So this went through my mind yesterday at Syracuse. "Why don't more people take active measures to cool down?"
My last two long races have been '17 IM Chat and yesterday's Syracuse 70.3 which have been pretty hot (low 90s or upper 80s depending on what i heard). As I was running through I was watching what people do to cool off which mainly consisted of running through the aid stations throwing water on themselves. I was given a coupole great tips prior to Chattanooga from a local pro which has been game changing for me in hot races. Yesterday's 90 degree heat did not affect me subjectively. Though undoubtedly I went slower, I never felt like I was overheating. So here it is. . .use as you please.
On the bike I wear arm coolers. Big deal you say and I'd be incline to agree. It's at the aid stations that I take a bottle of water and douse both arms as well as my jersey. With bare skin the water just runs off or evaporates within a few minutes. When they calculate surface area with burn injuries, it's the rule of 9s. Head is 9%, Front torso 18%, back chest 18%, each arms 9%, each leg 18%, genitalia 1%. So it's nearly 1/5 of your surface area that you can take advantage of the cooling effect. With the skin coolers, I stay moist and cool until the next aid station where it's rinse and repeat.
On the run, it's ice down the front and back of my shorts. The groin is an immensely vascular area with major vessels that bring blood to the lower extremities. Provides for great cooling effect. I noticed that if I even skip one aid station (so run 2 miles) then I can start overheating. Even in the 90 degree heat, I never felt like I was overheating. I also ice under the hat but that gets really cold.
My only other suggestion would be to use a ziplock bag so the water doesn't get into your shoes.
Hope this helps someone from heat exhaustion or worse.
My last two long races have been '17 IM Chat and yesterday's Syracuse 70.3 which have been pretty hot (low 90s or upper 80s depending on what i heard). As I was running through I was watching what people do to cool off which mainly consisted of running through the aid stations throwing water on themselves. I was given a coupole great tips prior to Chattanooga from a local pro which has been game changing for me in hot races. Yesterday's 90 degree heat did not affect me subjectively. Though undoubtedly I went slower, I never felt like I was overheating. So here it is. . .use as you please.
On the bike I wear arm coolers. Big deal you say and I'd be incline to agree. It's at the aid stations that I take a bottle of water and douse both arms as well as my jersey. With bare skin the water just runs off or evaporates within a few minutes. When they calculate surface area with burn injuries, it's the rule of 9s. Head is 9%, Front torso 18%, back chest 18%, each arms 9%, each leg 18%, genitalia 1%. So it's nearly 1/5 of your surface area that you can take advantage of the cooling effect. With the skin coolers, I stay moist and cool until the next aid station where it's rinse and repeat.
On the run, it's ice down the front and back of my shorts. The groin is an immensely vascular area with major vessels that bring blood to the lower extremities. Provides for great cooling effect. I noticed that if I even skip one aid station (so run 2 miles) then I can start overheating. Even in the 90 degree heat, I never felt like I was overheating. I also ice under the hat but that gets really cold.
My only other suggestion would be to use a ziplock bag so the water doesn't get into your shoes.
Hope this helps someone from heat exhaustion or worse.
