The past week has been a write-off in terms of running, I've only managed to get out twice, because the weather in Brussels has been crazily hot and very, very humid.
Each day temperatures breached 30 degrees Celsius and last Thursday the record for the hottest day of the year in Belgium was broken, with the peak temperature hitting 38.2 degrees Celsius. More Here.
The problem wasn't so much the temperature but the humidity - the amount of water vapour in the air.
I've never lived anywhere with high humidity before and it's quite different to living somewhere where it gets just hot.
High humidity makes you feel hotter because it prevents the body’s sweat from evaporating.
Sweating is the body's method of keeping cool, especially during exercise. When that's not working, blood flow is diverted to the skin, limiting your ability to cool down.
I found these stats on the internet, about the effect of heat and humidity on heart rates:
For Heat:
Temperatures between 60-75°F (16-24 degrees Celcius) will increase your heart rate by 2-4 beats per minute
Temperatures between 75-90°F (24-32 degrees Celcius) will increase your heart rate up to 10 beats per minute
For Humidity:
Humidity levels between 50-90% will increase your heart rate up to 10 beats per minute
So a combination of high temperature and high humidity levels can increase your heart rate by 20 beats per minute and that's before you've even started running!
The main methods of managing this are to keep hydrated and then either reduce your pace or use the run/walk/run method of training.
I opted for the first, keeping going for as long as I could before stopping and walking for a bit and then starting up again. The concept is the same as reducing the pace because the walking part of the training allows your heart to recover.
I managed a total of 5.7 miles in three intervals before I was too hot to carry on.
I opted for the first, keeping going for as long as I could before stopping and walking for a bit and then starting up again. The concept is the same as reducing the pace because the walking part of the training allows your heart to recover.
I managed a total of 5.7 miles in three intervals before I was too hot to carry on.
The forecast for this week is slightly cooler, and I'm off to the Champagne region of France at the weekend so hopefully I'll be able to pick up the training again!
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