Next Week's Running Sched and Tomorrow's Run...

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow here at the studio at 7am for our 8 mile run!!

For those running Indy, we're one week away!! Next week's training will be light. 4 miles on Tuesday, and another 4 miles on Thursday - both runs should be slow and easy.

Here's next week's training:

Monday – Boot Camp or XT

Tuesday - Run 4 miles

Wednesday - Boot Camp or XT

Thursday – 4 Mile Easy

Friday - Boot Camp or XT

Saturday – Indy Half Marathon (for those not going to Indy 9 miles easy)

Here are some tips for the Indy Half...

Packing: Think of all the steps and things you’ve needed for each of our long runs and make sure those items are packed for Sunday morning. Don’t forget your GU, sports drinks, shoes, Glide, running belt (if you use one), running gear, change of clothes after the race, etc. A friend in Columbus said Sunday morning is supposed to be very cool. Pack both cold and moderate temperature running gear. Click here for Indy weather.

Carb Loading and Hydration starts next Wednesday! Make sure every meal contains whole grain carbs and plenty of water from Sunday through breakfast on Sunday. Remember, each day we need half our body weight in ounces of water for optimal hydration. A 150 pound person should be drinking at least 75 ounces, or slightly more.

Your Race Plan: Mentally plan out how you’re going to run on Sunday. Take caution in starting too aggressively (which is likely to biggest reason for a slower than anticipated time). It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the event...or have your competitive juices kick in when the gun goes off...or even to just forget to check your pace with each mile marker.

When you start too fast, your body shifts into your anaerobic energy system too quickly, bypassing the aerobic system, depleting your top energy system that you’ll need toward the end of the event. At a slower, aerobic energy system pace, you can go for a long period, then when you’re ready to kick up your pace, you’ll have several miles of your top energy system available.

Plan your race out in segments and make sure you have plenty of gas in the tank for the home stretch. Check your times at each mile. For example, if your goal is to finish in 2 hours and 20 minutes, you should be averaging about 10:30 per mile. Your first mile will be around 10:30, second mile at 21 minutes, third mile around 31:30, etc.

Remember, start slow. You can always pick up the pace later.

Your friend in fitness,

Brian Calkins

HealthStyle Fitness, Inc. 4325 Red Bank Rd Cincinnati, OH 45227 513-407-4665, x-105 www.CincinnatiFitness.com

This Week's Running Schedule...

We're less than 2 weeks away from the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon, and so we begin to taper down a bit to allow your body and energy systems to be a full speed on November 7th.

Click here to read about pre-race nutrition!

For those running the Indy Half, click here to check out the course with a really cool video of the streets we'll be running!! You can also click here to download the map of the course.

Personally, I am VERY excited that we're less than 2 weeks away!

Here's this week's training for everyone:

Monday – Boot Camp or XT
Tuesday - Run 4 miles
Wednesday - Boot Camp or XT
Thursday – 6 Mile Easy
Friday - Boot Camp or XT
Saturday – 8 miles Easy (meeting at the studio at 7am)

Have a GREAT training week. Leah is out of town after Wednesday, so I'll see everyone on Thursday and Saturday!!

Your friend in fitness,

Brian Calkins

HealthStyle Fitness, Inc. 4325 Red Bank Rd Cincinnati, OH 45227 513-407-4665, x-105 www.CincinnatiFitness.com

This Week's Running Schedule...

Congratulations to Stacy, Ari (and her husband John), Allison, Kathleen, Leigh, Annie and Rebecca for a very strong showing at yesterday’s Columbus Half Marathon!!

What a fun and exhilarating experience you all shared. For many of you it was your first half marathon – savor your accomplishment and reflect upon all the work and dedication you’ve employed over the past several months in preparation for it!!

I was really bummed not to share yesterday with you…but Leah sent me several text messages giving me updates…and I felt like I was there. I was definitely cheering you on from my hotel room!This week is going to be a recovery week for those who participated in yesterday’s event…and for those doing Indy in 3 weeks, you’ll continue with your training – below are both schedules.

Just completed Columbus:

Monday – Boot Camp or XT
Tuesday - Run 4 miles for recovery
Wednesday - Boot Camp or XT
Thursday - Run 5 miles
Friday - Boot Camp or X
TSaturday – 6 miles easy

Indy Half Routine:

Monday – Boot Camp or XT
Tuesday - Run 4 miles
Wednesday - Boot Camp or XT
Thursday – 8 Mile Pace Run
Friday - Boot Camp or XT
Saturday – 14 miles easy (the last long run before Indy Half)

Your friend in fitness,

Brian Calkins

HealthStyle Fitness, Inc. 4325 Red Bank Rd Cincinnati, OH 45227 513-407-4665, x-105 www.CincinnatiFitness.com

Final Preparations for Sunday...

Congratulations!! From a training perspective, you are ready for the Columbus Half Marathon on Sunday!!

I hope you feel good about the work you’ve put in over the past 7 weeks since the 10K – you’ve made tremendous progress!!

PLEASE NOTE: If you are either running the Half Marathon on Sunday, or coming up to watch, please confirm by emailing Leah at leah@healthstylefitness.com. She will make sure you are “in the loop” for meeting places and times, both for dinner on Saturday, and the event on Sunday.

And, please make sure Leah has your cell number so you can communicate while in Columbus.

Okay, here’s what you can do to be 100% prepared for Sunday's Half Marathon…

Hydrate well this week, with emphasis on significant water intake on Friday and Saturday.

Load up your glycogen stores Thursday, Friday and Saturday – read “Carb Loading and Hydration” info below.

Rest. You have just one more 4-mile easy run on Thursday. Make sure you rest up on Friday and Saturday.

Don’t forget your energy & hydrations needs during the event. You can review the following article here: http://www.swiftpage1.com/SpeClicks.aspx?X=2T0JJPDXHR0TAZ0C00YAWW.

Here are some tips for the weekend...

Packing: Think of all the steps and things you’ve needed for each of our long runs and make sure those items are packed for Sunday morning. Don’t forget your GU, sports drinks, shoes, Glide, running belt (if you use one), running gear, change of clothes after the race, etc. A friend in Columbus said Sunday morning is supposed to be very cool. Pack both cold and moderate temperature running gear. Click here for Columbus weather.

Carb Loading and Hydration starts on Thursday! Make sure every meal contains whole grain carbs and plenty of water from Sunday through breakfast on Sunday. Remember, each day we need half our body weight in ounces of water for optimal hydration. A 150 pound person should be drinking at least 75 ounces, or slightly more.

Your Race Plan: Mentally plan out how you’re going to run on Sunday. Take caution in starting too aggressively (which is likely to biggest reason for a slower than anticipated time). It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the event...or have your competitive juices kick in when the gun goes off...or even to just forget to check your pace with each mile marker.

When you start too fast, your body shifts into your anaerobic energy system too quickly, bypassing the aerobic system, depleting your top energy system that you’ll need toward the end of the event. At a slower, aerobic energy system pace, you can go for a long period, then when you’re ready to kick up your pace, you’ll have several miles of your top energy system available.

Plan your race out in segments and make sure you have plenty of gas in the tank for the home stretch. Check your times at each mile. For example, if your goal is to finish in 2 hours and 20 minutes, you should be averaging about 10:30 per mile. Your first mile will be around 10:30, second mile at 21 minutes, third mile around 31:30, etc.

Remember, start slow. You can always pick up the pace later.

You can reach Leah at 513-515-6632.

Remember on Sunday Morning…

The hard part is done.

Have fun. Enjoy the experience.

Don't think about the 13.1 miles - chunk it down.

One mile at a time.

One minute at a time.

One step at a time.

The only thing you have control over on Sunday are the thoughts that enter your head – your preparation is done - your nutrition is done - your clothes you are going to wear are figured out -it's just your thoughts that are left.

Keep them positive and you cannot lose.

Sunday - you'll be a Half Marathon Champion!

Your friend in fitness,

Brian Calkins

HealthStyle Fitness, Inc. 4325 Red Bank Rd Cincinnati, OH 45227 513-407-4665, x-105 www.CincinnatiFitness.com

One Week Until Columbus!

Okay, we are one easy training week away from the Columbus Half Marathon!

I am SO excited for all of you who are running on October 18th!!

And, put your mind at ease, you ARE READY! Just one easy week worth of running, and then it's 13.1 for you!

You've already completed a Half Marathon Distance. So the week before the race, the VERY BEST thing you can do is drop down in your mileage to allow your body to be ready for the upcoming event.

Sometimes people think they should keep training hard, even in the week leading up to an event. But, that's an approach that leads to being tired on the day you've been working so hard to get to.

Why should we taper down before the Half?

A review of 50 studies on tapering published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise shows that levels of muscle glycogen, enzymes, antioxidants, and hormones - all depleted by high mileage - return to optimal ranges during a taper.

The muscle damage that occurs during sustained training is also repaired.

And if that isn't enough, immune function and muscle strength improve, as well, which reduces the odds you'll catch a cold or sustain an injury just before the race.

And for those shooting for a specific time goal, the average performance improvement by those who tapered in these studies was 3 percent.

That works out to be an improvement of almost 20-30 seconds per mile! That's significant!!

In short, the taper will allow everyone to perform at their best while enjoying this major event!

Okay, so, here's next week's running schedule:

Monday- Strength Training

Tuesday- Run 4 miles easy pace

Wednesday- Strength Training

Thursday- Run 4 miles easy pace

Friday- Strength Training

Saturday - REST, Relax & enjoy a carbohydrate loading dinner together!

Sunday - 13.1 Miles in Columbus!! Enjoy it!

And, here's a short video introduction to the Columbus Half from Scott Weaver, Executive Director of the Columbus Marathon!

See you tomorrow at the studio (at 6:30am). For those doing Columbus, you'll go 8 miles...for those training for Indy on November 8th, you have the option of running 14 miles tomorrow, slow and easy!!

Your friend in fitness,

Brian Calkins

HealthStyle Fitness, Inc. 4325 Red Bank Rd Cincinnati, OH 45227 513-407-4665, x-105 www.CincinnatiFitness.com

This Week's Running Schedule...

Whoa, this week's running update is a few days late!

My apologies, on Friday I wasn't feeling well.

So, this week we're going to modify the training schedule again to begin tapering down for the Columbus Half.

And for those training for the Indy Half on November 7th, you'll have the option of either plan for this week.

Okay, you should now feel confident in the completion of the Columbus event in 2 weeks since you just completed the Half Marathon distance on Saturday!

And, before we get into the running schedule for the week, here's some important information on pre-race nutrition for next week....

Pre-race nutrition:

The good news is our muscles are capable of storing approximately 1800 calories in the form of glycogen. And given that the average runner burns approximately 100-140 calories per mile, most of us will have sufficient energy storage if properly fueled for the 3 days leading up to the half marathon. It’s generally mile 20 when running a full marathon where people hit the wall in terms of glucose/glycogen depletion.

Here are a few important nutrition steps you can take for Columbus…

1. Preparing for the event - For three days prior to the half, the goals is to maximize glycogen storage in muscle, which means we need to eat a few more complex carbohydrates than we normally do. Remember, all carbs are not created equal. Some supply energy very quickly while others provide a slow, steady stream of energy. Carbohydrates are classified by numbers between 1 and 100, called the glycemic index (GI). A simple carbohydrate is high on the GI and dumps into your blood stream very quickly. Complex whole grain carbs are generally lower on the GI and filter into your system more slowly. Foods that are low on the GI list tend to keep your blood glucose stable and give you a steady supply of energy, allowing you to maintain your longer runs for longer periods of time. High GI foods cause a roller coaster effect. After eating a high GI food your blood glucose quickly elevates, causing your pancreas to release insulin which pulls the carbs out of your bloodstream, resulting in a blood glucose crash. For that reason we need to consume low GI whole grain carbs all the time, but approximately 10% more for the 3 days leading up to our event.

2. Morning of the event - The morning of the half, eat a meal that consists of whole grains, protein and fat, ideally 2-3 hours before the start of the race (in a perfect world). This will top off your glycogen levels, giving you the necessary energy to run at your optimal pace.

Important note: Having said that, don’t try anything new before the event. Stick to the foods you know you can consume and run without problems. The last thing you want is a digestive problem while you’re running 13.1 miles!

3. During the event – During the half marathon it will be very important to supply your body with a steady dose of glucose and fructose (sugar). This is the time to eat high GI foods. The high GI foods quickly release energy and give you a fast energy boost. Good high GI foods that are convenient during a run include energy gels (GU) and sports drinks (Gatorade and Powerade). Here’s the tricky part of consuming them, however - you don’t want too much glucose as you may feel sick to your stomach, and likewise you don’t want too little as you’ll run out of gas. Again, running 13.1 miles doesn’t cause a major crash as compared to 26.2, but you will notice the difference with the appropriate fueling during the run. Here’s a must read article on the sports drinks vs. gels, the challenges and benefits of both: http://www.multidays.com/html/articles/energy_gels.htm

As always, hydrate well the day before and the morning of the Half, and in particular, during the carbohydrate loading period (three days prior to the half). Research has shown that carbohydrates convert to glycogen more effectively when accompanied with the consumption of water.

Immediately Following the Half

After crossing the line, get something to drink (water and a recovery drink). Within an hour or so of finishing, grab something to eat with your favorite running partners and celebrate your awesome achievement!!!

Here’s this week’s schedule:

Monday – Boot Camp or XT

Tuesday - Run 5 miles easy

Wednesday - Boot Camp or XT

Thursday - 9 mile pace run (final pace run before Columbus)

Friday - Boot Camp orXT

Saturday – 8 miles slow and easy (or 14 miles for those doing Indy on 11/7/09)

Leah looks forward to seeing you tomorrow at Crossroads at 5:30am!

Your friend in fitness,

Brian Calkins

HealthStyle Fitness, Inc. 4325 Red Bank Rd Cincinnati, OH 45227 513-407-4665, x-105 www.CincinnatiFitness.com