How weather can impact your athletic performance with AccuWeather long-range meteorologist and triathlete, Joe Lundberg.
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00:00Welcome to AccuWeather's Ask the Experts. I'm your host, Jeff Cornish. Here we go beyond
00:16the forecast to give you the how and why on all the cool and interesting things you've
00:20wondered about and wanted to ask about in the fields of weather, space and science.
00:25And the weather impacts all of us in so many ways. Today we're going to cover the weather's
00:29impact on athletes from amateur to professional and in between as they train for everything
00:35from a weekend run to the most elite aspects of endurance sports including Ironmans and
00:40ultramarathons. And joining us today to discuss this is AccuWeather's own Ironman expert,
00:45senior meteorologist and a big part of our long-range team, AccuWeather's Joe Lundberg.
00:49And Joe, many people call you the crystal ball for good reason. I think we can thank
00:53Bernie for that. I think so. And you know, this is because of your knack for long-range
00:58forecasting. Sometimes when I'm home in the morning, I love watching you and Bernie together
01:03on the AccuWeather network because you're always so insightful and you nail it time
01:07to time. Well, it's about putting the pieces together of the pattern and then, okay, what
01:11is going to result from that pattern, what shakes out of it and what are the three things
01:16that you want to know most about that going forward. That's great. And people may not
01:19fully realize that most meteorologists focus on the three to seven day forecast or something
01:24like that. So it is a different animal and there are some tough challenges tied to that.
01:28So Joe, how did you get into the weather in the first place? It started back in third
01:33grade. I was paired up with this kid who had his desk adjoining mine. He already had the
01:38weather as a passion, so I ended up becoming interested in the weather as well. And one
01:43of the things we did, we had a wooden puzzle of the United States, had the shapes of the
01:49United States in it, we'd dump it out, put it all together. So I learned geography back
01:52then. We'd take tracing paper, trace out an outline of the United States and then draw
01:56weather maps on it. That was my introduction to weather. All right. Back in third grade.
02:00That's pretty impressive. And I know that you're great with long range forecasting,
02:05but there's another passion in your life, and you've shared some of this with me, that
02:09you're really into endurance sports. You're out on the bike a ton. Tell us how you got
02:14into the world of endurance sports. Part of this was part of your story a couple decades
02:18ago. Yeah. It started back basically in the early 2000s. I had a health scare in 2004.
02:26It was a kidney infection, which is not necessarily a really big thing. And I got some antibiotics
02:30and that was just gone in a couple of days. But I remember the specifics of the numbers.
02:36142 over 80 was my blood pressure, which is prehypertension, and my weight was 271. And
02:43those numbers scared me. And I said, something's not going to go well if I don't change things.
02:48But I had no idea what to do. But it was that that really began the series of events
02:54that led me into endurance sports. And I'm sure that you didn't just ramp right up to
03:00where you are now. So how did that process look? I discovered a bicycle shop nearby and
03:06I bought a hybrid bike from it with the big wide tires. I said, I'm too big to be able
03:09to ride those skinny, skinny tires at the time. So I bought that and I rode a little
03:13bit with a friend that summer. That wasn't much. And then I got together with a group
03:18in the summer of 2005 and we started doing like 25, 30, 35 mile rides. And I said, this
03:23is kind of fun. And there was a woman that was in part of that group that said, I want
03:27to do a thousand miles, my goal, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. And it sparked an idea.
03:31Wow, I wonder if I could do 2000 miles over the course of the year. So I set that goal
03:35for 2006 and the rest, they say, is history.
03:37All right. Just for perspective, I think 2000 is a good annual number because that's the
03:42number, if you work a 40 hour work week, 50 weeks of the year, you work about 2000 hours
03:47in a year. So it's kind of a, yeah, it's about an eight hour day. It helps me to kind
03:54of pace it out.
03:55I like that.
03:56What that actually looks like.
03:57I hadn't thought of it that way before.
03:58It's kind of a numbers thing. I don't know. That's really good stuff. And at this point
04:01now you're doing Ironmans and what does the training look like at this point in your life?
04:10It's a lot more involved, but I have a schedule. I'm usually done by midday so that the afternoons
04:16are free. And in the summertime, we obviously have a lot more daylight. So I'll use that
04:20time to go out and ride my bike for two, three, four hours, whatever, you know, however the
04:24spirit moves me. I'll mix in the running and the swimming that you would do for Ironmans.
04:28But my passion is cycling. I mean, that's the thing that I do the most of.
04:32And whether you're a weekend warrior or maybe a smidge under that, like myself, or somebody
04:38who is more of a highly tuned athlete, we're closer to yourself here. What, you know, the
04:45weather impacts all this. And there's some seasonality to this too, especially if you're
04:49in the mid-latitudes here where most of us, at least north of I-20 or north of I-30, happen
04:54to live. So what does winter, take us through the season, winter, spring, summer, and fall.
04:59What are some of the challenges and benefits of each season?
05:01Well, obviously in the wintertime, you've got to worry about cold. You know, that affects,
05:05you know, how you dress for it. So you have to wear layers. You have to make sure you
05:08protect your extremities if you're going to be out exercising. And for running, it's not
05:12as hard necessarily as it is for biking. You know, for when I'm out trying to ride
05:17my bike, if it's like 32, 33 degrees, usually I'm going to curtail my activities to maybe
05:23an hour, hour and a half, two hours at most, just simply because my extremities tend to
05:26get cold. You have to face the wind or obviously snow and sleet, ice, and stuff like that.
05:33And if the weather's that kind of bad, I'm going to work out inside. There's no way I'm
05:37going to go outside.
05:38Yeah, it's dangerous.
05:39It is.
05:40And as we step into spring and fall, the bumper seasons, they seem, at least from the armchair
05:45casual observer on the side like myself, seems like the easiest time to do this, right?
05:49Easiest, but you have to learn the art of layering. And I say it's an art because it's
05:55different for everybody. You may start your workout, if I'm going to go for a two-hour
05:59bike ride, I may start with one temperature, but it may be 10 degrees different when I
06:03finish. So I've got to figure out, okay, what is the layer of clothes that is going to best
06:09suit me for that, or is it something that is going to change so much I need to wear
06:12layers that I can peel off and stuff in my back pocket or something like that. So there's
06:17an art to it.
06:18That makes good sense. And we see a lot of day-to-day variability. I often say to people
06:22that in October or April, it's kind of rare to actually be average. We're just as likely
06:27to be 5 or 10 degrees above average or 5 to 10 below average during this time. So I'm
06:31sure that the day-to-day variation varies quite a bit too.
06:35You get to this time of the year in the summer season where the weather is more consistent,
06:40you can pretty much have the same kind of gear on a day-to-day basis. But you're right,
06:44in the transition season, summer and fall, that variability, it may be 70 degrees one
06:49day and the next day it's 40. So you have to take that into account.
06:52And technology changes so fast too. It's not just computer-driven stuff. Are you buying
06:57different gear now compared to 15 years ago?
07:00Not all that much. In fact, I have stuff that I'm still using from 15 years ago, strangely
07:04enough. I'm kind of a cheapskate that way. And I don't have the latest gadget to tell
07:08me what my power meter is and stuff like that. I just want to go out to have fun. I don't
07:13want another job. I have a job and I like what I do. I want my passion outside of work
07:18to still be fun and a hobby.
07:19All right. And sometimes when you're heading out the door and I'm just getting in, I'll
07:24ask you if you're heading out. And the answer is almost always yes.
07:26Almost always yes.
07:27Even if it's not a ten-star.
07:28I've got a change of gear after we're done today and that's what I'm going to go do.
07:31Well, we appreciate that you're sticking around a little late today.
07:33You're welcome.
07:34You're welcome.
07:35What are some of the harshest conditions that you have done this in?
07:38You know, I would say heat would be one of the biggest ones. There was an event I did
07:42a number of years ago called Total 200. It was based out of Washington, D.C. And if you're
07:46familiar with the Washington, D.C. climate in late June, it's typically hot. And the
07:50year that I'm thinking of was June, late June of 2012. And you being a weather buff, you
07:56might remember that was the year of the duration.
07:58Oh, that was a very memorable year.
08:00The day before the event, it was 104 with dew points in the mid-70s. The day of, it
08:04cooled off. It was only in the mid-90s. But I was trying to do 200 miles that day. I only
08:08got to 144 before I cramped up. But that's some of the harshest conditions that I've
08:11been in. I've cycled in 40 mph winds before. I have cycled in some snow. Yes, I have. But
08:18nothing that has laid on the road very much.
08:20Okay. Very interesting. Well, we do have our first viewer question. This one comes from
08:24Julie in Washington, D.C.
08:25Okay.
08:27I've always thought about entering a 5K race. Any advice on the best way to start training
08:31and keeping the motivation up to continue training?
08:34First thing, I would consult with your physician, your health care physician, and find out if
08:38that's an okay exercise to do. And assuming that it is, then you start easy. It might
08:42even be something where you walk down the block and back, and then you mix in a little
08:47jog or something like that. So you start with bite-sized morsels, and you increase it in
08:51small increments.
08:52When I first started running, that's what I did. My first run, when I got serious about
08:56it, was six-tenths of a mile. That's all I did, down the block and back. Then a couple
08:59of days later, I did eight-tenths of a mile. Then I started to work it up. And then you
09:02just add little increments. Also, tell somebody you want to enter that 5K so that you're accountable
09:07to somebody. Find a running partner that will encourage you, somebody that will be there
09:11no matter how slow or fast you are that will say, I've got your back. I'll go there with
09:15you.
09:16That's great. Accountability goes a long way in many aspects of life there, and physical
09:19fitness is no exception. Many of you may know that the State College area is home to the
09:25AccuWeather Headquarters. Recently, in 2023, State College had a big local event. We had
09:32our first State College Ironman competition, which was a big success. Thousands of people
09:36participated. Tell us about your experience with that.
09:38Well, it was fun to be a part of the committee that brought it to State College. I had a
09:43hand in designing the bike course, which some people were not happy with me afterwards because
09:48some of the climbs were on it. But I know it was fun to be a part of that committee
09:51and watch the whole process. And then during the day of the event, it was very humid. So
09:56it was one of those things, okay, in my mind, I know that my performance is going to suffer
10:00a little bit as a result of that, and you have to make sure you stay on top of hydration
10:04and electrolytes and things of that nature. So I was conscious of that. So when I got
10:08to the run portion of the event, I just walked some of the aid stations and took it a little
10:13easier. It meant a slower finishing time, but it meant I got to finish on my own power
10:17without any cramps. So that was one of the keys to that first event in 2023.
10:21Fantastic. And I know there are other events very similar to that in State College that
10:27you're going to be participating in as well.
10:28Yes, absolutely.
10:29Well, Joe, this is great information so far. We were going to talk a lot more about this
10:32in just a little bit. So we also want to mention that coming up in WeatherWise, we're going
10:37to look at the meaning behind some of those popular weird weather sayings like, you may
10:42have heard it's raining cats and dogs. Where did that actually come from? But next, Joe
10:46is back to talk more about training and the elements and some of the biggest mistakes
10:49people make when getting ready for a special event. We'll also answer more of your viewer
10:54questions, so stick around.
11:05Welcome back to AccuWeather's Ask the Experts. I'm your host, Jeff Cornish, and today we
11:08are talking with AccuWeather long-range meteorologist, the crystal ball, and marathon runner, Joe
11:13Lundberg. And Joe's back to talk more about your experience in endurance sports and the
11:18weather's impact on that for athletes and the weather. The weather impacts every aspect
11:23of our lives, as we well know.
11:24Yes, it does.
11:25Well, we want to talk about some of the biggest mistakes people make when training, not only
11:29for big-scale endurance events, but also maybe for the everyday route of golf in some cases.
11:34So what mistakes do you see people make that get them into trouble?
11:39Some of the simple ones are overtraining, doing too much, too much volume, and you know,
11:44you get to the race day and you just don't have enough left. You know, you've just overtrained
11:47and your body's just like saying, no, we're revolting, we've done too much. Or perhaps
11:51you might undertrain, you might not do enough. I know some people who've trained for an event
11:56but didn't train enough. I've been guilty of it. I've not trained enough in terms of
11:59running for a half marathon or a marathon. And then I have to say, all right, I need
12:03to be smart about this. Is it worth continuing, you know, at the risk of potential injury?
12:08Not, you know, some other mistakes, not hydrating well enough, not staying on top of your electrolytes,
12:13not giving yourself enough nutrition. Those are all common mistakes that people make.
12:18And I know that because I've made them along the way.
12:20I can relate to some of this, Joe. We did a 10-mile, it was called the Barber Beast
12:25on the Bay obstacle course in Erie, PA. Did it a few years. It was great. However, the
12:30station that I worked with, Local TV, we teamed up with one of those CrossFit gyms and they
12:37integrated us into a class. It was like getting on the highway with no on-ramp. I threw up
12:42several of the days that I was training. Yeah, this is bad for TV. But one time I did it
12:46right in the middle of the gym. A guy who didn't even know me who worked there asked
12:49me to call him when I got home to make sure I ate at home. But we over-trained. I was
12:54fine with the event. What we were doing for training was very different from the actual
12:59event that we were training for. But maybe I'm just not cut out for CrossFit.
13:03Yeah, I mean, if you've done nothing, like if you've not run and then all of a sudden
13:07you've got a marathon that's coming up in six months, you know you don't want to go
13:11out and your first run is going to be eight miles. That's probably not the best way to
13:14do things. Start slow and slowly build.
13:16All right. Well, that's good advice. And earlier we talked about you competing in the
13:20State College Ironman competition. What are some of your greatest personal athletic achievements
13:25here? And does your knowledge of the weather sometimes help you in these events?
13:28It does. I've done two full Ironmans, something I never would have thought I would have done.
13:34They were both in Canada, in British Columbia. Beautiful country there, by the way. One of
13:38the pictures is from me finishing, crossing the finish line at like 15 hours and 16 minutes
13:44into the event. You have 17 hours to complete it. I've run probably eight or nine marathons
13:50and have been able to complete them all. There have been some that I've walked a lot at the
13:54end, but I've completed those. This event no longer is being held called the 24-Hour
13:59Challenge. We used to do that in middle of Michigan every year during Father's Day weekend.
14:04You would ride a prescribed course for as long as you wanted to, 24 hours, and see how
14:10many miles you could. I was able to do 377 in a 24-hour period.
14:13That's very impressive. That's a lot.
14:15It's a lot. It's crazy.
14:16But the Delaware River deep into Ohio there, not bad. As we take a look at the difference
14:22between sprinting and some short-duration, high-intensity athletic events and a marathon,
14:30is there a big difference? If somebody is strong with one, will they be also translated
14:34to good and strong in the other, or not always?
14:36I'm probably not the best person to ask that question, but I would say it doesn't always
14:40translate. I know some elite athletes who are way faster than me, but they struggle
14:45on some of the more endurance, longer-duration events. Then there are some that make the
14:51transition very well. I've helped to train a couple of them over the past couple of years
14:54and just watched them blossom. Then it was like saying, wait for me, wait for me.
14:58That's really cool. I've done a little bit of just on the side when I worked in Erie,
15:02some forecasting work with somebody who has swam across Lake Erie, and now he trains other
15:08elite athletes to do the same. It's just an amazing thing that people can do that kind
15:12of thing.
15:13We do have another viewer question. This one actually is coming from Tony in New Jersey.
15:17Tony, what would you like to ask the experts?
15:21Here's a question for you. When you're competing in these types of events, what's the biggest
15:25challenge for you? Is it yourself, your internal thoughts, the other competitors, or other
15:30things that are out of your control, like the course construction or weather conditions?
15:37That's a great question. I would have to go with this very first response, yourself. Sometimes
15:41the mind will play tricks. I've had to learn to control that. In fact, when I did my first
15:47Ironman, I was struggling. I cramped up on the bike, and I'm just struggling along on
15:53the run, walking, running, walking, running. I wanted to turn on my chip, and I had to
15:57tell myself, no, just keep going. You've got the time to finish. That, I think, is probably
16:01the biggest thing. I don't worry about the other competitors so much in that because
16:05I'm not an elite athlete where I'm looking at getting on the podium for finishes or anything
16:09like that. I just want to finish these events, so it's the mind. I think if you have a strong
16:14mind, you'll be able to overcome a lot of those challenges.
16:16That's great. Do you feel like you are battling the elements and maybe your personal best
16:21in the past, kind of competing against yourself and the elements more than any other athlete
16:25out there?
16:26As I get older, I realize that my best is probably not going to be as good as what it
16:30once was. Father Time never loses. He's won all the time. Just ask Tom Brady that question.
16:39I have to recognize, okay, what is the element like today? Is it going to be very humid?
16:45If it's going to be a warm, humid day and you're running a marathon, you should expect
16:48slower times because it's going to drain more out of you. Those are the types of things
16:53you've got to factor in. Is there going to be a lot of wind on the course that you're
16:56riding or running? That could also have an impact on things as well.
17:01Very quick question here, just maybe in 15, 20 seconds. Tyler in Ohio writes, is there
17:05an event that you'd like to conquer in the future, maybe an ultra marathon?
17:09Not an ultra marathon, but I would love to ride across the country one day. That's still
17:12one of my personal goals. I want to do that one day.
17:15That's great.
17:16Have you guys followed me?
17:17That would be great. I think that would be a great show.
17:19Wouldn't it?
17:20I think you and I have a mutual friend, Jared Seckler, who did that years ago. I'm not sure.
17:25But that would be an amazing event.
17:26I would love to do that. Let's make this happen.
17:28I think that would be great coverage here on the AccuWeather Network.
17:32Well, Joe, believe it or not, we have run out of time.
17:35How did that go by so fast?
17:36It just flies by. We love talking to you. We want to thank Joe Lundberg, expert senior
17:40meteorologist, long-range guru, and also elite athlete, at least in our mind. Joe, thanks again.
17:46You're welcome, Jeff.
17:47We appreciate it. And coming up next, ever wonder where some of those weird weather settings come
17:51from? We use it a lot. We've got answers in our WeatherWise segment right after the break.
18:04Welcome back to AccuWeather's Ask the Experts. It is time now for WeatherWise. And today we
18:09look at weird weather phrases. And one that's a common term is it's raining cats and dogs.
18:15Of course, it usually means that it's raining hard. But where did that phrase come from?
18:20Here's a visual, not actual footage, thankfully.
18:23So the phrase states back to the 17th or 18th century in England. Back then,
18:27heavy rain would send the water rushing down the streets,
18:30taking stray cats and dogs along for the ride in need of rescue.
18:34In fact, this artwork from 1820 captures some of this far-fetched idea
18:39of torrential downpours of cats and dogs raining down. More than 200 years ago,
18:43they've been saying the same thing for a long time.
18:45Our next weird weather phrase, the tip of the iceberg. It turns out the Titanic is the source
18:51here. In April of 1912, the captain of the luxury ocean liner could only see ahead a small part
18:58of the iceberg above the waterline. And he misjudged the larger ice mass hidden below
19:04the surface. As Dr. Joel Myers has told us, there was also some refraction,
19:08other things at play here visually too. So this caused a deadly tragedy,
19:12sinking the ship and killing more than 1,500 passengers and crew.
19:17So now it's a metaphor and a warning. The where of what you can't see,
19:21what is visible ahead, could just be the tip of the iceberg.
19:25Thanks so much for joining us here on AccuWeather's Ask the Experts. I'm Jeff Cornish. And don't
19:29forget, when you have a question about weather, space or science, you can always write us or
19:33send us a video question at AskTheExperts at AccuWeather.com. You can also call us at 888-566-6606.
19:42Thanks so much for being with us. Have a great one.