Beat the Heat

This weekend's run was the warmest yet, I believe. There was no June gloom this Saturday as we had blue skies and plenty of sun already at 8:00. But there were plenty of people out for their Saturday morning walks and runs. And plenty of dogs. I'll have to bring my camera and take some photos of the variety of dogs that people walk on Saturday mornings.

For this week's running tips, I'll pass along some advice from this month's issue of Runner's World. With the weather getting warmer, overheating while doing your running can become a concern. Here are a few tips to deal with the heat.

1) Go running early. Running before the sun is up is cooler and helps start your day off with a jump-start for your metabolism.

2) Cross-train indoors. Instead of riding your bike outside, try riding a stationary bike indoors with the A/C or a fan on.

3) Ease into the heat. If you can't entirely eliminate running during the hotter parts of the day, slowly build up your mileage during that time. Let your body get used to running in the heat instead of starting out with a long run.

4) Have a hydration plan. For longer runs, have a plan for drinking plenty of sports drink on the route. Either do loops on a shorter route and place water bottles at the starting point or place a water bottle at various distances on a longer route.

5) Run, Swim, Run. After running for a while, try going for a swim in some cool water. This would be easy if you're running along the Strand. Run a few miles and then jump into the ocean to cool off.

6) Sign up for cool races. There are plenty of races in Southern California throughout the year. There's nothing that says you have to register for a race in San Diego in August. Sign up for one in the fall or even in the winter. I've registered for the Orange County Marathon, which is on January 6th next year.

Happy Running!