aerobic conditioning

The aerobic conditioning begins in earnest this week.  Some of you have already gotten a little head start on this phase with some faster-paced easy runs and some of you are still a week or two away from beginning it, but you should begin to follow the more structured weekly training schedule in the "SUMMER '14 NOTES" tab of your annual plan spreadsheet.  And you should begin to look at the pace chart to guide your efforts.  Remember to be conservative with your beginning paces and as always, look at the pace chart thinking about where your current fitness is right now, NOT where your personal best or your goal is.

Regarding heat and humidity...if you are running in hot and humid conditions you will need to adjust your paces so they will be slower.  A typical afternoon in the south would probably be worth 20-30 seconds per mile.  Overall, learn to trust your efforts by how your respiration (breathing) is...you should be able to tell when strong aerobic efforts cross over the threshold and become anaerobic.  When you can't keep up with your breathing, you've gone anaerobic.  So focus on your breathing, and stay on the aerobic side!

Lastly, from Wikipedia, some of the health and performance benefits of aerobic exercise:

Strengthening the muscles involved in respiration, to facilitate the flow of air in and out of the lungs

Strengthening and enlarging the heart muscle, to improve its pumping efficiency and reduce the resting heart rate, known as aerobic conditioning

Improving circulation efficiency and reducing blood pressure

Increasing the total number of red blood cells in the body, facilitating transport of oxygen

Improved mental health, including reducing stress and lowering the incidence of depression

Reducing the risk for diabetes

Increased storage of energy molecules such as fats and carbohydrates within the muscles, allowing for increased endurance

Neovascularization of the muscle sarcomeres to increase blood flow through the muscles

Increasing speed at which aerobic metabolism is activated within muscles, allowing a greater portion of energy for intense exercise to be generated aerobically

Improving the ability of muscles to use fats during exercise, preserving intramuscular glycogen

Enhancing the speed at which muscles recover from high intensity exercise