Monday, July 18, 2011

It's the DEWPOINT!!!

From this Running Times article on hot weather running.

It's Not the Heat, Nor the Humidity....It's the dew point.

DEW POINT (°F)RUNNER'S PERCEPTIONHOW TO HANDLE
50–54 (10-12C)Very comfortable
PR conditions
55–59 (13-15C)ComfortableHard efforts likely not affected
60–64 (16-18C)
Uncomfortable for some peopleExpect race times to be slower than in optimal conditions
65–69 (18-20C)Uncomfortable for most peopleEasy training runs might feel OK but difficult to race well or do hard efforts
70–74 (21-23C)Very humid and uncomfortableExpect pace to suffer greatly
75 or greater (24+C)
Extremely oppressiveSkip it or dramatically alter goal

13 comments:

Derrick said...

Nice Earl Finkle(ism).

Loving the extremely oppressive conditions these days. Blech!

Eliza Ralph-Murphy said...

Thanks for educating me on the "humidex" and "dewpoint". Kind of complicated the way we perceive it all. Emotionally I don't worry or fret about the heat although I wonder if we all respond the same physiologically. Get your FREE Dewpoint calculator here http://www.dpcalc.org/

Sara Montgomery said...

My genes respond poorly.

That's an amazing calculator, thank you for that!

William said...

The worst is when you try to escape "extremely oppressive" by running really really early and you still get "very humid and uncomfortable." Geez! Dreaming of cold showers and ice baths can only take the mind off the humidity for so long.

GZ said...

Enjoying CO dryness for a day or two here. Feeling guilty.

Sara Montgomery said...

GZ, I have a story for you....We're running up James Peak last summer. I'm dying from the altitude. Hands on knees, huffing so hard I am scattering marmots. Reach the top, head spinning, can hardly see. Rest of the day, back, but still at 10 thousand feet, I can only describe my state as beastily hung over. And through every minute of the hurt, through all the ridiculous exertion and then through the resulting aftermath of sloth and despair, I have
ONLY. ONE. THOUGHT.
For the love of god, at least it isn't HUMID.

David said...

I love the heat and humidity like I love the cold and windchill. We live in such a diverse environment weather wise and get to enjoy it all. Summer training is like winter training, it makes you stronger for the Fall and spring races. Gotta love 5:00am with only shorts and light shirt, running with the wildlife as the sun rises.
That said, my 5km race just SUCKED and I blame the HEAT and HUMIDITY (it sure wasn't MY fault ;) )

Sara Montgomery said...

David, no. No no no no no. There's nothing to like about this. Stop it.

Winter is different. Winter is good and clean and bugless and dry with lots of cozy layers and happiness all around.

David said...

Summer is shorts and flip flops and dinner (all meals) on the deck, and lazy afternoons in Hammocks, flowers and Ice Cold Beer.

Sara Montgomery said...

Well true, you're selling me on all that. It's just the running bit that bites.

GZ said...

Yeah - I think you can kind of get use to the altitude. I don't think so much about the dew point.

David said...

I think you'd enjoy summer more if you could get Derrick's Butt out the door earlier. There is such and huge difference between 6:00am and 11:00am.

Derrick said...

Yup...it's all Derrick's fault that summer sucks ;)

11am is good heat training!