The school year is over, and we are now officially beginning our summer training. Everyone wants to have a great summer so we can do well in the fall cross country season. Unfortunately, in Texas, the summer is the most difficult time to train. The heat and humidity can be unrelenting, and it’s easy to struggle with our training and stay motivated when the low temps for the day creep into the 80s, and the highs surge past 100 degrees.
I went to school at Texas A&M University and ran on our cross country and track teams. During the summer, I chose to run at night instead of in the morning. I found the humidity to be slightly better at night, although the temperature was higher. Somehow during my senior year I managed to run over 100 miles a week. It wasn’t particularly easy, but I don’t remember letting the weather get the best of me. I was focused on the fall and felt that the summer weather would only make me tougher.
When I graduated from Texas A&M, I began to train for marathons. I found training for marathons was easier for me during the summer when I was not teaching and coaching. I won the San Francisco Marathon three times, which takes place in late July, while doing most of my training in the hottest time of the summer.
Winning the San Francisco Marathon in 2007 (long time ago!)
.In this part one of two are some things I have done personally myself or with our team in order to train successfully in the heat.
ATTITUDE
Probably the most important thing is having a positive attitude. The heat and humidity are something that most athletes will have to face over the summer. Complaining about the weather only makes things more difficult for yourself and your training partners. I tried to look at the heat as something that was making me physically and mentally tougher. I felt if I could get in tempo runs or long runs during the summer, then imagine how fast I would be able to run once the weather cooled off.
I also feel that leaders of the team, whether they are the coach or the athletes, need to have a positive attitude. Focus on something other than the heat and humidity. Everybody knows it’s hot, and there’s no point in the leaders dwelling on that fact. For leaders, it’s a great time to focus on something else like the short list below.
Seven Great Positive Thoughts
- Great to spend time with my friends
- Great to be doing something I love
- Great to be getting better today
- Great to be doing something that makes me healthy
- Great to be setting a positive example for others
- Great to be focused on my goals
- Great to be healthy and able to run each day
MODIFYING WORKOUTS
Obviously, having a positive attitude will only get you so far. When it comes to training, it’s important to adjust paces as necessary and be realistic.
Recovery Runs
For recovery runs, I think it’s best to shoot for 15-30 seconds slower per mile. If the run is to be a recovery run, it’s important that we focus on effort and not become too obsessed with pace. For example, during the spring, maybe an athlete with a 5-minute mile PR runs their recovery days at a 7:30 pace. During the summer, it may be smarter to run closer to 8:00 minutes, depending on the temperature that day.
I also know many athletes and teams have had success by going for runs based on time instead of a set number of miles. For example, that 5-minute miler we just talked about may go for a 40-minute run instead of running for 5 miles. They most likely will get in the same distance, but they will feel less pressure to push for a certain pace they may have run under cooler conditions.
Long Runs
When I was training to qualify for the Olympic Trials I would run every other long run at a hard effort and focus on hitting marathon pace for the second half. I would also run up to 24 miles in order to prepare myself for “the wall” at the end of marathons.
When training for the San Francisco Marathon I had to be realistic. I would keep the distance to 20 miles or less. I also would avoid marathon pace or harder efforts during the long runs and save that for other workouts during the week.
For high school athletes I feel it’s important to keep longs run at 20 percent of their weekly mileage. Like the recovery runs, I would also consider going for a set amount of time when the weather really heats up.
Also, it’s important to make sure there is water available every 30 minutes. Make sure to pick a loop that doesn’t get too far away from the starting point. If running longer than an hour, make sure there is water every 15-20 minutes.
Workouts
For workouts, I prefer to modify the pace, distance, or rest between repetitions to account for the temperature.
One quick example for modifying a 4-mile tempo run at a 6:00 pace:
- 4×1600 @ 6:00 pace with 1 minute rest on the track. Athletes can stop after each repetition and get water.
- 2×12 minutes on the road or grass with 2 minutes standing rest. Can focus more on effort and not stress on the exact pace. Athletes can run in a park with access to water.
- Progressive out and back 4-mile tempo run. Run 2 miles out at 6:15-6:20 pace, turn around, and try to run faster on the way back.
- 2×15 minutes on the road or grass with 3 minutes standing rest. Athletes can run for a longer time but at a slower pace.
Another way to modify workouts is to adjust paces by running repetitions at one event up from your goal pace. For example, if running a 1600 meter pace workout, maybe shoot for 3200 or 5k pace instead.
CCCAT CLINIC AND HAVE A GREAT SUMMER
I’ll be speaking at the Cross Country Coaches Association of Texas Clinic this summer. Topic is Cross Training for Distance Runners. I’ll be speaking in detail over cross training and ways to implement it into your training.
You can purchase the power point I’ll be going over https://distancecoach.gumroad.com/l/lvzpi?layout=profile
You can register for the clinic at this link https://www.cccat.org/member-form.html
I hope everyone enjoys their summer and is able to stay healthy and successfully train for their next race. I’ll try and post more this summer and stay tuned for PART II of Running in the Heat
Texas Running Coach 