Seems the hot weeks and months can be a big stress that can hurt performance. What do you do to help yourself train without getting overloaded with the heat? Do you adjust miles, pace or both?
Seems the hot weeks and months can be a big stress that can hurt performance. What do you do to help yourself train without getting overloaded with the heat? Do you adjust miles, pace or both?
drink water
/ of thread
run early in the morning. drink a pint of water before you run. drink two pints immediately after you finish. drink some chocolate milk after a hard run once a week.
I lived for 20 years along the Gulf Coast ... summers were brutal, especially this time of the year. I would suggest getting a gym membership and run indoors on a treadmill. Do some work in the pool or maybe do some cycling ... maybe do some cycling indoors at the gym. I didn't have access to gyms, treadmills or indoor facilities when I lived there and just did the daily grind outside. In the morning it was 75 degrees and 85 - 95% humidity. I ran at night after work as well, usually around 10:30PM ... 82 - 85 degrees, 85 - 95% humidity. It sucked. It would have been nice to get a bit of a break from the oppressive heat and humidity. I once ran a 10k on the track at Tulane ... ~32:20, 10:00PM 85 degrees. It was the most difficult race of my life.
Treat heat like you would a change in elevation--Forget about maintaining a particular pace during the worst of it and focus on effort level or heart rate for longer runs and longer speed workouts. To keep your turnover, do strides and short, fast hill repeats. Once fall arrives you'll be fast.
Don't run in direct sun if you can avoid it, do your workouts in the morning, and understand that pace will be slower.
If it's really humid, you might actually get some altitude-like effects from your training, so you can sort of treat it like you're running at altitude.
I agree with Fruit Loops. I ran in Orlando for 25 years and it was brutal. I tried to do my workouts at night, but even then the temperature was in the high 80's with a dewpoint in the 70's. I was doing a 16 miler on the track one afternoon, and by the end of the first LAP my shorts were soaked. Not to mention the flying bugs that carpeted my chest. Absolute hellhole to run in from April to October. If you're a sprinter, it's probably ideal.
Biggest adjustment I made was running early in the morning before the heat really began taking its toll. I was usually a late afternoon runner on singles days, but I started getting up at 5:30-ish and getting harder runs in before breakfast.
Fruit L00ps wrote:
I lived for 20 years along the Gulf Coast ... summers were brutal, especially this time of the year. I would suggest getting a gym membership and run indoors on a treadmill. Do some work in the pool or maybe do some cycling ... maybe do some cycling indoors at the gym. I didn't have access to gyms, treadmills or indoor facilities when I lived there and just did the daily grind outside. In the morning it was 75 degrees and 85 - 95% humidity. I ran at night after work as well, usually around 10:30PM ... 82 - 85 degrees, 85 - 95% humidity. It sucked. It would have been nice to get a bit of a break from the oppressive heat and humidity. I once ran a 10k on the track at Tulane ... ~32:20, 10:00PM 85 degrees. It was the most difficult race of my life.
I would actually recommend against running indoors if you are able to wake up early and run. Don't be stupid, drink plenty of water, but the heat will make you stronger. The only way you can adapt to heat and humidity is by running in it. A lot.
Agree^^^^^....keep running you'll get use to it...I live in houston
Thanks bowbridge.I am not talking about training inside all of the time, but simply a break ... April - October is a long time to suffer through the heat. I didn't think about throwing on a t-shirt, starting mid-March. I had shoes break down constantly ... they literally came unglued because they were constantly moist. My socks were usually the color of the inner liner of my shoes ... soaking wet socks, in wet shoes, even if I managed to have 2 pair of trainers. I vote for doing some indoor training from time to time. My best summer training was during tropical depressions, tropical storms and near-miss hurricanes ... lots of pouring rain, but it was a welcome relief to be able to run in the rain.Agree - don't train in the direct sun. Go by how you feel and not by pace. We used to run on golf courses in the evening and at night to run through the water sprinklers.
bowbridge wrote:
I agree with Fruit Loops. I ran in Orlando for 25 years and it was brutal. I tried to do my workouts at night, but even then the temperature was in the high 80's with a dewpoint in the 70's. I was doing a 16 miler on the track one afternoon, and by the end of the first LAP my shorts were soaked. Not to mention the flying bugs that carpeted my chest. Absolute hellhole to run in from April to October. If you're a sprinter, it's probably ideal.
In southern AZ the heat is real!
My first runs are ok at 4:30-6:30am when the temperature is in the 80's. As long as the humidity is low this is ok.
My second runs are crazy and I have to prepare to suffer. 102-108 and so sunny I tan significantly In the 5-8 miles I'm out there. And I'm black!
I don't do much except have a cold sports drink immediately afterward. I would never give more than a moderate effort in such heat. There's not much I can do given my schedule. No matter what I will feel dizzy, thirsty, and depleted afterward. The muscles feel stiffer and it just takes longer to recover and replenish. Some otherwise strong runners can handle it and others can't.
Really depends on what type of heat you're talking about - and to what extremes. There's tricks to use in a dry heat that won't really work in high humidity. Given my experience is in dry heat, here's how to do it:General rules:1) Hydrate: Early am pee test; if you don't get up at least once, you're not hydrated enough; if you overdo it and get up multiple (3+) times, you're too hydrated.2) Stay away from direct sunlight; avoid like the plague. Though not comfortable, it's possible to get miles in at 110F - if you're in the shade. If you're in rural, look for orchards, parks, river trails, etc. for cover. Urban areas, strips with high-rises, residential areas with larger homes and old growth, etc. will block out the rays.3) Run near vegetation and water. Both cool immediate temps. I've run in 100+ heat on the perimeter of soccer fields and swear it's 5-10 degrees cooler.4) Wear bright/light colors and wear a shirt/hat. No blacks. Wear a shirt - will retain sweat/water to keep you cooler. 5) For mileage, carry a water bottle and/or run routes with water. Periodically pour water on back of head/neck. 6) Post-run, 1 liter of water w/ electrolyte within 15 minutes. Another liter of water with an hour. Will help tremendously with recovery, cramping, muscle stiffness next day.7) Cool before/after. Try to limit being out in the hot elements only during the workout. Get into AC as quickly after run as possible for stretching, etc.8) Limit workouts to 60 min, at the very most (and only if taking early morning runs), 90 min max. Anything longer and you can't take in enough fluids to compensate the loss in sweat - unless you're carrying multiple water bottles having multiple water breaks.Hard Efforts:1) Early mornings. If you have access to a gym/treadmill, do w-up/w-down on treadmill and workouts outside. If not, get up before or when the sun rises and get it done. 2) Look for parks/fields with sprinkler timing during your workouts. Even if you're limited to a pm hard session and can find a park with a late pm/night sprinkler run, this can help tremendously. Create interval circuits that weave through sprinklers.3) Stay away from tracks. Stay away from measured/accurate courses. Establish some good interval circuits you can do periodically throughout the summer and track performance based on improvement/feel. Hard fact: times are going to be slower than expected. Don't discourage yourself by seeing times 3-5 sec slower per 400 than you'd like.4) Moderation: nothing extreme. Keep workouts mellow and fun. No time trials, hard measured efforts, all out intervals. Rule of thumb is to finish a workout and feel you could do one more interval, another mile of tempo, etc. if you wanted to. Try to get a couple mates to join you, have a beer on ice (after you've hydrated!), treat yourself to a good breakfast/coffee after, etc. It's quite amazing how just getting a consistent amount of work in can springboard you to a great fall after 2-3 weeks of more spirited pre-comp training.
good art wrote:
Seems the hot weeks and months can be a big stress that can hurt performance. What do you do to help yourself train without getting overloaded with the heat? Do you adjust miles, pace or both?
good art wrote:
Seems the hot weeks and months can be a big stress that can hurt performance. What do you do to help yourself train without getting overloaded with the heat? Do you adjust miles, pace or both?
Maybe just nut up and run?
Fruit L00ps wrote:
I lived for 20 years along the Gulf Coast ... summers were brutal, especially this time of the year. I would suggest getting a gym membership and run indoors on a treadmill. Do some work in the pool or maybe do some cycling ... maybe do some cycling indoors at the gym. I didn't have access to gyms, treadmills or indoor facilities when I lived there and just did the daily grind outside. In the morning it was 75 degrees and 85 - 95% humidity. I ran at night after work as well, usually around 10:30PM ... 82 - 85 degrees, 85 - 95% humidity. It sucked. It would have been nice to get a bit of a break from the oppressive heat and humidity. I once ran a 10k on the track at Tulane ... ~32:20, 10:00PM 85 degrees. It was the most difficult race of my life.
2012?