Am I getting burned out, or is it just the heat/humidity?

Wow, I really needed to read this thread. I've been struggling through the summer as well and with some races lined up in the fall, I've been wondering how I'll be able to hit my goals.

Take heed summer sufferers. This link was posted on Twitter last week by someone I follow, maybe Steve Magness.

The good news is that you will benefit from your struggles.

http://www.outsideonline.com/2098556/heat-training-better-altitude-training

I waited until evening to run last night (usually run during an early lunch) and I walked out the door dreading the next hour. The heat and humidity gave way a little bit and I had a great run. Those kind of summer runs are special when they happen

heat and humid are brutal

So obviously it is not as humid in Colorado as in other states. I still feel like I'm having an especially hard time running in the heat and higher humidity. Does anyone else who lives in Colorado find it harder to run as well, or am I just out of shape?

The heat

Ben

I would recommend getting one of the Daniels training books, they are fairly cheap and even if you don't agree with his training philosophy, there are still many good things in there such as pace charts, different workouts, conversions and just general suggestions about training. Daniels third edition suggests that in 90 degrees heat index you will be about 1 minute slower per 5k of running at around 6 minute pace. If you are a little faster it is a few seconds less, if you are a little slower it is a few seconds more.

You can get in threshold/VO2 max work, you just have to slow down. I normally do threshold training at 6:00 pace for a 20-30 minute effort. This summer (hottest I've ever trained in) I have been doing them around 6:15-20 pace because of the heat, the effort feels the same to me, I just get about 400-500 less distance in on a 4 mile tempo.

If the heat is bothering you this much, then run before the sun comes up.

Same here with struggling through this summer. Today it rained and was 72 during my run. I've typically been around 7:45 pace this summer, but today was cruising easily at 7:10 pace. This thread and this run gives me some confidence I can run some fast times when the weather breaks

ran 15:51 solo in 2015. struggling to run more than 2 miles in the heat without wanting to die at this point.

Wow...

I am glad I posted this thread, as it seems it has been helpful for a number of people. I appreciate the excellent input here.

More good news...some heavy rains late yesterday and overnight (weather is quite tropical), and it was humid this morning, but the temperatures were in the low 70s. I went out do to 6-7 miles easy, and ended up doing a solid, steady seven miles, with full progression. I finished 6:55, 6;54, 6:53, and felt as if I were cruising in those miles. Felt very good when done.

Hence, I gather the fitness is there. It is just getting masked by the heat/humidity. Hang in there, folks!

After weeks of treadmill running I found this thread yesterday and was inspired. I went out late afternoon. It was 87F and I thought I'd be able to push through 6 miles at 6:50 -- a typical workout for me.

First mile, 6:48, felt okay. Second mile, 6:54, started feeling a bit tired. Third mile, pushed a bit harder, thought I'd see 6:4X and was shocked when the watch reported a 7:10. Half a mile later I passed someone I knew and felt the need to show off a bit -- really turned things up and near-sprinted a few hundred meters. Big mistake. As soon as I turned the next corner I had to drop to a slow jog for a while before I could continue at a very easy pace. I was unable to find the strength again to continue at my intended effort.

Just awful.

On the bright side, after the 6mi I walked back toward home, passed the hill I use for sprint drills, and decided to do a few. They went extremely well; I didn't feel any impact from the heat at all. I'm thinking that that kind of work is a good choice when the weather is brutal.

I live in Florida where the humidity is unreal along with the temps. I have been trying to work in sexual intercourse as a form of cross training. You can do it in the air conditioning and it is enjoyable. I am trying to get my wife to agree to doubles or triples but she will have none of it.

Cross training wrote:

I live in Florida where the humidity is unreal along with the temps. I have been trying to work in sexual intercourse as a form of cross training. You can do it in the air conditioning and it is enjoyable. I am trying to get my wife to agree to doubles or triples but she will have none of it.

I think you'd better find a group of training partners so that you can keep up your fitness.

There is a night/day difference when training in hot, humid weather, and I have learned that there is just no other way to described it--night/day. It is not 10 or 15 seconds of a pace slow down, as those crazy calculators indicate. It is easily 30 seconds, and on the hotter days it is more like a minute slower, and one's endurance really suffers, too. That is just how it is, and I am trying my best to deal with it. For me, these last two days have put a smile on my face. It was so nice this morning to feel normal, rather than depleted.

All the best to you, fellow runners...

[quote]outsiderunner wrote:

There is a night/day difference when training in hot, humid weather, and I have learned that there is just no other way to described it--night/day. It is not 10 or 15 seconds of a pace slow down, as those crazy calculators indicate. It is easily 30 seconds, and on the hotter days it is more like a minute slower, and one's endurance really suffers, too. quote]

Yes, that's exactly what I was trying to say earlier. You might as well put the watch away because it is a pointless endeavor. If you use the watch to gauge where your pace should be that day you're simply guessing. If you use it as a benchmark, as in "I was x time last week, y time today week" and then some weeks in the future when the weather improves you say, "I ran z time as compared to a few weeks ago when I ran x and then y", it all means nothing.

Entering any workout on any day, you start off at a particular effort. If wearing a watch, when you hit some defined distance your brain tells you that the effort you just completed was too slow, too fast, or just right. Your brain cannot force your running to improve. Forcing running simply does not work. You have to work with what you have on that day and on the conditions that day.

You will run the effort your body thinks it should run for that day and improve, or you will under-run your training day and still improve (perhaps less), or finally you will over-run your training day and not improve at all. If you really over-run your training, especially over the course of several weeks during a hot summer, you will start to slide backwards, get sick, or get injured.

All I'm trying to say is that effort is your friend. Pace is not.

Got it...though it is hard to deal with and/or process sometimes.

It's a combination of factors.

Humidity is highest at dawn.

Sleep quality may decrease due to heat, so who runs in the morning, will be challenged.

Then is the sun. If the sun light + heat touches your skin, you'll hear up like being unplugged from the energy source.

Cover your ears and neck and you'll be much better, when the sun is up.

outsiderunner wrote:

There is a night/day difference when training in hot, humid weather, and I have learned that there is just no other way to described it--night/day. It is not 10 or 15 seconds of a pace slow down, as those crazy calculators indicate. It is easily 30 seconds, and on the hotter days it is more like a minute slower, and one's endurance really suffers, too. That is just how it is, and I am trying my best to deal with it. For me, these last two days have put a smile on my face. It was so nice this morning to feel normal, rather than depleted.

All the best to you, fellow runners...

Not only is it adding 30 - 60 seconds per mile but knowing that you are going to feel like CRAP regardless of how much you slow down. I'm always in the mindset, and I'm sure some of your are also, that slowing down too much just prolongs the agony.

Absolutely! It just prolongs the agony. That is how my mind works.