Running in Extreme Heat

Running in Extreme Heat

by | Jun 27, 2023 | Uncategorized

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

The title of this blog post doesn\’t necessarily mean running at noon in the Sahara Desert. Yet, some Texas or South Florida-based runners currently training for fall marathons may wonder if the Sahara at noon may be more accommodating than what they are experiencing as summer hits. Running in cooler and/or drier conditions would be nicer, sure, but the sooner we accept that this is what we must work with, the quicker we\’ll adapt to our reality and move forward towards our goals.

Extreme heat

Does anything else need to be said about Summer marathon training in South Florida?

As difficult as it is to hit the road for a 2-hour run on a 90/90 morning (weather/humidity), remember that there are plenty of runners from the hottest and most humid corners of the Earth who compete, complete, set PRs, and even win the biggest fall and winter races in the world. This means the bulk of their preparation is done amid the summer heat. This proves that it can be done. It is a matter of adjusting expectations to the reality that surrounds us, accepting that no amount of pouting or protesting will produce a change.

Sweating is one of the most important physiological functions in our body yet is a rarity in nature. Besides humans, only monkeys, hippos, and horses sweat. Sweat is what cools our bodies and allows us to be active for prolonged periods of time without the dangers of overheating. The evaporating water transfers heat from our skin into the environment.

High humidity is extremely dangerous to us runners. Beyond the additional energy required to displace a heavier mass of air as we move forward, it also affects the body\’s ability to cool itself. The higher the humidity, the longer sweat stays on our skin, the harder it is for it to evaporate, and the hotter we remain. To compensate, the body sends more blood to the skin to cool us down. The more blood we need, the harder our heart needs to pump, causing our heart rate to go higher and higher. This may trigger other health issues related to heat exhaustion or heatstroke.

Adaptation to running in extreme heat requires preparation, the right frame of mind, and patience. Steve Magness, a former competitive runner and coach for the University of Houston, recently stated that he spent many years running 120 miles per week amidst the Houston summers. \”You DO adapt a bit,\” he says. \”But it comes from going really slow, by feel, just getting it in for a few weeks before you magically start feeling better.\”

This \”magically\” word is nothing but a synonym for \”adaptation,\” meaning that the body learns to adjust to its environment, optimizes its resources, gets stronger, and becomes able to recover better and faster, allowing you to proceed with your training. Pushing through the muggy weather with the outdated no-pain-no-gain concept will eventually backfire and sideline you, either from exhaustion, injury, burnout, or a combination of all three.

Extreme heat

“Don’t do anything stupid in extreme heat. Just get through it.” – Steve Magness

In a recent social media post, Magness provides 5 important and simple tips to run and adapt to running in extreme heat:

1 – Hydrate.
2 – Go by feel. Forget pace.
3 – Run by time.
4 – Don\’t try to do anything hard or long.
5 – Jump in the pool or take a cold shower afterward.

Magness\’ conclusion is simple and direct: “Don\’t do anything stupid in extreme heat. Just get through it.\”

For more tips on running during the summer, click here to check out my recent blog post on the subject. 

Serendipitously, as I was finishing this blog post, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer, posted a video on CNN.com explaining the physiology and dangers of exercising in extreme heat. I highly recommend everyone reading this to invest 3 minutes of their lives in understanding this video.

 

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Coach Adolfo Featured in VoyageMIA Magazine

Coach Adolfo Featured in VoyageMIA Magazine

by | Jun 13, 2023 | In the news

Adolfo Salgueiro, head coach for Foultips.Run was recently highlighted in a feature story in VoyageMIA Magazine. The story is a profile on Coach Adolfo’s career as a runner and his projection as a running coach. The title of the article is “Exploring Life & Business with Adolfo Salgueiro”.

 

VoyageMIA is an online outlet focused on highlighting the best of the 305/786 (Miami area codes)- from freelance makeup artists that will dazzle you to the best meetup groups in town. Coach Salgueiro was featured in a section called Miami’s Most Inspiring Stories.

The Voyage Group of Magazines was founded in 2015 by Mayank Bhandari and started with their flagship VoyageLA in Los Angeles. It now has online presence with online magazines in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, San Diego and Phoenix.

You can read the story by clicking here.

13 Tips for Summer Running

13 Tips for Summer Running

by | Jun 13, 2023 | List, Science

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

With Summer around the corner, maybe already here if you are reading this a few days after publication, it\’s essential to adjust your running routines to ensure a safe and effective experience. Running in hot weather requires intentional modifications to prevent dehydration, heat-related injuries, and negative impact on your fitness. These are 12 quick tips for summer running.

1 – Slow Down: Running in the heat is physically demanding, and your body requires more effort to maintain the same pace. Embrace the reality of running at a slower pace to accommodate the increased effort it requires. It\’s about maintaining the level of perceived effort rather than focusing on speed. It doesn’t matter if it screws your Strava averages.

Summer running

Running safely during the summer is perfectly possible, but it requires planning (Photo: Pexels)

2 – Plan Your Hydration: Proper hydration is crucial during summer runs. Plan your routes around areas with ample fluid sources or strategically seed water along your route in advance. Remember to consume water at scheduled intervals, before you feel thirsty, which may indicate dehydration has already set in.

3 – Overhydration is a Thing: While staying hydrated is important, be cautious about overdoing your water intake. Drinking in excess can lead to hyponatremia, a potentially life-threatening condition caused by dilution of sodium levels in the blood. Stay hydrated throughout the day, not just while you run, and ensure your urine is lightly colored as a sign of healthy hydration.

6 – Dress Appropriately: Opt for light-colored clothing, which reflects more light and deflects heat. Avoid wearing long sleeves, long pants, or outfits designed to induce excessive sweating, as these can hinder your body\’s ability to cool down.

7 – Freeze Your Running Clothes: Sounds weird, but if you place your running shirt and hat in the freezer and you put them on just before you leave home, your body will cool down, and delay the inevitable. Sure, it will get hot anyway, but isn’t it better for it to start at mile 2 or 3 than at the first step?

8 – Stay Connected: Carry your mobile phone during runs. Inform somebody of your whereabouts and expected return time. Consider using apps or services that allow loved ones to track your real-time location for added safety.

Summer running


Click this image to see the correlation between relative humidity and temperature

9 – Factor in Humidity: If you train in a high-humidity region, be aware that running in saturated air requires more effort compared to drier conditions. Adjust your expectations and accept that maintaining the pace may require additional effort, so you may have to run shorter. Mental preparation and acknowledging this difference may help you stay motivated.

10 – Adjust Your Training Schedule: Be flexible with your schedule, especially if you\’re preparing for a fall marathon. Should the weather conditions be extreme, consider rescheduling long runs or intense sessions to a more suitable time of day. Avoid pushing too hard in unfavorable conditions to prevent extreme exhaustion and/or injuries.

11 – Choose Shaded Routes: Plan your routes intelligently by selecting paths that offer ample shade. This will help shield you from direct sunlight and reduce heat exposure, making your runs more comfortable and safer.

12 – Listen to Your Body: Don\’t be a hero. If you feel dizzy, fatigued, or overheated, don\’t hesitate to stop, cut the run short, seek shade, ask for assistance, or just call it a day. Prioritize your safety and well-being, as taking these precautions will aid in faster recovery and enable you to resume running sooner.

13 – Differentiate Exhaustion from Heat Stroke: It\’s crucial to distinguish between normal exhaustion due to heat and a potentially life-threatening heat stroke. Familiarize yourself with the symptoms of heat stroke to avoid any severe consequences. Refer to the graphic below, borrowed from www.weather.org, for a comprehensive understanding of heat stroke symptoms.

Summer running

Learning this information could save your life

Running during the summer months is possible with the right adjustments and precautions. Many of the world’s greatest marathons, such as Berlin, New York and Chicago, take place in the fall, which means you must train during summer. By planning ahead, making smart choices, and prioritizing safety, you may continue training effectively and ensuring a smooth transition into the upcoming racing season.

Always err on the side of caution and enjoy running while staying safe.

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5 Tips to “Train Like Kipchoge (Sorta)”,

5 Tips to “Train Like Kipchoge (Sorta)”,

by | May 30, 2023 | Article, Coaching, List, Reflection

By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

 The most recent print edition of Runner’s World Magazine (2023/3) was Eliud Kipchoge centered. It had 8 stories that told us from his humble origins to his monastic lifestyle to a dissection of every detail of his record-setting running shoes to Evans Chebet as his most likely successor. It is the most detailed account I’ve seen of Kipchoge related info in one place.

Train like Kipchoge

Runner’s World magazine cover for the issue with the 8 Eliud Kipchoge related stories

The story that caught my attention is titled “Train Like Kipchoge (Sorta)”, by Sarah Gearhart, in which she shares five key aspects of Eliud’s training. My first thought was: how can we transfer them to us, simple mortals, to improve our running results. The article talks about how the greatest of all time (GOAT) does it, which doesn’t mean we must apply it in the exact same way. The key is to harness the key lesson of each one and make it part of our current circumstances.

These are the five principles, as per Runner’s World, with a personal commentary on how to apply it to our recreational runner training repertoire:

1 – Sleep like your run depends on it: Kipchoge sleeps 9 hours a night and takes naps. Most of us don’t have the time for that, but neither we are professionals, nor do we run 120 miles per week. The point is to be purposeful about your sleeping habits. Sleep as much as your body needs and don’t brag about your lack of sleep as a badge of honor. Our body recovers and rebuilds while we sleep, which is more valuable than all other recovery tools in your arsenal put together.

2 – Revive Sore Muscles with an Ice Bath: He takes 10-minute ice baths twice a week “to aid his post run recovery.” As recreational runners we may not have the facilities, the time or will tolerate this uncomfortable activity. But the point is that it works for him and despite the pain and inconvenience, he does it anyway because he works diligently on his recovery. Remember that you don’t become a better runner just as you finish your hard workout. You become a better runner once your body has recovered and adapted to the stress it just went through. So, be as diligent as Kipchoge in your recovery.

3 – Upgrade Your Diet with Protein: Kipchoge’s high-carb diet is essential for his training and performance, yet in 2017 he upgraded his protein intake “to aid his recovery as well as help to build and maintain his lean muscle.” The point here is that diet is key to training, performance and recovery. It is not a matter of how many calories we take in but the quality of those calories. If we fuel with a dozen donuts and a pint of ice cream, our weekly milage or our daily nap won’t really provide the benefit they should.

Train like Kipchoge

Stationary biking is one of the multiple options to enhance your aerobic capacity without overtaxing your system (Photo: William Adams, Pexels)

4 – Meditate to Build Mental Strength: Kipchoge is a “mindful runner” says his coach Patrick Sang. “While training and racing, he focuses on his breath and his movements, and aims to minimize outside distractions.” While not all of us can or want to live Kipchoge’s spartan life nor we have the will to perfecting the art of mindfulness, we can separate 10 minutes for daily meditation, we can read a book on mental toughness or practice the visualization of our goals without becoming Zen masters.

5 – Build Bonus Endurance on a Bike: Interesting to note that to add to his training volume “without increasing his risk of a running injury, Kipchoge rides a stationary bike for an hour twice a week after his runs.” For mere running aficionados like us, this is what we call cross training. Participating in a non-running activity once or twice a week to enhance our strength or aerobic training while resting our muscles and soft tissues from the pounding of running. Biking, rowing, weight training, yoga, elliptical, etc. Make sure you do something other than running to complement your training.

If these techniques work for the GOAT, scaling them down to our level would be beneficial. Don’t just think about it, do something about it and don’t take too much time getting started. Marathon season is around the corner.

To read the full Runner’s World article, you may click here.

 
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Book Review: Your Best Stride

Book Review: Your Best Stride

by | May 16, 2023 | Article, Book Review, Coaching

Author: Jonathan Beverly
Reviewed by: Coach Adolfo Salgueiro

I first heard from Jonathan Beverly in early 2017, listening to a podcast where he promoted this book. His concepts were remarkably interesting, and I kept his name within my radar. A few months later I met him at the NYC Marathon expo and had the chance to talk to him and purchase the book. I read it right away, and then, again, a couple of years later. A couple of years after that, I read it one more time and decided to finally draft a book review.

Your Best Stride

Overall, this book is of terrific value, both in terms of time and money.

According to the bio on his website, Jonathan Beverly is a senior running gear editor at Outside magazine. He’s also a writer, photographer, coach and lifetime runner. His passion is to help others experience the joy of training, competing and being fit and fully alive. He is also the author of “Run Strong, Stay Hungry.” He served as editor of Running Times for 15 years. He has coached adults, junior high and high school.

This book touches on multiple aspects of running, all of them slices that when combined, will produce our best stride. The premise is that there is no one correct way to move when you run. There are wrong ways to do so, and some may lead to injury.

“The way we run is unique to our bodies and our experience—says Beverly—I can no more run like Kenenisa Bekele than he could run like me (not that he would want to). Bottom line: there is no perfect form, no one-size-fits-all recommendation.”

Beverly states that most of what he says is neither his nor new. It is a compilation of his conversations with multiple experts in physical therapy, anthropology, podiatry, natural running, etc. This alone makes the content even more valuable as you have the wisdom and knowledge of all these professionals in a 242-page book.

As a heel striking runner for over 40 years, I am reassured by the author’s assessment on how we have become so focused on where the foot lands and what shoe is needed to fix it, that we have forgotten that it all starts above, at the hip. From there, the kinetic chain goes down through the various parts of the leg until finally ends on the soles of the feet. When we focus all our attention on the landing, we are discarding the process that gets us there.

“Your running style is as your voice -he says- Every person has a distinct sound based on his or her physical characteristics, habits and upbringing.”

Your Best Stride

I had the chance to meet the author and purchase the book from him, at the 2017 NYC Marathon Expo

Other subjects discussed include running shoes (there is no magic in them); core exercises, strength training, balance, stability, posture, cues to assess your running form and, of course, how to put it all together.

I like how he spends time talking about the mythology of cadence. Just as with foot strike, there is a lot of misunderstanding here, especially when it comes to the supposedly perfect number of 180, which is anecdotal and has no scientific base. Sure, cadence can help us cure certain issues like overstriding, but it is more the result of our running instead of a driver of efficiency. Trying to improve cadence without addressing the issues that may cause its deficiencies can get runners in trouble. \”Mind your hips, and your cadence (as well as your foot strike) will take care of itself\”, guarantees the author.

Another important topic is the mixing of the training, including shoes, surfaces, speeds, routes and directions to avoid overuse injuries. Biomechanist Simon Bartold is quoted saying: “Your average runner in Manhattan will run in the same track, in the same direction, the same way, every single time they run and wonder why they get injured. You have to mix up the signal.\”

A tip for reading this book is to do so in a place where you can take the time and have the space to do the exercises he asks you to do. You may need to lay on the floor to feel your glutes, or stand up and place your hands in certain areas to feel your pelvis rotating, or kneel to feel your hip extensors doing their thing. So, you may not want to read this one on the bus or at a public place where you’ll feel awkward performing certain moves, unless you bookmark them and come back home to them.

Overall, this book is of terrific value, both in terms of time and money.

 

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