208. Heat, Humidity & Your Running: Secrets to improving in unfavorable conditions

Run4PRs

www.run4prs.com for a free 7 day trial. HUMIDITY, DEW POINT, HEAT INDEX: HOW THEY AFFECT YOUR TRAINING • Temperature alone is ❌NOT❌ the most important number to look at when determining how comfortable your run will be. Check out how humidity, dew point, and heat index affect our bodies & training:👇 • ✅HUMIDITY: Concentration/presence of water vapor in the air. It’s usually measured as relative humidity, which is a percentage of the highest possible absolute humidity. Humans are VERY sensitive to humidity because our skin needs air to get rid of moisture. Sweating allows us to cool down but when it’s very humid, our sweat can’t evaporate into the air so we feel a lot hotter when it is very humid 🥴 • ✅DEW POINT: A better judge of how comfortable it will be outside than relative humidity. The temperature to which air must be cooled to become saturated with water vapor. The higher the dew point, the greater the amount of moisture in the air. Relative humidity can be deceiving. EXAMPLE: A temp of 30/dew point of 30 will give you a relative humidity of 100%, but a temperature of 80/dew point of 60 would be a relative humidity of 50%. It would feel much more “humid” on the 80 degree day with 50% relative humidity than on the 30 degree day with a 100% relative humidity • 🔥Less than or equal to 55: dry and comfortable 🔥Between 55 and 65: feels “sticky” 🔥Greater than or equal to 65: lots of moisture in the air, VERY uncomfortable • ✅HEAT INDEX: What the temperature “feels like” when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature. EXAMPLE: If the air temperature is 100°F and the relative humidity is 55%, the heat index will be 124°F. This is assuming that you are in a shady area. If you are in direct sunlight, the heat index can be increased by up to 15°F! • 🔥80-90 Fahrenheit: CAUTION. Fatigue possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity 🔥90-103 F: EXTREME CAUTION. Heat stroke, heat cramps, or heat exhaustion possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity 🔥103-124 F: DANGER. Heat cramps or heat exhaustion likely, and heat stroke possible with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity 🔥125 F and higher: EXTREME DANGER. Heat stroke highly likely