Anyone else here have to drastically alter their training plan when the Summer kicks in?
The last 4 or 5 years, my heat tolerance has fallen off a cliff (I’m mid-40s now). From a practical training standpoint, this means that the recovery costs of doing power work in the heat is too high - it starts having an unavoidable negative impact on all other aspects of my life that I’m not willing to work around. That’s pretty much limits anything above Z2 and I watch all my hard work slowly slip away until cross season starts and I have 4 to 6 weeks to build it back up before the first race.
My year has kind of flip-flopped. Winter used to be where I’d take it easy and then build up over the Summer to hit cross season. Now Winter is where I try to make most of my gains to try to get ahead of the Summer Slide.
Is there a better strategy to preserving one’s fitness over 2-3 month stretch? The best I’ve been able to come up with is just Z2 my way through the heat and just accept that a decent chunk of my work is going to be lost in the interim.
Yep. In my 70’s and coming from N Cal the heat kills me.
I have to move the trainer inside to my laundry room. Garage never gets below 80-85 at night here in Texas.
Long rides outside have to be done by 11am. Starting in the dark and hoping for cloud cover.
I’m pretty wiped out for the rest of the day.
I try to do the evening group ride once a week. 1 hour of high intensity.
Winter is prime riding time here for me since we are lacking any real fall or spring weather.
It can be tough to beat the heat this time of year, and it no doubt affects performance.
The best advice I can give is to try and cool yourself as much as possible by keeping air flowing over you, drinking lots of hydrating fluid with ice, and avoiding the hottest parts of the day.
The good news is that training in the heat can be beneficial for some, but you need to be careful with it. Again, hydration is extremely important since you’re likely losing a ton of fluid through sweat, so getting your hydration needs dialed in is key.
Not that the world needs more sensors, but the CORE body temp sensor can be a really useful tool when training in the heat. Those Z2 rides can be governed by core temp/HR rather than power for the time being, and you might actually be better off that way, at least for endurance rides.
If you need to dial down your power/FTP this time of the year, don’t hesitate to do that, and just know that it’s due to the conditions, not your performance. Once you get a cool day, you’ll likely surprise yourself with how strong you feel.
If your season has switched around and some of summer is now your Base season, Z2 rides in the heat are actually a really good stimulus as long as you’re careful.
As much as I like training outside, it’s really hard to get quality training in once it gets hot. Even getting out the door at 5 or 6am, it can still be pushing 80 and the humidity is brutal in early summer. I’ll mix it up and do my long endurance rides outside, but hit the trainer inside (with A/C) when I want quality intervals at higher intensities. I’ll do some hard efforts outside also, but the interval quality and power numbers are way down from what can be done when properly cooled indoors. It’s kind of like the altitude debate. There are some advantages to training at altitude (particularly at lower intensities), but there are also advantages to training at sea level where the power is higher. Same thing for training in the heat vs. controlled conditions for me.
Edit- if set on making it work outside - my tricks are ice socks, dump bottles, and slurpees. I’ll start the day with a hydration pack and 2 big bottles. Once it gets hot, the hydration pack is still used for hydration, but every store stop is filling those bottles with water and ice which is primarily used to dump water on myself (particularly on the climbs). It’s a very temporary fix when humid (I’m already soaked, but the cool water helps), works better with dry heat since you get the evaporative cooling. And the ice socks last a little longer. And a $.99 slurpee can do wonders for lowering core temp (and has some decent carbs to boot).
#1, I get a lot more vigilant about how I’m feeling anytime out in the heat. I’ll back off the intensity and/or shorten intervals. I don’t do too many rides over 3 hrs when it’s this hot, but if I do plan for a longer ride, I leave earlier in the am. I keep an eye on the forecast…the temps tend to be higher in the afternoon, but the humidity is lower (if it doesn’t rain), so a “mostly cloudy” afternoon with a decent breeze may be better than riding in the morning at 90% humidity.
I try to choose routes that have more shade. I keep moving to get the benefit of air moving over my skin (in this FL humidity). I use more ice in bottles and over 2 hours I carry a 3rd bottle with just ice water to squirt on my head and back. I get out in the heat and push acclimating as soon as the temp starts rising in the late spring…it’s easier to hide in the a/c in summer, but it will do you good to spend some time in the heat every day.
Central TX here. All my races are usually in the fall or winter, so I could train heat acclimation, but it won’t really buy me much. I do all my speed work on the trainer anyway (too many short hills around here, can’t settle into a rhythm for intervals), and then Z2 outdoors to get some heat boost (another thread here about heat training for additional gains). I’ll try to get in longer Z2 rides on Saturday mornings, leaving around 6am, but it does still get HOT by the end. I feel your pain. I did have the trainer in the garage one season and man that was toasty. I like ice water over my head in those situations.
Houston here. Just pitching in to say I’m another one who mostly moves the hard stuff indoors in the summer. I do my long easy rides outdoors and leave at civil twilight or earlier.
Yep. In north Texas here and because of my work schedule I can only ride from 1pm to 5pm. That’s nice for 3/4 of the year but summer has almost become off season. I’ve come to the conclusion to go by RPE and HR for outdoor rides and ignore power. If you stick to power, you are putting a bunch of stress in the system that takes forever to recover from. I’ll go up to SweetSpot 1hr outside but cap the interval with HR max for what my normal temp HR for that effort. Once I get to that HR, I don’t go any higher despite the power drop. Short indoor work for power sessions TH and above
This has been really helpful. I’m in OK, so I’m getting a lot of the same stuff you all in TX are getting, though maybe a bit less spicy. I think I need to generally switch to thinking of this as my base season and shelve the power work until it cools down. My trainer is in my garage, which can hit 100F in August and there’s not really a place to put it in the AC. I’ll usually aim 3 fans at me and limit my output, then spend the rest of the evening rehydrating. I do need to get a couple insulated bottles for ice water, though. Outside rides (weekends) start an hour before sunrise this time of year and if I finish before 10/11, I’m usually able to recover well enough.
I’ve been using the Bivo Trio (dual insulated) stainless steel bottles this year and I’m honestly shocked at how much longer ice lasts than it did in an insulated plastic bottle. In summer, I used to freeze half the plastic insulated bottle and then top off with cold mix just before leaving the house, and the ice would be gone in 60 minutes with the water warm by 90. With the Bivo Trio, I just fill with cold mix and add a couple ice cubes (no freezing the bottle at all) and I still have cold water at 2 hours. It’s been a real game changer. It does weigh more, but for your trainer rides in the garage, it would be perfect. Make sure you buy the ones with a coating, not just the bare stainless. It makes a difference. Bivo Insulated Cycling Bottle - Stainless Steel - 21 oz
The latest DJ video has some good info on riding/training in the heat. Not really focused on staying cool as much as where to draw the line between productive training in the heat and counterproductive training. As has already been discussed, the key takeaway for me is avoiding high intensity work in the heat when possible.
I live and train on the coast of Saudi Arabia so I get the best of both worlds, heat and unbelievable humidity. I’m from Houston and know the conditions there so understand where you’re coming from. Like others my high intensity work is always done inside but with acclimation I can get out super early in the mornings for sweet spot work but do a lot of things to keep core temps down. Bottles with ice slush and I freeze blocks of ice in containers that fit the back pockets of my jersey so in essence have an ice vest. Unfortunately my routes are typically loops not far from home so I circle back once an hour or so to refill my pockets and pick up new bottles from a cooler staged in my garage for a quick grab and go. However the time I can do outside is often limited when the humidity is high as I cannot replace enough water fast enough. But inside I have the trainer set up with the AC set low and a carpet blower to get as much cooling as I can.
I was stationed in SA during Desert Storm. We weren’t far from one of the refineries. The families who lived at the refineries were sent home because of the war, but the workers themselves stayed behind, and they opened up their homes to the troops so that we could get some time away from the desert. A few guys from my platoon got to take an R&R weekend there. We got to sleep in real beds, eat fresh meals, etc., but the thing I remember the most is that the guy’s home AC was so cold I had to wear a jacket the whole time. After months of living in the desert, that was a real treat and I wish I had gotten the guy’s address so I could have sent him a token of thanks once I’d returned home. AC so cold you had to open the door to let some heat in! I sure don’t do that in Houston.
Lumberjack MTB race yesterday saw upper 80s with nearly 90% humidity. There was a 55% DNF rate! First hour the front pack went out like it was a 2 hour race and completely fell apart due the weather. Brutal and you need to adjust your effort for the conditions as many found out.
I live in NM where it gets quite hot. I bout a salt/hydration sensor by BioWave and it gave me great data. I was losing 1000 mg per hour and so now I put a pack of LMNT in each water bottle it really helps.
I try to get out early and will shorten my intervals if I need to.
This last weekend I was lucky to have some good cloud coverage and was rained on 2 times in a 2.5 hour ride. It was refreshing!
I live in south Florida where it has been 85° @ 80%+ humidity at 8 am. It’s not even the hot months of summer yet lol
I have this week and maybe next of a threshold block, so I’m doing my best with the heat.
After this I have a couple free weeks planned before getting into a gravel/mtb marathon specific event prep. ( SS and tempo with long rides) which should be doable.
My friends down here are a few weeks away from Mtb marathon nationals and you should see the rides they do in the heat.
MTB race yesterday saw upper 80s with nearly 90% humidity. There was a 55% DNF rate! First hour the front pack went out like it was a 2 hour race and completely fell apart due the weather. Brutal and you need to adjust your effort for the conditions as many found out.
