Although temperatures are generally cooler in the Catskill Mtns, runners need to be prepared for warm weather.
Good rules of thumb to follow in unusually warm weather are as follows:
When it is warmer than usual, bring more water than usual.
Drink before you are thirsty: drink often and early. One's sense of thirst kicks in only after significant loss of fluids, so don't wait until you are thirsty to start drinking. Force fluids.
Heat exhaustion from overheating is serious. Heat stroke can cause loss of life. Once you get hot, it takes a long time to cool down with ice and cool water on the body and to rehydrate and get electrolyte balances back to normal. Prevent heat problems by keeping yourself as cool as possible for as long as possible. Going slower, taking breaks in the plentiful shade, and pacing yourself are all helpful ways of doing this.
Start earlier in the day to beat the heat.
Dress appropriately. Compared to white clothing, even yellow converts significantly more sunlight into heat. Wear white in sun. Stay out of direct sun when possible.
Allow yourself 6-10 days to begin to adapt to exercising in the heat. A heat adapted body produces a more dilute (less salty) sweat sooner, so cooling is not delayed and fewer electrolytes (salts) are lost. Salads and bananas sufficiently replace lost electrolytes. Additional dietary salt is unwarranted, and even makes adaptation more difficult. Proportionately more water than salt is lost during sweating.
Drink before, during your run, and after. For a normal, healthy person, clear, frequent urination is one sign that a person is drinking enough.
Limit or avoid use of diuretics such as caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, and diet/allergy medicines, since these can all affect the body's ability to respond to hot weather. An MD who is a medical advisor for the NYC and (San Diego) Rock N Roll Marathons recently advised runners not to take NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory) medicines such as Advil (ibuprofen) during or immediately before a warm weather race because they can increase your chance of overheating.
Weigh yourself before and after workouts. Weight losses of three or more per cent cause reductions in strength and endurance.
Options for more information explore this web site's links further: http://www.sullivanstriders.org/cmrr.htm