Advice To Sleep On

Many of us have trouble falling and staying asleep these days, so it's no wonder that articles on sleep are popping up all over the place. This morning's local newspaper has one such item on the issue that I thought was worth passing on, particularly since sleep is as important as nutrition and fitness to runners.

Here's an excerpt that might prove useful:

"Although we spend one-third of our lives sleeping, many of us don't do it very well. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says about one in five adults fails to get the necessary seven to eight hours a night, and the economic downturn is making things worse.

The trick to catching this elusive bedfellow is learning how to let it come to us.

1. You can't fall asleep.
Don't stay in bed. It turns your sanctuary into a torture chamber and actually decreases your sleep drive, says Zee. Instead, practice good “sleep hygiene” by reducing your caffeine intake, exercising (but not too close to bedtime) and avoiding stimulating activities, such as TV and computer use. Resist the urge to knock yourself out with wine, because alcohol prevents deep sleep. If anxiety is keeping you up, keep the lights dim, get out of bed and listen to music, talk radio or an audiobook with your eyes closed. Go back to bed when you feel drowsy.

2. You wake up in the middle of the night.
Don't turn on the light. This “tells the brain it's morning and it stops producing melatonin,” sleep expert Michael Breus said. Don't go to the bathroom simply because you're awake. Instead, he said, distract your monkey mind by counting backward from 300 by 3s – that requires more calculation than counting sheep. If you wake up within an hour of the time you're supposed to get up, then just get up, Breus said. “If you stay in bed longer than 30 or 40 minutes, your body could push you back into a deep sleep,” he said.

3. Your bladder wakes you up.
Don't drink liquids after 8:30 p.m. If you're worried you might be thirsty in the middle of the night, put a small cup of water near your bed so you don't have to get up. You probably won't need it, said Breus, the author of “Beauty Sleep” (Plume, $15). If you're male and feel pressure on your bladder, have your prostate checked."