The Running Thread - 2020

[TheHamm]

I miss having a
Question of the Day:
Wind: Winter is stopping in to say hello a little early in my neighborhood, and with the flip flop comes some windy conditions. If you have flexibility in your day, do you decide to run in 20F with no wind (also no ice) or 40F with 20mph winds?

Answer: T+D calcs can help temper my subjective complaints and pick appropriate running times in the summer, but I do not have that backstop in the winter. I have an arbitrary whining point of 25F this early into winter, so this is a challenging question for me to answer. If it is a sunny 20F, I will go out but if it is dark or overcast I'm probably picking wind and possibly cutting the run short.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Question of the Day:
Wind: Winter is stopping in to say hello a little early in my neighborhood, and with the flip flop comes some windy conditions. If you have flexibility in your day, do you decide to run in 20F with no wind (also no ice) or 40F with 20mph winds?

I like the cold. So I would choose the 20F run over the 40F and 20mph sustained winds. I wear shorts/tank down to about 35F these days in training, but that 20mph wind would make the WC around 30. So it's a push on what I'd wear since they'd both end up being fairly similar attire.

 

[camaker]

I like the cold. So I would choose the 20F run over the 40F and 20mph sustained winds. I wear shorts/tank down to about 35F these days in training, but that 20mph wind would make the WC around 30. So it's a push on what I'd wear since they'd both end up being fairly similar attire.

I always find it interesting to see what different people’s running temperature comfort thresholds are. I get chilled easily and it’s warm to hot here most of the year. My run last night provides a funny comparison to yours, @DopeyBadger. It was 54 degrees with a dew point of 28 degrees and light 4-5 mph breezes. I wore 3/4 length compression tights, long sleeves and gloves and was still chilly. Some of that is due to not being cold (or cool) acclimated yet, but still...

 

[SheHulk]

I miss having a
Question of the Day:
Wind: Winter is stopping in to say hello a little early in my neighborhood, and with the flip flop comes some windy conditions. If you have flexibility in your day, do you decide to run in 20F with no wind (also no ice) or 40F with 20mph winds?

Answer: T+D calcs can help temper my subjective complaints and pick appropriate running times in the summer, but I do not have that backstop in the winter. I have an arbitrary whining point of 25F this early into winter, so this is a challenging question for me to answer. If it is a sunny 20F, I will go out but if it is dark or overcast I'm probably picking wind and possibly cutting the run short.

Oh I'd wait for the higher temp with the winds.

 

[FFigawi]

ATTQOTD: I’d definitely opt for 20 and no wind. Sounds like the warmer option of the two.

 

[xjillianpaige]

I miss having a
Question of the Day:
Wind: Winter is stopping in to say hello a little early in my neighborhood, and with the flip flop comes some windy conditions. If you have flexibility in your day, do you decide to run in 20F with no wind (also no ice) or 40F with 20mph winds?

Answer: T+D calcs can help temper my subjective complaints and pick appropriate running times in the summer, but I do not have that backstop in the winter. I have an arbitrary whining point of 25F this early into winter, so this is a challenging question for me to answer. If it is a sunny 20F, I will go out but if it is dark or overcast I'm probably picking wind and possibly cutting the run short.

I would prefer cold cold with no wind. I have the most sensitive tear ducts and the slightest breeze causes my eyes to tear up. I'd rather not be constantly wiping frozen tears form my eyes. I can bundle up for the cold.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

ATTQOTD: Without a doubt, I'd pick the no-wind cold! I despise running in the wind. I feel like I can never relax and get in a groove.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I always find it interesting to see what different people’s running temperature comfort thresholds are. I get chilled easily and it’s warm to hot here most of the year. My run last night provides a funny comparison to yours, @DopeyBadger. It was 54 degrees with a dew point of 28 degrees and light 4-5 mph breezes. I wore 3/4 length compression tights, long sleeves and gloves and was still chilly. Some of that is due to not being cold (or cool) acclimated yet, but still...

Whereas, I marvel at what you all can tolerate in terms of heat and T+D down in the south. From mid June through November, I had 76 runs. Only 47% were above even a modest T+D of 130. Only 13% above a T+D of 150, where I really start to notice things.

Most of my best racing performances (in terms of taking the Garmin VO2max value on my watch and calculating the difference against the VDOT value of the race time) show that my optimal racing temperature is a wind chill of 30-35 F or T+D of 60-70. Which is near my lower limit for shorts/tank when racing. So even your T+D 82 would probably be too warm for me for optimal racing.

 

[PrincessV]

ATTQOTD: Um... we had our coldest morning of the season so far today: 56*. I opted not to run because I'm not yet ready for that kind of cold. 40* and windy feels like 20* to me, so I don't feel equipped to answer this one lol!

 

[opusone]

Question of the Day:
Wind: Winter is stopping in to say hello a little early in my neighborhood, and with the flip flop comes some windy conditions. If you have flexibility in your day, do you decide to run in 20F with no wind (also no ice) or 40F with 20mph winds?

So, the past Sunday, I ran in 43°F with sustained 26 mph winds, and I was miserable. I believe it wasn't all the weather's fault as I don't think I ate properly prior to the late morning run, so I may have just been out of gas. In any case, 20°F and no wind isn't my favorite either, so this might be a toss-up. However, I would still run outside in either case before going downstairs to the treadmill.

 

[Jules76126]

ATTQOTD: Definitely the cold with no wind. I find it so much colder with the wind even if the temp is warmer. Today our high is 31* with a real feel of 20*. Thankfully, it is sunny.

 

[Kerry1957]

ATTQOTD: Colder with no wind wins every time for me. I'm also a northerner (Chicago) who doesn't mind cold as long as its not too windy. I ran a comfortable half along the Chicago lakefront last year when the high was below zero. Last month I ran my half PR in low 40s temps. I wore a short sleeved shirt and shorts. I must admit to being a bigger guy (210 pounds) so I carry some built in insulation.

To me perfect running (training) temps are high 40s or low 50s with lots of sun and no wind. Perfect racing temps are 5-10 degrees below that.

 

[michigandergirl]

QOTD: I have run in both often and I have also opted for the treadmill in both conditions just as often - totally depends on my mood.
But really it mostly depends on the distance I'm running that day or if I'm running trails or road. If it's a long run, I will almost always choose outside. Also I've noticed recently that wind isn't as much of an issue when running trails in the woods because of the tree protection.

 

[avondale]

I miss having a
Question of the Day:
Wind: Winter is stopping in to say hello a little early in my neighborhood, and with the flip flop comes some windy conditions. If you have flexibility in your day, do you decide to run in 20F with no wind (also no ice) or 40F with 20mph winds?

ATTQOTD: I prefer to run in cold, so I would definitely go with the 20 F and no wind. If it was sunny, I would probably just have long-sleeved shirt with t-shirt underneath, full-length tights, and light gloves that I planned to take off when I warmed up. If it wasn't sunny, I'd probably add a hat and maybe end up keeping the gloves on.

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

Question of the Day:
Wind:

I hate cold and wind with a passion. I'd rather run in 95 F than 40 F.

To answer the question: I hate wind more than cold.

 

[jmasgat]

ATTQOTD: Add me to the no-wind camp. Several of the last few days, I have gotten out the door early specifically to avoid increasing wind. Give me the cold any day.

 

[avondale]

Whereas, I marvel at what you all can tolerate in terms of heat and T+D down in the south. From mid June through November, I had 76 runs. Only 47% were above even a modest T+D of 130. Only 13% above a T+D of 150, where I really start to notice things.

I couldn't let these statistics go without tabulating my own. I am in Maryland, just a few miles north of DC.

These are my T+D stats for all runs (126) from May 1 - Nov. 7 this year, at my home location - I didn't count runs from when I was on vacation somewhere else. As a note, I usually do my runs in late afternoon/early evening, which would definitely cause a bias compared to a morning runner in my area.

T+D	# of runs	% of total
< 100	16	12.7%
100 - 109	12	9.5%
110 - 119	7	5.6%
120 - 129	19	15.1%
130 - 139	25	19.8%
140 - 149	19	15.1%
150 - 159	25	19.8%
>= 160	3	2.4%

So, 22% of my runs with T+D 150 and over. I feel like I start to notice it at about 130 and higher, especially for longer efforts, and that is 57% of my runs. Geez, I didn't realize it was that many. This was a warm summer here...I think we broke the record for most consecutive days over 90 F or something like that.

And I don't know why there are so few runs in the 100 - 109 range.

 

[dobball23]

No question...colder with no wind is my preference. Unless the wind can be directly at my back for 100% of the run.

 

[camaker]

I couldn't let these statistics go without tabulating my own. I am in Maryland, just a few miles north of DC.

These are my T+D stats for all runs (126) from May 1 - Nov. 7 this year, at my home location - I didn't count runs from when I was on vacation somewhere else. As a note, I usually do my runs in late afternoon/early evening, which would definitely cause a bias compared to a morning runner in my area.

T+D	# of runs	% of total
< 100	16	12.7%
100 - 109	12	9.5%
110 - 119	7	5.6%
120 - 129	19	15.1%
130 - 139	25	19.8%
140 - 149	19	15.1%
150 - 159	25	19.8%
>= 160	3	2.4%

So, 22% of my runs with T+D 150 and over. I feel like I start to notice it at about 130 and higher, especially for longer efforts, and that is 57% of my runs. Geez, I didn't realize it was that many. This was a warm summer here...I think we broke the record for most consecutive days over 90 F or something like that.

And I don't know why there are so few runs in the 100 - 109 range.

This is a great way to look at it. This may explain why I'm so cold averse. Only about 10% of my runs from mid-May to mid-November (123 total) were at a T+D <120.

T+D	# Runs	% Runs
</=100	5	4.1%
101-110	4	3.3%
111-120	3	2.4%
121-130	18	14.6%
131-140	17	13.8%
141-150	31	25.2%
151-160	31	25.2%
161-170	14	11.4%

 

[steph0808]

DEFINITELY cold with no wind. There is no other option. I hate the wind with a passion. A PASSION.



I ran on Tuesday when it was about 38 with 10 mph winds and then today when it was 28 with negligible wind. Today was nicer.