AustrAliAn triAthlete | 89BAThRooM: heat acclimation can be done at
home in a room with high humidity.Training TOOLBOX
hotter environment, and witness for
yourself the variability in your heart rate.
It is a simple test that is very beneficial in
highlighting just how much the heat
causes your heart rate to elevate. Looking
at how this translates to race day, you
cannot simply have the same pacing
strategy as you would in colder events.
As a good example of this, in colder
climates when I race Ironman 70.3 events,
I try to run sub 3 minutes and 30 seconds
per kilometre pace. However, in the heat
and humidity of many Asian races that I
compete in, my goal is to run around 4
minutes per kilometre pace. Interestingly,
looking back at my heart rate data from a
colder vs. a hotter Ironman 70.3, my heart
rate is often still lower in colder events
even though I run much faster. Pacing in
hotter races is so important because there
is no coming back from blowing up in a
hot race - when your body’s temperature
rises too high it will not allow you to
recover from this. It is actually much wiser
to start conservatively and build into the
race than to go out one percent too hard
and have your body start to shut down.
During a race, it is very important to do
whatever you can in order to cool your
body down. Don’t be shy in grabbing ice
and cold sponges to help lower your
body’s core temperature.
One of the best strategies that you can
employ in your training in the lead up to
racing a hotter event is doing heat
acclimation training. This is especially
beneficial if you are travelling from a
colder environment, as your body will not
be used to the heat. There are a few ways
that you can help acclimate to the heat
such as wearing a long sleeved shirt andlong pants on your run to increase your
sweat rate or by running during the hottest
part of the day to get as used to the heat
as much as possible. Another great way to
acclimate is to ride indoors on your bike
trainer in a heated room for an hour while
doing a few efforts every now and then to
elevate your heart rate. In the past, I have
used a heat light in the bathroom and
turned on the hot shower in order to
simulate temperatures of 30 degrees or
more along with the very high humidity.
Doing sessions like these in the weeks
leading up to a hot and humid race helps
your body to learn to adapt to these
conditions prior to race day and should
make racing feel a little more manageable.
Racing in the heat is truly an art form in
itself and something that does take time
and practice in order to be able to get the
best from yourself on race day. Hydration,
pacing and heat acclimation are three of
the best strategies in your triathlon bag of
tricks that will ensure that you are on the
right path to racing well in the heat.sAM BeTTen
A professional triathlete from QLDIf you have trained or raced in the heat
before while wearing a heart rate monitor,
you will have already noticed the massive
effect that heat and humidity play in
elevating your heart rate. As a simple
experiment, try running in a colder
environment at tempo pace and then
replicate the same running pace in a much