Acclimation to Heat Training for Ultra Runners
As we begin to transition from winter to spring to summer the temps are starting to warm.
Running in warmer weather places additional demands on the body to thermoregulate. Essentially making it work harder to maintain homeostasis. This extra work hurts running performance.
Here are 4 ways your body can adapt from training in the heat.
Sweating
Not only do you start to sweat earlier, at a lower skin and core body temperature (thanks hypothalamus), but you also have an increased sweat rate (in liters per hour) and more dilute sweat as your body loses fewer electrolytes like sodium and chloride per liter of sweat
Reduced cardiac strain
Multiple factors help here. blood plasma volume expansion, improved skin cooling due to better redistribution of your blood volume, and venous dilation.
Fluid balance
With the increased sweat rate discussed before the body will dilute the sweat to some degree. Meaning you will lose fewer electrolytes per volume than before.
Thermal comfort
We all can remember that feeling of stepping outside on the first 80°F day. After repeated exposure, the 80°F feels less hot.
