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Running on Empty: Self-Reported Sleep/Wake Behaviour during Ultra-Marathon Events Exceeding 100 Miles

The aim of this study was to examine sleep/wake behaviour and sleep strategies before, during and after ultra-marathon running events exceeding 100 miles (161 km). A total of 119 athletes completed a web-based questionnaire regarding their habitual sleep/wake behaviour before, during, and after ultr...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Miller, Dean J., Bianchi, Darren, Lastella, Michele
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9316872/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35877458
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe12070058
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author Miller, Dean J.
Bianchi, Darren
Lastella, Michele
author_facet Miller, Dean J.
Bianchi, Darren
Lastella, Michele
author_sort Miller, Dean J.
collection PubMed
description The aim of this study was to examine sleep/wake behaviour and sleep strategies before, during and after ultra-marathon running events exceeding 100 miles (161 km). A total of 119 athletes completed a web-based questionnaire regarding their habitual sleep/wake behaviour before, during, and after ultra-marathon participation. Event-specific data were grouped by race distance categories; 100–149 miles (161–240 km), 150–199 miles (241–321 km), and ≥200 miles (322 km). Athletes commonly reported not sleeping throughout the duration of their races (74%). However, for events that were ≥200 miles, athletes reported more sleep opportunities, longer sleep duration, and more total sleep when compared to events that were 100–149 miles in distance (p ≤ 0.001). This suggests that for races of shorter distances, the benefit of continuous racing outweighs the negative impact of continuous wakefulness/sleep deprivation. However, for longer races (≥200 miles), there is an apparent tradeoff between sleep deprivation and race strategy, whereby athletes cannot sustain a desired level of performance without obtaining sleep. This is consistent with established sleep/wake behaviour models suggesting that sleep need increases as wakefulness increases, or in this case, as race duration increases. For athletes participating in ultra-marathons, sleep management education and/or consultation with a sleep scientist prior to racing may be beneficial. Future research should examine the optimal strategies concerning the frequency and duration of sleep during ultra-marathons and the subsequent impact on performance.
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spelling pubmed-93168722022-07-27 Running on Empty: Self-Reported Sleep/Wake Behaviour during Ultra-Marathon Events Exceeding 100 Miles Miller, Dean J. Bianchi, Darren Lastella, Michele Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ Article The aim of this study was to examine sleep/wake behaviour and sleep strategies before, during and after ultra-marathon running events exceeding 100 miles (161 km). A total of 119 athletes completed a web-based questionnaire regarding their habitual sleep/wake behaviour before, during, and after ultra-marathon participation. Event-specific data were grouped by race distance categories; 100–149 miles (161–240 km), 150–199 miles (241–321 km), and ≥200 miles (322 km). Athletes commonly reported not sleeping throughout the duration of their races (74%). However, for events that were ≥200 miles, athletes reported more sleep opportunities, longer sleep duration, and more total sleep when compared to events that were 100–149 miles in distance (p ≤ 0.001). This suggests that for races of shorter distances, the benefit of continuous racing outweighs the negative impact of continuous wakefulness/sleep deprivation. However, for longer races (≥200 miles), there is an apparent tradeoff between sleep deprivation and race strategy, whereby athletes cannot sustain a desired level of performance without obtaining sleep. This is consistent with established sleep/wake behaviour models suggesting that sleep need increases as wakefulness increases, or in this case, as race duration increases. For athletes participating in ultra-marathons, sleep management education and/or consultation with a sleep scientist prior to racing may be beneficial. Future research should examine the optimal strategies concerning the frequency and duration of sleep during ultra-marathons and the subsequent impact on performance. MDPI 2022-07-11 /pmc/articles/PMC9316872/ /pubmed/35877458 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe12070058 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Miller, Dean J.
Bianchi, Darren
Lastella, Michele
Running on Empty: Self-Reported Sleep/Wake Behaviour during Ultra-Marathon Events Exceeding 100 Miles
title Running on Empty: Self-Reported Sleep/Wake Behaviour during Ultra-Marathon Events Exceeding 100 Miles
title_full Running on Empty: Self-Reported Sleep/Wake Behaviour during Ultra-Marathon Events Exceeding 100 Miles
title_fullStr Running on Empty: Self-Reported Sleep/Wake Behaviour during Ultra-Marathon Events Exceeding 100 Miles
title_full_unstemmed Running on Empty: Self-Reported Sleep/Wake Behaviour during Ultra-Marathon Events Exceeding 100 Miles
title_short Running on Empty: Self-Reported Sleep/Wake Behaviour during Ultra-Marathon Events Exceeding 100 Miles
title_sort running on empty: self-reported sleep/wake behaviour during ultra-marathon events exceeding 100 miles
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9316872/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35877458
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe12070058
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