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.
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.
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.
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.
As adults with a full life, alcohol is a ubiquitous part of most of our lives. Some of us enjoy the occasional drink in a social setting, some have one every day, some can’t stop consuming it, and some finally overcame alcoholism.
As far as I have read, there’s no proof that the occasional post-run beer will wreck your recovery, nor that it will help it either. Yet, alcohol has undeniable social benefits associated with consuming responsibly it with your buddies, like after a run. I am not a scientist or a wine drinker, but I’ve read about the benefits of a glass of wine when it comes to HDL cholesterol and antioxidants. I’ve also read how more is not necessarily better. You should not be having 3 or 4 glasses because it the positive effects don’t necessarily compound.
A post-run beer has many social benefits and won’t ruin your recovery. The operating word here is “A”, meaning “one”.
I am not here to proselytize on alcohol consumption, which is a personal choice. But as athletes wanting to improve on our fitness and/or racing times, we need to be aware what are the negative effects that too much alcohol can have on our recovery, which is half of our training (Work + Recovery = Training).
For starters, alcohol is a diuretic. A diuretic is a substance that promotes the increased production of urine. This means that it produces dehydration, a big problem for runners. The consequences of moderate dehydration are, among others, cramps and fatigue. Severe dehydration, which can occur after combining drinking and running, include urinary and kidney complications, low blood volume, heat-related injuries and even seizures. As if that weren’t enough, I am sure that running with a hungover must suck all the joy we could get of the sport.
As I was researching this topic, I googled “alcohol and running” and, among the 812 million results I got, the very first one was this paragraph, which resumes most of what I wanted to say: Alcohol is a powerful diuretic, and dehydration is never a runner\’s friend. The risk for muscle cramps, muscle pulls, muscle strains and general fatigue increases when dehydrated, so drinking extra water after a night of hitting the bars is more than necessary to regulate your body for your next run.”
As we have mentioned in this blog, many times before, the number one recovery tool in your arsenal is sleep, which is the time your body uses to repair itself from the pounding of your training and the stress of your day. Alcohol consumption affects and impairs your sleep. Don’t let anyone fool you by telling you that drinking makes them sleepy like a baby, so it doesn’t affect them. Even if you are asleep, drinking in excess will affect your REM sleep, which restores your brain and is good for your memory and learning. Sounds kind of important to me.
Wine has plenty of documented benefits, but they do not compound the more your drink.
Consuming alcohol in excess, also affects your fitness, which is the capacity of your body to recover so you can do it again. If your liver is too busy processing the excess alcohol you consumed, it would not be able to assist repairing of your body, which is needed after every training session, regardless of how easy it was.
The definition of “excess” is personal and individual. What is suitable for a fit, 200-pound male, may not be suitable for a 115-pound female recovering from Covid. Each runner must understand what is good for their lifestyle and make sure they can live with their decisions.
In a podcast I recently listened, Coach Jonathan Marcus made a comparison between two separate issues. One of those fits perfectly in what the last paragraph was explaining: “You can down a whole bottle of wine in 45 minutes. You can do it. You can, physically, get the liquid into your stomach. But what is going to happen afterwards is not going to be pretty. Or, you can have half a glass of wine in an-hour period, sipping on it though dinner, multiple nights in a row and enjoy it as part of a meal. Your body can extract the nutrients, flavors, etc. from that, versus being overly consumed by the poison of the alcohol that then forces a harsh and severe, nasty metabolic response”.
This post is not for pointing fingers, preaching on lifestyle or proselytizing on the virtuosity of abstention. Just make sure you understand what the consequences of mixing running with alcohol are for both your body and your training, so you can make the right choices when the time comes.
![\"\"](\"https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c2e49f525bf02ce9657df92/7f7e168e-ed2e-4527-851c-5c44b341a05c/Man.png\")
