Cautious About Heat

Juneathon day 23: run 8.79km time 51min

Another hot day so the obvious solution is to run before breakfast and by the canal.

I am lucky in that most of my routes have tree cover but I also try not to run when it is too hot. From experience I know I do not handle heat well and that if I do too much in the sun I end up feeling feeble.

This article in the New York Times about heatstroke is very interesting for a couple of reasons. The first is the reminder that it is very sensible to be careful when running in the heat. It can be incredibly debilitating and cause damage. The second is the limits to what we know. The advice about heatstroke is not based on solid science but the equivalent codified folklore (or codified common sense, if you prefer).

It strikes me that this is probably no different from much of the advice we are given as runners. A lot of it can sound sciencey but actually not have a good evidential base. The topical example of that at the moment is barefoot running. People might have strong opinions one way or the other about whether cushioned trainers prevent or cause injury but they tend to be based on anecdote rather proper studies.

Juneathon statistics 23/23
Run 16/23
distance 114.93km
time 10hr 43min
Cycle 4/23
distance 61.4 miles
time 4hr 38min
Gym 3/23
time 2hr 05min