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Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest?
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Greetings all-

Im a taller guy and have a lot of trouble in the heat. Brainstorming options to avoid the cook-fest that is the St. Croix run (do it every year, every year i hate the run more).

Has anyone ever tried wearing a cooling/ice vest DURING the run of a race?
-the normal protocol for cooling vests is you wear them during warmup, and then take them off for races.
-typical product is here: http://www.arcticheatusa.com/cooling_products.html
-Clearly if you are worried about heat on the run, you cant "wear them during warmup" because tri's dont have warmups for the run (we call that the bike), and any ice vest would melt over the course of a bike leg
-im brainstorming whether you could actually put an ice vest on during T2 and then run in it? The vest (link above) weighs about 2 lbs- so given the traditional rule of 1lb=1 minute in a marathon, that would suggest in a HIM, you pay a weight penalty of just 1 minute- which seems like nothing. St croix run times suggest most people lose 10-20 MINUTES due to the heat of the run- so a cooling solution that only cost you 1 minute in weight seems very interesting...

-of course keepign it frozen until T2 might be exciting- presumably you freeze it overnight, then leave it packed in ice in T2 until you get there?

Anyone try it?

N


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Proud member of the Guru Cartel, EH!
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [nfreeman] [ In reply to ]
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I've given this some serious thought myself.

I agree with your reasoning...performances in hi heat conditions suffer a lot more than people probably realize. I don't think the weight of the vest would be a disadvantage.
You don't need to keep it frozen until you put it on...some of these vests, when properly prepared will cool you for 6+ hours.
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [nfreeman] [ In reply to ]
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Definitely hunt down some articles regarding the Garmin/Chipolte Pro Cycling Team. Zabriskie, Vandevelde, Millar, and Pierce have been using a couple different systems before and during races under the supervision of Dr. Allen Lim. Cooling vest are being used during warm-ups before a time trial. During a hot Tour time trial last year Vandevelde was using a cooling system within his skinsuit. Again, there are some articles out there on what he had set up. Simply, it looked like a small pocket stitched into that back of the skinsuit right below the tip of the helmet fairing. Inside the pocket something cool. Gel pack?
At the Elite TT's last year in Orange, CA it was pretty hot. I saw the vest being used by the Garmin guys before the start. It was right then that I knew I wanted one. Seeing the on-the-bike set-up by Vandevelde has got me preparing to modify a skinsuit. Definitley hunt out Allen Lim's article. It was either on Velonews or Cyclingnews.com

Ian Stanford
Ally's Bar. AStacher LLC
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [istanford] [ In reply to ]
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I similarly saw Galen Rupp wearing one at nationals a year ago prior to his 10K race. I don't know about racing in one though, 10lbs is worth 20 s/mile. Perhaps during the cycling stage portion of the longer distance tris?
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [nfreeman] [ In reply to ]
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Let us know what you decide to do. I've looked them for warmups for time trials like Garmin but just haven't pulled the trigger yet. There are a variety on EBay and Amazon.
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [nfreeman] [ In reply to ]
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this one would look way better though ;-)
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [nfreeman] [ In reply to ]
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Last summer I got to be a lab rat for a new prototype cooling suit the the Canadian Forces is looking at using for wear underneath our chemical suits.
It involved running on a treadmill in a full CBRN suit with the cooling shirt on underneath and temperature sensors.
It's basically a skin tight shirt of tiny tubes that connect to a 'fanny pack' around your waist. Inside there is a small pump(2xAA battery) and two bottles of solution(maybe 200ml). I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I guessing it's an endothermic reaction between the solutions.
It worked awesomely and the whole thing couldn't have weighed more than 2 pounds.
If we're just getting it, chances are the US military has had it for 10 years.
You could probably get your hands on one with enough searching...
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [nfreeman] [ In reply to ]
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I put ice in my bra at every aid station of the run for IMAZ (april), Honu 70.3 and Kona. I never once felt hot on the run.

My thinking is that is cools the blood from where it's being pumped, not just the head (when people put ice in their hat). Not sure if this makes sense medically or scientifically.

After the first 3 aid stations I never noticed the ice feeling cold.
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [istanford] [ In reply to ]
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VDV was actually just using pantyhoes filled with ice....Dr. Lim mentioned that in a presentation in Chicago. I've thought about it but already look dorky as it is..so why not?
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [PirateGirl] [ In reply to ]
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We want to put ice in your bra..., wait a minute, what are we talking about again? :)
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [jyeager] [ In reply to ]
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Ive been doing some more research.
There are 3 options:
  • Evaporative- basically a big sponge. I can duplicate this affect pouring water on my long sleeves. Wont work well in high humidity at st croix. This is the cooltek stuff. I think this is not much upside vs just pouring water over myself.
  • Ice based- ice packets in vest.
    • Advantages: as it melts the ice goes away so you dont care melted ice around.
    • Disadvantage- cant see how i can keep it frozen until T2. Even in a cooler with ice it woudl probably melt in the 6-8 hours between arrival at race and getting to a HIM T2
  • Gel phase change: These vests carry packets of gel that freeze at temperatures like 50-60 degrees.
    • Disadvantage:
      • weight 2-3 lbs, sometimes more. Even as it melts it still doesnt drip away because its closed packets, though i guess you could throw it away
      • Kind of expensive- cant find anything for less than about $120
    • Advantage-
      • has the thermal energy of melting ice, but will stay hard frozen in ice water, since its freezing temp is above 32 degrees.
      • Ads claim they stay cold for 2-3 hours, which even if when running its only 1-2 hours that gets you most of the way through a HIM run.
      • You would store it in T2 in a bucket of icewater- i think a styrofoam cooler full of ice would definetly stay cold for 6 hours. it does for beer.
      • Added advantage of storing beer in cooler for after race
  • Carrying ice/stuffing ice into clothing
    • This is what i did all this year
      • put ice in my hat, carried in my hands, stuffed it down my shorts, etc
    • Advantages
      • Free
      • not very heavy- keep picking up more ice at aid stations
    • Disadvantages
      • I think i lose a TON of time at aid stations getting this set up- have to find ice at aid station, put in hat, etc
      • Most races dont have ice at every aid station- i can melt all the ice i set up almost every aid station. Most races have ice only every 2-3 aid stations

I think i kind of want to give one of those phase change things a try. I was doing the "ice everywhere" thing this year, and i think i lost a LOT of time finding ice, stuffing it in shorts, adjusting it, etc. I did however notice a HUGE change in my running speed at hot races

What i am in particular looking at is this: http://www.amazon.com/...231521436&sr=1-3

THis is the gel packs from the gel vests, minus the vests. I was thinking that instead of the whole vest, i could sew these gel packs into a compression t shirt, pu thte whole shirt in the cooler, and just change shirts at T2.

Anyone else want to give it a try? Anyone tried it?

Here is a picture of th slipstream prototype cooling jersey:

http://www.velonews.com/photo/75284

Also found this comment from allen lim on the saris website "I designed the ice vests Pearl Izumi built for us because I wasn't happy with ones on the market so I don't have any recommendations. In the past we just filled tube socks with ice and put them down riders jerseys. You might want to try that as a simple solution until I convince Pearl to change their minds."

Also found this article about garmin/chipotle- they are clearly wearing their ice socks in races: http://www.velonews.com/article/80922

Any further thoughts?

N


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Proud member of the Guru Cartel, EH!
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [nfreeman] [ In reply to ]
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What about one of these puppies :)




http://medgadget.com/...ts_the_market_1.html
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [nfreeman] [ In reply to ]
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I think you are right to consider this primarily for the run.

Cycling has a lot of cooling effect already...except under the helmet where cooling just your head can make a notable difference...
So consider searching for an option for the helmet too.
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [nfreeman] [ In reply to ]
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I too suffer in the heat. For IMWA I wore a long sleeve rash guard (white sleeves) which I soaked at each aid station. That plus ice on head/in shirt/in shorts/in shoes helped a lot. I will wear the long sleeve rashguard for IMC this summer again. Whole lot cheaper.

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [tim_sleepless] [ In reply to ]
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I saw a documentary on that product. The results were really impressive. Of course, it's not very practical for racing, but I could see them being very helpful in the med tent.

In Reply To:
What about one of these puppies :)




http://medgadget.com/...ts_the_market_1.html
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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [OWEN_MEANY] [ In reply to ]
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I heard that the De Soto arm coolers worked pretty well.



~~I may go out in a body bag, but never in cuffs~~

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Re: Anyone ever tried racing IN a cooling/ice vest? [JDB-Tri] [ In reply to ]
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I just came across this old thread.. i work for a company that sells liquid cooling vests to the US Army and USMC. We've got them in helicopters and tanks. I've been doing sales & business development on it for the past 6yrs. I'm a defacto subject matter expert in this field and have looked at it for racing as well. The systems we use are vapor compression coolers (like a micro fridge that pumps cooled water to a tube lined vest). Very practical in a tank...not so practical if you have to carry that box and a battery (~17lbs) on a long run!

The ice vest won't do you much good. At high ambient temps and the fact that your body is plugging along like a furnace while running you'd be lucky to get 40 minutes out of that ice vest. Once the stuff melts you're stuck with the additional vest plus the fact that since it's not cooling you any more you're actually heating yourself up. Not a good idea.

For the purposes of a race you'd be best off as someone suggested and taking in a lot of fluids to remain hydrated and also drench yourself at the aid stations. THe evaporative effect will do a lot to cool you down.
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