#14 Racing in Hot Conditions

In this episode, Emz, Tim, and Cal share their insights on racing in hot environments, drawing from personal experiences in the Philippines, Kona, and more. They explore strategies for heat adaptation, gear choices, hydration, and race day tactics to stay cool and perform well in extreme temperatures.

Key Topics:

• Challenges and logistics of traveling with race gear in different climates
• Bike transportation options: larger bike boxes vs. more flexible bags
• Heat adaptation techniques including sauna, hot baths, and active heat exposure
• Hydration strategies: sodium, potassium, and electrolyte balance
• Race day cooling methods: ice, headwear, and clothing choices
• Impact of weather on training and race prep across hemispheres
• Gear considerations: helmets, sunglasses, and skinsuits for heat management
• Mental and pacing strategies in high-temperature races

Come find us Cartel Coaching — Swim. Bike. Run. Together.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:18

Team, welcome to Cartel Coaching. I'm Callum Millward. I'm an ex-professional triathlete and three times IMN 70.3 champion. And now I'm getting a proper reintroduction into the sport of triathlon as an age grouper. I spent a number of years at the pointy end of the sport, and now I've got a business, a life, a family, and the same 24 hours as everyone else who is trying to figure out how to be competitive again. And I tell you what, it is super humbling and it's interesting. What I bring to the table is the elite side of things. I'm living the age group reality right now. Not going to pretend that they're the same thing. With me every episode is Tim Brazier, who coaches everyone from first-timers to Olympians, and M, our resident age grouper, who is keeping us honest. This is Cartel Coaching, and let's get into it.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Today we're going to be talking all things around training for hot races and racing in different countries. Because today I'm coming to you from the Philippines, where I've just done a race in some pretty hot conditions. So I thought it would be a good topic for us all. So hey Tim. Hey Cal. How are you guys going?

SPEAKER_04 1:27

Good, I'm I was in the opposite to you, New Zealand. I was in Tekapo, and on what day was it? It was a Sunday morning. We had the coldest temperature record in New Zealand for a while at negative in a town of negative 12 and a half degrees. So I was in the extreme opposite to Bohol in the Philippines.

unknown 1:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:49

How did your race go there, and did you have a good time?

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Yeah, I had the best time. Hey, um, I was worried about the heat, but it was it was alright. Like it was it was hot. Like, don't get me wrong, it was it was definitely hot, and particularly in the run, you could you could feel it, but uh it was just such a vibe. Like I've never raced in an Asian country before, and um I've never been to the Philippines before, and the people are just so lovely, and the um the town is beautiful, so it's just such a stunning location, and there were just lots of interesting features that kept it really interesting. So, you know, lots of lots of animals, there were chickens crossing the road, there were goats and cows and all sorts of stuff. So it was um yeah, it was really cool.

SPEAKER_03 2:33

Awesome. It's always fun sort of venturing outside. Um, your comfort zone a little bit and trying something new, especially traveling with a bike as well, and the logistics of getting to and from the airport and you mean bits and bobs before and after the race, but character building no the nonetheless, hey.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

A hundred percent, yeah. Um getting scammed. Oh yeah, getting scammed. So it was it was getting scammed, and I also really stuffed up my luggage. So I um I flew Qantas over and I treated myself to business class because I just thought I need a rest. I just want to sit in a pod and be comfortable. Um I my bags were overweight limit, so in business, they they they stung me with overweight bags. So I I was there at the carousel having to quickly maneuver things into my um carry-on bags, and it was a big palava. And then I was really worried about when I got to the like the domestic airports in the Philippines because I thought if I'm overweight in Qantas, I'm gonna be in a big problem with this domestic airport. Not even an issue, like was not even on the radar, and I just thought, wow, I can't believe that. So it was um yeah, but definitely a learning there um with my bike box because it's um it's super hard to get a gauge of how heavy your bike box is gonna be because it's it's hard to weigh it at home, it's quite big. Um, and I did probably stuff a little bit too much stuff in it, and it was about 30 kilos when I got it to the airport, so probably probably a little bit too much. Yeah. Well, no, I didn't. I had to then just shuffle everything around. So I could I I had enough like baggage limit, but I just didn't have it in the right um configuration. So it ended up being that I had to carry most of my clothes in my backpack, so it was just really uncomfortable going through the airport. So lesson learned for me is um yeah, put either put more in the bike box and then don't have a a packed luggage and then just take your carrier um or just yeah, redistribute it anyway. Move on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 4:44

There's a lot of hacks travel. Travel's a real hard thing with trython when you're trying to travel with three sports. And if you're trying to travel with like race wheels and training wheels and swim gear and a wetsuit, you know, go into a hot environment and just racing is easier. But if you go into a varied environment, like we used to on training camps, and you're racing as well, and you'd race wheels and training wheels, absolute nightmare trying to fit that all in to two bags. You end up feeling like you're just going away with two pairs of undies, a couple of t-shirts and shorts, really. And um hoping it's gonna be warm enough the whole time.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:20

So you've got a bike box Allen, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:24

I do. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:25

It's um I feel like they're on an upswing at the moment with being super popular. But um because obviously the other major players, Evoc uh bags and then Sycon bags. So I've sorta I I need to get another bag next year to go to the US and about I think um uh I guess you pay a little bit more because it's uh sorry, it's a a little bit of a penalty, is uh the weight of it, but obviously there's a lot more protection age.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Yeah, that's right. And I bought the bike box allen because I was a bit of a novice with my bike, and I just didn't know how to take the bike apart, and I was worried about you know moving my seat around and what that was gonna mean for my bike fit, and and so all of those things made me really nervous. So the primary reason why I chose the bike box Allen was partially because it's a big pink box and it looks good for the other part, is um that it's uh it you don't have to take your bike apart as much, so you can actually keep everything on it, like you can it keep the Duralia on it, like everything, but it's just so heavy and it's really hard to get into cars. So even here um we uh you know we've had vans taking us around, but for some reason here in the Philippines, all the vans, the seats don't go down. So we've been getting these giant vans to take us around, and we even hired a giant van, but it's still been very difficult for us to get the bike box in and out. Whereas Blake, who I've been traveling with, he's got just some you know, no-name brand um bike bag that he got off Facebook Marketplace just a couple of days before we got here, and he has to completely disassemble his bike, which is fine. But his bike fits everywhere and it's a lot easier. So I'm actually reconsidering it, to be honest, Cal. Now that I'm veter with my bike and I understand how to put it together and and whatnot, I actually don't know if I want to persist with the giant bike box just because it's just hard to maneuver around and it's really heavy. Yeah. Safe. It's definitely safer, I'd say. But um, yeah, it's hard to know.

SPEAKER_04 7:30

Those are often the trade-offs too, with how much you want to be able to break down your bike. You know, you saw my bike bag in when we were in Noosa, like I pull my handlebars right off and twist things around and it's moving things about, whereas a a cyclone you can just pretty much take your wheels off and chuck your bike in and you're away laughing. But I have seen a lot of bike breakages in the cyclone bags, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Yeah. Well, yeah, I'd really hate that. So maybe yeah, I uh at least I know it's safe in in this box.

SPEAKER_04 8:02

Yeah. Last year in Challenge of Oldsheet, we'd done a four-week training camp at altitude and flown to this race, and we get there, and one of the athletes' cups for a TT bars were snapped. And in a small town of nowhere, you're not going to be able to get you know cups to replace it, or a front end potentially now that might fit, because everything's custom and designed. And so I'm in a hardware shop buying super glue and plastic and trying to layer up some sort of system and glue it all together and and hope it sets. And um it becomes quite an important part of your journey, I think, is keeping your bike in one piece, especially if you're racing. Um luckily she got through 60 70k with the before it rebroke in the race, so we got through the majority of the bike leg, but I think first and foremost the protection's a pretty important part of it. Um and you sort of scale it back from there. Um that means you've only got to wear your in your undies one way, then the other way, then back to front. Um to get through the weekend, it might just have to be the thing.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Well, I've got to say, I I actually think packing to come here to the Philippines was almost easier than packing to go to our um our training camp in Noosa, Tim, because it was it's winter and so it was a mix of hot and cold. Plus, we had all of our swimming gear, plus we had the wetsuit. Uh the amount of stuff that we had to take to Noosa, I think that was more of a logistical nightmare than it's been here. It's just been bike and then shorts and t-shirts. So at least the weather's been in my favour.

SPEAKER_04 9:38

Yeah. Talking about weather HCM, how did you cope with the heat prep? Yeah, you did a good little bit of heat prep, but I did.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

I did a little bit of heat prep, but actually really, really good. So I'm not gonna lie, when I got here, I just thought, oh no, this is this is actually really hot, and I was worried for Blake and I. Um, but it was it was really manageable, and I don't think at any point did I think, oh my god, I I'm I I have to stop. This is bad. The things that surprised me, um, the swim was probably one of the um areas where I felt the heat the most. So the water was just like bath water, it was so hot in the um in the ocean, and I could see that my heart rate was a lot higher than it normally is when I was swimming. So I was swimming, you know, swimming relatively slow. I'm a pretty slow swimmer, but yeah, my my heart rate was sort of up around that sort of the 157, 158, and so that's pretty high for me. And I but I didn't really feel like I was pushing it that hard in the water. The bike was fine. Um, and I just really tried to hydrate as much as I could on the bike. So it was only 40 kilometers, but I drank two bottles while I was on the bike, and I um I took in all my carbs through um through bottles, not through gels, because I just felt like I wanted to um sort of maximize the amount of hydration that I was getting. And then on the run, I knew it was probably gonna be the hardest. So my strategy there was just every aid station, um, they had these things called splash zones, which are like big baby pools with buckets in them, and you could just and they had all these ice in it and you could just dump it over your head. And so I'd just run through and I'd just dump um a bucket of water over my head and keep going. And uh and it worked worked pretty well. And I got across the finish line, and I'm I do feel like I don't know, it's easy to say it, but I feel like I probably could have gone a little bit harder, if that makes sense. I feel like I did it fairly comfortably. At no point did I feel uncomfortable on the run or that I was pushing too hard. And when I lost you know my age group by six seconds, I was absolutely kicking myself that I didn't push a little bit harder, but anyway, it is what it is. So it's so yeah, it was it was really great. And I I think but both Blake and I, we we both did some heat prep in this um in this build, and we both commented on how we weren't really taken aback by the heat as as much as we thought we would be. So it definitely definitely helped.

SPEAKER_04 12:08

Yeah, awesome. Pretty key part of it is getting that acclimation in now, and I think we're all learning that a lot of races now are in the heat. You know, we're gonna have some you know, through the Australasian season, actually, we're now really lucky to have something like Sunshine Coast, which is in a nice weather window, Port Mac as well, sitting in October, you know, Melbourne's gonna still be pretty reasonable temperature as well. So we've got a few races that are sitting outside of those peak temperatures, but generally across the world now we're experiencing ridiculous temperatures at some races, and you've only got to look look to tour de France and what they're experiencing, and having shortened stages to be able to cope with it. It's so brutal, so hard. And it's when you're doing a stage race and you're going back-to-back days, that's even tougher because you're you're taking multiple hours of suffering and just laying them up day after day in the heat. It's it's really, really, really tough. But it was where the acclimation's really important. So that I think not only physically you learn to adapt and cope better, but mentally, I think more importantly, like you learn to feel more comfortable with it, and also you learn to I guess understand how you're gonna cope with it mentally, and also then you can start to think about your strategies like you did on course about how you're gonna get keep cool all the way through. Because once temperature gets over that 40 degrees, this is a rough indication of where things start to fall off the cliff, it's really hard to bring it back down again. So you sort of have to mitigate your way all the way through the event. And Cal, I'm not sure how you coped at Kona, and do you have many strategies there to keep keep cool throughout that race?

SPEAKER_03 13:50

Uh I feel like uh and look what we're talking about before, racing races 70.3 in the Philippines, it's really it's really hard to escape or pr I feel like it's really challenging to prepare, especially if you're coming from uh the southern hemisphere straight into the heat as well. There's only so much you can do, and I feel I actually feel uh Australians and Kiwis, despite you know, a pretty strong track record from the Australians, um, would probably perform better in Kona in those hotter races if it was coming off the back of our summer. Um other other than you know, like what Zim's probably done where you've done sauna work or um we did a lot of sauna work for Kona. Um you can use those tracksuits and just sweat yourself out. Um but I it's hard to quantify um how much it actually helps because I feel like you just you still get into the race or you still get off the plane in Kona and it still whacks you like a you know, a bat, and it's like oh crap. So could I have done more? I don't know. Um all we really did is we trained in Boulder where it was hot during the summer, and then you'll do sauna after swim sessions. Um other than that, that was the best we could do. I also think there's certain people, you know, like Patrick Lange. Um uh I was gonna say Sam Laidlow, but I feel like he's a little bit hit and miss in the heat. But this guy, Patrick Lang is a good example of someone who I think probably physiologically is very well suited to racing in the heat. He's got a performance record, and you know, like pretty sure he's racing in the Philippines as well. He's done very well in Texas and done very well in Kona, and he he for some reason it doesn't seem like the heat affects him as well uh uh as much as other people. So yeah, I I just did the basics, sauna, and some, you know, I'd done some sessions and and um long hot black dark gear, but I'd be interested to know if others or our listeners had found other techniques that they could really be like, hey, this made a big difference. I didn't do it one year, I did it this year, and I noticed a big difference. So in your opinion, uh Tim, what what would you if you could give three tips to people heading to race in the heat, uh like serious heat, what would you say?

SPEAKER_04 16:10

Yeah, I think the first thing is that the science is now starting to suggest that you need seven to fourteen days of heat exposure, you know, and you were getting it up in boulder on a consistent basis, lab with a sauna, which makes a really big difference. If you can't get that in your environment, then seeking that out is really important. Um you more towards sorry, more towards the 14 days is really important. Um and what you're trying to look for is you're trying to increase in blood plasma volume, yeah, trying to get into your sweat rate and be able to cool yourself as well. And it's really trying to get that physiological adaptation happening. Um and you can do that in different ways, whether that's the environment, whether it's using saunas after training sessions, or now actually using hot baths. I think specifically if you're going to go into a humid environment, a hot bath can be really good because it doesn't really allow you to wick away any moisture and sweat. You're trapped in this hot, warm, moist environment. I mean, you have to get used to it. And so the the passive heating is really, really good and a real simple way to do it. The next one then you start to look at is like what Emblem did with some active work, um, and that's getting into your sweatsuits and like you did Cal with wearing long dark clothing and sessions is doing you know 30 to 60 minute sessions without a fan, with a sweatsuit on, indoors with a heater, and really becoming one with the heat and learning to tolerate it mentally and physically, and it can show that that that has a good adaptation. It is a a riskier approach because you can get more fatigue off the back of it. So if you are doing high training loads, you have to be really cautious with that. Um that's where you might start to lean more towards the passive approaches of 20 to 30 minutes in a sauna or a hot bath. And then my third tip really is to start to think about those ideas on race day about how you're gonna cool yourself. Because what ends up happening between the body is it's a competition for blood. Your working muscles want the oxygen, but your skin wants it for cooling. Um so when you're hot your body's sending more to the skin to dump the heat. So it's actually like, well, how do I keep that body temperature down? And you know, generally the ice baths, ice sponges, constant hydration is your best way forward with a lot of it. I'm not convinced on the scientific research of whether the charcoal hats work. You see people wear those hats around um all the time, whether that really makes a difference, but having a hat on in itself and keeping the direct sunlight off your face can be really effective just for a from a feeling perspective with the heat. Um but being really regular with that and the but the most common cause of failure in the heat is actually just pacing. It's just not judging your pacing well and going out way too fast and thinking that oh this feels comfortable now. Well in 10, 20, 30 minutes it's not gonna feel comfortable. And you what you're probably experienced, Dim is you actually paced it really, really well on the day because you felt like you could have gone faster at the end. And that's gonna be a good little experience build. You think, oh, maybe next time I can go a bit quicker. Um, but it can be a really fine knife edge. You know, you could have gone those a little bit quicker and it just could have tipped you right over. Um so learning to pace is and learning to operate off your heart rate, I think's really, really important for age groupers and the biggest place we see failing.

SPEAKER_00 19:45

Yeah, it was interesting. So the whole way through, I I was looking at my heart rate. It was really the only measure that I was looking at. And I did actually turn my watch around uh when I started the run, and I wanted to do that just specifically off RPE because I felt like if I started looking at the pace, that might sort of throw me off course a little bit. So I was I was interested to see what my pace was, and I I was running um around what would be my you know zone two easy pace, uh, but I was in a tempo heart rate, so it probably was kind of the right space for me to be running, to be honest. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:26

Yeah. Totally, because I mean in the end you ran for a about an hour, you know, which you suggest you're not gonna be running at a threshold heart rate for an hour. Um it's gonna be pretty taxing, especially in the heat. So being within that tempo zone is a really, really nice place. Um and having delivered a lot of your carbs through drinks is real sensible as well because you're getting that hydration on board, and more than likely through that you're getting a good amount of sodium on board as well. So sodium range, people will throw out numbers around it. It's actually really personal. Like some people could be a thousand milligrams of sodium per hour, some could be three thousand. That's significantly different. So you can't just take a number and roll with it. It's a little bit of a trial and error, or going getting a sweat test done to see what your rate is to actually get that number right. Because that is one thing that can get people in distress is sodium. Interestingly, another one is potassium. Um, because it's a s sodium-potassium balance that helps with in the bloodstream. And interesting, one of my athletes who raced Kona a few years ago came down from altitude, lives at altitude, came down, and that people at altitude can actually have real low levels of potassium, funny enough. And he got stuck with dinosaur arms and had to run like this and couldn't even grab anything for the back half of the marathon because of his potassium was out of balance and he didn't take enough potassium on board.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 21:53

So your full electrolyte picture is actually really, really important, potassium being one of those. Um otherwise, you coot. Could be like a dinosaur in Kona. So yeah, don't just think zodium, think a bigger picture.

SPEAKER_03 22:09

What's a hot take on eyewear and headwear and 'cause I mean I'm watching the Tour de France, Victor Campanards from Lotovisma is he doesn't wear sunglasses. Um and I always remember a camp that we did at the the Proven Grounds there in in Wanaka. Um Gordo Byrne commented one time about just the benefits of wearing hats and and sunglasses in the heat. What's the physiological sort of rationale behind wearing them versus not wearing them? And what would someone who potentially is not wearing either item uh be risking? Like is there a big downside to that?

SPEAKER_04 22:49

Yeah, well, in the heat from this from the hat perspective, um it's that direct sunlight on your face. It's taking away that feeling of the heat on your face. So the hat's helping with that. Um because that it's like getting feeling that road heat reflecting up on you, right? As soon as you take that away, that perception is it's a bit cooler. Um and then the heat off so this hat is the heat off your face, but also you can dunk your hat in nice cold water and put it back on. I've seen a lot of people do get a lot of ice up in them and put it back on as well, and then you've got ice sitting in your head all the time. Um the sunglass one's an interesting thing. Um I think one thing obviously is you know, it's gonna reduce your squinting, um, and you know, you're not gonna have this tension in your face the whole time because the sun's not beating in your eyes. So the the only other thing I can think about with the sunglass side of things is they shield your eyes from the sweat and the salt sting that comes with that. They also cut down sun exposure for the face as well, especially when you've got your massive sunglasses that you get these days, which cover half your cheeks as well and wrap right around. Um then I think in the point of view of just the placebo effect of again not feeling that heat on your face is pretty important. Um it's part of part of the thing with heat, as we've talked about earlier, there's a mental side of it. Um and if you can feel comfortable or talk to yourself about feeling comfortable, you can f you actually will feel more comfortable in the heat, having known what it feels like and experience it, then coming into something and it being really, really new and you don't know how to operate in it. Um so I think that's that's a big part of that. Interesting with Carpanat's like I don't know how he rides without sunnies, eh? Like it the average speed the other day I think it was uh for the first hour was forty-six kilometres an hour. Um and you got no sunnies on, like he must be squinting a lot or just have really strong eyes. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_03 24:52

Yeah, I was trying to wrap my head around why he does that, but it's just what he does, and I guess some people more comfortable with it than others. Maybe it's uh a s you know, depth perception or s you know could be a range of things, but I think the fact that the majority of the Paloton, you know, in France right now is wearing sunglasses is something in that the sweat getting on your lenses is a bother, but it's nothing as square if a water bottle can't get rid of. But yeah, obviously getting a bit more breeze and stuff on his eyes, but I feel like that would be um countered with just the squinting and the sheerness of being out in the blazing hot sun. Totally. Totally.

SPEAKER_04 25:32

I think the ventilation, like a helmet, something else that people need to think about when going to Kona, there's always a debate about the aero helmet. Um, how well ventilated is my aero helmet? And that's changed more so these days, getting a lot more vents in them, or just wearing a standard road helmet, which is going to be more cooling out there on the ride than wearing a little oven on your head for 180k. And that's a really key consideration when we're thinking about the heat. What helmets do you go with, HCM, in the weekend?

SPEAKER_00 26:02

Got my aero helmet, uh, and I much prefer that on the TT bike. I had the same views, Tim, around trying to keep cool, and so I resisted getting an aero helmet because I don't know, I just didn't think I needed it. But I prefer it because it's easier on my eyes. It it comes back to the kind of squinting thing is when you're in that tucked-in position and you're kind of having to look up. I find that where my sunglasses sit and my helmet, it kind of hurts my eyes after a while because I can't my video like I have to look sort of further up. I don't know how to explain it, but I find visibility is better in the aero helmet, and so it just it it makes my ride easier, and that's why I go with it. It's it's actually not necessarily for aerodynamics. You know, I'm not that fast. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 26:51

Clearly, these days, fastest being my age creeper on the bike, hey. Then talk yourself down.

SPEAKER_00 26:57

Maybe it's my helmet, I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 26:59

Maybe. Maybe you get to see the pigs and chickens coming.

SPEAKER_03 27:05

I think I have the same helmet as you, the Giro Aerohead, and I think I always opt for a helmet that's at a large range of field of view. And um I think uh those particular that particular particular model has a massive visor where I feel like, you know, and I used to have uh a coach that was um Matt Steinets 51 speed shop, so he was very big on aero, and you know, a lot of the time he was like when you're down an aero, sort of put your helmet back a little bit so the tail, you know, nicely sits on the on your back and um also increases your your range of view, which is huge because it it's not a super comfortable position a lot of the time, especially the more aggressive you've been. In recent years with people increasing their stack, it's become a bit more tolerable. But yeah, I'm all for um uh you know, the airiness and the a range of view for me. It's gotta be functional, you've got to be able to see where you're going, especially in some of those Southeast Asian countries where just getting to the finish of the course uh is important too. Yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_00 28:11

Yeah. There were tuk-tooks on the course at in at moments just coming out of nowhere. So yeah, you needed needed to have your wits about you, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_04 28:22

On that, didn't uh Edmeka Newt crash into the back of an ambulance on the course in Swansea 78.3 and um rode himself off pretty badly and just shows in some of the other races. Yeah, visibility's important. He really scraped himself up bad and um didn't finish the race, which is pretty unfortunate.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

Yeah. Thanks.

SPEAKER_04 28:45

So it's there you go. It's the importance of it. And you know, we've we've heard of that around multiple Ironmans over the last few years, bike crashes happening and you know, cars or motorbikes on the course and that sort of thing. It's pretty dangerous and having your wits about you's I think it's real easy for people to drift off because they think they're on a closed road, but actually it's plenty of Muppets out there that'll find a way onto the road.

SPEAKER_03 29:10

Another thing I was just considering about racing in the heat is a lot of the time we're training in the morning, in the early morning when it's cold. Um, and it's only really the weekend rides where let's say you're preparing for an Iron Man and you're doing a five-hour ride where you can finish uh say 10 or 11 a.m. Uh, you might roll out of touch later, which we do on the weekends, and then you then you might run off the bike. So for me, that was always important to train in the middle of the day when it was the the hottest. And it's that same sort of sentiment where you're finishing uh your bike session in the weekend. I always liken that to how you feel getting off the bike in a race, whether it's a 70.3 or an I-Man, like you're taxed, you're trying to make deals with yourself to get through your run. Do I run off the bike or do I get down until 3 p.m. this afternoon when I've had a nap? But it's that same, you're fatigued, you're a little bit clouded with your everything, you've you're covered in salt. Um, but if you can try and get your body used to running while you're you're tired and you're sort of food a little bit food deprived, and um I feel like that's a nice little tool to have as well. Because we during Monday to Friday, a lot of us are training before work when it is cooler. And um a lot of the time when we are racing, we are racing in the heat of the day. And again, if you race in Southeast Asia or certain countries, um, you know, Toyota France is a good example. They're they're not starting early in the morning, they're starting in the middle of the day, and it's almost the worst time for it as well.

SPEAKER_04 30:39

So yeah, it's a really nice point, Kale. I like that practicality, and you know, it's a really easy shift to make right in the weekends. It's actually really time you're training and get out when it's worse. Because most of us will probably try and do the opposite as well. If it's really hot, we'll be like, right, we're gonna go train when it's cool and tolerable versus trying to target some sessions where it's not.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

Yeah, what 100%. Actually, Carol, you gave me that tip. You you told me that a couple of months ago. You said you need to train your body what you expect of it. You said that to me. And I always used to actually try and put my sessions in the most comfortable parts of the day, but um, but I've started switching it up based on that advice, and I think I think you're onto something there, particularly with the running.

SPEAKER_03 31:21

The other thing we haven't talked about is obviously just um I guess between sleeveless suits and skin uh sleeve suits is a big thing, and obviously colour of suits as well and the heat. Um there's uh I've played around with all these uh in Kona. I've tried um, you know, the aero helmet, I've tried the road helmet, I've tried a sleeveless suit, I've tried a sleeve suit. I'll say the sleeveless suit, which I thought would be nice and cool, turned out I got so badly sunburnt even though covered in sunscreen. But like I've got an awesome picture of me, which I can we can share where I've got this big Borat V string. Um because eventually, you know, you sweat off everything and the sun, the sun just wears you down. You know, I shaved my head, had a visor on, sort of took a leaf out of Chris Leeto's book, Who was great in the heat. You think, you know, you're more exposed to the the wind and hopefully it cools you down, but you're also more exposed to the heat and the the the UV and it grinds you down, the top of your head gets burnt. So my lesson from Kona and racing in the heat is I'd always get a sleeve suit and I'd cover as much skin as possible, cover my arms, cover my shoulders, and cover my my head with either a full enclosed, you know, lightweight um hat or a bucket hat. So Yeah, nice.

SPEAKER_04 32:47

I like the return of the bucket hat, I think it's been great. Such a good addition. I think it just gives you that little bit of extra coverage that you don't come out. Um looking like a I don't know, what's a good analogy for someone with very burnt ears, but you see that more often because they're sticking out the side of their hats and their visors. Um the bucket hat can capture a nice amount of ice too, which is critical in Kona or any any hot race for that matter.

SPEAKER_03 33:14

You've also got the option of, you know, sun sleeves and everyone uh you know, everyone's wearing carved socks now, you know, if you can get them damp and help to retain some coolness running through an aid station. You've got the um uh Omnius headbands now with the cooling rocks. Um Sam Laidler, I think, was using like a cooling sort of scarf as well. Uh like Tim said, I think earlier, you put uh ice inside your um your run cap as well and dunk it on your head. And the Tour de France, uh filling up stockings with ice, putting them down the back of their necks. So there's a few options around. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:55

Yeah, it's definitely um I it's I think the the technology and how people are being a little bit more cunning. I don't know if that's the right word, but in terms of how they're approaching things, uh it's defin definitely evolved, and we're just gonna see that more and more as we're getting more of these races in the heat. And uh I think my you know majority of the world champs races now are in the heat. We're not really seeing them in the cold at all. Um Dopo was probably a a one in a million being down here in that sort of temperature.

SPEAKER_00 34:28

Well, Cal and I have um uh hottish race coming up at Sunny Coast 70.3, um, in uh not not a super long time, but we're lucky we'll both be training in in the right environment, so good for us. But Tim, say to our listeners who are also training for Sunny Coast 70.3 and maybe coming from a colder climate, what advice would you give them? When should they start sort of implementing some heat training? Um, and and what are some tips?

SPEAKER_04 35:00

Yes, as we talked about earlier, it's just really dialing in 14 days out and trying to get probably three to four sessions in a week in those 14 days. And they could be a mixture of um passive to start with, either sauna or hot bath, or starting to get into a jumpsuit and doing an hour on the trainer or on the with no fan, with a heater on inside, and trying to get used to that stress and just making sure you're not doubling that up before you want to try and do a key session the next day. You could do a a sauna or a bath after a key session, but you don't want to go do a passive heat session the next day, lay yourself thin on a a key session as well after a hot one. And then really expose yourself to being super fatigued and tired. So you've got to be strategic with how you place them through the week. But two weeks, you know, six to eight sessions within those two weeks of passive or active, and I think you'll really nail it.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

Well, that's a wrap. But if you want to keep the conversation going, come find us on Instagram at cartel.coaching. And for coaching camps and community, you can check out our webpage. I've linked it in the show notes. See you next time.