Today I got a new toy, one of those armbands that lets you run with your phone. This is not because I actually want to run with the phone (I am pretty much a running purist and don't even take music...more on that probably later), but because my phone is also a GPS unit. Voila, instant distance tracker. This toy will be especially fun since I live in a part of Tampa with lots of old trees -- which provide lots of nice shade -- and twisty streets to explore. Much nicer than Upper Middle Suburbia, where I moved from: the running mostly consisted of the same loop, some of which was directly in the sun no matter what the time of day.
Official running starts tomorrow with a little 3 mile jaunt. However, even this short run is going to be a challenge. The Challenge of Florida, to be exact. The Challenge of Florida is something I have been battling since I moved here in 2007 and I haven't yet found a way of beating it.
What is the Challenge of Florida? Simply that I find it far too wretched for running. When I first moved here, I was aware that it was hot, but unaware of how pernicious Florida heat could be. In fact, it's not really the heat per se (although it is hot, don't get me wrong), but the humidity and dew point combined. Also, the sun is very strong, which is tough on us Northerners.
Here is the basic problem: during the day, the strong sun heats up the air. That makes it too hot to run, starting around 10am. So you'd think that the easy answer would be to run either after the sun has set or before the sun rises. Ha! Nice try. The one benefit that the strong sun provides is burning off the humidity. The humidity then builds overnight until the air is pretty much saturated (levels in the upper 90s). This cycle repeats from May-ish to late October-ish -- or early November-ish if you are really lucky. In other words, this is half your year.
High dew point tells you just how close the actual air is to becoming dew. If the dew point and temperature match, then there are ungodly amounts of water in the air. I often like to check in with Wikipedia to see how we're doing, dew-point-wise. For the run I did on Saturday, the dew point was 78F. According to Wikipedia, that is, "Extremely uncomfortable, fairly oppressive." Still better than 80F or above, which is, "Severely high. Even deadly for asthma-related illnesses" -- but only 2 degrees better. The real problem, if you are running, is that the high humidity and dew point mean that you sweat, but it doesn't evaporate. So you don't actually cool off, even if the temperatures are somewhat manageable (by which I mean in the upper 70s/low 80s. When I lived in Massachusetts, I used to complain when temperatures got into the upper 70s and I went out to run. Memories).
In my first attempts at running outside in 2007, I thought that I would adapt to the climate. And I did to a point: when I began, I couldn't even make it 2 miles without having to stop (and thinking I might die). I took the sunset approach, which was unwise because the heat and everything did not dissipate just because the strong sun wasn't there any more. Also, you risked potential thunderstorms that can happen daily. But I still didn't fully adapt. Actually, I often wonder if anyone does, the conditions are just horrid. For much of the summer, I have been aquajogging instead, which is where you have a buoyant water belt and jog in the pool -- I highly recommend, even though it instantly makes you look like you are retired. But it's a nice activity with the added bonus that you can dip your head in any time you get hot.
The current temperature (4:46pm) is 95F, the RealFeel temperature is 109F. Humidity is 77% and the dew point is 77F. I need to find a way to meet this challenge, but I can't say that I am looking forward to it.
Have you thought about getting a gym membership and running indoors on a treadmill? I know its boring, but i see people doing 10K or so all the time on the treadmill. Bonus is that you can do some cross training (bike, eliptical, weights, etc) if something is sore and keeping you off the road.
ReplyDeleteHi Ira, I actually have a membership at my local gym and I do plan to keep up with weights and yoga during my training. However, there are restrictions on how long you can use the treadmill, so I don't know that I'd be able to pull off multiple hours. Also, I think that part of the training for a race is being prepared in similar conditions; although I've done mostly treadmill training for other distances (5ks) with great success, in this situation, I think that I'll need some quiet time outside to be ready.
ReplyDeleteAlso, my gym doesn't open until 2pm on Sundays (long run days) which would clearly conflict with watching the Patriots come September. So that's out.
If it gets to be a real problem, I plan to find another gym that has a more lenient treadmill policy -- and good A/C, since some of them can get too warm. For now, though, I'm going to do my best to grin and bear it, and hope that it isn't as bad as I think.