!!Warm weather advisory – Friday training rescheduled!!

Weather Forecast for Friday, July 19th 2013

Please note the Friday session on July 19th has moved from 6pm to 7pm.

Back in March it was felt necessary to issue a weather advisory as the country was in the grip of chill winds from Siberia. I would never have imagined that it would be necessary to advise our members on the dangers of excess heat. Well, they say if you live long enough, you’ll see just about everything. High temperatures are forecast to return for the weekend. Friday July 19th will see mist and fog burn away to give another dry and very warm or hot day with good sunshine. Highest temperatures will range 24 to 29 degrees in a light mainly East to Southeast breeze. The very warm weather will continue over the weekend with temperatures generally in the range 23 to 28 degrees. The western half of the country will be warmest, and indeed temperatures may creep a few degrees higher than 28 on Saturday over parts of Connacht in the easterly breezes.

So, what can I offer you by way of a survival strategy for daytime, midsummer running in very hot, dry and sunny conditions? Simple really, don’t bother!!! The sun’s rays are very strong at this time of the year and you’ll burn and, or overheat very quickly. Roads and concrete surfaces radiate heat and create their own microclimate making things even hotter for running. So, unless you’re accompanied by a crash team stay out of the midday sun and restrict any running to early morning and late evening. And make sure to rehydrate yourself every 15 to 20 minutes. If you start to feel hot and bothered, kill the run, find some shade and use whatever means are available to reduce your body temperature. Above all, be sensible! In the current hot climate it doesn’t take a lot of physical effort to bring about heat exhaustion, or maybe even worse. Whatever you do over the coming weekend, don’t lose your cool.