I think this question is individual. I need at least 7 hours of sleep good for 8. I can do one day of having 5 hours but not two in a row.

Obviously if you were that lacking then you already have the answer to your question. Sleep is totally important to me I love feeling good when I wake up.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by pdstein:
- So, how much does sleep (or lack there of) impact your performance?


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I think that, among many other things (food, weather, going out too fast, etc), a lack of sleep before my first and only marathon cotributed to how difficult it was.

While training for this marathon, there were a few Friday mornings I had to go out for 20+ miles because I couldn't spend the time on the weekends. On those days, I got up at 3:30 AM and went for my run, barely getting back home with enough time to shower and get to work.

Around 3 in the afternoon, I fell asleep at my desk. There is no way I was performing my best either during those training runs or at work.

Sleep is a HUGE deal. While prepping for my first marathon (16 days away!) getting enough rest was the hardest part of my training - harder than 22 mile long runs! Kids, dogs, jobs all conspired to keep me awake as much as possible. I found myself running with my eyes closing or rolling up in the back of my head.

One of the main problems with sleep deprivation is that it's effects are not obvious to the person who's suffering. Numerous studies have found that when people lose 45 mintues of sleep, they're performance suffers but almost none of them feel the effect. The effects of sleep deprivation are cumulative, too. Coming up 50 minutes short one night might not be the end of the world, but night after night it stacks up greatly. Also, due to its cummulative effects, if it's been going on for a while, it takes longer and longer to recoup your losses. 2-3 days of coming up a bit short on sleep can typically be fixed by a full night's rest. When that deficit starts hitting 5+ days, it takes a few to several days of full sleep to get your full swing back.

This is why I wound up trining only 4 days per week. I could handle the miles reasonably well, I just couldn't take 5 days per week with 5 hours or less of sleep. There comes a point in which the commute home from work just isn't safe.

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Sanity is pretty much a one trick pony. When you're sane, that's all you got - just rational thought. But if you're crazy - whoa! The skies the limit!

An important consideration is if you're increasing the chance of injury. I know that personally, my form suffers when I'm sleep-deprived and I've hurt myself on more than one occasion. It may be not picking your feet up off the ground as much and taking a nasty spill, being sloppy with your stride and giving in to the inconsistencies in your stride (we all have them!) causing muscle pulls or sore joints, or even spacing out and clipping a shoulder on a street sign or telephone post.

And yes, I've done them all.

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Erin[/URL" target="_blank">

http://This message has been edited by elfitzpa (edited Sep-12-2007).