Handle the Heat: Heat Acclimation for Summer Endurance Running

Japanese summers are notorious for hot, humid conditions, and in Osaka is no exception.
I remembering 39C(102F) degrees with high humidity today!

Heat acclimatization will not occur on the treadmill, especially if you retreat indoors at the first sign of summer.If you want to acclimate to running in the heat, you want to get outdoors and expose yourself to the warmer weather? Especially in May or June, when the summer heat isn’t at its worst.Incremental adaptations made from constantly running outdoors may take longer, but the approach is safer,more comfortable,and allows maintain my normal training schedule.Cooling occurs when sweat evaporates off the body.To achieve this, the body diverts blood to the skin to cause sweating.this means less blood is carrying oxygen to the exercising muscles.In this way, the body reduces the amount of blood available to enhance performance.

Heat acclimatization takes approximately two weeks, although some studies suggest the process is faster in highly trained individuals.The process will be uncomfortable and unpleasant in those two weeks, but if I stick with it, summer running will gradually feel more tolerable.It’s important to note that, much like any other stimulus presented in training, heat acclimatization can be overdone. Fluid loss is influenced more by time spent running than distance run.Physiologically, running in heat produces a cascade of reactions that begin with the fact that our muscles aren’t all that efficient.The moment I start running in heat, rather than avoiding it, my body quickly begins to adapt in multiple ways. my blood plasma volume starts expanding.

That may increase my weight by a littele,but it gives me that much more fluid to sweat away without dehydrating.It also makes it easier for the body to supply blood to the skin without excessively reducing the flow to the muscles.

As a result of heat acclimatization,I sweat more, my blood flow and plasma volume improve, and I can better regulate my core temperature.All these changes make summer running feel more tolerable.