I am a morning runner, no question. Also, I am a cold weather runner, no question. These two things I know for sure There is no time too early or temperature too cold to make me skip a run…. However, the same cannot be said for the heat. After my cancelled marathon, I realized that I need to work on this. Sure, if my marathon would not have been cancelled, I would have finished, but I would have had to walk way more than 50% of the second half of the race because at mile 15 when it started getting hot, I just m.e.l.t.e.d…
I went from holding a fairly consistent pace to hardly being able to walk. This cannot happen come marathon day take #2. I know I am at risk of this though because the marathon I am signed up for is June 24th. It could be relatively hot this day or cool and breezy, there is a chance for either. Since I am already pretty ok with running in the cold, the only logical thing would be to train to get better at running in the heat also. If I keep up my regular routine of running early in the morning before work, this is never going to change but if I change things up and shift around my running routine, I have a chance to maybe improve a little bit.
To try to get my body more acclimated to running in the heat, I am planning to run AFTER work. Not technically the hottest time of the day but it will almost always be hotter in the afternoon than in the morning! Last Thursday was my first attempt at running in the heat and I also got to run in the heat on Monday morning (later than usual as I was off, plus it was H.O.T.!) Between these two runs, I have had a few revelations about running in temps that I am not used to:
1) Since it’s daylight, you can’t just wear the most ridiculous of outfits because more people will see you. Therefore, matching running clothes are a must.
2) Running in the heat is 10x harder than running in moderate temperatures. I am by no means a fast runner but the heat slows me down soooo much.
3) Running in the afternoon requires you to stay properly hydrated and fueled longer in the day…
4) I am spoiled by being able to run most of my training in the cooler temps but this is clearly not doing anything for my endurance overall.
These reasons are probably reasons that I will go back to morning runs once this darn marathon is actually over but for the time being, I am going to have to step outside my ”comfort” zone and run in the heat I have read it takes your body about 10-14 days to get used to warmer temps. I have about 28 until marathon day… hopefully between now and then the temps are a little warmer so I can practice this whole thing and it does not just magically get warmer come race day Or maybe I’ll have to find a sauna to run in
Bring on the sweat and the really nice running tan lines!
Anybody have tips for running in hot temps? Or is it just plain harder than regular running?