Running in the Heat Part 3
Preparing to race in the heat is similar to preparing for a regular run, just elevated.
As with any training/racing in the heat, you must be optimally hydrated in the days leading into the race. Don’t wait until the last minute, down copious amounts of fluids, and think you’re adequately hydrated. Spend the last three or four days before a race focusing on daily hydration.
Once hydrated, the biggest challenge with a hot weather race is adjusting your expectations. As runners, we mentally struggle when we have to run slower than we know we could on a normal weather day. But, that’s just the way it is. In the heat, you must be careful, and the goal becomes how to optimize your result given the conditions.
Once you’re hydrated and have an adjusted goal, it’s all about race day strategies to mitigate the effects of the heat. The first tip is to stay cool as long as you can. This keeps your core temperature lower. Stay in air conditioning as much as possible before the race. If you have to be outside in the heat, seek shade and wear an ice vest to keep your core temperature lower and wrap yourself in cold towels. Anything you can do to keep your core temperature lower before starting the race is helpful.
Because the goal is to keep your core temperature low, your usual warm-up should be modified. Do as little as you can yet still feel race ready. For me, I tend to cut my normal warm-up in half and focus more on my pre-race strides rather than an extended period of jogging like usual.
During the race, take every opportunity to dowse yourself with cold water. Even in a short race like a 5K, I’ll grab water and dump it on my head. For longer races, it’s about hydrating and dowsing. Again, cold water on hot skin takes a lot of heat away.
Follow your normal fueling/hydration plan for longer races BUT as it gets hotter and hotter, dilute your fuel more and more. The GI system gets dehydrated in hot conditions and won’t tolerate concentrated fuel like it would in normal conditions.
If you normally take a get every 45 minutes and follow that with water, in hot conditions take half the gel, follow it with several sips of water (sip and go, not grab and gulp). Wait a few minutes then take the remainder of the gel and follow that with more water.
Adjust Again
You can pre-plan your fuel/water adjustment as described above, but you never really know how you’ll feel till you are in the race. That’s why you must keep an open mind and stay attentive to any symptoms of heat illness.
The primary goal is to avoid heat illness and have a positive race. “Live to run another day” is my mantra, so I’ll happily slow down in hot races to make sure I don’t get overheated and risk future training.