Six Strategies For Safe Summer Running
- By Mario Fraioli
- Published Aug. 23, 2011
- Updated Sep. 4, 2012 at 12:36 PM UTC
3. Ditch The Watch
When the temperature gets above 60 degrees, performance will start to suffer. Throw some humidity and strong sunshine into the mix and you have a potential recipe for disaster. Forget about hitting specific splits when the weather warms up; instead, focus on maintaining a certain effort level, even if it means running at a slower pace. If your normal training pace is 8-minutes-per-mile, dial it back to 8:30 pace. The training effect will be the same if the effort level is equivalent across the board. In races, the same principle applies. Go out conservatively, pay no mind to mile splits and focus on picking off people who didn’t respect the weather conditions.
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FILED UNDER: Training TAGS: Hydration / summer running safety strategies / sun protection / treadmill running / warm weather running tips
Mario Fraioli
Mario Fraioli is a senior editor at Competitor magazine. A cross-country All-American at Stonehill College in 2003, he now coaches the Prado Women's Racing Team in San Diego and was the men's marathon coach for Costa Rica's 2012 Olympic team. His first book, The Official Rock 'n' Roll Guide To Marathon & Half-Marathon Training (VeloPress, 2013) is available in bookstores, running shops and online.