My testing experience is a bid muddled but I’d like to share anyway.
I had planned to peak and use the product for a July 4th 5k PR attempt. Typically that guarantees the hottest day of the year here in sunny California. As background, I am a clydesdale born in England fair skinned now living in Sacramento so needless to say heat is my biggest enemy. I passed out from heat stroke at junior high summer camp, nearly vomited in Hawaii on my honeymoon, and had to seek emergency medical attention on a cruise to Grand Cayman. At Full Vineman Aquabike last year I had to stop midway through the second bike loop and soak my head in a bucket of ice water to keep from melting. I chose Ironman Arizona in fall last year as my best shot of not experiencing heat issues at my first IM. Yes, it’s fair to say I am in Heat Shield’s target demographic.
Leading up to this race I was feeling terrible, feverish and tired. I debated about whether to even start the product but figured I was going to run the race no matter what and I wanted to be able to share my experience alongside the rest of the testers.
To make a long story short I was a whole day and 1/3 into the product pre-loading phase when I was diagnosed with mono and scratched from the race by doctors orders. I decided I would continue taking the product anyway as I was still hoping in the back of my mind to at least attempt the race (I hate to spectate, especially races I should be in!).
The interesting part of the story is that it was high 90s the entire week and comfortably low 90s on race day. I went out to cheer for friends and my wife at the race and while I didn’t get to test any real exertion, I did notice that the ambient heat wasn’t affecting me as much as I would normally expect. I tried a couple experiments alternating between the full sun and the shade and I must admit I nearly shivered in the shade while others were starting to sweat. We went to a pool party in the late afternoon and despite the temperatures out there I felt surprisingly fine lounging by the pool.
It’s hard to say with my fever how affected I was, but I’ve got to tell you laying at home all week I didn’t sweat like I normally would when the AC kicks off and I actually felt shockingly well regulated temperature-wise compared to the previous week.
So, does it work? Who knows. I honestly didn’t give it the fair shake I was hoping I would. Had I PR’d would I be on here saying Heat Shield was responsible for it? Doubtful as I trained hard and prepared well. However, I know my body and heat issues well enough to know when things are better or worse than I’m expecting.
Will I try it again? Absolutely! I’m hoping to be back for an August 8th sprint tri. If not, then maybe for something else this fall like a time trail or MTB race. I really liked the individual packets and the checkmark boxes for each dose. I do believe there’s a lot to be said for Chinese medicines, even if it does feel like witch doctoring sometimes. There are plenty of studies and hundreds of years experience to back up this particular potion (yes I research before taking anything). Outside of that, it’s nice to be able to do something/anything about heat management besides wearing long sleeved skin cooling fabric (which doesn’t work for me)… so there’s definitely a placebo effect.
I do have a couple of issues:
- It’s expensive. The preloading protocol necesitates the quantity, which adds up. However, even compared to the raw Chinese herbs which can be had for less than $12 for a similar dose, it’s a lot of money. I’m not sure if they’re adding additional electrolytes or anything like that, so the majority of the cost must go into the individual packaging and the r&d and marketing of course.
- I didn’t like the taste. I appreciated that they tried to minimize the flavoring and I do think watermelon would be a great flavor… but I couldn’t find the right quantity of water to get a consistently good taste. That being said, it wasn’t horrible.
- It doesn’t dissolve well. Even shaken up in a water bottle bits would still sink to the bottom. Even blended in a Magic Bullet it still didn’t dissolve fully.
- I’m not convinced that just adhering to a strict hydration protocol pre-race wouldn’t give you similar benefits. I guess that’s what we’re trying to determine here.
- I HATE the packaging. I don’t know if the washed out colors that make it look like it was printed on a home printer or whethever it’s the pseudo camoflague that looks more like autumn leaves… but I think there’s some opportunities for some cool graphic design there. I wouldn’t buy it if it was sitting on the counter at my local shop I guess is what I’m trying to say.
So that’s my review. Hope it’s helpful for what it is.