Stay Hydrated

Keeping hydrated is one of the most important factors for distance running. During a run, especially in the heat, your body goes through its water supply rather quickly. If you aren’t quick to replenish your fluids then your body will become dehydrated and you will suffer for it. Your performance will drop, you may overheat and you will generally feel like crap. Below are a few methods for staying hydrated during your long runs.

Bring it with you. Of course, jogging with a bottle of water is the most obvious way to get your needed water but holding a bottle in your hand for a long period of time may seem a little bit cumbersome to some people. Another option would be to purchase a water belt. These devices allow you to carry bottles of water on your waist but look about as cool as a fanny pack. But hey, we’re talking about running not a fashion show.

Plan your runs in loops. Before any long run I always map out my planned route on a site like Traingo.com or FavoriteRun.com. If I’m going for a distance of over 5 or 6 miles then I make sure that my route consists of at least two loops that start and stop at either my house or car (if I’m not running near my neighborhood). When I make my way back to the starting point I’ll grab a quick drink or snack and be on my way again for the second lap. This way I’ll be able to easily hydrate at the halfway mark without having to carry any extra burden with me.

Store water ahead of time. I’ve never had the forethought or planning for this method, but it is a great idea. A friend of mine regularly plants bottles of water along his route before he actually jogs it. This way you’ll know that you’ll have your water when and where you’ll need it. However, you’ll probably want to use disposable plastic bottles just in case your water happens to disappear or walkaway before you can get to it. One time my friend actually bought some water at a gas station that was along his jogging route and asked the clerk if he could hide it in the freezer until he came back to get it. However, by the time he actually jogged back to the gas station a shift change had taken place and he had to explain to a different clerk that he wasn’t in fact stealing any water. If you use this method, you may want to bring your receipt with you :).

2008 in Review

2008 was my first whole year of fitness. Since I began losing weight in mid 2007, I was already off and running with some great momentum when the new year came. Likewise, I can say the same thing for FitHacks.com. While the site technically existed in 2007 no one really came to it. If a web page is hosted on a server, but no browser ever loads it does it really exist? My guess is no.

This is an area graph representing the traffic FitHacks.com saw last year. You can take my word for it that the numbers aren’t that impressive, but that is definitely a healthy looking chart. I’d love to post a similar one this time next year. In 2009, it is my goal to have better articles that are more thought out and more useful to the fitness minded reader.

Additional highlights of 2008:

• I lost 15 extra pounds.
• I had an aerobic workout (jogging or Ultimate Frisbee) 173 times.
• I logged over 300 miles of jogging.

I’d really like to thank all the readers and subscribers that found and read my blog the past year. I’ve had several sites in the past but FitHacks is definitely the most personal and most rewarding. I really hope you will stick around and let us get to know you. You are always welcome to comment and I appreciate all who do.

Marathon Training: Week 5

Another week of running; another week closer to the marathon. This week I managed to log 32 miles. For me, that is a whole lot. I had to juggle some of my scheduled runs over the holidays but I managed to fit it all in somehow. The most interesting part of the week however was the huge increase in mileage for my weekly long run. I went from 12.5 miles to 16 and it was pretty challenging. I made the first half of the jog fairly easily but the second half really kicked my butt. I found myself taking frequent walk breaks and just generally struggling mentally. Eventually, I made it back to my car right at the 16 mile mark in just over 3 hours.

I’m really grateful for a step down week where my long run is shorter to allow my body to recover from the 16 miler. Yes, I’m aware that the marathon will be over 26 miles, but I am just trusting that in 6 more weeks, I’ll be ready to handle it.

This week’s mileage:

Monday: rest
Tuesday: 4mi
Wednesday: 8mi
Thursday: 5mi
Friday: ultimate frisbee
Saturday: 12mi
Sunday: rest

Geeky Ways to Burn Calories

While I may be into fitness, I am also most assuredly a geek by nature. I’m an engineer, I play video games, and I have a growing collection of random computer parts sitting in my closet. So needless to say I am free to accomplish tasks in the most efficient way regardless of style or fashion without shame. That being said, I’d like to share my favorite geeky ways to burn calories that you may not have thought of.

• Exercise Ball Office Chair - Made famous by Leo Laporte and Dwight Schrute. By using an exercise ball instead of an office chair, you can work your core muscle group all day long. This can be a great way to burn a few calories or work on your posture while sitting at your desk. The stabilizer muscles that you use by simply resting your weight on these balls include your abdominals, gluteals, and leg muscles. This type of active sitting is indeed a legitimate way to burn calories and strengthen while at work.
  

• Treadmill Computer Stand - Similarly, if you want to be able to get some aerobic exercise while at work, a lot of progressive work environments are installing treadmill computer stands for their more sedentary employees. This certainly isn’t cheap and it may not be practical for your work situation, but you have to respect the geek credit you would earn by actually doing work on one of these bad boys.

• Wii Fit - Lately there has been a surge in physically demanding video games. Since the Wii Fit has hit selves, tons of people are claiming significant weight lost through playing the game. Of course, it really is more of a digital personal trainer than a traditional video game, but if anyone could get kids into Yoga and step aerobics it would be Nintendo.

• Ultimate Frisbee - Now, I love this sport. In my opinion, playing ultimate is one of the best ways to spend your Sunday afternoons. However, I will admit that it currently isn’t the best sport to choose if you are trying to impress a girl or earn a varsity Letterman jacket (at least not yet). Even though I have met tons of serious athletes through ultimate the sport still seems to be a fringe activity that for some reason attracts a high percentage of engineering and technical majors. Plus, it is now officially classified as Stuff White People Like.

Giveaway Wrapup

Last week saw the close of our very first giveaway at FitHacks.com. Since this one was so fun, I plan to do many others in the future so stay tuned. That being said I’d like to thank everyone who entered and congratulate the two randomly selected winners.

Congratulations @Ryan_Owens and @run_lmc! I hope your new Sansa Clip MP3 players will serve you well in 2009. Everyone should follow them on Twitter and help support their fitness commitments for the new year.