How many hours of sleep a night is recommend for a runner? Is normally getting 6 hours of sleep a night too little? What's the least amount of sleep you can still run well on?
How many hours of sleep a night is recommend for a runner? Is normally getting 6 hours of sleep a night too little? What's the least amount of sleep you can still run well on?
6.5-7 is probably the absolute minimum.
when you get down around 5 hours you can count on getting sick or injured
everyone's different. I need at least 7, but I know a guy that gets by on 5 at most, and never get sick or injured.
I need 8. The last two weeks I've gotten six (2am to 8am) and I can hardly run at all. I feel like death all day. I have ran around 7:45 pace on my normal runs and I'm usually around 7:00 for a given "typical" effort.
Everyone is different when it comes to how much sleep they need to function normally. 8 is recommended but plenty of people do just fine with 7 or even 6.
I did read somewhere a few years ago (so take it for what you will), but runners should sleep an extra minute every night for every mile they run that week. For example: If you run 30 miles a week, you should sleep an extra 30 minutes every day that week to help your body recover. That extra sleep doesn't necessarily have to be at night, as I'm sure the 100 mile/week crowd likely naps during the day.