When I moved to Jacksonville in August of 2004, I was confident that my years of altitude training would pay dividends at sea level.  Obviously, I failed to consider one very important factor; extremely oppressive heat and unrelenting humidity.  Over the last few summers, I have gained valuable insights into the best way to keep training at your peak even in the toughest of climates.  The goal of this coach’s corner is to share my insights into how I train, not to merely survive the summer months, but to lay the ground work for a successful fall racing season.

As every runner knows, state of mind is key to successful training; however, in the summer months many of us struggle with focusing on anything other than the oppressive heat.  Many runners go to bed and dream of cool fronts and pleasant morning runs with temperatures in the 60’s, but in Jacksonville, we have to accept the reality that this will likely not happen between June and August.  Instead, we must find other positive thoughts to focus on, such as a new running route with ample shade, a refreshing water stop, or a great new running outfit.  Even with just the smallest positive thought, we are one step closer to a better run and more positive training.

Another small but very important aspect of summer training is allowing our bodies to acclimate to the environment.  While it is much more comfortable to be indoors with the air conditioner blowing, this does not allow our bodies to adjust to the extreme environment outside.  As a result, our bodies are less efficient when running in the heat, which makes us more fatigued and unable to recovery as quickly.  Acclimating to the summer conditions in Jacksonville should be a gradual process, and while I would not recommend spending hours at the beach before a long run, I would recommend spending a few minutes each day outside.  Try eating your lunch outside, or going for a 10 minute walk to give your body a little more practice at going from a cool 72 degrees to a sweltering 98 degrees.

In addition to giving our bodies a chance to acclimate to the heat, we also have to give our bodies the proper tools to fight the heat.  That is water, water and more water.  While hydration is no secret to runners, many of us fail to properly hydrate and often only think about drinking water prior to our run.  With the extreme heat we face here in Jacksonville, we have to drink water continuously throughout the day as well as plan routes with frequent water stops or carry our own water with us.  Not only will this help you survive the run you have planned for today, but proper hydration is the first step to faster recovery and a better run for tomorrow.

Lastly, as runners, we are always trying to get the best effort ourselves and typically we fail to realize the large impact that our environment plays on our training.  Just like elevation, temperature should be factored into our training plans, which may mean making adjustments to our pace, the length of our run or the duration of our run.  Things to consider would be slowing your pace by 10-20 seconds per mile, doing shorter intervals during speed sessions, or splitting a longer run into two shorter runs.

Controlling the summer heat in Jacksonville is something that we all wish we could do, but by making some simple adjustments, we can all continue to train and reach our goals for the fall.  I hope to see many of you out there this summer not only surviving the summer months but thriving.