Training and Racing in the Heat
It’s mid July and the temperatures are routinely in the mid 90s or higher and, to add insult to injury, the humidity is so high your daily run can feel more like swimming! Believe it or not this is the perfect time to make some serious performance gains! All it takes is a good balance between being tough and reckless. Yes training in the heat can be dangerous (there is no doubt about that) but remember no one ever improved their performance by being comfortable...quite the opposite in fact. Heat training can be another great tool for your training toolbox if you just learn to deal with it properly. Here are some tips to training in the heat and when executed the right way you’ll see some real gains.
Embrace it.
A lot of your workouts are going to suck, embrace it and deal with it. Training is super easy when it’s 65 degrees, sunny and the wind is at your back but if that’s the only time you train... get used to never reaching your goals. When the going gets tough you need to get tougher but you also need to do a little bit of planning to help you embrace the heat. Your mentality goes a long way in hot conditions and if you can flip the switch in your head and allow yourself to suffer *just enough* your mental toughness will increase. Plan on being uncomfortable, don’t worry about a pace and just stay cognizant of how you feel. Plan the route you take in case you need to stop for water or do loops in case you need to cut your run short if you’re really approaching your limit. It’s a lot easier to tell yourself you can make it one more loop when you know you have the option to bail if you need to. Lastly, Body Glide is your friend. Put that stuff everywhere and I mean everywhere, if your skin is going to rub itself or any fabric make sure you body glide it.
Slow down!
This sounds obvious but it’s harder than it seems, especially if you’re ramping up your fitness in April and March while the temperatures are cool. Optimal temperatures for running is between 44-59 degrees, any temperature above or below that and your performance and pace will suffer. Runners running between 7:25 and 10:00 / mile slow between 4 and 4.5 seconds per mile for every degree F over 59. So at 80 degrees you might be 84 seconds slower per mile and at 100 degrees, it’s simply about mission accomplishment. Last July I had a run that was only 6 miles but the heat index was 110+. I had to take 20oz of water and a gel on a 6 mile run and I can’t tell you what my pace was but I do remember that run being a noticeable turning point in my training cycle. After I had that experience I was able to compartmentalize in my head how to run and train in the heat. The key for me was slowing down, way down.
Be safe.
The key to executing workouts in the heat is using your brain. Slowing down will help but you also need to make sure you are limiting your exposure and taking the necessary precautions. Hydrate, hydrate hydrate, and do it the right way! Your body needs more than just water so make sure you are adding in enough sodium in order for your blood cells to hold on to as much fluid as possible. My go to after a long hot workout is a soda followed by plenty of water (long meaning several hours, don’t ride for 30 minutes and slam a Sprite...it’s bad for you...albeit delicious). The carbs and sodium in the soda will help you rehydrate and recover. If you have the opportunity, make sure you run in as much shade as possible. It can be up to 10 degree cooler in the shade on a hot day and you’ll avoid getting sunburned. Sunburn will prevent your body from cooling itself efficiently and is obviously just a major annoyance to deal with when you’re already tired of being hot. Lastly, now is the time to wake up early and get your workout done before the sun gets too high in the sky and the temperatures max out for the day. Don’t be lazy, set your alarm and don’t hit snooze... you’ll never feel BETTER with an extra 9 minutes of half sleep. If you absolutely can’t get up early try to workout in the evenings when the temperatures are dropping but if you have 2 workouts a day morning and evening will be your best windows when it’s hot. If you still want to sleep in go back to the “Embrace it” section of this blog.
Don’t allow your brain to play tricks on you.
Just like anything else that is horrible your brain doesn’t want you to do it and it’s going to play all the tricks on you to try and get you to stay on the couch. Change your mentality from not wanting to suffer in the heat to thinking about how good it will feel when you accomplish your workout in the hardest conditions. If you’re training for a race that could potentially be hot (Eagleman) training on the treadmill or indoor trainer to avoid the heat isn’t going to cut it. Reframe your brain to be comfortable with the conditions because a race will not be cancelled because you’re nervous about heat on race day. You can also try things like running a new route or trail to make the training interesting and exciting or testing out new equipment. One of my go to tricks is buying new running shoes in July. I’m always excited to get them, it reignites my fire for running and ...hell we are triathletes, we never need an excuse to buy things! My favorite trick however is just telling myself I’m going to go run 2 miles. No matter how long my run is, if I don’t want to do it I just tell myself I’ll go out and run 2 miles and then I’ll come home and relax in the AC and I’ll still feel accomplished. 100% of the days I tell myself that, I go out and execute my entire run, I never just run two miles. I just need to give myself that excuse to get out the door and let my competitiveness take over. Try it, just get yourself out the door, you won’t regret it. Now is also the perfect time to be connected with a running group. Our Mission Multisport group run on Monday was HOT but it wasn’t so bad because we could suffer together!
It’s actually making you faster!
Every wonder why in October and November your running is the best it’s been all year? A big reason for that is because your body was used to performing efficiently in the heat and now that it’s 50 degrees you’re reaping the performance benefits of that training. When you train in the heat your perspiration rate increases dramatically and your body adapts to cooling itself down. When the lower temperatures take that job from your body more oxygen can get into your muscles and you’ll feel amazing! Research has also found that training in the heat increases athletes' blood plasma (liquid part of your blood) volume directly correlating to better cardiovascular fitness. It’s similar to the benefits you’d get while training at elevation but better since you’ll also be adapting to hot temperatures your body will be able to handle all varieties of temperatures better. Just like hill repeats, intervals, V02 sessions, track workouts, etc, heat training is a great stimulus for adaptation...it’s just not as fun or sexy and it doesn’t look good on Strava.
It’s easy to write some of these tips off as arrogant and unnecessary because training in the heat can be dangerous. I get it and it really can be dangerous but if you’re reading this post you’re likely in the category of people who have no idea what their body is capable of...because 99% of people don’t know, me included. I will tell you though that I found limits within myself that I had no idea existed and it’s simply because I pushed myself hard enough to find them in training. I’ve seen heat stroke in it’s most dangerous and real form during my time in the marines and I know what had to take place to push people to that line...you aren’t close to it riding your bike for an hour or two in July. That being said please PLAN accordingly...know the conditions, hydrate, eat, sleep properly and do everything you can do to perform well in hot conditions and I challenge you to SAFELY push yourself to the next level.
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-Ben Rotherham
Head Coach, MIssion Multisport