Sweltering summer days are perfect for a whole host of activities. Tasting all 16 flavors of frozen yogurt in the name of science? Sure. Openly resenting your best friend for describing her 50-degree morning run in the Bay Area? Oh, yes. Lazily basking in the shade at a Central Park lobster bake with a brood of your favorite good-looking women (and one good-looking man)?
Abso–f’ing–lutely.
Recording a new personal record in the blazing New York heat? Not so much.
Spoiled by a (nearly) snow-filled Manhattan winter, I’ve been running outside almost daily since the start of the year and – much to my surprise – have been logging PR after PR as the mercury rises. I had started to half believe I would get incrementally faster forever, but it turns out, Saturday’s heat wave had other plans.
As I joined my colorful corral at the Front Runners NY Lesbian and Gay Pride 5-mile Run before the 9 a.m. gun, the temperature was already clocking in at an uncomfortable 69 degrees, with humidity levels grazing a suffocating 97 percent. Sweating profusely before I even crossed the starting mat, I conceded this might not be my fastest endeavor yet but internally committed to still logging a 7:50 pace — or a full 10 seconds slower than my recent 10K performance. Seemed like a realistic goal.
Turns out, realism isn’t my strong suit. Within two miles, my breathing was strained, my legs felt like lead and I’d developed a stitch in my side I couldn’t shake until the final stretch. I’ve always heard running in the heat is a challenge, but I’d vainly assumed that it was only a challenge for other runners —like all the elite althetes at this year’s Boston Marathon — not this seasoned expert with, um, about 15 months of experience in her arsenal. Hello, hubris, my old friend.
Legitimately concerned I would not be able to finish the course, I bit the bullet about 15 minutes in and forced myself to slow from a 7:30 pace to a 9:00 pace, walk through each and every water station and – at the suggestion of my wise friend Leigh-Ann who like a guardian angel sprinted past mid-race shouting sage advice – concentrate on my breathing. In doing so, I fended off the side-stitch, crossed the finish line at 41:41 for an 8:21 average pace and was rewarded with a delicious rainbow popsicle. That marks my slowest timed pace since the Irish Sprint 10K in March, but, hey, the popsicle stick included a riddle, so I guess it’s a wash.
On a completely unrelated note: How do bunnies keep their fur neat? They use a hare brush! Thanks for the laughs, popsicle-stick joke writer No. 14!
Marine Corps Marathon training officially began for me today, so putting my running on hold until the first frost isn’t really an option. Any tips for logging miles in a sauna of a city?
Riled Up Runner 
Ugg, yeah, the heat is not a runner’s friend. I just admit defeat during the summer and focus on logging solid miles (not worrying about time) so come fall and cooler weather, I can blow my old times out of the water. Or rather, that was my game plan until I moved to Northern CA, where my excuse for not PRing is from dancing all day the day before a race….
In terms of staying cool, my best tips are: eat/drink something frozen before you head out (like a real fruit popsicle or water with lots of ice), run sickenly early in the day (6 am Saturday wake up calls aren’t fun, but are more fun than hot runs, and then you have an excuse to nap the rest of the day), dump water on your head when given the opportunity, and pay more attention to electrolytes. I like G2 for long runs (the sugar is a good boost, too) and consume some extra salt post-run, like eating soft pretzels.
I completely agree with all of Meredith’s tips (and now I have her blog to stalk too :).
In the summer, we did all of our runs early early. My only other suggestion is carry lots of extra fuel and plan runs around water stops. I was amazed how much water and gatorade I drank last summer during runs. DC also has a lot of water fountains, so we often planned our runs around said water fountains.
Lastly, I ended up buying gatorade powder. The powder is nice because I could add the exact amount I like to my water depending on the day.
you still kicked ass!!!!!
There are only 16 flavors of frozen yogurt?!