Publications
Partners
If you’re tossing and turning the night before your race, you may know not to fret: It’s the sleep two nights prior to race day that really matters, right?
Believe that, and you’ll truly freak if something keeps you up (or wakes you up) during that supposedly critical time. Instead of sleep-stressing, throw everything you think you know about pre-race Z’s out the window and replace it with this: “While sleep is incredibly important, tonight’s slumber is largely irrelevant,” says neurologist and author of The Sleep Solution W. Chris Winter.
Winter encourages athletes to remember all the consistent, proper sleep that carried them through their training rather than angsting over an isolated bad night near the end. “All is not lost if an athlete has a tough night right before the competition,” he says. Here’s how to snooze better, and, failing that, how to respond to maximize your performance potential.
Sleep Better…
Rehearse your rest
Winter suggests practicing sleeping in difficult situations in the weeks prior to race day. Try napping on a plane or in a parked car, dozing off while your partner still has a reading light on, or incorporating a subtle but irritating background noise (a dripping faucet, a snoring dog) as you go to sleep. The better you adapt to these challenging conditions in training, the better chance you’ll have of overcoming nerves to rest well pre-race.
Related: 5 Gentle Yoga Poses That Help Relieve Stress
Don’t overcompensate
Treat the night before the race like any other night, Winter says—that is, don’t turn in crazy early. “I often hear, ‘I want to PR tomorrow, so I’ll go to bed at 9.’ Well, are you sleepy at 9?” he says. You’re more likely to nod off easily if you adhere to your usual routine instead of trying to force a few extra hours.
…Or Make the Best of Subpar Rest
Frame it right
An inability to sleep may mean that you are well-rested and you have energy to spare. Remind yourself of this, and use your awake time to prep for the race. Winter recommends the following script: “I’ve been sleeping well for weeks, and tonight I still have four hours to sleep, which is plenty.
I’m going to spend the next 10 minutes visualising how I’m going to approach the back half of the race when it gets hilly.” And take solace in the fact that even if you’re still conscious, spending time lying in bed itself can be helpful. “Resting holds a tremendous amount of restoration,” says Winter. According to the National Sleep Foundation, while it’s not as valuable as sleep, “quiet wakefulness” is still good in terms of calming your mind and letting your muscles and organs relax.
Related: How to Deal with Pre-Race Anxiety
Don’t reach for drugs
Avoid popping a antihistamine or sedative in order to nail your sleep goal, says Winter. “There has never been a [sleeping] pill that has been shown to improve performance in any way,” he says. What does help is all the sleep you’ve banked throughout your months of training – focus on that, and you’ll find peace of mind that may help you drift off.
Originally published in Runner's World
Image credit: iStock
