The Sleep Cycle

I recently caught up with Justin Park, a pro-triathlete who was essential in helping develop the Durham Cycles’ fitting program. Over the past year, Justin’s training has been interrupted by hypothyroidism and anemia which, according to Justin’s most recent blog, may be caused by a sleep disorder. I too have dealt with troubled sleep my entire life and the effects on health are often overlooked and under-appreciated. I wish Justin the best this upcoming season, and I recommend everyone read his post below.

From justinparkracing.com:

“…for a long time, I have been aware of the significance of a good night’s sleep and conveyed the message accordingly to anyone who listened. But it wasn’t until a series of events transpired that I truly began to understand the destructiveness of inadequate sleep. It all began at a consultation with a new medical specialist. As I mentioned in my previous post, this particular doctor had a knack for solving health issues that were previously without answers. A real-life Dr. House, so to speak. As I described the symptoms from which I had suffered over the past year and a half, the doctor said nothing but took copious notes. I explained the feeling of intense fatigue, the lack of performance in training, and the difficulty of waking up each morning as if suffering from a hangover. He listened intently, and after some back and forth, asked for some time to think about things and said he would be in touch.

A day later I received a phone call. The doctor explained that he had mulled things over repeatedly and kept coming back to one thought. While it seemed a long shot for someone of my age and physical condition, he could not escape the fact that symptoms such as the ones that I described reflect someone who is suffering regularly from some sort of sleep disorder…” Read More

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