By BRUCE OAKLEY
Women Run Arkansas — Batesville Co-director

I've summarized numbers for weekly mileage and daily water needs, applying principles mentioned in earlier posts and explained in detail on various running sites. At these tables you can see when you are putting too much on your running plate and whether you need another glass of water.

The Safe weekly mileage increase table shows what your new mileage should be each week as you build from 9 miles a week by adding 5% or 7%. I am a bit more conservative on this than the oft-cited 10% maximum increase. I have rounded my calculations to the nearest quarter mile for easier matching to road routes.

If you are already running more than 9 miles a week, find the figure closest to your mileage (nearest 5-mile multiples in bold) in the 5% or 7% row and start from there instead of "Week 1."

Safe weekly mileage increase
Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Add 5% 9.00 9.50 10.00 10.50 11.00 11.50 12.00 12.75 13.25 14.00 14.75 15.50
Add 7% 9.00 9.75 10.25 11.00 11.75 12.75 13.50 14.50 15.50 16.50 17.75 19.00
 
Week 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Add 5% 16.25 17.00 17.75 18.75 19.75 20.75 21.75 22.75 24.00 25.00 26.25
Add 7% 20.25 21.75 23.25 24.75 26.50 28.50 30.50 32.50 34.75 37.25 40.00
 
Week 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34
Add 5% 27.75 29.00 30.50 32.00 33.50 35.25 37.00 39.00 40.75 42.75 45.00
Add 7% 42.75 45.75

 

The Daily water needs table follows the advice that women need to drink [(Wgt in lbs) x .31] ounces of water a day to be properly hydrated. Men need to drink [(Wgt in lbs) x .35] ounces. This is the normal day-to-day load. When you exercise, you must replace the lost sweat as well, so you drink more than this. The table covers five-pound increments from 100 to 235, and you can double those figures to cover higher weights.

Your body inherently calculates its needs and you feel thirsty when you need water: Obey your thirst, but sip; don't guzzle. Your body also has a built-in indicator: Your wastewater tends to darken from yellow toward brown when you are dehydrated, and to lighten toward clear when you are overhydrated.

Male/Female daily water needs
Weight (lbs.) (F x .31) oz. (M x .35) oz.
100 31.00 35.00
105 32.55 36.75
110 34.10 38.50
115 35.65 40.25
120 37.20 42.00
125 38.75 43.75
130 40.30 45.50
135 41.85 47.25
140 43.40 49.00
145 44.95 50.75
150 46.50 52.50
155 48.05 54.25
160 49.60 56.00
165 51.15 57.75
170 52.70 59.50
175 54.25 61.25
180 55.80 63.00
185 57.35 64.75
190 58.90 66.50
195 60.45 68.25
200 62.00 70.00
205 63.55 71.75
210 65.10 73.50
215 66.65 75.25
220 68.20 77.00
225 69.75 78.75
230 71.30 80.50
235 72.85 82.25