Training with the Heat

With the summer already upon us, it's really starting to heat up. We've already had temperatures of over 100 *F for multiple days, with the heat index much higher. Just standing outside gets your shirt soaked.


Despite the heat, I must continue training as I have a race in less than a month, and then in August a few more. With that said, training in the heat is no fun. To try and battle the heat, I've been attempting a few different things to beat the heat.


Early Mornings
You would think in the mornings it would be nice and cool and perfect running weather, right? Well take a look at what the other day's temperature vs humidity looked like.

Click to enlarge - Temperature vs Humidty on June 28th in Houston

So in the early morning (around 5), the temperature is about 80* and the humidity is about 90%, and putting that in the handy-dandy heat index calculator, we get the heat index is about 87*. So running in the morning is still quite the workout with battling the heat! I'll usually come back from my run nice and sweaty and usually feeling kinda gross from the mugginess. But it's the best way to beat the high heat and out of the sun during the day.


That's Houston for you. Can't complain too much because if you're looking at the chart, you'll realize that it got up 93 before the thunderstorms really let loose! (Thunderstorms happen in the spike in humidity and drop in temperature, around 3pm).


During the Day/Afternoon
Not too much of a surprise, but I have a hard time waking up early every morning (I like sleep). Every now and then I'll get a workout during lunch, which means a little shorter of a workout but typically I'll go inside on a treadmill where it's a bit cooler (A/C!) and I have quicker access to a shower.


If it's after work, my favorite spot is memorial park. Why you ask? Well not only is it a great running trail, but they also have some off-road trails that offer a significant amount of shade along with some trail running thrills. Despite the heat, I really enjoy doing runs on the trails. There's something about whizzing past trees and making sharp cuts left and right that's so much more enjoyable than watching more flatness come into your unobstructed view while running on a regular running trail.






The issue with the high heat, whether it's in the 80* mornings or 95-100* evenings, is keeping the body cool. If I'm running at a rate that's making my body work pretty hard (say around 7'/mile), the body begins to produce a lot of heat (basic physics and common sense). However, when the temperature is hot enough, my body begins doing more work to keep itself cool then to keep up the pace, thus making it more difficult to run fast and preventing me from overheating immediately. And nobody really likes being a victim of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.


So what can you learn from me rambling about all this? Well different symptoms set in for different levels of what level your body temperature is at.


Body Temperature                                           Symptoms

  101-104 *F                                                    Muscle Weakness, Fatigue


  104-105                                                         Disorientation, Severe muscle weakness, loss of balance


  Above 105                                                     Diminished sweating, loss of consciousness






So don't be afraid to take breaks if you're feeling pretty hot and drink water!


Good luck.. and just because I happened to pull this data up, here is the month of June: