We may only be a little over a month into summer, but somehow it feels like we've been doing this since March. Fall and Winter race training is right around the corner, yet the heat has no plans of leaving for another couple of months. Most of my runs happen on my lunch break, so that makes things interesting during the Summer months. Somehow, I have made it through several Summers mostly unscathed. If you are looking to do the same, here is my survival guide.
Down here in Mobile, owls do not have the best reputation among runners. Multiple attacks have occurred during the coolest part of the morning when runners are out. But if you want to survive the summer, you have to become like the owl. This means running when everyone else is getting in bed or before the alarms start going off. The difference between 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. is immense.
Basically, you want to avoid the sun at all costs. Think of the Mario desert level where the angry sun spends the entire run trying to take you out. Even evening runs can be a challenge because the air never really has a chance to cool down. Your best bet is getting out at dawn. Wear reflective clothing, use a headlamp, and if possible, run with a group.
You have a plan for beating the sun, then you check the humidity.
Summers in the South love high humidity and dew points. I don't even need to open my weather app anymore. If the windows are fogged up when I wake up, I already know what kind of run this is going to be.
Then there are Summer thunderstorms. They add a whole new wrinkle to your plans. Do you get up early to beat the sun or do you gamble by timing your run just before the skies begin to darken, hoping to finish before the bottom drops out? Just this week I tried that strategy only for my run to be cut short. Occasionally it works, and the run feels almost Spring-like. Get it wrong, though, and you end up just as wet as if you had run through the humidity.
The greatest male model of our time, Derek Zoolander, once said, "Moisture is the essence of wetness, and wetness is the essence of beauty." While I am still not entirely sure what he meant, I do know hydration is one of the biggest keys to surviving the summer.
Drink early and drink often. Hydrating doesn't start when your watch beeps at the beginning of your run. It starts throughout the day. I am lucky enough to have a one-mile loop in my neighborhood, so I keep a bottle in my driveway and grab a drink at the end of every lap. If that is not an option, carry a handheld bottle or wear a hydration vest. Whatever it takes, make sure water is available.
Make yourself familiar with any water options on your run, whether a water fountain or a gas station you can pop into. Hydration is not negotiable, and a lack of it can turn an easy run into a medical emergency. Plan hydration before you leave.
The runner you are in the Summer is not the runner you are in the Fall. High temperatures and humidity can make an easy run feel like a threshold workout. The hardest part is trusting you have not lost fitness. It is just dang hot.
Every Summer starts the same for me. I head out trying to hold the same pace I was running a couple of months earlier, only to be humbled by my heart rate. Before long I am questioning my entire running journey. Wondering how I am ever supposed to hit my goal pace in a marathon when I cannot even hold it for one mile without feeling like death.
Runners can be fickle. We know what we are capable of, so not seeing those numbers day after day messes with us. But like life, this is just another season. Literally. Summer does not care how far you have run, how fast you have run. The watch doesn't know it's 95 degrees with 90 percent humidity. Your body does.
For how much running has grown over the past several years, it is still a niche hobby. Most people already question why you run in the first place. Running through Summer only makes you look crazier.
I own one of those safari-style hats. It looks like a normal running cap, except it has a flap hanging off the back to cover my ears and neck. I know I must look ridiculous to my neighbors, but it helps keep me cool, cool as one can be in 90+ weather.
Then there is the sweat. There is simply no avoiding it. After one mile, you look like you accidentally fell into a swimming pool. Your shirt is soaked. Your hat is dripping. Your shoes are squishing with every step. By that point, a Summer thunderstorm almost sounds refreshing because you are already completely drenched.
You become the crazy person sloshing down the road. But you have to embrace it. This is who you are now. This is what it takes to survive the summer.
If you take away one thing from this blog, let it be this. Respect the heat. It is real, and it is brutal.
Wear technical fabrics. Put on sunscreen. Use anti-chafe products. Stay hydrated. Know the signs of heat exhaustion and do not be afraid to cut a run short if something feels off.
Summer is tough, but it does not last forever. In a few months, the weather will cool, and your pace will magically come back. You will wonder why you ever doubted your fitness. Then next June you will forget everything you just read and convince yourself an afternoon run "won't be that bad."
Summer runners never learn. We just survive long enough to do it all over again.