Runs4Sanity
Ugh, well the forecast isn't showing storms or rain early Saturday morning but it's going to be around 69 degrees at 7 a.m (when the race starts) and 90% humidity with dew point of 66, which I am sure D laughs at this but it has me crying. The last 2 races (2011 and 2012) barely made 50 degrees at the start so I can't understand why this damn time it is going to be this warm and humid! We've got possible storms today and tomorrow so hopefully that might cool things off, but it's like a slap in the face, the high Saturday will be 80 something and the low in the upper 50s but Sunday right after is going to be in the 60s for the high, and the 40s for the low!! What the bloody fucking hell!!!
That's it, unless the storms today and tomorrow cool things off Saturday morning I am changing my crazy PR goal to the Indy Monumental Half in November with dwindling hopes of a much colder race! I am going to rant and gripe about this, even more frustrating is I chose my estimated finish time at 2:15:00 for the IMH in November because I figured I would still be sore from this race that is going to kick my butt just from the weather alone , I had until October 1 to keep changing my estimated finish time and I knew I should have put it down at 2:08:00 and took the chance damn it!
*Do It For Yourself, Do It Because They Said It Was Impossible, Do It Because They Said You Were Incapable*
PRs
5k - 24:15 (7:49 min/mile pace)
10k - 51:47 (8:16 min/mile pace)
15k -1:18:09 (8:24 min/mile pace)
13.1 - 1:53:12 (8:39 min/mile pace)
26:2 - 4:14:55 (9:44 min/mile)
uʍop ǝpᴉsdn sǝʇᴉɹʍ ʇI
I go through the same thing, only with extreme heat in the summer. There are certain things we can't control, weather being one of them. Knowing that, just dress properly for the race and go out and do the best you can do. You would do that anyway, right? Go out and kill it, weather be damned!!!
I don't think a DP of 66 is high especially if the temps are below 70F but if you're not used to that after a cold Fall it will feel off. And I wouldn't look at the % of humidity as it is misleading. For example, right now it's 88% humidity here and 76 dewpoint. Mine will feel worse than yours even though it's lower.
Don't freak out until the morning of and adjust accordingly. If it's still hot and humid, do your best under those conditions and PR on the next.
Damaris
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+1!
Once you realize that all other participants are in the same boat as you, it will make your racing easier. You can still give it your best, but go for ranking, instead of a PR. Everyone will be suffering, not just you. We've all experienced bad weather in our races. You'll learn to adapt and accept it.
PRs: Boston Marathon, 3:27, April 15th 2013
Cornwall Half-Marathon, 1:35, April 27th 2013
18 marathons, 18 BQs since 2010
Just want to say that I'm dealing with the same thing! HM on Sunday at 9:00 AM, it will be 68 at gun time and the high will be 80. I have been training hard for a goal time all summer and I do really badly in heat. All my coworkers talk about the unseasonable warmth and say "oh, I'm not complaining!". Well, I am complaining! I avoid racing long distances all summer because I know I don't do well with the heat... Is it too much too ask for that my fall races be cool? (Apparently, yes).
You'll learn to adapt and accept it.
Adapt, maybe. Accept, never.
Heat and humidity are not just PR killers, they are me killers. Read any race report from me after I have run in either condition, and you will be sorry you did what with all the pissin' and moanin' I do. Gah.
I agree with LRB and yes I am complaining lol! I was planning on shorts, but hoping to wear a shirt as this carb loading is going to have me bloated damn it, now I'll have to be shirtless lol. Humidity or dew point whatever, even if dew point is under 70, if the humidity is 75 and above I might as well be dying , I am suffocating and covered in sweat and it feels like I am running through some invisible wall. I just don't do my very best in this kind of weather, it has to be 50 below for me to kick ass at a race. I'll finish below my last HM time but it won't be an amazing different, I'll tell you that right now.
D, I don't want to hear it, you live in a miserable area all the time so you are used to it.......... I hate it!
The one mistake you don't want to make is going out at goal pace. My Boston qualifying marathon started at 61 degrees with 100% humidity. I passed my first walker at Mile 15. My next at Mile 18. I beat one runner who was nearly two minutes ahead of me at Mile 24. Pull back a bit and don't get frustrated with all the folks who blow past you in the early miles. You'll see them again and the last time I checked, the only thing that counts is who gets across the line first.
Short term goal: 17:59 5K
Mid term goal: 2:54:59 marathon
Long term goal: To say I've been a runner half my life. (I started running at age 45).
Humidity is the amount of water vapor in the air. Water vapor is the gaseous state of water and is invisible.[1] Humidity indicates the likelihood of precipitation, dew, or fog. Higher humidity reduces the effectiveness of sweating in cooling the body by reducing the rate of evaporation of moisture from the skin. This effect is calculated in a heat index table or humidex, used during summer weather..
In bold letters: I die during high humidity, my body needs to sweat and will sweat like nobody's business........ not to mention I am hotheaded and heat up so easily.
LTH - totally agree, I am going to go by feel and caution at this race though I do want to stay under 10 min/mile pace for damn sure and no matter what.
Like I have always say, relative humidity (the %) is useless for runners unless coupled with a high dewpoint. Dewpoint is the one that most affects us and you cannot adjust to it, so no matter how long you run in it, it will suck the same each time. So, adjust if the dewpoint is high, not necessarily the %.
And that footnote talking about rate of evaporation is talking about dew not % of humidity. The dew is the one measured by dewpoint, which measures the sweat evaporating from the body, not %.
Andrea, will it make you feel better if I tell you that I'm running a marathon next week for which I will have trained (and train is a bit of a stretch here...) a big total of 10 weeks? It will also be the time of the month when I want to crawl under a rock in pain or kill innocent people around me. AND... there is a chance that it will be near freezing point at the start of the race and I suffer from Raynaud's. Oh joy!
Time of the month - here for me, but I don't really get cramps. So I do feel sorry for you, especially with 26.2 miles instead of 13.1........... good god.
Right now near freezing sounds really good :P I know we all have our own demons on race days and training days............ but I want to freaking complain damn it!
Like I have always say, relative humidity (the %) is useless for runners unless coupled with a high dewpoint. Dewpoint is the one that most affects us and you cannot adjust to it, so no matter how long you run in it, it will suck the same each time. So, adjust if the dewpoint is high, not necessarily the %. And that footnote talking about rate of evaporation is talking about dew not % of humidity. The dew is the one measured by dewpoint, which measures the sweat evaporating from the body, not %.
My dear God that gives me a headache. For me, racing is much simpler; if it is under 60 degrees, I am going to kick some ass. If it is over 70, I am going to get my ass kicked.
If it is between 60 and 70, the ass that's going to get kicked usually does not reveal until I am on course during my warm up.
The end.
I ran an extremely hot 5 mile race in July. I was bummed that my time from last year's race was faster until I realized that I beat a higher % of runners this time out. Sometimes you need to look at the crowd you beat for progress Instead of time.