Running In The Heat: Hot Weather Running Tips For Extreme Athletes

In 2010 there was only one… but in 2011 Darth Vader was joined in Death Valley by Yoda, Jango Fett and Princess Leia! Click on the link below to enjoy this year’s utter silliness in the desert!

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For an extreme heat runner, nothing offers more of a challenge than dressing up as Darth Vader and running around Death Valley in 125F heat during July. Wait, what? Eh? Really?

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Most distance runners and endurance athletes have hit The Wall at some point in their careers – that invisible, yet only-too-real barrier that takes a gargantuan effort of will to even try and scale. For many marathoners, it’s at around 20 miles. Ultra-runners take longer to get there, but even the greatest of them sometimes suffer the debilitating cramps and mental anguish of a body pushed beyond its limits.

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For extreme heat athletes, it can come sooner, and perhaps even harder. Hopefully the following tips will at least put it off a few miles.

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1. The Wall is usually associated with cramps. Since dehydration can cause severe cramping, it’s to be expected that running in hot weather can bring The Wall down on you. So – just as has been mentioned in every other post on this site – drink, and drink often. Carry water with you, even if you have a support team (the author once lost his driver and suffered through five increasingly unpleasant miles in Death Valley before tracking him down) and take regular small mouthfuls.

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2. Slow down, already! One of the dangers of heat running is that the ‘Runner’s High’ can kick in early. This endorphin rush can urge you to accelerate to a pace that will hurt you – and soon. The exhilaration will last a few minutes – the pain can last an entire run. Plan on running at least two minutes a mile slower than you would do on a regular run – in fact, slowing down to 10 or even 12 minute miles is far from shameful. This is a classic example of how being a turtle will get you to your destination quicker than being a hare.

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3. Take breaks. In extreme heat, of course, your body works a lot harder. Your skin demands to be cooled, but your muscles demand to be serviced, and both use oxygen – meaning you will breathe deeper, your heart will race harder, and you will tire more quickly. Give your muscles and skin a rest by occasionally taking advantage of shade and spending a moment or two recuperating. As an aside – and I don’t know how much this truly affects other people, but it seems to affect me – running in extreme temperatures means more activity that is peripheral to the actual movement of the legs. Wiping sweat, reaching for water, taking hats off and so on can all alter your gait, timing and pace. I suggest slowing to walking pace to do these activities – you’re already working hard enough.

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4. Expect the worst – and be ready to deal with it. Whether you’re doing an out-and-back, a loop, or you have something waiting for you ahead, be prepared to alter your plans quickly and radically. Hitting The Wall in a canyon that’s superheated to 125F is not the same as doing it in a well-staffed marathon. You may well be on your own when it happens, so you need to have the mental strength to recognize that maybe today isn’t the day you run 26.2 in 100+ heat. The bravest thing an extreme runner can do is acknowledge when she’s in trouble – and have the wherewithal to run another day. Walk if you need to, flag down cars for water if you’re out, ask for a ride if you can’t move your legs. All that counts is trying again next week.

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5. Have a plan for dealing with The Wall. If it comes as a surprise, you will be depending on potentially flawed reasoning, especially if there’s a degree of heatstroke involved. Accept that you might well hit it, and when you do, implement your plan. Slow to walking pace. Seek shade. Hydrate further. Take electrolyte tablets. Rest somewhere cool and take off your shoes. Allow yourself the chance to recover – even if it takes 20 minutes, just relax and let it dissipate. Then jog slowly back to base if possible, safe in the knowledge that you’ll get closer to your target every time you have the sense to admit you’ve reached your limit.

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Quitting doesn’t come easily to extreme heat athletes – the pain and clarity is part and parcel of our sport. And I certainly don’t advocate giving up just because things become uncomfortable. But if you truly hit the point at which your body shuts down and refuses to continue, you must be prepared to come back another day. Heat running can take a tremendous toll on your heart, your head and your organs – a sensible athlete knows when that toll becomes too much to pay.

The greatest mistake you can make when running (or otherwise exercising) in extreme heat is to be optimistic, confident or nonchalant.

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The moment you believe that this is no big deal, is the moment you’re in danger – even if you are sitting in your living room and thinking about tomorrow’s run.

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Extreme temperature athletic activity can kill you. Running in 120 degree heat is, in all truth, an exercise in pain, suffering, determination and control. It’s not usually fun, although you may well experience euphoria as the sheer beauty of your environment overwhelms you, or you embrace the endorphin rush associated with pain and danger. It’s about enduring the trauma, and achieving goals few other people on the planet can achieve.

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A few years back, an experienced hiker left his red truck at Badwater in Death Valley and set out for Telescope Peak. Why he did this is uncertain; he took little water, and grossly underestimated the distance. Eventually he turned back, dehydrated and likely already suffering from heatstroke. Not far from the truck, he took a rest… and never got up. Overconfidence is what killed him, even if it was officially extreme dehydration.

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My philosophy when running in Death Valley in late July is always to assume the worst. I assume I’ll get overheated and confused in the canyons, so I mark waypoints on my GPS (or, running an out-and-back, drop colored M&Ms at junctions – I can pick them up as I return). I assume that I need 8oz of water per mile, so I take 16oz per mile. I assume that nobody will find me if I drop, so I tell someone where I’m going and when I should be back.

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99.9% of the time you’ll be just fine, so long as you are prepared, fit, acclimated and willing to slow down a little. But just in case, I strongly recommend some extra precautions – you never know when you’re going to turn an ankle and half-drag yourself out of the back country in unbearable heat, so it’s best to assume the worst and prepare for it. Let’s say I plan a 10k run through the back country and it’s 127 degrees – what would I take? Well, here’s a list. Altogether this is about 15lbs of equipment – hardly conducive to speed, but definitely conducive to survival:

• Hat - I use a baseball hat and my wife jury-rigged a small solar-powered fan attached to the brim. It’s also where I tape my thermometer, for easy access.

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• CamelBaks x2 – One 64oz and one 32oz, filled with electrolyte drinks, not just water.

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• CoolMesh running shirt - I use white because of the high albedo factor.

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• Shoes with grip - I find that shoes with over 150 miles on them are a liability, as the grip is poor and the rubber is worn down, exposing more of the shoe to the 200 degree pavement (I’m 205 lbs so it might not happen until 200 miles or more for a lighter runner). This can result in more blisters, and even slippage when scrabbling up a dry riverbed or rockslide.

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• FuelBelt Terminator – this is a six-bottle, 48oz water belt that doesn’t slip and has solid fastenings for the bottles.

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• BluBlocker Viper sunglasses – these bring the desert into sharp focus without compromising your enjoyment of your environment. They have side lenses to prevent glare, and are effective at helping you to pick a good path over the rocks.

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• Small LED flashlight – if you get lost, it can be used as a signal as well as a means of spotting those M&Ms in the fading light.

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• Wright Socks – blister protection in extreme heat is of paramount importance, and these help enormously.

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• iPod Nano – load it with at least five or ten songs that really stir your emotions – I find high-powered techno music to be ideal, but I know people (well, a person) who still listens to Journey. Whatever it is, the purpose of these particular songs is to get you back on your feet if you find yourself heading down. Songs with personal meaning have been shown to cause increased arousal in the limbic system of the brain, which releases endorphins in a phenomenon not dissimilar to the ‘Runner’s High’ that we all enjoy so much; it can also produce a serotonin rush, a chemical in the brain that has a strong role to play in – guess what – temperature regulation, cardiovascular function and pain management.

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• Car keys – most people won’t steal your car even if they spot the keys on your back tire. Most people. When you get back from your 10k run, you want to see your car, and since you’ve exerted almost all of your energy, you could be in real trouble if it isn’t exactly where you left it.

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• Emergency blanket – small ultra-reflective blankets will fit very easily into a CamelBak pocket, and should you be in real trouble they can provide some protection from the heat. For the 4oz weight penalty it’s well worth it.

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• Cellphone – chances are you won’t have reception, but even so, you may not be utterly without communication: when left on, your cellphone ‘pings’ nearby cell towers from time to time (apparently this isn’t a civil liberties issue…) and phone companies have been known to triangulate an approximate location by analyzing these pings. So long as someone knows that they need to call emergency services, a cellphone may help them to find you quicker. (Note: I researched this for quite a while and found huge discrepancies in the anecdotal data. It seems that the E911 policy may track your current location using GPS, if your phone is switched to that setting. This should not be relied on as a way to find you, but it may help.)

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• Granola Bars – in fact, almost any dry snack that has a good energy-boost. Peanuts are also great, for replacing lost salt.

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• Sun Cream – an airport-sized sun lotion tube is crucial. Sunburn hugely exacerbates the problems of dehydration.

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• Dog-Tags – I’m not kidding! Some kind of personal identification is vital, both to help emergency services (allergies, blood type, etc) and to notify family if you’re in trouble. There’s nothing an EMS hates more than a Jane Doe!

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It seems like a lot, but I carry this every time I run in extreme temperatures and I enjoy my adventure far more, knowing that it’s a lot less likely to be my last.

Jen and I crewed for “Death Valley Jack” Denness at the Badwater Ultra in 2004. Jack was 68 years old at the time, and would go on to complete two more Badwaters, becoming the first septuagenarian – and possibly the last – to finish this punishing course.

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On the occasion that we crewed for him, he freely admitted that he was under-prepared. The journey was arduous for all of us; at a couple of points Jen and I were convinced that he wouldn’t make it, especially after she treated a blister that literally covered the entire ball of his foot.

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Jack is made of sterner stuff, however, and although he only jogged the first mile, he made it in the end – 67 hours after starting, he crossed the finish line and was rewarded with his traditional can of cold Guinness, which had been dangling from a fishing rod atop the minivan for several miles!

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A memorable moment for me was walking 30 miles after Stovepipe Wells, during which time night fell. We trudged up Father Crowley pass, and I fell back to give Jack some space. Eventually I suppose he forgot about me altogether, and paused for a moment during which I caught up to him. I asked if he was getting lazy, and he nearly jumped over the cliff and out of his skin!

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Another thing that will last me forever was dawn, a few hours later. I had run forward to catch up with Jen and take a photo or two, since the sun would be rising behind Jack. He came into view, leaning at 20 degrees to his left. He was in a bad way. Jen decided to put a track from Oh Brother! Where Art Thou? on the stereo, very loudly. She opened the tailgate and the stirring voice of Alison Krauss with ‘Down To The River To Pray’ soared into the rising sun.

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As the chorus joins her and the music swells, Jack slowly begins to straighten up. His gallant limp becomes a purposeful stride, and he cuts a figure of strength and nobility as his head rises. Both of us were overwhelmed with emotion and admiration, and at that point we DID know that he would make it.

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To this day, that song reminds us of our friend Jack and his remarkable achievements. He is a true hero and an inspiration to many who have shared his company, especially in Death Valley.

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The following clip is an enjoyable romp through his active imagination. Did I mention that he hallucinates merrily while on the voyage? Aliens, devils, free money – it’s all there! In the second half of the clip, Jack discusses the cerebral palsy charity that he has raised thousands for, over the years. I hope you enjoy it too.

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