As a long-distance running coach, my primary goal is to help you become a lifelong runner who enjoys every mile, even in the sweltering Texas heat. When summer rolls around, adjusting your training to account for high temperatures and dew points is crucial for both performance and safety.
Why Modifying Paces is Essential
Running in high heat and humidity poses significant challenges. As the temperature rises, your body works harder to cool itself, diverting blood flow to the skin and away from your muscles. High dew points, which measure the amount of moisture in the air, further exacerbate this by hindering sweat evaporation. This combination can lead to overheating, dehydration, and a higher perceived effort.
Calculating Adjustments
Using data and a systematic approach, we can calculate the necessary pace adjustments to ensure you’re training effectively without overexerting yourself. I found this table useful as a starting point for calculating the pace adjustments:
You then incorporate the following into your training:
- 100 or less: no pace adjustment
- 101 to 110: 0% to 0.5% pace adjustment
- 111 to 120: 0.5% to 1.0% pace adjustment
- 121 to 130: 1.0% to 2.0% pace adjustment
- 131 to 140: 2.0% to 3.0% pace adjustment
- 141 to 150: 3.0% to 4.5% pace adjustment
- 151 to 160: 4.5% to 6.0% pace adjustment
- 161 to 170: 6.0% to 8.0% pace adjustment
- 171 to 180: 8.0% to 10.0% pace adjustment
- Above 180: hard running not recommended
Remember, the goal is to train smart, not just hard. By adjusting your paces for heat and humidity, you’ll stay on track with your training, reduce injury risk, and continue enjoying your runs, even in the Texas summer heat.
Stay hydrated, listen to your body, and keep running!
For more insights on running in high dew points, check out my previous post Running in High Dew Point: What Texas Runners Need to Know.
References:
- http://maximumperformancerunning.blogspot.com/2013/07/temperature-dew-point.html
- https://www.precisionpt.org/post/running-in-the-heat-and-humidity-what-to-dew#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20if%20it%20is%2075%20degrees,minute%20mile%20to%20account%20for%20the%20weather.
- https://banditrunning.com/blogs/the-b-mail/running-dew-point-math-and-why-youll-be-okay