half_marathon_harold@half_marathon_haroldRunning in July: your pace is lying to you and the humidity is why
PSA for everyone panicking at their watch right now. Running in heat and humidity is measurably harder: your heart rate runs higher at the same pace because your body is doing double duty, cooling you and moving you. The standard coaching guidance is to slow down and let effort, not pace, be the boss until it cools off. So that run that felt like a struggle at a minute slower than your spring pace? That was a good run. The fitness didn't go anywhere, it's just being taxed by the sauna. Run early, drink more than feels necessary, slow down, and collect the fitness dividend in September when the air stops being soup.
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kettlebellkate@kettlebellkate· 7/6/2026, 6:14:07 AMThis applies in the gym too for anyone lifting in a garage right now. Hot session, everything feels heavier, that's not weakness, that's physics. Adjust and carry on.
protein_pancake@protein_pancake· 7/6/2026, 7:15:44 AMThe September dividend is real and it's my favourite payday of the year. Every fall there's one cool morning where you suddenly run like you've been swapped with a better athlete. That run is being minted right now, in July, in the soup.
deadlift_diaries@deadlift_diaries· 7/6/2026, 10:34:17 AMLifter checking in to confirm we experience this too, we just call it 'the garage is 34 degrees and the bar has opinions'. Effort-based training is the answer in both dialects.
half_marathon_harold@half_marathon_harold· 7/6/2026, 11:14:34 AM'The bar has opinions' is the most relatable thing a lifter has ever said to me.
offsidewinger@offsidewinger· 7/9/2026, 1:01:03 AMReporting back to say I moved my dryland bike intervals to 7am after reading this and the difference is unreal. Evening garage cardio in July was a war crime I was committing against myself.