KO Triathlon Coaching Corner

Training in Hot Weather

As all the spring triathlon races are being canceled or postponed and you’ve hit the reset button on your training, it’s time to find a race this fall that you can get into. If you’ve found one or your race as a new date you’re probably about 5-7 months out before race day. Now since you were training for that spring race, you’ve established a good base foundation of fitness, but like last week’s blog post, you want to keep that fitness. Unfortunately, we’re coming into the summer months and hot weather.

I’ve heard so many stories from athletes who thought they were fit and prepared to race, but ended up bonking and in some cases not finishing because the weather on race day was to hot and humid. Usually my first question I ask them is, "so when and how were you training?" And 9 times out of 10 they say they did a lot of their training in the early morning or late evening, both inside and outside. Of course, many have families and full-time jobs and those were typically the only available hours they had. And I totally understand, but my second question is the one that points out the problem.... "So then when do you train on the weekends?" Again, the same answer, early morning or late afternoon. Now I'm pretty sure that no race starts when they train. Yet they train when its cooler and more comfortable. Their race(s) will always be miserable with that strategy. I know you wouldn't train on a flat road if your race was hilly, and that same game plan needs to be in place for weather conditions too.  

Train in the heat and humidity

I was at a meet-and-greet event last year with 3-time World Ironman Champion Craig Alexander as the guest and someone asked him a great question (could have been me...😏). How do you train and prepare for the heat and humidity of the Kona World Championship race? Without hesitating he said you have to train in the those conditions. The interesting part of his answer came next. He said he doesn’t train every workout session in the heat of the day, but he does train at least 20% of the week in the heat and humidity. Then 3-5 weeks from the race, that amount gets slowly increased up to 60-70%. He would also train during the day at the same time he would be on the bike or the run during the race to simulate the effects of the heat and humidity.

Let’s be honest, biking or running when its hot is no fun at all! In fact, it makes you ask the question “what did I get myself into”?!! But there are many benefits to training in the heat and humidity.

First, you’re training your body to perform in those conditions. As you get your body acclimated to those conditions, you’re becoming a better athlete that can withstand a wider range of temperature. Your teaching your body to sweat which keeps you cool. Sweating at a rate that’s much higher and sooner than you normally do to cool your body. This will help you better regulate the heat and humidity to develop a cooler resting body temperature.

Then there’s the science. It’s been proven that training in the heat and humidity increases your volume of blood plasma. Which in turn increases the oxygen delivery in the blood to the muscles. Some research results have shown that it also reduces the lactate acid in the blood. And that training in the heat and humidity has better performance results which increased VO2 max over training at altitude. 

         

So how do we train in hot weather?

Common sense and safety prevail when adapting to heat and humidity. It’s not recommended to just start running or biking during the hottest part of day. Heat and humidity acclimation training should be consistently done overtime. Small gradual increased amounts of time spent each week will improve your tolerance. Some tips to start in the beginning: Start with running on grass or dirt instead of hot payment. Find shaded areas or paths to run on, or trails that have drinking water on them. If biking, find routes that have ice and drink options on them.

That small amount every week will train your body to not only tolerate the heat and humidity but teach your body to dissipate your higher core temperature through sweat. This will be a great time to also experiment with nutrition. Through sweat, you’ll be losing a lot of sodium in the warmer temperatures, so work with your hydration. Hydration is critical to the process of heat and humidity acclimation.

If you have access to a sauna you could use that after a run instead. This will simulate the effects of the heat and humidity. Judge your acclimation level and depending on your tolerance, plan time spent in the sauna accordingly.

Acclimating to the heat and humidity puts a lot of stress on the body. Any large amount of time training in the heat and humidity should be considered a hard day followed by an easy day or rest day. Getting a good night sleep the night before will enhance the tolerance. Listen to your body and drink plenty of electrolytes. I exercise this heat and humidity acclimation strategy into my race preparation and into my athletes plans that I coach. But even though training in the heat and humidity can have amazing results, it must be performed safely and intelligently. 

Stay safe out there and keep training athletes!