The spring and summer are typically times when runners can look forward to myriad events focused on their favorite pastime. Half marathons, marathons, and any number of charity runs are organized throughout the country, and people come from all over to compete in such events.
If you’re planning on taking part in any of these, then you need to be willing to put in the hard work necessary to make sure your body is up to the task. This is a great time to reinvigorate a workout attitude that may have flagged since last fall. You want your body not just in great shape but at a level that goes beyond what it may have been capable of in the past. To do that, and to keep injuries at bay all the while, you might consider some of the important tips in a recent report out of Philadelphia.
First, don’t be haphazard with your fitness. One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they’re starting their training, especially at the close of a long, cold winter, is to work out without any sort of real plan in place. They just take off running and leave it at that.
This is fine for a beginner, but it’ never going to allow you to reach the upper echelons of fitness. Instead, you’ll want to start quantifying everything you do. Figure out exactly what path you need to take to run a 5K around your neighborhood, and time yourself while you take part in the exercise.
Do this a couple times so that you can establish a baseline from which to constantly try to better yourself. The report linked to above highlights an important idea known as the ten percent rule, which often goes ignored to the detriment of fitness. If you’ve worked out three or four times in a week going the same speed and distance, then the next week is when you’ll want to increase your distance by 10%. Or, if you’re trying to improve your time, estimate a 10% increase in speed and shoot for that while you’re out running. Either way, doing this will constantly be stressing your body in a good way that improves your fitness abilities.
Because the weather may be better than it’s been in recent months, you may also be tempted to focus solely on running without taking part in any strength-building exercise. This is a mistake. You want to also give yourself time to warm up, cool down, and strengthen the rest of your body. Highly tuned weight work focused on specific muscle sets can give your body the boost it needs to go that extra mile or break a given time barrier. You ignore balanced weight work at your own peril.
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