By Sam Carey, Founder of Run Love Sprint.
Sleep is the recovery tool every runner has access to and most of us undervalue. We'll spend money on shoes, gels and gadgets, then cut an hour off our night to fit in an early run. A new review looking specifically at women in sport makes a strong case for taking sleep more seriously, and explains why women may face challenges with sleep that men simply don't.
The research
The review, The impact of sleep on female athletes' performance and recovery (opens in a new tab), was published in Sleep Science and Practice in March 2026 by Anne Lyon Havlik of the Yale School of Public Health and Danielle Kamis of Stanford University. It's a narrative review, which means the authors summarised the existing research rather than systematically pooling the results, and much of that research involves elite athletes rather than recreational runners. So it's best read as a well-informed overview rather than a set of hard rules, but it brings together some useful findings.
Why sleep matters for runners
The starting point will be familiar. Sleep is when much of our physical repair happens, and too little of it affects reaction time, endurance and accuracy, and has been linked to a higher risk of injury. Drawing on research including the expert consensus on sleep and athletes published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2021 (opens in a new tab), the authors note that athletes getting less than the recommended seven to nine hours a night tend to recover more slowly, perform less well and be more vulnerable to injury.
How the menstrual cycle can affect sleep
This is where the review gets more specific to women. In the second half of the menstrual cycle, the week or two before a period, levels of the hormone progesterone rise. That can make you feel sleepier, but it also raises your core body temperature, which can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep, because our bodies need to cool down to sleep well. Premenstrual symptoms such as bloating, headaches and mood changes can add to the disruption, and period pain can affect sleep too.
The review notes that some researchers have suggested timing harder training around the cycle, but the authors are clear that the evidence isn't strong enough for firm recommendations. A large meta-analysis led by Kelly McNulty (opens in a new tab) found that, on average, the effect of cycle phase on performance was trivial, and that individual responses varied. So I'd see it as something to notice in yourself rather than a reason to rearrange your plan.
Menopause and sleep
For women running through the menopause, sleep can become a real challenge. The review highlights that hot flushes and night sweats affect up to 85% of menopausal women and are strongly linked to waking during the night, and that poor sleep can in turn affect recovery, strength and mood. The good news is that there are effective options. The authors point to cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia, known as CBT-I, as an effective treatment for long-term sleep problems at this stage of life, and to hormone replacement therapy as a way of easing the night sweats and hot flushes that disrupt sleep. Both are worth discussing with a GP. If you'd like to read more about running through the menopause, Melissa Reynolds' article on menopause and joint pain is a great place to start.
Stress, training and sleep
The review also highlights how stress and sleep feed into each other. Anxiety and low mood make it harder to sleep, and poor sleep makes anxiety and low mood worse. Training itself plays a part too. Hard or late sessions can leave you too wired to sleep, and the authors note that women often have less room for recovery because they're balancing training with work, study or caring responsibilities. That will resonate with a lot of London runners squeezing sessions in after work.
What you can do
The practical advice is reassuringly simple. Aim for seven to nine hours and keep your sleep and wake times as consistent as you can. Keep your bedroom cool, which may help particularly in the days before your period. Where possible, move your hardest sessions earlier in the day rather than late in the evening. Pay attention to how your sleep changes across your cycle, so you can plan around the nights you know tend to be harder. And if sleep problems are persistent, whether linked to your cycle, the menopause or stress, speak to your GP, because effective help is available.
I'd add one more thing. Sleep isn't a reward for training hard. It's part of the training.
This article is for general information and isn't a substitute for advice from your GP or a healthcare professional.
