Ah, Summer!

I remember those days as a kid when I looked forward to sleeping in, staying up late and having no particular plan in between. Those lazy days of endless summer may seem idyllic, but after a week or so of unwinding, Mom and Dad usually interrupted my daydreaming with a list of chores and activities to keep me moving.

Summer running is like that. With big spring goals met and races run, it feels good to slide into unstructured rest and relaxation with a jog here, a bike ride there, a hike whenever, etc. But after a few weeks, we’re ready for the structure of a new plan.

We can’t rely on Mom and Dad to fill in our training plan, so here are my suggestions to get out of the lounge chair this summer and get fit for fall.

If you’ve never followed a training plan, any one that’s not too difficult will lead to improvement. So, make your training as easy as it can be to produce results. There are hundreds of variations online, in print form or provided by local running groups, most designed to get you running longer, stronger or faster.

Longer. Distance running is based on endurance, the ability to cover miles, many miles, no matter how slowly. If you’re new to running or are stepping up to a longer distance race for the first time, choose a training plan that emphasizes running at a conversational pace for a gradually increasing time or distance.

The original Couch to 5k plan for beginners has been duplicated and modified to accommodate a wide range of base fitness. Visit www.runnersworld.com/training/a20853140/the-8-week-beginners-program/ or www.halhigdon.com/training-programs/5k-training/novice-5k/ to get started. Runner and author Jeff Galloway extends endurance by interspersing running with planned walk breaks in training and races through marathon length. Check out his Run Walk Run Method in print.

Or create your own endurance training plan. Start with a base of easy 30-minute runs at least three days per week. Gradually build endurance by adding additional 30-minute run/walk days up to five days per week, then add distance to one of the runs until this weekly longer run approaches goal race distance.

Stronger. Endurance will always be the base for distance training and should comprise about 80 percent of total running. But increasing running speed to a pace where breathing becomes labored (between 5k and marathon pace) and holding that pace for 4 to 12 miles trains the heart to pump more efficiently, the body to better transport oxygen to muscles and to tolerate higher levels of lactic acid.

According to Bob Glover and Pete Schuder in The Competitive Runners Handbook, inserting strength training in the form of rolling hills or tempo runs weekly gives you the ability to run faster with less effort, allows you to maintain good running form in later miles of a race and gives you quicker recovery from hard workouts.

Faster. After you’ve built the endurance foundation and developed more efficient running through strength and tempo training, speed workouts approaching anerobic (faster than racing) pace develop leg strength and improve racing technique.

Short hill repeats are a good entry into speed work since they develop good sprinting form without the pounding of road or track intervals. Start with four 8-second sprints up a steep hill with a walk back down after one of your easy runs. Add one more sprint at each weekly session until you reach eight.

If you have access to a track or level, straight road, run repeats of short, fast runs with walking recovery in between each. Run fast but in control and stop if your form begins to get sloppy.

And remember, the faster you run, the more time you’ll have to sit in that lawn chair this summer.

Upcoming events

Friday, 7 P.M.: New River Gorge Trail Festival 5k, Fayetteville, WV. Scenic trail run in New River Gorge National Park. wolfcreektrackclub.com/event/new-river-gorge-trail-festival/

Saturday, 7 A.M.: New River Gorge Trail Festival Half Marathon, Fayetteville, WV. Scenic trail run in New River Gorge National Park. wolfcreektrackclub.com/event/new-river-gorge-trail-festival/

Saturday, 7 A.M.: Run Between the Suns Endurance Trail Lap Race, Titusville. Run as many challenging 5k loops as you can in 12 hours. www.runrace.net/findarace.php?id=13180PA

Sunday, 8:30 A.M.: Fathers’ Day 5k, Allison Park. Run starts at North Park Boathouse. runsignup.com/Race/PA/AllisonPark/PghFathersDay5K?aflt_token=HrZcYWJT57TH3GH4vWg7QL584fEmdOnK&r=Y

June 22, 6:30 P.M.: Summer Solstice 5k and 1 Mile Run/Walk, Portersville. Run on South Shore of Moraine State Park. runsignup.com/Race/PA/Portersville/SUMMERSOLSTICE5K1MILE

June 22, 7 P.M.: Strawberry Days 5k, Grove City. First race of Mercer County QUAD. secure.getmeregistered.com/get_information.php?event_id=137115 or 724-866-1374

June 25, 9 A.M.: Butch’s Bucket Brigade 5k, Worthington. Also bike race at 11 A.M. for kids ages 12 and under. runsignup.com/Race/PA/Worthington/ButchsBucketBrigade

July 1, 9 P.M.: Moon GLOW 5k Run & Walk, Coraopolis. Run with glow sticks, neon face paint, music. runsignup.com/Race/Info/PA/Coraopolis/MoonParksRecreationVirtualGLOW5KRunWalk

July 2, 9 A.M.: 40th Ellwood City Ledger 10k, Ellwood City. Held in conjunction with Arts, Crafts and Food Festival. runsignup.com/Race/PA/EllwoodCity/EllwoodCityLedgerArtsCraftsFoodFestival10k?remMeAttempt= or 724-752-1583

July 2, 9 A.M.: Canadohta Lake Firecracker 5k/10k, Union City. runsignup.com/Race/PA/UnionCity/CanadohtaLakeFirecracker5k10k

July 4, 8 A.M.: Get Fit Families Firecracker 5k & 1 Mile, Zelienople. Run starts at Community Park. www.getfitfamilies.com or runsignup.com/Race/PA/Zelienople/Getfitfamiliesfirecracker?remMeAttempt=

July 4, 8 A.M.: Eagle Firecracker 5k, Grove City. 724-923-3022 or secure.getmeregistered.com/get_information.php?event_id=137127

July 4, 8:30 A.M.: Hampton Rotary Firecracker 5k, Allison Park. runsignup.com/Race/PA/AllisonPark/HamptonRotaryFirecracker5K2018 or chris.lochner@hampton-pa.org

July 10, 7:30 A.M.: Trailblazer 15k, 5k Run & Walk, Meadville. Run mostly on Ernst Rail Trail. http://ernsttrail.org/events/

July 13, 7 P.M.: Dam Race (QUAD II), Sharpsville. Second race in Twilight Quad Series. 724-866-1374 or http://static.getmeregistered.com/runhigh/

July 16, 9 P.M.: Race to the Moon 5k, Apollo. Flat out-and-back course. All participants required to carry a light. runsignup.com/Race/PA/Apollo/RoaringRunRaceToThemoon

July 23, 8:30 A.M.: 20th Annual Rube’s Run 5k, Prospect. New location and course. 724-841-4306 or jtgallagher@zoominternet.net

July 23, 9 A.M.: Shannock Valley Community Festival 5k Run and Fun Walk, Rural Valley. 724-783-6688 or runsignup.com/Race/PA/RuralValley/ShannockValleyFestival5kand1milewalk

Race results

Dick’s Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon, April 30: Alvaro Abreu, 1st Overall M, 2:16:07; Nicole Hilton, 1st Overall W, 2:49:49; Rachel Martin, 2nd 25-29 W, 3:12:43; Todd Roberts, 1st 55-59 M, 3:19:14; Robert Pudlo, 3rd 55-59 M, 3:38:28; Jeff Gavin, 2nd Clydesdale 39 & Under M, 4:13:32; Luke Tomasovic, 2:47:15; Jacob Campbell, 2:59:44; Sean Fox, 3:02:30; Joe Floris, 3:03:35; Gregory Silvaggio, 3:06:21; Thomas Keller, 3:16:19; Calum Munro, 3:26:27; Lewis Gregory, 3:27:01; Brett Gwynn, 3:27:43; Donald Splitstone, 3:29:20; Josiah Mitchell, 3:30:04; Josh Gretz, 3:30:39; Adam Leskanic, 3:31:04; Brittaney Lucas, 3:33:50; Matthew Gornick, 3:35:51; Bill Snider, 3:37:29; Shaun Babka, 3:37:39; Anna Everett, 3:38:17; John Bielewicz, 3:39:55; Roberto da Silva, 3:42:41; David Beck, 3:46:56; Tyler Gross, 3:47:48; Chad Coblitz, 3:47:57; Kate Meeuf, 3:48:21; Roger Lutz, 3:48:32; Elizabeth Heinlein, 3:48:47; Caroline Hufnagle, 3:50:15; Anthony Spalvieri, 3:51:03; Amanda Temple, 3:52:29; Justin Angert, 3:54:46; Kim Spears, 3:55:20; Seth Eismann, 3:55:36; Rebecca Smith, 3:56:10; Camille Bromley, 3:56:23; Jennifer Shingle, 3:58:24; Ben Portz, 3:58:58; Tayor Merkosky, 3:59:32; Justin Creighan, 4:00:43; Corey Savannah, 4:01:36; Garret Daugherty, 4:01:52; Scott Anderson, 4:04:42; Gary Hubbard, 4:04:43; George Ramos, 4:04:54; Akira Nakanishi, 4:05:58; Haomiao Yu, 4:06:55; Jim Haughey, 4:10:20; Zane Mundy, 4:10:44; Nitin Gupta, 4:11:05; Arthur Boring, 4:11:51; Kimberly Bischof, 4:12:08; Glenn Battle, 4:12:26; David Spencer, 4:13:03; Stacey Sahr-Herman, 4:14:16; Timothy James, 4:16:20; Bill Petulla, 4:16:49; Matthew Saunders, 4:16:55; Eric Fencil, 4:17:47; Christopher Tamasy, 4:23:04; Timothy Simons, 4:23:10; John Bronder, 4:23:54; Dane DeKing, 4:24:38; Andrew Hodgson, 4:26:14; Jordan Vernon, 4:26:50; Wendy Wick, 4:27:01; Edward Deutsch, 4:28:09; Toni Weis, 4:28:10; Erin LeMay, 4:28:11; Michael Angeli, 4:29:00; Jacob Gill, 4:29:45; Denise Whitacre, 4:30:10; Allison Miller, 4:31:29; Olivia Drohan, 4:31:57; Heather LiVorio, 4:32:26; Brian Avsec, 4:33:34; Ryleigh Lefever, 4:36:23; Michael Labos, 4:39:43; James Gascoine, 4:39:52; James Ayers, 4:43:47; Patty Beck, 4:44:34; Erin Kohlmeyer, 4:46:41; Bo McCleary, 4:49:38; Kyle Morgan, 4:50:30; Piper Angert, 4:51:48; Kelly Wilkerson, 4:53:50; Eliza Drohan, 4:55:00; Matt Drohan, 4:55:00; Matthew Mehaffey, 4:58:58; Sarah Say, 4:59:33; Emily Formica, 5:00:34; Taylor Zindren, 5:02:09; Jennie Couch, 5:02:56; Deb Beres, 5:04:18; Thomas Perry, 5:06:07; Nicole Cavlovich, 5:06:13; Mary Morgan, 5:06:56; Dustin Kopchinsky, 5:07:59; Craig Hatok, 5:12:28; Christopher Hall, 5:16:35; Elizabeth Heid, 5:17:06; Josh Hertel, 5:21:43; Lauren Hertel, 5:21:43; Erin Foley, 5:31:20; Mike Weaver, 5:32:59; Justin Reinard, 5:35:13; Jim Hodgson, 5:51:17; Benjamin Keenan, 5:58:26; Tiah Popa, 5:59:13; Robert Zukas, 5:59:58; Tom Snyder, 6:11:25; Terrence Moore, 6:16:57; Sarah Peterec, 6:18:53; Amy Black-Stockham, 6:30:38; Eamonn Clements, 6:31:41, Stephanie Haase, 6:58:31

Thrifty 5k, May 8: Kevin Evilsizor, 1st Overall M, 20:08; Ann Cook, 1st Overall W, 20:19; Michael Seel, 1st 60+ M, 21:17; Kevin O’Connell, 1st 30-39 M, 22:17; Mitch Radella, 2nd 50-59 M, 24:46; Katelyn Osborn, 3rd 20-29 W, 33:33; Erin Kohlmeyer, 26:04; Carolyn Grider, 26:28; Matt Buchwald, 38:21; Mystic Slanina, 39:58; Amy Buchwald, 46:55; Nadia Buchwald, 47:47

Ghost Creek Half Marathon, May 15: Mark Badaracco, 1st Overall M, 1:29:33; Julia Urban, 1st Overall W, 1:33:37; Vasilii Surov, 1:57:32; Leonard Coyer, 2:11:34; Karrie Coyer, 2:12:12; Brandi Gaertner, 2:41:10

Oil Creek Half Marathon, May 21: Dean Banko, 1st Overall M, 1:48:50; Stacie Marsh, 1st Overall W, 2:28:31; Traci Hanna, 3rd Overall W, 2:45:17; Andrew Harmon, 2nd 30-39 M, 2:32:47; Mike Stimac, 3rd 30-39 M, 3:34:07; Kim Silvis, 1st 40-49 W, 2:46:49; Todd Foulk, 2nd 40-49 M, 2:48:28; Rachelle Surrena, 3rd 40-49 W, 3:21:43; Julia Murray, 3rd 50-59 W, 3:49:25; Tom Yaple, 2:52:17; Mike Wallace, 3:19:31; David Murray, 3:22:23; Suzette Cappola, 3:40:59

Send comments and suggestions: Patricia Neubert. Phone 724-352-4395. Email lotzak@consolidated.net

Pat Neubert is a running columnist for the Butler Eagle