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Comment by nicolashahn | Hacker News Reader

I'm willing to bet money that the single determining factor that led you to different results was the amount of sleep. 5 hours is not even enough for a sedentary person, much less someone riding a bike all day. The more you work out the more sleep you need. I'm guessing the author got at least 8 hours a night, or however much was enough to fully recover.

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I'm reading a book on breaking the two hour marathon and one pro (I cant remember her name at the moment) sleeps 16 hours a day when her training peaks

What's the book? Sounds interesting!

I'm guessing it's "Two Hours: The Quest to Run the Impossible Marathon", by Ed Caesar (http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/review-two-hours-the...)

This is really interesting, statistically people sleeping 7 hours have the highest life expectancy.

I personally need 8 to 9, but I'm sharper if I only sleep ~ 6 hours (and eventually crash and have to recuperate).

Paula Radcliffe

Indeed. One of my favorite things about thru-hiking is that you get a ton of sleep: it's not unusual go to bed shortly after sunset and wake up at sunrise.

I usually feel like crap hiking if I'm not in bed for 10+ hours. Mostly that's not hard - you're tired, and just sleep all night. It was a pain in the ass in Alaska, though; I think I'd have real trouble with long hikes there in the summer.

I actually found kayaking and hiking in Alaska amazing (I was only there for 2 weeks). We'd be going for 12-16 hours a day but the constant sunlight made me feel super energized and happy.

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