Summer running on the NSW North Coast can mean heat, humidity and long stretches of exposed trail. You don’t necessarily need to stop training when the temperature rises, but you do need to adjust how you run. Here are some practical ways to stay cooler, fuel well and use the warmer months productively.
Drink more — and don’t forget to eat
Hot-weather running usually increases fluid requirements, particularly on runs longer than an hour. Carry enough water for the conditions and consider electrolytes on longer or particularly sweaty runs.
As a rough practical reference, some runners may drink around 500 mL per hour or more during longer summer runs, but there isn’t one correct number for everyone. Your needs depend on temperature, humidity, pace, duration and your individual sweat rate. The aim isn’t to force down a prescribed amount — it’s to learn what works for you and avoid both significant dehydration and excessive fluid intake.
Food matters too. Heat can suppress appetite, so it’s easy to concentrate on drinking and accidentally underfuel. For longer runs, take more food than you think you’ll need and practise eating in warm conditions before race day.
Actively cool yourself
Don’t rely entirely on your body to do the cooling. There are plenty of simple ways to help it along.
- Use a wet buff or ice bandana. I really like the T8 Ice Bandana.
- Ice around the neck or under clothing can provide additional cooling when it’s available.
- Put soft flasks or a bladder in the fridge overnight so you begin with cold fluid.
- Choose routes with creeks, waterfalls, ocean access, taps or other reliable water sources.
- Use water along the way to wet your hat, buff and clothing where appropriate.
- If possible, finish at the ocean or a waterhole. Apart from cooling you down, knowing there’s a swim waiting can be excellent motivation.
If you’re deliberately staying wet during a long run, remember the anti-chafe. Water, sweat and repeated movement can be a fairly unforgiving combination.
Be strategic about when and where you run
Sometimes the easiest way to manage heat is simply to design the run around it.
Start early where practical and avoid the hottest part of the afternoon. For longer sessions, I also prefer routes that give me options rather than committing to one enormous out-and-back.
A cloverleaf-style route — several different loops returning to the same central point — can work really well in summer. You can leave extra water, food and ice at the middle and adjust the session if conditions become hotter than expected.
If you have flexibility, use the forecast. A cooler or rainy morning can be a much better time for a hard workout than forcing the same session through oppressive heat. Save deliberate heat exposure for when heat adaptation is actually the objective.
Understand heat acclimation
If you want to perform better in hot conditions, some exposure to heat is useful. Repeated heat exposure can produce adaptations including expansion of plasma volume, an earlier and greater sweating response and changes in sweat composition. These adaptations can make exercising in the heat feel more manageable.
Useful adaptations can begin developing over a relatively short period of repeated exposure, although the response varies between runners. Heat acclimation therefore sometimes fits well into the final weeks before a hot race, including periods where running volume is beginning to decrease.
The important point is that heat itself is training stress. More isn’t automatically better. Consider heat exposure alongside your running volume, intensity, recovery and everything else placing stress on your body.
Active vs passive heat training
Heat training can broadly be divided into active and passive approaches.
Active heat training means exercising in warm conditions. Some athletes also use additional clothing to increase heat stress. I personally don’t do much deliberate overdressing because it can take away from the enjoyment and quality of the run, and simply running through an Australian summer already provides plenty of natural heat exposure.
Passive heat training uses heat after or separately from exercise, commonly through saunas or hot-water immersion. Which method is practical depends on your circumstances and preferences. I personally enjoy using a sauna when I have time.
If you want to dig further into specific protocols, CTS has a useful overview in its Ultrarunners’ Heat Acclimation Cheat Sheet.
Don’t turn every summer run into heat training
There’s a difference between adapting to warm conditions and unnecessarily cooking yourself.
Your normal pace may produce a higher heart rate and perceived effort in the heat, so be prepared to slow down. On particularly hot or humid days, shortening, moving or changing a planned session can be the sensible training decision.
If you become dizzy, confused, unusually weak or unwell in the heat, stop treating the session as something to push through. Get somewhere cooler, begin cooling down and seek appropriate help if symptoms are significant or persist.
Make summer work for you
Summer running doesn’t have to mean months of miserable training. Start earlier, carry enough food and fluid, seek out water, adjust the route and accept that pace sometimes needs to change.
And if you can finish beside the ocean or a waterhole, even better.
If you’d like some help adapting your training for summer, race preparation or trail running, we have a small number of coaching places available through Gondwana Running.