Tag Archives: hot weather

Jun 17 2021
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Training, Weather

It’s Just Too Hot, Guys

Today, after a few easy and off days, I went out for some speed repeats. It’s excessively hot in Las Vegas right now, with high temperatures exceeding 115°F, and low temperatures barely reaching 90°F before going up again with the sunrise.

It was 91°F at about 5:45am when I started the first of what I planned to be five (5) 90 second hard repeats on a long stretch of trail. After two of these, I grabbed my water bottle from the stop point and decided to end the workout right there, heading back.

I wasn’t in serious distress, nor did I go too hard on the repeats. In fact, I probably accelerated into them better than I had been doing on repeats in a while. I ran them smart and my pace was solid. I didn’t feel sick or anything. But the combination of quick fatigue and the heat told me that what little I had done was for now enough. I walked back to the ranch.

I’ve stated before that one of my goals with this summer’s Indy Marathon training was to address training seriously in the heat. So far, as temps have risen this past month, I’ve handled what speed workouts I’ve done in the hotter weather fairly well.

The only workouts I don’t feel good about so far are my longer runs. I’m coming up on three weeks since my last true long run (though I have a 10 miler planned Saturday), and I have yet to exceed 10 miles. It is early and still base training, and the plan all along was to backload the longest/hardest running for after Labor Day when the temps drop back to human levels. But I’m still not able to get what I’m looking for out of current long runs.

All of this said, I have to be mindful not as much of my continuing adaption to the typically extreme vegas heat, but of these stretches where it’s very hot even for a Vegas summer. This is a true heat wave, with temps exceeding 115°F, the top end of what heat Vegas typically gets. Much of the Western United States is in this massive heat wave right now.

This is not the time to power through a workout if I find my body struggling or tiring more quickly in these conditions than expected. While sleep and nutrition can also be factors, I’ve actually done mostly well on both those fronts this week to where I can discount those being key contributors. If anything, I should have been more ready to go for this workout than typical given that and the extra recent recovery.

But extreme heat takes a lot out of you, prior heat adaptions or not. I had water with me but hydration had negligble effect on how it felt.

Sometimes it just makes more sense to cut a workout in those conditions short, and either run it out otherwise later (I can and may cross train after work) or just take a mulligan and move on to tomorrow.

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Sep 09 2020
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nutrition, Running, Training, Weather

How I Hydrate (Especially Around Hot Desert Runs)

Photo by Snapwire on Pexels.com

Since I now live in the desert, the higher altitude fringe of the Las Vegas Valley, I’ve gained a lot of experience in running in these hot and dry conditions. To do well running in these conditions, i obviously had to learn how to hydrate effectively.

Workout hydration is a delicate balance. You need to hydrate to avoid the performance (and possibly health) damaging effects of dehydration. But if you consume more fluid than you need, you’re simply going to end up needing the restroom/toilet too often too soon to be worth the trouble.

Over my years of running I have through trial and error developed a useful approach to hydration that running in the hot Vegas desert has helped me fine tune into a reliable methodology.

It is worth noting that training with some degree of very mild dehydration can be useful for developing aerobic fitness. The line between useful and detrimental is very fine, not to mention the line between proper hydration and needlessly overloading your kidneys and bladder. You also must bear in mind that carrying hydration adds weight to your body and will to some subtle degree slow you down on your run.

Thus I don’t mind being a little “dry” during a training run, whether it’s an easy run, a harder speed workout, or a long run. However, I want to avoid tipping over the edge into performance loss from dehydration.

So, my objective is to go into a training session with a rudimentary amount of pre-run hydration, then hydrate as needed during or after the workout.

My Keys to Hydrating Workouts:

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Aug 17 2020
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General health, Life

It’s Too Hot. What to do?

Right now in most of the United States it’s rather hot. Las Vegas is in one of their hotter periods, with temperatures typically exceeding 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius) on the edge of town and hitting 120 degrees (49 Celsius) in the city center.

If you work a day job, you’re probably fortunate, as you probably spend most of the day indoors in air conditioning. Even if the A/C can’t get the room to an ideal temperature, your conditions feel a lot better than the heat outside or non-A/C indoor conditions. Your only issue is dealing with still-hot conditions after 4-5pm, or if you don’t have climate controlled sleeping conditions to deal with still-warm nightfall.

For everyone else, dealing with the extreme midday heat is a problem. I got to deal with the midday heat quite a bit thanks to a non-traditional work schedule. If you don’t have ideal A/C conditions, here are three things you can do to mitigate the effects.

  • Go to the gym in the middle of the day. Most gyms are well air conditioned, and while exercise will heat you up and make you sweat more… the conditions of the gym make this an ideal location to get some exercise in. Obviously, if you’re feeling worn out from the heat, you probably shouldn’t go all out in the gym. But I’ve found even when weary from midday hot weather, I can still get in a full strength workout. And I certainly take my time cooling down (in more ways than one!).
  • Cold water in the fridge, dosed every hour or so: If you don’t already, put a bottle of drinking water in your fridge. Every hour or so, or whenever the heat is rather unbearable, take it out and have a cup or so. You’re not just doing this to rehydrate after sweating and the heat, but you’re also slightly adjust the temperature in your body by introducing some cold liquid.
  • Take a nap. If you can manage to doze off in hot conditions, the mid-afternoon is a good time to take a bit of a nap and catch up on some extra sleep and recovery. I’m of course assuming you have nowhere to be and no pressing responsibilities. Obviously, don’t sleep through anything! But if you have most or all of the day to yourself, go ahead and try to sleep off these hot hours before things cool down a bit.
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