Hello and

welcome to the Runners Connect audio blog this is Coach Claire Bartholic and today I'm reading an article

written by Coach Jeff Gaudette called six essential strategies revealed by the

science of hot weather running.

Today we'll look at some of the science behind running in the heat

and try to define some recommendations from our findings,

or at least figure out how long it will take to get used to hot

weather. The science of running in the heat. Body temperature and heat removal.

Why is running harder when it's hot out?

It all comes down to thermal regulation,

as demonstrated in a widely cited 1999 study by Jose Gonzales Alonzo and his coworkers at the August

Krogh Institute in Denmark.

The researchers conducted two separate experiments

examining different aspects of heat regulation, body temperature and

heat removal. In the first experiment, seven cyclists performed a ride to exhaustion at a

predetermined effort in a hot laboratory. Before the ride, the cyclists were either pre-heated or pre-cooled in water baths for 30 minutes.

The experiment was repeated three times, so each cyclist had started a trial with a body temperature of 96 degrees Fahrenheit pre-cooled, 98 degrees Fahrenheit, Fahrenheit, control, no bath,

and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, preheated.

The cyclists then rode at 60% of their maximum effort as monitored by the oxygen intake.

The cyclists then wrote at 60% of their maximum effort as monitored by oxygen intake until exhaustion, all while having their internal

temperature measured by using a probe in their throat, positioned there so as to

be close to the brain.

...