Friday, April 1, 2011

Effects of Running in the Wind - Real Life Example

I had a zone 2 run today over lunch and it was particularly windy day.  I was curious to what kind of effect it would have on my pace given the zone 2 effort so I set up my Auto Lap for every mile on my Garmin and off I went for a 5.5 mile run.  Today's wind gusts are around 24 mph give or take and the temps in the lower 50s at best. 

Keep in mind, this is not a scientific study by any means and there are conditions such as hills, traffic, etc that I'm not taking in account here, but this data will give you a rough idea of what kind of impact wind has on running. 

Mile 1 - 8:23 - into the wind
Mile 2 - 8:14 - with the wind
Mile 3 - 8:42- into the wind
Mile 4 - 7:57 - with the wind
Mile 5 - 7:54- with the wind
Mile 6 - 7:46- with the wind


There is a pretty profound difference there.  More research and info will be coming soon, but this is something to consider when out on your weekend runs.  If your mile times seem off, see if wind is a factor.

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