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Is It
More
Important
to Run
Faster
or Run
Longer?
By
Alex
Hutchinson
Special
to Tell
Us USA
You
know
that
million-dollar
feeling
you get
only
after a
restful
night’s
sleep?
It
shouldn’t
be a
rare
occurrence,
especially
given
how the
benefits
of
high-quality
sleep
ripple
out
across
all
aspects
of life.
Sleep
not only
helps
your
body
recover—it’s
also a
surefire
performance
booster.
But if
you’re
like us,
you
likely
haven’t
factored
sleep
into
your
training
the same
way
you’ve
focused
on
dialing
in your
gear or
nutrition.
But you
definitely
ought
to, says
W. Chris
Winter,
MD,
author
of The
Sleep
Solution.
“There
are few
areas of
athletic
performance
not
impacted
by
sleep,
or lack
thereof,”
he says.
So if
you want
to take
your
outdoor
adventures
to the
next
level,
building
a
long-term
pattern
of
healthy,
restorative
sleep
could be
the
ticket—and
it’s
easier
than you
might
think.
Set the
Tone
Like
a
perfect
date, a
great
night's
sleep
depends
on the
right
setting.
“You
want to
create
an
environment
that’s
inviting,
that
will
make you
want to
forgo
that
television
show for
getting
to bed,”
says
Winter.
Part of
that
sleep-enhancing
environment
is the
temperature
you keep
your
room.
“Most
people
do best
in the
65-degree
range,”
says
Winter,
who
emphasizes
that
everybody
is
different,
so some
amount
of
thermostat
tinkering
will be
required.
Another
easily
controllable
element
is how
you
light
your
bedroom.
Look for
specially
designed
sleep-friendly
LEDs—dimmable,
lower-watt
bulbs
with the
kind of
warm,
diffuse
light
profile
the
National
Sleep
Foundation
recommends.
Red
bulbs
are even
more
conducive
to
sleep...if
you can
stomach
their
nontraditional
hue.
Pick the
Right
Bedding
As
with
running
shoes or
hiking
boots,
there
are
certain
performance
characteristics
you
should
look for
in your
home
sleep
system.
“You
want a
mattress
that is
comfortable
and
doesn’t
affect
your
temperature,”
says
Winter.
“It
should
draw you
in.”
Look for
options,
like
Avocado’s
Organic
Mattress,
that are
made
with
natural
fibers
such as
wool and
cotton,
which
are
breathable
and
offer
top-notch
thermoregulatory
properties,
keeping
you warm
in
winter
and cool
in the
summer
by
wicking
away
moisture
better
than
synthetics.
Of
course,
how the
mattress
is
constructed
is
equally
important,
and
Avocado’s
is
needle-tufted
by hand
here in
America,
with a
hybrid
design
of
independent
coils
broken
down
into
five
strategic
support
zones to
help
reduce
motion
transfer,
keep
your
back
aligned,
and
alleviate
pressure
points.
avocado-biker-in-bed_h
Keep
Things
Fresh
If
you've
ever
repainted
a room
in your
home,
you
probably
know to
look for
paint
that's
free of
volatile
organic
compounds
(VOCs),
gasses
the EPA
has
linked
to an
array of
short-
and
long-term
ill-health
effects.
But did
you know
that
furniture
and
mattresses
can also
be
big-time
emitters
of VOCs?
To avoid
inhaling
these
nasty
fumes
every
night,
choose
products
like
Avocado's
range of
mattresses
and
pillows,
which
are made
with
GOTS-certified
organic
wool,
cotton
and,
latex,
and are
MADE
SAFE-certified
non-toxic
and
Greenguard
Gold-certified
for low
emissions.
Avocado's
reclaimed-wood
bed
frames
and end
tables
are easy
on the
lungs,
too,
thanks
to their
zero-VOC
finish.
Turn Off
the
Screens
The
blue
hues of
light
emitted
by
phone,
TV, and
computer
screens
have
been
shown to
rob your
body of
melatonin,
the
sleep
hormone—ultimately
making
it more
difficult
to fall
asleep.
A best
practice,
according
to
Winter,
is to
avoid
blue
light
altogether
in the
hour or
so ahead
of
bedtime.
“This
means no
screens
in the
bedroom,”
he says.
If you
really
struggle
with
reeling
in
screen
time at
night,
consider
a pair
of
blue-light-reducing
glasses,
which
many of
Winter’s
clients
have
adopted.
In
addition
to
screens,
try
controlling
other
light
sources
as well.
“There
should
be
minimal
to no
light
coming
into the
room,”
says
Winter,
so
blackout
curtains
might
make a
big
difference
when it
comes to
logging
high-quality,
uninterrupted
sleep.
Learn to
Let Go
One
part of
a sleep
regimen
that can
be
particularly
challenging
is
recognizing
what you
can and
can’t
control.
“There’s
definitely
a mental
aspect
to
this,”
says
Winter.
“When an
athlete
feels
the
pressure
to sleep
well, he
or she
can
develop
anxiety
around
it.”
Many
of the
professional
teams
and
coaches
Winter
works
with
have
taken
note of
this
and,
instead
of
telling
their
athletes
to get
some
sleep,
they
instruct
them to
rest.
But you
don’t
need to
be an
elite
athlete
to
benefit
from
Winter’s
advice.
“It’s
hard to
fail at
rest.
You can
go lie
flat,
relax,
and
close
your
eyes. If
you
realize
it
doesn’t
have to
be
sleep,
you
remove
the
anxiety.
Odds
are, you
will
sleep
anyhow.”
The
Final
Touches
Finally,
Winter
recommends
establishing
a
bedtime
routine
that
will
signal
to your
body
that
it’s
time to
sleep.
“The
smell of
lavender
can
help,”
he says.
“Consider
spraying
your
room or
bedding
with it
just
prior to
sleep.”
The
nice
thing
about a
routine
like
this is
that it
can
serve as
a sleep
trigger
even
when
you’re
not in
your own
bed.
“Pay
attention
to the
details
that
allow
you to
drift
off,”
Winter
says.
“If it’s
lavender,
for
instance,
then
bring
that
with you
when you
travel.
You want
to be
motivated
to get
to bed.”
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