Heat acclimation tips and tactics

When temperatures rise, your body needs time to adjust.

It feels a tad ridiculous to write about heat acclimation in late April when the current temperature sits in the low 50’s. Indeed that may be the optimal running temperature range for distance runners. If only it would remain so forever, but I don’t see a move to the Pacific Northwest in my immediate future. 

Of course, temperature is only one of the meteorological factors that can affect your run. Wind, precipitation, humidity, and sun exposure can all play a significant role in your performance. In addition, every runner reacts differently to weather conditions. 

For example, I tend to wilt under direct sunlight, especially when temperatures creep into the mid to upper 60’s and beyond. Throw some cloud cover and humidity into the mix, and I’ll happily run all day in much warmer weather. In my case, it's heat plus direct sun that acts as running Kryptonite. 

That message was reinforced rather dramatically last Friday when I experienced a heat-and-sun induced crash roughly ⅔ of the way through a long run time trial. Things got so rough, I made the decision to cut the effort short by a few miles.  

The temperature at the time of my implosion was a delightful 65 degrees. Perfect weather for doing just about anything else outdoors. Less than ideal for cranking out 8:45 mile splits over 3+ hours of running. 

While this run may serve as merely a momentary hiccup on the training calendar, it also serves as a reminder that there’s no time like the present to begin getting acclimated to warmer running temperatures.