Beginners and Beyond

123

Running in warm weather, does it ever get easier? (Read 331 times)

wcrunner2


Are we there, yet?

    When temps first turn hot it takes me several weeks to adjust before my runs start to feel normal again. Even then my pace slows and often I cut back on my distance too. Once acclimated each summer, that's it. It doesn't get any easier for me.

     2024 Races:

          03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles

          05/11 - D3 50K
          05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour

          06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.

     

     

         


    Shakedown Street

      1- your coming off a treadmill in AC-it's going to feel nastier outside.

      2- you don't give your body time to acclimate, it never will

       

       

      In the FWIW-I am from southern louisiana as well. Tiny town south of Lake Charles. When it's really dry...my sky goes nuts, I itch and I can't breathe. It is all in your head and what your used to.

       

      And yes, when the dewpoint is up, or it's hotter, people run slower.

      Started-5/12, RWOL refugee,5k-24:23 (1/12/13),10K-55:37(9/15/12),HM-1:52:59(3/24/13)

        I grew up in Avoyelles Parish, and now live in San Antonio, so I know where you're coming from.  However, I can't stand the dreadmill, so outside is where it's at for me.  During the summers I run either before the sun comes up or after the sun goes down. Same goes when I go back home to visit.  We have 70's yesterday and w/ wind chill it was 30 this morning when I ran.  It's difficult at first, but it's something that you sort of have to get used to and train your body to adapt.  Your doctor friend probably just acclimated himself over time, so running in 102 degree heat wasn't as bad as it looked.  When I lived in Tucson, my boss used to run at lunchtime in 100 degree heat.  Acclimation is key.

        hog4life


          I agree with the tech tanks too, or tech T's. can you run at dusk/dawn like suggested? That will help some too.
          scottydawg


          Barking Mad To Run

            I find it very difficult to continue running when I get sweaty and hot, it makes me feel claustrophobic and my breathing gets raspy. It's not even that hot right now, 76F.I wait until dusk to run, so I don't have to deal with direct sun. I do have to run from the mosquitoes for the trade-off though.

             

            I've lived here nearly 6 years and I haven't acclimatised much. 76F where I grew up would be a hot summer day. 80F? Beach!

             

            Is it ever going to get easier, or is it always going to knock me sick?

             

            ETA: tonight it was 76. Tomorrow night will be 37! The weather here can have such dramatic swings.

             

             

            Sounds like Texas, lol.  At least here in San Antonio.  We have brutal summers and even our springs now are starting to get hot earlier.  Our winters are pretty mild, but we have the occasional "cold" days - cold for us, anyway - like today and tomorrow when the low temp will be in the 30s.  That usually only lasts a few days, though, and then we go back to 60s for our normal winter temps. 

             

            I have lived in San Antonio since 1994 and the first couple of years of acclimatizing to this flippin' summer heat was brutal.  Now though, I can go out and run in the 80s and 90s temps we get and do fairly well.   My cut-off temp is 96...if the temp forecast says the day will be 96 degrees or up, than I either get up very early in the a.m. to go run, or it's a rest day. 

             

            In order to acclimatize to those temps, you have to get out in to them and get used to them.  Either that or run at a time of day when you won't have to deal with it.  For us here in Texas, that usually means around 4 - 7 a.m. in the summer, before the sun comes up.  Oh, it's still warm, quite warm, but you don't feel it as much with the sun down.  Me, I prefer PM running, so I just get out there.   However, when the warm weather begins here, I start with ONE "hot temp" day of running a week to begin - e.g., running after work, my favorite time of day to run - and run in the morning for the rest of my running days for the week.  Also, after I get home from work, on my morning running days or non-running days,  I will take an after-work walk of about 1 - 2 miles, around 5 or 6 pm., which also helps me acclimatize to being out there.  After a couple of weeks, I add a 2nd day of PM running.   By the time I add my 3rd day of PM running - usually around a month - I am pretty much used to being active in the heat. 

             

            One thing about my weather, though, which does help.  When it is hot here, our humidity usually goes down pretty low, and our dew point is pretty reasonable when our temps are higher.  So that helps a lot here. Unlike the temps of, say, my friend, Damaris, who lives in the Miami area, which usually has  BOTH pretty high humidity and pretty high temps during the warmer months of the year, so she REALLY has to deal with a lot more than I usually do, when she does a summer run.  So I count my blessings I live here and not there, especially when I run.   I think Louisiana, which is 'wetter' than where I am, has more of the Miami-type heat and humidity, so I feel for ya!   You might send a message to Damaris and ask her how she does it, since her conditions are probably closer to yours, she can probably give you some good tips.

             

            Follow proper acclimatizing procedures - there is lots of online info how to do it - and you can get used to it, but no matter how much you do acclimatize, the heat is still going to affect you to some degrees (no pun intended), and you will probably find you run a tad slower, and feel a bit more uncomfortable on a run than you would on a Fall or Early Winter or Early Spring run.   I find that happens to me too; but even so, I HATE cold weather and I hate being cold, so I still personally prefer to run in 60s to 80s degree temp vs a 40 or 50 degree temp.

            "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt

            bobruns


              Long time Florida runner here...never mind how long...just a long time ok.  I never have gotten "used to it".  I just know that it is going to be hot.  I still prefer it to a TM run though. 

              MJ5


              Chief Unicorn Officer

                I live in PA, so our "hot" is not nearly as bad or lasts as long as more Southern states does...but it does get very hot in the summers.  70's temps, I think you can get used to--70's actually feels real comfortable to me in the summertime.  It doesn't seem to affect my outdoor tempos or track workouts too much once I've done a few runs in that weather.  When it gets above 80 or so, it becomes drastically harder to do a workout outside (by workout I mean track or tempo).  I can usually run any kind of distance run outside in hot temps, though it's not necessarily pretty.  You just have to go more by effort and not worry so much about pace.  As far as workouts, above 85 I take it indoors (I'm a little spoiled and have access to an indoor track).  I tried doing 12 x 400's on a track that had baked in the 90 degree heat all day after work, and it was not good.  I think I did 6 and then bagged the workout.  Never again will I attempt that outdoors!

                Mile 5:49 - 5K 19:58 - 10K 43:06 - HM 1:36:54


                Sloooow.

                  Thank you for all the suggestions and experiences!

                   

                  Where is the best place to get a tech tank? I am very body conscious, which is why I like running in baggy t-shirts. I do most of my runs in the evening, so I don't mind wearing less clothes when it's dark. The night before last, I pulled my t-shirt up over my sports bra to get extra air, lol (it's a country road!)

                   

                  We live in St Landry Parish. After my complaining about the heat, today is 51F with a low of 32F tonight. Looks like the cool weather will last until Friday before it goes up again. It's so bizarre.

                   

                  I cross-referenced our temperatures a lot with Miami over the summer, as my partner kept telling me it was worse there (I've always wanted to go to Florida). A lot of days, the temperature and dewpoints were very close, sometimes higher here, sometimes higher there. It can be horribly swampy here.

                   

                  My partner told me to order a Garmin as his Christmas present to me, so that will give me a bigger push to be outdoors. The broken treadmill doesn't help either, lol. 75F seems to be the cut-off point for me. The night before was 72F and I did fine!

                  Love the Half


                    Your body will adapt to warmer weather but that takes about 2-4 weeks and there is only so much adaptation you can make.  Nobody can run at the same pace in 90 degrees that they run in 50 degrees.  

                    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).

                    hog4life


                      Thank you for all the suggestions and experiences!

                       

                      Where is the best place to get a tech tank? I am very body conscious, which is why I like running in baggy t-shirts. I do most of my runs in the evening, so I don't mind wearing less clothes when it's dark. The night before last, I pulled my t-shirt up over my sports bra to get extra air, lol (it's a country road!)

                       

                      We live in St Landry Parish. After my complaining about the heat, today is 51F with a low of 32F tonight. Looks like the cool weather will last until Friday before it goes up again. It's so bizarre.

                       

                      I cross-referenced our temperatures a lot with Miami over the summer, as my partner kept telling me it was worse there (I've always wanted to go to Florida). A lot of days, the temperature and dewpoints were very close, sometimes higher here, sometimes higher there. It can be horribly swampy here.

                       

                      My partner told me to order a Garmin as his Christmas present to me, so that will give me a bigger push to be outdoors. The broken treadmill doesn't help either, lol. 75F seems to be the cut-off point for me. The night before was 72F and I did fine!

                       Do you have an Academy, Dick's, Nike Outlet, or online at Running Warehouse? Try the local running store(LRS) too.


                      Sloooow.

                        LTH, I'm sure if I sucked it up, it would get easier. I need to get better at pushing myself.

                         

                        Hog4life- I'm going to a notsoLRS on Saturday to pick up a race shirt, so I will check out what they have there. Thanks!

                          I live where we have about 9 months of summer.  This year we had over 100 days of over 100 degrees, the warmest being 114.  It will stay in the 90s throughout the night so even running at night or early in the morning doesn't help.  I don't think it gets easier Sad  I find that when the sun is beating on me, I feel drained and I just can't move anymore.  This past summer, I wet handkerchiefs and tied around my neck, and wet my head before I went out.  That helped a little bit.


                          Jane

                            I don't think it ever gets easy but you do learn how far you can push yourself.  Meaning I hated my fair share of easy 4 mile runs this summer (as in 4 miles was as long as I could make myself go when I should have been running at least 6) but when I ran a really warm 50 mile race in August I was never in any heat danger.

                             Never run, if you want to never run, don't start because you'll never stop.

                            xor


                              All I have to add is that this was quite the unexpected thread to find in december, but that is my northern hemisphere bias showing.  I wouldn't worry so much about a heat wave now.  By the time you acclimatize, it'll be gone.  But summer, which for you is perhaps 8 months long, yeah.

                               

                              I grew up in Texas.  It doesn't EVER get "easy", but you get more used to it.  Some people, anyway.

                               


                              Sloooow.

                                Misty- I don't know where you live, but it sounds hellish. I spent some days running in the park, and despite the temperature being 70 or so, the sun beating down on me was horribly draining. I got sunburn on my face a couple of times, I'm thinking a visor would help.

                                 

                                Neverrow- Good on you for pushing through with those runs. I need to take that mentality with me into the hotter months.

                                 

                                SRL- It never ceases to amaze me when we have 80F+ days in December. I find it hard to get a "Christmassy" feeling when it's warm on Christmas and I haven't seen snow in over 5 years. This time yesterday it was 72, now it's 39. I think I can count on cold temperatures for the next week.

                                123