How Can We Better Handle the Heat?

I thought sharing some of my experiences in handling the heat might be appropriate since we are looking at temperatures in the upper 90s for this weekend’s upcoming team race in St. George. While I do have some education behind these tips, many come from years of experience and ways that I have found that work well for me (as a bigger athlete…I’m 6’2, 80kg).

Power/Pace vs. Heart Rate

• Heat will wreak havoc on our paces and our power outputs. I have found these numbers fall off quickly as we experience cardiac drift in these conditions.
• I prioritize heart rate and RPE over all else as the marker of my physiological stress. By paying attention to this metric, I find that I am better able to regulate my effort and stay steady.
• Be patient! People will go out too fast and succumb to the conditions. Race your race and let it come to you. For example, this last year in Kona my power was roughly 15% lower than training numbers because I focused on heart rate. It is hard seeing that during the race. But trust me, the race will come back to you!

Core Temperature

• Managing your core temperature relates to your heart rate and pacing ultimately. I find that in these types of conditions, once I spike heart rate or push just a bit too hard, I rarely am able to recover. So, keep the core temperature down. I do this by staying wet, both on the bike and the run. This increases our convective cooling. Start this early!
• The “science” has some interesting things to say about the body areas that help cool efficiently. Head, hands, groin, and neck. Ice in your hat, down the front of your kit. Hold ice in your hand (anyone remember Sindaballe in Kona running with a glove on?). Freeze a bandana for T2 and tie it around your neck (this is also easily doused with ice water during the run).

Hydration

• Dehydration will end your race faster than too few calories. Science shows needs ranging anywhere from 24-50 oz of fluid. Now, take this with a grain of salt, and understand that this is a blanket statement. Different athletes and different conditions will present with different needs. Practice, and find what works for you, but you need to be more attentive to hydration needs in hotter races and training.
• Electrolytes: You will likely need to increase these. Sodium helps retain water and indirectly aids hydration. Here’s the thing though, our bodies are efficient, and too much sodium will cause our kidneys to start to excrete it.  And you guessed it, water follows. So, again, practice and find what works for you. If you are in a pinch and have not had time to practice before your race, then carry salt pills with you and titrate as needed. In other words, don’t just decide you need x number. Start conservative and add more as needed. You can always take another one, but you can’t undo those 3 grams you just took.

Calories and Fueling

• This one is huge! Because of dehydration in races like this, we need to be even more mindful of how many carbs we are taking. As we dehydrate, our guts lose efficiency in processing carbohydrates. This means they sit in our gut. Because of the concentration of sugar and osmolality, this will hold water in your gut as well.  This is Kona belly, that distended, sloshy belly! Not only is it uncomfortable, but you aren’t absorbing your calories, and your race ambitions go the wrong direction.
• We need to make sure that we keep hydration on par with carbohydrate concentration. We do this two ways: by increasing our hydration, and by decreasing your carbohydrate consumption. Again, this balance takes some time to find what’s right. If you haven’t had time to practice, I would focus on increasing hydration and potentially cutting carb intake to 80-85% of what you would normally take. (Kona this year for me was roughly 60g/hour.) See why zone 2 and fat adaptation is such a thing?

I hope this can be helpful for those of us racing in St. George, and for all of us who are in preparations for warmer races and training. I look at these as an orchestra. I don’t do just one, I adapt all of these parameters to handle heat better.

HAPPY RACING!