A disk drive comprising a first seek operating mode to move the actuator over a seek distance D in a seek time T₁, using a first seek profile for minimizing T₁, wherein for a first repetitive series of seeks over distance D a servo control system would require a delay time T_D between seeks to control temperature rise in a VCM. A second seek operating mode to move the actuator over the seek distance D in a second seek time T₂ using a second seek profile for limiting the temperature rise in the VCM, wherein for a second repetitive series of seeks over the seek distance D, a time average T_AVG of the T₂ seek times is substantially less than T₁+T_D.