Getting a night's sleep before your big event

Richard891

My first sportive of the year is looming at the start of May. Sign on is at 7.30 am with roll out at 8.00 am, so it will be an early start to allow me to get enough porridge in. From experience I know sometimes I get so excited the night before just going out on a regular club run that I might have diffs sleeping before this one. My plan is to try and get into a good regular sleeping pattern over the rest of this month so that my early start for the event will be more normal. Any of you experienced sportivers got any tips on getting over tp sleep the night before?

Steve928

I normally have trouble sleeping before any big day, sportives included. I frequently get no sleep at all.. I've found however that my performance doesn't suffer as long as I've had an easy day beforehand i.e. I'm not needing to recover, as that is where the benefits of sleep really kick in.

I just don't stress about it, lie back and relax and above all don't get worked-up and angry. In fact now that I've proved to myself that I can perform well and ride strongly on no sleep I just don't worry about it at all - and consequently sleep better!

ricadus

Similar to Steve, except add pre-event faffing around sorting out bike set-up and food/drink/tools and pinning number to jersey etc etc... which might mean a later than intended night.

For ones further away I like to travel 2 days beforehand to allow an entire day for faffing /signing on (if available the day before) and generally taking it very easy, as travel can be draining, especially if airports & their crack-of-dawn check-in times are involved.

nottscobb

I read somewhere that the amount of sleep you get is not actually important, it's the amount of physical rest. Just try to take it easy the day before and even if you can't sleep don't stress about it but stay in bed and give your body the rest it needs.

I only got a couple of hours broken sleep in a hotel the night before doing the full Tour of Flanders but still managed the event OK following a 4am wake up call to get the bus to Brugge.

andy_wrx

They reckon it's not the sleep you get the night before, it's the sleep the night before that.

So providing you sleep OK going up to the event, actually rest the day and night before rather than doing anything active/sightseeing/long tiring drives/etc you'll be OK.

bornagaincycler

I'll second that Andy. I'm doing two sportive rides soon, they wil be my first. My experience from other sports (Rugby), is that the week before a BIG game (big event) you must rest well, & try to sleep really well the night 2 nights before your event. Take a tab if need be. You should already be fit enough so that won't be a worry. I've always found that when I'm sleepless the night before, & going through all the eventualities of the day ahead, then I'm mentally preparing myself & usually perform well. You get used to lack of sleep under pressure. I'm presuming this is the same with a big cycle event.

ColinJ

It's not really the healthiest thing to do the day before a big event, but...

I got so fed up of not sleeping on such occasions, that I now just drink enough beer to knock myself out! It means that I start off with a bit of a hangover but after about 2 hours of riding that is pretty much burned off.

NB If you adopt this approach make sure that you will wake up on time! I set my mobile to wake me up at the allotted time, but always set a very loud backup alarm clock to go off 10 minutes later. Make sure the backup alarm is out of reach so that you have to get out of bed to switch it off, and do not go back to bed for just another 10 minutes!

Yorkman

ColinJ wrote:

It's not really the healthiest thing to do the day before a big event, but...

I got so fed up of not sleeping on such occasions, that I now just drink enough beer to knock myself out! It means that I start off with a bit of a hangover but after about 2 hours of riding that is pretty much burned off.

NB If you adopt this approach make sure that you will wake up on time! I set my mobile to wake me up at the allotted time, but always set a very loud backup alarm clock to go off 10 minutes later. Make sure the backup alarm is out of reach so that you have to get out of bed to switch it off, and do not go back to bed for just another 10 minutes!

and make sure the event you're in doesn't have a nasty hill in the first couple of miles like the Lakeland Loop did or you'll really suffer.

ColinJ

Yorkman wrote:

and make sure the event you're in doesn't have a nasty hill in the first couple of miles like the Lakeland Loop did or you'll really suffer.

The Season of Mists audax starts from Hebden Bridge and goes straight up a steep hill to the old village of Heptonstall. I anticipated the 'breakfast-review' problem last year and did a 6-mile warm up towards Todmorden and back but I still felt rough on the climb :? .

terongi

ColinJ wrote:

It's not really the healthiest thing to do the day before a big event, but...

I got so fed up of not sleeping on such occasions, that I now just drink enough beer to knock myself out! It means that I start off with a bit of a hangover but after about 2 hours of riding that is pretty much burned off.

NB If you adopt this approach make sure that you will wake up on time! I set my mobile to wake me up at the allotted time, but always set a very loud backup alarm clock to go off 10 minutes later. Make sure the backup alarm is out of reach so that you have to get out of bed to switch it off, and do not go back to bed for just another 10 minutes!

This is potentially very dangerous. What we call a hangover is in fact dehydration caused by excess intake of alcohol. If you are attempting a sportif which is long hilly and potentially hot (ie anything in June, July or August), then you are at severe risk of further dehydration which is likely to be harmful to your performance and chances of finishing, if not harmful to your health.

When I did the Etape last year, I saw a number of riders being stretchered into ambulances with dehydration. I wouldn't want to increase my chances of that by starting a ride with a hangover.

Colin may have survived this technique, but I would not risk taking his advice.

ColinJ

terongi wrote:

ColinJ wrote:

It's not really the healthiest thing to do the day before a big event, but...

I got so fed up of not sleeping on such occasions, that I now just drink enough beer to knock myself out! It means that I start off with a bit of a hangover but after about 2 hours of riding that is pretty much burned off.

NB If you adopt this approach make sure that you will wake up on time! I set my mobile to wake me up at the allotted time, but always set a very loud backup alarm clock to go off 10 minutes later. Make sure the backup alarm is out of reach so that you have to get out of bed to switch it off, and do not go back to bed for just another 10 minutes!

This is potentially very dangerous. What we call a hangover is in fact dehydration caused by excess intake of alcohol. If you are attempting a sportif which is long hilly and potentially hot (ie anything in June, July or August), then you are at severe risk of further dehydration which is likely to be harmful to your performance and chances of finishing, if not harmful to your health.

When I did the Etape last year, I saw a number of riders being stretchered into ambulances with dehydration. I wouldn't want to increase my chances of that by starting a ride with a hangover.

Colin may have survived this technique, but I would not risk taking his advice.

I wasn't really saying it was a sensible thing to do - I just feel even worse if I haven't slept.... I didn't mean getting absolutely plastered either, nor was I thinking of Etape-like rides in French summer temperatures.

Oh heck, who am I trying to convince - you're right! Er, would smoking 2 or 3 spliffs be okay? I thought not... :oops:

If you do drink the night before an event - do it in moderation and drink plenty of water before you go to bed to try to reduce the chances of dehydration. Then of course, you'll be waking up regularly through the night to pee it all back out again so you still won't get a good night's sleep.

toontra

Well, I'm doing it all wrong then! Got my first sportive on Sunday (White Horse Challenge 150k) and I'll be doing a 150k the day before as well, cycling from London up to Bath.

I was hoping I'd be so knackered on Saturday night that I'd get plenty of sleep ready for an early start on Sunday, but maybe I'm just deluding myself.

Actually, the real point is to practice back-to-back long day rides in preparation for my LEJoG in 3 weeks. I'll probably bomb in the sportive but who cares - I've never seen myself as a racer anyway.

terongi

toontra wrote:

Well, I'm doing it all wrong then! Got my first sportive on Sunday (White Horse Challenge 150k) and I'll be doing a 150k the day before as well, cycling from London up to Bath.

I was hoping I'd be so knackered on Saturday night that I'd get plenty of sleep ready for an early start on Sunday, but maybe I'm just deluding myself.

Actually, the real point is to practice back-to-back long day rides in preparation for my LEJoG in 3 weeks. I'll probably bomb in the sportive but who cares - I've never seen myself as a racer anyway.

GOSH!

nasahapley

Weirdly, the last couple of times I've been to the Lakes for a weekend's cycling I've found that I've suffered like a dog the first day and then felt strong as an ox the next. For instance, a couple of weeks ago I did a tough 70-miler on the Saturday and by the time I got home I felt more dead than alive, was freezing cold and thoroughly miserable. Eat a load of junk food and drank a fair bit of booze that night as I didn't think I'd feel up to riding the next day anyway. In the morning I set out to do the Lakeland Loop course starting from Keswick thinking that I'd probably die on my arse and give up after five miles, but I was flying along, powering up the hills better than I ever had before, Hardknott and Wrynose beat without too much drama etc. This weekend just gone I had a very similar experience.

What I'm wondering is, with my first sportive also looming, should I try to pull the same thing off then?!