Slow Down on these HOT and Humid Days!

The hot and sticky days of summer are here. Make sure that you are making some adjustments in your running. Most runners begin to slow down at 55 degrees and start suffering at 65 degrees. Of course, the body can adapt to heat stress and push the threshold up a bit, but you usually can’t run as fast on a 75 degee day as on a 45 degree one. High humidity is also a major problem. It’s like a wet blanket; it doesn’t allow much evaporation or perspiration and your body heat builds up.


If you try to run too hard in hot or humid conditions you’ll hit “the wall” sooner than expected. Trying to maintain a goal pace in heat is like going out too fast early in the race. Temperatures generally increase hour by hour; therefore you must adjust your pace for the temperature expected at the end of the race.

Adjusting Race Pace for Heat: Estimated temperature at finish – Slower than goal pace – 8 min mile becomes…


55-60 degrees – 1% – 8:05
60-65 degrees – 3% – 8:15
65-70 degrees – 5% – 8:25
70-75 degrees – 7% – 8:35
75-80 degrees – 12% – 8:58
80-85 degrees – 20% – 9:35
Above 85 degrees – Forget it… run for fun or hit the treadmill!


(Source: Jeff Galloway)

If you like running, this is for you ...

Happy Fourth of July.

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend connecting with friends and family, and celebrating the liberties that we are all so fortunate to enjoy.

I wanted to share a quick video for all my running friends out there.

When I completed my first marathon with a pretty decent time, a veteran runner asked me what I thought was the key to my success. 

Flattered that one of those "super-fast" guys thought I did well for a "newbie", I was caught a bit off guard by his question, and simply said, "consistency in my training".  

After thinking about it, I realized that showing up day after day for months and months, some good days, some bad ones, with tiny (almost insignificant) improvements day in and day out, over time made a massive difference in my running.  

Yet, the one thing I noticed only a few weeks after adding in, was 3 series of exercises that really allowed my running to kick into high gear.

I want to share those 3 with you.  

If you want to become a better, faster, healthier runner, check this out:  http://www.youtube.com/user/CincyBootCamp#p/a/u/0/kYqi7LOVCNM
 
(One Note on the first series called "The Triple Threat":  You'll do the Bridge first, then move right into the Leg Curl without resting, and then right into the Hip Lift, again without resting.  All 3 exercises in a row, each exercise for 8-20 reps = 1 set of the "Triple Threat").

If you wanna run fast, these 3 series of exercises are exceptional.  http://www.youtube.com/user/CincyBootCamp#p/a/u/0/kYqi7LOVCNM. 

Your friend in fitness,


Brian Calkins