Do you think geography/climate has a role in your fitness?

[Pat58]

I would love to relocate to California but I hear the economy is so dismal, I'm afraid to.

I love dry heat, but not like it gets in Phoenix where I used to live. That is inferno dry heat in the summer! The humidity gets me in CT, too, and these past couple of years are record breakers for moisture of all kinds, from general humidity to damaging storms. My other exercise deal breaker is the dark time - though I seem to be handling it a little better this year since I've made myself consciously aware that this season affects me and I'm trying to get in as much daylight as possible.

Maria - I grew up in Woodside, not far from the Queensboro. Forty-fifty years ago that was a nice neighborhood. Great big trees, people with houses planted beautiful gardens in their postage-stamp plots out front. Even the projects had lawns and trees! When we went back a few years ago when my MIL died I was appalled at how my home town looked. It looked barren, filthy, where did all the greenery go?

[Sissy B]

For me, the climate does matter even when exercising indoors.

I live on the coast where it is extremely hot & humid for most of the year. It just drains me and I have a hard time exercising because of it. I definitely don't thrive in this climate, it turns me into a slug.

~Sissy B

[Jeanne Marie]

Renda,

I live just north of you in Gainesville, so essentially we have the same hot, humid summers.

Personally, I thrive on it. I have been known to run in 100+ degree weather... and those of us who live here know that 100 degrees usually means it feels like 110 degrees. My body has adjusted to it, and I like the feeling of running in the warmth. I love a good sweat, and you better believe when I come in from my runs in the summer I look like I just took a shower!

I know I am in the minority on this, however. Where I don't do well is the cold. Not only do we have bad heat, the cold here can be brutal because it is such a wet cold. It's bitter and bites to the bone. I simply cannot run outside when it's cold. That's when I go inside to the treadmill.

[Kathryn]

Definitely, especially now that my primary workout is walking. I can take the heat most of the time, but it's becoming too cold for me to want to venture out. I'll be able to get in a workout today (in the mid forties), but for the past few days, the incessant rain and cold (not to mention the lack of sun after 4:30) have kept me from working out. Guess I need to clean up the space I used to use to work out at home!

[paideiamom]

Jeanne,
I find as I get older I can tolerate the extremes less. It seems like once I am hot, it takes a shower or something to get me back down; and once I am cold, the same thing.

It probably has something to do with body fat. I am willing to venture the hypothesis that my body fat is much higher than yours.

Never thought I would want to leave the South, but it is starting to seem like a real possibility.

[killoffsonny]

I live in Houston. worse than Atlanta. This is the number one reason I belong to a gym because if I did not I would probably be a slacker five months out of the year..............not good.

[killoffsonny]

Originally Posted by MARIKA

We just moved to Portland Oregon after living in the South the last few years. DH told me I had to get rid of my Alabama/Florida ways and toughen up The brutal heat is awful so much that even the dogs won't go out. Here I ahven't acclimated yet but am getting better. This is a very recreational area & even when it's raining people are still jogging, walking their dogs, biking. I'm thinking "Wow! I could fly to Hawaii in 5 hours"

I grew up there. Haven't been there in ages though. I left in 74 and have gone back for visits several times since but I think the last time I was there was in 2004.............right before my parents moved down here to Houston.

[edensmom]

I live in Portland, Oregon. I am one of those people you see out walking or running in the rain. If I waited for it to stop raining I would be stuck at home most of the year.
What bothers me much more than the rain is the grey sky.
Out of the past 8 months I have spent 1 month in Hawaii. I want to trade my life here for one there! In my experience it rains a lot there too, but it's different than here. One of my DD's little friends just moved over there last year.

[ChristinaK]

The weather definitely affects my activity levels and mood. I'm a water baby and love summer. It does get really hot here deep in the heart of Texas so my boys and I tend to avoid being outside in the middle of the day during summer but we do lots of water related activities around those parameters. My idea of a perfect summer day is spending the day at Schlitterbahn riding the tube chutes or floating in a pool or river.

Spring and Fall are nice here and that is when I do a lot of my favorite non water activity which is walking/hiking outside. Winter I do NOT like at all. Winters are mild here and we hardly ever see snow but to me anything below 50ish is cold. Last winter we had several weeks where it was pretty consistently below freezing. I was in total hibernation mode and only left the house when I had to do so. When it's cold like that all I want to do is pile up under a blanket and read or watch a movie. I would have a really difficult time living somewhere that it snows a lot.

The time change bothers me too. From November to March I tend to be in a funk. I really dislike it being dark by 5:30 or so. I think my winter funk is a combination of the lack of daylight and no water activities. I'm thinking about joining a gym just so I can use the lap pool and I think I need to make more effort to get outside at least for a little while during the day when the sun is out.

[Keepfitgirl]

Originally Posted by Mopsy

I've done several "walking holidays" in the UK, resulting in lots of photos of me in my rain gear We'd be out walking (i.e. hiking), it would start to rain, and everyone would just stop, open their packs, pull out their rain gear, and continue on. So funny how I probably wouldn't walk much in the windy rain here (unless I were caught in it), but I'd spend money to do that a few thousand miles away. It's where I really learned to enjoy that afternoon tea!

People hike in all types of weather here - you never know when you might get a shower. Ah, yes, afternoon tea, we do that very well!

Emma