How to Optimize Performance in the Heat

Audio Transcript

Sinead: Hey everyone. Welcome to this episode of Runners Connect podcast.

Coach Sinead here with you to answer your training and racing questions and help you run smarter and faster.

Today, we have a great question from Angelo on racing in the heat.

Angelo says, “How should you prepare for a marathon, or a half marathon differently when race day forecast is hot and humid? Any tips for the day of the race and warm up routine?”

Great question especially as summer is upon us.

A lot of us are going into races that may not have the most desirable of conditions and there are some tricks to running a marathon, and a half marathon in the heat.

First off, you mentioned warm up routine Angelo, so I’m going to talk about pre-cooling a little bit.

Pre-cooling is a technique used to slightly lower a runner’s core body temperature before they start running.

This in turn extends the amount of time a runner can run hard before hitting that critical temperature threshold.

Studies have confirmed that pre-cooling can significantly improve performance in hot and humid conditions.

One study, in particular, reported that pre-cooling can boost performance by 16% and another one showed a 2.6 degree average core temperature difference after a 5K race, between subjects who pre-cooled with a vest and those that did not.

If you want to invest in a cooling vest, you can certainly do that.

There’s a good one made by Cool Down USA and also another good one made by Glacier Tek.

There’s some really good ones out there, and I will admit that they are a bit pricey, but there are some creative ways to get the same benefits without actually buying a vest.

First off, you can buy a disposable cooler bag and you can get this from any drug store or you can get them from CVS or Wal-Mart, basically just something that is going to keep ice frozen for a few hours.

Then what you want to do is freeze a paper cup of Gatorade or even buy some freeze pops and put them in your cooler.

You can eat the freeze pop or Gatorade slushy 10 to 20 minutes before your race and this will help to cool your core temperature down from the inside.

Another thing that I have done in the past and I continue to do to this day is, wet a small hand towel or a bath towel and place it in the freezer overnight.

The next day you can put it on your neck, head and back, 10 to 15 minutes before the race starts.

I personally like to put it in a plastic bag, so it’s not getting everything I own wet, on the way to the race, but that’s a really good way to again, lower your core temperature before the gun goes.

Just to be clear, you want to do this after you do your actual warm up, after you’ve done your jog before you get on the starting line.

You want to do this after that, so you kind of cool your core temperature down a little bit.

Another thing you want to be really conscious of when it is hot and humid, is your electrolyte intake.

It goes without saying that you want to make sure you get all the electrolytes you can before a lengthy race, like a half marathon and a marathon.

Electrolytes will prevent cramping and help you to maintain better fluid balance, so it’s not all just about hydration.

Obviously, hydration is crucial, but if you’re only drinking water, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

You need to make sure that you are taking in some sports beverages to get your electrolytes up and try to even get some electrolyte tablets or powdered mixes as well.

I don’t recommend experimenting with something new the day of the race, so if you have used anything like these in the past, stick to those.

If you want to practice and test out a few in training, obviously, you’re training in the summer now, so you can determine which ones work best for you and which ones your stomach can tolerate, especially when your stomach is a little bit more vulnerable in the heat.

I will list out a few electrolyte products that have been tried and true, and that a lot of runners swear by them.

If you are Hammer Fizz, this one’s a really good one. It’s got all the electrolytes you want: calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. That’s a really good one.

Nuun is also a fantastic one.

This is the one I use personally and I not only love the effects, but I love the taste of it as well, so it’s a really good one.

It’s got loads of calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium – the four main electrolytes you want in any electrolyte drink.

A few more are Nathan Catalyst. This one also has all the electrolytes you want, Hammer and Dioralyte is another good one and SaltStick Electrolyte cap, that’s another great one if you want to try that one out.

Getting back to your core temperature, throughout the race you want to make sure that you are throwing some water on yourself here and there.

You should be dumping water on yourself as often as you can.

This isn’t a revolutionary tactic by any means. It’s sometimes good to be reminded. I have gone through plenty of hot races where I just skipped the water stations, because I thought it would take too much time veering out and then veering back in, whereas it probably would have benefited me more than just trying to push through.

Make sure when you get to a water station you do take a cup and just dump it right over your head.

If you’re in a marathon, you can also carry a bottle of cold water to keep squirting on yourself every five to 10 minutes like the pre-cooling strategy, the longer you can keep your skin and core cool, the better you’ll be able to run at the end.

Also, if you have some very good friends that can position themselves on the course and hand you a cold bottle of water late in the race, that’s also a great way to lower your core temperature when it has begun to truly elevate.

Back to your hydration. Like I said earlier, hydration is obviously crucial. Almost every runner knows that by now.

I learned that the hard way too many times to count.

Generally, you want to drink about 10 to 12 ounces of fluid every three miles in a marathon and a half marathon as well, if it’s hot out.

Well, it may make sense to drink more than this. You also have to be wary of how your stomach will react to drinking that much fluid and still trying to run.

Obviously, your stomach is being jostled around while you’re moving and so putting too much fluid in it can upset it.

A few tips for spacing out your hydration on a hot day in a marathon, is to try to spread out your fluid intake so you’re taking small amounts of four to five ounces every few minutes.

This might mean you have to carry a bottle or even just be adept at carrying a cup, but it’s worth it in the early miles.

It’s good to take pre-emptive action.

Obviously, you want to hydrate well before the race as well as in the days preceding the race, but you also want to make sure that in those early miles, you are taking some of pre-emptive action with your hydration, so you don’t suffer in the later stages of the race.

Again, don’t be afraid to slow down through the aid stations.

Like I said before, I, in the past, have skipped water stations and paid the price later on in the race.

At the end of the day, the benefits outweigh the costs and you’ll be thanking yourself later in the race for having done what you did, because again, it’s just not a good idea to skip water stops when it’s upwards of 85 degrees out.

If you feel sloshing in your stomach, this generally means it’s full, so don’t push this limit because if you do, you might end up cramping.

Just make sure that you are staying conscious and don’t overdo it with the hydration, but continue sipping throughout the race every few minutes, just to make sure you are setting yourself up well for the later miles of the race.

One more thing I’ll really say for running races in the heat and the humidity is, don’t be afraid to adjust your pace.

I grew up in South Carolina where it’s almost unbearable during the summer and I know a lot of our listeners know the struggle, so you have to accept the fact that you’re going to be running slower than your desired pace, on a day where the conditions are just not ideal.

Starting out too fast and overheating, is definitely not a strategy to run your best race and stay safe, so you want to make sure that you go out conservatively.

At Runners Connect, we have a free temperature calculator for members.

If you are a member, go check that out – it’s in the download section and it will help you adjust your pace to accommodate for the conditions.

You might not like to see the numbers that come up, but believe me, it will be Godsend when you get into the later stages of the race, to have gone out more conservatively than you would, if the conditions were absolutely ideal.

I just interviewed 1979 Boston Marathon champion, Jack Fultz a few weeks ago. If you want to check that out, it’s on our Run to the Top Podcast, but for those of you who aren’t aware, the 1979 Boston Marathon is known as the run for the hoses and this is because it was the hottest Boston Marathon in history.

It was something like 102 degrees that day and spectators came out with all their sprinklers and garden hoses to cool off runners as they passed, but Jack Fultz had a lot of great tips for running in the heat.

He went out very, very conservatively in that race and ended up working his way gradually into the lead at 18 miles, so he definitely took his time and that’s the name of the game, as he said, when it comes to running a marathon in the heat.

If you want to check out that episode of Run to the Top, you can find it at runnersconnect.net/rc8211.

Jack Fultz had some great things to say, especially on how to alter your race plans when you’re running in the heat, so make sure to check that out if you’re interested.

Angelo, thank you so much for submitting this question. I enjoyed answering it and it’s a great question considering the time of year.

I hope what I’ve said has helped you and our listeners today.

If you have a question you would like to submit for an upcoming episode, you can do so at runnersconnect.net/daily. Again, we would love to hear from you on anything to do with racing, nutrition and training, so please feel free to submit your questions.

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I think that just about does it for the day, but thanks so much again for joining me and I hope you have a fantastic run today.