For runners, the race preparation cycle is often dominated by anxiety about training volume and nutrition. However, a crucial factor frequently overlooked is sleep during the final week before a race.

Many runners mistakenly believe that a good night's sleep just before race day is enough to bring their body to peak condition. Consequently, they try to force themselves to sleep too early, hoping to catch up on previous nights of insufficient sleep during the week.

Establishing and adhering to a strict sleep strategy helps runners achieve optimal performance before race day. Photo: Unsplash.

Research from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) indicates that forcing oneself to sleep against one's biological clock can inadvertently increase adrenaline and cortisol levels, leading to restlessness and stress before sleep. This also raises heart rate, causing agitation and anxiety, which results in insomnia for runners.

Sports Doctor Meeta Singh emphasizes that one night of insomnia or fragmented sleep immediately before a race severely impairs the motor nervous system. This leads to reduced reaction time, decreased concentration, and an increased sense of premature fatigue when encountering hilly terrain or adverse weather conditions.

As runners enter the tapering phase, the body activates its self-repair mechanism for muscle fiber damage. This process is most intense during deep sleep, when the endocrine system releases maximum growth hormone to heal muscle tissue and restore the musculoskeletal system.

According to a publication in the Swedish Journal of Sports Science, maintaining at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night during taper week helps thigh and calf muscles recover quickly. These are often the areas with the most muscle fiber damage after intense training.

Additionally, another study compiled in the Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise demonstrates that muscle glycogen stores, enzymes, and antioxidants return to optimal levels if runners get enough sleep.

Conversely, if sleep falls below 6h each night, elevated cortisol levels inhibit protein synthesis, preventing timely healing and recovery of muscle damage. Therefore, to leverage sleep as a strategic tool for improving running performance, runners need appropriate measures to optimize their sleep.

Maintaining late sleep hours during the week will keep the body in a state of sleep deprivation whenever runners need to wake up early. Runners can improve this habit by going to bed 15 to 30 minutes earlier each night. Furthermore, runners should establish a fixed daily routine, avoiding deviations from their established schedule.

Over time, a runner's body will gradually develop a new biological reflex. This mechanism helps runners wake up early for race day without feeling groggy or fatigued from lack of sleep.

Next, runners must control their stimulant and nutritional intake. Completely eliminate stimulants that disrupt deep sleep cycles. Stimulants like coffee or strong tea contain caffeine, which keeps runners awake and significantly affects evening sleep.

Therefore, runners must limit the consumption of these stimulants, at least 7-8h before bedtime, to avoid impacting evening sleep. This will significantly improve sleep quality.

Moreover, a runner's dinner menu must be strictly controlled. During this period, runners should prioritize easily digestible carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, potatoes, and white bread, while completely eliminating fatty, greasy, or spicy foods that cause bloating and indigestion. This prevents an overloaded stomach, avoiding abdominal pain or acid reflux at night, ensuring runners can sleep soundly.

Choosing easily digestible carbohydrates for dinner helps prevent an overloaded stomach, reduces the risk of reflux, and preserves deep sleep quality. Photo: Magnific

Finally, runners should minimize electronic device use at least one h before bedtime. These devices emit blue light, which inhibits the pineal gland, stopping melatonin secretion. Melatonin is the primary hormone responsible for signaling drowsiness and regulating the human sleep-wake cycle.

Instead, runners should spend 15 minutes engaging in light exercise or stretching before bed. This will help a runner's deep sleep quality peak, ensuring they feel refreshed and ready for the next day.

Sleep during taper week is a critically important scientific piece that transforms consistent training efforts into tangible results. Establishing a scientific rest cycle is the golden key for runners to achieve peak performance on the race course.

Duc Anh

The VnExpress Da Nang International Marathon Herbalife Cup 2026, held on 19/7, is a large-scale international race within the VnExpress Marathon series. The race course takes athletes across iconic bridges and coastal roads embracing Da Nang Bay. Tickets for the Regular phase are currently on sale; interested runners can register here.