Be brutal about keeping yourself cool on the bike ride, which means slowing enough to get water at every water station, dumping some on yourself and stowing the rest of the bottle in a back pocket rather than tossing a half-full bottle in the litter zone. Remember, the bike aid stations are 15 miles apart, which means you’re getting to them every 45 to 55 minutes, depending on your ride speed. Having a half bottle of water on you means you can douse yourself more often.
Have on your bike a bottle of your sports drink plus a bottle of water and drink often. I go by my bike computer and drink something every 10 minutes. If this means you pick up two bottles of water at the aid station, do it.
Once you get to the run, have a wide-mouth shorty bike bottle with your transition gear and carry it with you. This is for getting water and ice at every aid station for drinking and cooling. The aid stations are about a mile apart, which means you will be about 7 to 15 minutes between stations, depending on your speed. A faster runner might not need the extra but if you are going slower, having a nice bottle of icy water in your hand or run belt can help keep you cool.
Finally, if you think the heat is really going to take a toll on your run, you can run/walk the half marathon. Some people walk through the aid stations, others do that plus set a countdown on their watches to take a walk break of 30 to 60 seconds every five minutes or so. This can help to lower your overall heart rate, reduce muscle cramping due to repetitive stress and give your brain a break because running 13.1 miles is difficult, but you can always run maybe five minutes.
Raced Louisville in August twice as well - can honestly say if this weather was on the forecast I would have been ecstatic!
To the OP, I agree with what others have said. The humidity is a huge killer. Will it feel hot, yes. But in drier conditions I have had great experience with a cooling towel around the neck on the run, and a hat to protect from the sun. The hourly forecast on Wunderground looks like it will be in the mid 80’s around 12pm.
Piggybacking on the temperature being taken in the shade piece…the heat that you will produce going up Snow Canyon with the low windspeed across your skin for the evaporative cooling coupled with the heat coming off the pavement is going to be…unpleasant. But, the nice thing is you get a nice descent into town with high wind speed. Make sure to have a bottle of water on your bike as you get close to Snow Canyon so that you can dump it on you.
Like a lot of folks on ST, I’m in SE Texas - we know a thing or two about hot and/or humid training and racing. I did a Waco event on July 10th (a couple of years ago) - brutal and it wasn’t pretty.
Anyway, my recommendations (take them or leave them) are:
You can’t hardly drink too much on the bike - period. Take as much as you can on your bike, and drink as much as possible early. (as others have said, ensure you have enough salt). The goal is to be more hydrated at the end of the bike than at the beginning. Since you’ve just swam for 30’-40’, you’ll already be down in hydration and you want to get it back up before the run. Personally, on hot days I’m drinking 5-6oz every 5 mins in the first hour (2L first hour), and trying to stay on that pace as long as my stomach and bladder will allow. The hotter it is, the easier it is to drink more. I’ve never felt bloated on the bike or run.
Make sure you stay in your power plan during the ride. Burning matches on the bike affects you (or at least me) more when it’s going to be a hot run. This is true for me even if those matches are burned early.
Adjust your running pace. If you’re not at the pointy end of the race for your AG, you’re not trying to keep up and beat someone else. You’re trying to do the best you can on that day. See this page for pace adjustments: How to Adjust Run Pace in the Heat - by Brittany Vermeer
(Not my page and I have no affiliation with them)
Start the run with your own 700ml bottle, filled with the right amount of salt for the first hour of the run (this is in addition to your carb plan). If you’ve hydrated well off the bike and adjusted your run pace well, then you’re not replacing all your lost fluid, but replacing enough to finish well.
Wear white or yellow, with sleeves. I find blues and reds (and of course black) are hotter. I’ll wear arm sleeves on the run, and I might try calf sleeves this year. Not only will you reduce the risk of sunburn, I find it actually cooler than the sun directly on my skin. I also wear a light weight, light colored, vented hat (visor risks sunburned head).
My son-in-law swears by panty hose filled with ice around the next and down the front on the bike (Do the new rules disallow this now?). I hate cold, so I don’t do this. But if you don’t mind the cold, this will keep you torso cool during the bike.
Of course, pour water over your head at every run aid station (see KB’s run at Texas - excellent example of how to handle aid stations in the heat).
Everyone here has their tips and tricks, but just a reminder to not forget your sunblock. Sunburn affects your body’s ability to cool itself, so if you get fried and slow down, then you’re looking at more time in the sun where you can’t cool down… wear sunblock.
I also like running with ice in my hands. If an aid station on the run is passing out cups of ice, most goes in the kit (sports bra), and then I keep a couple of cubes for my hands or pass a big chunk back and forth.
Lastly, for what its worth, I’ve never worn my aerohead and thought god I’m hot because of this helmet - and I’ve raced in St. George four times in the last 4 years!
one more thing - if you have enough time, get insulated bottles. I like the Polar with the serge cap, they are very easy to drink from and seal well.
There’s tons of discussion on the interwebs about does it make a difference or not, my experience from Kona (see what I did there…) is that it makes a huge difference in keeping your hydration cold.
Good luck.
Never done a hot 70.3, but a tip I picked up here from the good ST folks and applied, even in shorter races, is to keep a cooler full of ice in transition (if room allows it). In fact I use two. One contains an ice bag for the bike, one for the run. Like this one. Just tuck it under your trisuit. I hate losing time bivouacking in transition, but even I thought it was worth the half minute or so.
You wouldn’t be able to do this with St. George’s split transition. You may be able to bring one to T1 in your morning clothes bag (without the cooler) and leave it in your bike gear bag while you swim, but you wouldn’t have one in T2 for the run (unless you drop it off with your run gear bag the day before, which obviously defeats the purpose).
At T100 Singapore they had ice socks for the pros, and were specifically telling them they couldn’t put them down the front of their suits in T1 (but back was OK).
Regarding the Aerohead, I’ve personally found it to be fine in hot races. YMMV.
Does anyone who has done this race previously recall where they put the sunscreen (if they do so?) I know at Santa Cruz 70.3 there was a giant dispenser right as you exited transition to the run, was hoping there would be something like that at StG, or at the run hydration stops.
I did the full in 2022 and stashed some of the little sample packets of sunscreen in my special needs bags on both the bike and the run. I stopped at both places to reapply, and didn’t regret the “lost” time one bit. It was warm that day, but not as warm as it looks like it will be for y’all this weekend.
I also remember drying out so quickly on the run. I would stash ice in my trisuit / hat and dump water on myself at every aid station, and I would basically be dry again by the next aid station. If your trisuit has interior pockets designed to hold ice, even better - you avoid running with an ice diaper.
This is true, however, you get dehydrated a lot faster than you realize. You’re cool as long as you’re sweating. But as soon as you run out of readily available sweat, you get hot really fast. I’ve lived in the desert a lot of years now and it can bite you before you know it.
Hm I don’t remember. 2022 full there were sunblock stations near the morning exit in transition, but last year… I don’t think I saw them? I may also just not have been looking for them. I swear by the Zealios sunscreen and it seems to work for me through the whole swim/bike/run even for 70.3. The little sample packs are great for applying in transition too!!
Just put a small tube in your T2 bag and squirt it all over you head leaving T2, and then take it off your head and apply it to shoulders/neck/arms as you start running. That’s what I do. It take no time and if you squirt it on your head if you have any hair it wills stay there until you move it around (you can literally carry it on your head)…kind of joking, but it all works fine and no lost time. You do it all in motion
IIRC, for 2023’s race they had a sunscreen station right before you exited T2. I don’t recall seeing sunscreen in T1.
To add to the wealth of advice here, my tip would be to walk through run aid stations so you can drink as much water as possible. You won’t lose much time but you will maximize your hydration.
Got in yesterday and checked into Ironman. Was a breeze driving up from Las Vegas (2hrs), getting to my hotel right near the finish line, and getting around town. Ironman checkin was super fast, no line despite ample people.
Got up to 90F yesterday, was hot in the sun for sure! I’m going to almost certainly walk all the aid stations to get max ice and hydration in between the stops on the run. On the bike, will play it by ear, hopefully it won’t be too hot before Snow Canyon, then I’m going to try and get 2 bottles of water at the last aid station near the top of Snow Canyon to dump on myself on the descent back into town.
Dropped of my bike as well, appreciated the good advice above about the re-route outside the main entrance, as a result, I didn’t go the wrong way and it was a piece of cake to park and drop off the bike. (It was a lot busier at Indian wells when I was there, parking spots were scarce, not so today, albeit still busy, but ample people directing traffic.)
Volunteers have been everywhere and they have been AMAZING. I’m trying to remember to stop and ask them about their lives some when I can, as most of them are local and have cool stories about themselves - hence volunteering!
Didn’t get to try the water, but for me, 65F is as warm as it gets, so should be a fun one!
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