Summer in Texas. It is hot and humid.

Buster Wannabe wrote:

do you think i will come back stronger than ever

Yes, if you ditch that HR monitor and go by feel.

running man wrote:

Buster Wannabe wrote:

do you think i will come back stronger than ever

Yes, if you ditch that HR monitor and go by feel.

Yeah, enjoy the heatstroke! If you recover you can start up again in the winter when it cools off!

I live in Texas also, yesterday I worked outside all day and ran 11 miles. The heat and humidity was awful, I drank 2.5 gallons of fluid and ran about 20 seconds per mile slower than normal. Somehow I get by, luckily I'm going back to school in August (out of state).

Don't live in Texas, but I think I may be a bit closer to the equator and a few more humid swamps--so I can relate.

Every winter I say "Ah, Florida isn't that bad, I can deal with this." Then every summer I say "F*CK FLORIDA! This sucks!"

Cannot wait to leave for school in August...

COuld this dehydration have a cumulative (sp) effect and be hurting my running? For the last two weeks my legs have felt really weak and generally shitty. I even had to abandon an attempt on a tempo yesterday I was so far off pace and feeling terriable .

Florida? wrote:

Don't live in Texas, but I think I may be a bit closer to the equator and a few more humid swamps--so I can relate.

Every winter I say "Ah, Florida isn't that bad, I can deal with this." Then every summer I say "F*CK FLORIDA! This sucks!"

Cannot wait to leave for school in August...

COuld this dehydration have a cumulative (sp) effect and be hurting my running? For the last two weeks my legs have felt really weak and generally shitty. I even had to abandon an attempt on a tempo yesterday I was so far off pace and feeling terriable .

Don't try doing harder stuff when the weather sucks, which is practically all summer in Texas and Florida. I've just been putting in easy miles with the occassional progression run or strides after a run until the weather cools off and the real workouts can begin. Hydration is key, I probably drink around 1.5 gallons of gatorade, water and orange juice everyday and I sweat most of it out.

Yes, it sucks here in Arlington this week.

It was 94/65% humid/106 HI/76 Dew Point on Tues night, just a degree or two cooler Mon. night when we ran our 10-miler. Just slow it down some and try to get out early in the am. We've been running hills on Sat. am @ 5:30 to beat the heat. Marathon training in the summer time really SUCKS in TX, but what can we do about it?

Good luck with your training

It has been raining a lot in Fort Worth, so it hasn't been quite as bad as summers normally are here. It's still humid now and the rain has stopped for the most part, so I have to drag myself out of bed super early and I am not a morning person.

I live in the Houston area. Reading your post it\'s like you took the words right out of my mouth. I don\'t train with a heart rate monitor though, more by feel. Some days, when it is just hotter than hell (even at 6:30 AM) with the humidity % really high, I just have to tell myself to stop the watch and finish the run, no matter the pace.

I think if you are doing 70 miles in Texas, that would equate to a good 80 miles anywhere else (other than prob Louisiana and Florida). I think of it like this, it\'s so damn humid it is basically like running at altitude! Many people disagree with me, but I\'d like to see them come run with me for a week and then say that running 70 miles didn\'t feel like a good bit more.

I\'m in the same boat as you in that I will be heading back to school in August (can\'t wait). Once you get there your body will begin to feel so much better, and you should recover from runs much faster.

One thing that has helped me this summer is this. If I have to do any type of tempo run or hill repeats and the weather turns out just really nasty, I make sure to put it off until the next day, which will make it feel easier and you should get a better workout with some better weather.

It isn't that bad. If you run at around 9-10 am or like at 8 pm it's not that hot outside.

Also just think how good you will feel in the fall when the weather is cooler!

Not bad at 9 or 10 AM? Do you live in Houston? I've been training here all my life and it most certainly is BAD!

Well, No I don't live in Houston. I live in SAtown. It's probably worse there then.

Heard Vigil speak about Deena's & Meb's progressive adaptations in Greece, and the same holds true for training in TX. The body will adapt to most conditions & elements if given time and recovery. July thru Sept in most of TX are brutal, just be on the road by 7 am and you reduce your exposure to heat. After 9 am, you're looking at heat + humidity exposure from Wichita Falls to Brownsville.

Let's say your heart rate max is 200. If you're running at 6:20/mile with an average heart rate of 160, that's 80% of max heart rate (HRM). This is essentially at the upper end of an aerobic run.

If you're running at 6:20/mile with a heart rate of 169, that 84.5% of HRM. That means you're literally going out every day and running at slightly below lactate threshold.

Dude, if this is your easy-every-day-pace, you need to slow down, regardless of where you are! I agree-- ditch the heart rate monitor and run by feel.

I asked jtupper about this once in a thread and he pointed out that dehydration leads to cardiac drift and you can expect your heart rates for appropriate paces to be slightly higher in the summer and slightly lower in the winter than they would be in ideal conditions. He lists 79% as upper end aerobic, so, a 169 average might be a few ticks too high, especially if you're only doing a 35-45 minute run.

On another note, a trials qualifier I know from Memphis (worse conditions that Texas) in the marathon only does about 50 miles a week in the summer and ramped up mileage in the fall and winter. Point being, you can still run fast and not have to slave through the summer like you live in Montana. Don't think everyone's plan adapts perfectly. Make it work for you. I've lived in Tennessee, Louisiana and now Dallas and Dallas isn't much less brutal than either of the others. I'd say slow down to 6:30-6:40 range.

30 years ago, around the time of the '78 New England Blizzard, there was a theory making the rounds that a New Ice Age might be commencing.

Now, today, we're hearing about rising sea levels and extinctions due to Warming.

Who are we supposed to believe?

Yes, running in heat and humidity is harder, but it's easier to get warmed up. For me the warmer weather's biggest issue is INSECTS, especially deer flies here in New England.