Training for heat? Anyone with experience?

Triathlon Forum
1

Hi all-

I’m in my final rampup for cancun- training out of warm but not hot boston.

Everyone says its an oven at that race- and i’ve read a bunch that heat is something that can be trained for…

so who has specifically trained for heat? what has worked? what regimen did people follow?

Ideas ive had-
-sitting in steamrooms
-doing the horrible hot yoga thing
-wearing too much clothing while training

Anyone with experience? research? unfounded opinions?

Thanks

Noah

2

Just don’t do naked calisthenics in the sauna. We have a guy who does that frequently at my gym.

Nobody likes that guy.

3

I would dothe best with what you have. Can you train in the heat of the day or is that not an option?

4

I would recommend the yoga (Bikrim) as a way to acclimate to really hot and humid environment. The class is 90 minutes and the one I go to probably is between 103-108 and very humid. I go at least once a week.

After a few weeks, I did a run in the middle of the day @ 92 degrees and it was not too bad. Going to yoga also has added benefits.

5

Move to South Florida?

Seriously, not a training tip, but once you get to Cancun try to spend time outside and out of the A/C. Your body will adapt better. This doesn’t mean burn yourself!

6

I have seen several articles on ultra running sites where people trained for heat by wearing too much clothing, seemed to work. I think they were doing their mid distance runs like this. I have trained for hot races by running at 2 or 3 in the afternoon. But it is very humid here and I was training for local stuff.

7

There are two ways of looking at running in the heat.

  1. Running outside in hot weather is tough.

  2. Running outside in hot weather IN FULL SUN, is a whole different animal.

I live in South Florida and I can run in 95 degree weather pretty well.
BUT, if you throw in the midday sun the running strategy changes.

I think if you get out in Boston when its very sunny and in the middle of the day, you will get the best heat training.

Personally, overdressing is not a safe or intelligent way to prepare for a hot run.

Dave

8

if you can train in high mid-day heat, do it. of course, the hottest you have is prob cooler than the hottest at your race. I’ve trained mid-day heat (95) at a moderate pace, then raced in the early am (maybe 85 deg) at a faster pace in the same general climate, and found the degree of difficulty to be similar. this might not help in your situation though, given the different climates for you of training v. racing. I think, generally, get out into the hottest that you can safely deal with, esp. to get used to breathing the thick air. good luck.

9

i’d go to the gym and use a spin bike or take a spin class and overdress a bit. they’re usually pretty hot to begin with unless they have some fans craking. doing this you don’t have to worry about getting into ‘problems’ during a ride or run. also, over dress all day long. keep a jacket on at work or something and wear sweats at home. i’m reading ‘swimming to antartica’ and to get ready for a cold water swim she would only take cold showers, never wear shoes (only sandals), never wear a long sleeve shirt of jacket. stuff like that. so, do the opposite. always have a windbreaker or something on, take hot showers, wear sweats around the house. also, shave everything, esp. the legs. when i moved from boston to florida i noticed that made a big difference.

10

First, its not the temperature (heat) you have to train for unless you are going for living at 50f to 90f. Its the combination of hot/humid so at the same relative humidity % a few degrees or more sun wont aclimate you better IMHO.

Try to run during hot parts of the day some times. If you are not use to it, not every day because I am sure it will take its tool and not on back to back days. It doesnt has to be at high noon or 3pm either but start getting into some hotter runs. Run with the best technical clothing you have forget about getting into sweatpants.

I dont know at what time you usually run but maybe something like 7-8am and 5-6pm will give you some feel for it. I am sure that temperature wise Cancun wont be much higher than Boston on a hot day (the ave high is 89f) but humidity wise (ave 86%) is the big difference. For instance right now Boston is at 46%. Of course this is just my opinion and I am not really an expert on anything, I just had lived in very hot and humid locations. Watch your hydration now during hot runs, you will probably have to adjust once you feel the humidity in Cancun and how it affects you over a period of several hours.

Peace

11

I have raced marathons, 10 K, and triathlons in heat exceeding 97 F…
What I did to prepare was to do a lot of runs, weeks in advance and leading up to the race during the hottest times of the day and the more humidity the better.I would do one training session in the heat, and sometimes add a wool or acrilic type hat, cotton gloves, and a turtle neck during the run to add to the heat stress. Watch what your body is doing, work up slowly and know the signs of impending heat exhaustion and know when to quit.
Have also trained on the bike at tempts 75-80 with full tights, long sleeve wind proof top, several layers underneath, and helmet etc. Did this for a lot of my hot weather triathlons along with the running strategy for racing in Callifornia, and Florida.
Hope that helps a bit

12

train indoors- without A/C on… it will get hot quickly… I see in Atlanta- training outdoors with longsleeves and tights- and 90F it worked well for those Kona bound…