weather and running

no way that is true and its a shame too becuase if it were I could train at elevation year around, 5500 feet this morning. I would guess that it would be more like adding 100 ft. for every degree above 70. But honestly im not sure if it does anything at all besides make you sweat more.

Well, I was wondering the same thing.

This morning I did a run with humidity of 93% and I can only manage to run at 7'45" per mile pace (with relatively comfort effort) while all my other morning runs I can do 7 - 7'15". My leg feels not getting enough energy and for sure I was sweeting like crazy (It was 72F when I ran).

It could be that we rarely get this kind of humidity and I am not used to it though. Any thought?

LHS wrote:

It could be that we rarely get this kind of humidity and I am not used to it though.

That is it. It just takes a couple of runs to adjust to it, just like running in the cold during the winter takes a couple of runs for you lungs to get used to the cold air.

With the caveat that I am an accountant and not a scientist, it would be my guess that humidity would have more of an impact similar to altitude than heat in and of itself. My understanding is that humidity decreases the amount of oxygen your body can process with each breath (b/c there is more "water" in the air) thus making your body work harder to deliver oxygen to your muscles. As mentioned, I am no expert, and I'm sure someone will rip me for not knowing what I'm talking about, but if anyone with a better understanding would care to enlighten us on this topic further, it would be greatly appreciated.

I trained above 7000 ft for 5 years, Before that and currently I am training in a high humidity enviroment. Racing and training times are pretty similar, yesterday with dew point over 60 I was running 15 sec per mile slower then 2 weeks before with low humidity(same workout on track), which is about what you would add on for altitude.

Personally, I'll run outside in any heat-humidity combo. I just make sure to stay well hydrated and may run shorter and/or slower if it is crazy hot and humid.

As for the dewpoint-altitude thing, they do both slow you down. I'm not as sure about the training effect. Training in a hot and humid environment has definite physiological effects that will benefit race performace in similar environments. I'm not as sure that it helps race performance in a cool dry environmnet. Anecdotally, however, I have felt great on those occassions where I raced in nice weather after training in hot and humid weather. I not sure whether this was physical or psycological. Most (but not all) people, on the other hand, think that altitude training will benefit performance anywhere.

Txan wrote:

LHS wrote:

It could be that we rarely get this kind of humidity and I am not used to it though.

That is it. It just takes a couple of runs to adjust to it, just like running in the cold during the winter takes a couple of runs for you lungs to get used to the cold air.

I guess that all depends on the individual. In the winter, it only takes me like a week to adjust to the cold air. I actually enjoy the cool air once I get used to it. (the only negative is the snow). On the flip side, i never seem to adjust to the humidity. I am from the northeast and I stayed in Texas last month. It was like high 80 or low 90s most of the time. Yet,there is no humidity and it is easy to breath. I would trade this crappy new england humidity back any time. It can be as cool as 75 or 80 here but the humidity is uncompromising. What do you posters out there think is the best time to train during the summer?

I handle heat really well and grew up in a very hot humid climate. I have also spent years in high altitude/dry environments. I'd say heat and humidity have a similar affect as altitude. Not sure exactly how but there does seem to be some correlation. It definitely seems like on a hot humid day that I'm just not using oxygen in the most efficient way. Also, the body has its ways of protecting and regulating itself. Naturally if you start to overheat your going to slow down.......

I guess that all depends on the individual. In the winter, it only takes me like a week to adjust to the cold air. I actually enjoy the cool air once I get used to it. (the only negative is the snow). On the flip side, i never seem to adjust to the humidity. I am from the northeast and I stayed in Texas last month. It was like high 80 or low 90s most of the time. Yet,there is no humidity and it is easy to breath. I would trade this crappy new england humidity back any time. It can be as cool as 75 or 80 here but the humidity is uncompromising. What do you posters out there think is the best time to train during the summer?[/quote]

Based on your post, I would say that you would probably be better off running in the late afternoon/evenings. Although it is usually much warmer, typically humidity is lower at this time. The mornings are the most humid time of day, then it tends to dissipate once the sun comes out for a while. I personally prefer running in the mornings, however, b/c I prefer the cooler temps (despite the thicker air).

Even with acclimitization you're going to run slower in head/humidity. Actually humidity doesn't matter...DEW POINTS matter. Anything over 60 gets troublesome, over 70 and you're in a sauna.

Alan

I agree completely. Dew points are absolute humidity and once I knew that I stopped paying attention to humidity percentage because it's a lot less exact unless you happen to know the (probably) crazy calculation to get dew point. There have been a couple of days here in upstate NY where the overnight low was 71/68 dew point and it's really disheartening to know that you can't avoid the humidity. My parents were in south Florida recently and said every day the dew point was in the mid 70s. Really gross.

I'm bothered by pollen allergies, especially in the AM so when its hot and humid, I run indoors on a treadmill. I've recently developed a great uphill routine on the treadmill.

I live in central texas and have finally found a tolerance to hot and humid conditions. I grew up on the east coast and the summers would kill me. Down here it is so hot for so long and really doesnt cool off a whole lot over the winter. Over long periods of time you can adapt but when you are in a four season climate just when you start to adapt to the summer heat it turns to fall. Hot and humid will always be hot and humid but i can run when its 90+ with humidity now and it doesnt bother me much. It's taken a few years in the climate to pull this off though. It's all about what you are used to.

Oh man speaking of dew pt. today in Naples its 73! Makes recovery days feel like death marches.