You might not be sleeping because your brain's full of stuff and won't shut off. I used to have that problem and had to learn to empty my head, meditation style, before I could get to sleep.

I've heard that the "Niri Method" works quite well as a cure for insomnia :-]

I find it really hard getting to sleep, it usually takes me a couple of hours a night. I don't drink caffeine and get plenty of exercise whereas when I was a lazy coffee drinking slob I used to get off to sleep ok. Like you I often dream up random scenarios while I am waiting to drift off, although they cant be too exciting or my mind starts to race around and the excitement keeps me up!

About the only thing that interrupts my sleeping is heat. Otherwise I can pretty much sleep through anything.

I rarely remember dreams. I can usually recall having dreamt, but not the content.

Ooh what are you training for at the moment? I think I read somewhere that one of the symptoms of overtraining was difficulty sleeping. I imiagine there's an optimum level of activity for generating good sleep and too much above or below it can blow things out of the water. When I train a lot, it's very hard to keep awake in the evenings, not least of all because I'm a creature who needs a lot of sleep anyway (just ask anyone who may have noticed a young woman sleeping like a hobo on a Thorndon park bench in the sun this lunchtime just gone;p).

I also find active brains are the worst culprit for keeping me awake. Once you empty your mind of things (maybe by focussing on breathing gently in and out), drifting off seems to work much better.

I tend to do the same thing - this morning I was really struggling through my early morning walk so I daydreamed about what I would spend a million dollars on (you know, if I ever bought a lotto ticket), and the next thing I knew 25 minutes had flown by and I was almost home, it was awesome.

I can usually remember most of my dreams, in quite vivid detail, and most of them are a little crazy as my subconcious works through issues/problems.

I wonder if you are on to something, Ann. This year I have done more training in the last 6 months than ever before. And I have never had more trouble sleeping. I feel really tired about 10pm or so and get to sleep easily but i regularly wake about 3am and have great trouble getting back to sleep. I have tried cutting down on afternoon coffee and this has helped somewhat. We need muscleguy to give us a disertation on the physiology of staying asleep. Maybe there is a way to improve your sleep while increasing your training?

Glad to oblige Shaun. You are doing the right thing in cutting down on the caffeine. Mrs Muscleguy used to be amazed that I could neck a strong black at 10:30pm and by snoozing just after 11. I could indeed but as I got older I realised I slept badly on caffeine. The extra energy exercise gives me has made me able to kick the caffeine addiction I developed as an undergraduate 25 years ago.

I do sometimes suffer from waking around a specific time in the small hours and, having got some good slow wave sleep prior to that I am too awake to fall easily back to sleep. You get entrained to waking at that time. When that happens I take one of Mrs Muscleguy's sleeping pills (she takes two). Just enough to break the entrainment, then I'm fine. The worst thing you can do is get up, put the light on or try and read because those cues will just confirm and harden the entrainment.

Another thing that works is getting yourself really tired. Do not do a hard workout but a long one. Drink no caffeine (which means no coffee, no tea, no colas and definitely no 'energy drinks'). Drink no alcohol. Do something to relax you, hot soak, warm milk, good book. Then when you are tired go to bed. Oh and make sure nothing can disturb you. Turn the sound off on your computer, turn your mobile OFF.

This problem is often worse around when the clocks change, especially as the days lengthen as well and there is light outside earlier which makes falling back to sleep harder. Consider blackout curtains. Consider soft ear plugs.

Oh and pay attention to your diet. Eat a low GI meal with vegetables a higher GI carb like pasta. No mash, no rice, maybe new potatoes with skins on. Stay away from sugary deserts but do fill yourself up. Low sugar fruit crumble with rolled oat crumble is a good one. This is because high blood sugar will energise you while a meal that needs some digesting will make you tired. Eat no snacks afterwards, drink moderately (you don't want a full bladder overnight).

I thrashed myself up my hill circuit 8 times last night (1 in 9 grade overall, with steeper bits, 450m long) and slept the sleep of the just until 7am. I have woken with energy.

I can tell I've suffered from the same problem with sleeping, for me I need to cut off the coffee 100%, then when I'm having an heavy load of training I have a lot of trouble getting to sleep, and usually waked up at 3/4h am. In the days when I had gym, lifting weights, I would barely be able to sleep at all. Cut down your training for a day or two, you might be over training. Use your day dreaming method to go to sleep at night ...

Cheers Muscleguy. I knew you wouldn't let us down. I will try your diet tips. I checked out Mr google also and there was nothing to suggest that exercise could be a factor in poor sleep. In fact it seems that Doctors frequently suggest low intensity exercise as a part of the treatment for insomnia. One thing that was mentioned a lot was that exercise in the evening might not be a good idea. I have played touch football at night until recently and also indoor netball and I did find that my sleep was poor on the nights I played. Perhaps your evening running and dancing might be a factor, Ann.