Week 3: It's Hot!

Like, tell us something we don't know, right?

Anyway, praying you all are keeping cool, and getting some work in despite the heat. For most you who are beginners, if you were out getting a run/walk in, I'm going to guess it was more challenging than anything you've done in a while. That's OK. Overcoming challenges such as the weather is one of the things you learn in distance running/walking. You learn to adjust to the elements accordingly.

Some tips on hot weather running:

1. Get your workout in either early in the morning or after sunset. 
2. Hydrate BEFORE you workout. It's best to hydrate with water throughout the day, so that when it's time to workout, you'll be ready to handle the heat.
3. Do out-and-back routes: if you are a beginner, that would be 15 minutes out and 15 minutes back.
4. You don't really need to bring water with you if you are going 30 minutes. If you are going up to an hour, bring a bottle with you. (It might be awkward, but it's well worth it the 20 ounces of prevention -- trust me on this).
5. If you are running/walking for more than an hour and up to 90 minutes, bring a sports drink (Gatorade, PowerAde) instead of water to replace salts and other minerals you sweat out.
6. Most important -- go slower than normal, even if you feel good during the workout. 

Pretty much all of you are at about the 30-minute range in your workouts right now, and for a 5K, unless you have sights on winning your age group (and you've been training consistently for the last three to six months with your longest run at least 6 miles or an hour) you won't need to run/walk longer than an hour at the most. 

All that to say is if you missed your workouts this week because it was too hot for you, no worries.

It's supposed to be cooler this weekend.

This weekend's routes are posted on MapMyRun.com, a really cool website; check it out, and map your own routes from your doorstep. It's free to register, but if you become a paid member, you get to skip the ads.

Click on the links below for the specific routes this weekend:

• Run For God Challenge -- 1.23 miles This is for those of you who are just joining us, or who missed last weekend's workout.
• Run For God Challenge -- 1.39 miles This is for those of you who have been training fairly consistently on your own, and were with us last week. It's a shady loop coming back to the park.
• Run For God Challenge -- 2.31 miles This is for the advanced runners. 

Don't forget to bring your beach towel or yoga mat on Saturday!

See you at 7 a.m. at Mountain Gate Park, Corona, lower parking lot.