Week 4 Training Run:
This week the full marathon group will run 9-10 miles. The half-marathon group will run or walk 6 miles. We will meet at Louie’s on the Lake at 7:oo a.m., weather pending.
Upcoming Events:
The next runHers meeting is Monday, February 8th at 6:30 p.m. at the OK Runner Store on South Broadway in Edmond.
Letter from runHers Member, Christina Eckert:
We’ve made it to week 4 of our training season…. and unfortunately we may have more winter weather. Right now, we have our long run planned for Saturday morning at Louie’s at Lake Hefner. Everyone training for the full and half marathon (along with those involved in the relays, 5K, and anyone just looking for a fun weekend run) will meet at 7 am. The full marathon group will be running 9-10 miles this weekend, while the half marathon group will be walking/running 6 miles. This is also the weekend we kick off our season with Team in Training. Please give them a warm welcome when you see them out at the lake. Because of the possibility of winter weather, check back here or on our facebook page for possible changes and the latest information on our training runs. All official runHers events will go on unless there are extreme temperatures (below zero degrees), ice on the ground or lightning… so be sure to check the website!
With this cold weather, its easy to forget about hydration. Runners World Magazine says “surprisingly, one of the more common maladies in cold-weather marathons is dehydration. “Because runners don’t see their sweat losses in the winter, they’re not attentive to their drinking,” says Lawrence Armstrong, Ph.D., professor of environmental and exercise physiology at the University of Connecticut. But it’s possible to sweat just as much as you do on a warm day–especially if you’re layered up.” So I asked our runHers expert Jenny Graef. ”Hydration is such an important part of training,” says Graef. ”Just a slight reduction in your hydration status from sweat loss can make a run not very much fun. I can always tell when I’m a little bit dehydrated, because my body feels heavy and I feel the burn very quickly, even if I’m not running very hard.” Jenny says it’s hard in the winter to remember to stay hydrated, because you may not feel thirsty even if you are dehydrated. The best way to monitor hydration is to watch your urine color–it should be clear to light yellow.
Another way to monitor hydration is to weigh yourself before you run and again afterwards. The American College of Sports Medicine’s exercise and fluid replacement guidelines recommend you weigh yourself naked before and after a hard one-hour run. Convert the amount of weight lost to ounces to figure out your sweat rate per hour… so a loss of one pound means you sweated about 16 ounces of fluid. In this case, going forward, you would try to replenish fluids at a rate of about 16 ounces per hour. If you don’t want to figure out your sweat rate… the ACSM suggests drinking about 14 to 27 ounces per hour… and when you’re out for more than 30 minutes, consider sports drinks over water, since the carbs and electrolytes they contain help you stay energized and better hydrated during longer runs.
Our next runHers meeting will be Monday, February 8th. OK Runner at 3209 South Broadway (on the Broadway Extension at 33rd) is hosting our group and providing us dinner and drinks at 6:30 pm. Also on hand will be a bra-ologist to help you find the best sports bra. All the bras in the store will be marked down for runHers and be sure to check the website for details on how to win free bras and marathon entries!
And one last note from former Runners World Editor, Amby Burfoot. ”… a positve attitude is the most important attribute any runner can have. You’ll need it often. Every runner has bad days, every runner has occassional injuries, and every runner eventually slows down. But as long as you maintain a positve attitude, you’ll find ways to overcome the obstacles and continue running. After all, running offers countless rewards. Its simply up to you to find the ones that have the most meaning to you.”
Enjoy this training season and remember runHers is for life!
Christina Eckert
