Lack Of Sleep And The Olympics

I haven't slept very well for the last couple of nights, and I'm not quite sure whether it was knowing that the Olympics were on television which kept me awake, or getting hooked on watching the Olympics.

I really did mean to lie down and go to sleep last night, but unfortunately I had dozed off for a couple of hours in the early evening while I was lying on the settee reading a book. It's my own fault, I know, but sleep is one of those things that I take whenever I can get it because I know that my sleep pattern can be very erratic.

Several times I switched the box off got myself into a comfortable position in bed, only to start fidgeting and tossing and turning, so that I was wide awake again. In the end, I just gave up all attempts at sleep and lay in bed watching the fare from Beijing. First of all it was the cross country phase of the three-day eventing, which somewhat perversely was taking place over four days, that held my attention, but after a while it can get a bit boring watching various horses and their riders going round what was obviously a golf course given a face-lift for the occasion. Just as this was starting to pall, the BBC moved to the Water Cube for the swimming. This was a bit more exciting.

There were various semi-finals and a number of finals to watch and it's always more interesting when you know that medals are going to be won. British swimmers had done quite well getting into a number of the finals, and two events stand out as being exceptional examples of what the Olympics are all about. The first was the Men's 4x100m Freestyle relay which was a race and a half. Not only did the winning US team knock a huge margin off the world record, but every team in the final set a national record with their swim. It must be a very rare occasion indeed, that such a race will take place. The second event was the Women's 400m Freestyle, where the commentators all agreed that Britain had a real chance of a medal. Becky Adlington swam a perfect race to win the gold medal, the first by a British lady swimmer for 48 years, and Jo Jackson won the bronze. And what was Becky's reaction to the win? "I didn't swim as fast as I should have."

I have to admit that I was silently "screaming" as the race entered its final stages. I always feel as if I am there when our sportsmen and women are in the fray, so even though I was tired I was glad that I had seen this incredible race live.

After that, I seemed to relax in a way that had not been possible before, and I fell asleep for a couple of hours without any trouble at all. Things will be so much easier when the Olympics are in London and events occur at normal hours for me.