It’s Getting Hot in Here

~ Chocolaterunsjudy

So winter decided to really arrive just a few days before Spring, just to mess with us. My problem? It’s been cold in these parts. Like really, really cold. My other problem? My next half is in New Orleans. I guarantee you it won’t be this cold.

heat

I’ve tried to run hot, here and there, in a maybe vain effort to get used to running in heat. Because I don’t run well in heat. The jury is still out on what race day weather will be. I know it’s going to be quite warm our first few days in NOLA, which will be a welcome change from what we leave behind. It looks like it might cool down a bit on race weekend, but that remains to be seen.

frifive2

Today I am joining up with the  Friday Five 2.0  from Fairytales & Fitness and Rachel @ Running on Happy to talk about 5 ways to turn up the heat while running.

Slightly overdress for my runs
Not so much that I’m in danger of getting heatstroke, which is probably impossible considering our weather lately, but enough that I’m warmer than I really want to be.

Granted, I can do that without meaning to — the difference is that where I would unzip something to cool down if I got too hot normally, I just leave it all zipped up and sweat it out.

Dress warmer than I have to on the treadmill, too
With an early March blizzard, I was forced onto my treadmill more than I wanted to be. I didn’t wear my skirts or a tank — nope, I went with tights, sometimes even fleece lined tights, and a tee instead of a tank.

Not every time, but more often than I really wanted to. The workouts were hard enough without overdressing!

Step away from the fan
I have a small fan on my treadmill and it’s always going if I’m running on it. Except when I’m trying to train for a warm race while it’s cold.

Vacation first, race last
When I first started traveling for my half marathons, I was cautious — usually I’d arrive a couple of days before the race and put the vacation portion after the race. I worried about doing too much before the race and not racing well.

As you get more experienced running and racing, while it’s still certainly possible to overdue it before the race, you’re also able to handle more activity before the race.

This is what we did before my Phoenix half, and it worked out well for me. Yes, I was hiking, I was running at elevation — all before my race. But my race went really well and again, I was able to adapt (a little) from our cool Northeast temps to the hot Southwest temps.

What I wanted to do: Hot Yoga
Seriously, there’s a place super-close to my home. But a) no time and b) never do anything new before a race. I may have been doing yoga forever, but I’ve never done hot yoga. and c) no time!

Another nice option would have been hanging out in the sauna at the place where I swim (assuming they fixed it) but see a & b above.

Instead I’m going to settle for an Infrared Wrap again. I highly doubt that it helps in heat acclimation, but it sure feels good and does a body good.

So let me know in the comments:

Have you ever tried to prepare for a hot race?

Any heat acclimation tips for us (it’s too late for me this round, but someone might benefit)?

What was your favorite racecation?

30 thoughts on “It’s Getting Hot in Here”

  1. I trained in the Seattle winter to run Maui in January in 2016. I don’t think there’s any way to prepare for a hot race when you’re used to a cold climate. Hopefully it won’t be too warm for you and the weather will cooperate.

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    On Fri, Mar 17, 2017 at 12:38 AM, Chocolaterunsjudy wrote:

    > Chocolaterunsjudy posted: “So winter decided to really arrive just a few > days before Spring, just to mess with us. My problem? It’s been cold in > these parts. Like really, really cold. My other problem? My next half is in > New Orleans. I guarantee you it won’t be this cold. I’ve tri” >

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  6. I haven’t been to NOLA is years but I well remember the humidity there. I’m a fan of the sauna for acclimating to heat. I hope mother nature surprises you and you catch a break.

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    1. It’s been a long time since we’ve been too (pre Katrina), and that time was a work conference for me. Part of why I wanted to go back.

      Today the forecast looks good — I prefer when it looks bad a week out, because we know it always changes!

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  7. Because of work, I usually arrive the day before the race. I don’t acclimate obviously but for a destination race, it’s all about the experience not my finish time so I don’t need to worry.

    When I do have the time off, I prefer to race right away and then relax and enjoy the vacation (but that’s because I don’t worry about acclimation.)

    Kudos to you for wearing more clothes that needed. Being warmer than necessary sounds painful.

    Best race-cation – PCB, of course.

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    1. I enjoy the vacation before, don’t worry — most of the time, I am so tired by the time I get there I am sooooo ready to relax. And having a few days off before the race helps me — except all the food. 🙂

      The whole point of overdressing is to be comfortable with being uncomfortable! Because no doubt even on a nice day, unless the humidity really drops, I’ll be uncomfortable.

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  8. I don’t do well in heat either. I need more water on my warmer runs, and I found out in Florida (the hard way) that humidity makes me need salt. I didn’t have it with me, so lesson learned.

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  10. Judy, I’m here to tell you that even us Southerner’s have a hard time racing in the heat! I have come close to puking while racing in June, July and August. I would NEVER run a half marathon past April or before October here in the South. It just plain sucks. You’ll be fine in NOLA next weekend. It shouldn’t be too hot. Good luck and have fun!

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    1. Ah, spoken like a true southerner.

      See, here’s what you don’t understand: what seems like not too hot to you, will feel like a heat wave to me. If they’re right about tomorrow’s forecast, we might just get into the low 40s. And that would be our high. Which is much colder than NOLA’s low. And then there’s humidity!

      Don’t worry, I can’t begin to tell you how much I’m looking forward to my racecation! I so need it!

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  12. LOL on winter arriving just in time for spring – so true! As for running in the heat, I hate it, so I don’t really try to “practice” it. If I cared a lot about a race time, it would be a smart thing to do, but I think life is too short to be miserable on training runs AND race day. 🙂

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    1. The point of the heat training (and it wasn’t a whole lot, not every run, and just a few towards the end of my training) is that it should make it easier to bear less than ideal racing conditions.

      First time I’ve even tried it, so we’ll see. Right now the weather actually looks good (except I’d like a few clouds), but it’s more than a week away so that will assuredly change.

      Your weather is looking better!

      I always care about my finish time, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy my race too. But racing is hard — if it’s not hard, it’s just running!

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  13. Running in the heat sucks but you’ll be fine…you need to look at the overnight low as that is what you will be starting the race at…probably high 50’s, low 60’s…sure it’s going to be warmer than the crazy snowstorms you’ve just had but it’s not going to be crazy hot. But, to your point training in cold weather for a hot race sucks. Last year we ran the Maui Oceanfront marathon in January after training in the PNW through winter…heat and humidity were through the roof but there is no way to acclimate or prepare. Same as running a race at altitude when you train at sea level…unless you have the luxury of going ahead of time to train for a month, you cannot simulate the race environment. Enjoy your trip to NO and have a fun racecation!

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    1. Oh, believe me, I know what to look at. It’s not my first time on the cold to hot rodeo. 🙂

      It’s interesting, though, people seem to be split down the middle on whether or not heat acclimation works.

      I do find getting there a few days ahead of time helpful, though.

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      1. Definitely getting there a few days ahead of time if possible certainly helps. For us, unless it is a major vacation type trip such as Maui, we don’t have typically have that option because a day or two is the most we can take from work for a race weekend. I think at elevation this becomes more important to allow the blood to oxygenate. My 2 pence anyway…I’m sure there are runners that can train at sea level and then go blast through a marathon a mile high with little to no acclimation.

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      2. Lucky for me, my races are our major vacations. 🙂 Helps not having kids.

        My UT race will start at elevation . . . yes, we’ll get there ahead of time. That one will definitely be a major vacation (or I hope, anyway), as I’ve never been & there’s so much to see.

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      3. Utah is indeed beautiful…we ran SLC marathon last April but didn’t have too much time to explore. For that one I think we arrived 2 days ahead of the race and it helped!

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