When the weather turns hot here in North Carolina, it's best to find a nice pool and kick up your swimming a notch.  If you are like most triathletes, you have probably put off joining a masters team for far too long since you don't think it's all that important in a race anyway.  Well, the low-impact and cardiovascular benefits of swimming are far too beneficial to overlook, not to mention the fact that masters will make you faster.  When it comes to a sprint triathlon, every second counts, so check out our Getting Started article on swimming and how to hook-up with a masters team. 

Another favorite way North Carolinians choose to keep cool is to head to the mountains.  While on average (based on my highly scientific research on weather.com and some conversations with people who live in the Blue Ridge Mountains) the temperature is about 10 degrees cooler in the mountains, which are far too beautiful to overlook when you live this close.  Like the many old textile and tobacco barons used to do, use the summer heat as an excuse to pack up and head to the mountains.

In one of our features, "Bike, Bites, & Brews", freelance writer Rob Lamme gives you the basics in planning your own mountain biking bash.  With an emphasis on good eats, homemade brew, and not-too-technical but still epic trails (for all the triathletes and runners out there), you're sure to find a reason to dust off that mountain bike and head west.

If you're just not willing to trade in your running shoes for mountain bike, there's still hope for you - North Carolina is home to one of the few adult running camps in the country.  Our story, "Summer Camp for Runners", gives you the essentials for taking a running vacation at a facility set in a beautiful valley near Blowing Rock.  Within view of the Blue Ridge Parkway and close to a creek where runners traditionally cool off and soak their legs after a run, the running camp also trains some of the top distance runners in the state

If you don't mind the heat at all and are one of those people who embrace the sun and its power to make them sweat, read "The Sweetness of Sweat" to find out the reasons one of our writers would gladly train in the heat.  Just remember to protect yourself against the sun's harmful rays.  We couldn't put together a summer issue without addressing the need for basic sun protection, so m