Saturday, November 28, 2009

Announcement: Speedy Sneakers Racing

Speedy Sneakers Racing a division of Speedy Sneakers Walking and Running Clubs for Women announces the luanch of it's new website at www.SpeedySneakers.com/Racing

Speedy Sneakers Racing offers race timing for running and walking events in Central Ohio.

Please visit the website for more information.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Commit Now for Success in the Spring

In the northern parts of the United States, the leaves have now fallen off the trees and the snow is about to come down. Winter is around the corner. As winter comes in the difficulty of training outdoors becomes apparent causing many runners and walkers to miss vital winter training.

Here are some tips to help you stay in shape, or at a minimum keep up some fitness activity through the winter:

Work on your core strength by doing back and abdominal exercises.

Though stretching may not increase your strength to run a 5k, it will increase your flexibility which will help you stave off injuries as you increase your mileage in the spring and summer.

Find sunny days through the winter when the snow is packed on the ground and you can get outside for a quick 20 minute run.

Try some rope skipping, you will be amazed at how tired you will become doing this workout.

These are some simple workouts and routines that will help you stay in shape through the winter. I would be interested to know what others have done. Please let us know.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Run as your feel

For many years I have heard runners talking about timing all their runs. This is a big mistake. Anytime you time yourself, you are putting yourself on the clock and with that you will for all intents and purposes probably end up running too fast. Now running fast is a good thing, but not all the time.

Running fast everyday will ultimately leave your body tired and run down. When training your body needs time to recover, which normally takes place at night when you are sleeping, but when you are training hard you need to give your body that little extra help by not running fast. That is why you will also hear runners talking about their “recovery runs”. These are runs where you run slower than normal or running as you feel.

My personal advice to better help you run as you feel is to leave your watch at home.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Building your Base

You might have heard elite runners talking about building a base in the winter training months and have wondered what they were talking about.

Base training serves as the foundation for what is to come later in the year. Much like building a foundation for a house, base training serves to provide the runner with a strong foundation to not only help train harder in the spring and summer months, but also will helps to make the runner stronger for the long slog through the summer.

Base training typically can include long slow runs and weight training. The base gets built up over the course of weeks, in terms of miles, no more than 10 percent increase each week until a maximum miles is reached. Periodic rest weeks can and should be taken to avoid becoming stale and the training can become boring. In fact, many good runners will also through in some light speed and streghtening work such as hill sprints to break up the training.

Base training is important for everyone, but is especially important for those who plan to run in half or full marathon. You will need to build your base before thinking about tackling the high mile weeks that will come later.

If you have any questions on training and building your base, please let me know through this blog and I will be happy to respond.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wearing Layers

To stay warm and comfortable during your winter runs, it will be important to wear layers.

I am sure if you are like me, less clothing is best, but when it get's cold you need to add clothing, and this causes other issues of comfort. Too much clothes and you feel like you are dragging, too little and you run chilly and stiff. So the happy medium is to have either just the right amount of clothing on, or have the correct clothing on.

The best approach is to dress in layers:

1. The first layer should be made of a wicking material to keep the sweat away from your body.
2. The second layer should be to keep you warm and can be a little heavier
3. The third layer should keep the wind or cold air away from you.

Happy running

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Start your own club

Speedy Sneakers Walking and Running clubs for women started on March 22 2008. Since that time, Speedy Sneakers has helped over 50 women in just one location meet many of their personal fitness goals.

Some of our members had goals to simply just get back to some general fitness while others wanted to run a 5k. By being a member of Speedy Sneakers, members were able to meet regularly and together they trained to meet their goals.

This coming year, Speedy Sneakers will be embarking on a new adventure - helping others start their own club. If you are interested in starting a club of your own in your neighborhood, the take a look at our website www.speedysneakers.com and give us a shout if you have any interest, we'd love to let you know how you too can start your own club.

Take care and happy running and walking

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Warm Fall Weather

What a beautiful morning we had. Our Speedy Sneakers group of walkers and runners met at Glacier Ridge and enjoyed the warm weather.

Throughout the fall and winter there will be some days that will provide you an opportunity to take advantage of the nice weather. If you are one who doesn't like to run or walk in cold weather then keep your eyes out for those windows of opportunity.

As a reminder: Speedy Sneakers Walking and Running Club for women will be meeting each Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. throughout the winter months.