100+miles=SLEEP?

you need 7 hours no more no less. you have to get to the routine first then it will be so much easier for you to get to bed and to get up. just dont over spleep

That has to be the most arbitrary number ever. How do you know that this person needs 7 and only 7 hours. I happen to know that I need between 9 and 10 per night while I am running 100mpw. Seven for some people is enough. For others it is not. The key however is first getting into a regular sleep pattern. Go to bed at the same time each night and wake up the same time each morning. Once you have established that, then experiment with how much you actually need. Do not sleep 4 hours one night then try to make up for it on the Saturday night to Sunday morning by sleeping 13 or 14 hours. Also if you need to take naps, the ideal length of a nap is between 20 and 40 minutes. Anything longer and you will be in REM sleep (actually an even shorter time period for those who are sleep deprived) and you will wake up feeling groggy, grumpy with that hungover feeling. However, it is important to establish this regular pattern of sleep before starting naps, they can really disrupt your sleep. Another thing to think about is how soundly you are sleeping. A regular sleep schedule will help this problem a lot, but not always. There are conditions that can cause you to wake numerous times at night. Though you think you are getting plenty of sleep, if you aren't sleeping soundly then your sleep does very little, particularly if you wake before you hit REM cycle. There is no one magic number for everyone. So don't listen to people who tell you that you need x number of hours of sleep, because the number is usually arbitrary when applied to someone else. Talking to a doctor or even a sleep psychologist may help too. You can also do a sleep study to learn how soundly you are sleeping. Good luck.

As much as you can! I usually get in 10 hours a day along with 130-150 mile weeks.

I am currently doing ~120 mpw and get about 5-6 hours of sleep a night. Works for me.

I get 7-8 because of my job but 9-10 would be best. Paula sleeps 11 and she is pretty phenomenal. Recovery is important and your muscles recover best whilst sleeping.

Sleep enough to where you are not sleepy. If you get sleep deprived performance will start to dwindle and it can cause more suseptability (sp?) to overtraining.

Sleeping is half the battle of getting better/faster.

Actually Paula sleeps 13 hrs. 10pm-9am and another 2 hours in the afternoon.

I sleep about 10hr a night and I get in about 140 miles a week. This is a very easy thing to figureout. Get in bed at say umm 10, then when you wake up in the Am. You will know how much sleep you need. There is no hard and fast number, but some rools of thomb are that. If you need an alarm clock to wake. Then you not sleeping as long as you need. When yoru tird hit the hay, and when your rested get up.

I sleep 23 hours and 50 minutes a dayyyy zzzzz........

If you need an alarm clock to wake you up, you're probably not getting enough sleep.

I use an alarm clock just in case -- i'm lying in bed half awake before it goes off. I get 8-8.5 a night, and i don't set my alarm at all most weekends. When my mileage is really high, i need more like 9 hours a night, and i rely on my alarm to wake me up a bit more.

its definitely different for everyone and of course not dependent only on how much you run, other factors are how much you work, how physically and pschologically stressful they are among other things. I am currently getting about 8 hours a night in and feel that it is barely enough but im not at home right now so theres no helping it. 10 is about right for me but then again i dont work just run lots and go for walks. So for a working person 10 hours is probably roughly enough for a 130-150mi week. but yeah one of those things that is about as individual as is ideal training.

E wrote:

There are conditions that can cause you to wake numerous times at night.

yeah... like a girlfriend's roving hands

Get whatever sleep you can at night but seriously look into taking some daytime naps......20-30 min. max. It does wonders!

Sleeping is like running.

You can go hard for 7 , or easier for 10 and get the same fitness benefits.

Same applies to sleep - its all about R.E.M. and how much growth hormone is released.

aerobic blaster no.5 wrote:

Same applies to sleep - its all about R.E.M. and how much growth hormone is released.

I do know about the REM period of sleep, and understand it is the most important aspect of a "good" nights sleep. What can you do do increase the REM sleep period or get into it quicker.

I try to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night but like most it doesn't always happen. I believe I get about 54 hours a sleep a week on average. I am running 80-90 miles a week right now, and I feel like I could use more sleep.

Like it has been stated, your work and stress levels do play a big part also.

2tonbrik wrote:

Actually Paula sleeps 13 hrs. 10pm-9am and another 2 hours in the afternoon.

Good heavens! When does that woman have time for running?

I get around 6 hours a night...then again I work full time and have a girl friend who is a night owl but is nice and goes to bed around midnight. I run 100 mpw on singles because there is no way I can get out the door before work simply because I'm so freakin tired...6 hours is rough, but I sleep 10 hours on the weekends to try and make up for it. Then again a friend of mine is infamous for his 5:45 am runs which I some how get out the door for.

REM sleep is characterized by dreaming i believe, and i find that when i sleep in fresh air i dream a lot more, so possibly more REM, but just an idea.

aaaahhhhh wrote:

REM sleep is characterized by dreaming i believe, and i find that when i sleep in fresh air i dream a lot more, so possibly more REM, but just an idea.

Now that you mentioned it, I do remember that. I used to dream allot more when I was in HS and college. But I find that I am not dreaming that much or hardly at all that I can remember. That may be a sign that I need more sleep. I am going to look into this more, and see if there are techniques to induce REM sleep and then dreaming.