I generally found Texas worse than Kona. BUT I live in Canada, so racing in Texas in the spring, that's really my first full day bout of sun. Heat I can generate in my basement, but the solar load is tough (like your first day at the beach while on vacation....you're shelled after that). For Kona, I never found it that hot, but going in I had a full summer of heat and sun exposure. I believe the dew point in the Houston area is always less favorable than Kailua Kona. Sciguy will likely chime in with the actual math on that.

If you handled Texas in April/May fine, then Kona should be no problem. Kona is way more dry than the Gulf area. There is a reason that the Gulf of Mexico essentially keeps Northern Europe habitable. All that warm heat laden water is basically a heat conveyor belt all the way from the Gulf to Europe. Texas, you're racing near the source of that current and everything that comes with it.

Kona doesn't compare to Texas in regards to heat and humidity. We've had a lot of athletes come to The Woodlands to train in the lead up to Kona.

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Kona is a piece of cake compared to Houston. I live in The Woodlands and both times when I did Kona there was never a moment during the race that I thought to myself "it's hot" whereas that's just about a daily occurrence here. Just this morning I did a 13 mile run leaving shortly after 5:30 am and the heat index was around 88. I've got to use newspapers to dry out my running shoes after any run over about 5 miles they are so soaked with sweat.

Having said that this year's IMTX was very different than past IMTX races (earlier date) and a typical summer here in The Woodlands. It was much milder and thus many people PR'd the course by a good margin.

I did TX this year and it was chilly!

One thing about Kona the years I have gone is that the aid stations, which are closer together that other races on the bike, have ice cold water bottles. You can really keep yourself cool through most of the bike. The run is really really freaking hot, probably like a normal summer day in Houston.

I take it you have never been to Houston during the summer. Kona is cool in comparison to Houston during the summer. :-)


I just got this on my phone this morning, which we get probably a couple times a week:

• Issuing Office: Houston/GalvestonSource: National.Weather.Service
  5:14am CDT, Sun Aug 20
  

... HIGH HEAT INDEX VALUES EXPECTED TODAY... VERY WARM TEMPERATURES COUPLED WITH HIGH HUMIDITY WILL PRODUCE HEAT INDEX VALUES BETWEEN 103 AND 107 DEGREES. HEAT INDEX VALUES MAY BE HIGHEST ALONG THE COAST WITH HIGHER HUMIDITY. A HEAT ADVISORY MAY YET BE REQUIRED LATER TODAY IF HEAT INDEX VALUES OF 108 OR HIGHER BECOME LIKELY. HEAT INDEX VALUES SHOULD BE LOWER MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITH INCREASED CLOUD COVER DUE TO SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. THIS MAY LIMIT HIGH TEMPERATURES TO THE MID 90S INSTEAD OF THE UPPER 90S. WHETHER OR NOT HEAT ADVISORIES ARE ISSUED, YOU NEED TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND OTHERS FROM THE IMPACTS OF THE HEAT. IF OUTSIDE, STAY HYDRATED, TAKE BREAKS IN THE SHADE AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE AND LIMIT STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES. IF DRIVING, NEVER LEAVE KIDS, PETS OR ANYONE WITH LIMITED MOBILITY ALONE IN A VEHICLE FOR EVEN A FEW MINUTES AS RAPIDLY RISING TEMPERATURES COULD REACH DANGEROUS OR EVEN DEADLY LEVELS. REMEMBER TO LOOK BEFORE YOU LOCK! KNOW THE SIGNS OF HEAT STRESS AND SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION IF YOU SUSPECT THAT YOU OR SOMEONE ELSE IS EXPERIENCING HEAT ILLNESS.

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Thanks..That helps ease my brain a bit. I have raced Texas 3 times going in with my run in top form only to crumble every time. I could never get that one right. The course isn't that challenging in comparison to other venues but that weather is sneaky difficult. Looking forward to Kona!

MonthHighLowJuly94°F74°FAugust94°F73°F


houston above


Kona in Oct 6-8 degrees less than Houston in summer, must really suck there.

Take your time in the aid stations to keep/get cool, you will be fine.

I crumbled today here in Austin 10 miles into a 20 mile run. Started running at 9:40am, just mentally and physically crumbled. I am sure hoping its better/cooler in Kona! But you never know......Running in Aug/Sept in Texas is can be very mentally disheartening, for me. Would it be better to be training in cali, boulder, Nh? I don't know, they don't get the "heat adaption" but you also recovery so much faster when you train in cooler temps.

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

Do you have the option of doing your intensity runs on the treadmill in air conditioning. This is what I used to do on biz travel in Taiwan. I would do 20 min outdoors, come back to the hotel, intervals on the treadmill in air conditioning and then head back outdoors to wind down.

One thing to keep in mind. People have been doing some research on getting the same FTP/threshold gains by exercising in heat at lower intensity as one might get in the cool at higher intensity. Intuitively it makes "sense" because however you cut it, your heart does not know why it is getting overloaded be it from mechanical stress or heat induced stress. It's just all stress requiring more blood flow to the working muscles and extremities. My anecdotal experience has been that every time I have come back from summer biz trips in Asia, or racing in the Caribbean or Texas and come back home to my trainer, the watts are up. It does not last that long, but it appears to be materially better. Maybe part of this is the blood plasma expansion adaptation to heat that quickly goes away in the cold.

But in any case, maybe doing treadmill intervals in the cool so that your body can also adapt to the mechanical load on the muscles (would be a good thing anyway....you don't want that to get detrained). Same issue can kick in coming down from altitude. Their cardio is awesome, but their muscles are not used to the mechanical load that their cardio can no deliver at sea level...and if they come down from altitude to humidity, the blood plasma expansion has not caught up. At least you have that part going from Texas summer to Kona.

My mother and I both are doing Kona this year and we have been training in this crazy Texas heat.

I'm following this closely and hope it definitely is somehow cooler there than it is here, bc this is brutal!

Paul thats actually exactly what i have been doing: treadmill speed work during the work week, long runs on weekends at low intensity outside, brick runs under 8 outside and over 8 on treadmill. I seem to find 8 miles or about 1 hour is the magic or not so magic number where shit goes south.

Funny enough was just talking to my coach today about blood plasma thing too.

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

I remember one run in Taiwan when it was so hot and humid that after one lap of the track, I had to stop running to walk to let my heart rate settle down but then while walking with so little airflow, I would start overheating quickly so I had to start running for airflow. Finally gave up and realized I was not getting any useful training done that I could not do sitting in a sauna, so hit the hotel treadmill. When I got home to Canada and sat on my computrainer, I literally could ride at 100% FTP without generating any sweat. It was crazy how my body adapted from just 10 days in Japan and Taiwan trying to do my "easier" runs in the heat+humidity.

I have also been experimenting with multiple daily bouts in the "sauna". Each time I get in my car, I have been driving the car with windows shut at full heat with the fans on full throttle. But my drive to work or pool is only 10 minutes so not really that long. It's not like I am racing right now and need to heat adapt, but I am just playing around to see if there is also a mental tolerance component. Fortunately, I don't have to wear a suit at work (at least most days). I think somewhere you said you are a dentist, so your patients may not like a sweaty doc LOL and its not necessary in Texas anyway.

I'm hoping this is the case with me. I did not get to run very consistently since last ~November due to some nagging calf/Achilles issues. Finally got it worked out and was able to start up in May/June. Just in time for Houston to kick up the heat. I've gotten a 90 minute run in once in that time and I had to start it at 5:30 a.m. and go at a snail's pace. My first 70.3 is in October and the lack of confidence in my run is something that concerns me. With the heat/humidity, it's hard to really get a feel for where I'll be when the temps are in the 70's. I do some runs on the treadmill, but I absolutely hate running on the treadmill. Anything over an hour is mind-numbing.

What about 15 min jog outside, + 60 min on treadmill in air conditioning with hill repeats for the entire hour (do a pyramid set start at 5% grade at a given speed, down to zero, up to 6 down to zero all the way up to 12 hold it at a constant speed for the hills and recover at a faster speed for leg turnover....time goes quickly)....then 15 min jog outside. 90 min done which is plenty long for a half IM even if you are a 2 hour runner.

lol, Paul i used to do the car think back in college to try to get used to Heat for tennis matches, would watch sweat pool in cup holders, lol. Yea current job situation does not allow for this. I like to think simply walking dogs about 30-45 min a day outside gives some more heat adaption.

Heat is just so tough overall to train in, i have head a mild headache similar to a hangover since my long workout Sat. I think another thing I will have to do better job of: Friday needs to really fuel up and hydrate optimally, almost like I was going to go out a race a IM on sat or sun. When you go into 7-9 hours of workouts over 2 days if your fluids are not topped off its does not end well.

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

I live in Austin and the heat is miserable, like during summer it can horribly mess up your workout miserable. Ive done 95% of my training the past few months indoors as my long weekend workouts push me into the afternoon, and I would not recommend training during the early afternoon outdoors unless you want to melt. Since my upcoming race is in cool weather I have no need to train in the heat. The only positive note is that if I ever decide to run Badwater it will be only slightly hotter than an Austin summer.

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2x Deca-Ironman World Cup (10 Ironmans in 10 days), 2x Quintuple Ironman World Cup (5 Ironmans in 5 days), Ultraman, Ultra Marathoner, and I once did an Ironman.

You could do the car sauna thing on your way home from work or to the pool (just not to work). I think it would all add up given that you have to spend a full 9+ hours in the heat in Kona. I assume your only actual heat exposure is during workouts and walking the dogs...home and office air conditioned. Not sure how much time is spent in car, but you could add a decent amount of hours per week in intense heat mode as you had done for your tennis career.....and here I thought I am on the only one with lose screws....everytime my wife gets in my car she asks why the temp setting is on "full red" and the silliness cannot be explained! Also since you live where the sun is strong, if you are "'recovering" you could read or do other stuff sitting outdoors in the sun and developing more solar radiation cooking tolerance. IM day is probably the only day where you spend 11 hours continuously in the sun (door to door sun exposure time) even if you live in Texas....your max bout of sun is likely your long ride only.