Calculate How The Summer Heat Slows Down Your Run

Exercising in hot and humid weather is far from ideal, but those who are avid runners have no choice but to lace up their sneaks and face the heat. If you are struggling to maintain a nine minute mile, RunnersConnect has developed a helpful tool that can calculate how the summer heat slows down your run. By using this tool you will officially have mathematical proof that a sluggish jog around the park loop is due to that blasted sun (and not laziness).

Most people delight when overcast spring days turn into consistent beautiful sunny weather. While that's great for a day at the beach day, according to Runner Academy, summer weather can take a toll on your race time. The best running performance conditions are a brisk, cloudy day with low humidity, and temperatures hovering around 50 degrees Fahrenheit (or 45 degrees, according to Life Hacker). These conditions are more attuned to light layers than "rosé all day."

When temperatures start to climb and the air gets a tad soupy, you may be tempted to push harder to maintain your speed, but that could have serious consequences. "As you run your body generates heat," writes Runner Academy. "The ability of heat to escape from your body is reduced in higher temperatures and severely curtailed in humid conditions that prevent sweat evaporation from the skin." So, as temperatures spike, your body will feel fatigued faster as a way to prevent overheating.

Runners Connect's Temperature Calculator will show you exactly how rising temps affect the time it takes to do your usual run. Plug in your average mile distance and time, and the calculator will automatically adjust it for temperatures between base temperature 60 and 100 degrees (though I don't know why you are running in that kind of crazy heat). For example, if you run a 10 minute mile on the baseline 60 degree day, each temperature increase of five degrees will add between four and five seconds to your mile. At 80 degrees, you will be running approximately 18 seconds slower.

The calculator was originally designed for those training for the many races and marathons that take place in the fall. For professional runners time down to the second is extremely important, but the calculator can be helpful for anyone pounding pavement in the summer months.

The calculator deals with temperature variables, but humidity levels between 60 and 90 percent will also affect your pace. The moisture in the air may make you feel like you are running faster than you are because your body is pushing harder through the conditions, and even the best sweat wicking clothes in the world can't prevent it.

While there is nothing like running in the great outdoors, those who want to jog in comfort may have to wake up extra early or grab a gym membership to keep cool this summer.

Images: Getty Images (2), giphy