Training Peaks: Beat the Heat

Race Day Strategies to Beat the Heat
Jim Peterman, Training Peaks/August 9, 2017


The dog days of summer are here but so too are some of the best races of the year. Performing well in these races requires both fitness and an ability to withstand the heat.


Heat acclimatization in the weeks prior to an event is the most important step for beating the heat on race day.1 However, in addition to acclimatizing to the heat, there are a number of different strategies that can help you keep cool and improve performance on race day.


When you are exercising, roughly 75 percent of the energy required for muscle contraction is lost as heat. Hot summer days make it difficult for the body to get rid of all this heat. As a result, your body temperature begins to increase which can lead to dizziness, headaches, nausea, and even brain damage.


As you might guess, all of these symptoms can affect performance. Therefore, the key to maximizing performance in the summer (and what the strategies listed below attempt to achieve) is to limit the increase in body temperature...


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