Hot, Hot, Hot

There are sporting events that have garnered such fame that they are known by one name, without even an article.  Henley is officially the Henley Royal Regatta.  Wimbledon, is the common reference to The Championships, Wimbledon. 

In running there is Badwater – officially known as the AdventureCORPS Badwater Ultramarathon.  It is a 135-mile race starting at 282 feet below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California's Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8360 feet at Whitney Portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney. It takes place annually in mid-July, when the weather conditions are most extreme and temperatures over 120 °F, even in the shade, are not uncommon.

Saturday was the final installment of the RMRR MTS race held at Twin Lakes Park and I experience my first warm weather racing of the year.  The temperature was about 70 °F at 10:15 when I finished.  Not exactly Badwater-esque, but it was a shock compared to the 40 °F weather two weeks ago.  I finished first in the 20 mile race with a time of 2:13:15, just a few seconds off my PR for that course, not bad for a guy who is seven weeks shy of his 49^th birthday.  While my average pace was just under 6:40 / mile, I wilted in the last few miles. 

That got me thinking of how I should prepare for possible warm weather for the Colfax Marathon, which will be held on May 19th.  I recall running the inaugural Colfax Marathon.  It was so hot, I was sweating just standing at the start and the temperature was in the 80s at the finish.  Derek Griffiths, publisher of the Colorado Runner magazine had sponges and buckets of water around mile 20.  (A note on sponge protocol – bend over when you squeeze the sponge over your head, otherwise you will have shoes full of water.) 

Racing in hot weather is sometimes unavoidable.  The best we can do is to mitigate the effects hot weather has on us.  Some marathoners have found drinking glycerol to be beneficial during long runs in hot weather because it prevents dehydration, a major cause of fatigue.  Chris McCormack, two time winner of the Ironman World Championship, wears extremely dark sunglasses and pulls a visor low over his eyes to give himself the mental sensation of being cool. 

We spend so much time avoiding running in hot weather that are bodies aren’t used to running in the heat.  I have had particularly bad races in the heat, most notably the Greenland Trail 50 Km race in May 2011.  It just makes sense to acclimate yourself to running in hot weather.  In fact, some people are known to train for Badwater by running on a treadmill in a dry sauna.  This prepares the body to deal with the blistering heat. 

To get acclimated to hot weather I donned a long sleeve technical shirt, shorts, disposable painter’s coveralls, a baseball cap and even put a bandana over my face so I’d breathe hot air.  I then shuffled around my deck from 11:00 until 1:00 on Sunday when the temperature was in the 70s.  By the two-hour mark my tongue was starting to stick to the roof of my mouth.  The side benefit was that I did this while I was staining my 400 square foot deck.