All Hours is a new series showcasing Oura members from a variety of diverse backgrounds, professions, and lifestyles — an artist-producer, an Olympic athlete, a CEO. Each episode demonstrates how these members turn to Oura to inform the actions, routines, and decisions that impact their health, at all hours of the day.
Meet Alexi Pappas
Episode 2 of the All Hours series features Olympic runner, award-winning filmmaker, and writer Alexi Pappas. A Greek-American, Alexi is the Greek national record holder in the 10,000 meters with a personal best of 31:36 set at the 2016 Rio Olympics. However, her experience with Oura has helped her take her mental health as seriously as her physical training.
Her memoir-in-essays, Bravey, with a foreword by Maya Rudolph, was recently published and was the number-one new release in both the sports and film categories. Alexi also co-created and starred in the feature film Olympic Dreams alongside Nick Kroll and has had her writing featured in publications such as The New York Times.
On Set with Alexi Pappas
On the relationship between her sleep and overall health:
Understanding what my night of sleep looked like is the keystone for me to understand my bigger picture of health. Every time I’ve become injured, I can trace it back to a problematic sleep period. With my Oura data, I can catch problems early and make the necessary adjustments to stay healthy. I pay closer attention to what I did the night before a good night’s rest — how did a glass of wine affect my sleep quality? How did watching a movie right before bed affect it? I now make adjustments to help me get the rest I need, and manage the stress of being a dream-chasing Olympian, writer, and artist.
On training with Oura:
My Oura Ring is my sidekick and my secret weapon. Oura has helped me adjust my training according to what my body actually needs that day. It’s like having a teammate right next to me throughout the day, so I can pivot and adjust and stay on my own team.
On finding balance:
When things get stressful and hectic, I try to remind myself that recovery is just as important as training. In a non-literal sense, this means that in the big picture of living a balanced and happy and healthy life, taking downtime is just as important as chasing my goals and working hard. In fact, they’re all part of the same big picture. That said, as a motivated person, my tendency is to underplay the recovery sometimes. Oura helps me understand when it might be time for a break, even if I can’t see that myself at first.
On her favorite Oura features:
The Sleep Improvement, Sleep Staging, and Women’s Health features are the most innovative, valuable benefits that make Oura an indispensable part of my daily life. As a professional runner, I’ve had experience with just about every device out there, but I’ve never used any device before that could give me that level of insight into my body. Especially as a female athlete, being able to accurately predict my menstrual cycle saves me so much time and energy. Working out on your period is tough, and it helps me be kind to myself when I know what’s about to happen.
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