I slept 8 hours last night. 8:10 to be exact. And I feel great.

I ran 10 miles this morning, the longest I've ever run. I don't even feel exhausted, as I'd expected. I've felt exhausted after running less than half of that distance before. My mental energy is up this morning too, as ideas (athletic, business, blog posts, life quality stuff) are popping up left and right.

I did drink a lot of water this morning, and ate bananas before my run and made sure to stay hydrated... but that doesn't explain the energy boost. I've done all that stuff before, ran less or not run at all, and felt less energetic.

It's gotta be the sleep.

I have never -- well at least since leaving home for college -- been an 8-hours-per-night sleeper. And I'm still not on many days. But the days when I do sleep that much, the increased energy is palpable.

In college I didn't even pay attention to sleep patterns or quality, and from 2005-2016 I paid enough attention to know I needed to take a nap in the afternoon to make up for the lost sleep at night. I used to wake up to an alarm clock so I could get to the gym at a certain time. Now, I haven't used an alarm clock in over a month. Not because I stopped getting up early, but because I go to bed early enough that I'm awake by the time I need to be awake. I mean really awake, like laying in bed with my eyes wide open and my mind ready for action awake. Not alarm clock interrupted my sleep awake.

Arianna Huffington's book started my shift and I like the results. I feel an energy that is mostly foreign to me.

I need to do this more often.t deserunt,recusandae.