I used to wear five hours of sleep like a medal.
I pushed to the limit every single day. No rest, no recovery. Rest was for people who did not want it badly enough. I thought it showed how tough I was.
My legs disagreed. Runner’s knee. Periostitis. I was always nursing something.
When the pain got bad enough, I booked one of the best physiotherapists in Chicago. I walked in expecting her to test the strength of my legs and hand me some exercises. Something I could fix with more work.
Her first question had nothing to do with my legs.
“How many hours do you sleep?”
I told her, and I said it the way you say something you are proud of.
She sighed.
She walked me into her office and gave me a one hour lecture. Only sleep. Not a word about my knee.
It felt like a graduation, from headstrong novice to something closer to an athlete. I walked out with one non-negotiable rule: eight hours. Lights out at 8:30, alarm at 4:30.
The injuries faded. Then I got faster. Not by training harder. By finally letting the training land.
Those five hours were never proof of toughness. They were proof of immaturity.
When it gets real
Bill Bowerman, the Oregon coach who co-founded Nike, gave every incoming freshman the same speech.
“Take a primitive organism, any weak, pitiful organism. Say a freshman. Make it lift, or jump, or run. Let it rest. What happens? A little miracle. It gets a little better. It gets a little stronger or faster or more enduring. That’s all training is. Stress, recover, improve.”
Most founders run the first word and skip the other two.
Jeff Bezos built his calendar around them. At the Economic Club of Washington in 2018, he explained why he protects eight hours of sleep and puts his hardest meetings before lunch.
“Is that really worth it if the quality of those decisions might be lower because you’re tired or grouchy?”
Careful, though: rest without stress is just a nap. The formula starts with pushing hard but taking enough time to rest.
Worth your time
Read Bowerman and the Men of Oregon by Kenny Moore. Moore was a world-class marathoner and one of Bowerman’s own Oregon men, and he built the book on years of taped interviews. You get the coach behind four national titles, the waffle sole, and Nike, and a man who treated rest as part of the workout. Read it before your next all nighter.
Final thoughts
For years I thought the work happened while I was running. It was happening while I slept. The miles were only the stress. The improving came later, once I finally stopped.
But nothing improves if nothing was stressed first. Most of us get one half right and call it the whole formula.
Thanks for reading.
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