Air quality and exercise - what are your limits?

NorthCascades

I'm curious what the air quality has to be like for other people in here to cancel their exercise plans.

Normally I go for a long bike ride or hike on Saturdays. AQI here is 158, so I'm not going to do anything that will make me breathe heavily. I'll go to the gym and lift regardless, and I'll go for slow walks, which is probably why my sinuses feel so bad. But I won't exert myself on the bike until it gets down to about 40. Or, in regular terms, I want to be able to see things a mile away.

What are your limits?

aokoye

I'll go on long walks to get from point A to point B as long as I feel like I can breathe. This past week when it was in the high 160s I was walking, but again, for transportation's sake. My threshold for purposeful exercise outside is 150.

Purplebunnysarah

I won't run outdoors if it is higher than 7 (I think it must be a different scale?) but I will walk at 8 or 9 if my eyes aren't burning too much.

NorthCascades

Well I went for a long but slow walk for groceries earlier. It rained and cleared up a bit, I thought I might go for a very slow and relaxed bike ride. But the universe had different plans for me. The bike rode home fine, but had a flat tire when I pulled it down. I changed the tube, and it popped while I was airing it up. So it looks like I'm going to blow my calorie budget today. But it's too dirty to actually want to ride in anyway.

Gamliela

I can see in the sky here as well as tell from burning eyes, throat and bronchial tubes that just walking for groceries will be all I can do outside most hot summer days. I do walking inside everyday at this time of year. We've only had a few fires near our small town, so at least I have that to be thankful for! Hugs to everyone facing bad conditions that block your efforts to get fit.
Autumn is not far off!

middlehaitch

It has cleared a bit over here this weekend. Still not doing anything more than a bit of sedate gardening, no heavy duty stuff, and casual strolls.

Earlier in the week we were high, for us, temps, 37- 41c, and smoke you could taste. Didn't go out unless I needed to water the fruit.

Cheers, h.

scorpio516

Back when I lived in NorCal, any time I could taste the air it was a no go.

Now in New England, ozone days I avoid just cause it's too hot and humid.

Rocknut53

Luckily, where I live in Montana, we've only had one day where the air was "unhealthy" so I hung out inside. Other than that I go early mornings when the air seems a little better and the smoke hangs out in the valley floor. We had a good drenching rain last night and snow is predicted for higher elevations for today so maybe Montana's fires will be history. There are actually mountains in the distance....

Packerjohn

Live in a boring area. Minimal industrial pollution and no forest fire issues. Just heat and humidity so not a game changer

cmriverside

yay.

dragonghost

In the summer there isn't a air quality where i will not ether walk or drive to the gym.

In the winter the air quality does not matter if i can open the door i will ether drive to the gym or walk there depending on how much snow is on the car.

On nice day's i walk anywhere from 5-8 miles.

middlehaitch

@NorthCascades, I can see the sky! A clear blue sky, and a yellow, not red sun.
And to beat everything-the Olympics are visible once more.
With over 600 fires burning in the province this is the 2nd worse fire season on record, last year was worse, but it didn't have the same smoke effect.
Apparently it has even affected those in the Maritimes.

Unfortunately it is only a slight reprieve from, not the end, of the air quality alerts.
Cheers, h.

NorthCascades

I could see the outline of the Olympic Range for the first time this month today!!

oldsoul918

This was our air quality last Monday...hazardous

It just kept getting worse and worse during August and has slowly gotten better over the last week. You could smell smoke even when indoors and I know many people experienced sore throats and burning eyes when outside for more than just a few minutes.

Overnight we got rain which has been the only thing that's helped.

Edited to actually answer your question

Being outside for any reason has been very uncomfortable, let alone exercising. I work for the power company and we didn't even allow our line crews to be in the field unless there was an emergency.

peleroja

I'm having the same smoke issues where I live that you are, and I've still been doing my bike commute on the 175+ days, but it's only ~20 minutes each way and I'm riding fairly relaxed. I'd have to be outdoors that long regardless if I switched to taking the train, so it doesn't seem like a big risk for me.

I'm not running on days above 100 on the AQI or going on long rides. We're not taking our dog out for anything other than moderate walks either on those days (normally he runs with me or we bike with him and he runs for an hour in either case.)

I don't have any health concerns normally, but I have had a minor headache and slightly sore throat for a month now thanks to the smoke.

starryphoenix

Smoke was pretty bad over here in Utah too. This past week we’ve had good days and bad days with smoke. I won’t exercise outside if there is smoke in the air.

aokoye

Also, because I keep seeing people wear them - if you're going to wear a mask, because of the smoke, wear something like a N95 respirator/mask. A surgical mask is meant to help other people not get exposed to various bacteria that you may have and be shedding. It isn't meant to block out smoke. There's more information in this PDF.

I've seen so many people over the past few weeks with surgical masks and it's just kind of sad because it's not helping them physically.

mjbnj0001

NorthCascades wrote: »

I'm curious what the air quality has to be like for other people in here to cancel their exercise plans.

Normally I go for a long bike ride or hike on Saturdays. AQI here is 158, so I'm not going to do anything that will make me breathe heavily. I'll go to the gym and lift regardless, and I'll go for slow walks, which is probably why my sinuses feel so bad. But I won't exert myself on the bike until it gets down to about 40. Or, in regular terms, I want to be able to see things a mile away.

What are your limits?

We've been having a spell of extremely hot/humid weather here at the NJ coast, with declining air quality as well. It's been making cycling - most outdoor activity - more difficult than usual. I'm training - boosting my mileage and hill content - in prep for a planned group ride in NW NJ next weekend - what is called the Delaware Water Gap area, so I've continued riding, but it's been challenging for my over-60, over-weight, and assorted-issues body.

But that's NOT the reason I'm writing.

I've been riding to the beach/pool all summer as part of my exercise regimen. Today, as I was lounging in the pool after some laps, some folks were describing their vacation in Seattle, San Juan Islands, etc., which ended yesterday. My ears perked up - both because of your posting and my previous residency out there, and I joined in the conversation. This was the first in-person descriptions of the conditions out there that I've heard.

Boy, oh boy, my heart goes out to you and all the folks out there. We out here just don't appreciate the scope of the issue via the news we get.

Rocknut53

@mjbnj0001 Here in Montana we used to have summer season. Now we have summer and smoke season. As the fires increase over the west, some close, some hundreds of miles away and the smoke travels great distances it becomes cumulative. One day you notice the air's not very clear, then you start to smell it, then as you breath more and more of it your throat gets scratchy and your eyes feel dry and itchy. Some summers it goes on for weeks. At times, we have ash in the air which lightly coats everything outside. We were lucky this year in that we only had a few days where the temperatures were in the 90's which makes the smoke seem much worse. I'm fortunate that I don't have any breathing issues so I am able to exercise, mainly hiking in the mountains near my home, even though the air isn't very good. I do laugh at 2 pack a day cigarette smokers that complain about the fire smoke.

mjbnj0001

Rocknut53 wrote: »

@mjbnj0001 Here in Montana we used to have summer season. Now we have summer and smoke season. As the fires increase over the west, some close, some hundreds of miles away and the smoke travels great distances it becomes cumulative. One day you notice the air's not very clear, then you start to smell it, then as you breath more and more of it your throat gets scratchy and your eyes feel dry and itchy. Some summers it goes on for weeks. At times, we have ash in the air which lightly coats everything outside. We were lucky this year in that we only had a few days where the temperatures were in the 90's which makes the smoke seem much worse. I'm fortunate that I don't have any breathing issues so I am able to exercise, mainly hiking in the mountains near my home, even though the air isn't very good. I do laugh at 2 pack a day cigarette smokers that complain about the fire smoke.

I remember driving across Montana to get to Washington via Idaho and Glacier National Park. "Land of the Big Sky" and for a kid from NJ, it was just that. I am sorry to hear your report.

I was thinking of Montana just the other day. When I cycle to the beach, I need to cross a drawbridge onto a barrier island. The bridge was up, and since I would need to make a left turn onto the bridge, I was positioned in the car queue waiting for the bridge ("controlling the lane" I think it's called). I realized I was breathing pretty directly the exhaust from the car in front of me. I joked to myself that "... it was good I'm a Jersey cyclist, as the clear, fresh air of Montana would probably kill me."

I suppose I have to change my thinking. And that's a sorry thing.

Picture below is from earlier this year of the bridge crossing. Rather than a left from the southern approach, I had made a right (coming from the north), and was able to move forward to the safety gates to wait for the bridge with some other cyclists rather than in a long line of car traffic.

Rocknut53

@mjbnj0001 The air is much better now. We had a big storm come in that dumped snow in the higher elevations and rain on the local fires. Fire season isn't over yet, but it will be soon. This photo is from my hike on Tuesday, beautiful day.

mjbnj0001

Rocknut53 wrote: »

@mjbnj0001 The air is much better now. We had a big storm come in that dumped snow in the higher elevations and rain on the local fires. Fire season isn't over yet, but it will be soon. This photo is from my hike on Tuesday, beautiful day.

gorgeous! whereabouts is this?

kcolfack

This is honestly never a issue I have had to address. The worst the air gets here is occasionally smelling like manure (I stay inside if I can on those days). I figure if I am uncomfortable then I will avoid it. Plenty of exercise can be done indoors.

NorthCascades

mjbnj0001 wrote: »

NorthCascades wrote: »

I'm curious what the air quality has to be like for other people in here to cancel their exercise plans.

Normally I go for a long bike ride or hike on Saturdays. AQI here is 158, so I'm not going to do anything that will make me breathe heavily. I'll go to the gym and lift regardless, and I'll go for slow walks, which is probably why my sinuses feel so bad. But I won't exert myself on the bike until it gets down to about 40. Or, in regular terms, I want to be able to see things a mile away.

What are your limits?

We've been having a spell of extremely hot/humid weather here at the NJ coast, with declining air quality as well. It's been making cycling - most outdoor activity - more difficult than usual. I'm training - boosting my mileage and hill content - in prep for a planned group ride in NW NJ next weekend - what is called the Delaware Water Gap area, so I've continued riding, but it's been challenging for my over-60, over-weight, and assorted-issues body.

But that's NOT the reason I'm writing.

I've been riding to the beach/pool all summer as part of my exercise regimen. Today, as I was lounging in the pool after some laps, some folks were describing their vacation in Seattle, San Juan Islands, etc., which ended yesterday. My ears perked up - both because of your posting and my previous residency out there, and I joined in the conversation. This was the first in-person descriptions of the conditions out there that I've heard.

Boy, oh boy, my heart goes out to you and all the folks out there. We out here just don't appreciate the scope of the issue via the news we get.

Thanks for writing this. I grew up in Connecticut and when I talk to people back east, I get the feeling that nobody understands how bad it was out here. The smoke agitates me probably more than it should. For whatever reason, it frustrates me. It helps my anxiety to hear that.

I drive through the Del Water Gap, I remember it being surprisingly beautiful. I hope you enjoy a great ride there!

cmriverside

NC, my anxiety was really ramped up during the smoke events, too.

It makes sense, I mean we have evolved to assess risk/survival needs and FIRE has a very primal fear instinct attached.

I'm just glad it's over for the moment. Super stressful. ((eHug))

middlehaitch

Just thought I'd post this.
Late afternoon at the height of the smoke. It was close to 40 that day.
(Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada).
The sun was actually solid red



Cheers, h.
(Just west of the San Juan islands @mjbnj0001)

Rocknut53

@middlehaitch Here's one of our sunsets in Montana during one of our worst days. It's amazing the NW got smoke that bad.