Last year I realized as October wore on and the Mets kept winning that if they made it to Game 7 of the World Series that would take place the night before the New York City Marathon.

And I had no idea what I would do if that happened.

I value my sleep.

But come playoff time I have to stay up for the games.

Unfortunately, playoff games (especially in the later rounds) tend to start even later than I’m used to and I practically turn into a zombie.

Last year I avoided the Game 7 conflict and got a full night’s sleep before the marathon. (Well, not really. I never really get a full night’s sleep the night before the marathon, but I at least attempted to get to bed earlier than I would have otherwise.)

This year, the late nights have already started and the playoffs haven’t even started yet.

Let’s take Tuesday night for example. The Mets are in Chicago, and they started at 7:40pm, and I watched a bunch of the game but I gave up when they changed pitchers in the 7th inning.

The game was tied 7-7.

It was 10pm.

Whenever I do this - even when the stakes are not as high as they are now - I wake up multiple times in the night wondering how the game ended. Sometimes it sneaks into my dreams and I play out a scenario of waking up to see that the Mets won or they lost.

In other words, it’s never a restful sleep.

As you see in the screenshot above, which I decided to take an hour after I woke up, that’s how I find out the result - when I’m up for the day I check the app and reality sets in, clearing up what I imagined happened during my fitful night of sleep.

But boy am I tired.

It’s a no-win situation. If I stay up for the end of the game I’m tired. If I go to bed I don’t sleep well because it nags at my brain even if I’m not fully awake and then I’m tired. If I check the score in the middle of the night and it’s not an outcome I’m happy with I won’t sleep well either and then I’m tired.

So here we are. I’ll be staying up on Thursday night (unless, like Wednesday night, the outcome is pretty assured early) and probably every night thereafter.

And toss in the fact that the Jets are playing Monday Night Football next week and even a night with no playoff baseball becomes a late night.

I will not be going into the Chicago Marathon feeling fully rested, that’s for sure.

Unless….well, I don’t even want to speak this into existence.

But we all know that if the Mets don’t do some winning this weekend this whole post becomes moot.