Train & race in the Florida Heat..
The Florida summer is upon us and as athletes its time to face the facts about training and racing in the scorching heat. There is plenty you can do to prepare your body for the conditions we deal with each summer. While the process needs to be gradual in nature, it is important to our success as Floridians that we acclimate our bodies for these same conditions that we will expect our bodies to perform in. Follow Zilla’s (that’s me by the way) H.A.R.D. facts to performing well in the Florida heat.
Hydrate
The most obvious way to deal with exercising in the heat is to hydrate. When you have a big day of training ahead of you, start the night before by taking a couple Thermolyte electrolyte pills before you hit the sack. The next morning, about an hour or so before you head out to workout, I recommend drinking a full serving of a sports drink, like Cytomax or E-Load Endurance. You don’t want to drink too much sports drink as that might throw your system all out of wack; one bottle. Also take two more Thermolyte tabs. After eating an average breakfast (3-400 cal), I also recommend you weigh yourself (more on that later). I also don’t recommend too much water either because your body has a way peeing out excess salt in your body. It can’t help you if its flushed down the commode. It’s always better to stay topped off than too much with your hydration and salt levels. During the workout you should have no less than 24 oz of fluid, 600 mg of sodium and 250-350 cal per each hour. You should practice the same nutrition each time you go out and tweak as needed.
Acclimate
Now that summer is here, we need to actually get out there and feel the heat/humidity if we expect to perform well on race day. Do a couple of short moderate efforts in the heat but save the intense stuff for the cool early morning or nighttime. The key here is to acclimate the body to the heat, not to overdue it. Slowly build up duration but not intensity based on the distance for which you are training. Staying at a comfortable effort level does the body more good than going too hard during this acclimatization process.
Recovery
After you complete your workout is a good time to re-weigh yourself. You will need to compare this figure to see how much fluid you have lost. Pay close attention to the outdoor temperature & humidity and log it somewhere to reflect on it prior to race day. Obviously if it’s hotter on race day, drink more and take in more electrolytes. After the weigh-in, within 30 min of the end of the workout start drinking and re-hydrate your body with at least one full bottle of sports drink and some protein. Everyone is going to be a bit different (re: body weight and size) so obviously keep that in mind.
Dress
I taught elementary physical education for 7 years in South Florida. I use to preach to my kids to try to remember which days they were going to have my P.E. class. That way they could dress appropriately. The obvious issue for them would be wearing tennis shoes, but I think even more importantly was the color of the kid’s outfits. I would tell them the whiter clothes you can wear, the better. Sometimes we would even make it a contest in class to see who would be named “whiteboy” (or girl) for the day. A perfect example of this is Torbjorn Sindballe’s dress in Ironman Kona every year. All white. Keep that in mind when you choose which outfit your going to wear out there in the oven.
Good luck this summer and race hard.
If you want to learn more about what you should be doing for nutrition come to the Nutrition Clinic Saturday, July 18th at 10 AM. Please RSVP to multisportgear@aol.com to reserve your seat.
Kevin