Bad weather running

With the winter weather finally ariving it's a good time to remind everyone of some safety tips to keep our runs fun.

You can run in almost any conditions with the exception of during or just after freezing rain. If it's a skating rink out there, stay at home and go running tomorrow.

Apart from that, here are some tips to make your run a little safer:

• Dress in layers so you can add or remove clothing as needed.
• Wear moisture wicking clothing close to your skin.
• Cover your exposed skin if it's below freezing.
• Wear reflective clothing and use lights.
• Run into the wind for the first half of your run so you don't go out too far.
• Run loop routes from your finish point so you can take a shortcut home if you get into trouble.
• Make mental notes of places you can get assistance like gas stations or stores.
• Stay hydrated, the cold can dehydrate you as fast as the heat.
• Carry a cell phone.
• Tell someone where you're going and how long you plan to be out.
• Avoid getting in front of moving cars when it's icy.
• If you HAVE to run in the road, face the traffic and be prepared to jump into the snow bank if necessary.
• Don't presume that drivers have seen you just because they are looking at you.
• Don't try to get a personal best when it's icy.

Above all, enjoy being outdoors and don't do anything stupid and by the springtime you'll be way ahead of everyone who spent the winter indoors.

Planning ahead

If you are thinking of running a spring marathon, now is the time to plan ahead. We are now providing personalized plans for both the Mississauga Marathon and the Ottawa Marathon as well as both half marathons. All plans are designed for you personally with no cookie cutter plans.

Need more than a plan? Check out our personal or group training programs as well as our coaching programs.

Be ready to have a great run this spring!

Muskoka Triathlon and Duathlon

The Next Hit The Road 'Road Trip' will be to the Muskoka Long Course Triathlon and Duathlon.

Date
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Sprint Triathlon
1 km Fun Run
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Long Course Triathlon
Long Course Duathlon
Location: Huntsville, ON. (Centennial Centre)

Distances

Sprint Tri - Swim 750m, Bike 20km, Run 5km
Sprint Tri Relay - Swim 750m, Bike 20km, Run 5km
Long Course Triathlon - Swim 2km, Bike 55km, Run 15km
Long Course Duathlon - Run 3km, Bike 55km, Run 15km
Long Course Tri Relay - Swim 2km, Bike 55km, Run 15km

We have already secured accommodation at the Grandview Resort for the weekend. Those interested can contact tony@hittheroadrunning.com for details.

Space is limited!

SickKids Winter Beginners Program

Looking for information on the SickKids Winter Beginners Program?

All the information on the SickKids Healthy Workplaces program can be found at hittheroadrunning.com/sickkids

New year's resolutions

Ah, it's that time of year again. The resolutionists come out of the woodwork only to disappear back again in about a month. Getting fitter and losing weight are perennials on the new years resolution top ten lists (usually in the top 3) but why do so many people come out in January only to be back to their old habits by February?

The answer is that they do not have a plan and that they have set unachievable goals.

The first thing to do is to look at your goal. A goal must have three components. It should be specific (measurable), achievable and have a timeframe. It's one thing to say "I want to lose some weight" but it's not likely to be successful. Try instead to add the three components for example "I want to lose 20 lbs by the end of April". Is this achievable? Probably, if you make a plan and stick to it. If however you wanted to lose 20 lbs by the end of January, I would suggest either changing the amount of weight or the timeframe. Setting goals that you are not willing to commit to will always fail so set a commitment that you are willing to live with.

Now that you have a good goal, it's time to set out your plan to achieve it. It won't happen all on it's own. Break your larger goal down into smaller chunks and write down what you need to do to make the milestones. Twenty pounds in four months can be easily broken down to five pounds a month. Five pounds a month is 1.25 pounds a week and we know that a pound equates to about 3200 calories. Now you just need to figure out how to get a deficit of 4000 calories a week that you are willing to live with. There are 2 ways of getting a calorie deficit; take less calories in and burn more calories. A combination of diet and exercise would be the most effective method.

Decide what dietary changes you are willing to make and what commitment to additional exercise you can realistically do and plan to do them. Don't make the mistake of over estimating the amount of exercise you will do which is one of the most common mistakes. If you currently do little or no exercise, it's not realistic to plan to be at the gym 5 times per week. Start out slowly and build up. Get used to exercising once a week. Once you're OK with that then increase it to two and so on.

The other common mistake is doing too much, too soon. This usually results in pain or injury and quitting. Give your body some time to adjust to the change before progressing to the next step. A realistic amount of change is 10% per week so if you are currently running 10K per week, increase it to 11K the first week. If you increase to 15K you will be sore and risk injury.

If this is too much for you, get help. If you really want to change, get the help of experts who can help you set a goal, make a plan and follow it. Hire a nutritionist or personal trainer but make sure they are qualified to be giving advise. There are a lot of people out there giving advise and if you are turning your hard earned cash over to them, ask what their qualifications are and make sure they are right for you. Even if you think you can do it yourself, you will be far more successful if you have someone coaching you through the process (Take a look at Hit The Road's Coaching Services) who will guide you through the process and give you someone to be answerable to.

Lastly, good luck. Don't become one of the 80% of resolutionists who are gone within a month. Set your goals, make a plan and achieve them.

Social Responsibility Scorecard

If you've ever read the Hit The Road Corporate Profile you may have noticed the following :-

"Hit The Road prides itself on being a social enterprise and as well as the financial bottom line we also focus on the social bottom line by ensuring that the communities in which we are based benefit from our presence."

Hit The Road is proud to announce our first ever Social Responsibility Scorecard. 2006 has been an amazing year for us being our most profitable to date but more importantly our social bottom line has been more healthy than ever.

So here is our 2006 results...
Funds donated to charity through Hit The Road programs....$2,650.
Amount of litter collected from local trails..............6 bags.
Pairs of running shoes donated............................18 Pairs.
Number of volunteer hours through Hit the Road programs...140 hours.

Beyond this many Hit The Road members raise funds and volunteered on their own time for various charities.

Congratulations to everyone who took part in our programs in 2006 and we look forward to an even better year in 2007.

Merry Christmas

To all of our friends and the whole running community; Have a very merry Christmas.

It's a busy time of year

You may have noticed that this is the busiest time of year for everyone but it's increasingly important to take care of yourself during this time. Make sure that you make time to get out and exercise even if it's not as often or as much as you would like. Getting out once a week is better than nothing so do what you can without overloading yourself. Remember that exercise is supposed to reduce your stress and make you feel better so don't panic if you miss a workout, just try to make it out as much as you can.

By getting out at this busy time you will be benefiting in two ways. Firstly you will be reinforcing in your own mind that being healthy is what is important to you so when you head out to those parties you will tend to watch what you eat and drink. Secondly, once this month is over and you make a resolution to ramp up your fitness, you will be halfway there rather than starting from square one again.

Lastly remember not to drink and drive, it may just be me running across the road that you don't see even though I'm lit up like a Christmas tree.

Don't let winter make you SAD

Don't let this cold weather get you down. There are many advantages to running through the winter.

Firstly, if you're running during the day you will dramatically reduce your chances of being affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) otherwise known as the winter blahs. By getting more sunlight you will feel better which will also encourage you to eat better and exercise more. Inactivity is a double edged sword as the less active you become the easier it is to stay inactive and the harder it becomes to make healthy choices.

Secondly it's much easier to run in the cold than the hot from a cardiovascular point of view. The air is denser and there's less pollution so you have better oxygen delivery to the muscles allowing you to be much more effective at fatty acid oxidation which is the energy system commonly called the 'fat burning zone'.

By maintaining or lowering your body fat composition during the winter you are fighting back the body's natural response of storing more fat during the hibernation months.

Maintaining your base fitness during the winter also gives you a jump start on next years running season and you will not spent the spring and early summer getting back the fitness you lost.

As always, remember safety. Run a little slower if it's icy and take precautions against bad weather such as layering, covering exposed skin, heading out into the wind for the first half of your run and choosing routes that allow you to make a short cut home in case the weather starts to get to you.

I can assure you that running through the winter is not as bad as you think. There's only a few really bad days each year when you really shouldn't run but don't let them hold you back from being ready for next years bikini season.

Marathon of the Palm Beaches

You may be wondering why the web site has been so quiet for the last few days. Well I've been down in Sunny Florida running the Marathon of the Palm Beaches and checking out potential locations for next years Hit The Road Winter Marathon trip.

What I found in Palm Beach was a well organized race with a great course as long as the weather co-operates. Unfortunately this year it didn't with a temp at 6:30am when the race started of 24° C and by the time I finished it was 30° C. This was by far my slowest marathon yet and at mile 16 I switched from 10 and 1's to 5 and 1's. By the end of the race, I was struggling to run 500M at a time but I finished and have a nice shiny medal to add to my collection.

The course was as flat as I've ever seen and had 24 water stations which helped me drink about 8 litres during the run (more went over my head) and the only downfall of the course was the lack of shade.

Apparently about 200 people switched from the full to the half marathon the day before the race due to the heat.

I thought that my slow time really sucked until I checked the official results and found that I was still in the top half of all the marathon finishers so I know I wasn't the only one who suffered with the heat.

The conclusion is that this was a great course, well organized but if you decide to run it next year and it's a hot weekend... Switch to the half marathon!