Does Running in the Heat Help Race Times?

samson said:

Does running in the heat (90 degrees and up) help with
faster times?

It is similar to running in other weather, except that you get additional
benefits of acclimation, which helps if you also race in the heat.

Quoted message said:

Does it do more harm than good?

It's generally helpful, as long as you avoid the usual risks such as sunburn,
dehydration, etc.

Don't try to force the pace on warm/hot weather runs. You should expect to be
a bit slower.

Cheers,
--
Elflord

samson said:

Does running in the heat (90 degrees and up) help with
faster times? Does it do more harm than good?

I think you've got to be a little nutty to even want to find out.

Seems to me, the more mainstream view is that really high heat is more
of a health hazard and certainly limits your ability to run very hard
for very long, so it's not exactly workout-friendly.

But some of those who are sufficiently crazy - e.g. Doug's mentor
Benji Durden (and what a shock, that Doug would be connected in any
way with someone who has a few screws loose) - embrace serious heat
training. From the article at http://www.runningtimesmagazine.com/rt/articles/?id=6998&page=3
- "Always looking for a better approach, Durden began running in
several layers of sweatsuits even in the Georgia heat." Durden
genuinely believes (and hey, maybe he's right) this training was quite
helpful for him, akin to altitude training, as he has discussed on the
letsrun.com forum.

See also "Running on the Sun", the Badwater documentary video, for
plenty of offbeat thermophiles more than a little crazy from the heat.

Me, I like the heat.

samson said:

Trying to decide whether to run in the heat or get up and
run mornings (not my first choice of running times).

The selection of morning races seems to be a bit higher than other
times. We always went by the thought that you should training at a
similar time you would race, although its not a hard and fast rule.

John

samson said:

Does running in the heat (90 degrees and up) help with
faster times? Does it do more harm than good?

Trying to decide whether to run in the heat or get up and
run mornings (not my first choice of running times).

Thanks,

S.

I've trained in all temperature, 100 and up, 20 and below. I got to
say, the milder the temperature, the easier the running is. But I
think it is more beneficial to train in the extremes. It just gives
you a little bit more of an edge over your competition.

samson said:

Does running in the heat (90 degrees and up) help with
faster times? Does it do more harm than good?

Trying to decide whether to run in the heat or get up and
run mornings (not my first choice of running times).

Thanks,

S.

Certainly not for me. I run much faster in the cold than in the heat.

samson said:

Does running in the heat (90 degrees and up) help with
faster times? Does it do more harm than good?

Trying to decide whether to run in the heat or get up and
run mornings (not my first choice of running times).

Thanks,

S.

I don't like running in extreme heat > 95f, but I made a huge
breakthrough at a 50k after several weeks of afternoon running in
temps over 90. Although the workout pace sucked in the heat, I think
(with only myself to judge) that it helped in the race. My race pace
was over 1 min/mile faster than my previous best, despite the fact
that those hot PM workouts were at least 1 minute/mile slower than my
avg training pace.

I remember Marty Liquori writing in his book that he had a terrible
hot and humid runup to a summer track season, and that his workouts
were so bad he thought about not going. But he ran very well, despite
the "slow" workouts under miserable conditions.

So maybe there is something to it. While I have no intentions of
*trying* to run only when it's really hot, I won't try to avoid it in
the future.

One possibility is that if forces you to go a bit slower, and if you
tend to overtrain, maybe that is a good thing...

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Does running in the heat (90 degrees and up) help with
faster times? Does it do more harm than good?

Trying to decide whether to run in the heat or get up and
run mornings (not my first choice of running times).

Thanks,

S.

Thanks for all the good info. Much appreciated.

S.