^ My secretary wrote you an article.
It makes me laugh that the average dewpoint for my city is 76. I am supposed to skip my workouts most of the year? Cool!
Damaris
As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.
Fundraising Page
Also, % of Relative Humidity is misleading especially if you are comparing places or races. I had 100% humidity at Disney but the DP was 65 and the temps were around 65F. That was a pleasant marathon. i have also run in Miami at 68% humidity but 78 dewpoint. That was not a pleasant run at all.
Smaller By The Day
I read something on Runners World about high temperature training, and dehydration being beneficial to training. Something about increased plasma volume, etc. The sample group was training in 100 degree conditions though.
Improvements
Weight 100 pounds lost
5K 31:02 Sept. 2012 / 23:36 Sept. 2013 (Same Course)
10K 48:59 April 2013
HM 2:03:56 Nov. 2012 / 1:46:50 March 2013
MARATHON 3:57:33 Nov. 2013
Running in high heat all summer has generally resulted in one thing for me when the cooler temperatures come: running feel so much easier/faster/smoother. At the same perceived effort, my pace is faster. I also feel much more elegant and like I am striding more smoothly and easily. It's easier to acclimate to heat, and I am not even sure if it's possible to truly acclimate to humidity. As I stated earlier, I just moved from Iowa to Georgia - with relatively high humidity, noticeably different - and I just keep plugging always at the same effort, trying not to cringe at my Garmin's data.
I am a cold-weather lover (I will happily run when it's 0 F), but sticking with running through the hot and sticky summer is really giving me an opportunity for building more mental toughness. This is, at least, what I've been telling myself.
Runs4Sanity
Our summer dew point is almost always around 65-73, and in July it loves to hang near 70-73.............. so I am screwed either way - I hate both dew point and humidity.
*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)
Squidward Bike Rider
While I agree that humidity sucks, I found that when it's both blazing sunny AND humid, is when I tend to bonk on runs. For example, I ran 11 miles on Saturday morning before 10 a.m., so it was pretty humid. However, it was also cloudy out where I was, so I was able to get through it just fine. My shoes and socks were squishy, and I was wringing out my shirt at the end, though.
Totally why I didn't mention blazing heat, sun and humid together... because it is a hell worse than a woman scorned and I hate that mix, I avoid it like a disease.... or peas and cooked spinach
For a regular run give me 80 any day before 0. For a long run I will take 10 or less because I have done that many times. 80+ I'm hit or miss on long runs. I hope to benefit from these hot long runs in a few weeks where it will be 72 tops.
My most humid weather is mornings. I run and feel better in 97F with 74DP (6pm) than in 85F and 78DP (6am), which is why I run in at 6pm. Your experience may vary.
I agree with this. It's typically 95 here in the afternoons with a dewpoint around 70 but at 5 am it is 75 with a dewpoint of about 75. Definitely, definitely easier to run in the 95 degrees.
However, due to my scheduling restraints, I still typically run at 5 am and just slow down a lot.
Barking Mad To Run
Studies claim that running/training in the heat of summer seems to help races and runs in Fall and Winter, blah blah blah so my question is this: Which does a runner benefit from more - heat or humidity? Examples: Late afternoons here are around 85-95 degrees but humidity below 65% Early mornings or late nights here are cooler, around 65-78 degrees BUT humidity is anywhere from 85-100% I try to run in the early mornings before 6 a.m to avoid the sun and rising temperature but I have to deal with the awful humidity, and sometimes if I have to run in the afternoon around 5-5:30 p.m I am dealing with the high temps but not the awful temperature. I think I feel more exhausted when running in the high humid mornings than I do if I run in the afternoons, but I am still hot and fatigued. I probably sound like I am just blabbering on, but what I am asking makes sense in my head
Studies claim that running/training in the heat of summer seems to help races and runs in Fall and Winter, blah blah blah so my question is this: Which does a runner benefit from more - heat or humidity?
Examples:
Late afternoons here are around 85-95 degrees but humidity below 65%
Early mornings or late nights here are cooler, around 65-78 degrees BUT humidity is anywhere from 85-100%
I try to run in the early mornings before 6 a.m to avoid the sun and rising temperature but I have to deal with the awful humidity, and sometimes if I have to run in the afternoon around 5-5:30 p.m I am dealing with the high temps but not the awful temperature. I think I feel more exhausted when running in the high humid mornings than I do if I run in the afternoons, but I am still hot and fatigued.
I probably sound like I am just blabbering on, but what I am asking makes sense in my head
I think it is just all mental for me. I live in Texas and run 4 days a week. In summer, I do one run a week after work, when it is pretty hot - usually in the 90s. My 'hot day' run carries over into my morning runs, makes me feel like that hot day run helps me feel stronger for my a.m. runs during the week, and for races I do on the weekend. As said, it is probably all in my head. But hey, whatever works for you, right?
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
I thought about this while out on a miserable run today. Despite jogging at a fairly slow pace, my pulse was sky high by the time I finished. I speculate the following.
Muscularly, all I did was get in an easy run. Running at 7.5 m.p.h. on flat ground produces exactly the same muscular benefit regardless of perceived exertion. However, the only thing my heart knows is beats per minute. On this run, my heart beat a lot more times than it would have on a similar run in good weather. Although that won't improve my VO2max because I didn't stress that system, it is possible that the extra heart beats do improve stroke volume as they make my heart stronger. The training benefit from any single run is immeasurably small but the benefit from dozens and dozens of runs over the summer could make a difference in my fitness. We don't frequently talk about stroke volume as an aspect of fitness but it is indeed there.
I have zero evidence to back up this speculation nor have I done any research.
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).
I have zero evidence to back up this speculation nor have I done any research. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
Well shit, that's good enough for me.