Warm times…

We’re into summer temperatures and here’s a link to a previous post where I discuss my preparations for running when it’s excessively warm outside.

I love running in the heat but the funny thing is, so far this summer I’ve only run a few times when it was blazing hot outside. As I’m avoiding heavily traversed trails and paths and aiming for less-populated streets and sidewalks, I’ve been running early in the morning or on the treadmill and thus my usual running temperature is around 55-70 degrees while outside, and 75-78 degrees inside (our treadmill is in the basement).

Over the years, I’ve accumulated a decent number of running shirts, both from races and purchases. Some are sleeveless and in the past, I didn’t use them very much. I prefer to be on the warm side and unless I was racing and needed the sleeveless shirt, I wanted to start out comfortable. Of course, even on a cooler summer morning, it doesn’t take long to heat up so now I’m using them often as it helps with the adaptation to the heat. Here’s another funny thing. I actually use them more when it’s really early and still cool and I use short sleeve shirts when it’s sunny and hot. Why? Sun protection.

The sleeveless shirts obviously expose a lot more skin and while I could use sunscreen, I tend to think it’s better to keep the skin covered. I don’t know the science or the tipping point between when it’s better to keep the sun off versus letting your skin breathe while using sunscreen. However, when you see athletes at Badwater with their arms covered, it makes an impression. In fact, several weeks ago when it was really hot, I wore a shirt with short sleeves and I put on compression sleeves. I definitely got warm but it kept the sun off. Fortunately, for the length runs I’m currently doing, it probably doesn’t really matter whether I use sunscreen or sleeves, but it’s a lot easier to use the sleeves and they may be better.

Overall, my basic strategies for running in hot weather have not changed. I did take Gatorade with me the day I wore compression sleeves. Similar to when I ran in Twenty-nine Palms last summer, the Gatorade got hot—not nearly as quickly and it didn’t reach soup temperature, but it still got hot. It served as a good reminder to use insulated bottles when possible.

My summer running so far this year has looked similar to the last few months of running but quite different from my usual summer routine. Normally I try to soak up as many hot weather runs as possible. These days, I’ll still be going early. Regardless of when you’re going, even early temperatures can still be warm, and it’s still good to prepare accordingly. Even if you like hot weather as much as me, your body still needs you to be ready for it.