369: Stay Safe When Running in the Heat

In this episode of the Real Life Runners Podcast, we delve into comprehensive strategies for running safely and effectively in the heat. We discuss the science behind heat-related challenges, including heat adaptations, cardiac drift, and dehydration. The workshop covers practical tips to maintain consistency, manage effort levels, and protect against heat illnesses. 

02:22 Understanding the Body's Response to Heat

07:19 Cardiac Drift Explained

09:26 Heat Adaptations and Sweating

15:06 Heat-Related Illnesses

19:43 Early Signs of Dehydration

27:34 Adapting to Heat: Gradual Increase in Workout Intensity

29:32 Hydration Strategies for Optimal Performance

32:21 Cooling Techniques During Runs

35:06 Hydration and Nutrition: Pre, Mid, and Post-Run

39:08 Choosing the Right Clothing and Gear

44:29 Breathing Techniques for Better Running

49:27 Mental Strategies for Running in the Heat

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Transcript

0:00

Welcome to the real life runners podcast, episode number 369. Last month. I did a special workshop in the academy about how to stay safe when running in the heat. And we talk about heat related illness. We talk about, heat adaptations. we talk about all the different things that our body experiences when in the heat. including the concept of cardiac drift and why running in the heat feels so much harder, what we can do about it, how we can make sure that we're staying safe and, also. Being able to maintain the consistency through the summer because that's going to allow us to have the adaptations that we want for the fall, the winter, and for the rest of our lives. So enjoy this replay of our academy workshop, how to stay safe when running in the heat.

Angie: 1:09

Alright, so today we're talking all about running hot, how to feel better and train more effectively in the heat. So, what we're talking about today, we're talking about understanding how our body process it, like how we train in the heat, understanding what happens when we exercise, understanding how heat affects that. We're going to talk, be talking about a phenomenon called cardiac drift and why it happens. And then of course, we're going to get into all the practical tips. So we're going to do a little bit of science stuff and get into then what we can do about it so that we can make our training feel better and train more effectively to get through these very warm summer months. consistency is the number one key for improvement for progress, right? And so, The summer heat can definitely, definitely be a huge obstacle to our consistency when running doesn't feel good. All of our runs feel awful. Everything feels hard. You know, we feel exhausted and nauseous after the runs, like people, it's a, it's a big obstacle that we have to deal with. So if we can make running in the heat feel better, we can then be more consistent, which will then get you more of those results in that progress that you're looking for. So we're going to be talking all about the physical, the mental, and all that good stuff. So let's jump in. Okay, so this is what happens when we exercise. So when we exercise, Essentially what happens is that our heart rate starts to increase because our heart rate is obviously responsible for pumping blood through the body because we want to get more blood to our working muscles. Our muscles are contracting more frequently, they're contracting harder, especially if we're doing harder runs, speed work, those kinds of things, or lifting weights. We want to get more blood to the working muscles to get them oxygen, nutrition, all those things. So when our muscles are contracting, our muscles also release heat. As our muscles release heat, our core temperature rises. And so in order to what our body does when it senses a rise in our core temperature, that can be very dangerous for the body. You know, basically our bodies have a small range that is their ideal temperature. And when our core temperature starts to rise, our body says, Oh, we need to cool down. So we start sweating. Okay. So basically more blood gets diverted to the skin. We start to sweat more to try to cool the body down because when we sweat, Okay. The water evaporates off of our skin and that produces a cooling effect to help cool the body down. The problem with this is that when we lose water through sweat, we lose water and electrolytes, then our blood volume decreases because that water, that sweat, comes from our blood. So our blood volume decreases and our blood becomes thicker, which then means that the heart rate has to, the heart has to work harder to then pump that blood back to our body. Around into the body. It's it's thicker. So if you imagine like, you know, the difference between a Drinking water out of a straw versus drinking a smoothie out of a straw, right? Like as we get dehydrated our blood goes from that water where you just suck it right through the straw No problem into like us more of a smoothie consistency where it's a lot harder to get it through that tube Okay, so This is one of the reasons that, this is basically what happens when we exercise. Then if we throw heat into the mix, basically what happens here is this extra arrow. So instead of all of our blood kind of going to those working muscles, we're now diverting more of the blood to the skin to try to offload heat. So less blood is getting to the working muscles because we're trying to use more of that blood to try to offload heat from the body, which is one of the reasons why we start to feel really tired. We start, we. fatigue more easily. Things start to feel harder. People start experiencing muscle cramping and all sorts of other issues because all of our blood is not now going to our working muscles. It's also going to other places specifically to our skin to try to offload the heat. So this leads to increased cardiovascular strain, okay, so, more strain on the heart because the heart has to work harder to pump the blood to both the muscles and the skin, right? So now it's, it's like trying to do two jobs at one time. So this is obviously going to lead to increased heart rate. Because the blood has to pump harder to try to get the blood to where it needs to go. And increase perceived exertion levels. Our effort levels increase. Because now the blood, again, the heart is working harder. Right? It feels harder. And we're trying to get the blood to multiple places at the same time. Okay, so that's one of the reasons why our effort levels start to rise during heat, you know, when we're training in the heat as well. We also have a higher core temperature because, number one, our core temperature starts higher when we're outside in the heat, it's already going to be higher in general. And then basically all this Happens faster, right? Because when we're training in a hot environment, our core temperature can rise a lot faster. And studies have shown that even a small increase, like basically 2 percent of an increase in our core temperature, which, I mean, if you think that our normal core temperature is around 98 degrees, So 2 percent of that is like one degree, right? So if we go from 98 to 99, essentially our performance decreases. Okay. And we're definitely going from 98 to 99, especially if we're in hot weather. So our performance automatically decreases. When we're in hot weather as well. This also leads to increased levels of dehydration because our, our body's working really hard to try to cool us down. So it's trying to sweat, it's sweating more to try to offload more of that heat. Dehydration also reduces that blood volume. Which, again, makes the heart work harder and then reduce muscle efficiency, right? Since the, the muscles are not getting the, all of the blood that they need, they start not working as efficiently either. And that leads to increased fatigue, like I said. And then there's that electrolyte imbalance as well. And this is different for each individual, but the electrolyte imbalance, because we're losing electrolytes through our sweat, and also if we're losing water through our sweat, we are sometimes maintaining more electrolytes, there can be an imbalance. And that can lead to muscle cramps and affect neurofunction as well. Alright, so, what is cardiac drift? Basically, it's everything I just described to you. Okay, cardiac drift is a term that basically refers to this gradual increase in the heart rate during prolonged steady state exercise, like running. Alright, especially when the exercise intensity remains constant. So, running, when we're out there, if we're not doing interval training, if we're just going out and running even though our pace is basically staying the same, our heart rate continues to climb and increase at the same at the same effort level and then obviously our effort level will start to increase as well because our heart rate is increasing. Is, is increasing and we're working harder. So, causes of cardiac drift, number one is just outside temperature. Alright, like, like I said, your heart rate is just going to be higher in the heat. And then, the things that we just talked about as well. Dehydration, increased core temperature, redistribution of blood flow, because the blood is now going to the muscles and the skin increased sympathetic nervous system activity. Basically what this means is that as exercise continues, our sympathetic nervous system becomes more active. So a sympathetic nervous system is that fight or flight. We've got basically two systems, sympathetic and parasympathetic. Sympathetic is fight or flight. Parasympathetic is rest and digest, so when we're hot, our body is, is trying to, like, sympathetic senses danger, right, and wants to protect us, so there's increased sympathetic nervous system activity when we're hot. That increased sympathetic nervous system activity cause is one extra cause of the cardiac drift. And then there's this metabolic byproduct accumulation. So as our muscles are working, basically we produce byproducts like lactate and hydrogen ions. They accumulate in the muscles and this can lead also to a higher perceived effort and an increase in the heart rate. So all that to say, running feels harder and performance decreases. Okay, so there's some fun scientific background to help you understand why running feels harder and your performance decreases in the heat. So how does our body adapt? Okay, what naturally happens when our body gets hotter and how do we adapt? Basically, our body has cooling mechanisms built in, mainly through sweating and evaporation. So as our core temperature rises, and as we start to feel this increase in heat, An increase in perceived level of exertion. There is an increased activation of our sweat glands. So the body initiates sweat production through those sweat glands, and that's happening through the sympathetic nervous system, that fight or flight system that I was just talking about. And the amount And rate of sweating can vary based on your fitness level based on your acclimation to heat and also based on your genetic factors Okay, so some people just sweat a lot more than others. All right, there are some people that are just sweatier humans And that's totally that's genetic It's also based on your level of fitness, right? Like the more fit you are The more efficiently you sweat. All right, and we're going to talk about that in some of the slides upcoming slides, but as your fitness increases your sweat levels and sweat rates become more efficient too. You don't lose as much sweat. You don't lose as much electrolytes if you are better trained, if you have a higher fitness level. And also just your acclimation to heat. So those of us that live in hot environments and train in warm environments pretty much year round, we're going to be better training in the heat than those of you that are living in. Wonderful Four Seasons territory, right? As beautiful as it is for those of you like from in the winter and the fall, those things that you get to experience, it does tend to make summer running more difficult because your body is not as used to it. Versus people that are training in the heat year round. And this is one of the reasons that, you know, elite runners often go into heat and into altitude, because our body's adapting to all of those things. Okay, so our sweat glands get activated, which then leads us to sweat, and then when the sweat on the skin's surface evaporates, that helps to cool the body. This is really effective if you live in an area with low humidity. But if you are like us in swampy South Florida, if you have high humidity, the problem is the water doesn't evaporate. Right? So if you've ever run in a very humid environment, you notice that there's like dots, like sweat beads, all over your skin. And there's still water there. I know I finished my run the other day, and it looked like I had just gotten out of the pool. Like my, I could wring out my clothing because the, the sweat didn't evaporate because there was too much water already in the air. So, That's part of the issue when running in a humid environment that we're also battling against because we are sweating but our sweat is not evaporating and providing that cooling effect, which means we have to do more on our own because our body system, our natural body system, isn't doing a good enough job because of the environment that we're in, so we have to use other measures, outside measures, to help cool our body down. Another thing that happens, For our body to cool itself down is it vasodilates. So there's something called vasodilation, which means your blood vessels expand your especially the vessels near the skin. They widen to try to get more blood flow to the skin and try to offload heat through the skin. Sweat rate and efficiency. So this is what I was talking about before. As you when you have higher fitness levels, your body sweats More often actually you start sweating sooner. Okay, because your body knows I need to start cooling myself down So you start sweating sooner and you actually so some people sweat more and some people sweat less It depends on you and all the things that I already mentioned But basically your body Becomes more aware of what it needs to do right to help cool itself down. So There is usually an earlier onset of sweating and also a higher rate of sweating which aids in better Thermoregulation, which is that our body's cooling mechanisms so There are some studies that have shown that trained athletes sweat up to two times as much as untrained athletes. Okay, so we sweat more. Now, here's an interesting thing, since a lot of you on this call are women we as women, because of our hormones, have differences in our sweating patterns as compared to men. And a lot of the research has been done on men. And so those of you that are, Joining me inside the perimenopause course that I'm creating. There's gonna be a lot of really interesting information coming out. I've already started doing a lot of really cool research on this. But basically the sweat glands in women, Are like the activation of our sweat glands is different. I think I, I have to actually look back into my into my notes, but I believe it's that men sweat more on their core so that, and obviously the core, there's a lot more surface area on their core, like on their chest and on their back. Whereas women tend to sweat more like through the armpits and through our, our limbs, which is less surface area. So our body is less efficient at. Cooling itself down because of the way that our sweat glands and our hormones work together. And then there's electrolyte concentration and sweat. So this is another way that our body adapts to help cool ourselves down. So as we increase our fitness level, as we continue to train our body, Loses less electrolytes in our sweat and our sweat glands become more efficient. So that way we are able to hold on to more of our electrolytes during our training. So that's a good thing as well. Any questions so far? Everybody doing okay with all this science, science y stuff? Am I explaining it well enough that you guys can understand? Cool. All right. So let's go into heat related illnesses. So the three main heat related illnesses that we can see are heat cramps, which are pretty self explanatory, right? They're painful muscle spasms that occur due to excessive loss of Electrolytes specifically particularly sodium. Okay during sweating. So our loss of salt This is why salt tabs can be super effective if people especially if you know, you're a salty sweater so if you One way to know if you're a salty sweater, if you lose a lot of electrolytes, is if you've ever noticed like a white ring on your clothing, or on your hats, like, I, I get them like on my hat. Like, cause I, I sweat a lot of my electrolytes through my hat, so you'll notice kind of like a white ring around your hat. You might also notice it on your clothing as well. Oh, ooh, the chat box popped up here. My face gets salty. Yeah, exactly, Emily. So that's the same thing, like, you can get salty on your face, salty on your arms. It's kind of funny down here in South Florida, too, because one of my running routes is along the ocean. So I don't, I never know if it's ocean salt that's making me feel salty, or if it's my own body salt. My face, too. Yeah, exactly. I tend to sweat via my head and face. Yeah, say that's a that's more of a a female thing as well is swollen fingers caused by a lack of salt. Yes and no. It can also be the opposite. So like if you have too many, too many electrolytes, your fingers, you'll retain more water and you can get swollen that way as well, Emily. I know that's one thing that has happened to me before. There was one time I ran with Noon in my, in my bag. And this was like early in my training. Like probably one of the, I think it was the first time I ever ran with an electrolyte drink other than water. And I, I think it was too concentrated and my fingers were so, so swollen because I think I overdid it on the electrolytes. So if you overdo it on electrolytes, then your body retains more water and that's what leads to the swelling. Okay. So heat cramps, like I said, due to a loss of electrolytes, particularly sodium. And so when you start to get cramping, that's your first sign, well, it's one of the first signs. It's actually one of the later signs. We're going to go back to early signs in a little bit here. But you need to definitely replace both water and electrolytes if you're feeling any sort of cramping. Heat exhaustion would be level two and if you have heat exhaustion, this is characterized by heavy sweating, heavy sweating, dizziness, nausea, weakness, headaches and again, it's, it's resulting from the, that prolonged exposure to high temperatures and inadequate fluid intake. So if you get into heat exhaustion, your core body temperature is somewhere between a hundred point four. And 104 degrees Fahrenheit, which is very dangerous. Like, if you think about it, that's what we know as, that's what we know as a fever, right? If you overtake your own temperature, if you're sick, if you're above 100. 4, that's considered a fever, especially in an adult. Okay, so, we definitely, if you're experiencing any of those symptoms, you gotta hydrate and try to get your body cooled down as quickly as possible. And then hopefully no one will ever experience this, but I bring up heat stroke in case you see it in a race. Thanks. Right. We as runners also have responsibilities to other runners out there, right? So if you see somebody that is confused, like if, if they're, if you're running and they feel like you see somebody that is maybe like, they don't look like they're quite in control of their body, right? They're kind of floppy. They're, they're weaving, right? They're running. You've probably all, we've all seen videos of this. Maybe you've even seen this in person, right? Like people that are weaving, especially in those long races especially in warmer environments. That are acting confused that are just not making sense right keep your eye out get the help those people and get the medical attention because if if they're to the level where they're they're starting to get confused they're starting to lose control of their body some people lose control of like their bladder and bowels in this situation right it can lead to a loss of consciousness it can lead to seizures and this is typically when the body's core temperature exceeds 104 degrees you Okay, so this requires immediate medical attention and rapid cooling get them medical attention as quickly as you can. They need to get into, like, a cool bath, like a water obviously not ice because you don't want to go from one extreme to the other, but you want to get them, like, into cool water or get cool, like, cooling pads on them. They need to, there's lots of things, but basically medical attention is, is required at this part. Okay. So keep in mind that factors like humidity, hydration status, your fitness level, all of these can play a role in developing any of these heat related illnesses and prevention and treatment is the best key here. The other thing I want to look at is, are the early signs of dehydration. So these are the signs that we get before we get into those heat related illness which is really what we want to do. So thirst, if you are thirsty, you're already dehydrated. Okay, keep that in mind. If you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. All right, if you heavy sweating would be another sign of heat related illness. That's, this is why it's really important for you to know what your body kind of does naturally, right? Like, because a heavy sweating for one person might be normal sweating for another person, right? So it's really important that you understand your own body and what's normal for you. Dry mouth, also a sign of dehydration. Okay, If you're feeling lightheaded, if you're starting to feel fatigued, increased heart rate, decreased sweating, and chills. So Monica, I know you, you mentioned getting chills or getting goosebumps. As soon as one of my cross country kids tells me that they, they start to feel cold, I make them stop running and get water and take a break and get them in shade as quickly as possible. Okay. If you're starting to feel chills or if you decreased sweating, Those are two really big signs that you should stop what you're doing, get in shade, drink water, and cool the body down as quickly as possible. Okay, because you don't want it to develop into heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Alright now if you guys notice here, kind of funny, Right? Heavy sweating, fatigue, increased heart rate. These are all things that I just talked about were normal adaptations to running in the heat. Right? So it can get kind of confusing. It's like, am I dehydrated or is this just normal running in the heat? And the answer is yes to both, right? Because running in the heat, you're probably, you're going to get dehydrated more quickly. So this is like, you have to hydrate early and you have to hydrate often. All right hydrate more than you think with both water and electrolytes. Okay, you don't want to be drinking just water if actually should have added this a slide in about this, but If you're drinking just water and you're not replacing your electrolytes that can lead to a condition called hyponatremia which is Low sodium levels, decreased sodium levels, all right? That can be just as problematic and can actually, in, in extreme cases, lead to death because your salt balance, your electrolyte balance is off. So can you drink too much water? Yes. That's why electrolyte supplementation is really important, especially for us Us runners, especially in the summer time, okay? So if you start getting the chills, stop, drink, get in the shade, does that mean your workout should be finished? Probably. You could, depending on what you're doing you could take a break. Hydrate, and then see how you feel, and then once you start up again, really, it's one of those situations where if you're feeling better and you feel like you can continue, just make sure that you're listening to your body really, really well, and stop if you need to, right? And like, if you, I'd say if you have to stop a second time, then just call it. It's not worth it, right? To me, it's not worth it. But that's also a really good way for you to take a look at, okay, how did I hydrate for this run? Okay, what do I need to adjust for the next one? Right, so that this doesn't happen again. Do I need to drink more water? Do I need to increase my electrolytes? What do I need to do here to make sure that this isn't happening? So, that's the way that I really want all of you to kind of look at all this information and look at What we're doing here, just like everything that we do in training, all of these runs that we're doing are tests, right? So if you go out on a training run and you end up noticing dehydration or some of these signs and symptoms, the chills, fatigue, lightheadedness, you're like, okay. Like, take a really good look and be like, Okay, how did I hydrate for this run? Like, what do I need to do differently next time? I mean, there are some times I go out and I'm like, I know I'm dehydrated already. Right? Like, I know, so I bring, make sure I bring more water with me, and sometimes that's great, and sometimes that works, and sometimes it's not good enough. And I know that I, as soon as I get home, I really need to Hydrate more quickly. All right. So the keys to summer running number one exposure is key. Okay, the more you do it, the easier it will be do not avoid running in the heat. Okay, we just have to be smarter about the way that we do it. Alright, because the more you do it, the better trained you're going to be, and the better trained you're going to be, the more efficient all of these systems are going to be like we talked about, right? Your body becomes more efficient at running the heat the more you do it. Number two, accept that it's going to suck sometimes, and also accept that your pace is going to be slower. Alright, this is just one of the things that comes along with running in the heat. This is what you will see all across, if you are on social media, you will see so many runners complaining about this. And just understand, like, just smile to yourself and understand that it's normal, right? Your pace is going to be slower. Because your effort level is automatically going to be higher during the summer because of the heat. So in order to maintain a lower effort level, you're going to need to slow your pace down. And for a lot of you, that means that you're also going to have to add in walking breaks. And this does not mean anything bad. This does not mean you, you've lost your fitness. This does not mean anything bad about you. It means that you're training intelligently and doing what's right for your body so that you can maintain the consistency that you need to continue to move forward. Okay, and number three, focus on your effort, not your pace. You guys know we tout that anyway, but that's especially important when it comes to summer running. Okay reminding yourself like, you know, a big part of this also is setting realistic goals, adjusting your expectations ahead of time understanding that it's going to feel harder and it's totally okay, because if you accept that ahead of time, it's going to help decrease your frustration along the way, right? Because you just know, okay, this is expected. Coach said this was going to happen, right? I don't have to worry about it. Alright, so what do we need to do? Heat acclimation. We, number one, we want to start slow and build up. So for some of you that are starting to get into, you know, summer months, basically it means that you might want to cut your mileage back at the beginning and that's okay. Right. You might want to reduce your mileage for a week or two as your body adapts to the heat to help decrease the training load on your body. We often talk about managing training load, and we talk about, you know, managing training load as far as both volume and intensity. Because the intensity is automatically going to be higher during the summer, that means we may have to decrease our volume in order to maintain that balance in our training load, right? Because if we're trying to increase our volume and the intensity is automatically higher because of the summer months, that can lead to overtraining and that can increase our risk of injury or illness. All right. So if you're running race in the summer that starts at 7 30 or 8, should you wait to start your training at that time? Or if you run earlier, does it make a difference? It's a good question, Lisa. So what I would suggest would be to do a mixture. I would suggest to do you know, most of your training runs. In the cooler temperatures and then do some of them around that time so that you know, so it's not like a shock to your body on race day. Okay, so I would suggest to do both. Okay, so begin with, you know, shorter sessions. So if you're, if you're used to going out and running for 45 to 60 minutes, you might want to. Cut that back to 30 to 45. You might want to just cut some time off of each of your runs just for a week or two. And again, it doesn't mean anything bad. It's not going to set you back. It's just really you being smart about allowing your body to adapt to the heat and then gradually increase by 10 to 15 minutes each day to get yourself back up to where you were before. Okay. That's, that can really, really be helpful. Starting with like low to moderate intensity workouts and gradually increasing your intensity. As the body adapts. Okay. So this also means that you can cut out speed work in the first couple of weeks. All right, and that's going to be okay. I know some of you are cheering right now. Okay, but this is a way that we adjust our training load, right? Again, we're always looking at that training load volume and intensity. So if you want to keep your volume the same, then you might want to decrease your intensity. Alright, to make sure that you're not overdoing it. Or you can use interval workouts, right? Making sure that you are using interval, interval workouts where you're doing higher intensity things and then giving your body that break in between mid run to bring your heart rate back down during those slower walking breaks. You can also take the chance to hydrate a bit. During the workout as well. Okay, that's going to help to decrease the cardiovascular strain on the body It's going to help decrease your effort level. Okay, so if you want to incorporate higher intensity sessions That's fine. As long as you're also allowing more rest and recovery All right You want to also listen to your body here and if you're feeling really fatigued and really tired allowing more rest And more recovery, because your body needs time to adapt to the heat. Again, the heat just automatically increases the intensity of your workouts. So it's like, even if you're going out and doing an easy run, That might, your body might perceive that as a speed session, a higher intensity workout because the heat is increasing the intensity level. If you have the ability to run actually, or actually that's going to be on my next slide there. And then The next one is hydrating before, during, and after, right? Really think about hydrating more than you think you need to, both, like, like I said, with water and with electrolytes. Um, yeah. Yep, Emily agreed here. And so those are, like, so this is a really good point that I'll make about Kevin's training too, because obviously you guys all know Kev and his He goes out and he trains in the middle of the day, at like, noon, 11am, 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock, which to a lot of people is like, that's insane, but, It's because he's training for these ridiculous races where he's running all day long. So he has to get used to that. He has to know how to run any time of day, after any amount of food, right? Like there's, so this is what training is for. Right? We have to remind ourselves that training is, is to prepare us for something like if you are someone that is training for a race, your training is there to prepare you for racing so that you'd practice these things during training so that you're better prepared on race day. Okay. Yes, practicing running on a full stomach too. Exactly. Exactly. And this, we talked about that, I think, last week or the week before in our call, right? About, like, eating more and, and getting the body used to learning how to digest on, on the fly. All right, so some more practical tips, all right? Start off, especially at the beginning of, of your heat acclimation, especially in the beginning of the summer as your body is adapting, it's better to try to run when the weather is a little bit cooler, right? There's no reason to torture yourself and run at noon if you don't have to, right? So try early morning runs or late evening runs. Those are the cooler parts of the day to help minimize that heat exposure. Choose shaded routes. You know, I, I know exactly where the sun is and how much shade is on each route that I typically, my typical running routes and at what time of day I should go, In what places, right? So kind of have an idea of like shaded routes. And if you don't have any around your house from where you normally run, maybe try to find some. Maybe there's a local park nearby or something like that where you can go and run in more shady situations. Run indoors if you have access to a treadmill. Okay, that's another way. I wouldn't say to do all of your running indoors, especially if you're training for an outdoor race. If you're not training for an outdoor race, by all means run indoors all the time if you want, you know, like it's up to you. But if you are training for an outdoor race, you will, it will be a very smart idea to do at least some of your training outside. Okay, splitting it up is totally fine. You don't need to do the majority outside. You can do the majority inside as long as you are also sprinkling in those outdoor runs. To make sure that your body understands what to do to help you better prepare for those races. Alright, cooling techniques. So, using cooling strategies such as wearing a damp cooling towel around the neck, or pouring water over your head during runs to help reduce body temperatures, okay? If you're gonna pour water on yourself during a run, number one, I highly suggest it, because it is a very effective way for you to cool yourself down. Number two, oh, hold on, here we go the best places for you to pour water are the crown of your head, okay, these are the most effective ways for you to cool yourself. The crown of your head, and the inside of your wrists. Okay, so the inside of your wrists are, will help to cool your body down more. You want to avoid the, the very, like people often say, pour it on the back of your neck. The problem with pouring cold water, especially if it's really cold, on the back of your neck is it can, there's a, there's a weird thing that happens with the nervous system, with the brain. That makes the body think it's cooler than it actually is. So it can actually mask other symptoms and can cause actual problems. Because it doesn't actually completely cool the body, the core temperature down really fast. But we have this sensation that it does. We perceive that it does. So it can actually, it makes you feel better. Which can then, Make people think that they're cooled down more than they actually are and then they continue to run they continue to train But their body temperature is still high and that can lead to an increase in some of those heat illnesses that I talked about Okay, so if you just need to like cool yourself down, especially if it's at the end of the run Go ahead cool pour it on the back of your neck But the best places during a run to pour it are the crown of your head and the inside of your wrists Oh, yes. The part that I'm talking about is like upper neck, like where like the base of your skull meets your neck. That's the place.'cause it's, it's where like the brainstem, it's obviously the brain stems way farther in there, but but yeah, no having the, because the cooling towels basically wrap around your shoulders. Is that really your neck? Yeah. It was from little cups dump. Yeah, you can dump it down your back. All good? So and then of course adjust your pace. Right? Slow your pace down. Don't feel bad about putting a walking break in. That is necessary during the summer in some circumstances. Alright? It's, I shouldn't say it's necessary, but it's definitely a good idea. Alright? Even if you're not used to doing a run walk on your normal runs in the cooler temperatures, adding in walking breaks does not mean anything about your fitness level. Yes, that's, I think, is that my next slide? Pre cooling? Where did I talk about? Yeah, pre cooling. You jumped me, Lauren. The slurpy thing. Yep. Okay, so let's talk about hydration and nutrition. Pre hydration, all right? You want to be drinking 500 to 600 milliliters of water or an electrolyte solution two to three hours before exercise. Again, hydrate early, hydrate often, all right? Those are like the, remember those things. Hydrate early, hydrate often. That's what you have to remember. Pre cooling like Lauren was just talking about drinking a cold, icy beverage before you start running can help to decrease your core temperature so that when you start your run, your core temperature is already lower. Very good idea, right? What? Staying in the air conditioning before your run. Decreasing the, especially if you're a morning runner, decreasing your air conditioning overnight so that your body temperature overnight stays cooler, right? Bringing your core temperature down, it actually will help you sleep better and also keep your body temperature lower overnight so that when you go out in your morning, in the morning for your run, your core temperature starts lower. So there's, you got more room to work with, right? Does that make sense? Versus if you're just out in the sun all day, right? And then you try to go for a run, like, if you, if you guys have ever been like out in the sun all day at the beach or like, just, you know, on the lake or whatever and tried to go for a run afterwards, it feels awful. It's because your core temp, part of the reason is that your core temperature is already elevated from all of your time out in the sun and now you're trying to go out and run on top of that and you're probably dehydrated as well. Okay, so pre cooling, drinking like a Slurpee or a Slushie or something like that, really, really good idea to help bring that core body temperature down. We told Lauren to do this before her, her race and she loved it. We bought Kevin a Slurpee in the middle of his Ultra and to help bring his core temperature down too. And also it'll give you those electrolytes, that sugar, in there as well. Yeah, starting off being hydrated and electrolyted up has been a game changer. Absolutely. Mid run, you want to aim for about 150 to 250 milliliters of water or sports drinks every 15 to 20 minutes. And again, this is individual, right? If you're someone that sweats a lot, you're going to need to increase this number. If you're someone that salty sweats a lot, you're going to want to make sure that you put Electrolytes in those in those solutions as well. Okay. If you're depending on how long you're going out, I often get the question. Should I drink only electrolyte beverages or should I, you know, and just avoid water altogether? Probably not. Okay, you should probably do a mixture of both. If you can, if you're, if you have the ability to have, you know, two different bottles with you having one of water and one of sports drink often works well for a lot of people if you're someone that is a salty sweater and you know, you lose a lot of electrolytes having you. The salt tabs, the salt chews, those kinds of things to help supplement are a very good thing. All right? And then I always think it's a good thing to have regular water on you as well, just because you, and if you notice swelling, like what Emily was asking before, like if you notice a lot of swelling in your fingers, in your hands, excessive swelling, you're going to expect that you're in the heat, your, your fingers are going to be a little bit more swollen than, than normal anyway. But if, if you notice a lot of swelling, that means you need to drink more water. Okay, because you probably have too many electrolytes. Post exercise hydration, aim to replace 150 percent of the fluid lost over the next couple of hours. And then nutritional support, you know, you, you want to be eating right after you work out anyway, just making sure that you're also replenishing sodium, potassium, and other electrolytes. And you should get most of those in whatever meal you're eating afterwards. But if you're noticing that you have a craving for salty foods after your run, It's probably because you're losing sodium during the run as well. So this is another reason why, again, it's so important for us to be connected to our bodies, right? Because our bodies give us a clue as to what we need. If you're, like, having a craving for salty food, it's probably because you're losing a lot of salt, right? So keep those things in mind and, and read, start to read your body signals more. All right, clothing and gear. Moisture wicking fabrics, okay? We all know. Tech clothing is typically better than cotton to help keep the body cool and dry. It can also help to decrease chafing and other problematic skin issues. Breathable and loose fitting clothing. Okay, so this is another thing like tight clothing can really hinder sweat evaporation and increase your risk for overheating. Alright, so if you're someone that runs with like the tight tight tops or those kinds of things just beware. Of that, loose fitting clothing is more recommended. A lot of clothing nowadays has built in UV protection to help shield the skin from harmful rays, because, which is why just protecting your skin is really important. So, clothing with UV protection, hats and sunglasses, and sunscreen, because Sun will increase skin damage, and if you guys have ever had a sunburn and you've touched your skin, you can feel how hot it is, right? Your body's trying to offload heat. So when you get skin damage from the sun, that also increases cardiac load on your body. Your body's trying to offload this heat because the the skin is damaged and so it thinks they're, I mean, it is, it's an injury, right? So when whenever we're injured, that increases inflammation. So if we are getting sunburned as we're running, we're increasing levels of inflammation in the body. Our body's thinking, oh no, I'm injured. Again, that's increasing the sympathetic nervous system. It's increasing the demand on our cardiac system. And it makes running feel a lot harder. And Sunscreen always sweats into my eyes. Can I just wear a hat? You can do whatever you want, Emily. I'm never gonna tell you, you know, what's best for you. Yeah, wear a hat. And I mean, if that's what you want to do, or you can put you know, just on the cheeks, I would definitely recommend like ears are a common place that a lot of people forget that are common places for skin cancer. So if you're running in the, in the sun definitely the ears, but that, yeah, you don't have to put any like on your forehead or around your eyes because I totally understand the struggle there, but I always run with a hat or a visor because I don't like wearing sunscreen either. Yes, a hat does tend to hold heat in, which is why I like visors more in the summertime, because it keeps the crown of the head open again, because we lose the most heat through the crown of our head, okay? Which is why during the wintertime it's so important for you to wear a hat. Right, because we want to keep that hat that heat in during the winter. But during the summer, we want to let it evaporate. So I'm having a visor to help protect your skin and your face from the sun, but also allow that heat to evaporate, which is also why the running and the tech hats are better than something like this that has like is a thicker hat. Like the thicker hats, the cotton hats, those kinds of things that don't breathe as well are going to be worse for that. So that's one of the reasons why like the running hats made from that specific thing will help to keep, especially if you're bald or if your, your hair is thinning, you want to make sure that you're protecting the top of your head, your scalp from the sun as well. Okay. Let's see. Just saw a bunch of questions pop in here. What about hats for running the head ventilation? Yep, I just answered that, Sharon. Ventilation is a very good thing. And hats, I get nervous that sunscreen clog pores and will make sweating less efficient. Is this, yeah, P O R E S. So, yeah I think that this is one of the reasons why people have More like the sports sunscreen might be more effective here than like some of the other sunscreen because it will allow the screen to, I need to do a little bit more research on that. That's a really good question. And I've had those same thoughts myself as well. I, I have a different take on sunscreen than a lot of people do that I won't share right now, but I do think that covering the skin with physical barriers like clothing is more preferred than sunscreen in a lot of cases Because I'm more, I try to avoid chemicals and everything anyway, too. Kevin is very much the opposite. Kevin puts sunscreen on everything. And but at the same time, you know, more clothing also increases core temperature. So it's like this, this dance and this balance that we all have to find, but we definitely want to make sure that we're protecting our skin because if we do get sunburned, sun damage does cause increased inflammation, increased cardiac load. And it can make running feel a lot harder. Using a face moisturizer that has SPF worked better for me. Yeah, that's a good idea. Baby face sunscreen doesn't irritate me as much. Perfect. Yeah, these are great suggestions. Thanks guys. Keep putting them in the chat. If you guys have found things that work better for you, that is one of the benefits of like, Crowdsourcing. Yeah. Lip balm. Lauren, this is a really great point. Don't forget lip balm with SPF. Yes. If you are in the sun for an extended period of time, don't forget your lips. Yeah. Really, really good point. Read the ingredients. Absolutely, Cindy. Yeah, I always try to go with a more natural sunscreen. With the less chemicals when it comes to choosing, but that was a little too much to get all into all those details in today's class, but maybe I'll put some, do some more research and put some more stuff out for that. All right, moving on to breathing. Okay, so. Breathing techniques. This is one of those things where learning how to breathe outside of running is really important, okay? So if you guys are sitting down or in a place where you're able to have your hands free, I want you to do this exercise. I want you to put one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly. Okay, we're going to just practice a little bit of diaphragmatic breathing. So a lot of times when we breathe, a lot of people tend to breathe from their chest, okay? So just right now, I want you to just notice how you're breathing, all right? Notice, is your hand on your chest rising? Is your hand on your belly rising? Just breathe, sitting there breathing normally. What is kind of your normal rhythm, okay? I just noticed that first. Now what I want you to do, is I want you to try to, the hand on your chest, try not to breathe into that hand. Try to keep, so try to keep your chest nice and quiet, and try to only breathe into your belly. And then relax. Okay, so just let your belly come out. I know for some of us that can be an uncomfortable sensation to release the abdominal clench of sucking in our bellies. Right? Okay, good. So diaphragmatic breathing is more belly breathing, okay? Using the diaphragm, the diaphragm is our main breathing muscle. We want to use more of our diaphragm during breathing, okay? Now I want you to do an exercise. Take your two hands and put them on the outside of your ribcage. Come on, camera, stay there for a minute. So, like, one hand here and the other one on the other side. Okay? My camera won't stay down, okay? Now what I want you to do is I want you to breathe into both of your hands and let your ribcage, feel what it's like to let your ribcage expand out to the side. So take a deep breath in and let your ribcage expand out into your hands when you practice this when you're not running, it's going to help make your lungs, your lungs are going to understand what it's like to expand more because most of us during our days we take really shallow breaths and the deeper our breaths are, the more oxygen we're getting in. That's going to help us in our running too. And this is actually a really fun way to also help us relax, right? Just like spending time just taking 10 deep breaths will take you maybe a couple of minutes, maybe two minutes, but it can really improve your running and also just your overall sense of relaxation. Okay, so diaphragmatic breathing really important. Practice it when you're not running first and then practice it when you're on your run, you know, obviously you're not going to run with your hands on your ribs, but just practice that sensation because you'll start to learn what that sensation feels like to allow your belly in your rib cage to expand more than on your easy runs. Or during a walking break when you're in between your, your running portions out on your runs, focus on taking those really, really deep breaths that can bring your heart rate down really quickly. Okay. So it's a really great way for you to help regulate your heart rate when you're out running in the heat also. Okay, rhythmic breathing is another thing that you can try. So this is one of the ways that I really helped to Improve my breathing when I first started running and helped to decrease side stitches, okay? I don't know if anybody suffers from side stitches. I used to get them all the time So rhythmic breathing is basically taking an inhale and exhaling For, say, three steps and then exhaling for three steps, I try to use four and four. If four and four seems too hard at the beginning, start with three and three on your faster runs. It might be two and two right, but trying to essentially match your inhale and your exhale by inhaling for the same number of steps as you exhale. Okay, so that rhythmic breathing can really help for, help you to maintain a steady steady breathing to help you regulate your effort and help keep you calmer during your breathing as well, or during your running as well. Mindful breathing also really, like, when you're out on your run, you know, basically all of these techniques are all mindful breathing. Right? Like trying to match your inhale and your exhale, trying to take deeper breaths, trying to expand your diaphragm, your rib cage 360 degree breathing is another way to look at it. It's like when you take a really deep breath, can you feel it in your front, your sides and your back? Okay. Everybody do that right now. Take a really deep breath and see if you can feel it in your back, in your sides, in your front, right? Like you just want your, the air to just fill up your trunk. Okay. Okay. All really good things to practice. And then Always coming back to the mental side of things. It all starts in your mind, right? Telling yourself, this is going to make me a better runner. This is going to make me a better runner. Right? Like when it's out there and it sucks and it feels terrible. Like, I know that that helps me a lot of times. Like, this is making me a better runner, right? Runners do hard things, like running in the heat. Or this training will pay off in the fall. You know, start to find some of these things that you can say to yourself, because these are all true statements. Thanks. And they can help when you're out there and things are getting hard. Alright, so this is that examples of of self talk. And things that you can use to help make things not suck so bad. You can also use visualization and imagery. Like, visualize instead of visualizing yourself on a beach somewhere. You know, visualizing yourself in the cold or like drinking a cold beverage or visualizing cooler in imagery because your brain is in control of a lot and that can actually help to cool you down. All right. So moving forward, number one, except that your training will look and feel different this summer, and that's totally okay. Fighting it is not going to help anything, right? Make a plan for your runs, including fueling, hydration, and cooling strategies. Planning ahead can solve a lot of problems before they arise. And then number three, adjust. Things are not going to always go as planned. Listen to your body and adjust as needed because your safety and health are more important than one run. If you have to run, if you have to cut a run short because you are noticing that you're, you have chills, you're lightheaded, you're dizzy, like stop. Your health is not worth it. Do not push through those runs, okay? Stop, get in the shade, hydrate. Running will be there the next day for you. All right. Your safety is more important. All right. Thanks for being here guys. And I will see y'all next week.