There is a very specific form of dedication that comes with being a runner in Florida. Every year around May, we look at the forecast, see the heat rising and the humidity hitting 95 percent, and think, Yeah, it’s time to lock in. Summer running down here is about survival. If you want to keep your daily movement streak alive without completely evaporating, you have to throw the traditional training rulebook out the window. Here are five entirely serious, slightly desperate tips for surviving the Florida furnace this season.
Embrace The Vampire Lifestyle
If you want to run in double-digit temperatures instead of triple-digit temperatures, you have to become a creature of the dark. This means setting your alarm for an obscene hour, when it’s still nighttime. If you aren’t laced up and out the door by 5:00 AM, you have already lost the battle. Yes, it is pitch black. No, the humidity isn’t easier. But at least the sun isn’t actively cooking you alive.
Leave Your Ego (And Your Pace Goals) In The AC
Your running watch most likely doesn’t understand Florida humidity. If you try to hold your normal winter pace when the air feels like thick split pea soup, your heart rate will spike into the danger zone before you even finish your first mile. Give yourself permission to run slow. In fact, run ridiculously slow. If you need to walk the hills or take a break at every single mailbox, do it. Summer miles are judged by effort, not by the clock.
Dress Like You’re Going For A Swim
Because you kind of are. This is not the season for heavy cotton t-shirts or thick socks. You need the most high-tech, moisture-wicking, weightless gear you can find. By the end of mile two, your clothes will be completely saturated anyway, so you might as well wear items that won’t weigh you down by ten pounds when they get wet. Also, invest in good quality anti-chafing sticks and apply it everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. You’ll thank me later.
Prioritize Your Hydration
In cooler climates, a handheld water bottle is optional for a short run. In Florida, carrying water becomes a requirement. Don’t rely on public park water fountains because a) ew and b) they are probably giving lukewarm water anyway. Carry your own fluids, map your routes around convenience stores where you can buy electrolytes or bags of ice, or plant water bottles along your route to sustain you for your run.
The Post-Run Cool Down Is Mandatory
When you finally finish your miles, don’t even think about walking straight back into your air-conditioned house. Your core temperature is still radiating heat, and you’re most likely covered in salt. Take a few minutes to walk it out on the porch, jump in the pool or ocean, grab the garden hose, and douse your head, or otherwise cool down. Get inside, strip out of your sodden gear, and THEN you can mainline an iced coffee!
Do you use any of these survival skills in the summer?
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really good point on the cooling down!! I remember when we went down to Basel one summer and headed across the border to Germany for a parkrun. it was absolutely ROASTING. after the parkrun several of us jumped in the lake, pretty much either stripped down to underwear or … nekkid.. haha because Germans aren’t bothered by being in their birthday suit in public. It was the best post run cool down I’ve ever had.
Haha! That’s so hilarious!
I had to laugh at mainlining ice coffee because that’s exactly how I recovered from today’s run LOL
Honestly you are a warrior for running in the Florida heat & humidity! I think it’s rough up here in New England – I might be living on a treadmill if I were down there.
It’s really rough. I don’t even want to register for a race, that’s how awful it is.