paragiraffe

Running in the heat

There’s barely a spring in Atlanta, we just go straight to summer, and with global warming that may be how it is for you as well. Last summer I had an exceptionally hard time with the heat, and more or less gave up on running until the fall. I really can’t afford to do that again, so I’ve been trying to work out a “plan.”

First, when it starts getting warmer out, run slower. It can take a couple of weeks for your body to acclimate to running in warmer temperatures. Jeff Galloway offers a handy chart showing how your eight-minute mile time should adjust for temperature. This is definitely something I need to work on. He also suggests taking more walk breaks and, of course, drinking lots of water.

Running in the morning is a great way to beat the heat — I’ve been trying to do this on game days, but in all honesty I’ve only been successful a handful of times. Evening runs are almost as good, and possibly easier to schedule.

Don’t wear cotton — wear some magic moisture-wicking fabric instead. I believe there are few better things to spend my disposable income on than good exercise clothes.

It stormed here last night, so I got lucky today with cool and windy weather. But, it won’t be like this every day, and I’ve got to be more consistent than last summer.