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Tip: Best Time to Run - NikeRunning.comPublished by
I'm fortunate to live in a climate (Denver, CO) with very little humidity, and crisp, cool mornings. If you're willing to get up early in the morning in Colorado then you'll have wonderful weather to train in…and you'll miss the possible afternoon showers that typify the summer months. But for many runners living in North America, there is no time of day where they can run in low humidity and cool temperatures. And guess what - that could be good news for your training. Several studies have shown that humans make greater fitness gains when training in heat and humidity compared to training in "ideal" conditions. Benji Durden, a man who has run under 2:10 at Boston, would train in Atlanta…in the summer…in a sweat-suit. His runs were slow, but his body was making an adaptation. That should come as good news to those of you who are melting on your runs. And remember that at some point the weather is going to change and that you’ve gained fitness from running through the hotter months. However, as a coach, I'd rather see my athletes get up early and try to beat the heat and humidity. Why? Because we only have so many weeks to run race pace or faster and on the key workout days we are looking for a neuromuscular stimulus that will benefit them, a stimulus that is sometimes impossible to get when the weather is oppressive. In my personal opinion, it's better to get up early to run in better weather conditions and get a slightly faster workout stimulus than it is to run in the hottest, most humid time of day.
Bottom line is that you can't change your training environment, but at least know you know some of the positives and negatives to training in heat and humidity.
Interested in Coach Jay's General Strength Videos and other training tips? Check out the NikeRunning.com Training blog. And don't forget, if you have a training question for Coach Jay, email him here:[email protected].
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