Where some athletes struggle, others succeed. This characteristic reminds me of the old adage: ‘if you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.’
The vast majority of us have to spend some time in the kitchen getting used to the heat. In other words, to have grace under fire, you have to spend some time getting cooked and sweating out the rough stuff.
In the world of endurance sports, there is no greater case study for this than the way two world champions — Normann Stadler and Chrissie Wellington — handled getting flat tires in their repeat bids.
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Depending on where you live, summer heat is relative. When the mercury really climbs, you need to be prepared. Here’s a few suggestions endurance athletes (or anyone else) can use to conquer training and racing in the summer heat.
- Begin your workout as early as possible in the day. Obviously some schedules dictate when you can train, but on summer weekends when the sun is early, get up earlier and get in some quality miles before the sun sucks the electrolytes out of you.
- Wear light colored clothes.
- Freeze your bike bottles. I had never needed to do this until I moved to the Southwest. But it is nice to have something cool to quench your thirst after powering up a tough climb in the heat.
- Invest in insulated bottles. These are not cheap, and you don’t want to lose them, but they are worth every penny.
- Plan your routes around drinking fountains. Nothing is worse than being in the middle of a long run on a hot day and running out of H2O. Having fountains to run to is a great way to stay focused and hydrated.
- Stay wet. Splash a little water on yourself when you get overheated. It’s not a permanent fix, but it’s awesome for a quick cool down.
- Speaking of hydration, know your sweat rate. All athletes lose fluid at different rates. To complicate things, your sweat rate varies for different temperatures and effort levels. Learn to monitor your sweat rate and plan accordingly. Learn how to determine your sweat rate.
