Now that June is fast approaching, it can safely be said that summer is almost here - and that means more reasons to get outdoors.
While the football season might be ending, summer sports will increasingly come to the fore, with June bringing the grass court tennis season that climaxes with Wimbledon and the England cricket team starting a new summer of action after a complete change in all its senior positions from captain to CEO - hopefully with better Test match results.
Those playing summer sports will do so on harder surfaces than those playing in the winter, which means none of the big studs associated with football and rugby. What it also means is the ground is firmer for those who go out running on the grass.
Summer is a wonderful time to get fit by running. The warmer and hopefully drier weather will be much a more compelling prospect, the fact that everyone is wearing fewer clothes means a fit and healthy physique will stand out (as will a not-so-fit one!) and it will get you in the best possible shape for either the beach or taking on a set-piece distance run like a marathon or 10K.
In fact, the only negative is the heat. A hot day may indeed sap your energy, but you can handle that by taking on board plenty of fluid, something it is always important to do.
The extra sweating will only bring temporary extra weight loss and rehydrating will put it back, but if you have signed up for a big run somewhere, it is important to get used to running when it is hot, since you may be faced with this on race day. But do this gradually; you can’t just suddenly start running miles when it’s pushing 30 C.
At the same time, because it stays light later you can do more running in the evening, which may provide cooler conditions unless it is very humid and can be a very appealing advantage of summer if you don’t like running at night. You should certainly do most of your training, as well as your longest and hardest runs, when it is cooler.
The meteorological conditions are not everything, however. Those firmer conditions may indeed mean you don’t have to wear anything with spikes or worry so much about slips, trips and ankle twists. What will be of more concern is harder ground.
Wearing a product like Nike Aurmax 2090 men’s trainers is a great way of protecting your feet against the potential for cumulative impacts from running on hard ground. At other times of year, when natural surfaces may be soft, slippery or even frozen, tarmac is the default. But even if you can run on the turf more in summer, dry weather means this will be bone hard too.
With the extra protection for your feet from impacts, you will be able to avoid foot, ankle and shin soreness, helping you keep running for longer and avoid injury.
Of course, it is not just your feet that need protecting. If it is hot and sunny, sun screen is important, especially if you are fair skinned, as are sunglasses.
By taking the right measures, you can make the most of a great time to be running, getting you as fit as you will be all year.
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