Which climate is better for runners, cold & snowy northern or hot and muggy southern US?

Move to northern VA and you can have both. But neither is all that good for running.

north is better for long runs during the winter

tough to get speed in though, unless you have regular access to an indoor track.

Or live out west and avoid both.

I live in Colorado, grew up along the Gulf Coast. I will take snowy and cold, any day, over hot and humid. Agree that heat and humidity have a greater negative psychological impact.

BillyJack wrote:

I'll take cold weather. You can always add layers to get warmer, but not much you can do about heat and humidity.

I also think heat and humidity has a greater negative psychological effect. Its more likely to make one feel enervated and unfocused.

go west young man wrote:

Or live out west and avoid both.

Truth. Lived in Arizona for two years and was definitely pretty great weather. Upstate NY absolutely sucks in the winter. If you don't have an indoor track it's just impossible to do any kind of speed work most days. If you're training for the marathon, you can deal since you'll always have the treadmill and you can do marathon pace in 20 degree weather if the roads are clear. If you need to do mile pace 400 repeats, there are no options for you most days.

I haven't lived in the south, but in general I enjoy the heat and don't mind running in 90 degree weather in the summer ... for easy days I actually like it. That said, I've generally never had to do a marathon buildup or whole season of workouts in that type of weather.

If you had to choose between north and south for running, I would argue south if you are just doing XC base in the summer anyway. Yeah it's hot, but you don't have to do intense workouts at the hottest part of the year.

It depends on what you are training for. If you are racing in heat and humidity you better train in heat and humidity. The same is true of altitude or snow or indoors or.........

I think running in really cold weather is easier than in extreme heat and especially in humid heat. You may have to limit some runs to treadmills or do repetitive runs on small patches of clear pavement for a few days here and there. But as you say, you can add almost infinite layers of clothes to stay warm enough but can only remove so many clothes to avoid overheating.

But here's the problem. Most of the north, the east and midwest, also get very hot and humid in the summer so you really have two seasons when runs can be very uncomfortable whereas as you get to warmer climates you only have the summer being miserable.

Living in the south now, I have never slipped on the humidity and sprained an ankle or not been able to run period because of 12 inches of heat and humidity last night. Tracks and most trails here in the south are clear year round, though the trails can get muddy.

I am from the South (MS) and lived out in Santa Fe, NM for 15 months. The best part about the conditions there was their predictability: in Summer, always cool and dry in the morning, always hot and dry in the afternoon. In March it is quite windy, but it is consistently windy. You are pretty much never surprised.

The South is pretty much the opposite of this for most of the year. In the same week in February, you can have days that are 65 degrees and sunny, 30 degrees with freezing rain, and 20 degrees and calm. It rarely prohibits running outdoors, but it's hard to hit a rhythm or even figure out which clothes to wear. For this reason, July is actually my favorite month for running in Mississippi. It's stiflingly hot, but predictably so. I never have to wonder what to wear, I get used to running slower, and I never take long to warm up.

Same story for me. I am a true heat hater, but having gotten injured on a very cold run this January, my perspective has shifted some. I live in the eastern US, where it gets both hot and cold. I am no longer certain of which I dislike more. Yes, winter is tough for speed work, but even more miles, too. The sides of the roads, sidewalks, and trails around here are all covered in snow and/or ice. I do not know how one can train properly for a March marathon. I really do not. This winter, there is simply not much space available for running. Last winter seemed better, but I was not training for a marathon.

I meant: "but even for miles, too" Sorry for my bad typing.

I have lived in both extremes. I could never make it through the winter. Did not have access to a treadmill or a track and would always quit running once the snow started falling and temps were consistently below freezing. Too much black ice and just too hard to deal with all the gear needed to run when temps were in the 10-20s. Then, when temps got better, I would end up getting injured trying to pick up where I left off in the fall.

In the south, I am not fond of running during the summers, but have acclimated well and can get through it without much trouble. I only miss a few days running a year due to thunderstorms. Night and day difference between trying to run in the north.

I can tell you that from a RD point of view 30 degrees is safer than 70 degrees in terms of hospital visits. 20 is better than 80 by an even larger amount and 10 is off the charts safer than 90.

In the Midwest running in the heat and humidity, at least for me, causes great improvement year after year once Fall hits- no such benefit from running in the cold during winter - if anything I am far slower year after year in the spring compared to fall. Summer running might feel worse, but knowing it is causing improvement makes it psychologically easier

Good input, Precious Roy. As I have said above, I do not know how one can prepare for a March marathon in true winter conditions.

I read your posts with interest. Hence: what is your opinion of a September marathon (mid portion of east coast)? It would be in the second week of September. My injury has wiped out my March marathon. I am starting base training this week, and am thinking of doing this September marathon. Not many marathons in this month (most of them are in Oct. or Nov.), and so I thought I would ask your opinion. I could qualify for Boston 2016, too (last weekend of registry). It starts at 9:00am. I fear the heat, though. I perform very well in Fall, but there is another race I would like to do in November (a half). Thus, I have a bit of a conundrum here. I could do Richmond in Nov., but then I could not do the half.

People whine about both these days.

It's far easier to acclimate to heat than to subzero, icy conditions.

Reading some of these posts gives me a few more thoughts on this.

Cold winter running is affected by your local situation. I have a very low traffic area with clean roads. I have runs where the wind is pretty well blocked. It makes winter running easy.

In the south local conditions don't matter. If its hot and humid it will be that all over.

The advantage of heat running is that you train your body to deal with excess heat. Heat maintenance is key in races.

The advantage of running in the cold is that you can spend more time running faster. You train your body to run fast.

For me it is 100% anywhere that its warm. With proper preparation and hydration you can afford to drop a few pounds in the heat and humidity of the southern summers if you're careful about it. I absolutely despise running in the cold when it's windy. I F-ing hate wind more than anything, especially a cold one. A 25-30 degree day when its calm is manageable, but when you start throwing in 20mph wind gusts off of an open field on a country road...forget it man. I like to sweat and run almost naked. Some may argue that its beneficial to run in the cold because it toughens you up and you can always look at less than perfect days as better than the crap you came from, and I'll agree to that most of the time. But purely for training I want warm sun.