Training Tips for training in humid climates

Naked...

Thanks, Lucy! Any other thoughts? Dos or Don'ts?

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Train at the same time as most of your races. Around here that is 7-8am. I am a morning person so it works for me just fine.

Obviously, hydrate well. I hardly live in a humid climate, but when it gets really hot here in the summer, working out in the early morning is great, its much cooler than the middle of the day, and even the evening as everything is heated up from the day in the evening. Also, make sure you replace any fluid AND salts that you lose when exercise afterwards. You sweat a hell of a lot more when it's humid than when it's not.

I just remembered, I read that taking hot baths can help you get used to exercising in the heat/humidity. I haven't tried it, but it could be worth a go....

Edited by dmorgan_jazz9 2007-06-04 5:12 AM

I try to swim by noon. We never know when a thunderstorm will build up in the afternoon and kill a swim workout because the indoor and outdoor pools close for lightning. I also try to get other workouts in at the same time of day I'm racing. The temperature may not be too bad but 98% humidity can be tough - especially as the morning starts to heat up. I also try to get some runs in at noon to further acclimate to the heat. I hate carrying water with me, but am going to have to start for anything over 3 miles. I drink a lot on the bike - mainly just water and I'll take a gel every 45 minutes to 1 hour.

I also find that my heartrate is about 10 bpm higher for the same rpe. So even though I wear an hrm, I try not to strictly follow it, but treat it more as a guideline and a recording of the workout rather than a strict indicator to build my workout around.

Finally, I find a tall glass of Endurox goes down really well after a long workout - more so in the summer than in the winter.

Good luck!

Texan here.  My best advice is to train as early as possible.  I do it at 5:30 AM most days and it is actually "relatively" cool at that time in the morning.  Of course in July-August, you will start sweating when you walk out the door no matter what time of day.  But, I highly recommend early AM.  And, hydrate lots.  Maybe do some of the shorter workouts in the heat of the day if you are trying to acclimate, but most races are in the AM anyway.  Dehydration and heat stroke is a definite concern here in the summer, so be smart! 

I first started running when I lived in Tampa, Florida. I had lots of medium - to - long runs in the hottest and most humid parts of the year, and I developed lots of personal quirks when it came to running in extreme heat. I don't know if these will work for other people, but here's how I coped:

1. Remember, in Florida in the summer, exposed unprotected skin will burn in 15 MINUTES OR LESS. Check with the UV forecast in your local paper to find the exact time. But you should seriously consider wearing a light-colored baseball cap, and possibly avoid sleeveless t-shirts. (I generally like sleeveless Ts, but on long runs where I knew I would be in the sun a lot, I'd wear a loose-fitting white dri-fit long sleeve t-shirt with a white baseball cap, and would stay cooler that way than if I wasn't wearing any shirt at all.) ALWAYS have sunscreen on, and perhaps consider choosing running paths that spend time under the cover of trees. Here's the thing: training is about consistency, and if you have a good run one day but get burned like a lobster, it'll be hell to get out on the road again the next day; getting a sunburn saps your energy, makes it difficult to sleep well, and makes continued exposure to the sun painful. Plus it gives you a higher probability of getting face cancer.

2. Choose the right time of day. Yes, you may wish to run only in the early morning or late evening to manage heat and humidity. But you should run at least a few times at the same time of day as your target race. A half-mary that starts at 9AM could leave you out on the course at 11 or 11:30, and that's some serious sun.

3. Think of your summer as the same as a Minnesotan's winter. In late summer, it's not all that refreshing to run early in the morning or late in the evening; although the sun is not hitting you directly, it doesn't get any cooler, and the humidity might even increase. So, at a certain point -- say, August -- you might want to think about NOT doing long runs outside, or managing your exposure, or timing your training so that you ramp up run-focussed training in Jan-Feb, not August-September. Remember, the rule of thumb is that when running, your personal temp feels like the outdoor temp + 20 degrees, making 110 degree + weather and 90% humidity the norm. Well, there's no such rule of thumb for biking! You can stay cooler on the bike with the constant cooling air flow -- so why not bike hard and swim hard in the hot months, and let running slide for a bit?

4. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Drink water before a run, during, and after. Learn what the limits of your body are -- find out the right amount of water you'll need, and drink it. I built long runs around the locations of water fountains in city parks and school playgrounds, so I just ran from water source to water source.

5. Make sure you cool down your body after the run. (I learned the hard way that it's difficult to run during the middle of the day if you're going back to work in a blue dress shirt. It took about an hour after running for my body temp to return to normal).

6. Iced coffee is your friend. No reason to make you body start sweating first thing in the morning with hot coffee.

7. Salty snacks after the run can also be your friend. Mmmmmmm Pretzels.

8. Forget cotton.

I'm not really a morning person, so I tend to do most of my training in the evening (8ish) in the summer.  Make sure to keep hydrated.  I use gatorade more often in the summer because I sweat a lot more.  If it's really hot, I also take something like Endurolyte caps.  They really help with training in the summer.