DopeyBadger
Imagathoner
- Joined
- Oct 15, 2015
Slowing down is definitely the key training, racing and surviving in heat and humidity. @DopeyBadger has a spreadsheet showing how much to slow down based on the heat and humidity (temperature & dew point). Let me see if I can summon him to this thread to post it...
@DopeyBadger
@DopeyBadger
@DopeyBadger
That was weird... One moment I was over there and now suddenly I find myself here!
As @camaker said I use a combination of Temperature and Dew Point which I find to be the best measure for how it feels outside and how it will affect performance. So take the Temp and Dew and add them together. For instance, a Temp of 90 with a Dew of 75 would be a T+D of 165. These are the adjustments for pace based on different T+D:
This is an example of an adjusted 9:03 pace:
If the T+D was 165, then that would suggest a 7% adjustment which would be a pace of 9:41. I certainly wouldn't try and go faster than that until at least mid-way through the race. My gold standard method is effort. If something "feels" more difficult in the beginning then it is likely in fact too much. So I set a "no faster than" limit with T+D and a "effort" feeling to allow myself to go even slower.
These adjustments and values are completely dependent on heat acclimation and individual characteristics as well. One recommendation if coming from a cooler climate into a warmer one is to intentionally overdress for the last two weeks of training (I do it by wearing jackets, extra pants, extra shirts, hats, gloves, etc. when there's no reason to wear any of it). Just ensure you have plenty of water and electrolytes available as this will force your body to sweat at a much higher rate in the cooler climates. And if it is really cold and you do heat acclimation cut your cool down to a bare minimum to avoid getting the chills/hypothermia. It will help some to make race day more comfortable.