Gone are the brutal days of winter and the unpredictable days of spring. Summer running is where it’s at. The long days and hot weather mean fewer layers and happier runners.
So grab your shoes and hit your favourite road, route, or trail. It’s time to get sweaty! (And it won’t take very long!) Here are 10 reasons to love working up a sweat on the run this summer.
Let’s take a look at the top tips on how to improve your sprint times with some simple changes:
1. Warm up
It is important to warm up for any form of exercise, but even more so for sprinting. The harder you push your body, the more you need to warm it up beforehand.
As sprinting takes you from nought to one hundred in just a few seconds, it is pivotal that your body is warmed and stretched before you set off.
You should enjoy a five or ten minute gentle jog before a sprint, including some dynamic exercises and stretches.
2. Posture
One of the most important aspects of sprinting is your posture. Your torso should be straight, your shoulders relaxed, your chest lifted, and your core engaged.
Your jaw should remain loose and you should be powering your legs while driving your arms.
3. Landing
You should be aiming to land on your forefoot, before pushing off from your toes into the next stride.
While doing this, keep your feet flexed upwards and attempt to land softly.
6. That post-run watermelon never tasted so good.
Gone are the days of craving a giant stack of pancakes or a big mug of hot chocolate after a run. Instead, we’re reaching for all the watermelon we can find. It’s sweet, it’s refreshing, and it’s super hydrating. We can’t get enough. (Hungry? Make one of The Best Desserts for Runners.)
7. And that post-run shower never felt so refreshing.
Cold showers after hot runs. Bonus points if you keep an ice-cold glass of water within arms reach. (A post-run jump in the pool works equally well.)
8. All the local water fountains are on.
Remember when your local parks department turned the fountains off during the winter? They’re all up and running now. Happy hydrating!
9. You can practically feel yourself getting stronger.
Fall PRs are made in the summer, right? For every hot, humid, OMG-I-want-to-die run you tackle this summer is another minute you’ll shave off your personal record once the temperatures drop in a few months. (OK, we made that statistic up, but it’s probably true.) Getting out the door and slogging through steamy miles now will make you appreciate those brisk fall runs even more.
10. The eye candy is infinitely better.
Shallow? Sure. Superficial? Totally. But we’re only human, and we’d be lying if we didn’t admit to enjoying the runner watching in the summer months. Shirtless marathoners-in-training? Don’t mind if we do.
