Your plan involves more heat training than I did last year in preparation for IMTX (coming from Chicago).

In each of the last three weeks I did a couple of runs on an indoor track during which I overdressed (sweats and a hat) followed by a long, hot shower, which was more or less like a steam sauna. I overdid the shower the first time and got nauseous. I raised the temp in my basement so that it was warm on 1-2 indoor rides per week, but I didn’t make it super hot. Just enough to sweat a lot more. I didn’t do a hot shower after the rides. I also managed to do one ride and one run in the Woodlands a few days before the race.

As for race day, I’ve always worn a hat and found that dumping ice down my trisuit and putting some in my hat is very effective. On the bike I wore a visor without problem. I was careful with my salt intake too.

I ended up handling the heat fine despite not having any exposure to warm weather before traveling to TX. My warmest outdoor bike ride was a starting temp of 32!

Good luck!

I've done the dry sauna heat training method twice while training in Michigan for a mid-November race in Florida.

In the last 6 weeks I worked my way up to 30 min after hard swims and runs 4 to 6 days a week. I never did any actual workouts in the heat, I don't think they are productive.

There's nothing special about working out in the heat with less power or speed, it gives you less stimulus to improve. The biggest increase in fitness comes from blood plasma increases that are due to being in the heat and not from a heated workout where you do less work.

I had some of the best races of my life those years.

I document my protocol here. I too live in Colorado and race at sea level in heat - the main thing I want to ensure is to hydrate well on my travel day. For some reason I tend to dehydrate when coming down from 5300ft to sea level, which affects blood plasma volume. I'm not sure where you swim, but if it's at the same gym as your sauna then just do that after your swim and save a trip. As for riding indoors with warm clothes on, I think 60 mins Z1 is fine. 90 mins Z2 will most likely be quite taxing but with not much additional heat benefit. I really try to separate physical training from heat prep training and not try to do both simultaneously. So for example I would do a recovery ride indoors and Z1 for 45-60 mins. All other "real" training I would try to optimize for the training output (being able to execute it well, and then also being able to recover for the next session).

For race day, ice in the shorts works well on the run. For the bike, I would not replace the visor with sunglasses - the cooling effect is not material on core temp even though it may feel a bit cooler. Pour some water from aid stations over your top and the wind effect will definitely help with cooling (more so that visor/no-visor).

---

____________________________________

Are you ready to do an Ultraman? | How I calculate Ironman race fueling | Strength Training for Athletes |

We’ve worked with a lot of athletes (both pros and age-groupers) who are optimising their heat training, and we can share some insights.

Heat training is very individual, which makes it difficult to find a ‘one approach suits all.’ Some athletes have dialed in what works for them, but that same approach might not work for someone else. There’s a tendency to do too much (either with too high of a core temp, or with too much duration). This doesn’t give greater benefits, but it can cause a lot of fatigue that interferes with the rest of your training.

On the other hand, too little means that you don’t get the heat adaption benefits.

We’re big believers in precise heat training. We try to help each athlete find their ‘sweet spot’ of heat training. In particular, they identify the core temp range that will give them adaptions without causing excessive fatigue. A key part of this strategy is to have real-time, accurate measurement of core body temp. Measuring core temp with electronic pills or rectal probes are options, but of course we believe our wearable sensor is a more practical choice for athletes.

Once the heat training zone is identified, it’s a matter of spending the right amount of time in it. Some athletes will do a 2–3 week heat training block, where they spend 45–90 minutes a day, 6 days/week, with their core temp in that zone.

Others find that interferes too much with their regular training and wish to spread it out more, with fewer days/week of heat training. They find that 2–3 days/week, with 45–90 minutes day in the heat zone, is sufficient. But that will take longer – maybe 5–6 weeks to build the blood plasma and haemoglobin.

As Rob points out above, doing spending substantial time in the heat zone can be hard to do at higher workout intensities. Many prefer doing their heat training as z1 work on an indoor trainer – either in a very heated room or while wearing a lot of clothes.

Or, what also works is getting into the heat zone toward the end of a more intense workout, and then extending the heat portion in the sauna or hot bath. Unfortunately, the only way to accurately measure core temp in the sauna/bath is with a rectal thermometer.

---

CoreBodyTemp.com
info@CoreBodyTemp.com