Sleep: How much is too much?

Good morning, I guess. I’m not sure the proper greeting protocol at 3:30 in the morning, which contrary to this Web site’s recorded post time (which is always wrong), is the time at my writing of this post. Why, might you ask, would anyone be blogging at 3:30 in the morning? Technically, I just woke up from a nap. An 11-hour nap.

Of course, when I laid down for a nap at 4:30 p.m. yesterday, I only intended for a 2-hour snooze. I didn’t have a busy evening ahead, but there were some things I wanted to do. Write a blog for my health and fitness writing class (check!). Eat dinner. Go to the weekly Campus Crusade for Christ meeting. Brush my teeth before bed.

But instead, I slept. Apparently, with my cell phone clutched in hand. At least, that’s how I woke up this morning (?). Two interesting observations: first, I must have deliriously disabled the alarm that went off at 6:30 p.m. yesterday. Second, there are at least 50+ friends that I usually see at Cru meetings (I’m not popular, the meetings are huge, usually 400+ people). My point—no calls.

At least I will feel rested, right? Well, not if I’ve overslept. According to Dr. Russell Rosenberg from Northside Hospital Sleep Medicine Institute, if I increase my sleep-time by more than 40 to 50 percent in one night, I’ll feel groggy. This week, I averaged 4 hours of sleep a night. By Rosenberg’s standards, anything over 6 hours is lethargic. But since 4 hours is an extreme case, I’ll adjust my calculations with the more reasonable average of 7 hours a night. Acceptable sleep-in time: 10 ½ hours. Darn.