Heat And Humidity

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[old] freestyle
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Post by [old] freestyle » June 11th, 2005, 4:03 pm

first off, I admit, I can be a big wimp. I just began doing some WP workouts. I have rowed 5k and 10k rows 3 times. I did the rows in my cool, shady, basement that has a temp that does not vary much from 60- 65 degrees. I moved my erg to our old, non insulated, stuffy cottage this weekend. After doing my regular strength workout, I did a 6x500 row. My average time was a full 2 seconds off my last effort (which was also my first 6x500 in the basement). The temp was in the high 80's with uncomfortable humidity. I am supposed to do my 10k row tomorrow. I am actually worrying about sitting there for 40 minutes and not being able to keep up with my previous paces. Do endurance athletes give themselves a cushion when conditions are tough? How much of a "cushion"? I do not want to use this as an excuse to row a slow pace and wimp out. But I do not want to stew about it all day and worry that I am going to explode tomorrow trying to keep up with my improving times. Do any of you great ergers do this? Any of the Armeggedon 5k participants allow themselves slower splits when awash in heat and humidity? After reading this---I have convinced myself to buy a small ac unit for the room!! <br />btw I love reading about the rowpro races-----it is so humbling to know that all you armeggedon 5k racers rowed 5k faster splits than my 6x500 splits!

[old] Mike Caviston
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Post by [old] Mike Caviston » June 11th, 2005, 6:08 pm

I feel your pain. I’ve been doing some WP workouts too, and hot humid weather makes it significantly harder to finish a given time or distance at a designated pace. Where I am, the weather has gone from being unseasonably cool in May to unseasonably hot and humid so far in June. My training was sailing along smoothly but now, like you, I find myself wondering how much my times are going to suffer and how much more than usual it’s going to hurt. Depending on your goals, you might consider altering your training until the worst of summer has passed. Or crank up the AC if that’s an option. I never used to worry so much about specific training targets in the summer, but that has changed since indoor racing has become more of a year-round activity and I need to be near peak shape earlier every year. I don’t have complete control of my training environment, but I try to arrange my schedule to train during the coolest part of the day, and use a CBreeze and when possible an electric fan. Interestingly, I don’t have any problem with doing 500m pieces, since there is time to cool off in between. But 60’ Level 4 workouts or 20K+ Level 3 workouts are taking a beating right now. I have two strategies when it comes to adjusting workouts for the heat: 1) hold my target pace as long as possible and quit when necessary; and 2) guesstimate a reduced pace that I can hold for the entire workout. Neither option is perfect. I can’t tell you how much of a “cushion” is appropriate or how long you should struggle with a planned pace before giving up. Like you, I don’t want to give myself excuses for not finishing a workout, but we have to be realistic. Unfortunately, struggling too hard on a hot day can leave you flat for several days, so sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. I want to live to fight another day. On the other hand, training at a reduced pace is less effective than training at your progressively scheduled pace. Contrary to what some may think, there’s no “heat conversion factor” that makes slower rowing in a hot environment equivalent to faster rowing in a cool environment, even though it FEELS harder in the hot environment. So it can be tough to find the right balance between slowing down too much and losing training benefit, and not slowing down such that you have to quit training altogether.<br /><br />To sum up: don’t be a wimp, but don’t be a fool either. It’s certainly reasonable and prudent to make some adjustments to your training to account for heat and humidity.<br /><br />Best of luck,<br /><br />Mike Caviston<br />

[old] jfisher
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Post by [old] jfisher » June 11th, 2005, 6:55 pm

<!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I am supposed to do my 10k row tomorrow. I am actually worrying about sitting there for 40 minutes and not being able to keep up with my previous paces.<br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Temperature and humidity play a big role in your total output. However, don't worry about it when doing intervals, etc. As long as you don't get so dehydrated you hurt yourself, a few seconds slower pace is nothing to worry about. This is one reason to keep a training log. You can go back and review how temperature affected your workout and to see if you have adapted to it or not.<br /><br />When I did the race Friday it was really hot and humid so I knew my time would be slower than normal. You just have to suck it up mentally and hope everyone else is suffering the same. Or in your case, just concede that you will be a little slower and keep on going.<br /><br />Just make sure you have some water and a towel next to you so you can stay hydrated and wipe yourself down some. That will help.<br /><br />Jeff

[old] H_2O
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Post by [old] H_2O » June 11th, 2005, 7:20 pm

Heat is a terrible problem for me.<br />It helps a lot if you have a fan blowing air on you.

[old] Jim Barry
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Post by [old] Jim Barry » June 12th, 2005, 4:50 am

Last summer I "stole" our air conditioner unit I typically use cool off our living room to beat back the occasional heat wave we have in Maine. I put in right in my basement window where I rowed and turned it it on just as I started rowing. As I started a 60' row it might feel stuffy, but at the same time, I'm fresh enough to deal. Then, just as the row gets a little wearisome, the a/c kicks in and it is a fantastic feeling (fun even if you did not care about rowing or performance etc). The first half hour can feel better than the first. Mentally, this is a neat trick to play on yourself and doing this I have actually had my best hour rowing during the summer. I think I posted this on the forum last year: "Beg, borrow or steal an air conditioner" <br /><br /><br />---Jim<br /><br />

[old] Canoeist
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Post by [old] Canoeist » June 12th, 2005, 6:28 am

The longer the row, the more important it is to stay cool. My best rows have been in the basement of our last house when I closed off all the air conditioning vents to the first floor so that all the cold air went to the basement. A temperature between 55F and 60F is ideal. It may feel a bit cold to start, but once you get going it is perfect.<br /><br />When temperatures are high and the humidity is high, your body sends a larger portion of blood to the skin in order to stay cool. If the blood is being used as a cooling fluid, then it isn't going to the muscles to deliver fuel.<br /><br />You can do sprints without a decrease in performance because the body doesn't have time to build up heat. But, for long distances, keeping cool is a major part of performance.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />Paul Flack<br />

[old] Stretch
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Post by [old] Stretch » June 12th, 2005, 9:45 am

Man, I dream of 55-60 degrees! Here in DC we're looking at temperatures and humidity in the 90s most days for the foreseeable future. The only way I can keep going is to rig up a window aircon unit right next to my erg and have that cranking in one ear (and straight out the other, right? ) throughout the session. Even so, it can't bring the ambient temperature down much below 70 degrees, so there's plenty of sweating going on. I have found I can still hold my target paces, probably because they're modest at this stage of the training program, but my HR is drifting a <b>lot</b>, so I'm having to rely much more on pace and perceived effort as markers of intensity.

[old] jfisher
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Post by [old] jfisher » June 12th, 2005, 9:54 am

<!--QuoteBegin-Stretch+Jun 12 2005, 09:45 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Stretch @ Jun 12 2005, 09:45 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Man, I dream of 55-60 degrees! Here in DC we're looking at temperatures and humidity in the 90s most days for the foreseeable future. The only way I can keep going is to rig up a window aircon unit right next to my erg and have that cranking in one ear (and straight out the other, right? ) throughout the session. Even so, it can't bring the ambient temperature down much below 70 degrees, so there's plenty of sweating going on. I have found I can still hold my target paces, probably because they're modest at this stage of the training program, but my HR is drifting a <b>lot</b>, so I'm having to rely much more on pace and perceived effort as markers of intensity. <br /> </td></tr></table><br />I feel for you. I used to live in Oklahoma and so was no stranger to heat and humidity. I went to DC for a day on vacation and it was horrible. I couldn't believe how humid it was. It was the worst. <br /><br />Jeff

[old] whp4
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Post by [old] whp4 » June 12th, 2005, 12:09 pm

<!--QuoteBegin-Canoeist+Jun 12 2005, 10:28 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Canoeist @ Jun 12 2005, 10:28 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->The longer the row, the more important it is to stay cool.  My best rows have been in the basement of our last house when I closed off all the air conditioning vents to the first floor so that all the cold air went to the basement.  A temperature between 55F and 60F is ideal.  It may feel a bit cold to start, but once you get going it is perfect.<br /><br />When temperatures are high and the humidity is high, your body sends a larger portion of blood to the skin in order to stay cool.  If the blood is being used as a cooling fluid, then it isn't going to the muscles to deliver fuel.<br /><br />You can do sprints without a decrease in performance because the body doesn't have time to build up heat.  But, for long distances, keeping cool is a major part of performance.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />Paul Flack <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />And when the temperature is high and humidity low, you'll lose lots of water to evaporative cooling, especially with a bunch of fans blowing over you. Best to have a cool room and not have so much airflow, I think. I did a marathon yesterday with the A/C going and the erg set up directly under a big ceiling fan going at top speed. I was comfortable, but despite drinking frequently and eating a lot of grapes during the row, I was still about 1.6 Kg short, most of which must have been fluid loss. A huge bowl of Vietnamese beef noodle soup helped remedy that situation post-row :-) I'll toss out a recommendation for Pho Pasteur in the Boston area if you want to try it yourself.<br /><br />I still like rowing the longer pieces outside in cool weather the best.<br /><br />Bill<br /><br />

[old] Yoda1
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Post by [old] Yoda1 » June 12th, 2005, 12:47 pm

Boy, what a bunch of sissys on this thread. Try rowing when it's 110 degrees and warmer. From April through October it is rare that the temperature gets below 90 degrees where we have our C2. Doesn't stop any of us. Geez, you guys are begining to sound like Paul or Diesel. Whimpy people. <br /><br />Guess Who-No it's not John.

[old] John Rupp

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Post by [old] John Rupp » June 12th, 2005, 4:58 pm

It's payback time, for all that great cold weather you folks have for rowing in the winters. <br /><br />Here we just have to suffer with it being 60 to 70 degrees all year round. <img src='http://www.ceroc.com.au/forum/images/si ... histle.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

[old] John Hendrie
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Post by [old] John Hendrie » June 13th, 2005, 11:31 am

When we lived in our farm house in upstate New York my C2 was set up in an unheated family room. In the winter it was frequently below 0 deg F out there but I rowed diligently in sweats (the warmup was essential). Most of my PBs were recorded under those conditions. I now live in Sacramento where 100+ deg is not uncommon so must get my workout in early. Haven't had a PB since we moved here <br /><br />john

[old] Afterburner
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Post by [old] Afterburner » June 13th, 2005, 5:26 pm

I do all my erging in a non-air conditioned boat bay in Miami FL. During the winter, this is great, very comfortable. During the summer (from sometime in May through late September) it sucks. My usual fun in the summer is dealing with at least high 80s temps and more humid than I like to think about, specially when it's doing the raining thing (which also brings out the bugs, ack!).<br />During the winter I was easily holding 2:09ish ave splits for my 6ks.(I will usually do 2x6k steady states) Now I'm holding closer to 2:11. I attribute this purely to the weather because I know I haven't gotten any slower as my sprint times are still just as good if not better.<br />I usually just wear my heart rate monitor and let that tell me how hard to pull, it definitely helps keep me from killing myself in the hot weather. Also provides that little kick in the butt to help get moving on those lazy days too <br />That's my only suggestion, wear a monitor and go by the numbers.<br /><br />Heather<br />F21 5'7" 140lbs <br />500 1:44.4 1k 3:41.9 2k 7:27.1 6k 23:50.5 30min 7481 100k 9:07:27.7

[old] Coach Gus
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Post by [old] Coach Gus » June 13th, 2005, 5:54 pm

I've never found humility to be an issue for me.

[old] John Rupp

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Post by [old] John Rupp » June 13th, 2005, 6:55 pm

<!--QuoteBegin-John Hendrie+Jun 13 2005, 08:31 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(John Hendrie @ Jun 13 2005, 08:31 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I now live in Sacramento where 100+ deg is not uncommon so must get my workout in early. Haven't had a PB since we moved here <br /><br />john[right] </td></tr></table><br />Does it help to have air conditioning, or does that not get the temp low enough?

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