When he waved me across, my brain malfunctioned and figured for some reason that he was waving me along the course, which I had wrong.  So I shot across the street and kept going when I should have turned.  Part of the reason I thought this was part of the course, was that I had ridden it the week before.  At the end of the road, I realized I’d gone the wrong way, but rather than turn around, I knew the trail reconnected to the main trail farther up, and I figured it would save me time to keep going, rather than turn around.  What I didn’t figure on, was that the trail angled away, and that the trail was rough dirt and sand, whereas the trail I was supposed to be on was paved.  So I ended up taking much longer both in time and distance, and when I finally reconnected, I was a bit disheartened.

My speed dropped down around18-20km/h as I watched everyone pass by me.  I was really mad at myself, and bummed.  Not so much because I got slowed down, as that my time didn’t apply to the course, so I won’t really know how good I did.  But shortly after I rounded the halfway point, I firmed up and took control again.  I thought about my taekwondo training and our emphasis on indomitable spirit.  I’d let myself slip, but just knowing that re-lit my fire.

So I pounded out the last stretch and rolled into the last leg – the running.  One of the other triathletes, Larry, was finishing his run as I biked in, so there was a bit of confusion as to where I should go.  But I got in and off the bike no problem.  Then it was time to run.  I was all ready to go, so I just had to hop off and get moving, but my legs had another plan.  They were stiff and I felt like the tin-man before he got oiled!  After a few steps, though, I started to loosen up, and about half-way it actually felt really nice.  The problem came shortly after, when the combination of allergies and cold air made it tough to breathe, so I got a bad stitch in my side.  I didn’t want to walk, but I eventually gave in and walked, stretching and breathing.  I tried to run again after a bit, but it came right back.  I kept walking, but was cringing at each breath.  After a while of deep breathing, I was feeling good again, and finished the course at a good jog.

The feeling at the finish line was awesome.  Getting cheared on and finishing something so challenging was a great feeling.  And the barbecue afterwards was a good feeling too!  The next few days I expected to be really sore, but surprisingly wasn’t.  In fact, I felt like doing it again!  That’s a testament to the training I’d been doing, and next year I plan to be even more prepared and really reduce my time.  Mostly by going the right direction, but also from training, too.

I’ve finally gotten around to beginning the work for remaking my site.  I’m saving myself some effort for the time being by using Joomla (a pre-made content management system).

As a result of this new, and easier to manage site, I will no longer be posting technical articles here (not that I did many).  Additionally I hope to actually write more of them and post them on the main site.

So this blog will now be solely for personal articles – the usual sharing of experiences.  The main section of my website will be devoted to web design and hosting, and I will be doing some spring cleaning on the server – archiving old files and removing them from the server.

I’m still not opening the doors and taking on new design clients – I simply don’t have the time – but I’ll be putting the information out there nonetheless.  I may even get into template design, or some other more hands-off approach, and hopefully I can get together some good articles published that will help people out.

This is the last you’ll hear from me on this subject, promise!

So I feel I may have been too hasty in summing up the polyphasic sleep experiment experience.  Now that I’ve had a few days back on "normal" sleep, I can make a much better comparisson.

First of all – in conclusion I believe that this sleep pattern is NOT something anyone can make into a lifestyle.  It is, however, useful for brief periods of time where one needs to be awake almost constantly.

On the topic of exercise and muscle recovery…  I figured the uberman sleep would not be sufficient to regenerate muscle tissue, and that I would be constantly sore.  To test this, I worked out twice per day (sometimes thrice).  My shoulders would get sore, but I would recover.  And that recovery seemed fairly quick.  Additionally I felt I was more flexible.  However, looking back now, I can see that my starting flexibility was indeed greater, but my elasticity suffered.  So I was like an old rubber band – stretched out to the max, but unable to go farther.  I felt I needed less time to warm up and that I had more energy, but this was an illusion created by the fact that my muscles never "unstretched", and the extra energy was from the frequent naps.  The same kind of energy and alertness can be gained by napping with a regular sleep schedule (though I admit you need less time if you nap regularly).

Now on a biphasic sleep schedule (I have also eliminated my alarm clock – since that’s the worst thing for you!) I have noticed that my flexibility is not that great to start, but I can stretch it easier.

My back pain, however, is significantly worse.  But it was worse as I changed back, so I’m guessing a similar situation to flexibility, where it wasn’t hurting, but it was not in a healthy state and now that it has the time to heal at night, I feel it.  I have decided to go back to other methods of fixing the pain, such as core strengthening and stretching (I was doing these during uberman, too).

The Uberman schedule constantly recharges you with naps, however, considering the "Clock and Hourglass" model (Explained at supermemo’s website, along with a strong arguement against this type of sleep pattern, you can see how this is only a temporary fix.  The body eventually forces you to sleep (thus my increasing oversleeping)

It is said that you will suffer creative and memory… reduction.  However, I noticed neither.  Of course, when I was intensely sleepy, I wasn’t remembering or creating anything.  Oftentimes my only thoughts were that next nap.  But that would be due to preoccupation, not some physical change.  But aside from continuing my Polish lessons, I did not test this.  My Polish did not suffer as a result, though this was hardly a quantitative test.

The added freetime was also a bit of an illusion.  Technically, I had created a 21 hour day (I slept 30 minutes every 4 hours, which is a total of 3 hours asleep).  However, this day was broken into very small chunks, often too small to be useful.  My schedule worked very well, however, in that I was doing things in roughly 3-4 hour blocks.  So I would finish and rush back for that nap.  But sometimes I spent the 30 minutes before and after in a daze, and sometimes an entire block was rendered useless.  Other times, I was severely limited in what I could do during my block of time.

So, though I had created more hours, they were less productive and less useful.  I was only able to do slightly more, instead of the mountains of time I had believed I would create.  In conclusion, it would be better to be on a monophasic or biphasic sleep schedule, and just spend my time more productively.  I figure if I have the willpower to try uberman, I can make myself do my chores in a timely manner, and pay attention to work better.

From all of the research I read, and my own experimentation, I would say that Uberman is a great temporary fix.  But it is like walking the edge of a knife.  It’s a delicate balance, that can have disasterous consequences.  Instead, it would be better to sleep on a biphasic schedule (sleep a large chunk at night, then have a brief nap the next afternoon), since this lines up with human physiology better. 

I’m not sure what the long-term effects of a polyphasic schedule would be.  The effects of sleep deprivation in the short term (5 weeks for me) were nearly eliminated, so there is some merit to it.

Being a dreamer, and a martial artist, I firmly believe in the power of the body to adapt, and the mind to overcome.  I have seen people do things that others would say are impossible.  So I still maintain that it might be possible to adapt so something like this.  However, it would take the right alignment of personal physiology, discipline, and environment, though.  And even then, who knows.

Jess’ school is holding a triathlon this spring, and we’ve decided to enter and give it a shot.

Only this past week have I really started giving thought to the training.  The event is May 1st, and will consist of:

500 m swim in the ASW pool
14 km bike ride from school to Wilanów
3 km run

My training so far is:

Monday & Thursday mornings – swim before teaching TKD
Bike in to school and home whenever I go in (4 days/week currently) (I live in Wilanów, so this is perfect practice)
Running with Greta.  Which is usually just a few small sprints, or a jog around the block, but it’s helping.

The biking is pretty straightforward, and I’ve been getting more used to this since we moved to Poland.

Running I can do, but I need to do a little training, but mostly I need to focus on core and back strengthening, because running causes my back to hurt a lot, and causes some of my back muscles to cramp up really badly.   Diet will help me out here, too.

The swimming is the hardest part.  I’ve never done lane-style swimming.  Just freeform in the pond type swimming.  So I’m learning better form, and breathing…  my God the breathing is the hardest part!  If I’m not sucking in water from the pool, I’m getting it as it streams down my face.  It’s frustrating, and I’ve also been breathing too shallow up in my chest.  So I’m working on this, and I’m also putting more focus on breathing again in my taekwondo training.

I’m hoping to find a taekwondo school, maybe this week.  It will make the training I’m doing even harder, but that’s ok!

With all the training I’ve been doing, I’m starting to notice that I’m getting in better shape again.  Muscles are getting more defined, sleep and apetite have been really good.  And I’ve just been feeling really great.  Though my back is killing me these past few days, I blame my sleep shift, and the fact that I’ve just started riding the bike again – which hurts my back, but not as much as running.

I might try to get the clip pedals and shoes for the bike, because that makes it much better.  I never realized why before, until someone explained that you pull on the up-stroke, as well as pushing down, so the force is doubled, but the energy is more or less the same.  Plus it’s more of a constant pressure, which reduces the resistance and shock.  We’ve got a great (if expensive) bike shop a block away, so I’ll probably go see what he’s got. 

I’ve been watching what I eat, too, though not quite for the training.  I’ve been having a lot of fruits and vegetables, plus a fair bit of carbs and starches.  Probably too much of the latter, but as I start to do more, it will balance out.

So after just over 5 weeks on the Uberman schedule, I’ve decided to end it.

The main reason was that this past week, I continually overslept, making each day progressively worse and undoing more and more of what I had accomplished.  I got fed up with fighting sleep each night, and ran out of active activities.

Some of the underlying problems for me are that most of what I like to do are very sedentary activities: Reading, working on the computer, playing games on the computer (or other video games), and other things like that.  I wasn’t able to keep myself busy enough with chores and things like cooking during the night, and eventually succumbed to the boredom and wanted to sleep through the time.

On the other side, being on the Uberman schedule was great.  I felt amazing most of the time.  My back hurt much less, and my flexibility was increased.  I had noticed the "heightened awareness" that some people reported, but not to the degree they’ve described.  Most of it was because of the refreshed feeling of the power-nap.  But my favorite benefit was that I felt light.  Light and springy.  I just felt healthy and alive.  Not that I didn’t normally, but this was much moreso. 

The extra time was great, but not as noticeable, since it was frequently broken up, and some days I’d wake up at just the wrong moment and be groggy until the next nap.

I still don’t think I ever managed to completely adjust.  I had only had a few times where I woke up before the alarm, and I was only remembering dreams about 1/4 of the time.  But I was close.

Anyways, the main purpose of this little experiment was to prove that it could be done, and that I could do it.  My main goal is to adopt this schedule for the month of July (at least) when I am home, so I can maximize my visitation time with friends and family, and make my work and exercise as transparent as possible.  Of course, this means I have to adhere to the very strict schedule (as do my friends and family), but in the end I think it would be very much worthwhile.

But for now, I’m going back to a more "normal" sleep schedule.  I’m not sure I can handle 100% monophasic, but I’m thinking to adopt either the Siesta schedule, or the more flexible Everyman schedule, which is about a 3 hour core sleep, with a few 20-minute naps sprinkled around.  I have to play with it and decide.

There are a few things I learned from this experiment that I will be carrying over into any and all sleep from here on out.  One is that I want to keep a regular schedule every day – even weekends.  This keeps my body on a rhythm and makes sleep much more effective.  Most people don’t realize it, but they hurt themselves every time they change their sleep schedules – even daylight savings time.  Nothing permanent of course, but enough to throw you off for a day or two.

The second thing I’ll be doing is watching my diet.  Having gone almost completely veggie has been great.  Difficult, but good.  I’ve also cut out most dairy and gluten, which I feel may be helping my digestion.  I still need to cut back on artificial sugars, though.

Lastly, I’d like (as a result of keeping to a steady schedule) to be able to eliminate the need for an alarm clock.  If you need an alarm clock to wake you, then it’s probably shaking you from the middle of a sleep phase, which can leave you feeling groggy or worse.  Waking naturally, at the end of the cycle, is much better for you.  However, your body needs to know when you’ll be getting up!  So a regular schedule (and some mental training) is a must.

I don’t want to give up on polyphasic sleep all together, however the social limitations of the Uberman schedule were difficult even for me, who works from home.  I may try a different schedule, but for the next few days I’m just going to sleep when I’m tired, and enjoy the freedom of sleeping whenever the heck I want to!

If anyone asks my favorite season, I always say Fall (or Autumn, if that’s your thing).  Though I’m not the kind of person to have a "favorite" anything.  In fact, I like all of the seasons pretty much equally.

However, when I really think about it, it’s Winter that I like the best.

Why Winter?  It’s not the grey skies, or the bitter cold, that’s for sure.  And I do love the look of a fresh frosting of snow, and the silence of a winter morning.  Swirling flakes calm the soul, and a sleigh ride, snowball fight, or any other snow-filled romp refreshes the spirit.

However, what gives Winter the edge over other seasons, is that it makes the other seasons better. 

Just before springtime you can feel the tension of life, just below the surface, waiting for the opportunity to burst out.  And when that happens, it’s impossible not to take notice and revel in the joy and beauty of it all.  So much color after a season of only shades of grey.

On the other end, Fall prepares us for the coming Winter like a child’s lullaby.  A second stirring of color, dancing on a crisp breeze.  The colder days and longer nights draw us closer together; for warmth and for comfort.  Harvest time brings a celebration of plenty, in preparation for the coming barren months.

I was reflecting on all of this, since we had such nice weather this weekend, and was out enjoying as much of it as possible.  It made me realize that it wasn’t so much the weather now that I liked as it was the contrast to the weather we’d had previously.  At least, that’s what made it stand out so much.

So it turns out, after a little thought, that it isn’t so much that Spring and Fall that are so great, as it is that the difference between them and the Winter is great.  This holds true to many other things in life, too.  Sure, the things are great on their own, but that’s not what makes us take notice.  Just like you can’t appreciate (or even define) light without darkness, so can you not have joy without suffering.  Luckily Winter isn’t all suffering (actually, for some the roles are reversed!).

Well, it’s now been 5 weeks since I first adopted the Uberman sleep schedule, and I think I’m still adjusting.  Typically it takes about 2 weeks, during which time about 1 week of that is extreme exhaustion as your body becomes sleep deprived, and eventually adapts.  

In my case, however, I’ve had a problem with oversleeping every few days, typically between the 1:30am and 5:30am naps.  When this happens (as it did this morning) I wake feeling overly tired and bloated.  My limbs feel like lead, and my muscles refuse to respond in a timely fashion.  I also have some joint pain – especially in the back.  If you don’t know, I have a back injury from when I was 14 that still hurts, and causes some mobility problems.  Some times are worse than others, and usually a good twist & pop sets it right for a bit.  Those times, when the pain is gone, I feel like a new person.

On the Uberman sleep, the naps are so short that the body doesn’t get to stiffen up from sleep.  I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not.  At first, I speculated that it would take longer to recover from exercise, but I have found this is not true.  I’ve worked out just as hard – if not harder – and recovered as normal – if not quicker.  It could be perception, but I do feel as if I’ve recovered quicker.  I’ve definitely had less of the "day after" effect, which I attribute to more activity which helps flush the lactic acid out of the system.

I’ve actually been exercising anywhere from 2-3 times per day on this schedule.  Partially out of necessity to stay awake, but also because I want to improve my tae kwon do.

As for some of the other, predicted side effects, I’ve experienced next to none.  I was told this kind of sleep could affect the transition of short-term to long-term memory, but I haven’t seen a noticeable difference.  I’ve continued Polish lessons, as well as other learning, at a normal pace and with no additional difficulties.

I have experienced the extreme sleepiness, where it is next to impossible to stay awake.  Lately I gave in to this, but I have now resolved myself to fight it more effectively.  

I’ve debated whether or not to continue this schedule.  My original plan was to go 1 month, make the adjustment, and decide whether to continue or not – with plans to do it again for the summer if possible.  Especially with an upcoming trip to Egypt planned, I wasn’t sure I’d want to stay up all night with nothing to do.

So far, the biggest causes of unwanted, unscheduled sleep have been boredom, and comfort.  Getting too comfortable and then falling asleep was more a problem of willpower.  Boredom was also partly due to willpower (I had things I could do, but didn’t feel like doing them), and also a lack of creativity and thoughtful planning.

One of the activities I’ve just recently tried to help keep me awake was something I’d forgotten: Learning.  Normally I’ll spend some time each day reading articles, watching videos, or perusing howstuffworks.com.  But I had stopped doing that (until tonight).  It’s a good way to do something low energy, but engaging enough to keep me awake.  Great for those "just before bed" moments, when working out is too much.

To summarize my experience so far – I’d say it’s been more difficult than I first thought, and though I’m pretty sure I’m not fully adapted – the benefits are great.  I feel really great, both physically and mentally.  The extra time didn’t have the effect I first thought, which would be to allow me to do more things I enjoyed.  Rather, it lowered my stress by allowing me to slow down and spread out the things I’m currently doing, with some time for other activities, like bike riding.  I’ve also had more time to finish chores, which also lowers my stress, as I always have food on hand and (usually) have a very clean house.  

These updates have been pretty standard, so you’ll notice I’ve slowed down on them.  I think instead, during the time I would normally report on, or complain about, this sleep schedule, I will work on some creative writing – one of my goals with the sleep has been to write more, and so far I’ve only barely managed that.

Till next time…

So today marks the 4th week that I’ve been keeping to the "uberman" polyphasic sleep schedule.  To recap, this is a schedule where I sleep for 30 minutes every 4 hours.  Usually the sleep is kept to around 15-20 minutes, but it takes me a while to fall asleep, so I block off 30 minutes.

In case you’re thinking that this sounds insane, think of sleep like food.  You can eat a really big meal and be full for most of the day, or you can have small snacks all day long.  Sleep is like food for the soul (I think, anyway), so this analogy kind of works.  And if you need more info, look up the book "Why we nap" by Claudio Stampi.  It’s out of print now, but you can still find copies.

Anyways, I’ve been doing this schedule now for 4 weeks, and I can’t say I’ve adjusted yet.  Part of the problem is that every 4 or 5 days, I’ve slipped up and overslept anywhere from 1 to 4 hours.  This is problematic, as the theory is that in order to get your body to adjust and hit REM sleep in the small naps, you need to be sleep deprived until your body catches on that this isn’t changing, and makes the adaptation.

Though, despite my screw-ups, I’ve come a long way.  I can fall asleep pretty much anywhere, anytime, in about 5 minutes or so.  Normally it takes me anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours to fall asleep at night. 

I know I’m hitting my deeper phases of sleep, becasue I’m dreaming and waking up feeling like I slept all night after each nap.  Just today I woke up with a tingly feeling that lasted until my next nap.

Some of the benefits I’ve seen so far are:

• Less joint stiffness and soreness.  For someone with back, knee, and hip soreness, this is a godsend!
• Increased flexibility – the constant motion and more opportunity for stretching, combined with not sleeping in one position for 8 hours has made me feel more limber than ever.  Though my sedentary job and lifestyle tend to counteract this.
• Decreased stress.  With 21-22 waking hours in each day, I’m in no rush to get stuff done.
• Increased energy.  Each nap gives a nice boost, and I usually (usually) have a lot of energy in between naps. 
• Better schedule – in a way..  I can work overnight when everyone is asleep and everything is closed.  Then during the day I can go out and run errands, explore the world, or just relax and enjoy the simple things.

And to be fair, here are some of the negatives:

• Loneliness – 22 hours awake with nobody to talk to is tough.  Not being able to cuddle up and sleep with my wife is tougher yet.   Though we’ve found ways to make it work (I lay down with her and read or do some work or we curl up with a movie till she falls asleep), and if I’m not too sleepy, I can cuddle up until she falls asleep, then sneak away.
• Too much couch time – With all this free time you’d think I’d be all over the place.  Not yet.  I’m still adjusting, and as such have spent a lot of time on the couch working (I make websites) and playing computer games.  But as I’m less groggy, I am getting more efficient in my work, and I’m also changing what I do for entertainment to be more active (ie more TKD, less Final Fantasy)
• Rigid schedule – missing even one nap is rough.  Oversleeping is hard to avoid, and worse than missing a nap if it happens.  The schedule is also tough to fit into the rest of the world.
• Extreme groggy periods – Usually between my 1:30am and 5:30am naps, I get so tired that I need to stay physically active, or I will give in to the temptation and sleep wherever I am.  Also, when waking up from most naps, you need to jump right up to avoid getting sucked back in.  If you can get straight up, you avoid the groggy and have tons of energy, otherwise you could be fighing your eyelids for the next 4 hours…  it’s like tossing a coin sometimes.
• Boredom.  When trying to stay awake, Boredom is your biggest enemy.  Make sure you have things planned, or you can end up wanting to sleep just to pass the time.  With 22 hours, you can get a LOT done.  I usually get dishes and laundry done each night, plus cleaning the kitchen/bathroom every other day or so.  Not to mention dusting the living room, which is something that was rarely done.  Now these are all clean constantly.

A few things I’ve observed that are neither bad nor good:

• Change in appetite – being awake that long, your body craves a 4th meal (at least).  I made the mistake of supplementing with cookies and cereal.  I’ll mention why cookies are bad, but cereal was killing me with both the excess milk, and of course, the loads of fiber.
• Watch what you eat – Certain foods make you groggy.  Others take more energy to digest.  For example, a diet of mostly fresh, raw vegetables, fruits, and nuts, tends to require less sleep than one including meat.  Additionally, any sugars, caffeine, or alcohol will severely impact your sleep.  Caffeine and sugar (synthetic sugars) both affect your energy levels in extreme ways, and should be avoided anyways.  Same goes for high-carb meals.  And alcohol can depress the body enough where you miss REM sleep all together (happens to me during normal sleep, and this sleep is more delicate).  I also found I eat less at each meal.
• Don’t get too comfortable.  I’ve made the mistake a few times of sleeping curled up on the couch with my dog.  Almost each of those times I’ve slept through my 2 alarms, and once missed an appointment.  It’s best to just lay down and get comfortable enough to sleep.  I’ve also taken to sleeping on my back – something I never did before because it took too long to fall asleep.  Though when I would nap before this, I noticed laying on my back left me feeling more refreshed.
• Have backup alarms.  Oversleeping is the WORST thing that can happen on this schedule.  I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s true.  In fact, for most sleep schedules, waking up out of phase can leave you messed up.  So as a general tip – sleep the same amount of time each night, and learn to wake without an alarm.   That being said, while conditioning yourself to this schedule, you need an alarm to wake up.  In fact, you’ll need 2 or 3.  I used my watch, which is pretty weak, but does the job, combined with my cell phone.  The cell phone was louder and blasted some techno.  It also vibrated, so I’d put it on a hard surface out of arms reach.  Problem is both of them turn off after 30 seconds or so, and I’ve slept through them both a few times.  So make sure you have backups!  Cause waking up is hard to do.

On my last day, I guess in honor of my struggle so far, I overslept.  Part of this was a desire to give up, and part was just not realizing what I was going.

At first, my thoughts were that since I made it my goal of 1 month, I can just give up now. 

But then I realized that I still haven’t made the complete adjustment – I still need alarms and I still have some intense sleepiness when I shouldn’t.  I know this is because of the frequency which I’ve overslept.

So I decided, armed now with more information and a fresh dose of will-power, that I’m going to go at least 2 more weeks.  During these 2 weeks I WILL NOT screw up.  If I do, then I’m done.  If I can make it work, then I will see how feasible it is to keep this schedule.  Ideally I’d like to keep this going through the summer, so I can maximize my visitation time with friends and family, while still getting my hours in for work.

This schedule isn’t for everyone, and there are variations (incidentally Siesta sleep is supposed to be the best for a vast majority of us) that might fit your lifestyle better.  I am doing this schedule not only because it is the most aggressive, but also because it fits my schedule well as a web designer who works with people 5-6 hours behind him. 

The thing to remember is that we’re all as different as we are alike.  The key is knowing yourself, and always maintaining a healthy balance, no matter what it is you do.

As I move forward, my plan is to schedule activities that are engaging and satisfying – increasing TKD practices to 3 per day (2 light ones at home, 1 tough one in the gym), writing some more, cleaning and organizing, planning and cooking meals and learning some cooking techniques, etc…  I might even take up painting, who knows!