Okay, so I thought of some more tips to avoid heat exhaustion… and thought I’d share.

1. Take a cold shower. Immediately after a hot workout, take a cold shower. Make it a long one too. The quicker you can get your core temperature down, the better.

2. Use Ice Packs. Okay, I got this idea from Alicia Parr, but it works. Lay down on the floor and put some cold ice packs on your stomach, chest, and back area. You could also do this immediately after getting out of the shower. I’ve actually used ice packs after some runs in the car on the drive home and it really helped cool me off. I take either instant cold packs from the drug store that I’ve bought, or I load up a cooler with 2 or 3 reusable ice packs from the house. Obviously the more “green” choice is to go with reusable ice packs. I throw the ice pack behind my neck, low back, and lay one in my lap while I drive home.

3. Don’t warm up as long. If you are getting ready for what is going to be a very hot race day, then don’t exert extra energy during your warmup that isn’t necessary. Do the usual stretching and getting the blood flowing, but no need to do many efforts to get your body “warm.” It’s already going to be warm because of the temperature outside. Cut back “pickups,” “jumps,” “efforts,” ect to just a couple and hydrate. Save the real intense effort for the race.

4. Dump water on your head. During a workout, pouring cool water on your head will help tremendously. A lot of heat exits your body from your head. I am always amazed at how much better I feel if I can douse my head in the water fountain at Umstead during a run or squirt some water in my helmet while out on the bike.

It’s been really hot lately. Summer has definitely arrived! In Raleigh we’re seeing temperatures in the 100’s, with a heat index well over 100. Of course, it’s humid too.

So how do you still get in workouts with it that hot outside?

Well, people with full-time jobs and families may not have the luxury of just doing their workouts whenever. Sometimes you have to do your workout in the afternoon or early evening when it’s really hot outside, otherwise you won’t get it in.

For the past several years, I’ve been one of those people who didn’t have to deal with time constraints for my workouts… but now, well, I am forced to rethink when I am going to head out for my daily grind.

Here’s some things that I do to help minimalize the heat:

1. Wake up early before work and do your workout. Now, sometimes this is impossible because you may have a 3 hour bike ride scheduled and also a 7am meeting to attend. But, if you have a run or a swim that is going to take you about an hour, then why not just go ahead and wake up early? The bonus is that you are finished for the day when it’s over, and after work you can head home and plop on the couch.

2. Hydration begins before the workout starts. Of course, I’m drinking water all day long, but really making sure my electrolytes are in balance before I even go workout is key. I always take some endurolytes an hour or so beforehand, and I use nuun during workouts. Depending on how humid and hot it is, I’ll take more endurolytes during a workout. Everyone’s body is different, so what I do may not exactly be what you need. Experiment and see what is right for you.

3. Wait to go out if it’s just way too hot for you to tolerate. If it’s too hot at 4:00pm to go out for your bike ride, wait an hour if you can. The heat usually breaks around 5:30 or so, and an hour can make a huge difference. Sometimes just a couple of degrees will be really noticeable to me.

4. Location! Location! Location! Try to workout in a shaded area. Just this week I had some tempo workouts to do. Instead of suffering in the blazing hot sun, I chose my workout locations very carefully. One afternoon I ran on a very shade-covered trail near school. It was 4:00pm, and the run was very pleasant… even though it was at least 95 outside. Another afternoon I went to Umstead Forest where there was plenty of shade regardless if I was on the bike and bridal trail or the single track.

5. Use common sense. Don’t go out in heat that is absolutely ridiculous just for the sake of not skipping a workout. There is no sense in giving yourself heat exhaustion. Call up the coach and see if you can modify the planned workout and do it inside at a gym or ask if you can do something different all together. Make an executive decision if you can’t get a hold of your coach. You’re the athlete and you know your body best.

… And sometimes a rest day isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Jeez. I had a great workout tonight. Well, until I made a stupid mistake. I mean, leave it to me.

The culprit:

The result:

Yeah, so that’s awesome. I have yet another nice little cut, this time on my left knee, and a good swollen knot to go with it.

I was right in the middle of my second effort and launched myself over my bike after attempting to go over this log. It’s a much larger log than I normally even think about riding over, but I thought I had enough speed to go over it. What I completely misjudged was the fact that this log was laying diagonal to the trail, so I pulled up to go over it a little early… resulting in my chain ring digging into the log and throwing me straight over the handlebars. FABULOUS.

Well, what’s a girl to do?

… get up and finish the workout.

At least I can’t be accused of giving a half-effort on my bike.

<student> “Mrs. Lion… those look like clown shoes!”

I went up to pre-ride the Richmond Xterra course yesterday with my friend Melissa and Joe. A friend of Joe’s from DC, Matt, was nice enough to show us around. We spent several hours out in the heat, and got a great idea of what to expect for the race in a couple of weeks.

After the ride all I can say is: The trails are AWESOME. However, the race is going to be really hard.

Here’s one of the urban obstacles that Richmond is famous for:

Yes, that’s right… stairs. And not just any stairs… spiral stairs. Several flights of spiral stairs. And this is NOT part of the run course, this is part of the bike course. You dismount and carry your bike up the stairs and cross over this bridge to access the next part of the trail. And you do this not once, but twice. NICE.

The hard part about Xterra Richmond is going to be the ENTIRE race. There isn’t one leg of the race that isn’t technical. The swim is technical… swimming in the James River, you have to watch out for rocks and sand bars. It’s pretty shallow most of the way, and I was afraid to use my full pull for fear of knocking a rock. I sighted a whole lot because seeing the bottom of the river freaked me out, much like my swim in Lake James a couple weeks ago.

Then you move on to the bike, which, is going to be crazy. Just look at the stairs. That’s only ONE crazy part of the ride. And you do them twice.

The run isn’t going to be any easier. You scale the resivoir wall by climbing a ladder, and there are railroad tie stairs to run up, boulders to jump across… let’s just say I hope I’m still standing at the end of the race!

It’s going to be SO much fun. I am looking forward to the adventure.