New Year, More Sleep

The new year is often a time when people reflect.

What did you enjoy? What went poorly? What went well? What would you change?

With running, it is easy to get busy and skip out on the little things. What little things did you push aside? With the new year, use this as a reset to work on mobility, strength or initiate healthy habits.

The number one habit I emphasize with my clients is recovery. This includes sleep! Prioritizing sleep is one thing this year you can do to improve your running.

We can never be perfect, but we can try to do better. Here are a few ideas to work on improving your quality of sleep:
1. Give yourself time to fall asleep. Adding in an additional 20-30 min can allow you to have time to fall asleep and then achieve your goal amount (ideally 8+ hours for most people).
2. Create the right environment. Decrease light exposure (especially screen time!) an hour or so before bed. Check the temperature, a slightly cooler room improves quality of sleep (usually around 70 degrees). Before I start getting ready for bed I prep my brain too. I perform a "brain dump" and make a list of things to do the next day so that way my concerns are already processed vs staying up and going through everything in my head in bed.
3. Set a sleep schedule. Try to go to bed and wake-up at consistent times (even on the weekend or days off). Our bodies like routines, and the chemical releases that initiate sleep thrive on them too.