Insomnia

What does a person think about when they are alone with their thoughts for an extended period of time? This was the question that first came to mind when I met JMK, the first person I knew (through work, at the time) who did this long distance triathlon caper.

When I talk about swimming or running with people I often hear the sentiment "I can't do it, I get bored" (a less common sentiment with cycling, until I pull out my 150km Regents Park rides).

As I navigate my third year of triathlon training, and my fifth year of being a runner I don't think I've ever been bored during a training session (except for my one attempt to run on a treadmill), and I still don't know exactly what my brain does during these training sessions.

You know the hourglass that a computer shows when it's loading a program, or 'thinking'? That is how I think of my thoughts when I'm cycling or running. I don't have thoughts at the front of my mind, but I can feel things being sorted out in the back rooms, processed, filed. The combination of this semi-conscious thinking time, combined with endorphins and that nice kind of exhaustion that comes from physical exertion means that I spend only rare nights lying awake unable to sleep with thoughts racing.

Unfortunately, tonight is one of those nights.