Building off my last post, I had a summer Half Marathon racing experience to share with the team.
My family and I ran the Virginia Beach Rock & Roll Half Marathon this weekend in the high humidity and heat. We prepared well all season and did well but others weren't so fortunate. As can happen with any race, conditions were far from ideal. Start temperature was already in the 80's, high humidity, and partly overcast. The spots of sunlight were perceptively warmer and the course had few shaded areas.
We started off at a conservative pace keeping the weather in mind and hydrated at each water station. We all carried a 20oz of water/Gatorade (for me sugarless NUUN brand) for electrolytes. Right away we saw people showing heat stress with people shedding clothing, running topless (men), women in sports bras. By mile three we started to see heat emergencies with medical teams attending to cramping runners and treating for heat stress.
We maintained our hydration plan and consumed water at every aid station. By mile 5 our pace slowed and we started to take walking breaks but those seemed even hotter as the apparent cooling wind died when we walked. We started dumping water on our heads at water stations to help cooling. There were heat emergencies at nearly every mile from this point forward to the finish.
At mile 10, I noticed my heart rate hitting max counts and I decided to slow down and monitor things very closely to avoid becoming a heat emergency myself. We watched each other for signs of heat emergency such as stumbling, cramping, confusion, dizziness, the profuse sweating was obvious because of our effort level but we looked to ensure we kept sweating. I took frequent walk breaks from mile 11-13.1 to ensure I would not become an emergency and keeping my effort level below max for safety.
We all finished and enjoyed the post race ice water, chocolate milk, Popsicle, Gatorade, banana, and ice towel to help cool down. Overall we watched ourselves closely, we planned for the heat but were still surprised by the intensity. I'm glad I had my heart monitor (Garmin Forerunner 405) on as an additional indication of my effort and I will continue to use it during peak performance events to ensure that I don't hurt myself.
At the finish while we recovered in the shade, we witnessed several post race emergency crews transport people from the crowd back into the support tents to treat heat problems. We continued our hydration consumption well into the afternoon to ensure our kidney function was back to normal by evening.
Strategy for off season cross training competitions:
Train to the event's likely conditions, duration, elevation gain, altitude etc.
Have a plan for likely obstacles (heat/cold, clothing, earplugs (for sleep), etc)
Plan nutrition and hydration for performance on race day (don't try something new on performance days)
Monitor yourself during the event and adapt (ability to perform under conditions of the day)
Post event, watch for symptoms during recovery, cramping, urination color, elevated pulse for example
Train safely!
Jeff
