Current Schedule: Core Sleep: 10pm-2am Naps: 6:00-6:20am, 11:20-11:40am, 5:40-6pm.
Having a cold stinks. It doesn't help when you're in the middle of transition, either. Some suggest that you should quit entirely if you get sick during adaptation, but I've worked hard to get where I am. Unless I become seriously sick (which I haven't), I'm inclined to take a middle-ground approach. Therefore, I adjusted my core sleep to last a little longer than usual to get a bit more sleep. Interestingly, my body got up naturally shortly after 4 hours of sleep, a good sign that adaptation has taken hold. I went back to sleep, but felt ready to get up after another hour or so.
Another site mentions studies (without citing them, unfortunately) indicating that the restorative effects of sleep is primarily a function of the brain, not the rest of the body. Sleep deprivation reliably results in cognitive impairment, but cellular function continues throughout the rest of the body unabated. If that were truly the case, it would seem to explain how polyphasers can continue their sleep schedules long-term without experiencing a host of physically-damaging effects. As long as you're getting enough quality sleep for your cognitive function, it would seem that the body is perfectly fine with such a sleep schedule. I would love to see those studies cited, though.
Naps were pretty variable in sleep quality today, as my cold symptoms were still pretty strong, but it still felt good to be maintaining the schedule anyway. Around halfway through the day, I started to feel like I was finally starting to get better. I've been drinking tea like a drunk frat boy at a college party, and generally doing everything I can to kick this as fast as I can. Tonight I plan on returning to my regular 4-hour core nap schedule; I don't want to vary from my plan for too long. Time to stay the course! Updated vitals here.
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