The relationship between sleep and athletic performance is a complicated one. We all know how important a good night's rest is for our health, but when the pressures of race day near, a blissful eight hours feels nothing short of a pipe dream. Anxiety-ridden sleep is a feeling I know all too well – and, if you're reading this, chances are you do too.
As a keen runner and a bad sleeper, I rarely snooze well the night before a race (if at all), no matter how hard I try to Performance anxiety feeds my sleep anxiety and vice versa in a vicious cycle that makes me feel doomed to fail. It was during one of these restless nights, deep down a Google rabbit hole, that I discovered something known as the "two-night rule". The idea is that the sleep you have two nights before race day is more crucial to your performance than the night immediately before, reassuring runners that they won't be hindered by poor-quality sleep pre-race.
The question is, is there any truth to the matter, or is it just a myth we're led to believe to give us greater confidence in our running? In the latest of our features, we take a look at the science and speak with sleep experts to find some answers. If you've ever run a marathon or a long-distance race, chances are someone told you that the sleep you have in the run-up is more important than the night before the main event. It's been the subject of many a Reddit thread; coaches across different sports and continents reference it; even elite runner the nigh.