Like you said, all that caffeine will do that. It’s almost and out-of-body kinda feeling. Just sleep whenever you feel tired. It does make the pain go away. Also, if sore legs are keeping you up, try getting some compression stockings with a high rating of compression and wear those 24/7.
Congrats on a great day yesterday.I agree with Fleck about the beer.Hanging out at the finish line until midnight drinking beer always helps me get a good nights sleep.My problem is that I tend to overmedicate on the stuff on awards night as well.
When I need to sleep at 6pm in order to get up for a race at 2:30am I take Rozarem becuase my dreams wnat me back…I’m not a corporate shill or anything, but that stuff works great!
Bob
another word, “ambien” now that its generic, I might be hooked and not very pleased about it.
After my first IM (IM MOO '05) I slept for about an hour then talked to my girlfriend for 4-5 hours straight about whatever random thoughts happened to come to mind. Being that she was trying to sleep after a long, hot day of spectating, she wasn’t all that appreciative!
Congratulations on your race – fun reading about your progress on ST and your blog.
True story…
After Lake Placid 2 years ago I was laying on my bed dead to the world. The girlfriend decides (with my encouragement) that she wants to go to the McDonalds right across the street. I get her to get me 2 quarter pounders. She gets back and I start munching. Next thing I know it is morning time. She told me I fell sleep with the quarter pounder hanging out of my mouth. She didn’t get a picture but she said it was the funniest thing she has ever seen.
As a sidenote, the second quarter pounder was saved to the next day, microwaved and eaten for breakfast. To this day, I have never eater a better burger than the one I had that morning. 
Mark
I did about the same thing at lunch folllowing my first marathon…I think it means we left it all out there.
Bob
who cares about sleep? I couldn’t sleep after IM, so I used that time to eat, nap and eat, nap and eat.
After a week you’ll be fine.
I discovered on race day 6 of my friends flew to my IM to heckle me. So afterwards, I had 6 hours of heavy drinking to tack on to that already-long day. I slept fine.
I was crazy wired after my first IM. Didn’t sleep more than a few hrs for several days.
Then crashed hard the next week.
Enjoy the buzz, you only are an IRONMAN for the first time, once. CONGRATS!!!
Jodi, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!
Oh, beer and Tylenol PM help, a little.
You may need something more industrail strength however…
duh Jodi…aren’t you forgetting sumthing? You need the milky goodness of…
…(drumroll please)…
ICE CREAM!
I am with you - last night was awful!
maybe 3 hours - great question to ask as I was thinking - “How could I not be tired” (stayed and watched till about 11:30 PM) and was up at 3:30 AM that morning.
I think the night after my races, I was dead-to-the-world. However, in the ensuing days I slept very little. Don’t quite understand the physiology of it.
of the 5 IM races I participated in - I slept really soundly after 2 and very badly 3 other times. But the one thing that was consistent was the need to eat something savoury. I once took the eating a little too far, after IM MOO while wating for the wife a 14 year old finish line volunteer brought me 7 large pieces of pizza and two cokes. I sat and ate and drank all of it, I could not sleep that night but I suspect it had more to do with indigestion than anything else!
Sleep after IM? No way. Too sore, too happy, too tired (yes, I meant to write that).
I’m glad you had fun, when is the next one?
-C