Too hot to handle

After over a week of 90degree sweltering days, it's official - summer has hit New York City. For most New Yorkers, that means cranking up the A/C, escaping to the Hamptons, or searching for entry into the city's elusive private pools. For runners, though, it's the time of year that most of us dread - a potent combination of long training runs for the fall marathon circuit and suboptimal weather (to put it mildly).

Luckily the folks at Runner's World complied some tips on surviving long, hot runs. Adjusting your schedule to take advantage of cooler mornings, bringing some speedwork onto the treadmill, and finding creative ways to avoid dehydration are all solid ideas to train safely in the summer heat. A big challenge for a lot of runners is staying hydrated, which is critical to running in high temps. If your running route isn't littered with water fountains, then you might want to considering investing in a hydration belt. While it's not the sexiest fashion accessory out there, the belt holds up to four small water bottles and also has a small pouch to store your keys, Metrocard, and snacks for those extra long runs. Definitely very practical. Kim and I even bought matching red belts at the Broad Street 10 Mile Expo a few months ago! Sadly they were out of hot pink...

Personally, I'm a total wimp when it comes to hot, humid weather so I've been sticking to the treadmill for the past couple weeks. Unfortunately, that's not going to cut for my long weekend runs once marathon training starts in two weeks. Early morning (ugh) runs are going to become a staple of my running lifestyle. This morning, I decided to bite the bullet and start getting in the habit of waking up early for runs. Got up at 5:30am and sleepwalked my way over to the FDR for a 6 mile run. Eventually woke up a few miles in and enjoyed the miraculously beautiful weather and fresh breeze coming across the river. Best way to start the day!

Speaking of staying cool, Kim and I will be braving the heat to run the NYRR Splash n'Dash 10K next weekend. 10K may not sound very far, but by 9am I'm sure the humidity and heat will make the distance a bit brutal. Thankfully the race finishes at Lasker Pool in Central Park and the fabulous NYRR race coordinators have reserved it for race participants to take a refreshing post-race dip.