Are You Ready For Summer Training?

Do you have the "right stuff"? Yes, that's a loaded question, but really what I'm asking is, do you have the right equipment for running?

Such as:

Shoes--There are specific shoes for running and running with the wrong shoes can and will cause a variety of injuries. How do you go about finding the right shoes for your feet? Because there are so many running shoes out there, it can be quite difficult making a choice and more importantly making the right choice; so, it's important to find an expert who can guide you properly. That's why I recommend you going over to Run With Us in Pasadena. This is a local store that runners on this team have gone to before. Let them know that you're a cross country runner from La Cañada H.S. Tell them who your coaches are. They might even give you a discount. Also, Coach Thatcher runs for their store's running club.

Water/Water Bottle: Please be sure to arm yourselves with a bottle of water. Staying hydrated is extremely important, especially during the summer months. It is recommended that for every 100 pounds of body weight, one should drink 50 ounces of water per day. I weigh 125, so I need to drink close to 7 cups per day. However, since I'm training 50 miles per week, I drink more than that! And as I increase my mileage to 80 miles/wk. during the hotter months...well, you get the picture. Anyway, you should try to bring a bottle of water if you don't like the drinking fountain at school. But what I wouldn't do is try to bring one along during the run. This is not a good habit at all. The thing is, you wouldn't do this during a race (it's probably against a CIF rule) so you'd want to practice those things that would prepare you properly for a race situation. In the thirty years that I've been running, I have never brought along a bottle of water during a distance run. What I recommend is drinking several cups of water about an hour before you come to workout. You should definitely consider this during our Monday evening workouts. For the morning practices, you might just drink one cup, one half hour before practice. Eating a half bagel or a couple slices of toast is also recommended. You'd be surprised how having those few calories before hand can really wake up the body.