Five Ways to Train Through Summer (Including Stopping Running Entirely)

Two Types of Summer Runner

People generally fall into two camps when it comes to running in the summer.

There's the first group: more light, longer days, everything just feels a bit more fun. Then there's the second: stranded by the heat, distracted by barbecues and holidays, watching their training quietly slip away.

I sit somewhere in the middle. I love the long daylight hours we get here in the UK, but hay fever makes running tricky at times and has to be worked around. Summer running is brilliant — but it can also be a bit confusing.

The summer is when track races and shorter distances like 5K and 10K come around. But what if those aren't your thing? What if you're a marathon runner who doesn't fancy speed work? Or you're coming off a spring marathon and don't quite know what to do next?

This post is here to give you some ideas. You don't have to do everything. You definitely don't have to do nothing. The aim is to give your summer training a focus.

Option One: Embrace the Short Stuff

Shorter races are everywhere in the summer. Use this time to sharpen your finishes and work on the higher intensity training that builds 5K and 10K speed.

If you really want to go for it, head to some local open track meets and work on your 400m or 800m running. Give your body something different. If you've spent the winter doing marathon training and long runs, focussing on shorter stuff can be a real shot in the arm.

You can do sessions like 10 x 1 minute on, 1 minute off. Go for it on the hard ones. That kind of session feels refreshing after months of marathon paces.

Option Two: Stride It Out

Strides are some of the coolest training stimulus you can use, and they're often the highest-leverage thing on this list. Every runner reading this can add them to their next run.

We define strides as running over 100 metres, where the first 30m build up speed, the middle 40m are about holding it, and the last 30m wind back down. It's where you work on form, quickness and cadence.

The thing with strides is that you can do them at the end of an easy run — or at the end of most runs. You might want a period where they become the focus of training, with each run ending with four to five strides and a really good recovery between each one. You can also do them uphill, which gives a different stimulus altogether.

If you only take one thing from this post, take this.

Option Three: Get Off Road

Now that the weather is warmer, the trails will be firmer and safer to run. There won't be rivers that have burst their banks. So go and do some trail running and really explore your local area.

I've lived around the Oxfordshire and Berkshire area for years and still find new trails every summer. No matter how long you've lived somewhere, there's always something new to explore. Getting off road, maybe even getting a bit lost, can be really exciting.

Option Four: Do Some Hills

Why not spend six to eight weeks doing one to two hill sessions a week, plus some undulating long runs? Build the leg strength that only comes from running up and down hills.

I'd start with undulating threshold sessions, then move to some Kenyan hills — running up and down a hill for up to 10 minutes at a time. This would be incredible training. You really will feel the benefits later on.

One word of warning: hills put a lot of impact through your legs, especially coming downhill. Build gradually and listen to your body.

Option Five: Stop Running

This is the one I'm most likely to recommend to a marathon runner who's just finished a spring block. Hear me out.

Six weeks off running and onto the bike will not undo your fitness. It might actually unlock it. The kids will be off school, the calendar will be packed, and forcing a training plan through July and August often leads to either resentment or injury.

You can still keep a run or two in a week if you want to. But why not use this summer to go cycling properly? Or build a really robust conditioning routine of strength and weights, and make that your priority?

Maybe it's the summer of flexibility, where you sign up to two or three yoga classes a week and work everything around them. Or you take your training plan and convert it to cross training sessions — getting on the elliptical and freshening things up without the impact of running.

I know we're a running company and running is our bread and butter. But the runners I see come into autumn fittest, freshest and most curious about their training are very often the ones who spent six weeks doing something else.

Find Your Focus

The point is to explore. Try something different over the next few weeks. See what sticks.

There's no right or wrong way to do this. Doing something different can feel risky. But that's where the training gains live. That's also where running gets its spark back.

Whether you're in camp one or camp two, the goal is the same: come into autumn fitter, fresher and more curious about your running than you left spring.

However you approach your summer, have fun with it.

Thinking about an autumn marathon? Now is the perfect time to start planning. Drop me a line and we'll build a block that gets you to the start line ready to race. [Book a coaching package →]