Day Five

As we head towards the end of the first full week of January 2012 the holidays seem a distant memory.  I traveled back from Boston today and the airports were remarkably quieter than the trip to Boston pre-holiday.  Everyone seems to be settling back into their normal routines.  Unfortunately for many of us that includes running on a less than optimal amount of sleep.  

Sleep is intrinsically linked to not only your mental performance but also your athletic performance.  Sure we know sleep is necessary for our general health but don't forget it can actually be a performance enhancer.  Catalyst Athletics and Whole9 discuss the performance enhancing qualities of sleep here.

Your sleep can be impacted by many factors including diet, exercise, age, and past sleep patterns.  Then once you fall asleep many different tasks are accomplished by your resting body.  This informative article does a good job explaining what happens when we sleep and the various sleep cycles.  The National Sleep Foundation took time to discuss the relationship between diet, exercise & sleep.  I understand sleep comes easier to some than others.  Here are some helpful tips on getting to sleep and sleeping well.  

Keep logging those points! About a 1/3 of you are doing a great job doing it regularly.  For those of you that have forgot, its not too late! Do it now while you are thinking about it.  :)