The Importance of Sleep
Jul 8th
The three pillars of health are fitness, nutrition and sleep. Sleep could outweigh either of the other two. While you could be active and eat well, not receiving enough sleep has numerous side effects beyond simply being tired.
Sleep helps your body in a variety of ways, ever heard of beauty sleep? We are designed to properly function on the standard 8 hours of sleep a night, while some can operate long term on as little as 6 hours of sleep a night, this is not recommended and could lead to failures in many of the areas listed below. Others need much more, up to 10 hours a day.
Metabolism / Weight Gain: Contrary to what is claimed in the book Insomnia by Stephen King, lack of sleep does not lead to a reduction in body weight. The human body begins to produce higher levels of cortisol when it is awake for extended periods of time. In the study Perceived Stress and Cortisol Levels Predict Speed of Wound Healing in Healthy Male Adults presented in Psychoneuroendocrinology in July of 2004, they showed that people who secrete higher levels of cortisol in response to stress also tend to eat more food, and food that is higher in carbohydrates than people who secrete less cortisol. If you’re more sensitive to stress, it’s especially important for you to get some extra sleep.
Karine Spiegel, PhD, and colleagues published an article in the December 7, 2004 issue of the Annuals of Internal Medicine that suggested that sleep restriction can lead to weight gain. They found that sleep restriction leads to decreased levels of the hormone Leptin and increased levels of Ghrelin, another hormone. The alteration of the levels of these appetite and energy regulating hormones was associated with increased hunger and appetite in the study. This study adds to the evidence linking insufficient sleep to obesity. Leptin is a hormone released by fat cells in the body to indicate if the body is starving or not. The body responds to low levels of leptin by increasing the craving for carbohydrates. The result of less sleep is a lower level of leptin, which then causes extra cravings for food.
Learning: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
Memory: The October 12 2004, New York Times Science section, Dr. Roehrs and his colleagues paid sleepy and fully alert subjects to complete a series of computer tasks. At random times, they were given a choice to take their money and stop. Or they could forge ahead with the potential of either earning more money or losing it all if their work was not completed within an unknown remainder of time.
Dr. Roehrs found that the alert people were very sensitive to the amount of work they needed to do to finish the tasks and understood the risk of losing their money if they didn’t. But the sleepy subjects chose to quit the tasks prematurely or they risked losing everything by trying to finish the task for more money even when it was 100 percent likely that they would be unable to finish, said Dr. Roehrs.
Ability to Recover: While you are asleep your body releases human growth hormone to repair damage, both intentional through exercise and unintentional done throughout the day. If the sleep stage process is interrupted, complete repair of soft tissues is impossible due to the resulting decrease or absence of human growth hormone.
Mood: According to the Harvard Women’s Health Watch, sleep deprivation can lead to irritability, impatience, and apathy. These claims along with flattened emotional responses and the inability to multitask were confirmed in a study conducted by psychologist and sleep expert David F. Dinges, Ph.D., of the Division of Sleep and Chronobiology and Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
Cardiovascular Health: Many of the same studies have shown that a deprivation in sleep can also lead hypertension and a greater risk of stroke.
It all comes down to sleeping more, and if possible sleeping more often. Most aspects of your life can improve with additional sleep.
2010 Bimbler’s Bash 10kish Race Report
Apr 12th
This was my second trail race. This was the first time I was worried about greatly hurting myself during a race. In the week leading up to the race I studied past results and looked to see who was registered this time. I could not understand why all of the times were so slow. I expected to finish in just under an hour. It was not until the race finished that I understood why the times were so slow. For some reason I should have better understood the following quote from the race’s official site, “… at the end it isn’t over…”
There was a false finish at the 10k mark. The actual race length is about a mile long. In addition to that the course is very technical. LOTS of mud. Well over the top of my shoes multiple times. The course is a constant up and down with areas that are straight vertical in which you must stop, walk/climb up boulders and the side of hills.
Aaron at the finish line, I am in the back.
So who did I beat?
- All the women
- 1 mDot tattoo
- 8 Pairs of compression socks
- 2 Guys in tri-club jerseys
Who beat me?
- A 12yo kid.
- A bunch of old men.
- Some guy in tights and an awkward white shirt
As you can see in the photo, I was just edged out. I really came in 20th place, and not 19th. Yesterday at the race I was listed as 6th for Men’s Open, not sure where I got bumped down.
Awesome race, I am happy with how I did. I lost two places when my shoe came untied and another two places when I went off course. Outside of that decisions were well made and I was happy with a top 20 finish that would have netted me a top 10 two years ago.
Start of Bimbler's Bash
Brooks Cascadia Post Race
| 19th OA | Aaron | Davidson | Groton | CT | M | OPEN | 1:04:40 | 7th AG |
Updated 2010 Race Schedule
Mar 29th
Race schedule now includes a Google Maps, map.
View 2010 Race Schedule in a larger map
2010-03-07 WPLR Shamrock & Roll 5K
2010-04-11 Bimblers Bash Trail Race
2010-04-18 Wrentham Duathalon
2010-06-06 Revolution3
2010-06-19 Pat Griskus Triathlon Series – Olympic Distance
2010-07-10 Black Fly Tri Lord of the Flies
2010-08-08 Amica Niantic Bay Sprint Triathlon
2010-08-22 Timberman – Half Iron
Tri Bulletin
Mar 19th
I am excited that I have a new triathlon project. I am writing a feature for one of our local papers. The Norwich Bulletin, I am writing an on going series of articles for training for your first triathlon. Be nice. I hope to be able to offer free group workouts as well for their readers.
2010 Brooks Race Kit
Mar 13th
2010 BrooksID Race Kit
I know its a terrible picture, but this is the 2010 BrooksID Race Kit. Arm warmers, and then shorts and tank top. Already tested out the top in the gym. They are also part of the Night-Life clothing line so I am ’safe’ to run at night. Really pumped to wear the clothes are my upcoming races.