Heat management 12/24/11

After reading my new buddy Alex Barnett’s concerned comments about my “aero” workout from yesterday, I got thinking. Maybe I should start the living room fan. My training buddy/husband Tony does when he rides with Tour de France buddies. Coach Troy always reminds us about hydration and getting enough fuel, but another thing that I have to be aware to avoid cardio drift (Wednesday’s entry) is to keep your core temperature under control. Maybe you have seen riders in big races in Europe in summer use water in the water bottle not just to drink, but pour the water from the head. One thing I did when I first experienced this funky rightness in chest was to go find a shade and stay there for a while.

And what have I learned about heat management while riding? I live and ride in Plano, Texas, USA (where young Lance Armstrong grew up). If you know Dallas only as a place to change airplanes or where beautiful people lived in soap opera in the 80’s, I would like to inform the following. This summer Dallas just missed braking the consecutive days of record high of 100 degrees (38 C) or higher, 42 days, made in 1980 by two days, 40days! If that was disappointing, we managed to break 1980 record of over 100 degrees record of the season, 69 days, by two days, 71 days!

I never did 100 miles in public rides in 2011, but I did a few inside and also one of the hottest day outside at White Rock Lake on 8/3. When I finished riding, the temperature was 107! (Garmin Record Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

During the summer riding season, our freezer has a few big bags of ice at all times. At public rides, I don’t line up for water nor Gatorade. Just add ice in concentrated Accelerade in my Camel bak and bottles with GU Brew Peach Tea (strict on flavor here). Ice in Camel bak also helps cooling my back. During our own Saturday long rides, we stop by CVS store on route and buy a bag of ice and a gallon water. Keep adding ice into bottles and about half the time, iced water goes over my head. I don’t even bother drying myself as the clothes and shoes will dry themselves before I notice any discomfort.

Hence today, first I turned off the heater all the way down. (Poor hubby. Thank goodness he is always warm and I am always cold.) Turn on the ceiling fan in the living room. Then forget riding in style; get rid of the pink hat. Then took out the cake pan and filled with iced water (pictured above) and set right next to my bottles and foods. Initially I had paper towel to use (which people sometimes give away on public rides), but forget the formality, just use the towel. Today the towel’s main job was not to wipe off sweat, but rather soak it in the iced water, transfer quickly on my back then move to back of the neck. Then I remembered I heard that triathletes use cooling wrap around neck when they run. At the post office stop, I ran in the kitchen and grabbed husband’s McDavid Reusable Cold/Hot Pack,the ones he uses to ice shoulders, knees and so forth. When my heart rate starts to climb zone 4, I put these cooling device on back of my neck and observed my heart rate go back down!

So here is the data from today. think it is the heart rate has fewer spikes than yesterday’s except of course, final I decided to go overboard as I was feeling strong and I knew I could finish safely. Rick Sobona kindly commented maybe my heart is in overtraining mode, but at this point in time, I do not have luxury to have normal taper period to complete the challenge, so I will keep up with this heat management scheme. Now I am more convinced I can never be in Spinervals’ shoots like Nancy Hill did because I am going to have to demand HUGE feeding tables right next to me!