Keep Yourself Fueled Up

In these hot months of summer, it's important to keep your body fueled up during long workouts.

Even if you're working out indoors, there is often heat and humidity that saps your body of much-needed fuel and energy, particularly during long workouts. You have to make sure you keep up with vital fuel, otherwise you'll run yourself ragged.

At the very least, water and sport drinks will help keep up. But take a look at this article from Everymantri.com to learn more about the things you need to keep up during your long workouts in warmer weather.

Top Post-Cardio Workout Snacks

Everyone has their ideas for the best post-workout fuel.

Personally, I like chocolate milk. It features a great balance of protein and carbohydrates - just what your body is craving following a demanding workout. Plus, chocolate milk is just darned good! Who doesn't like chocolate milk?

If you're interested in learning about some other options, triathlete Ben Greenfield shares his top four favorite post-cardio workout food selections in an entry at Everymantri.com.
You might be surprised at a couple of his preferences.

Doing Things Different

I've said many times it's important to keep our bodies guessing.

Strength, weight loss and other good things result when we do things our bodies don't expect. Otherwise, when we do the same things over and over again, our bodies get too efficient and we don't reap as much benefit from the exercise.

I tried something new a few weeks ago that was different and fun. I rode my bike to a fabulous park in our community that features a lake and a free Saturday morning yoga class. When I arrived, I swam several hundred yards, attended the yoga class and rode my bike home. I probably rode 22 miles in total.

The weather was great and I saw some friends there I hadn't seen in a while - an added bonus!

Sometimes it's worth it to push beyond the comfort zone a bit and expand our fitness horizons.

Working For Better Balance

Better balance may not seem important, but it is.

Strong balance, particularly in the core area, supports so many of the things we do. I discovered this when I started taking classes with exercises using a Bosu ball.

Check out this post from www.dailyspark.com. It goes through a series of exercises that will help you improve your balance.

Beating Food Cravings

When you crave chocolate, you want chocolate.

While we realize we shouldn't eat chocolate, maybe we should. We may eat several hundred calories to satisfy our cravings for chocolate - just because we think we shouldn't eat chocolate.

Nancy Clark writes for www.active.com saying that if you crave chocolate - or some specific food - your body may need it as fuel. She advocates teaching your body to control cravings by embracing them, but not to excess.

Running In My Mind

Here's a piece most runners would enjoy.

If you're feeling a bit down on your running game, check out this piece from David Glenn Cox. He talks about how he couldn't view himself running, but the more he did it, the more he enjoyed it and excelled at it.

It's a long piece, but stay with it. Cox has a good story to tell about perseverance.

Tips From An Ironman

Maybe you're not running in an Ironman event, but the advice from Peter Reid is good.

Most of us will never compete in Ironman events. However, many of us will prepare for some type of an endurance event whether it be a 5K or an Olympic-distance triathlon. Ironman triathlete Peter Reid has some advice on www.triathlete.com that applies to all of us who are doing one of these events and everything in between.

I don't agree with all of his advice, but some of it is great. For example, I don't agree with "training alone". I have always advocated training with others who will support your endeavors and keep you accountable. There's ALWAYS time to train alone. Making investments in the right equipment and training for a race, on the other hand are pieces of good advice.

Take a look and see what applies to you.

Being Goal Specific

Are you competing just to compete or are you competing with specific goals in mind?

It doesn't matter which, but if you're considering a specific time in an upcoming event, you need to start getting serious. This post from the Essence of Running blog highlights the writers goals for next year's Boston Marathon.

As the writer indicates, there's no time for "lallygagging" around. You can't waste time when you need to get serious about training for an event.

Hopefully, this post helps you get kick started into gear for your next "goal specific" event.

Dealing With IT Band Injuries

If you're a consistent distance runner, you've probably had IT band issues.

This is a common injury among distance runners -- friction of a tight iliotibial band causes problems for your knees and hips.

This feature from "As The Running Doc" on www.running.competitor.com site lays out the symptoms and the treatment for this issue.

Having suffered through this issue numerous times, the information is pretty accurate. You can continue to run with it; however, the discomfort in between runs can be unnerving.

It's a frustrating injury that requires patience for recovery.

Morning Running Helps Sleep

When do you want to run during the day?

Well, if you want to have better sleep, you'll run in the morning. At least that's what's coming from the American College of Sports Medicine. Researchers spent time studying the impact of running at different times of the day on various types of runners.

According to the data compiled by researchers at Appalachian State University running in the morning leads to better sleeping patterns. This information comes courtesy of Christine Luff at www.about.com.
Let's face it, most of us are busy people; therefore, we run when we can. But if you have options, the morning seems help your sleeping habits.

Long Swim Workouts

We're in the dog days of August. So there's no better time for some long swim workouts you can hopefully do outdoors.

Check out these three swim workouts for 4,000-plus yards. They are from the IronMom blog. These workouts are ideal, particularly if you can find a 50-meter outdoor pool.

Take a shoot at some new and different workouts that are longer in length to enhance your training in the water.

Ways To Make Hills Fun

Runnings hills can be fun - now that seems a bit like an oxymoron.

But it's really true. There are ways to make running hills fun. Additionally, if you make hill workouts a regular part of your workout routine, you will be a stronger runner.

Read Lauren Leatherman's post on examiner.com to learn how hill workouts can make your training more fun. Running hills will improve your running strength and it will make a difference as you participate in more events.

"Naked" Run

Well, at least the headline got your attention!

This post from Jamie Berube at the sparkpeople blog isn't what you think. It's about a runner who decides to run free from all of her "equipment". Take a look. It is definitely a liberating feeling.