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Heat Tolerance

C Bass

Apr 30, 12 16:39

Post #1 of 23 (1660 views)

Heat Tolerance	Quote \| Reply

Raced a Super Sprint (.7 swim, 25 mile, 10K) this past weekend in Florida on a very flat course, did great on the swim and bike but half-way through the run I started to overheat and went into survival mode (run/walk - for shame I know).

Leading up to this race I was easily finishing brick workouts on hilly terrain averaging 25 miles on the bike followed by 5 miles of running (without water stations).

Looking back, what I wasn't doing was training in the heat and it cost me. To be honest, my inability to dissipate heat has always been my achilles heel.

Questions I have for anyone out there willing to respond:

1. Do hats really work (I have black hair)? Seems like they would trap more heat in...

2. How well do cooling sleeves work?

3. What else do you use to help prepare for the heat?
------
"It's easy to be hard, it's hard to be smart"

(This post was edited by C Bass on Apr 30, 12 16:40)

jackmott

Apr 30, 12 16:42

Post #2 of 23 (1650 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Don't know about #1 and #2

the key thing is #3 - practice in the heat, learn how fast you can run in it. If you have a goal pace based on cool days, you have to slow down for hot days. Sometimes a LOT.

losing weight will help generally too of course. Hot weather marathon finishers are generally sorted by height (though that 6'4" dude finished pretty well at Boston! there is hope!)

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metafizx

Apr 30, 12 17:06

Post #3 of 23 (1632 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Hats work good, such as HeadSweats. Light and breathes. If you wet them, the evaporation effect will help cool.

Same with arm sleeves, once their wet, the evaporation helps cool

I wear them mainly to keep the sun off.

KonaCoffee

Apr 30, 12 17:15

Post #4 of 23 (1623 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [metafizx] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

My running pace in Hawaii is 30 seconds to a minute slower than when I travel to the mainland for a road race. heat slows you down. Hats also do work, they keep the sun off your noggin.

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Moose1406

Apr 30, 12 17:20

Post #5 of 23 (1617 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

My experience - run when it's hot - about as often as you can. I think you'll be surprised at how quickly the body will adjust. And, bring water/liquids. You can train yourself to run in the heat, but you can't train to run dehydrated. I read a lot of macho talk about not taking water if it's a run under an hour, etc. But, last I heard, most races have water stations every mile or so, and they aren't handing out time bonuses for not using aid stations.
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. - D. H. Lawrence

bricklayer

Apr 30, 12 17:40

Post #6 of 23 (1602 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I'm a bigger guy, 6'4" and about 185 and the heat absolutely kills me! I do well in the swim, and the bike (lots of air moving over my body), but the run destroys my race. I wear a Head Sweat visor which seems to help and I usually splash water on me when I hit the aid stations. I don't have experience with the arm coolers. It will be interesting to hear what others say about this. Also with those who race with arm coolers, do they swim in them to cut down on their transition times? Or do they put them on in transition or on the bike or run?

Mad Jee

Apr 30, 12 17:52

Post #7 of 23 (1574 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

It's pretty simple, you've just got to slow down a bit. Probably 15-30 seconds per mile if it's into the 80's or above. Below that you should be able to get used to it.

I like wearing a hat, mostly to keep the sun off my face. When it's super hot, I can't run in sunglasses, so like a hat to keep the sun out of my eyes.

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HardKnox

Apr 30, 12 19:33

Post #8 of 23 (1519 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Since when is an Olympic-distance race considered a "super sprint"?? No wonder you overheated, if you were "sprinting" a 10K. Adjust your pace. A 2+ hour race is not a sprint by any stretch of the imagination.

I have nothing of substance to add. But please, somebody back me up here.

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C Bass

Apr 30, 12 20:28

Post #9 of 23 (1490 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [HardKnox] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Super Sprint is a term I picked up as the race wasn't a true olympic distance and trust me I wasn't sprinting. Ended up finishing at 2:27, when I was shooting for a sub 2:20.

For the record, I'm 40.
------
"It's easy to be hard, it's hard to be smart"

FLA Jill

Apr 30, 12 20:58

Post #10 of 23 (1462 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

For me, it really is the case of it being the humidity and not the heat. Once the dew point gets above 70F, my sweat just doesn't evaporate properly, and I've yet to meet a technical fabric that can keep up with my sweat rate at that point in terms of wicking, so it turns into dressing pretty minimally, lest I start feeling all sous vide.

steelerguy

Apr 30, 12 21:53

Post #11 of 23 (1440 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I'm a "bigger" guy (6'5", 195) and I'd say absolutely to the hat, if for nothing more than it keeps the sun off your face and sweat out of your eyes. It will also hold cool water a bit longer and better than hair. If they have ice, you can put some in the hat and put it back on your head and it won't bounce out.

Sleeves...well I figure having the sweat evaporate directly off my arms is better than anything else.

Run in heat whenever you can, get used to the suffering, I don't think your body really acclimates...you just learn how to pace properly. Like FLA Jill said, I find humidity even worse...when your sweat is not evaporating is when things really start to suck.

crolson24

Apr 30, 12 22:07

Post #12 of 23 (1430 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

No hat or cool gear will keep you from over heating if you aren't training in the heat. You MUST train in the heat or you will ALWAYS suffer during a hot race. You can try every trick in the book, but they won't work unless you get some heat training. It actually doesn't take a lot to acclimate, like a week or two of 1 hour a day of exposure.

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Kevin in MD

May 1, 12 4:12

Post #13 of 23 (1385 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

There is solid evidence that you will have profound changes with heat acclimation as short as 14 days. The data on longer term training is less extensive, however the longer term work will allow you to get a good idea of what sort execution changes you need to make. Like how much water how many calories, what efforts you can manage on very hot days.

The army ranger heat acclimatization guide is actually a pretty good rundown of how to manage short term acclimation.

Devlin

May 1, 12 8:24

Post #14 of 23 (1306 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

C Bass wrote:

Super Sprint is a term I picked up as the race wasn't a true olympic distance and trust me I wasn't sprinting. Ended up finishing at 2:27, when I was shooting for a sub 2:20.

For the record, I'm 40.

That's basically an Olympic. The swim is slightly short is all.

As far as I understand it, a super sprint is shorter than a sprint distance, which is typically 3-500m swim, 13ish bike and 5k run.

John

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Rambler

May 1, 12 9:21

Post #15 of 23 (1256 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

If you don't live in a hot climate you can really get caught by the heat, especially this time of year. A hot day in April is much different compared to the same temperature in August. I have seen people prepare for hot races by wearing extra clothing. I tell myself that heat acclimation is the up-side of a too warm YMCA pool. The sleeves and hats seem to help with evaporation to a point but when the humidity gets really high it feels (subjectively) like they lose a lot of their effectiveness.

StephB

May 1, 12 9:48

Post #16 of 23 (1235 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [Rambler] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I struggle in the heat also, but find the following help me:

Arm coolers (you have to keep them wet),
Wet your head and body whenever possible, starting on the bike so that you don't start the run overheated
Use whatever cooling aids are provided on course (sponges, cold towels, ice) and apply liberally to pulse points (armpits, jogbra, groin, palms)
Visor pulled low over my eyes (I don't use a hat because I don't want to keep the heat in and I feel like my head radiates a lot of heat)
As little clothing as possible (not including the arm coolers)
Run between areas of shade
Slow down or run/walk
As others have said, up to a point (90s), it is all about acclimating. After that, it is damage control.

endorphin

May 1, 12 10:57

Post #17 of 23 (1194 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

x2 on losing weight. Probably the biggest factor.

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jasondubose

May 1, 12 11:13

Post #18 of 23 (1162 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

yeah, super sprints (at least in my area) refer to shorter-than-sprint tri's... but that's just a side note to your problem.

Good luck with it. I've gone from 185 last year to 175 this year. we'll see if i do any better when it gets "Houston hot"...

Other than losing unnecessary weight, I run in the heat... a lot.

-Jason
______________________________________________
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C Bass

May 1, 12 17:20

Post #19 of 23 (1069 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

All, thanks for the advice.

Going to try a hat this weekend on a training run (alternate having it off/on) and see what it does. I'll also get a pair of cooling sleeves and report back, don't know that it'll help anyone but a little research can't help.

Anyone ever use a sauna to help acclimatize? Not talking about training in it like the Death Valley runners do, just three to four 15-20 minute periods at a time.
------
"It's easy to be hard, it's hard to be smart"

HiKai

May 1, 12 17:40

Post #20 of 23 (1052 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I learned this lesson many years ago and it took a lot of races to figure it out, you have got to practice race pace in training so you know what your body can handle

kathy_caribe

May 1, 12 17:59

Post #21 of 23 (1036 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [Moose1406] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

Moose1406 wrote:

I run pretty much year round in 30 to 32C with 70+ humidity and take water with me even on a 30 min run. I do find that priming myself with water BEFORE running is helpful but still essential to take water with me.
http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com

Kilo Juliett

May 1, 12 18:28

Post #22 of 23 (1013 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [C Bass] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

I think training during the hottest time of day would help.

As for hats, I think they do help. I have dark hair and I feel like without a hat my head just bakes. Plus hats help keep sweat out of your eyes.

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fatntired

May 1, 12 20:26

Post #23 of 23 (973 views)

Re: Heat Tolerance [ktj] [In reply to]	Quote \| Reply

hats keep the heat in - its been proven. use a visor and vaseline above eyebrows to keep sweat out of your eyes...try it in training before you try it racing