Elvis fan? Have you been thinking about heading off to Graceland? On August 15^th, 2009 you can see Graceland while you get some exercise and support a great cause at the Elvis Presley Run, Walk, Rock & Roll charity fitness event. This longtime event will be celebrating its 27^th year!

You can join over 2000 participants from around the world in this 5K which is held in Memphis, Tennessee. The course starts and finishes at the gates of Graceland. Runners and walkers are welcome, but those not up for a 5K can take advantage of a one-mile event.

This race benefits the United Cerebral Palsy of the Mid-South. This grass-roots, non-profit agency is dedicated to supporting and empowering individuals with all disabilities.

Registration and Cost

Pre-registration is currently being accepted and will last until August 13 for a fee of $20. Race day registrants can still participate for a fee of $25. If you can’t make it to Graceland, but still want to support the cause, for $20 you can become a “Spirit Runner”. You will receive a t-shirt to wear in honor of the day.

Schedule

On August 15^th, the day will kick off with race day registration and packet pick up from 6:30 am to 7:30 am. Wheelchair participants will begin the 5K at 7:55 am. For remaining participants, the 5K begins at 8:00 am. The one mile event begins at 9:00 am with an awards ceremony will follow at 10:00 am.

Other Things to Note

Your registration packet can be mailed to you domestically or internationally for a small fee if you plan to travel in and wish to have it ahead of time. Cash prizes, Dick’s Sporting Goods gift cards and trophies will be awarded to the top male and female finishers as well as the top male and female wheelchair unassisted finishers. In addition, prizes will be awarded to the top three male and female finishers of each age group.

Photo by jbcurio

This summer has been a hot one so far for many places across the U.S. When it comes to training and heat, it’s important to our health that we take note. Exercising in the heat isn’t about pushing through or overcoming an obstacle. It can be a dangerous situation which isn’t worth risking your life for.

Dehydration will be the first sign that you need to scale back your activity. Of course, we lose fluid through sweat during exercise and we can drink fluids it prevent it, but the hot temperatures exaggerate this situation. You may feel thirsty and tired after a run or other workout any day, but when that moves to light-headedness, dizziness, confusion and increased heart rate and breathing it is time to take action.

Stop your physical activity and get to a cool place. Drink water to begin replacing the fluids lost and if necessary include a sports drink to restore electrolyte balance. If things don’t improve quickly seek emergency medical assistance.

Becoming dehydrated and exercising in hot temperatures puts you at risk for heat stroke, a life threatening condition. Heat stroke occurs when the body is overheated and due to dehydration sweat production is too low to sufficiently cool the body. Headache, dizziness, disorientation, hot flushed skin with no sweat and loss of consciousness are all signs of heat stroke.

If this occurs, seek help. Move indoors and start cooling the body by removing clothes and applying ice packs to groin and armpits. In many cases emergency medical attention will be necessary.

It is true that we can acclimate ourselves to the heat for outdoor exercise, but it is important to know signs of dehydration and heat stroke. Our bodies can only take so much when it comes to heat and exercise. While exercising in the heat may become easier over time, extreme heat should make us rethink an outdoor session all together.

To keep your training program going during the hot weather months follow these basic guidelines.

• Keep your fluid intake up drinking plenty of water throughout the day and not just before and after your workouts. Avoid fluids which also dehydrate you like alcohol.
• Exercise in the early morning hours. The later evening hours are ideal too, but the mornings tend to be cooler in hot climates.
• Choose a shaded course that will protect you from the sun or give you breaks from its intense rays.
• Wear workout clothing appropriate for warmer weather which is made of moisture-wicking fabric. These will keep you cooler and help you to avoid overheating.
• Progress gradually when exercising in the heat. Reduce your workout time or intensity during hot days.
• Create a backup plan. Some days are just too hot to exercise outdoors, period. Choose a high intensity exercise video to do at home, or workout at the gym. If you don’t have a membership consider going with a friend or seeing if the gym has one day passes during the summer months.

References

University of Maryland Medical Center  

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Photo by darnok, MorgueFile

When thumbing through the catalog of your local printing shop or poking around a web-site for awards keep a critical eye when selecting items. It is common to see a cheap key chain or generic water bottle and think it the easy (and cheapest) way out of your giveaway dilemma.

However, you know as well as I do that these items have little value to most participants. They are rarely used, only to be found on the tables of garages sales or in boxes marked for charity all over the nation. If you are stuck in a giveaway rut, here are some ideas for more usable items you can consider.

Sweat towels are an inexpensive option for a giveaway and work well for something like third place prizes for your age groups. If you can afford it, get the option that is one step up in quality. If you have race participants who find themselves in the gym on occasion sweating it out on the treadmill or in a group cycling class these towels do come in handy.

Insulated lunch bags are an option that says you support healthy eating and bringing lunch to school or work. Even nice looking, square cooler-type bags with your logo can be found at affordable prices, about the same or less than a t-shirt. Slip a healthy recipe inside or a flyer for a healthy eating seminar that might be on the schedule of events for your organization.

Coupons offering dollar-off discounts. Instead of seeking a gift certificate from a local business for a lump sum, which will only provide you will one prize, ask if they would do coupons for dollars off a service. For example instead of one $30 gift certificate for a massage, 15 coupons for $2 off a massage will reach more people and the sum of a few dollars may just be enough to get people in their door. These types of items make good options for goodie bags.

Winter gear is a seasonal item that can be ideal if you are holding a race in cold weather months. Gloves or a scarf sufficient for physical activity can be just as affordable as t-shirts and similar items. Creative giveaways like this can help your event stand out among other events during the same season.  

Having previously written about adding hiking to your training routine and about the Rails to Trails organization, I was thrilled to find out the news about “Celebrate Kentucky Trails Day” coming up July 11, 2009.

This day is all about taking advantage of some of the wonderful trails throughout the state parks of Kentucky. If you happen to be near the area you can take advantage of some fitness-focused, outdoor activities on this day.

These are a few things that will be going on in celebration.

• It wouldn’t be a day in Kentucky without horses. The Greenbo State Park and Kentucky Horse Council will be hosting an equestrian trail ride throughout the park’s 25 miles of trails beginning at 10:00 a.m.
• Hike to your heart’s content. Natural Bridge State Resort park will be hosting hikes all day including an Exploring Arch Country Guided Hike at 9:00 a.m. Otherwise guests can choose one of ten trails ranging from a half mile to seven and a half miles in length.
• Get your bikes! Green River Lake State Park will be hosting a mountain bike ride after 11:00 a.m. along its 25 miles of courses which vary in difficulty.
• Head for the water! Lake Barkley State Resort Park is hosting a Goat Island Canoe tour from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.
• Don’t miss the party at the Taylorsville Lake State Park. Enjoy a day of hiking, biking and horseback riding with food, games, vendors and music.

The press release from Kentucky.gov will give you more detailed information regarding each event including times, registration fees and any registration limits. If you are not familiar with Kentucky State Parks, this interactive map will help you determine what parks are nearest to your area so you’ll be sure to make it there on July 11^th and avoid missing out on any of the fun!

Photo by xandert, morguefile.com

Summer is a time of travel for many people and as a fitness advocate maybe you enjoy taking your exercise on road. A number of people do this by traveling to a specific destination for an event or looking up an event in a place they may be visiting.

While I haven’t yet traveled to a location to participate in a specific event, I have taken part in some events in the midst of a trip. Travel can take a lot of out of you even if you do it often and enjoy it quite a bit. It can be physically taxing on the body and in order to perform to the best of your ability whether it be in running, cycling, walking, or swimming, special care must be taken to stay healthy.  

Here are a few tips to keep in mind if you are racing during your summer travels.

Arrive early. Get to your destination a full day prior to an event if at all possible. Two days prior would be ideal. This allows you to get used to your new surroundings, adjust to any time zone changes and get adequate rest before the event.

Pack your snacks. Road trips make it easy for you to pack healthy foods for meals and snacks during your travel. If you are flying, this will take a bit more effort. Load up on items such as nuts, seeds, whole grain breads, whole fruits and dried fruits. When you need an energy boost turn to your packed snacks and avoid high sugar, high fat options from vending machines and newsstands.

Overcome the challenge of finding healthy meals. Finding a meal that is truly healthy when you are traveling is difficult for even the most informed person. While calories may not be a concern at this point in your training excessive sodium and heavy fats probably are. Choose salads with lean proteins sources and olive oil based dressings. Choose simple basic nutrients such as a steak, baked potato and steamed vegetables. Try pasta with lean protein that is mixed with a fresh red sauce or steamed vegetables. All provide the nutrients you need with few of those unhealthy components you don’t.

Stay hydrated. Travel, especially air travel, can be dehydrating to the body. Always have a water bottle with you so can sip throughout your journey and replace the fluid your body may be losing which could affect your performance in an event a day or two later.

Take a break. Whether you are driving or flying, get up and stretch regularly. Take advantage of rest stops and do a full, lower body stretch while you take a break from the car. Walk around airports as opposed to sitting during your entire layover. The circulation and stretching will help prevent muscles from getting tight and uncomfortable.

Sleep well. This is easier said than done when you are in unfamiliar surroundings whether it is a hotel or a relative’s guest room. Prepare for a good night’s sleep by avoiding caffeine and exercise several hours before bedtime. Take along an eye mask and ear plugs to block out light and any unfamiliar noises that may keep you awake.

While you can’t control all factors when you are traveling you can take steps to preserve and renew your energy. Healthy foods, adequate fluid intake and restful sleep will help you to be prepared for your upcoming fitness event whether you’ve traveled five miles or five hundred.

Photo by the ignitionpoint.co.uk

On May 9^th, 2009 Scott Finamore, 23, and Sam Malaska, 19, set off from Ohio embarking on 3,000 mile cycling journey to San Francisco, California. Why? Well, for kids! Cali For Kids to be exact, a donation charity with a goal of raising money for the Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley.

With its non-profit foundation the hospital strives to serve the community and benefit children in need of medical care. From the web-site the mission of both the foundation and hospital is

to treat each child as if it were our own, to treat other people as we would want to be treated, and to turn no child away, regardless of inability to pay.

Scott and Sam, Youngstown, Ohio locals, have already raised $3,480 through sponsorships and community donations. Currently, they are about halfway through their journey. Hovering around Glenwood Springs, Colorado they have covered 1,600 miles since leaving Youngstown!

You can keep track of them on the Cali For Kids web-site where they provide blog posts about their adventure. Both informative and funny, you can find out what they are getting themselves into as well as the ups and downs of the cycling itself. In addition, you can get a good chuckle at their photos as they pose for each state sign and document their journey along the way.

Scott and Sam may be halfway through their ride, but they are still accepting support through donations. Day sponsorships are gladly accepted for which the guys will recognize and thank your organization in their daily report. Others can donate by the mile committing three, six or nine cents per mile. In the end this will result in a donation of $30, $60 or $90 based on a 3,000 mile cycling distance. In addition, donations of any dollar amount are gladly accepted and appreciated. Supporting them is easy through their donation form and they will be accepted until July 1^st which is three days after they plan to fly back to Ohio.

If you’d like to support by spreading the word you can check them out on Twitter or post to Facebook via their Pledgie page.

Summer means the scheduling of many charity fitness events, but it also brings with it the threat of bad weather. It is one thing to have a rain shower, but quite another when there is risk of a dangerous thunderstorm which could turn into a tornado.

After all that planning and hard work it is such a difficult thing to decide to call off a race. However, many times it becomes essential for the safety of your participants. This is a topic you should discuss with your planning committee before the race day arrives. If you have a set plan in place you will be able to react better if you are faced with bad weather the day of the event.

First develop a rain or shine policy. This often goes without saying, but you may want to write this on your brochure. Most people are perfectly content to run in a moderate rain shower. However, if you want to avoid the request for refunds from those who are not a rain or shine policy will let your participants know the race will go on even if the weather conditions aren’t perfect.

A fitness event should follow the same rules as any outdoor sporting event when it comes to cancellation. If there is lighting or a threat of a severe thunderstorm you need to delay the start of your race or cancel it all together. Delaying the start is ideal, but this will depend on how flexible your situation is.

If you are using the services of a company who is organizing your start and finish lines they may have a schedule of their own preventing you from moving the time. However, if you own all your equipment or are renting it for the full weekend you may be able to move things around a bit. You may lose some participants due to other commitments, but delaying a race by an hour to let a storm pass is better than cancelling it all together.

Also, if you are using your own resources for the race you may consider setting a rain date. Of course you will need to have your venue booked for both dates and many other things such as availability of refreshments organized for the second option. This may be too complicated for most, but if you are using your own equipment, volunteers and venue it is a possibility.

If you do have to cancel your event you will have a few decisions to make. First, will you give refunds? You will need to know how to handle this if you have requests from participants. This is why it is good to list in your race brochure what the registration fee covers. For example, maybe it covers the cost of t-shirts and venue rental. Even if you cancelled the event the participants still get their t-shirt and the organization is still out the money for rental. This is what you would use as your explanation for those requesting a refund.

Finally you will likely have prizes to deal with, some of which were donated. In case of cancellation one option is to put the names of all participants in a hat and draw for the prizes as you would a raffle. If the prizes are significant in value and you choose not to do this you may want to contact the donator, explain the situation and arrange to use the prize for another upcoming event.

Have you ever been a situation where you had to cancel an event due to weather? How did you handle it?

Photo by Jonathan Lampron

However a few weeks ago, I decided to do a little more research on a product I had seen out and about in running stores – leg sleeves. These sparked my attention because I have problems with circulation in my lower legs. Unfortunately, I inherited varicose veins from my Dad and started having problems with them by the time I was 26. I was advised by my doctor to wear the therapeutic compression stockings when I’m on my feet a lot, but if you’ve seen these white leggings you know they aren’t something fashionable you want to show off.

Then I came across these leg sleeves and I started to research the brand Zensah who makes a pair for women in a variety of colors. The leg sleeves are designed to be worn during training or during recovery because, according to the web-site, they work to increase oxygen blood flow to the muscles of the lower leg. This improved circulation and oxygen delivery is believed to help the legs recover more quickly.

The research I did on the web also led me to discovering that like those old fashioned white compression stockings the running sleeves may be beneficial to those with leg vein problems and circulation. In addition, due to their benefit to running performance they are beginning to be a bit of a runner’s fashion statement. Other good news is that the particular brand I was looking into is made of a special fabric to regulate skin temperature and fight bacteria.

Well, I chose a nice bright pink pair because what fun is there in plain old black? I don’t feel as odd in them as I thought I might. It takes me back to my days of playing soccer and wearing knee high socks. So far I’ve run with them three times, about a 5K each time, and I am so pleased with the results.

At the moment I haven’t seen stellar improvements in my performance, but I feel better after my run. My legs haven’t been giving me problems with burning or swelling like they have in the past. In addition, I feel like the sleeves offer some support. I’m prone to a little bit of ankle pain every now and then and the sleeves seem to support the area and alleviate the pain as well.

So if you’ve heard about the sleeves and have been considering taking the plunge and investing in a pair I’d say go for it. I’m happy with the results and how they make my legs feel during and after running.

Do you use leg sleeves? What has your experience been with the product?

That’s right, June 3^rd marks the day that we come together as a nation in a commitment to be healthy and fit. This is the day that major organizations in the running industry join forces to promote running.

Why? Well, because running is healthy, easy and accessible. All you need is a pair of tennis shoes and a sidewalk, road, trail or track. As I’ve mentioned before, through all of my travels it never ceases to amaze me how running fits into every culture. No fancy gym or piece of equipment is required. Physical health, reduced stress and improved self-esteem can all be achieved by hitting the pavement.

National Running Day events are taking place across the country today, but you don’t have to participate in an organized offering to become involved. Just make a commitment to lace up your shoes today and run. I’m going to! You can find me on the treadmill this afternoon celebrating the day!

If you’ve never run before, no problem, take a walk instead. Want to try running? Consider adding in a 30 second jog for every 5 minutes of walking to get you started.

The celebration of this day got me thinking about all the great posts full of valuable info the Charity Mile writers have provided over the past year. I think it is time for a bit of a round-up. Whether you want to know how to train for your first 5K, what to wear or what to eat you can find it here.

Have ambitions to become a runner? Check out these posts and commit today!

Your First 5K

Road ID, why you need this

Crosstraining to Prevent Boredom

Track Your Training with Your Cell Phone

How Hard Are You Working?

Warning Signs of Overtraining

Stretch

When Race Day Arrives

What to Wear: Layers for Cold Weather Workouts

Drink Up

Pre Event Snacking

Earlier this year Carrie did a post about using social networking as a fundraising tool. In the comments, many of you mentioned using Twitter. Just last week this topic was brought to mind for me again because the site TwiTip, which provides users with all kinds of tips for using Twitter to its full potential, had a post about this same topic.

If you’ve never used Twitter before it’s time to take the plunge. This tool can connect you to valuable information in the areas you choose, say fitness and fundraising, and connect you with people who can help spread the word about your fundraising efforts and charity fitness events.

In case you don’t know yet, Twitter is a real-time short messaging service where users follow the sources most interesting to them and people can in return follow you. You correspond with followers using messages of 140 characters or less.

Using some discussion on the post I mentioned above, combined with some of my own suggestions, here are a few things you can do to increase you success at using Twitter as a fundraising and marketing tool.

Use the #hashtag. This is where you end each of your posts with “#” and then words that will help identify your Tweet (what you call an individual message on Twitter). This helps to categorize it with like topics. Twitter also has an improved search function which will help others find your information when searching. Some # examples might be #health, #charity, #fundraising, #(acronym for your organization) or #(cause you are supporting – cancer, violence).

Provide a specific link. This link should go directly to your fundraising page or your organization page. Keep this link consistent and each time you Tweet about the event put in the link. To shorten links you can go to web-sites like is.gd, tinyurl or moourl. This will allow you to shorten a long link saving you some characters for your Tweet.

Follow people near you. While you want to have international exposure to increase fundraising it is also a good idea to focus on marketing yourself and your efforts locally. You can check out Nearby Tweets, put in your location, and it will pull up other Twitter users in your area. This will allow you to connect with people who can come to your event or be more likely to get involved because they view the effort as local.

Be a person. When you use Twitter as a marketing or fundraising tool it can be tempting to become a bit of robot only talking about your cause and asking for donations. This can quickly turn others off. Find a balance between taking care of business and being a person. Help spread news and info, respond to the questions of others or send a congrats for the success of their fundraising effort, and tweet some minor details of day to day life without a link. When you become involved in the Twitter community in this way people will be drawn to your efforts and not view you as just being out there to market yourself and gain their donations.

Are you currently using Twitter for fundraising and marketing? Do you have some advice to add?

You can follow me here. Please leave your Twitter information in the comments and we can all get connected!

Twitter graphic by Randa Clay