Day 8: Sport, Fitness and Coaching

What a day today has been! I've spent nearly two hours playing football and basketball with students at school, completed my handstand training (90 minutes ish) and then delivered a sprint session before/whilst breaking my fast! 

I won't lie, I was very, very thirsty today. Especially in the last hour before Iftar. I prepared myself a little Iftar-picnic to take down to Glenboig Park so that I could break fast on the move. I took some food I'd prepared too but it wasn't really practical to eat it during the session. Dates, nuts and ice cold water were sufficient. 

This was without doubt my thirstiest day during Ramadan. My water intake for the past two days has been approximately 5.5 pints,  and that may be a contributing factor. I'm going to make sure I get over the 6 pint target this evening!

Another knock-on effect I am finding more difficult now that I'm back at work is my need for sleep. I have never been a brilliant sleeper and always perform my daily tasks best when I'm going to bed at 9/10PM and getting up at 5AM. Usually this is where I complete my first stretching of the day, my calisthenics workout (training towards handstands or muscle-ups), reading, and if I have time 10-minutes of meditation too!

As a result of staying up later to consume a second meal, I'm not getting to sleep until 12/1AM, with a wake up at 3AM (which will be 230AM from tonight) for more water, I can't possibly get up at 5AM. Instead I have been sleeping until 7AM and taking a nap between 5 and 6PM before working out or training others. This has had a huge impact on my productivity, positive health habits and time for relaxation. I'm not complaining, but I'm definitely struggling to keep up with my preferred stretching and mobility routine and injury rehabilitation on top of my daily workouts. My body definitely feels tighter!

However, the weekend is nearly here and I'm going to plan to use as much time as possible stretching my muscles and mobilising my joints, to get myself in better shape for next week.

A thirsty, but enjoyable day!

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