Charting Air Temp -vs- Ground Temp -vs- Pain Threshold

[PatrickGSR94]

I have found my threshold on the asphalt to be somewhere between 75 and 80° at noon on a sunny day. After a mile or so it really gets painful, and I still do a good bit of walking which means feet in contact with ground longer. The other day I actually did most of my cooldown walking back and forth in the same shady spot.

Sucks too because it's still only May, and highs are forecasted to be in the UPPER 90's by this weekend.

Looks like I'll have to run either early morning or late evening, or resort to using VFF's if I want to go during lunch.

 

[Tristan]

Well I brought the IR with me today since I figured it was about the exact same conditions as 2 days afo when it was right at my threshold. Wouldnt you know that the thing decided to crap out on me. At least I dont think it was working right when it said it was 525 degrees. Piece of crap harbor frieght unit... when will I learn.

 

[Mike R]

I have found my threshold on the asphalt to be somewhere between 75 and 80° at noon on a sunny day. After a mile or so it really gets painful, and I still do a good bit of walking which means feet in contact with ground longer. The other day I actually did most of my cooldown walking back and forth in the same shady spot.

Sucks too because it's still only May, and highs are forecasted to be in the UPPER 90's by this weekend.

Looks like I'll have to run either early morning or late evening, or resort to using VFF's if I want to go during lunch.

Try running on the painted road lines. That'll buy you some time!

 

[Tristan]

Try running on the painted road lines. That'll buy you some time!

Thats a neat trick but wont work around here.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

Yeah the roads I'm on don't have any painted lines. Some of them have power lines and running in the shadows of the power lines helps *a little* but not by much. And it's only one stretch of road that has the lines and shadows on the left side of the road.

 

[swoggis]

Central NJ. 5/28/2012. 3:00PM. Has been continuously sunny the entire day and the sampled section is never in shade. Air temp = 89°F. Asphalt (dark grey) surface temp = 141-144°F. Static pain onset = after 3 seconds of standing. Painful to walk on after 25 feet. I don't think the road would be runnable after the first 100 feet or so. I'm thinking 130°F surface temp is my limit right now for sustained running based on the 5/19 data point. I never stopped running barefoot through the winter, so my feet are at their normal level of pavement-conditioning in terms of sole thickness. Possibly my circulation will adapt and give me a little more heat-conditioning too as we head into summer.

Concrete (light grey) surface temp = 110F. Sidewalks would be the way to go if I was actually going to go for a run at this time of day.

 

[Mike R]

Yeah the roads I'm on don't have any painted lines. Some of them have power lines and running in the shadows of the power lines helps *a little* but not by much. And it's only one stretch of road that has the lines and shadows on the left side of the road.

I found that running where the shadow of the power lines was 5 mins. earlier (about 3" off the line) is cooler than where the shadow is at that moment. make sense? Try it next time.

 

[Zetti]

I am super lucky to have a TON of light concrete (sidewalks) around here!
I guess trials would be infinity better (assuming tree cover), but I cant complain too much.
One thing about hot roads is that you are definitely focusing on lifting your feet and not planting....lol

 

[canary island feet]

Great thread as I have considered the same issues in preparing to marathon in cities in sunny Spain with lots asphalt. Yes, I would love to learn any tricks to train or acclimate foot soles to survive hot surfaces over long periods.