Summer Running in the HOT HOT HOT

It has been a bit warm in Charlotte the last few weeks. Unfortunately, this is sort of what happens every summer in Charlotte. Hot is one thing but when you double it up with humidity, it can be fairly unpleasant. There are alot of articles/blogs out there that you can find about hydrating during the hot conditions so that is really not what I am sharing today.  I encourage you to read up on those and be safe.

I am going to share a bit different approach to running in the summer especially if you have goal races in the fall.

With the exception of the very few elite who participate in summer track over in Europe and/or are heading to the Olympics, summer training is about having fun but still getting in miles and a good base.  College and high school coaches may prescribe a few workouts to get you fit but typically the interest is getting strong. Spring and early summer is used for some speed work by a lot of coaches but again, as the summer drags into the exceptionally hot weeks of July and August most distance runners turn their attention to miles.

So how do you get those miles in, stay motivated, fresh, and ready to really hit it hard in the fall when your specific training starts?  I have a few recommendations.  These are my opinions and are working for me.  They may help you but since it will only take me 10 min to write this post, what the heck.

1) Think of your weekly runs in terms of minutes and not miles.  Especially with the surge in GPS watches, so many runners have become overly focused on mileage and pace.  You can not run fast in 90+ heat and humidity.  In fact, you are going to run alot, lot slower.  Deal with it!  More importantly, don't think about it.  Instead, set a daily goal of how many minutes you want to run.  In  my case, this past week I wanted to run at least 90 minutes every day.  I then gave myself the flexibility as to whether that meant 70 min in the am, 20 in the PM, 90 min in one shot, etc.  My PM run sometimes is a simple 20-30 min on the treadmill while I watch a movie.  That run does more to loosen me up after a day sitting at my desk. It is less about my fitness and more about getting ready for the next run.  I try to not dwell on my pace per mile as it is going to be slow in the summer so why frustrate yourself with it?  The nice aspect of targeting minutes instead of pace/miles is the miles will follow.  If you set a reasonable daily or weekly minutes goal, the miles will by default follow.  And even if they didn't you are still putting in the work.

2) Go EARLY!!! I can not stress this enough.  I have been looking at the temperatures in the afternoon there has rarely been any relief until almost 10pm in the night!  Trying to run at 4-5pm right now is absolutely brutal.  You do not like getting up early?  A couple tricks to consider.  a) naps - get up early, knock out your run and then catch a 30 min nap before work or longer if it's the weekend. b) find a group.  When you know folks are expecting you in the morning, it is a heck of alot easier to get up and go than if you are running all by yourself.

Once the sun starts to peek over the clouds it is heating up very quickly.  Running early can be very peaceful and often you can run right up the middle of a road (however, please, please be careful!..wear a headlamp, reflective gear and if u do run with an ipod, a volume that still allows you to be aware).

3) Start slow and stay slow if you need to.  There are going to be days where your schedule doesn't allow you to beat the heat or it just never cools off.  Start slow and work into these runs.  What you may have already experienced at some point is that when you get tired in heat and humidity, your body tends to shut down much faster and it can be a quick and unforgiving crash and burn.  Especially if you are going fairly long, stay conservative on your run until you feel confident you have reached a point that you can battle to the end successfully.  It is a terrible feeling to lose your mojo 30-40 minutes into a run when you were planning to run for 90-120 minutes.

4) Reward yourself.  Running should always be fun but I stress to athletes I coach to smile lots and really enjoy summer running.  You should be out there because you enjoy what you are doing.  Sure the exercise is a terrific benefit too and if you are fortunate enough to be good at the sport, competing and having some success at winning overall and age groups is rewarding too. We all have days where we don't feel as good as we want or the run becomes more of a chore than something we enjoy.  Summer is the time to give yourself a bit more flexibility as most coaching training plans start to get fairly specific in the fall.  If you are focused on meeting your goals, there is less room in the fall to deviate. In the summer,  go a bit longer with some friends if you feel up to it.  Make a mini road trip to somewhere fun to run.  Jump in a race of a distance or terrain.  Give the tri stuff a go (although don't convert over to the dark-side of the tri world).  Take a day off.  Eat well and treat yourself to ice cream or a donut as a reward for an early long run or hard run.

I want to be clear that summer is not all about running slow and easy runs.    There is a place for pushing yourself.  With the right training plan, your coach will sprinkle workouts accordingly.  The point is adapt for the harsh training conditions of hot and humid summers here in the south by getting in runs but staying safe.  To further support the summer training cycle, an athlete can not effectively push year round with the same high level of intensity and hard core training.  That is how runners become burned out and injured.  I encourage all runners to build in downtime into their training year and rest physically and mentally.  It will make you appreciate the sport even more.


Happy Running!