The human body is incredible. It can adapt very well if trained
properly for the given conditions it will face. Exposure to
warmer climates causes the body to become more efficient in
keeping core body temperature low. Here are some of the
physiological adaptions that occur with heat acclimatization:

Sweating starts at a lower body core temperature (cooling starts earlier).

Higher sweat rates (helps to cool body down more).

Increased blood plasma levels, sometimes referred to as “blood thinning”.
Increased plasma allows the heart to beat slower and the body
to sweat more before performance decreases.

Thirst is improved allowing you to drink more.

Salt loss through sweat deceases.

All of the adaptions above will enable an athlete
to perform better in hot conditions. Therefore, if you
are aiming to have a great race day in hot conditions,
heat acclimatization is vital.

There are two options that athletes have for heat
acclimatization. Option 1 is going to the event site 14
days before the race to train. Most people will take
about two weeks to acclimatize to the heat. In general,
a fit individual will take less time to adapt to the heat
and the number of days can be closer to seven days.

Option 2 would be to create an artificial hot environment
to train in. This might include training in hot rooms or even
sauna’s.

In either case you should figure out what your sweat rates
are in the heat to prevent dehydration. Weigh your self before
and after exercise. This will give you your approximate sweat
rates, which can be broken down into hours or 15 minute
segments.

For example, if your starting weight is 150 pounds before
exercise, and you weigh 148.5 pounds after one hour of cycling,
you sweat rate would be 1.5 pounds per hour or about 0.4 pounds
every 15 minutes.

For every pound lost you should take in 16 ounces of water.
In hot conditions you should aim to take in more fluid before and
after exercise. Replacing all lost fluids while exercising at a high
level in hot conditions can be a tough undertaking.

There is also a difference between dry heat and humid heat
acclimatization. A person who is adapted to hot humid conditions
will sweat more than if he or she is adapted to dry heat. This
will affect performance because higher sweat rates assist
in keeping core body temperature cooler.

So what are the general protocols for those hoping to be
acclimatized for training in a cooler climate?

1) Arrive to a hot race destination 14 days prior to the competition.
During the first few days, begin training early in the morning and
late in the afternoon in order to get use to heat.

After five days, start doing one training session at mid-day;
you will have to race at mid day in Iron distance races.
Progressively increase your training to simulate race conditions.
For example, if training for an Ironman, you should swim in a morning
cycle then run in the late morning and early afternoon.

2) Artificial heat adaption. This is a great option for those
who live in cooler climates but can’t arrive early to a race.

Create hot conditions for training on an indoor bike or treadmill
by using a heater or sitting in a area that get lots of sun. Do your
best to simulate the race temperatures that you will be racing at.

Hit the sauna! You can do jumping jacks, step-ups, lunges, etc,
in the sauna. Start with five minutes and gradually work your way up.

With any of these recommendations you should ease your way into
them. If you feel faint, dizzy, nauseous or like general death, stop
exercising get some fluids in and cool yourself off in the shade or AC.

Lastly, it is important to note that just about every person’s performance
will decrease in hot conditions. Heat will generally have less impact on
elite athletes. Nevertheless, it is still important to acclimatize as much
as possible to hot conditions in order to minimize performance reductions.

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Curious how important triathlon hydration is? How about how much you should actually be drinking during your triathlon? This article from the Rock Star Triathlete Academy will teach you everything you need to know about triathlon hydration.

Consider the following triathlon hydration facts:

* Your cycling and running speed decreases about 2% for each 1% of body weight lost through dehydration.

* By the time you feel thirsty, you can already be at 2% body weight loss .

* A 3% weight loss indicates dehydration has occurred.

* Loss of fluid during exercise varies, but averages about 34 ounces per hour (and can be 3x that much in hot and humid conditions!).

* Hyponatremia, which is just as dangerous as dehydration, is a term used to describe “water intoxication” and can occur with excess water intake above 30oz of water an hour.

* Acclimatized individuals who are used to training in hot climates or hot rooms can reduce fluid loss by up to 50%.

Based on these facts, it would pretty important to make sure your triathlon hydration is properly planned. Here is how to do it:

* Divide your weight in half to determine the ounces of water you should drink per day for adequate triathlon hydration. So a 160 pound triathlete would consume about 80 ounces of water, or 10 8 ounce servings. While some nutritionists will recommend drinking even more if you exercising, you need to remember that you’re also getting water from all the food you eat about 20% of your daily fluid intake is typically from food.

* During exercise, your triathlon hydration goal should be to consume about 17-25 ounces per hour, or around 4-8 ounces every 15-20 minutes. A typical large water bottle is 20-25 ounces. During hot and long races such as Half-Ironman and Ironman, you can shoot for closer to 28-30 oz of water per
hour although smaller individuals will need to take caution with this level of fluid intake.

* Before a long exercise session, such as a multi-hour workout, race or trip to the gym, your goal should be to consume 17-25 ounces per hour for 2-3 hours leading up to event (but always taper off fluid consumption about 20 minutes before to eliminate “stomach sloshing”).

* Over 30 ounces of fluid per hour can cause water dilution in the blood, which disrupts normal cellular metabolism and physiology, often with dangerous consequences, such as swelling around the brain. High-end intake above these values should only occur during exercise in hot and humid conditions.

There are a few other good triathlon hydration tips you need to take into account:

* To avoid taking in too much water, you can combine your triathlon hydration with doses of external water to control heat stress, such as squirting some cold water over your head, putting ice in your jersey or uniform, or using ice sponges.

* For people who tend to sweat and cramp excessively, glycerol
supplementation can help maximize water storage, but this is illegal in some events so use caution!

* Cold water is absorbed more rapidly than warm water giving you a good excuse to use thermal water bottles and freeze them overnight.

* Pay attention to your urine color – pale to light yellow is optimal. If you’re still peeing dark yellow a couple hours after an event or training session, continue to re-hydrate.

* You can lose up to a pound in glycogen, fat and muscle tissue during a 3+ hour training session, so account for this when re-hydrating, or when weighing yourself after exercise to see how much you¹ve lost

* Remember…you still evaporate water in cooler training environments, so if you’re training in cold weather, triathlon hydration is still important!

No discussion of water would be complete without emphasizing that liquid compounds that are full of fructose, glucose or artificial colorings and sweeteners are not to be considered normal triathlon hydration methods, and should only be consumed when completely necessary, such as during a multi-hour training session during which calories are necessary, or when no form of pure water is handy.

Finally, whenever possible in your triathlon hydration, choose clean, filtered water, and avoid heavy consumption of water from plastic bottled sources, especially those that have been exposed to heat.

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Perhaps you’ve recently finished your triathlon and you’re unhappy with your
Ironman results. Perhaps you just signed up for an Ironman and you want
better results. No matter what your level of triathlon experience is, the
Rock Star Triathlete Academy at
http://www.rockstartriathleteacademy.com/ironmanresults has identified three
crucial keys for the swim, the bike and the run – and each of them will get
you better Ironman results.

Get Ironman Results for the Swim: Swim With Attitude

Let’s face it – the emotions and experiences you have during the Ironman
swim can significantly dictate your mental performance for the remainder of
the entire race. If you put yourself into a swim position that allows you to
become frustrated, you could set-up a damaging cascade of decisions that
stays with you during the bike and the run. It may seem illogical, but you
can find yourself riding above your goal bike pace by 1-2 miles per hour and
destroying your ability to run off the bike simply because you swam 100m off
course on the swim and you’re attempting to “make up time”.

So not only do you have to have an attitude during the swim that allows you
to shrug off any frustrating experiences that come your way – such as
getting kicked in the face, elbowed in the goggles or drafting off course -
but you also need to make sure that you position yourself in the swim to
decrease the chances of these events occurring. For example, you can swim to
the inside of the marker buoys (most people swim to the outside), sight off
stationary landmarks on shore (most people try to sight off buoys, which is
much more difficult), and draft on the hips of the swimmer in front of you
rather than their feet.

Make the proper swim decisions, and you’ll drastically affect your Ironman
results for the rest of the race.

Get Ironman Results for the Bike: Gearing & Cadence

There’s nothing like mashing gears for 112 miles to leave your legs feeling
like J-E-L-L-O for the run. But at an average Ironman event, 90% of the
competitors are spinning at 60-70RPM or lower as they climb the hills. This
is either the result of not knowing how to use the bike gears, not having
the mental awareness to use the bike gears, or not having the correct bike
gears. Don’t fool yourself – you may be able to do a sprint triathlon with a
chainring the size of Kansas and the cassette of a Tour contender, but that
might come back to bite you 80 or 90 miles into the Ironman bike ride.

So in your practice rides leading up to the Ironman, attempt to ride a
course that simulates your race course, and bring a cyclocomputer. Watch
your cadence. It doesn’t matter whether you’re training based on heart rate,
power, or “feel” – your cadence should be at least above 80RPM, and
preferably 85-95RPM, even on the hills.

Get Ironman Results for the Run: Nutrition

If you’ve done Ironman before, then you know the feeling. About 6 miles into
the run, each aid station becomes a blur of cookies, Coke, soup and gels -
and you can’t remember what you already grabbed, why you grabbed it, how
much you stuffed into your mouth, what time it is, or where your pace is at.

The truth is this: during the Ironman run you have to *own your calories*.
This means that every bite of fuel that goes into your mouth is cooly
calculated and stored in your mental computer that tells you exactly how
much fuel you’ve consumed. There’s nothing like being doubled over with gut
pain halfway through a marathon and not knowing whether it was because you
ate too much, ate too little, mixed the wrong foods, or somehow grabbed a
cheeseburger while you weren’t paying attention.

During your long runs, practice adding total calories consumed and
maintaining a running tally of your fuel – the mind can be trained to do
math during exercise, and if you do this step, your Ironman results will
rock.

With a proper swim attitude, smart bike gearing and cadence, and attentive
run nutrition, you’re guaranteed to get Ironman results. For more tips on
not just Ironman, but every aspect of triathlon, including training,
nutrition, expert Q&A’s, coach calls, free training plans, and much more,
visit the Rock Star Triathlete Academy at
http://www.rockstartriathleteacademy.com/ironmanresults.

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It will help you in you triathlon training for sure.

Rock on!

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All was going grand. Came out of the water with one other athlete and then got on the bike and took the lead and that was that. I crossed the line a winner……. so I thought.

Turns out I went wrong way on part of the run course and missed about a 1/2 mile of running out of the 10K run. I was by my self and the course was not well marked. Here is what I learned and how you can avoid this

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You can use these lessons in triathlon training and racing for sure

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