This Week's Running...

Congratulations on braving the elements Saturday morning for a chilly, wet run!

Here’s our running schedule for this week…

Monday: This is the beginning of our first "stepback" week, where we cut mileage slightly to allow us to gather our energy for the next push upward in mileage in Week 4. Today is a cross-training day – Adventure Boot Camp or on your own. Make sure you work your leg muscles through walking lunges, squats, deadlifts, etc, to keep the spring in your running stride and your body’s shock absorbing system strong.

Tuesday: Run 4 miles at your easy pace as a recovery run. Make sure you stretch very well after the run – keep your joints and muscles working at full mobility.

Wednesday: Another cross-training day.

Thursday: We’re doing 6 miles at race pace. Race Pace is the pace you plan to run in the Pig. If you're training for a 4:00 marathon, your average pace per mile is 9:09. Pace runs are not only an important part of stretching our fitness level, but a great tool to develop your stride and cadence in knowing how fast you are going on race day.

Friday: Another cross-training day.

Saturday: Run 9 miles today at a comfortable pace. We don't want to run fast during our long runs. The only exception is once every three weeks, if you have some gas in your tank, you can finish a long run off at a fast tempo. Ingrid, Rob and I did this on Saturday. But you don’t want to do a 3/1 run more than once every 3 weeks. Most important is that you cover the distance and cover it with a reasonable level of comfort. There is a cumulative effect from all the miles we run in training that is often difficult to measure, but your fitness level will continue increasing. As mentioned above, this is a "stepback" week where we drop down in distance. This is done every third week on long runs to offer our bodies extra rest. Although today we run 9 miles, keep "16" in your mind, since we jump ahead to 16 miles next week.

Sunday: Rest! I will be flip-flopping my long run and rest day this weekend as I will be presenting at a seminar Saturday.

I’ll miss the fun we have on the long run!!

The full 18 week running schedule is here!

Your friend in fitness! Brian Calkins

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

Congratulations!!

Congratulations to Wendy & Rob, Rebecca, Leigh, Jill, Rob, Toye, Amy, Leah, and Shannon for a very strong showing at yesterday’s Columbus Half Marathon!! What a fun and exhilarating experience we all shared. For many of us it was our first half marathon – savor your accomplishment and reflect in all the work and dedication you’ve employed the past 7 weeks!!

I would also like to welcome all the new members to the running group – we’re excited to have you with us!!

With our new members we’re now going to break down our weekly email with 2 separate training routines to accommodate both those who just completed the half and the new group. Regardless of where you are today, feel free to follow the program that best fits your current needs.

This week is going to be a recovery week for those who participated in yesterday’s event. Although we need to do some light cardio to deliver oxygen and nutrients to repair damaged tissue, feel free to run or cross-train on a non weight-bearing machine such as an elliptical or bike (click here to read the benefits of cross training).

Leigh and I are looking at doing another half marathon in December since the Flying Pig is 7 months away. We both look forward to shaving time off our half time and having another milestone to keep us focused. It’s a small event, but in December it’s the closest we can find. Info available here: http://www.ashlandrunners.com/. We’d love to have you join us!!

Okay, here’s our training for the week:

Monday – Boot Camp or XT
Tuesday - Run 30 min or XT
Wednesday - Boot Camp or XT
Thursday - Run 30 min or XT
Friday - Boot Camp or XT
Weekend – 4 miles easy

New Running Group Members Routine:

Monday – Boot Camp or XT
Tuesday - Run 20 min or XT
Wednesday - Boot Camp or XT
Thursday - Run 20 min or XT
Friday - Boot Camp or XT
Weekend – 2 miles easy

There is more information about running for our first time members here: http://cincinnatifitnessrunning.blogspot.com/2008/05/cincinnati-fitness-running-week-one.html.

See many of you in the morning...

Have an awesome week!!

Brian Calkins
NSCA-CPT, ACE

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