running cold



On Fri, 19 Mar 2004 12:45:06 GMT, Doug Freese <[email protected]>
wrote:

>
>
>Johnny Bravo wrote:
>
>
>> I'd say there was a pretty large difference between
>> running at 350
>> feet above sea level and running at 3850 feet above sea
>> level, without
>> even counting the humidity and temperature effects on
>> keeping cool.
>
>I'll politely disagree. If you discard humidity and
>temperature, effects the differences are close to zero.
>Even taking them into consideration the differences are
>very small. You need to get closer to 5,000 before you
>notice anything.

The oxygen loss from that 3500 foot increase is 70% of the
amount that would occur by going up 5000 feet instead;
I'll leave it to each reader to determine if getting 12%
less oxygen instead of 17% less oxygen will result in a
noticeable difference in performance.

--
"The other party's nomination battle is still playing out.
The candidates are an interesting group with diverse
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-President George W. Bush
 
amh wrote:

> [email protected] wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
>
>>it's common knowledge that running in cold weather
>>is easier.
>
>
> It is not easier to run in cold weather. Why would anybody
> think that is common knowledge?
>
> It is just as easy to run when it is 90 when it is 10.

I agree with you up to a point, but you overstate the case a
bit. Make the temperature extreme enough, on either end of
the spectrum, and the most bodies--perhaps not yours--will
not fair as well. The human body wasn't designed to operate
at extreme temperatures, be they cold or hot. Now I start
agreeing with you: what is "extreme" to one person may be
fine for another. Nonetheless, most if not all people fair
rather well in the 60-75 deg F range, regardless of their
tolerance for one extreme or the other.

--
ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,-
,ø¤º eNo "If you can't go fast, go long." ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°-
`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º
 
amh wrote:

> [email protected] (TopCounsel) wrote in message news:<20040317144141.28401.00001655@mb-
> m29.aol.com>...
>
>>>Why would the air have significantly more or less
>>>oxygen? The percentage of oxygen in the air is pretty
>>>standard at 21%
>>
>>Hot air has less of everything than does cold air. As air
>>is heated, it expands, giving a lower concentration of
>>molecules per volume measure. So, it has less oxygen per
>>cc, less nitrogen per cc, etc., etc.
>
>
> If you're going to snip my post don't take out the most
> imprtant part.
>
> This is from my original post:
>
> Why would the air have significantly more or less oxygen?
> The percentage of oxygen in the air is pretty standard at
> 21%. I'm sure temperature plays a role in the amount of
> oxygen (pv=nrt and all that stuff) but the atmosphere is
> so expansive that any change due to temperature is
> insignificant.
>
> The changes in the percentages of oxygen in the air at the
> same elevation do not change so much that it will affect
> athletic performance. Are you willing to say that you run
> slower in hot weather *specifically* because you weren't
> getting enough oxygen from the atmosphere?

Not solid proof, by any means, but here's food for thought:
Oxygen concentration aside, your heart has to work harder in
hot weather to keep you cool. (If you need proof for this,
strap on an HR monitor, go out for several runs in cool
weather and compare HR to runs on hotter weather: care to
guess which will have higher HR?) More work to keep you cool
means your heart isn't processing oxygen as efficiently or
plentifully, so yeah, there might be something there. Many
people report more labored breathing during hot runs than
during milder weather runs. Could this be the reason?

--
ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,-
,ø¤º eNo "If you can't go fast, go long." ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°-
`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º°`°º¤ø¤º°`°º¤ø,,,,ø¤º