The days are getting shorter and with less daylight at the end of a long workday, you may find your summer fitness motivation waning. If you’ve been running, biking and swimming your way through the summer months, fall is the perfect time of year to take your goals inside to FitClub. Before the temperatures drop and you have the urge to begin hibernating, set a fall fitness goal to keep you ready for your next races!

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• Get faster. Aiming for a PR in your next spring road race? The fall and winter are the best times to build your speed inside. Take your morning run to the FitClub treadmills this year and challenge yourself with faster intervals. You may find that the treadmill makes running faster intervals easier than running outside. Instead of sprinting to the next visible landmark and guessing at your speed, you can set a concrete distance or time goal and monitor your pace as you go. Planning an interval workout is as easy as finding a pace that you can only do for thirty to sixty seconds. At the end of the interval, jump carefully to the sides of the treadmill or slow down to a comfortable jog or walk until you’ve recovered enough to run quickly again. Running treadmill intervals this fall will prepare your legs to run faster in your race this spring.

If you spent your summer running road races, your body and legs are likely due for recovery, too. FitClub’s Yoga classes will help your muscles to recover while improving your balance before your next round of races starts next spring.

• Build bicycle endurance. If you’re looking to build endurance for longer or more competitive bike riding in the spring, don’t let yourself get lazy. Challenge yourself to a higher level of resistance on the spin or stationary bicycles this fall. If you find that you have trouble motivating yourself to work harder on the bike, this is the perfect time of year to throw yourself into a CycleFit class and draw from the energy of the group exercise studio and enthusiastic instructors. You may find that you miss the adrenaline of an outdoor race much less after a high-intensity CycleFit class.

Looking to build strength in your legs for next spring’s bike races? Try Pilates or a Barre class for a new challenge that will leave your legs burning.

• Swim all year. Unlike many fitness centers, FitClub does have indoor pools that are open all year. You can spend your time this fall perfecting your form while burning calories in the pool. Fall and winter are also opportune times to keep your children in the pool to maximize the skills they learned in the summer. Whether your goal is to complete a triathlon next year or you want a low-impact cardiovascular exercise, you can stay in great shape in FitClub’s pools even while the snow falls outside.

If you want to stay in great swimming shape, but you need a break from continuous laps, check out FitClub’s calendar for aquatic group exercise classes to burn calories,         build muscles, and stay in the pool!