Polyphasic sleep, days 1-5

So the week went a little different than I had expected, the convention was a crazy fiasco of fun and ridiculousness and my naps didn't always happen when I wanted or sometimes I even missed naps all-together...but that's OK. I honestly expected this weekend to be a little strange and hectic, and figured I would be leaving fairly sleep deprived regardless of my success sticking to the polyphasic cycle (last time I went to an event like this I came back from a 5 day weekend with about 20 hours of total sleep), but here is a log of the hours I slept and I'll try to talk a little about each day. I should also note that I shifted my planned sleep schedule to the following:

Core nap: 3:00-6:00
First nap: 12:00-12:20
Second nap: 5:00-5:20
Third nap: 10:00-10:20

Day 1 (1/10)

Core:3-6
First:9-930
Second:1:40-2:00


Total slept: 3 hours 50 minutes

First day on the new cycle, I also flew into Florida today. My first flight was from 8:50-9:45, and I have a bad habit of falling asleep on planes...which I did. All of my research has shown that if you mess up the sleep cycle you just need to try to stick as much as possible to your planned schedule, so I more or less pretended it never happened. Made the second nap at what looks like a little late, but I adjusted for the new time zone (1 hour later) so it was only a little bit behind what I planned. Got caught up in the convention I was at and lost track of time, missed my third nap. Day felt tired, but I was pretty amped up from the convention so I didn't have much problems staying awake.

Day 2 (1/11)

Core: 3:30-6:50
First: 8:30-8:50
Second 1:30-1:50
Third: 11-11:20

Total slept: 4 hours 20 minutes

Had an easy time waking up, went for a mile or two walk and then got back to wait for my room mate to get ready before I headed back down to the convention hall and while I waited for him I slipped back into sleep. Thankfully he woke me up when he got out so I didn't sleep too long, but it's still unfortunate. Next nap I made more or less "on time" (had to reschedule slightly due to lunch scheduling), but I have read that so long as you keep your naps within about 30 minutes of when you plan for them then you are fine.  Missed my planned second nap (at 5) so I made it to the third one and passed out pretty hardcore. I remembered dreaming, which is a good sign as it usually indicated I actually went into REM cycle.

Day 3 (1/12)

Core: 5:00-8:30
First: 12-12:20
Second: 7-7:20
Third: 11-11:20

Total slept: 4 hours 20 minutes

Stayed out drinking with friends and didn't make it back into my room until 5. I was going to wake up at 6 but I felt it was more important to get at least a little sleep. Second nap I only realized *after* I finished that I napped at the wrong time zone, but it was still a good nap. Second and third went as planned and honestly between sleeping hours I felt fairly alert but I could definitely feel worn out...I was beginning to have some fairly intense leg soreness. Some of this could be attributed to the fact I was standing for basically the whole day, but at home I have a standing desk and I'm usually standing for 3-4 hours at a time or more, so I am thinking it's more due to the fatigue. I spent some time stretching and using a roller to massage my calfs, quads and hamstrings to help relieve some of the tension.

Day 4 (1/13)

Core: 3-330
First: 1-1:20
Second: 7-7:20

Total slept: 4 hours 10 minutes

First three sleep cycles went as planned, but then I was able to visit an old friend who lives in Orlando and I spent the night out with her catching up, missing my third nap. Staying up was easy, after she went home around 11 or 12 I went back into the convention hall and found out the group was going out drinking again, so I joined in! Thankfully I didn't stay out nearly as late, I ended up getting to sleep on time.

Day 5 (1/14)

Core: 3:30-720
First: 1-1:20
Second 6-6:20
Third: 10:30-11

Total slept: 5 hours

Finally figured out that although I adjusted all the other times for time zone difference, apparently I forgot my core nap so I adjusted my sleep accordingly by shifting it half an hour over, which I will continue tonight. Had another semi lucid dream during my first nap where I knew I was dreaming but I'm not currently able to control what happens. This was also expected, many polyphasic sleepers report an increased ability to lucid dream when shifting sleep cycles so I will continue to read up on what to expect.

I am writing this at 1:15 AM on day 6, and currently I feel tired but not nearly as much as I should be for having....let me do the math real quick...just over 22 and a half hours of sleep over the course of 5 days. I joined a polyphasic sleep forum and have been in contact with another member who told me it's more common now for people to do a 3 and a half hour core nap (hence my shift from my original plan), so I have decided I will try that first since more sleep is probably always going to be better and maybe attempt to cut down that nap length later.

I know I promised photos in the last post but I need to unpack and get myself situated back home, so I'll have to tell you more about my convention (or at least show you some amazing photos) on the next post.

Until then!
-Dane