If you’ve stepped outside your door in recent days here in the Southeast, you’ve quickly left spring and jumped straight into the sweltering dog days of summer. You can barely amble to your hot car, so forget about walking or running outside the confines of a treadmill and an amped up AC unit.

But the hilly five miles of Ache Around the Lake are awaiting you in September. And to get to race day, you MUST conquer the heat and humidity.

I know how tough it can be to tackle a brand new training program, make some headway, and then boom – the heat blasts in and you feel like you’re back to square one in terms of endurance. But don’t get discouraged – there is a secret weapon:  acclimatization! 

Acclimatization to heat takes about 10 days to 2 weeks of gradual and moderate training in hot weather. It makes sense that you can’t do your comfy workouts at the gym at 68 degrees and then try to hoof it around the lake at a temp of 82 degrees w/ 90% humidity. It ain’t gonna happen. In fact, you could set yourself up for some serious risks of heat stroke.

Start this weekend and just take your normal mileage and pacing down a few notches and be sure you are HYDRATED BEFORE you hit the road.  Even take a sports drink w/ you if you will do more than 4 or 5 miles.  Try to get in 3 workouts/week…outside either early morning or late evening…and just let your system get used to functioning more efficiently in the heat and humidity.

I remember a couple of years ago when Katie was training me for my first race, which happened to be the Ache. I had been running since February and doing okay in terms of making it around the lake, running the whole way. But I’d been sneaking away to the treadmill at the gym as the thermometer started going up in late spring. Katie and I met at the Tea House about 10 am on a June morning. It was probably already about 78 degrees and the humidity was full-on!  I thought I was going to die!!! Here I was trying to show off my beginner running chops to an accomplished athlete and I was about to pass out every mile or so. By the end of the run (which technically mutated to a sluggish walk), Katie figured out I wasn’t acclimatized. Ah, I had no idea! New to this whole new world of endurance sports, this was a real revelation.

So don’t let this heat wave–and the ones sure to come all summer long–get you down. Slowly build up and in a couple of weeks you’ll be back on track and then some.

Stay Cool…

Scarlette