Are you ready for some...

As the weather turns cooler, fall road racing season is heating up! There are a number of events throughout the state in the coming months featuring distances from 5k up to marathon. Check this site for upcoming events https://runningintheusa.com/race/list/ct/upcoming. So, how do you get ready for a road race? It depends on your fitness level to start the distances you typically run and the distance of the target event. If you are new to road racing, 5k(3.1 miles) is a good distance to start with. Training plans can be found online for any race distance. Local running shops like Ridgefield Running Company often have coaching programs for different race distances. In general, the longer the race distance, the longer the training plan will take. I advise slowly adding mileage and speed as fitness and tolerance improves. This allows the body to adapt to the stress and and strength to the running muscles and foot bones. I will usually add 1 mile or 10 minutes to the long runs in the training program each week to reach the race distance on a training run 3-4 weeks prior to the race date. Mileage should be tapered for the weeks leading to the race date for recovery so you can give your all on race day. If you are not ready for running a race, walking part or all of the race is a great way to participate. Don’t forget to enjoy the training process. Running is a great way to improve cardiovascular fitness and can help reduce stress. Hope to see some of you out there on the course this fall.